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G}JB|,#P#DE 1 HI BDEHHII 1 B 1 ,^ 1 70,0La- B V,#PH},^ 1 70 0L#L!-* 1P* 1 y0Yj383}mm ݭI}}`8}``|* ? ɛ,`|:-)| / 1L!`DESTINATION CANT BE DOJ}S.SYS0 0H{ 24Δ 28/L!/) 2 Π 2 0 ξK}hAΞB,0 J 1 BDEHI,HÝDE 1HIHIDELSAVE-GIVE L}FILE,START,END(,INIT,RUN)O S0 1`BDEPHI V` S0H 1 L!M}0 0 1L~0`PLEASE TYPE 1 LETTER,0`hhL! 70 1L0L<1 ,;ɛ7,"ɛ:ݦ1ݥN}A"D|ݤD|ȩ:|ȩ|ɛ,,(/+.ީ1 1,ɛ`轤{NAMEO} TOO LONG B VL!` L1I H1EΝDL1|mDiE` V0`8d/8 i:222 1 LP}!ERROR- 138ɛ+,' 20*.. өr2 1``2TOO MANY DIGITSINVALID HEXAQ}DECIMAL PARAMETER800 0 8 00`,0'D800 H,ɛh`2L1NEED D1 THRU D8uR} ECIMAL PARAMETER800 0 8 00`,0'D800 H,ɛh`2L1NEED D1 THRU D8u The 8-Bit Parallel Interface This is a spin-off from the various articles I've read describing parallel inteT}rfaces that use two of the joystick ports on Atari computers. All the interfaces I've seen allow only 7 bits of data, using tU}he remaining PIA (the 6520 Peripheral Interface Adapter) bit for handshaking. This is also true of Paul Swanson's printer iV}nterface article (Analog Computing issue 16). For those of you who need a full 8-bit interface, here's a simple hardwareW} project that'll give you almost full blown parallel interface, with eight data lines and 4 handshaking lines. I'm not going X}into the various ways in which such an interface can be used, but I've worked out an almost complete IEEE-488 interface and aY}lso use it for a ham radio telephone patch controller. Intrigued? Read on... How It Works The basic idea iZ}s very simple. the PIA chip has two 8-bit ports, PORTA (port A) and PORTB (port B), assessiable though the computer's operati[}ng system (OS). The joystick ports are connected to PORTA on the PIA chip, and 8 bits of PORTA are split up into 4 bits each \}for the two joystick ports. The older 400/800 machines used all 16 bits on the PIA ports, split up among four joystick p]}orts. However we'll confine our discussion to PORTA only, in order to keep it valid for the XL/XE series of computers. E^}ach of the joystick ports has an input-only line that normally comes from the trigger on the joystick. These lines don't go t_}o the PIA, but head elsewhere in the machine. Because any handshaking protocol must involve outgoing control lines, it's clea`}r that some of the 8 PIA bits must be reserved for this purpose. This means that, for any 8-bit data transfer, all 8 bita}s cannot go out of the PIA port at the same time. Fortunately, they don't have to. an 8-bit word can be split up into two 4-bb}it nibbles, which can be sent out one at a time though one half the PIA port. The other half can be used to suitably latc}ch the two halves, so that the final output is a full 8-bit word. The latching needs only 2 of the 4 remaining bits of PORTA,d} leaving the other 2 bits free for outgoing handshaking signals. (Actually, 1 bit is sufficient for the latching, but using 2e} is slightly better). The two trigger inputs can be used for incoming signals, giving an 8 bit data bus with a 4-bit control f}bus. Two 74LS75 4-bit latches are used to store the two halves of the 8-bit word as they come out of the joystick port 1g} (PIA PORTA bits 0-3). Bits 4 and 5 of PORTA, available at joystick port 2, are used to alternately enable the latches to sth}ore the data, and bits 6 and 7 are available for handshaking.   1 2 3 4 5 Joyi}stick port  Pin assignment  6 7 8 9  1-4 Data (PIA PORTA) 5 Ignore (j}no connection) 6 Trigger input 7 +5V (ignore) 8 Ground 9 IgnoreCircuit Parts List:IC1: k}74LS244 Octal noninverting buffer pin 20 Vcc (+5V), Pin 10 groundIC2: 74LS75 Quad F Flipflops Pin 5 Vcc (+5V), pil}n 12 ground Circuit schematic and pin connectionsJoystick Port 1 pins  (LSB) m}  1 | ñ | | ò |b0 o2 182 16o 2 | n} | || |b1 o4 16|3 15o 3 | | | || |b2 o6 14o}||6 10o 4 | | | | || |b3 o8 12|||7 9o 1 | | | p}| | || 4 13 | P 11 9|||| O 2 | | | | || R 13 7| | | |q} T 3 | | || | | || ó |b4 15 5|| | | 2 16o 2 4 | | ||| | | | r} |b5 17 3||| | 3 15o | 1 19 ||||| | | |b6 |||| 6 10s}o o |||| | |b7 port 2 | |||7 9o pin 8  ||| | 4 13 | t} GND |||  || (MSB) || u} |> DAV | > SIGNAL v} Port 1 << Input 1 Pin 6 w} Port 2 << Input 2 Pin 6 x} A 74LS244 octal buffer is used to buffer the otputs of the joystic ports. the 74LS244 may use up y}quite a bit of current, so it's not advisable to use 5V available at the joystick ports (pin7). the current capacity there iz}s only 50ma, and my prove bothersome if you have something else on the serial bus that draws power form the computer (eg; P:R{}: Connection). It's quite simple to rig up a +5V regulated power supply, using a 7805 and just about any 9 or 12 volt a|}dapter. one of those old cassette recorder adapters that you usually find lying around wil do very nicely. A couple of decoup}}ling capacitors should