Recent Finds & RE: laser discs...

Recent finds... Been adding to the Atari collection, last weekend snagged a 410 tape recorder for 99 cents, noticed a bit of rattling and discovered a plastic part had fallen off the rewind key mechanism (it triggers a reed switch, probably to mute the signal when rewinding.) glue or tape should fix it. Now all I have to do is find those games I have... I think I have a Telengard tape that has atari on it, I wonder how it will compare to the 64 version... And I also have an Automated Simulations game somewhere (the science fiction one like apshai?), it could have an Atari version on it as well... I might have a possible candidate for a power supply for the growing Atari collection (from a thrift store with a table full of various PSs, and mention of boxes more in the back, gotta check there more often!), it is a 9V AC 1.6 amp supply... so, how much difference is there between 1.6 and 1.7 amps? The least rated supply (listed in the Atari FAQ) to run on an 800/1200XL is a 1.7 amp, can the 1.6 cause problems? (I have yet to try this as the plug is the too small and I will have to solder on a more suitable one for it to work.) Also got an 810 drive, did a power test tonite, the disk went through a 'seek' of some sort (still one PS and no disks, so it's best I can do for now) Now I have disk drives that match the 1200XL and 800! Speaking of the 1200XL I mentioned earlier the keyboard was not functional, a fellow user on the comp.sys.atari.8bit newsgroup suggested checking the keyboard connector, and by-jimminy, it was loose! (Now who would open a perfectly good computer...well..ok, who wouldn't open a perfectly good computer. *grin*.) Books,tapes,disks are nowhere to be found for the Atari (at thrift shops/book stores/flea markets), so far (since a month or two ago) not a one spotted, and I thought Commodore books were hard to find. -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- Monochrome monitors are pretty cheap out there, picked up a basic Zenith green screen for someone for $2.95, saw a few more similarly priced. -=-=-=-=-=--=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- My best find of the week: one thrift store had a 128D unit sans keboard (a 128D is a Commodore C128 computer with built-in 1571 disk drive, latest ROMs, and 64k video RAM) for $7.00. I figured it would be a great 'parts source' for my flat C128 (which has only 16k VRAM and old ROMs), I assumed the 128D was DOA, only to discover it is functional, the drive seems ok too! (booted a CP/M system disk and Renegade, two disks with 128 boot sectors I knew of). Now I'm gonna have to scrounge/hack up a 128D keyboard. (dang it all!) -=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=- RE: Laser Discs I got a couple LDs from thrift shops the first ($20) was the great grandaddy Magnavox 8000, still has major tracking problems but it can't interface to anything anyway. The second ($9.95!) is a Poineer 6010? Anyway, it is an 'industrial grade' LD player (had an Armstrong Flooring disc in it). I have some articles for LD interfacing: one for the VIC-20 in a 1982 COMPUTE! and one I think for RS-232 in a 1983 BYTE; but this LD player already has an RS-232 inteface built-in so that point is moot... I am waiting to bail it out of repairs (very minor ones fortunately). Anyone got a Dragon's Lair LD lying around??? Larry Anderson -- -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+- Visit our web page at: http://www.goldrush.com/~foxnhare/ Call our BBS (Silicon Realms BBS 300-2400 baud) at: (209) 754-1363 -+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-+-