August 2017
August 2017 Edition
Message from Captain Irata: “Be strong! Keep your life meter up playing your Atari games!” HOO-RAH!
board ability to generate such tones, but the POKEY in the computer is used for this. The POKEY’s “volume control only” mode (4-bit pulse code modulation, or PCM) is used.
in our coffers.
But, how does the sound get to the 1030, when the SIO bus has no audio-out line, and 4-bit PCM cannot be transmitted over the SIO audio output line?
Thanks to all who brought the delicious food for the party. It was a plentiful choice of foods, I think everyone had their fill, and the table conversation was welcoming even though a lot of it was over the top of my head.
In this case, Atari found they could (fairly) reliably pick up POKEY’s sound output on the SIO INPUT line, that to leakage from POKEY sound output! A crazy hack, but that’s how they did it. They had to use two different routines, one for the 800, and one for the 1200XL, thanks to different characteristics between the two computers. Tone dialing is not available on the 400, presumably due to audio characteristics in the 400 that did not make the hack possible.
It was great seeing everyone last month, what a great party! 35 years of SPACE, and still going. It has been a long time since SPACE ran a BBS, as stipulated in our bylaws. The bylaws discussion last month of lifting that requirement that we run a SPACE BBS led to concern about the status of any software written for the club and for the BBS long ago. Such software would still be owned by the club to this day. If the club formally drops its BBS, would that also imply giving up ownership rights to such software? There was enough concern that the bylaws proposal was tabled, and thus SPACE still operates a BBS. Temporarliy unavailable. A couple of neat features about the Atari 8-bit computers recently: one thing that makes Atari program recorders different from standard audio cassette players is an on-board analog-todigital converter, for passing along data to the computer via SIO. How about the reverse, like the data sounds recorded to cassette? Well, those sounds are generated to the POKEY using a “two-tone mode,” and are transmitted to the program recorder over SIO, via the (normally digital SIO Serial Data Out line. Cool! Even better: How about the tones for tone dialing by the 1030 modem? The 1030 has no onTRIVIA TIME Nolan K. Bushnell, co-founder of Atari Corporation, also created Chuck E. Cheese’s Pizza Time Theater, and the now defunct uWink. In 2010, he was on the Board of Directors of the new Atari, Inc.
We added two memberships for $30.00, and sold nine DOMs for $27.00. What a month!
My wife left the table to start cleaning up, saying she wasn’t sure if the members were speaking English. I kind of had to agree with her. It got pretty technical. Thanks again for the turnout. I wish it could be like this again in the near future, but until then we will keep it going. I hope to see as many as possible next month.
It would seem that they were just lucky if tone dialing worked in the later 600XL/800XL and XE machines, since they were not out yet when the 1030 was developed. Thanks. Keep using that Atari, and come to your next SPACE meeting, Friday, August 11, 2017.
HELLO WORLD! Welcome to the August edition of the Sec retary’s Report! As always, I am always happy to report to the club.
Our SPACE 35th Anniversary Birthday Party could not have turned out better. We added a new member (Roger Mier); we had eight members and two spouses present.; we had a very nice spread for our party; plus, we had various Atari 8-bit conversatiobns that we not had in a long time. For me, it was the best SPACE meeting ever. Just having all our members present, except our two out-of-staters, made it feel like the old times. I wish it could be this way every month. We need to make changes in our by-laws, but more information will be forthcoming before we can vote on them. It may be a few months before we all can meet again on this topic, but we need to get a majority of the members at the meeting to approve the changes. On top of the July meeting being so successful, we took in $57.00-the best month since last October. We started the month with a bank balance of $411.54, and now we have $468.54
Our meeting commenced at 7:30 PM., July 14. We had an in-depth explanation about the DOM (which I will review later), the SPACE website has been resurrected, thanks to our venerable President, Mike Current, and we have a Facebook page now, which is good. I am glad that Lance proposed the idea of protecting our intellectual property that would be in the BBS. I am satisfied with the idea of keeping the BBS temporarily down. Because, it is after all. The party was a blast! I really enjoyed myself, and I think everyone else did, too. The meeting adjourned at at 7:57 PM. So, I close the Report. In Stan Lee’s words… EXCELSIOR! TABLE OF CONTENTS: President’s Corner: Treasurer’s Report: Trivia Time: Secretary’s Report: Recent Atari News: 8-bit DOM Report:
1 1 1 1 2 2
