Argh! Google groups is giving me a quick reply format. Please
forgive me if there is no auto indentation
Post by s***@hotmail.comThough probably very rare today, there were also third party drives
like Rana 1000, Indus GT, Astra Big "D" (double, density dual drive),
and many others. (See Atari 8-bit FAQ below. Search for "What other
floppy disk drives can I use with my Atari?")
Many drives and drive systems, Astra, Trak, Percom, Micro Mainframe,
SWP ATR8000 (ATR8000 is an interface, drives purchased separately), and
more, used industry standard drives of the day including the type used
in PC's of the same era. Don't know if this is factor for you but old
PC 360K drives (half-height) make perfect replacment drives for such
systems.
Really??? How do I hook up a PC 360K drive to an Atari? I would love to
do this!
Sorry, I guess I wasn't clear. You need to buy a drive or system that
has the proper controller installed in order to use PC drives. Once
you have such a device, replacement/upgrade drives can be PC drives
The ATR8000 has a 34-pin edge connector. PC floppy drives just plug
in using a ribbon cable. Of course, you need to press an edge
connector onto the ribbon cable as the PC end would normally be a
pin-connector.
The other systems should work similarly but would already have the
necessary cables included.
The Percoms had a special arrangment , drive/slave boxes but I think
the raw drives can be industry drives. The original drives (inside the
Percom boxes) may have been Radio Shack type 35-track drives though.
Post by s***@hotmail.comAn alternative to a disk drive is a SIO2PC cable which will allow you
to connect your Atari computer to a PC which acts as a virtual disk
drive and printer. Disk images are available all over the internet for
use with this cable if you use software like SIO2PC (DOS), APE (DOS and
Windows versions), Atarisio (Linux). I think there a program for a
MAC but I don't know the name.
Just like My Commodore 64 XE cable! I will try to find one immediately.
Do you have any good sources?
I had special needs. The cheap (oops, inexpensive) 1468 1-chip cables
weren't compatible with my ATR8000. Nick Kennedy's 2-chip design works
pretty well. I bought it from
Artur Burzinski (sp?)
http://www.angelfire.com/80s/j131atari/
Found him on Ebay.
He builds a nice cable but it uses the 1-chip design. When I had
problems with my ATR8000 he built me a 2-chip design (no extra charge).
Shipping was a bit high at, $10 (from Poland) but I won my auction
at $10 so overall it was pretty cheap (if I didn't need a special
cable, that is. Return shipping cost me $4 plus the cost of
packaging).
I hear good things about Steve Tucker's new cable (available from
www.atarimax.com) though I don't know much about it so you better ask
others here for opinions. (Seach this group or the 8-bit FAQ for
information on the differences between SIO2PC, 10502PC, and PRO
cables).
If you are good with a soldering iron there are plenty of SIO2PC
schematics online. Below is a great site.
Link
http://www.geocities.com/atarimods/
There is also some brand new hardware available for the Atari 8-bit.
Latest version of MyIDE (IDE interfaces), USB interface (limited to a
few gaming controllers, I think), Flash cartridges (multiple Atari
ROM/disk images/binary files), and more.
Post by s***@hotmail.comLink
http://www.faqs.org/faqs/atari-8-bit/faq/>
These were just some examples. There are plenty of people with
experience here with all of the above who can offer actual
recommendations. I'm not one of them, except I own an ATR8000 and I've
tried two SIO2PC cables.
Steve Sheppard
Thanks again for such detailed information. People like you make it a
joy to get into retro computing.
Personally, I get most of my Atari nostalgia kicks from emulators (like
Atari800Win PLUS 4.0 beta 4) but I keep my old Atari gear going.
Enjoy your Atari,
Steve Sheppard