Date   : Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:27:05 +0100
From   : bbcmailinglist@... (Ian Wolstenholme)
Subject: Atom Questions

Thanks for this.  On the Composite Video point, one of my Atoms has a
lead which plugs into the video connector and has a comp video plug
at the other end.  I tried it with my DVD recorder to do some recording,
but the picture isn't stable, it just scrolls vertically round the screen.

My DVD recorder won't pick up the UHF signal either.  It only has an
automatic channel scan function, stupid thing, and goes straight past
the Atom frequency even though it displays a picture at about 590MHz.
I've just discovered that it does the same thing when connected to 
a Master, so it's not the Atom at fault, so there isn't going to be any
recording done tonight!

Best wishes,


Ian

----- Original Message -----
From: Phill Harvey-Smith [mailto:afra@...]
To: bbc-micro@...
Sent: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 21:19:41 +0100
Subject: Re: [BBC-Micro] Atom Questions

Sorry brain dead idiotic list policies strike again !
this was MEANT to go to the list !

Ian Wolstenholme wrote:
 > I've been playing with my Atoms.  They all work but one of them has a
 > faulty 6502 and one of them I can't tune in properly to the TV.
 >
 > Just a few questions have sprung to mind:
 >
 > 1. To upgrade them all to 12K RAM, I need 10 x 2114 RAM chips.  Has
 > anyone got any?

Yep you would need 2114s unless you have an add on ram board.

 > 3. What would happen if I put in a 2MHz (or more) 6502?

Should work fine, I have run one of my machines with a WD65C12, though 
you do have to add a pull-up to pin 36 if you do this, as the WD chip 
needs this pin pulled up, it's not used on the original 6502, so 
shouldn't be a problem with that either.

You could of course use the 6502 out of a BBC or Electron without problems.

 > 5. What is the correct connector for the Acorn expansion bus?  Is it a
 > male or female connector?

Male.

 > 6. How can I find out what optional ROMs are connected to the Atom
 > without taking them out and reading them in an EPROM programmer? Is
 > there an equivalent of *ROMS or *HELP?

Have a look at the Atom memory map and peek the relevant sections.

 > 7. Can I get colour graphics without any extra hardware?  The manual
 > seems to suggest I can, with a special plotting routine or using the 
COLOUR
 > command on the Floating Point ROM.  One of my Atoms has the FP ROM but
 > it's the one I can't tune in properly, so it's possible that it's 
doing colour but I can't see it.  I thought there was a separate colour 
board though.

Nope you need an extra Colour board, the standard Atom will only output 
monochrome video.

Does your TV have composite input ? if so there are 2 pins on the 
expansion video connector that can be used to feed this direct to the 
TV, and bypass the modulator.

Cheers.

Phill.

-- 
Phill Harvey-Smith, Programmer, Hardware hacker, and general eccentric !

"You can twist perceptions, but reality won't budge" -- Rush.

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