be used - as a general rule. Power supply schematic 117 ô Vc~}c VAC T1 D1 9-12VDC  +5V  >o----o1 3o | | | | | | 2 | | }o 8||8 | |  | 8||8 | | | | 8||8 C1 C2 | C3 o 8|}|8 | | | | | | | | | | |  o----o } |   GND GND ô }  Heatsink-->| o |  } |7805 | | |  } | | | 1 2 3 IC4: 7805 5-V Regultor} (TO5 package) T1: Power Supply transformer 117 VAC primary 9 VAC secondary, @200ma D1: IN4005 diode C1:} 100 MF 25V electrolytic capacitor C2: .01 MF disk capacitor C3: 25 MF 16V electrolytic capacitor Programming the} interface We now come to the interesting part of the story: making the interface work. As you've probably gathered fr}om the above discussion, some bit manipulation is required to do the job. This leads to one immediate problem, namely that BA}SIC by itself just won't do. (As it turns out, BASIC is too slow for most purposes, anyways, so it doesn't really matter.) } Assembly language is, of course, the best, but in the interest of general sanity I've gone through an example below, descr}ibing with words and figures the various steps that need to be followed. Being a covert to Action!, The following progra}m example will be in Action! containing a couple of Action! procedures that will do the job. (BTW If you ever dissassebled a }compiled Action! program, the compiled code is very neat and straight forward. As oppossed to other compilers, the code rease}mbles spegatti). Well back to the topic. Between the these examples you ought to get the general picture well enough to progr}am the interface any way you want to. That, believe me, is where half the fun lies. The first step is to set uo PORTA fo}r output. The port is set up by OS during initialization, so your program will have to reconfigure it. This can be done very }simply, as follows: (1) POKE $38 into register PACTL at $D302. (2) POKE $FF into register PORTA at $D300. (3)} POKE $3C into register PACTL at $D302. At This stage, PORTA is ready for output, and any byte put into it will appear }at the joystick ports. Now, let's see how to break up a byte and latch it's two halves separately. As shown below, the f}our Least Significant Bits (LSBs) of PIA PORTA (address $D300) appear at pins 1-4 of joystick 1. The four MOST Significant Bi}ts (MSBs) appear at pins 1-4 of joystick port . As you can see, bits 0-3 are used for the data, bit 4 to latch the LSBs, bit }5 to latch the MSBs, bit 6 as DAtaValid signal, and bit 7 as another output signal. PORTA | } | Joystick Joystick b7 Signalout b6 DAta V}alid (DAV) b5 Latch MSBs  Port 2 b4 Latch LSBs Port 1|  }   b7 b6 b5 b4 |b3 b2 b1 b0|  } b3  b2  DATA nibble} b1   b0 Accordingly,} these bits have to be manipulated to do the required actions. In the discussion that follows, AND and OR operations describe}d are strictly bit-wise operastions. The figures show the state of the output byte as a various operations are performed. } Assume the data byte to be output is: (MSB) d7 d6 d5 d4 d3 d2 d1 d0 (LSB) (1) Assume a working byte VAR. All surgery} will be done on this byte. (2) Copy the data byte into VAR and AND it with $0F. 0 0 0 0 d3 d2 d1 d0 (3) OR V}AR wit $20 to put a 0 in bit 4 and a 1 in bit 5, thus enabling the LSB latch and disabling the MSB latch. Note that these la}tches work on an active low. Note also that the DAv bit, bit 6 is 0. 0 0 1 0 d3 d2 d1 d0 (4) POKE VAR into PORTA}; this will latch the LSBs. (5) OR VAR with $30 and POKE into PORTA. This disables the LSB latch, while keeping the LSB bit}s the same. We do this because it's disirable NOT to change the data outputs while disabling the latch. 0 0 1 1 d3 d}2 d1 d0 (6)Copy the data byte into VAR again and do four right shifts on VAR, to get the MSBs of the dta byte into the LSB} positions of VAR. 0 0 0 0 d7 d6 d5 d4 (7) AND VAR with $0F. Then OR VAR with $10, to set bit 5=0, and enable MSB }latch. Bit 4 =1, so the LSB latch is disabled. POKE VAR into PORTA. this latches the MSBs. 0 0 0 1 d7 d6 d5 d4 (8}) OR VAr with $70 to keep MSBs intact, then set bits 4 and 5 to 1 to disable both latches. Bit 6 is set to 1 tell whatever's} sitting on the interface bus the data is now valid. Now, if the signal on the outgoing control line, bit 7, is to be 0 }POKE VAR into PORTA. If the signl is to be a 1, OR VAR with $80, then POKE VAR into PORTA. 