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Had a 7800 come into the ITC lab to get refurbished, and upgraded with a few things. Among the updates was to get a UAV plus mount board setup as I've been doing for over a year now.
This is where it is important that you always...ALWAYS test the current status of electronics before you dive in and start doing stuff. A rule I didn't follow so what I discovered after putting all this work in, isn't something I could verify was an issue before the work started. I had been told that it was working 100% without issue as it was the daily driver 7800 for the owner. 
So what was the issue I discovered? Well, after installing the UAV setup and the 10pin mini din AV connector to test the system. I saw something odd when I ran Ballblazer for burn in testing. What I saw was odd additional background graphic information on the far left and far right sides of the screen that I'd never seen before? More specific...this is what Ballblazer looked like:

So if you look on the left and right hand side of the image, you will see what looks like the blue in the sky being extended out along with some burgundy like brown/red below that. Now oddly enough the 5200 version of the game through a UAV actually looks kinda like this, but on the 7800 this isn't normal. Here is a closeup detail of the effect and you can see it is more like a checkerboard pattern within those extra graphics being shown.

Making matters more confusing was that NOT everything had this effect going on. Ballblazer seemed to show it the worst but any game using a colored backgrounds would have this kind of effect going on. But anything using a black ground was fine as this color hue test screen shows from the 7800 utility program:

I did figure out pretty quickly that the issue had to be something with the Maria IC because this same effect wasn't happening on 2600 games and was only present on 7800 titles. So a few days of delay (Waiting on a new heater for my desoldering gun), I removed the original Maria IC, installed a pair of new 24pin sockets (As I don't have 48pin on hand). And installed a different Maria pulled from a parts donor 7800. And what did ball blazer look like after that?

It worked! So yes after nearly 150 Atari 7800s that I've worked on, this was a first. My guess is that this 7800 always had this issue but as it was mainly used on a CRT and was only present on 7800 games, it likely wasn't noticed or the owner simply thought it was normal. In any event the original Maria was working in that the actual game play area on the screen looked normal otherwise. But the blanking to mask the extra graphics junk on the sides, wasn't working properly on this Maria and only by swapping it out with another was the issue fully resolved.
 

The Atari 5200 has been my all-time favorite console for a very long time.  However modern times have not been kind to it.  The machine itself is fine and I don’t mind the RF hook up it received but the controllers have a poor working ratio when not used often.  Which is weird considering most other systems can tolerate months without being used.  The Atari 5200 controllers, however, are a double edged sword. If you don’t use them once a week they fail, if you use them too often they can fail.  It’s hard to find a happy place sometimes.  However the controllers are not what this is about.  I’m just setting up the logic behind my thoughts.
When it was in production the idea of full analog controllers sounded good… on paper.  Once shown to the public it wasn’t all bad but it was clear that the 360 degree controllers to beat out Intellivision just wasn’t the right answer.  Super Breakout was also considered a poor choice for a pick-in game but it was the only 4-player game ever released for the console. While I loved playing the game when I woke up that Christmas morning to a 5200 sitting in my living room I never found another four player game.  Even as I child I questioned Atari’s decisions.
 

 
I never had issues with my original Atari 5200 because it got played every single day for hours on end.  Being an only child living where the only time you seen friends was at school made the 5200 my best friend.  I endured and learned how to harness those controllers on a per game basis because each game reacted differently.  Each game approached the analog controls differently. It was a “how well does this work with this game” thought process when getting a new game.  Sometimes the analog controls were great, sometimes they were OK, other times it was like “blah”.  I still say the Atari 5200 port of Pole Position was the best port made because of the analog controls.
While I now know there were controller “solutions” those were never seen in my area by my mother or me.  So the standard equipment was it.  Which leaves me to the thoughts I have today that I think might have helped the 5200. Ignoring the lack of self centering joysticks, what if Atari gave two controller options where there was a choice of the analog controllers we all know and the option to pick up all digital joystick controllers which would have shared the same controller design?  Another option could have been to include a cable adapter that would accommodate the use of a standard Atari 2600 controller combined with the 5200 controllers.  Similar to what the Wico does.  There were so many things they “could” have done when they knew the original controllers were going to be an issue.
 

 
Regardless, the 5200 is a great example of how something advanced doesn’t always plan out.  It does showcase some of the best arcade game translations of the time.  It is easy to see all the hard work that went into the system and its library of games. Some of the loved arcade games of the time were represented faithfully on the 5200. Games that easily come to mind are Qix, Joust, Space Dungeon, and Defender.  The unreleased Sinistar is impressive work as well.
I’m sure I’m missing a few things and I know the truth behind the 5200 costing Atari millions of dollars. I just hope newcomers to the 5200 will find enjoyment and the help they need to keep it interesting.  It still has a lot to offer.
 

