Atari 1040ST

The Atari 520ST was released in June 1985 and the 1040ST followed a year later.

The Atari 1040ST would have been an excellent choice for my use in 1986. It was a moment in time where my computing enthusiasm had diminished. The home PC, I decided, wasn't the tool that could inspire my kind of artistic work. The Atari ST computer, I believe, may have had more to offer, but somehow I brushed it off as being nothing more than another toy. The Atari name, I'm quite sure, was instrumental in this negative bias.

The introductory price for the Atari 1040 was $999.99 USD. In today's dollars that would be  $2,348.74. Still a hefty price for a poor college student on his way out with no job prospects in sight.

My interest today in the Atari are numerous. I'm intrigued by the GEM operating system, the sound capabilities and the many interesting creative programs such as Cyber Studio and Cyber Paint. Some of the games produced for Atari by Psygnosis are also quite remarkable. Overall, this is a vintage computer that provides a lot of fun diversions.

It's taken two purchases over the past several years to make a working system. I was able to find an Atari 520ST that was upgraded to a 1040 that included an Atari SC1224 color monitor and external floppy drives. The floppy drives failed early on. Also the computer's case was cracked and not easily repaired. Eventually I was able to acquire another system that was not working and utilize it's case and floppy drive to make a fully functional and intact unit.

Here are the Atari ST specifications:

NAME  520 / 1040 STe
MANUFACTURER  Atari
TYPE  Home Computer
ORIGIN  U.S.A.
YEAR  1985-93
KEYBOARD  Full-stroke keyboard with editing and numeric keypads
CPU  Motorola MC 68000
SPEED  8 mHz
RAM  4 x SIMM sockets - From 512 KB up to 4 Mb
ROM  192 KB (256 KB in later versions)
TEXT MODES  40 or 80 chars. x 25 lines (bitmapped graphics)
GRAPHIC MODES  320 x 200 (16 colors) / 640 x 200 (4 colors) / 640 x 400 (monochrome)
COLORS  4096
SOUND  3 voices + 1 noise channel, 8 octaves + two 8 bit PCM channels
I/O PORTS  Cardridge, Midi (in, out), Centronics, RS232c, Hard Disk, Floppy disk, RGB, Joystick, mouse, 2 x analogue controllers, Stereo RCA jacks
BUILT IN MEDIA  3.5'' disk-drive
OS  TOS + GEM
POWER SUPPLY  Built-in PSU

Here's an advertisement in the April 1987 issue of Byte magazine:

Connecting a VIC-20 to a modern LCD monitor (part two)

Part two explores different options using the composite (AV) connection.

A composite connection requires one RCA type plug that carries the video and one or two RCA plugs for the audio. The yellow plug typically carries the video and the red and white plugs carry the left and right stereo audio. It actually doesn't make a difference which plugs you use for the signal, as long as they are connected properly between devices.

A composite hookup to the VIC-20 requires a new video cable for this. I purchased a cable from www.retrocomputershack.com. They have a storefront on eBay as well.

 If you have a five pin DIN video connector and some RCA plugs, the pinout diagram in the VIC-20 manual will help guide you to making your own.

The Vizio model VA22L HDTV is a great display to connect a composite video cable. Recessed on the side are three RCA jacks for video and audio.

A direct connection from computer to display makes this a hassle free solution... and the image result is great. It's also nice to have the sound coming through the TV's speakers as well.

Connecting to a VGA computer monitor requires converting the composite output to a VGA output. This is where a lot of misinformation begins when searching for an easy solution in connecting a VIC-20 to a modern display. Most posts or how-to videos will show the generic Video Converter Video to VGA device. These will cost between 20 to 25$ USD and seem like the best solution.

I haven't been able to get a good conversion. It's possible that I have an inferior product, but after doing research I found others had the same results.

The image is unacceptable. Two obvious problems:
 the RGB color band at the top of the screen and there is an extreme image offset.

Another solution is to convert the composite video to HDMI. This can be done for less cost than the VGA converter if you have a monitor that supports HDMI.

The result is better, but barely acceptable (note that these images are in wide screen due to the fact that I wasn't able to compress the image to it's original aspect ratio on this monitor).

After more research, I found that there are more expensive alternatives that hardcore gamers tend to utilize.  The RetroTink 2x-classic has overwelming positive reviews and costs around 90$ USD.

 The RetroTink  has mini HDMI output, so it also needs an HDMI to VGA output converter to use on VGA only monitors. This makes a messy link of devices, but seems to make no difference in quality. I purchased a recommended device, due to some reports of device incompatibility with the RetroTink.