0 1 1 1 d7 d6 d5 d4 } To read incoming signals, youhave to know that they're coming into pin 6 (the trigger input pins) on each joystick port. The}refore, all you have to do is the equivalent of a BASIC STRIG function. The trigger values are available in memory locat}ions $D010 (53264 and $D011 (53265) for joystick ports 1 and 2, respectively. The values will be: 1 if a high signal is prese}ant. No special stuff here, just a starightforward read on the locations will tell you the logic level of the incoming signal}. That's all there is to it. Simple, isn't it? Incidently, it's a fairly straightforward matter to build this right inot} Paul Swanson's printer inerface software, to get an 8-bit printer interface. the addition of a few lines of machine code sho}uld do the trick. (Hint: all you really need to modify is the PUTBYTE subroutine.) Well, I hope that's all thats necesar}y. this isn't a very big project, so extensive construction details aren't really needed. i built the interface (along with s}ome other stuff) on a breadboard, never got around to make a printed circuit board (PCB) for it YET... Acti}on! listing PROC Configure( BYTE inout) ;sets PORTA for output if ;inout=$255, for input if ;inout=$0 } Poke(54018,56) Poke(54016,inout) Poke(54018,60) RETURN PROC OutByte( BYTE data, outsignal) ;puts }out 'data' byte ;puts DAtaValid on PORTA ;bit 7 & 'outsignal' on ;PORTA bit 8 when both ;nibbles have} been latched ;outsignal must =0 for LO ; or =128 for HI BYTE var CARD port=[54016] ;latchi}ng LSBs var=data&$0F var==%$20 Poke(porta,var) ;PrintF("%H%E",var) var==%$30 Poke(porta,var ;PrintF("}%H$E",var) ;tackling MSBs now var=data RSH 4 var==%$10 Poke(porta,var) ;Printf("%H%E",var) va}r==%$70 var==%outsignal Poke(porta,var ;PrintF("%H%E",var) RETURN PROC main() BYTE data,outsignal=[128],EN}D=[0] WHILE END=0 DO Put('?):data=InputB() OutByte(data,outsignal) OD RETURN ;NOTE: PROC main & the PrintF'}s in ; PROC OutByte can be used to ; follow thw workings of the ; PROC. Just remove the ':'s ; fr}om the PrintF statements.be used to ; follow thw workings of the ; PROC. Just remove the ':'s ; frDate: 11 Dec 90 23:17:13 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!swrinde!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohio-state.edu! }news@arizona.edu (Frank E. Seipel) Subject: Build a light sensor To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu How to make a Light Sens }or for the 8-bits Kevin Jones Atari Exchange of Louisville (AEL) This is the first of a series of articles that will teac }h the average user a little more about his computer and the lesser known talents of the Atari computers. If this article meet }s with any interest then there will be more "How to" articles following this one. Each file will describe how to make a new h }ardware project for the Atari computers. If you like this article, have any questions, or just want to complain, you can reac }h me at The Atari Scene! (502-456-4292). In this file I will describe how to make a Light Sensor. Before I get down to the }details, I will tell you how it works. The joystick port for the Atari computer consists of 4 joystick input pins, 2 paddle i }nput pins,1 negative ground pin, and 1 +5 volt pin. Right now we are only concerned with the paddle input and the +5 volt pin }. The paddle works by a potentiometer that changes its resistance when the knob is turned. The ATARI measures this resistanc }e and converts it to a number between 0 and 255. The light sensor will consist of a plug for the computer port, a potentiomet }er and a photocell. The Current will flow through the potentiometer,which is used to tune the potentiometer to a desired numb }er,and into the photocell which will further change the resistance. From the eye, the current will go back into the paddle in }put pin on the computer. The photocell eye will change its resistance when light shines on its surface. It works somewhat lik }e the pot but does not have a knob to turn. Now that you have a minimal understanding of what you are making, we can begin } to construct the sensor. Here is a description of the port configuration on the computer. *1 2 3 4 5* *6 7 8 9* } 1 to 4 Joystick input pins 5 Paddle B input 6 Fire button 7 +5 volts 8 Ground - 9 Paddle A input Parts: (1) 9 pin Female co }nnector 276-1538 2.49 (1) CdS photocell 276-116 1.79 (1) 100k potentiometer 271-1721 1.09 Wire-about Six feet Step One: C }ut the wire into two (2) strands of two feet each. Solder one end of the first wire to pin 9 and the end of the other wire to } pin 7. Step Two: Take the free end of the wire attached to pin 9 and solder it to one lead of the photocell. Next, solder }a wire (new wire) to the other lead of the photocell and solder the end of that wire to an outside pin of the potentiometer ( }there will be three pins on the potentiometer). Step Three: Take the wire from pin 7 and solder it to the inside pin of the }potentiometer. Step Four: Basically the sensor is finished. You can either mount it in a box or pc board, or you can tape th }e connections with electrical tape and let if flop around. I would tape it and mount it in a box to be neat and safe. Making } it work All you have to do is plug the female plug into