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Geek Culture / Atari Problems

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Pricey
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Joined: 22nd Feb 2003
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Posted: 8th Jan 2005 05:49
I bought an Atari ST 520 a while ago for £5 with mouse and loads of joysticks and about 50 floppys packed with games. It worked perfectly on my old tv and I just left it under my bed for a while. I now have a new tv and decided to try the Atari out again and plugged it in and when the GUI loaded there was a big black line across the top. I messed with the tuning and couldn't improve it, so I thought hmm, maybe it'll work with a game. So I put in a disk and booted it and the menu worked fine, no problems. I ran a game and whoa screen mess, lines everywhere and shakey picture, messed with the tuning, nothing. I tried changing the refresh on the atari to 60hz and it made things a whole lot worse. The sound is perfect.

See the picture to see what I mean.

Could anyone please help?

:: 1.8 gHZ AMD Duron :: 256 MB Ram :: 32 MB SiS Graphics ::

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Osiris
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Joined: 6th Aug 2004
Location: Robbinsdale, MN
Posted: 8th Jan 2005 05:51
looks like a problem with the t.v. refresh rate the newer t.v's refresh faster to cope with the cable television

Pricey
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Posted: 8th Jan 2005 05:53
Yeh, the TV is cable compatable. Its a 14" Beko cheap thing. My spectrum works fine on it though...

:: 1.8 gHZ AMD Duron :: 256 MB Ram :: 32 MB SiS Graphics ::

:: Current Project: Sea Bound ::
Osiris
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Location: Robbinsdale, MN
Posted: 8th Jan 2005 05:55
well then maybe its not connected good enough or maybe try cleaning it up nice because the cords on those older things a re really crappy

Van B
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Posted: 8th Jan 2005 06:24
It is quite easy to damage the modulator (the bit inside where the aerial lead plugs in). If someone stands on the aerial lead it can break contacts inside and it's a real bugger to fix. Of course... There's always that monitor socket.


Van-B


It's c**p being the only coder in the village.
Richard Davey
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Posted: 8th Jan 2005 09:11
The ST will expect very specific timing from the TV - what frequency does yours run at? They were designed in an era when it was 50 or 60 hz only. I believe some modern TVs actually cannot sync that low! Of course, your modulator could be duff too, try it on a different TV to find out Sound is handled differently - you could have no display at all and still have perfectly working sound.

Cheers,

Rich

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Pricey
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Posted: 8th Jan 2005 22:37
The TV runs at 50hz and 60hz. I think it could be the modulator... What sort of monitor do I need? Its a non standard connector.

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:: Current Project: Sea Bound ::
Yu Une
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Posted: 2nd Feb 2005 18:26
Hmm.. looks like it's not quit in sync, does your computer have a switch somewere kind of like a channel 3 channal 4, if so then switch your computer depending if it has that.

Hope this helps.
Van B
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Posted: 2nd Feb 2005 18:40
Well the modulator is a little silver box inside the ST, it's connector is like a phono output on a hi-fi, the end of the aerial is the same as a phono lead, so it might be worth trying another cable, you'd really need another 520ST to replace the modulator, although it looks more like a dodgy connection. These solid cables can be easy to break inside, but chopping the end off your existing cable and fitting a new phono jack onto it should not be too difficult.

Also, there's a little screw beside the aerial socket, there's a hole you should be able to get a small flat head screwdriver into, this changes the frequency that the ST's modulator transmits at - try adjusting this. IIRC the ST interfeered with the bandwidth of certain types of video recorder, adjusting the frequency might fix it but you will need to re-tune your TV.

EBay would be a good source for monitors, I've no idea what sort of prices they go for though. Do you know anyone with an old AmstradCPC monitor though? - they can be madified to work on ST's by rewiring then to suit the ST's monitor port.


Van-B


It's c**p being the only coder in the village.
Pricey
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Posted: 4th Feb 2005 06:39
Thankyou! I'll look into what you said, I've tried many different RF cables.

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:: Current Project: Sea Bound ::

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