I'm sure they can often be fixed, and I will resort to doing so now the spares are almost exhausted. Much quicker to just swap them when spares are available and time is money, though.
Your an absolutely amazing person in restoring Atari 8 bits. I have a 600XL-16K, 800XL and 2 130XE's that all need some TLC at some level or another. Would cherish the idea of you working on one of them. You make working in electronics such a fun thing at the same time restoring vintage computer history. Cheers from Vancouver, B.C.
1:30 lol priceless reaction! My XLF left you really deep emotional scars! BTW my 65XE also has a Freddie chip...and it also needs socketing...just giving you a heads up Jon!
Great work! I would like to get one of those keyboards to replace my mylar ones. I never thought of adding back the 5 volts to the PBI. I know some devices need external power, like the sys-check board. So that's a good idea to do, as I'm restoring some 800XLs and 600XLs (I know the 600 already has the 5 volts there.)
Thank you. Regarding 5V to PBI: it's become one of those habitual basic jobs every time I open an 800XL, along with the chroma hook-up. As to whether the PBI voltage is ever actually used by the owner: that's another matter. :)
It just powers a disconnected pad which - on the 600XL - delivers 5V to PBI connected devices (e.g. the 1064 64K RAM pack for the 600XL). Quite a few PBI devices in the intervening years can be self-powered and will therefore depend on this 5V power supply on the PBI connector.
I don't really like the TTL RAM upgrades (RAMBO and such), but certainly the machine would be a good candidate for tf_hh's 512K upgrade or U1MB. But it all depends on the owner, who - it appears - is just happy to have a working 64K machine. I might ask him nevertheless if he is thinking of some kind of multicart, etc.
@@flashjazzcat I can't even remember what memory upgrade I installed in my 400, because it was over 30 years ago now. My dad about freaked out when he came home to find the pc in pieces all over the counter and me with a soldering iron in-hand, running the traces. He asked me where I learned to solder. Installed the cherry keyboard for the 400 at the same time, and it worked when I put it back together. I was 12 years old.
@@WareWolf801 That's great. I tried desoldering a leaky RTC battery from a 286 motherboard when I was about 24 years old and couldn't even manage that. I gave up after about 30 tortuous minutes of failure. I didn't try soldering again until 2009 when I did a 1MB upgrade on a 520ST (the first ST I ever owned). Didn't work first time, but pretty soon I became more confident and now soldering is basically like breathing or walking. :) Definitely a late starter, though, at age thirty-six at the time.
@@flashjazzcat Nice!! I had a 520ST, a 1040STe, and a Mega2 ST. I even had a scsi hard drive for them. 115,000 baud! With the small file sizes everything loaded "instantly". I even ran a BBS on my 520 for years and years.
I have imported a shed load from China, however expect to lose a few chips because not all the RAM they sell is that reliable. Having said that I paid roughly 50 pence a chip instead of the £6 a chip some eBay sellers are charging!
Thanks! I am not sure the customer is really up to speed on all the upgrades available for the A8, but in any case, U1MB installation has been 'done to death' on video here and it's nice to simply restore a machine back to more or less factory condition for a change. Since filming, I've put the shield back on and replaced that rubber foot. :)
Where can one get the SysCheck? The link in the description leads to a page that is unavailable... Nevermind - I should have Googled first - I usually do LOL
Ah - I'm sorry about that. It appears the link is OK, but the ABBUC site is down. I assume you found some info, anyway? You can contact member tf_hh via the AtariAge forum. :)
@@flashjazzcat I've been gathering info. I was preparing to receive an 800XL from an auction, but as it turns out, it's working great - just needs cosmetic work.
Just put some new ram in my 130 xe and now I have black screen I have checked all the connections in ram all ok think I broke it the 130 was going to memory test before any ideas what to check next
There's a pretty easy way to make these key switches operational once you have then desoldered.
I'm sure they can often be fixed, and I will resort to doing so now the spares are almost exhausted. Much quicker to just swap them when spares are available and time is money, though.
@@flashjazzcat Believe me, cleaning is much faster than desoldering a replacement :-) I'll try to make a short film about it.
@@perinoid Cleaning takes less than 90 seconds? Well: I'm most intrigued regardless. :)
@@flashjazzcat Check your Messenger.
The 800XL.. my first love.
Really appreciate your time!
Can't believe nobody asked "Are you free, Mr. flashjazzcat?"
Your an absolutely amazing person in restoring Atari 8 bits. I have a 600XL-16K, 800XL and 2 130XE's that all need some TLC at some level or another. Would cherish the idea of you working on one of them. You make working in electronics such a fun thing at the same time restoring vintage computer history. Cheers from Vancouver, B.C.
Thank you. Your kind comments have made my day!
