A new version of the firmware for the Atari UnoCart 2600 Cartridge by DirtyHairy is released.
Changelog:
Download:
source: github.com/DirtyHairy/UnoCart-2600
The mouSTer device allows connecting any USB (not ps/2 protocol type only) mouse/joystick/gamepad to as many old computers and consoles as possible.
At the moment the following retro platforms are fully supported:
…more:
Future support with minor hardware changes for SEGA consoles and possibly XT PC.
Wireless support for gamepads is also work-in-progress but it might take a while.
Also wireless support for dongle pads like Xbox360 and many more. We are also open to suggestions.
Gallery:
source: retrohax.net retrohax.net firmware
The UnoCart is an Atari 2600 cartridge emulator at low price and open source under a GPL license. It supports cartridges with up to 64k of ROM and 32k of RAM with extensions; BIN, ROM or A26.
It comes with a 3D printed case and it works on PAL & NTSC systems! It will also run on most 7800 machines (but will not run 7800 ROMs).
Most games and demos, including Pitfall II, runs fine on 99% of systems. The firmware has been updated, we are on version 17 released in September 2020 to maker sure of maximum compatibility.
Recent homebrew releases, like Galaga, The End and some others that require DPC or DPC+ commands will not work yet.
Gallery:
Video:
Download:
Atari 2600 UNO Cart Shell: https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:4580701
Atari 2600 JR (version without RF Modulator Box) PAL Composite Video Mod for my friend Charlie.
Gallery of the work done:
source: blog.tynemouthsoftware.co.uk
Yes, it’s a long story, because i have modded this Atari 2600 JR many times.
The first time have made a simple composite video mod without adding any external components, so i have made the composite mod with 1 transistor and a couple of resistors, the last composite mod is the UAV (Ultimate Atari Video) made from a dude of AtariAge that was given to me by my friend Charlie and today i have put 3 x RCA for video/audio output in place of a cable passed through the RF hole.
I used the same hole as the RF output for the VIDEO output and soldered a RCA connector in the same pcb pad of the RF RCA connector, i have used the same pcb track that was needed for the RF signal for the Composite signal, i have also removed a resistor (R19) to isolate the pcb track.
Gallery:
Atari 2600 (4-switch units) Repair.
Defect:
Replaced parts:
Gallery of the repair:
UAV (Ultimate Atari Video) Video Upgrade for Atari Computers & Consoles.
This circuit improves the signal video output and allow to use both output (SVIDEO and COMPOSITE). The circuit is compatible with all Atari 2600, 5200, 7800 consoles and all Atari Home Computers 400, 800, 1200 …
I thank my friend Charlie for giving me this circuit that i have immediately installed in my Atari 2600 Jr which i use with the Harmony SD Cartridge.
NOTE:
Don’t use the socket in place of the IC 4050 as seen in the photo. The external case of the Atari 2600Jr console is too thin and cannot be closed anymore.
Gallery of the work done:
source: atariage.com
The Leonardo console is nothing more than a italian clone distributed by “Gig” of the console Emerson Arcadia 2001. 35 games have been published under the GIG Leonardo label.
Arcadia 2001 is a second-generation 8-bit console released by Emerson Radio in 1982 following the release of ColecoVision. It was discontinued only 18 months later, with a total of 35 games having been released. Emerson licensed the Arcadia 2001 to Bandai, which released it in Japan. Over 30 Arcadia 2001 clones exist.
The unrelated Arcadia Corporation, manufacturer of the Atari 2600 Supercharger add-on, was sued by Emerson for trademark infringement. Arcadia Corporation then changed its name to Starpath.
The Arcadia is much smaller than its contemporary competitors and is powered by a standard 12-volt or 9-volt power supply so it can be used in a boat or a vehicle. It also has two outputs (or inputs) headphone jacks on the back of the unit, on the far left and far right sides.
The system came with two Intellivision-style controllers with a 12 button keypad and ‘fire’ buttons on the sides. The direction pads have a removable joystick attachment. Most games came with BoPET overlays that could be applied to the controller’s keypads. The console itself had five buttons: power, start, reset, option, and select.
There are at least three different types of cartridge case styles and artwork, with variations on each. Emerson-family cartridges come in two different lengths (short and long) of black plastic cases.
Technical specifications:
Gallery:
source: wikipedia
The Atari 2600 (or Atari Video Computer System before November 1982) is a home video game console by Atari, Inc. Released on September 11, 1977, it is credited with popularizing the use of microprocessor-based hardware and ROM cartridges containing game code, a format first used with the Fairchild Channel F video game console in 1976. This format contrasts with the older model of having non-microprocessor dedicated hardware, which could only play the games that were physically built into the unit.
For five years, 1977 until late 1982, the system was officially sold as the Atari VCS, an abbreviation for Video Computer System. Following the release of the Atari 5200 in November 1982, the VCS was renamed to the “Atari 2600″, after the unit’s Atari part number, CX2600. The 2600 was typically bundled with two joystick controllers, a conjoined pair of paddle controllers, and a game cartridge: initially Combat, and later Pac-Man.
Gallery:
source: wikipedia
The Atari CX40 joystick was the first widely used cross-platform game controller. The original CX10 appeared on the Atari 2600 in 1977, and was considered such a great advance over other controllers that it became the primary input device for most games on the platform. The CX10 was replaced after a year by the much simpler and less expensive CX40. The addition of the Atari joystick port to other platforms cemented its popularity, and millions were produced and used on almost every game console and home computer of the era.