port one and run the below program. This program will print o }ut the value (0-255) of the port. All that has to be done to measure the light is to obstruct the photocell and watch the rea }dings. That is it!! 10 Rem Light Sensor Program 20 x=paddle(0) 30 print x 40 goto 20 That's about as simple as it gets. Ed }itor's Note: There are several potential uses for such a light sensor. Two ideas for BBS sysops come to mind immediately; one } is immediate carrier loss detection (stick the photocell behind the CD light inside your modem). A second idea is to poll th }e photocell when a user types chat; if there is light in the room, the sysop is awake, so the BBS should ring the bell. Other }wise the BBS should display a message that the sysop is out/asleep. he sysop is awake, so the BBS should ring the bell. Other D Joystick Port Config for Output Atari can begin to control the outside world, not just sense it through the j}oystick ports. To do this we need an "output port." Inside the Atari is an integrated circuit numbered 6520, also calle}d the PIA or Peripheral Interface Adapter. The PIA contains two 8-bit input/output (I/O) ports and two control registers. Ass}ociated with the PIA are two ICs, which monitor the address bus. Whenever an address between 54016 and 54271 is called, they }alert the PIA to "come on-line." When selected, the PIA monitors only the first two address lines, so that it responds t}o every fourth address whithin the 54016 to 54271 range. The address 00110011 has the same low two bits as 00000011, and the }PIA responds identically to either, so PEEK 54020 is the same as PEEK 54016. It's really a shame that better addressing }wasn't included. Had it been, 252 byes in this section could be dedicated to external devices on the new XL/XE parallel bus, }instead of the complex system now necessary. Oh well, nothing like wishful Thinking. Memory address 54016 and 54017 are }called "port A" and "port B" respectively. On the XL/XE computers, port B controls memory banks. POKEing here can disrupt ope}ration of the computer so thoroughly that even a RESET won't recover it. In the 400/800 computers, port B goes to joysti}cks 3 and 4. What's said about port A above applies to port B on these models. the connection is straight foward: Pin 1 of pl}ug 1 controls bit 1 of port A. Pin 2 controls bit 2, and so on. As you you can see the results of activity on these pins by P}EEKing 54016. The real secret to the 6520 chip is memory location 54018, or "port A control." Each bit controls a specif}ic function. When bit 2 (4 in decimal) is set to 0, then writing to port A can alter the port's function from input to output}. In this condidition, a 0 written to a bit in port A sets it to input, but a 1 sets it to output. Examine this listing:}10 P=PEEK(54018):REM SAVE SONTROL SETTINGS FOR LATER20 POKE 54018,P-4:REM SETS BIT #2 TO 030 POKE 54016,15:REM ETS ALL 8} BITS TO OUTPUT40 POKE 54018,P:REM RESTORE PORT CONTROL Now, instead or PEEKing inputs from the joysticks, we can cont}rol the voltage on the joystick pins by POKEing to 54016, A 0 puts all pins to a logic 0, a 255 sets them all to 1, while 85 }turns on every other pin. Line 30 reads POKE 54016,15 (00001111), then the first four pins or port A is outputs, and th}e last four inputs. joystick 1 would be outs and stick 2 would be ins. Note the reverse relationship between binary numbers a}nd joystick pins. Now a 00000001 (binary 1) POKEd into 54016 turns on pins in the 1000/0000 order, where the 1 is an on and 0} if off. Let's put this theory to test on a reusable bread board. PLUG 1  }  1 2 3 4 5     6 7 8 9  Connect pins 1-4 of plug 2 to t}he #8 pin of plug 1. Use temporary jumpers. pin 1  2 |}   L 3 |  E   D 4 } |  |   | |  | |  }| |  | | | 8 | | |  LEDs} - Radio Shack #276-1622 Now add these lines to listing 1 and run it:100 N=1:GOSUB 1000110 N=2:GOSUB 1000120 N=4:G}OSUB 1000130 N=8:GOSUB 1000140 GOTO 1001000 POKE 54016,N1020 FOR DELAY=1 TO 500:NEXT DELAY:RETURN If done correctl}y you'll see the four Light Emitting Diodes (LEDs) blink sequentially. If not, check the wiring and try reversing the LEDs. N}ow add the following line:1010 HINIBBLE=INT(PEEK(54016)/16)*16:? HINIBBLE This is the same formula as that for most} significant byte, except you use 16 instead of 256. While this pro gram is running, connect and disconnect the jumpers on th}e section attached to joystick 2 You'll see the reflection of the jumpers on-screen while the LEDs continue to blink. Th}is simple system demonstates true simultaneous input and output, and gives a simple example of what can be done. Okay. }What can we do with our newfound power? Inputs can be any switch, while outputs lines can be connected to many different kind}s of