@@flashjazzcat Your very welcome. I will check your website to find out more about your great projects and services.
thank you! This was very insightful with a lot of details as to how to clean those aluminum parts.
Glad it's helpful. :) I'll try to actually film the process in real-time at some point in the future, which would probably be better again.
1:30 lol priceless reaction! My XLF left you really deep emotional scars!
BTW my 65XE also has a Freddie chip...and it also needs socketing...just giving you a heads up Jon!
Haha - thanks Nick! Those 800XLFs keep things exciting, I guess. :)
Me: No way he can restore this
flashjazzcat: Hold my tools
Congratulations. Great job!
Thanks!
Great work! I would like to get one of those keyboards to replace my mylar ones.
I never thought of adding back the 5 volts to the PBI. I know some devices need external power, like the sys-check board. So that's a good idea to do, as I'm restoring some 800XLs and 600XLs (I know the 600 already has the 5 volts there.)
Thank you. Regarding 5V to PBI: it's become one of those habitual basic jobs every time I open an 800XL, along with the chroma hook-up. As to whether the PBI voltage is ever actually used by the owner: that's another matter. :)
so Jon, what was the 5v to the PBI? I don't think I've seen that before.
It just powers a disconnected pad which - on the 600XL - delivers 5V to PBI connected devices (e.g. the 1064 64K RAM pack for the 600XL). Quite a few PBI devices in the intervening years can be self-powered and will therefore depend on this 5V power supply on the PBI connector.
Looks great! I would have dropped in a ram upgrade while you're in there adding sockets. CF/SD-card would be handy with one of those, as well.
I don't really like the TTL RAM upgrades (RAMBO and such), but certainly the machine would be a good candidate for tf_hh's 512K upgrade or U1MB. But it all depends on the owner, who - it appears - is just happy to have a working 64K machine. I might ask him nevertheless if he is thinking of some kind of multicart, etc.
@@flashjazzcat I can't even remember what memory upgrade I installed in my 400, because it was over 30 years ago now. My dad about freaked out when he came home to find the pc in pieces all over the counter and me with a soldering iron in-hand, running the traces. He asked me where I learned to solder. Installed the cherry keyboard for the 400 at the same time, and it worked when I put it back together. I was 12 years old.
@@WareWolf801 That's great. I tried desoldering a leaky RTC battery from a 286 motherboard when I was about 24 years old and couldn't even manage that. I gave up after about 30 tortuous minutes of failure. I didn't try soldering again until 2009 when I did a 1MB upgrade on a 520ST (the first ST I ever owned). Didn't work first time, but pretty soon I became more confident and now soldering is basically like breathing or walking. :) Definitely a late starter, though, at age thirty-six at the time.
@@flashjazzcat Nice!! I had a 520ST, a 1040STe, and a Mega2 ST. I even had a scsi hard drive for them. 115,000 baud! With the small file sizes everything loaded "instantly". I even ran a BBS on my 520 for years and years.
Another great video!
Where do you source your DRAM from? I'm having a heck of a time finding some.
Thanks! eBay, I'm afraid. There are some sellers in Poland and other EU countries with reasonable prices.
@@flashjazzcat Cheers. There are a few sellers here in the states that have listings on eBay. I'll check it out.
I have imported a shed load from China, however expect to lose a few chips because not all the RAM they sell is that reliable. Having said that I paid roughly 50 pence a chip instead of the £6 a chip some eBay sellers are charging!
@@mattsworld7943 I bought some from China a while back. They were OK but clearly desoldered from a board. :)
Great job! Customer did not want you to pimp up the atari 800xl with ultimate 1mb?! 🤔
Thanks! I am not sure the customer is really up to speed on all the upgrades available for the A8, but in any case, U1MB installation has been 'done to death' on video here and it's nice to simply restore a machine back to more or less factory condition for a change. Since filming, I've put the shield back on and replaced that rubber foot. :)
Where can one get the SysCheck? The link in the description leads to a page that is unavailable...
Nevermind - I should have Googled first - I usually do LOL
Ah - I'm sorry about that. It appears the link is OK, but the ABBUC site is down. I assume you found some info, anyway? You can contact member tf_hh via the AtariAge forum. :)
@@flashjazzcat I'll give that a try - thanks.
@@flashjazzcat I've been gathering info. I was preparing to receive an 800XL from an auction, but as it turns out, it's working great - just needs cosmetic work.
@@tony4624 That's a good outcome. :)
Just put some new ram in my 130 xe and now I have black screen I have checked all the connections in ram all ok think I broke it the 130 was going to memory test before any ideas what to check next
It's almost certainly a soldering issue, broken trace, via, etc. Unfortunately, it's just a question of exhaustive inspection/rework/testing.