On 07-May-99, Lawrence Walker wrote:
>On 7 May 99 at 6:19, Doug Spence wrote:
>> Does anyone know what kind of modem this is? And which contacts should
>> be wired to which contacts on the Expansion port?
>
> Hi Doug, nice find. The 130xe is a nice little box. Looks like a junior
>size ST. My favorite of the Atari 8-bits.
It's certainly not a bad little box, but I like the design of the 800XL
better. I like the top-loading trapdoor cartridge port and the solid feel.
The 130XE feels a little flimsy to me. (And neither of them has a very good
keyboard, IMHO.)
Considering the colour scheme of the 1050, I think I'll pair up the
power-and-drive unit with an 800XL. :) I have an XF551 drive that goes better
with the 130XE.
> Based on how the guy put this together, I'm wondering whether it is
>indeed a modem. The 8-bit Ataris used an RS232 interface box to connect
>to printers, modems, etc. The Atari model was an 850 but there were also
>3rd party versions, the MEO and the Black Box.
> Atari did make some printers and modems but you need the 850 to get RS232
>to connect to most peripherals or another computer to transfer disks.
Hummm... I don't know what else it could be, apart from a modem. It has a
phone cable leading out of it. It's got an RJ-11 jack poking out of the
board. And the board has the Atari logo. Of course, the original casing for
the unit is gone.
As for disk transfers, I can do that with my handy-dandy A1020 drive on my
Amiga. It reads and writes several Atari 8-bit formats just fine, including
810 (SS/SD) and XF551 (DS/DD?).
So I don't really have an urgent USE for the modem (if that's what it is) but
I would like to see it in action. Maybe I'll have it talk to my Commodore 64,
and start WWIII. :)
> The comp.sys.atari.8bit newsgroup is quite active and has an excellent
>FAQ.
Oh yeah. I do have an old Atari 8-bit Computers FAQ... from April 1995. I
should probably collect a more recent version. :)
I see the Atari 835, direct connect modem, on the list of 8-bit Atari
hardware. Could it be one of these, or did that also require an RS-232
interface?
> Did you get system disks with it ? Let me know by e-mail and I can
>supply you with some if necessary.
I found DOS 2.5 at an earlier date, and I picked up a few disks of games. I
don't have DOS XE. I'll gladly take any .XFD or .ATR images you'd like to
send via e-mail, though. :)
>ciaolarry
>lwalker_at_interlog.com
>Let us know of your upcoming computer events for our Events Page.
>t3c_at_xoommail.com
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--
Doug Spence
ds_spenc_at_alcor.concordia.ca
http://alcor.concordia.ca/~ds_spenc/
Received on Sat May 08 1999 - 04:31:00 BST