devices. You can control lamps, motors, stereos, TVs, alarm bells, sirens, beepers, and so on. However, the amount} of power available to run these devices is limited to about 10 milliamperes (.01 amperes) from each joystick pin. A li}ttle beeper will work just fine, but most other devices need more power. Pin 7 carries +5 volts at 50 milliamperes. If you us}e pin 7, the pins 1-4 will be 0 for on, and 1 for off. In other words the output is inverted. This works because a logic gate} at 0 output is allmost a short circuit to ground and presents little resistance electrical current. You can extend the }driving power by providing an outside power source. An easy source to find and use is a 12 volt lantern battery. Connect the }negative terminal to pin 8 or ground, but never connect the positive terminal to pin 7, ONLY to the device to be controlled. }Then using pins 1-4 as the signal ground to activate the device. You should limit the external voltage to 12 volts. DO N}OT hook into a plug-in device or anything which has high voltage, unless your sure it's completly isolated electrically from  }the wall current. A good way to isolate from a high power device is to use an "opto-coupler" RS #276-134 (rated at 1 amp)- it }'s an LED encapsulated with a light-sensitive switch, so theres no physical, electrical connection between input an output, o }r use RS #275-217 10 amp relay for super high-power controller. You could use a combination opto-coupler and TRIAC for a high } power driver also (600 watts). light {o |  }| 120 volts | |  ----> || |o | o |6 5 4||| } | Opto- | ||| | | | Coupler |1 2 3||| |12 G|Triac | ||  |}  | || | | pin 1 | |   | | }pin 8 ^^^^ 220 ohms Above TRIAC requires a heat sink RS #2}76-1363 to keep it from over heating with full loads One last precaution: devices that plug in should be built into a bo}x, to prevent you from touching places you shouldn'tEnd.e last precaution: devices that plug in should be built into a bo< This took a considerable amount of effort for me to go back into my notes to type this information. After an amount of }time went by I forgot some stuff so had to figure it all out again. I also have some notes not yet neatly types out, of }my DTMF tone decoder/encoder, and transiever PLL chip control (added scanning functions and direct frequency access to a CB r}adio). I put those 2 items above with some other gadgets I thought up, and used the 4 joystick ports of My Atari 800 as a hal}f duplex Phone patch/Repeater. And I know someone else that used the 8-Bit Interface for a controller of a Voice Messaging Se}rvice and is accually making money charging people for there message box! If your really interested in this stuff I may }be able to make it understandable but there would be alot of work on my part to make it presentable. If you have no electroni}cs background or the equipment the I would say the other stuff is beyond the scope of your capabilities... Any question}s can be directed to me VIA these 2 following BBS systems:Outter Limits BBS (617)665-0977, account handle: GumbyArgus Co}mputerized Exchange (617)674-2345, account handle: RickyInternet E-Mail Address: gumby@ace.com NOTES: This text was enter}ed using TextPro so you can reformat the text for printer if you desire and still be able to view with a 40 Column ATASCII vi}ewer... PORTCNFG.TXT - Explains how to set-up port for output/input using basic examples. 8BITINTR.TXT - Almost a full-}blow 8-bit interface (IEEE-488). Included is a hardware schematic and an Action! Prgram example Enjo }y!w 8-bit interface (IEEE-488). Included is a hardware schematic and an Action! Prgram example EnjoDate: 8 Dec 90 02:39:10 GMT From: noao!ncar!elroy.jpl.nasa.gov!sdd.hp.com!wuarchive!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohi"}o-state.edu!news@arizona.edu (Frank E. Seipel) Subject: Atari in a PC Case (Hardware Mod.) To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.edu#} This is another text file I had laying around.. If you'd like to see more, please E-Mail me. I think this file is formatte$}d to be output to a printer. ATARI---->PC Conversion Page 1 THE FOLLOWING INFORMATION IS PRESENTED TO A%}SSIST THOSE INTERESTED IN CREATING A CUSTOM ATARI COMPUTER SYSTEM IN AN IBM 'PC' CASE. IT IS BY NO MEANS MEANT TO S&}ERVE AS A COMPLETE DESCRIPTION OR 'HOW-TO-BOOK' ON THE SUBJECT AND IT IS ASSUMED THAT THE PERSON WHO UNDERTAKES THIS '} PROJECT IS WELL VERSED IN BUILDING ELECTRONIC PROJECTS. THIS INFORMATION IS PRESENTED BY MICRO SOLUTIONS FOR USE IN TH(}E PUBLIC DOMAIN. >>>SPECIAL NOTE:MICRO SOLUTIONS WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR SPONTANEOUS MELTDOWN O)}F YOUR COMPUTER OR PERIPHERAL EQUIPMENT DUE TO THE UNDERTAKING THIS PROJECT. So you want to put you're ATARI *}into a 'PC' CASE.... Basically what's needed is: A thorough understanding of basic electrical circ+}uits, soldering skills, some mechanical ability, and of course an IBM style case to your liking. These cases have become,} quite popular and are offered in numerous configurations. The main thing to remember when selecting one of these i-}s, will your motherboard fit inside it without TOO MUCH modification? (Let's try to keep the SKIL saw in the closet.