Vintage Atari 800 (810, 850, & 410) System with Extensive Software & Doc Library For Sale

Vintage Atari 800 (810, 850, & 410) System with Extensive Software & Doc Library
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Vintage Atari 800 (810, 850, & 410) System with Extensive Software & Doc Library:
$459.00

UPDATE 4/28: Found more documents/books. The current price will be the last price reduction. Individually, the separate hardware alone would sell (has sold) for more than $650, not to mention all the software and documents/books. Also see the note regarding the Commodore 1702 monitor at the bottom of this description.
This one of a kind Atari 800 48K System was purchased new in the early 1980's. It consists of the 800 Computer, 810 Floppy Drive, the 850 Serial/Parallel Interface, and the 410 Data Cassette Deck. The System Hardware includes 12 ROM (Game and Application) Cartridges, a spare 16K Ram Module, and 2 Joysticks. Additionally, included is a very extensive library of over 180 Floppy Program Disks (noted below), and over 40 rare Books and Documents.
The ROM Based Game Cartridges include: Pac-Man, Defender, Galaxian, Centipede, Star Raiders, River Raid, Jumbo Jet Pilot, and Pit Stop. Utility Cartridges include: Basic Computing Language, Assembler Editor Computing Language, Atari Writer, and Fun With Art. See images of all 12 Cartridges in operation.The Floppy Disk based software collection includes: 20+ DOS Disks (various versions), 15+ UtilitiesDisks (many programs per disk), 8 Bookkeeping Disks, 9 Graphics Disk, 70+ GameDisks (over 200 games), 30+ Educational Disks, 10+ Programming and Development Disks, 2 Ham Radio Disks, 6 Word processor Disks, 6 Modem/Terminal Disks, 3 Music Disks, 8 Printer Utilities Disks, and a Disk Drive Cleaner Disk. Please note that while the images of the software are seen in their cases, these cases will NOT be included. All floppy disks have been meticulously wrapped in a foil, by group, to minimize damage during shipment.All power supplies for the 800, 810, and 850 are included, along with two data cables, a custom DB-15 to Centronics Parallel printer cable, and an S-Video/Audio cable. 800 48K RAM Configuration: As seen in the images, it should be noted that the 800 has a total of 48K of RAM (it was purchased stock with 32K). To get to the 48K limit, a 3rd Party Intec Peripherals 32K RAM board was purchased. Because the 32K RAM is on a single board, it's inserted into the middle RAM slot. The rear slot is then left unpopulated. Note that the 800 ONLY supports 48K or RAM. Attempting to insert the spare Atari CX853 RAM Memory Module into the rear RAM slot WILL NOT WORK.800/810 TESTING: This system has been in storage since late 1980, and after almost 40 years, the 800 Computer and 810 Floppy Drive are full functional. As seen in the images, all ROM cartridges are functional. The 810 Floppy Drive reads and writes correctly. Several disks were created (formatted) and read without errors. One note about the included Floppy Disk library. Keeping in mind the age of this system and disks, during testing, a random sampling of about 20% of disks were attempted to be loaded. However, in this sampling, about 5% were not able to be read. Due to the age of the disks themselves, this would be considered expected, given their age.Also note that as seen in the images, a Commodore 1702 video monitor (NOT INCLUDED) was used during testing. This monitor has an S-Video input (separate Chroma and Luminescence video signals), providing the best video image possible (photos don't do it justice). During initial testing, an attempt to view the S-Video output was made using two different low cost S-Video to HDMI adapters. However, these adapters for some reason, didn't support he Atari's video signal resolution of 320x192 (low resolution, 16 colors) or 640x192 (high resolution, 2 colors), depending on the program. Keep this in mind. A more expensive Auto-Sync adapter should work. The 800 also has a NTSC (analog Channel 3 or 4) RF output, which is assumed to be functional, but not tested.850 TESTING: The 850 Serial/Parallel Interface powers up, but was not able to be tested. When last used, it functioned normally for both printing and connection to a modem.410 TESTING: As with any tape drive that has internal belts, deterioration is inevitable. This 410 was no exception. ALL belts were replaced for this sale. All transport functions work well. As for functional testing, I don't have any good cassettes to check for functionality. An attempt was made to write (CSAVE) and read (CREAD) from an old cassette. The save appeared to work, but for the readback, the 800 reported checksum errors. I assume the errors were due to the old cassette tape. As such, there's no assurance of the 410 to be in good functional operation.800 MODIFICATIONS: As an Atari 800 "Power User", a few modifications were made to the 800 and 810. 1) A internal speaker ON/OFF switch was added, located in the lower front left side. 2) There was also a front panel power switch modification, but has been removed. To run the 800 to load ROM cartridge and/or 810 Floppy based software (in most cases) requires the 800's power to be cycled, either buy raising the ROM Cartridge lid, or cycling the main power switch. The (previous) modification was to pull out the Cartridge Cover plunger, and solder in a remote switch, which parallels the on-board micro-switch. What this allowed was a convenient way to cycle the 800's power without having to constantly reaching to the side of the 800's console.810 MODIFICATION: Again, as an Atari 800 "Power User", the 810 was modified to incorporate "The Chip", which facilitated the ability of the 810 to create "archive" copies of software. Back in the day, floppy reliability was dubious at best, and "The Chip" was one solution to create "working" copies, just in case the the floppy disk media failed or became unreadable. When in the "Test Mode", the drive would use special software (included, but NOT tested) to create these "archive" copies. In the "Normal Mode", the drive operates as usual. Included in the software library, is a utilities disk labeled "Utility's #1" that has a drive speed "RPM" program, to adjust the drive rotational speed to 288 RPM. This was tested, and required no additional adjustment. Full documentation for "The Chip" is included.FINAL THOUGHTS: Keeping in mind that this Atari 800 system is almost 40 years old, time has been good to it, but some maintenance might be considered. Initial testing found that some of the ROM cartridges didn't boot correctly. Wiggling and reseating the cartridges resolved this issue. In the end, the all the cartridges worked fine, probably due to multiple seating's self-cleaning contacts. Over time, all electronics age, whether it be card edges being oxidized, or some components, like Electrolytic Capacitors that may need replacing at some point. If used as-is, the 800/810 should work well for many years, but just consider some PM down the road.SHIPPING NOTES: This 800 System Package will be shipped in three (3) boxes. Because only allows the inclusion of one (1) box in it's listings, the main shipping box will only contain the 800, 810, 850, and 410, power supplies and cables, and joysticks. The books and software will be shipped in two (2) separate boxes. The software would be shipped via USPS Ground Advantage, and the books would be shipped USPS Media Mail. It's estimated that the additional cost is around $50 or so. These additional costs should be considered in the purchase price of the system, and is NOT reflected in the pre-purchase listing price.
Main Box Shipping Method: Note that while USPS Ground Advantage is the least expensive, I'd recommend UPS for better handling.
If you want the Software and/or Books shipped via different methods, PLEASE inform me at time of purchase. Commodore 1702 For Sale: If purchased with this Atari 800 System, I'd be willing to sell the monitor for a DEEP discount of $150.00 plus shipping. Note that this monitor is weighs about 35 Lbs.
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