A quick trip on a beautiful Saturday to the Evergreen Air Museum in McMinnville Oregon.  It's about an hour drive from my home.  This museum is most famous for housing the giant WWII Howard Hughes "Spruce Goose".  I assure you, it is huge. 
Also a picture of the author on Atari Day with an Atari shirt, relaxing in an old airline seat, a delicious lunch at a place that serves sandwiches on fresh-made bread, a sweet late 60's Ford Falcon I spotted in a parking lot, and our current sweet ride too, which looked nice in the sun. 

The 'Tower' was without power most of last week due to powerful storms on Father's day. As a result it put me behind a bit on console services and projects. Well last night as I've been working kinda constantly on console stuff to try and get caught up, I took a break and decided to do something I'd been meaning to try and implement for a while now.
I'm sure many of you here are aware of the Atari Vox? In summary it is a small device that plugs into controller port 2 on the 2600 or 7800 systems to allow you to save game scores and can also provide a means for speech to be played back in games that support it. Very cool device but it has one annoying thing about it. That is the fact that the audio from the Avox is separate from the rest of the system so you either have to plug in a set of external speakers or as I had been doing, I would use a 1/8" to RCA cable and plug one of the RCA jacks into one channel (usually the right) on my AV receiver audio input and the 7800 audio out in the other channel. Or, you have to use an external audio mixer to combine the two into one. None of that is really elegant so I thought of a simpler way to go about it. I'm sure you can see where this might be going?
So the 7800 especially is a little unique in that it was designed to make sure of an external audio input from the cartridge port. Typically POKEY enhanced games use this for audio. The basic mixing for this in the console is to tie the TIA audio coming in internally from the console's TIA chip and the POKEY audio from the external cartridge audio input line with different resistors for each to balance their signal so that one doesn't overpower the other. Well, why not simply add in a third audio line into that mix with a resistor to also bring it down in level?
That is exactly what I did as is demonstrated in this video...
 
I have some pics I can provide for those interested but in a nutshell I installed a separate 3.5mm audio jack along the back of this test 7800 I have in the ITC lab and instead of if providing audio output, it is used as an audio input and is part of the mix along with the external audio and internal TIA audio. This allows for all three to be used at once and have all the audio could out through my normal audio output RCAs I have installed on the console. 
No separate speakers...not Atari audio from just the Left with the AVox speed only on the right. It is all properly mixed together in dual mono as I would prefer. I will next do the same on my actual daily driver 7800 where this would be used most, but I'm glad to have it on my lab 7800 as well. The way this was done, should also be possible on a 2600 and I might very well explore that on a 2600jr I also have in the lab. 
I know this isn't the first time something like this has been done as I've seen other projects where owners have embedded the AVox completely into their consoles and then with a lot of wiring, use a switch to enable/disable the Avox as needed. But I was looking for a more simpler solution that would still allow the AVox to be used with multiple consoles and not be gutted and dedicated inside a single system and yet still easy to use without a lot of extra wire and mess. One small headphone to headphone patch cable is all that is needed now for this when I want to use my Avox.
For those that might want to try this on their own, know that a limiting resistor is needed as running the audio output straight in from the AVox is likely to sound messed up/distorted and would cause audio cut off on other audio sources trying to play at the same time. I used an 8k resistor in my test here but I think anything between 6.8k - 10k would suffice. I would also start with your volume pot on the AVox set to about the 1/3 volume level and then play a game that uses both speech and other audio at once to dial in the volume on the Avox until you are happy with it all.
 

I originally did most of the work on this 5200 about 8 years ago. It was also one of the first projects I did and to be honest, the wiring work inside wasn't that great. For some time I had wanted to redo it all similar to how I redid my 7800 about a year ago but just never got around to it. Well, now that I have a new BackBit Pro flash cartridge and it was designed to allow resets back to the game menu, I felt it was time to perform a small modification to allow this function of my BackBit Pro to work and also decided it was time to redo the wiring work and give my 5200 a much needed bath.
So first I will share some old pics of when I first AV upgraded the console. The wiring wasn't that bad I guess but it was before I was using better quality wire and wasn't using connectors so it was all tethered down. Also, not long after this was first done, the s-video jack kept coming loose on me so I had to hot glue it into place. No pics of that hot snot but suffice to say it was pretty ugly. 