The CX40 was so popular during its run that it became as iconic for Atari as its “Fuji” it remains a common staple in video game iconography to this day, and is commonly referred to as the symbol of 1980s video game system design. The CX40 has been called “the pinnacle of home entertainment controllers in its day”, and remains a staple of industrial design discussions.
source: wikipedia
Some interesting things to close my personal Atari collection.
Description:
The Interton VC 4000 is originally a rebranded and reshaped Radofin 1292 Advanced Programmable Video System, released in 1976 (making it the second, if not the first, CPU and interchangeable ROM based console).
The machine is powered by a CPU and a GPU, both made by Signetics, an American chip maker bough by Philips in 1975. The APVS/VC4000 seems to be conceived by Philips to promote their Signetics chips, and was probably sold to various little electronics companies.
Claims are that Interton conceived the VC4000 before the APVS, but the release date is still 1978.
Various threads on Internet show different specs for the APVS and the VC4000, but it’s probably a confusion between the CPU speed and RAM and the GPU speed and RAM.
The specs seems to be as is:
The GPU is able to offer a display of 218*200 pixels, with 8 colors, and monochrome sprite(s?).
It’s also in charge of the sound. It seems more able than your regular beeper, but not on par with the Atari 2600 or Videopac. (or, maybe it is but never shows, at the sound is exactly the same on the Arcadia 2001, and it sounds much better, tho still weak compared to other systems).
The input consist of 3 keys : Reset, Select and Start.
Plus two joysticks; they have an analog joystick (free on the APVS family, auto-centered on the VC4000 family) 2 action/fire buttons (which seems to be one button, so they might be internall wired together) and a 12 buttons keypad-like keyboard.
About 50 games have been programmed for the various systems release. Although Interton (or Interton fans?) claim that the Interton VC4000 is superior to the APVS, back in 1980, cart adapters were sold to play APVS carts on Interton VC4000 and vice-versa; furthermore, dump of games showed no difference between most games, the main difference being for some in-gam words changed to English to German, and the mention “Interton VC 4000″ added in few games.
Also, Interton claimed all games to have been programmed in Germany, but looking at the code in the game “Shoot out” bring up this text :
“CHOI ANDREW, HONG KONG, MARCH 31 1981. PROGRAMS BY THE SAME AUTHOR: INVADER, BREAKOUT”
The system was sold from 1976 to 1984; tho there isn’t any definitive date, as those date covers all licenced clones; I have seen the Interton VC4000 in a French video game magazine dated from December 1982; and I own a ITMC MPT-05 clone with a receipt from 1984 inside (tho it might just be some old stock; but the IMTC MPT series of clones seems all to started to sell in 1983).
From what I have found, there are 50 different games released for the system, tho some are available only on one family.
The families are :
1292/1392 APVS (6 uniques games + Hobby Module)
Interton VC4000 (a great winner with 10 unique games plus the biggest list of games overall)
ITMC MPT05 (not enough data)
Voltmace (5 unique games)
Rowtron (2 unique games)
There might be another family two French systems (Karvan Computer and Occitel OC-2000) but there is nothing but pictures to be found about them.
There is also the Hobby Module add-on (for the APVS only), that added the possibility to program games in Signetics BASIC? and more importantly, to record and load programs from a cassette tape.
Specs are even harder to find than for the main system, but this cart seems to add some RAM (tho, it might just be dedicaced to the tape data and not available for the program itself) and some mention an AY 3-8910 sound chip (a classic sound arcade chip found in so many computers of the 80′s and into some consoles like the Vectrex)
One notable feature of the console, aside from the analog joystick, is how to boot any game.
When powering the system, the screen will display raodom stuff; Reset mush be pressed to get a normal screen.
This is due to the weak amount of CPU RAM. Why so few RAM? Back in 1976, only some types of RAM could be adressed directly by the CPU;this RAM was obviously more expensive than other RAM; (it’s one reason why the Fairchild channel F got only 64 octets and the 2600 128 octets).
To get more RAM, one workaround (that got used also in the Colecovision) is to use few RAM to boot up the system, and load one instruction for the CPU to look in the GPU RAM to load data. The GPU RAM being obviously cheaper, allowing to get more of it.
Tho, probably from bad programming, later games carts not only have more ROM, but also up to 256 octets of RAM.
Most games are pretty typical of the era; Videopac/Odyssey² offer about the same kind of games, with a likely evolution from “basic” games to licenced-like games later in the life of the system, with clones of arcade such as Invaders.
Gallery:
source: atariage.com
Javatari is a new cross platform Atari 2600 emulator designed for the Web.
It’s great for displaying games running inside webpages. You can launch the emulator and load ROMs with a single link. And now you can play Atari 2600 games with touch controls on your Android/iOS device, even when offline!
New in Version 4.0:
Features:
Download: Javatari.js v4.0.1 (1133)
source: javatari.org
Javatari is now Javatari.js! The emulator has been completely rewritten, and is now 100% in HTML5 and Javascript.
Javatari.js is a multiplayer Atari 2600 emulator written in pure Javascript/HTML5 with no external libs.
Features and Highlights:
New in version 0.91:
Download: Javatari.js v0.91 (2280)
source: javatari.org
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