} for this project.) Another consideration, is whether or not you wish to have a HardDrive as part of this All-In-One sys/}tem. Choosing an XL or XE computer makes this a much more viable possibility, because of the parallel expansion bus0}s and the various HardDrive interfaces designed for this buss. Last, but not least, is the very likely addition of 1}a TransKey board to enable the use of an external IBM style keyboard (well.... you know I had to say something abou2}t my product in this article). Most of these 'PC' computer cases on the market also come with a fairly b3}eefy switching power supply capable of running the Computer, extra RAM, Disk Drives, and various hardware enhancements. 4}To fully take advantage of this built-in power supply requires some rewiring of many of the stock Atari power plugs5} and devices. To minimize some of this and to better utilize your storage media, it is recommended that XF551 drive6}s be used in this project. The nice thing about these drives is the fact that they are really IBM type drive mechanisms 7}in disguise, this allows for a simple bolt-in, no modification installation. The power connection on these drives w8}ill readly accept the supplied power connectors on the switching supply and the drives will give you 360K storage p9}er disk with a suitable DOS (ie: MYDOS or SPARTADOS). The XF controller (the PCB included with the XF551 drive) wil:}l need some slight modifications as follows: 1) After seperating the two halfs of the original XF551 plastic ;} enclosure, unscrew the 4 screws holding the drive in place. 2) Unplug both the 34pin and 4pin connectors<} from the drive, then lift it out of the enclosure and set it to the side. 3) You will now find a couple=} of screws holding the PCB to the bottom of the enclosure. Remove these and lift the PCB straight up and >} ATARI---->PC Conversion Page 2 out. 4) Desolder the 34pin header (w/cable) from the P?}CB and replace it with an IDC style male header. 5) Clip off the 4pin female molex type power plug while@} leaving the connection wiring intact. Now replace this with a male 4pin IBM floppy power connector, being sure to A}matchup the PCB silkscreen designations with the proper pin numbers (pin1=+12vdc pin2=GND pin3=GND pin4=+5vdc). B} 6) Use a standard IBM drive cable to connect the drive to the controller card. These cables normally have tC}wo edge card connectors on one end, the END one is the one to use. 7) Now plug in power connectors from D}the switching power supply to the Disk Drive and also to the controller. The drive is now ready to use (be sure to E}set the drive select switches on the controller to the desired SIO #). If you wish to use a 3.5" F}drive(s) in your system and wish to have them be capable of 720K storage, a complete kit and instructions are availG}able from Innovative Concepts. If you don't require the full capacity, but would still like to use one of these smaller H}drives then the following instructions are for you. 3.5" Drive Conversion: Using the controllI}er as first modified, connect a 3.5" IBM drive in place of the 5.25" drive (this will usually require adapter plugs J} that normally come with the drive when purchased). No further modifications required. Dual Media DriveK}s from one Controller: 1) After performing the controller modifications already listed, turn over the PCL}B and locate pins 10&16 on the 34pin header. You will notice a trace connecting these pins together and another trace M} leading towards the center of the board from pin16. Cut the trace between pins 10&16 with an XACTO knife or razor blaN}de, being sure to leave the other trace on pin16 intact (this is the drive select line from the floppy controller cO}hip). 2) Solder a wire from pin16 to the center of a SPDT toggle switch. 3) Solder a wirP}e from pin10 to one side of the switch and solder a wire from pin12 to the other side of this same switch. Q} 4) Plug the other unused 34pin edge card connector on the floppy drive cable into the 3.5" IBM drive (this may requirR}e an adapter). ATARI---->PC Conversion Page 3 Also, plug in a power connector from theS} switching power supply (this may require an adapter as well). 