Recent Atari News Atari Announces Blade Runner 2049 Partnership with NECA and Audiowear, Launching Wearable Technology that Blurs the Line Between Fashion and Future Atari-branded Speakerhats Powered by Audiowear to be Unveiled at San Diego Comic Conwith Limited Edition Co-Branded Atari/BLADE RUNNER 2049 Products to Follow this Fall NEW YORK, NY–July 20, 2017 - Atari©, one of the world’s most iconic brands and interactive entertainment producers today, announced a partnership with action figure and collectibles maker NECA to introduce wearable technology products for BLADE RUNNER 2049, the hotly anticipated sequel to the legendary Ridley Scott-directed sci-fi movie, coming to theaters on October 6, 2017. The first wave of Atari Speakerhats, powered by Audiowear, the technology company creating next-generation individual and social audio experiences, debuts today and will be joined this fall by a Limited Edition BLADE RUNNER 2049 Atari Speakerhat. The Speakerhat is a baseball-style cap with high-fidelity stereo speakers and microphone that can connect instantly to any Bluetoothenabled device, enabling phone calls, audio/ music, and voice control. The patented Speakerhat, combined with Social Synchronous Broadcast technology, will enable Multiplayer Mode: multiple Speakerhat users to simultaneously listen to a single audio stream in perfect synchronization, a fundamentally new social audio experience. Speakerhats have been precision-designed and engineered to the audio standards to deliver a unique and powerful experience to a range of active customers, including gamers, outdoor and fitness enthusiasts, skaters, musicians, sports fans, tech early adopters, and many others. “Atari has transcended its seminal gaming origins to become a true pop-culture lifestlye brand, but disruption remains rooited in our DNA,” said Atari Connect COO, Michael Arzt. “With the recent reveal of our Ataribox project and now with Speakerhats, we envision a full range of connected personal devices that live at society’s intersection of entertainment, ,technology, and social connectivity that legendary film worlds like BLADE RUNNER 2049 foretell. Our new products wil speak to a whole new generation of Atari fans, while also honoring the decades of affection and devotion by our most loyal ones.” “BLADE RUNNER 2049 made a distinctive and memorable mark with its recent trailer that skillfully captured and evolved the aesthetic presented in the classic original film. Atari was an enduring and essential element in the sequel filmmakers’ world building,” said NECA COO, Joel Weinshanker. “The minute the trailer hit, we started getting requests for Atari-branded BLADE RUNNER 2049 products and knew we’d need to partner with Atari to satisfy the countless joint fans of both franchises.”
The Limited Edition Atari BLADE RUNNER 2049 Speakerhat will ultimately be joined by a variety of Atari-brranded lifestyle products such as high-tech wearables and apparel based on its popular IP, as well as various audio and gaming gadgets. To learn more about Atari Speakerhats and future Atari connected-lifestyle products, visit AtariLife.com. For more details and chances to win Atari Speakerhats, like us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/AtariLife, and follow us on Instagram and AtariLife. ABOUT ATARI Atari is an interactive entertainment production company. As an iconic brand that transcends generations and audiences, the company is globally recognized for its multiplatform, interactive entertainment and licensed products. Atari owns and/or manages a platform of mor ethan 200 games and franchises, including world-renowned brands like Asteroids©, Centipede©, Missile Command©, Pong©, and RollerCoaster Tycoon©. Atari has officees in NewYork and Paris. ©2017 Atari Interactive, Inc. All rights reserved. Atari wordmark and logo are trademarks owned by Atari Interactive, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. ABOUT NECA NECA (National Entertainment Collectibles Association) is a leading creator and global distributor of licensed consumer products based some of the world’s most recognizable movies, video games, comic books, and pop culture. Featured licenses include major properties from Marvel and DC comics, ALIEN, BLADE RUNNER 2049, GODZILLA, STAR TREK, TEENAGE MUTANT NINJA TURTLES, A CHRISTMAS STORY, “Weird Al” Yankovic, as well as major video game properties. The NECA group of companies includes game developer and publisher WizKids and urban vinyl icon Kidrobot. ABOUT AUDIOWEAR Audiowear Technology is creating nextgeneration individual and social audio experiences. Based in Los Angeles,
Atari 8-bit DOM Report By Steven Peck A BRIEF APOLOGY… NOTE: Due to technical difficulties still continuing with my disk drive, I unfortunately cannot do the 8-bit DOM reviews for this month. I apologize for the unfortunate inconvenience this has caused. I will be back on the scene with the three DOM reviews I have promised next month. Thank you for any and all of your patience as I clear this minor setback up.
C.A
Yes, really, we do! If you have something to submit to the Newsletter, please feel free to e-mail me, SPACE Secretary and Newsletter Editor Steve Peck (artisan213574@gmail.com), and I will respond in kind and help you get it on here. Besides, I can use the help, since I arrange the stuff on here all myself. Thanks for the considerations. NOTE: Forgive the lateness of this Newsletter. I was more busy than I previously anticipated I would be. Thanks for understanding!
The next SPACE meeting is on Friday, August 11, 2017, At 7:30 P.M. We hope to see you there! Please feel welcome!