jasona@pro-europa.cts.com (Jason Asbahr) (05/20/89)
These are a couple of my earlier messages posted to a local conference
(limited to our beautiful system here in Houston). They don't EXACTLY
refer to Apple's, but since everyone seems so knowledge on this net,
I'm sure I can find some answers. (And I might just link it to my //c -
does that count?)
-=-
I dug up some Radio Electronics magazines at my local library last week, ah,
the '83 issues and my interest was sparked. They actually presented a USE for
an Atari 2600... (Several, in fact) How to copy cartridges, using the toy as
a color bar generator, etc etc Cute, I thought.
I've also been looking at this "PC8300", a Timex-Sinclair compatible.
(Snicker) $30. $40 with a huge 16k. Ridiculous as a REAL machine, but...
Another cheap toy! Guess what else? An Atari 400 with a basic cartridge!
(Girlfriend's first computer). I'd like some technical info on these
machines... Maybe I'll link them together in a bizarre slave-toy-computer
network... Maybe I'll try to re-create *chaos* in my very own home.
Envision the possibilities...
I know the Timex uses a Z80, but what about the atari 400? Does the atari
2600 even have a true microprocessor? Any information would be appreciated.
-=-
Well, you can get it to do just about anything you program it to do (via the
EPROM). It might be amusing to make one into a "weather computer" by hooking
up a thermometer (heat sensitive resistor), wind gauge, and maybe a barometer
to the joystick ports and programming a cartridge to perform calculations with
the data and give outputs on command... (Pushing that idea to extremes, we
could even run it off of solar power and hook the video output to another
machine...making the Atari a slave calculater...heh)
And - hey - with used cartridges at low prices, one could just erase and
program over the old commands, right?
I'm not sure why, but this is becoming an obsession...
-=-
Ok! I've been informed that the Atari 400 and 800 both use a 6502...
I'm interested in acquiring EARLY texts and/or schematics about Atari
machines. I'm also interested in Timex-Sinclair info.
And, while I'm asking for so much, references to any articles dealing
with the use of Apple ][s in conjuction with lower machine...
Thanks for the time (and the disk space!)
-Jason Asbahr
-=-
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