I assume those are initial release dates? (And where did you find this information?) Do we know when each of these was discontinued? Is there a serial number lookup anywhere to tell the actual date for my items? There just seems to be a dearth of online information for these systems, vs. what’s available for Apple for example. - Bob Shuster
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 16:10:28 -0400 From: Dean Notarnicola <dnotarnicola@gmail.com> To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize Message-ID: <CAJeDMDgoQH9+J32S-GLJ0ur6ezpx3BBOqf-748yVce3sQy=3sg@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Atari Mega ST4: 1987 Atari 520ST: 1985 Atari SM124: 1985 Atari SC1224: 1985 Atari SF354: 1985 Atari SF314: 1985
On Mon, Apr 18, 2022 at 3:34 PM Bob Shuster via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Just an update on this process and some questions! I?ve gone through most of my Apple stuff and gone through my 8-bit Atari stuff - and now going through the 16-bit Atari stuff. Unlike the Apple and 8-bit Atari, I?m having a hard time finding much info on the 16-bit Atari systems online. Specifically I?m looking to date the pieces. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I have: Atari Mega ST4, Atari 520ST, Atari SM124, Atari SC1224, Atari SF354, Atari SF314. I?m having trouble even finding specific date ranges. Any Atari experts out there?
Thanks. - Bob Shuster
These are simply release dates. There were several minor board revisions as well as variations of the internal drive mechanisms in particular, however I also was stymied by lack of information. An inquiry on the AtariAge forum may yield some better information. On Tue, Apr 19, 2022 at 8:22 AM Bob Shuster <bob@theshusters.com> wrote:
I assume those are initial release dates? (And where did you find this information?) Do we know when each of these was discontinued? Is there a serial number lookup anywhere to tell the actual date for my items? There just seems to be a dearth of online information for these systems, vs. what’s available for Apple for example.
- Bob Shuster
Date: Mon, 18 Apr 2022 16:10:28 -0400 From: Dean Notarnicola <dnotarnicola@gmail.com> To: vcf-midatlantic <vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> Subject: Re: [vcf-midatlantic] OT: time to downsize Message-ID: <CAJeDMDgoQH9+J32S-GLJ0ur6ezpx3BBOqf-748yVce3sQy= 3sg@mail.gmail.com> Content-Type: text/plain; charset="UTF-8"
Atari Mega ST4: 1987 Atari 520ST: 1985 Atari SM124: 1985 Atari SC1224: 1985 Atari SF354: 1985 Atari SF314: 1985
On Mon, Apr 18, 2022 at 3:34 PM Bob Shuster via vcf-midatlantic < vcf-midatlantic@lists.vcfed.org> wrote:
Just an update on this process and some questions! I?ve gone through most of my Apple stuff and gone through my 8-bit Atari stuff - and now going through the 16-bit Atari stuff. Unlike the Apple and 8-bit Atari, I?m having a hard time finding much info on the 16-bit Atari systems online. Specifically I?m looking to date the pieces. Can anyone point me in the right direction? I have: Atari Mega ST4, Atari 520ST, Atari SM124, Atari SC1224, Atari SF354, Atari SF314. I?m having trouble even finding specific date ranges. Any Atari experts out there?
Thanks. - Bob Shuster
I assume those are initial release dates? (And where did you find this information?) Do we know when each of these was discontinued? Is there a serial number lookup anywhere to tell the actual date for my items? There just seems to be a dearth of online information for these systems, vs. what’s available for Apple for example. - Bob Shuster
I think the Amiga won the love from that era of machines, those people are fanatical. The Atari got love from the music world due to the included built in Midi interfaces so the "killer apps" tend to be midi music programs. I think someone just reverse engineered the security dongle for one of the programs so it's possible to run un-cracked versions, but I think their reproduction dongles aren't super cheap. Your Mega 4 and the monitors are probably where the value is, but not 100% on that. There are some cool upgrades starting to hit, like the PCB that upgrades the 520ST RAM. I started on a PCB for the 520ST/1040ST for a custom ACSI2SD hard drive emulator that solders in where the DB-19 port is for easy storage solution that is internal. But haven't finished this yet, was going to try to line the pinout up with the STacy/MEGA2/4 internal ACSI pin header. - Ethan
Yeah, I think the value is in the Mega4 and displays as well. It works great as do the monitors. Yeah, I’m a musician, so I started with Atari 16-bit systems for serious music - with C-Lab Creator software (and I probably still have the dongle somewhere.) Then I started using Spectre GCR to emulate a Mac and switched over to Macs from there on. (I actually started with the TRS-80 Model I!) OK, well I’ll keep searching. The monitors have manufacture dates on them, but not the other stuff. The date quest is purely academic on my part. - Bob Shuster
On Apr 19, 2022, at 11:04 AM, Ethan O'Toole <telmnstr@757.org> wrote:
I assume those are initial release dates? (And where did you find this information?) Do we know when each of these was discontinued? Is there a serial number lookup anywhere to tell the actual date for my items? There just seems to be a dearth of online information for these systems, vs. what’s available for Apple for example. - Bob Shuster
I think the Amiga won the love from that era of machines, those people are fanatical. The Atari got love from the music world due to the included built in Midi interfaces so the "killer apps" tend to be midi music programs. I think someone just reverse engineered the security dongle for one of the programs so it's possible to run un-cracked versions, but I think their reproduction dongles aren't super cheap.
Your Mega 4 and the monitors are probably where the value is, but not 100% on that.
There are some cool upgrades starting to hit, like the PCB that upgrades the 520ST RAM. I started on a PCB for the 520ST/1040ST for a custom ACSI2SD hard drive emulator that solders in where the DB-19 port is for easy storage solution that is internal. But haven't finished this yet, was going to try to line the pinout up with the STacy/MEGA2/4 internal ACSI pin header.
- Ethan
Yeah, I think the value is in the Mega4 and displays as well. It works great as do the monitors. Yeah, I’m a musician, so I started with Atari 16-bit systems for serious music - with C-Lab Creator software (and I probably still have the dongle somewhere.) Then I started using Spectre GCR to emulate a Mac and switched over to Macs from there on. (I actually started with the TRS-80 Model I!) OK, well I’ll keep searching. The monitors have manufacture dates on them, but not the other stuff. The date quest is purely academic on my part. - Bob Shuster
Ah see! I just picked up a Juno 106 synth last night that needs repair and the owner I think has 3 or 4 Atari ST systems from the past. I think he said he used Mastertracks Pro or a different sequencer. I have (a patched copy) of Notator on my Mega 2 ST and it works pretty well. I tried that and Cubase and I think I like Notator more. Notator is now known as Apple Logic Pro which is pretty wild considering that it is very popular. Also, with regards to the monochrome monitor. I read somewhere (but haven't found the info again) that there is a part inside the monitor that couldn't handle stress of filling the screen with image, so Atari turned down the image size. If you replace that part in the monitor it should be safe to stretch the image out to fill the screen. There was a ZIP file from some archive of Atari info that had the fix. I plan to do it to mine one day. - Ethan
participants (3)
-
Bob Shuster -
Dean Notarnicola -
Ethan O'Toole