5) The SPDT toggle switch will now selectT} which drive will respond off of this controller (either the 5.25" or the 3.5"). Pin10=Drive 1 Select, Pin12=Drive U}2 Select, 34pin edge card END connector=Drive 1, middle connector=Drive 2. With this setup you wilV}l be able to use either the 5.25" or 3.5" drive with but one controller. Both drives will be capable of 360K of stoW}rage. Only one drive is usable at any given time from the one controller (Disk duplication and/or copying between the twX}o drives is not possible). A second controller and drive will still be needed for disk duplication and/or copying. Y} Computer Power Connection: For simplicity, a 600/800XL or XE are the computers of choice in Z} this situation. The reason; only a single +5vdc supply is needed, where as the earlier 400/800 models and the 1200X[}L required either 9vac or if bypassed; +5vdc, +12vdc, -5vdc. The +5 and +12vdc is readly available off of the IBM s\}witching supply, but the -5vdc or 9vac isn't. You could of course kludge up some sort of supply to handle this, but]} in the long run, the XL/XE's are better for other reasons as well (parallel buss & built-in BASIC to name a few). ^} The 600/800XL and XE's use the same power connection plug, this is a 7pin DIN (an 8pin DIN can be subsituted _}by removing it's center pin). On this plug pins 1,4,6=+5vdc and pins 2,3,5,7=GND. Either cut off one of the provide`}d power connectors on the switching power supply and subsitute a DIN plug or better yet, make up a 4 pin male floppy a} power pigtail with a DIN on the other end. Only +5vdc and GND are required on this connection. Hard Db}rive Installation: To install a HardDrive with high speed access will require an XL or XE computer havinc}g the External Parallel Buss (often times called PBI or ECI). It is through this parallel buss that a special drive d} controller will be connected, offering an industry standard HardDrive interface referred to as SASI or SCSI. To the bese}t of my knowledge there are currently three such devices available, the CSS Black Box, ICD's MIO, and Supra's Hard f}Disk Interface. Any of these is suitable for putting a HardDrive in your system, merely requiring the appropriate Sg}ASI or SCSI controller and drive. If you're willing to sacrifice speed and if you can find it, there is q}?B%DOS SYSB*)DUP SYSBjSIEEE TXTBLITESENSTXTB7PORTCNFGTXTBREADME 1STB!TRANSKEYTXTBuTRANSKY2TXTan SIO connectable device that will give you HardDrive interfacing. It was called the ATR8000, actually a complete compur}ter on it's own, which used the Atari as a terminal link. With the right ATARI---->PC Conversion s} Page 4 options, this Co-Processor board was capable of accessing HardDrives. Even without extra options,t} the ATR8000 would allow for connection of up to 4 IBM style Floppy disk drives, looking for the most part, as 4 Atu}ari drives on the SIO port. It is also my understanding that higher capacity drives were possible through special configv}uration, allowing up to 1.2 MEG with the proper drive and DOS. There will be some problems with this interface, sucw}h as not 100% compatibility with all Boot Disks and/or DOS'es and very slow HardDrive access, otherwise it is a goox}d alternative for 400/800 users especially. Some of the other advantages to the parallel buss devices, is y} that they usually do more than just allow for HardDrive connection. To name a few; extra expansion RAM usable as a RAMz}DISK, RAM for Print Spooling, RS232 Port, Parallel Printer Port, and built-in Machine Language Monitor. Not all fea{}tures are offered or are all available from any one device. The CSS Black Box is slated for a floppy drive interfac|}e enhancement, possibly similar in nature to the ATR8000,s floppy interface. This would give you an all in one drive con}}troller that's also fast. Most of the parallel interfaces will require some relocation in order to ~}fit inside your 'PC' case. This amounts to fabrication of ribbon cable extensions in some cases, which may be as simple }as using crimp-on connectors or as difficult as point-to-point wiring depending on the interface and computer choos}en. My actual experience was with a Black Box and a 800XL computer. This was relatively simple, amounting to buildi}ng a cable from one 50pin edgecard connector, one 50pin female IDC plug, and about 12" of ribbon cable. Both connectors }were of the crimp-on variety, making for a no solder installation. When making your own cables, be sure to always l}ine-up the pin#1's on both sides. With the flexability of the interconnecting ribbon cable, you sho}uld be able to fit both the computer motherboard and the parallel interface board into most any 'PC' case. A little imag}ination is most useful in this task and good mechanical know how is imperative. Boards can be stood on end or stack}ed, just depends on the particular