The results are great and much better than the Video to VGA and HDMI converters I tried earlier. Though there is an odd dark green band on the left side and overall a less focused and vibrant look than the direct composite hookup.

I tried the RetroTink on six other VGA monitors, essentially getting the same results EXCEPT for the odd dark green band. This appears to be only a problem on the Vizio HDTV.

Overall, I think the direct connection to the Vizio HDTV is the best solution for a composite connection. There is no need for additional devices and I personally think the image has the best resolution. The colors are vibrant and the pixels seem to be better focused.

For VGA hookup, the RetroTink wins by far. Maybe with some monitor adjustments, the RetroTink will match the direct composite video hookup on the Vizio.



S-Video Modification

There is another solution which actually modifies the VIC-20 motherboard to add S-video output. This would lead to a better picture than a composite (AV) connection. Unfortunately, the modification would be troublesome to reverse since two of the board's tracings would have to be cut, two components removed and two others added. This would make the original RF and composite connections obsolete.

I personally fine the composite connection to my Vizio or composite connection utilizing the RetroTink to be worth utilizing, making the additional work of adding S-video not worth the effort. I also don't like making a permanent change to my VIC-20. I'd rather keep it in its original form.



A Complete Commodore System

As a footnote, I connected the VIC-20 to a Commodore 1802 color monitor. The image and sound is great. For a true retro experience, this is absolutely the best way to go (the waves and glare on the screen that you see in these pictures are not what you see in person) .

Connecting a VIC-20 to a modern LCD monitor (part one)

Over the course of the next several blogs, I'll be exploring different means of utilizing a modern LCD display utilizing different technologies that will connect with a VIC-20. Beginning with the least desirable, and hopefully ending with the best solution.

This survey begins with the RF modulator. 

The Commodore VIC-20 was primarily successful because it was an affordable machine. When I purchased mine in 1983, it was $99.00 USD ($100 is $394.94 today). It had dropped from $299.00 since its introduction in 1981.  If I wasn't able to connect the VIC-20 to a TV, I wouldn't have been able to afford it. At this time, an Amdek Color-I Monitor would have cost $329 USD ( $866.23 in today's dollars).

Today, our displays are primarily digital and few HD TVs, if any, have TV modulation support and a coaxial (F-type) RF connector. Before our broadcast system converted to digital, some companies manufactured HDTVs with both  analog and digital tuners and various connections to support VGA, HDMI and other inputs, providing multiple uses for the display.

I have a Vizio model VA22L HDTV that I purchased new back in 2009 for just this reason. I needed a TV and a large computer display in one unit. This particular model has inputs for HDMI, VGA, component, composite (AV) and, of course the coaxial (F-type) RF connector.

All of the necessary parts/cables that were supplied with the original VIC-20 are used to connect the system:

The VIC-20 is connected to it's RF modulator. From there, the RF modulator is connected to a switching box. This allows for a choice between the antenna or computer (labeled game) and also provides a connection to the coaxial (F-type) RF connector that's on the back of all analog TVs. And in this case, also on the back of the Vizio and labeled DTV/TV.

The following are the results:

The image is acceptable. As good as an old tube TV, as far as I remember. Possibly even better.



Another solution is to use any of the various TV cards or devices that were manufactured to add TV broadcast reception to your computer or monitor. I have an AverMedia TVbox 5 that works independently, without a PC. It adds a TV tuner to any VGA monitor.

To make this connection, the VIC-20 modulator with its switching box is connected to the Antenna In coaxial port of the AverMedia device. A VGA cable is connected out to whatever VGA display you have. This particular setup will give you much more flexibility in choosing a display.

 The output is acceptable, but not as good as the RF connection to the Vizio monitor. The color seems desaturated and the text on the startup screen is not as solid



Part two will survey the various means of using the composite connection.

Commodore VIC-20

In 1981 the Commodore Vic-20 was released at the price of $299.00 USD ($845.27 in today's dollars). Even though, it was hailed as the first affordable color computer during its time, it was still too costly and out of my means to purchase. It was in 1983  when it's price dropped to $99.00 USD ($260.66 in today's dollars), I was able to afford a purchase at my university's bookstore.

It became the first computer I owned and really quite a big investment for me at that time. Fortunately, I was able to buy an inexpensive used data cassette drive from a fellow co-worker, making my new system a useful tool to continue learning BASIC and actually create some interesting graphics for print. I was even able to go as far as creating some video art for a performance with a local industrial music band.