 
Here is another shot showing how all the wiring was done originally in this setup. 

 
All of the wiring was completely redone with better quality wire and using install methods that I've been using on client consoles for the past 5 years. 

Some of the wiring was to redo the power and ground wiring as I now have it attached to the main power and ground rails that run along the middle of the board. As a result they are much shorter than they were previously. All the of the video output wiring was redone with a connector added in the middle to allow for easier removal of the main board in the future for servicing if needed. A connector was also added to the power modification wiring on the bottom side as well. 

 
A new s-video jack was installed as the original was in pretty bad shape from coming loose over the years and the hot glue just had to go. I used my dremel to rough up the area around the s-video jack and shave off a little bit of shell material so that I could install a new s-video jack and have the back nut actually secure it into place properly. Last to ensure it stays put, some epoxy was added around the s-video jack and securing nut. Audio wiring was redone as well and cleaned up.
Finally a small bit of wire was added on the bottom side of the PCB that attaches the reset line for the system to an unused pin on the cartridge port. The BackBit Pro flash cart is designed to take advantage of this and with this wire in place, I can now use the reset button on the cartridge to take me back to the game selection menu. This is a feature that is sorely missing on the AtariMax carts as they require hard powering the 5200 console to get back to your game menu selection. 

 
At the end, I finally gave the case shells a much needed bath as it had been at least a decade since this 5200 had been cleaned. It was getting pretty dusty in those vent slots and just looking a bit dull. Now this 5200 is working better than before and ready to provide some more 5200 gaming for many more years!

This blog over the coming weeks and possibly months, will be about my getting back into the Atari 5200.  It'll have related YouTube videos, photos, comments and other neat stuff.  If you you have any questions or comment along the way, don't be shy, speal up! 

This blog over the coming weeks and possibly months, will be about my getting back into the Atari 5200.  It'll have related YouTube videos, photos, comments and other neat stuff.  If you you have any questions or comment along the way, don't be shy, speal up! 

So what do you do when your TI-99/4A system is expanded as far as possible?  Simple, start another system!  I'm not sure where I'll take this one next, but so far...

.. currently my beige "portable system" has a TIPI/32K with RPi ZERO W and a speech synthesizer.  Hopefully someday the F-18A MK2 will finally hit the market.  This entry will be updated if/when anything changes!
 
 

So what do you do when your TI-99/4A system is expanded as far as possible?  Simple, start another system!  I'm not sure where I'll take this one next, but so far...

.. currently my beige "portable system" has a TIPI/32K with RPi ZERO W and a speech synthesizer.  Hopefully someday the F-18A MK2 will finally hit the market.  This entry will be updated if/when anything changes!
 
 

By the beginning of 2015, I had upgraded to a Lotharek HxC and an F18A, dropped on a Lantronix UDS-10 and started hitting Heatwave BBS...

By the middle of 2015 I added a PS/2 keyboard, and an extra disk drive and WiFi capability to my UDS-10...

Around the middle of 2016 I had a modem, which was not used much, and I think the HDX card (which has since been removed).  It was around this time that I obtained a TI compatible Wico trackball and customized it to match the TI.  I also added a custome control panel with digital thermometer showing the TI's running temperature.

It was about this time that I had already started removing stuff from my system and replaced older stuff with some real cool goodies!  So now by the end of 2018, (as shown below) the Modem was gone, the UDS-10 was gone and was replaced by a TIPI giving my TI mouse support and gigabytes of storage.

At the end of 2020 not much had changed except some cosmetic stuff and an external SD card holder for the P-Box TIPI unit.

... so now that it's basically expanded as far as I can go, what could I possibly do?  
 
 
 
 

What drives a guy to use a computer that is 40 years old?  Nostalgia & fun are two reasons.
Back in 1981 or 1982 I got myself a TI-99/4A console, later Extended BASIC a "Program Recorder" (Cassette player) and then built it up little by little.  This was what my system looked like in 1985...
 

The peripheral expansion box (as shown above) only had a 90K disk drive, 32K and RS-232 card.  By today's standards that's laughable!
By 1987, I had to "downsize" due to my firstborn taking over my den space.  So I built a hutch, popped the 19" monitor inside, added a lighted printer bay and was happy for a while as seen below.
 

By 1990 I had downsized again due to my second born taking over more space in the bigger place.  In the photo below I was stuck in the corner of the master bedroom as seen in the photo below.
 
 

This photo was the last photo of my TI system before I got out of the TI and moved on to the "PC".
Years went by, computers came and went in my life, and then I found and played with Classic 99 the best PC based TI-99/4A emulator (IMHO)... and then it happened, I got bit by the TI bug... a second time.