I don't have my original VIC-20, but I did purchase one on eBay several years ago for about $70 dollars. It came with it's box and packing material, manual and a few game cassettes and cartridge.

NAME  VIC 20
MANUFACTURER  Commodore
TYPE  Home Computer
ORIGIN  U.S.A.
YEAR  May 1981
END OF PRODUCTION  January 1985
BUILT IN LANGUAGE  CBM Basic V2
KEYBOARD  Full-stroke keyboard, 4 function keys, 66 keys
CPU  Commodore Semiconductor Group 6502A
SPEED  1.0227 Mhz
CO-PROCESSOR  VIC-I (6560) for sound and graphics.
RAM  5 KB (3583 bytes free), expandable up to 32 KB
VRAM  Screen memory shared with regular RAM
ROM  16 KB
TEXT MODES  23 rows x 22 columns
GRAPHIC MODES  184 x 176
COLORS  8 character colors, 16 background/border colors
SOUND  3 voices / 3 octaves
SIZE / WEIGHT  40.3 x 20.4 x 7.2 cm / 1,8 Kg
I/O PORTS  1 joystick port, 1 user port, 1 serial port, 1 cartrige port, Composite video output, tape interface
POWER SUPPLY  External power supply unit, 18 Watts

Future posts will explore various methods of connecting the VIC-20 to a modern LCD monitor as well as the original Commodore CRT monitor.

Upgrading the Dell T1650

With this Dell, I'm putting together the cheapest 3D workstation that won't drive me crazy with memory crashes. The entire system has cost me only 496.10 USD.

The primary upgrade for this PC will be the graphics card. Presently, it's installed with an AMD FirePro 2270 Graphics 512 DDR3. This is not good. Since I plan to use this as a temporary 3D workstation, I'm adding a nVIDIA Quadro K2000 Graphic Card with 2GB of memory. I purchased a reconditioned unit for 141.11 USD on ebay.

Here is the card SPECIFICATIONS: 

GPU Memory 2GB GDDR5

Memory Interface 128-bit

Memory Bandwidth 64.0GB/s

CUDA Cores 384

System Interface PCI Express 2.0 x16

Max Power Consumption 51W

Thermal Solution Ultra-quiet active

fansink

Form Factor 4.376” H x 7.97” L,

Single Slot, Full Height

Display Connectors DVI-I DL + DVI-D DL +

mini-DP1.2

Max Simultaneous Displays 3 direct, 4 DP1.2,

2 Win XP

Max DP 1.2 Resolution 3840 x 2160 at 60Hz

Max DVI-I DL Resolution 2560 × 1600 at 60Hz

Max DVI-I SL Resolution 1920 × 1200 at 60Hz

Max VGA Resolution 2048 x 1536 at 85Hz

Graphics APIs Shader Model 5.0,

OpenGL 4.4, DirectX 11

Compute APIs CUDA, DirectCompute,

OpenCL

Getting into the Dell is quite easy. Probably the easiest case I've opened. There is a pull latch on the side and the side panel lifts out.

The nVIDIA Quadro K2000 utilizes a PCI Express 2.0 x16. The furthest slot down on the left.

I would have liked to added an even better graphics card, but this Dell won't support anything better. It's PCI slot can only supply up to 75w. This card, at 51w is sufficiently rated, but any better card out there will require a higher wattage above the PCI max of 75w.

I'm also adding 8 more RAM to bring the total system RAM to 16. This unit utilizes 1066MHz DDR3-1066 PC3-8500, 240p DIMM, 1.5v. I'm using what I had in more old system. There are four slots located near the top right next to the Intel processor.

Last, I'm adding a 640 GB hard drive in the available slot below the 1TB drive that came with the unit. Unfortunately, there wasn't a cradle to hold the hard drive. I found one on eBay for 5.99 USD.

These cradles are very nice. They are flexible, holding the hard drive with 4 little pins instead of screws. It makes it a lot easier to install a drive.

The two bay slots are on the bottom right of the unit. The cradle slides easily in and locks with the cables in a comfortable position to attach.

This Dell came with a fresh install of Windows 7 Pro. My preferred OS at this time. I was easily able to use the attached serial on the Dell's outer case and register the OS with Microsoft. Any Dell Windows Pro recovery should work for a future fresh install.

Here is my new system specs:

The Windows experience index is low, but with my extra system RAM and 2GB graphics card, I'm able to get by with the heavy 3D modeling I'm working with.