In 2013 I got a TI, speech synthesizer, Nano-PEB and a Supercart and thought I'd be happy... it didn't quite work out like that.

By 2014 I was on my third Nano-PEB and came to the conclusion they were low priced junk, but I'm thankful, it forced me into getting a P-Box.

By the end of 2014 I had a P-Box and a spare and then I started "going to town"..
 
 

By the beginning of 2015, I had upgraded to a Lotharek HxC and an F18A, dropped on a Lantronix UDS-10 and started hitting Heatwave BBS...

By the middle of 2015 I added a PS/2 keyboard, and an extra disk drive and WiFi capability to my UDS-10...

Around the middle of 2016 I had a modem, which was not used much, and I think the HDX card (which has since been removed).  It was around this time that I obtained a TI compatible Wico trackball and customized it to match the TI.  I also added a custome control panel with digital thermometer showing the TI's running temperature.

It was about this time that I had already started removing stuff from my system and replaced older stuff with some real cool goodies!  So now by the end of 2018, (as shown below) the Modem was gone, the UDS-10 was gone and was replaced by a TIPI giving my TI mouse support and gigabytes of storage.

At the end of 2020 not much had changed except some cosmetic stuff and an external SD card holder for the P-Box TIPI unit.

... so now that it's basically expanded as far as I can go, what could I possibly do?  
 
 
 
 

So what do you do when your TI-99/4A system is expanded as far as possible?  Simple, start another system!  I'm not sure where I'll take this one next, but so far...

.. currently my beige "portable system" has a TIPI/32K with RPi ZERO W and a speech synthesizer.  Hopefully someday the F-18A MK2 will finally hit the market.  This entry will be updated if/when anything changes!
 
 

What drives a guy to use a computer that is 40 years old?  Nostalgia & fun are two reasons.
Back in 1981 or 1982 I got myself a TI-99/4A console, later Extended BASIC a "Program Recorder" (Cassette player) and then built it up little by little.  This was what my system looked like in 1985...
 

The peripheral expansion box (as shown above) only had a 90K disk drive, 32K and RS-232 card.  By today's standards that's laughable!
By 1987, I had to "downsize" due to my firstborn taking over my den space.  So I built a hutch, popped the 19" monitor inside, added a lighted printer bay and was happy for a while as seen below.
 

By 1990 I had downsized again due to my second born taking over more space in the bigger place.  In the photo below I was stuck in the corner of the master bedroom as seen in the photo below.
 
 

This photo was the last photo of my TI system before I got out of the TI and moved on to the "PC".
Years went by, computers came and went in my life, and then I found and played with Classic 99 the best PC based TI-99/4A emulator (IMHO)... and then it happened, I got bit by the TI bug... a second time.

In 2013 I got a TI, speech synthesizer, Nano-PEB and a Supercart and thought I'd be happy... it didn't quite work out like that.

By 2014 I was on my third Nano-PEB and came to the conclusion they were low priced junk, but I'm thankful, it forced me into getting a P-Box.

By the end of 2014 I had a P-Box and a spare and then I started "going to town"..
 
 

What drives a guy to use a computer that is 40 years old?  Nostalgia & fun are two reasons.
Back in 1981 or 1982 I got myself a TI-99/4A console, later Extended BASIC a "Program Recorder" (Cassette player) and then built it up little by little.  This was what my system looked like in 1985...
 

The peripheral expansion box (as shown above) only had a 90K disk drive, 32K and RS-232 card.  By today's standards that's laughable!
By 1987, I had to "downsize" due to my firstborn taking over my den space.  So I built a hutch, popped the 19" monitor inside, added a lighted printer bay and was happy for a while as seen below.
 

By 1990 I had downsized again due to my second born taking over more space in the bigger place.  In the photo below I was stuck in the corner of the master bedroom as seen in the photo below.
 
 

This photo was the last photo of my TI system before I got out of the TI and moved on to the "PC".
Years went by, computers came and went in my life, and then I found and played with Classic 99 the best PC based TI-99/4A emulator (IMHO)... and then it happened, I got bit by the TI bug... a second time.

In 2013 I got a TI, speech synthesizer, Nano-PEB and a Supercart and thought I'd be happy... it didn't quite work out like that.

By 2014 I was on my third Nano-PEB and came to the conclusion they were low priced junk, but I'm thankful, it forced me into getting a P-Box.

By the end of 2014 I had a P-Box and a spare and then I started "going to town"..