situation and alot on what you perfer to do. Find yourself a good supplier of me}chanical spacers, fasteners, and PCB guides, because you'll be knee deep in them before your'e done with this project. } Power for your parallel interface can most likely be derived from one of the floppy power connectors on y}our 'PC' switching power supply. Once again it will require some rewiring of connectors and some good electrical se}nse. Power for the HardDrive and it's associated SASI/SCSI controller, will normally be as simple as plugging strai}ght into one or two of the leftover floppy power connectors (by this time we may have exhausted all the available c}onnectors, have no fear there are 'Y' adapters available). Now comes a problem, most HardDrives need a few se}conds to rev-up to full speed when first powered up. During this time they are not accesable from the controller an}d many times this can result in bootup ATARI---->PC Conversion Page 5 errors. One poss}ible solution would be to provide a seperate power switch on the front panel for the Atari computer, switching it on } after the HardDrive was up to speed. Another solution is something I came up with on my system, a computer power delay} timer. This consisted of a 555 timer with it's trigger line tied to it's timing capacitors positive side, a 5vdc S}PST relay on the output of the 555 with the common of it's coil and switch going to +5vdc, and the entire affair wi}red in series with the computer power line. Basically what happens is, that upon power-up, the timer's output will immed}iately go positive, thereby causing the relay to do absolutely nothing. After the timer times out (depends on the R}C network used), the output will drop to GND causing power to flow through the relay's coil, pulling the switch clo}sed, and allow power to go to the computer. 555 pin #s +5VDC}---[:::]--2-6--+)(---GND 220 47uf K 1--------GND +}5VDC----------4 " ----------8 *RELAY* +5VDC--[COIL]--3 *RELAY* } *SWITCH* +5VDC----o/o-----[ATARI]--GND +5VDC----[<]---3 1N4004 } The idea is to pick an RC network that gives sufficient time for the HardDrive to rev-up, I found 220K for the timing r}esister and 47uf for the timing capacitor to be quite good for my Seagate drive (this gives about a 15 second delay}). Increasing the resister's value will result in a longer time delay and decreasing it, will produce a shorter del}ay. It is also advisable to use a relay who's contacts are rated for 1.5 amps, and for protection against arcing, solder} a .01uf capacitor across the contact connections. Also, to protect the 555 timer from high EMF voltages that may b}e generated by the relay's coil, solder a 1N4004 diode across the coil with it's cathode (marked with a line) going} to the +5vdc side. Another rather nifty feature of this power-up delay timer, is that it offers an easy} way to perform a ColdStart Reset for owners of the TransKey board (there I go again). To do this, take the Gray wire } from the TransKey board, and instead of attaching it as suggested in it's original instructions, solder it to pin2 of} the 555 timer instead. Now everytime you do a RESET from the IBM keyboard (attached to TransKey), you will shutdow}n the power to the Atari computer for ATARI---->PC Conversion Page 6 the duration of t}he time delay. This will of course result in a ColdStart Reset, just as if you had reached around back and shut off } the computer's power switch and then turned it back on again. The main advantage is that you don't need a special O.S. }or software routine to provide this keyboard coldstart reset. Cartridge Port: This is w}here things get alittle tricky.... How do you get access to the Cartridge Port once your Atari is tucked} inside the 'PC' case? Well the best solution I have seen, is something that Bob Woolley from San Leandro Computer Club }(SLCC) came up with. Essentially what he did was to take one of those 34pin IDC edge card connector}s (yes, the same one used for the IBM floppy drive cables) and with a little filing on the ends, he was able to insert } this inside the plastic cartridge shrouding that came with the Atari motherboard (that's right you have to remove it} from the board first). He then had a ribbon cable extending from this connector about 10-12 inches connecting to t}he Atari motherboard via a 34pin connector (this required desoldering the original cartridge socket & replacing it with } wirewrap pins extending out the backside of the board). The completed assembly was then meant to be mounted behind }a 3.5" drive bezel for insertion of the cartridge from the frontside of the 'PC' case. For more complete informatio}n with pictures on this modification, consult the May 1990 issue of the SLCC Journal. ***HINT: keep the ribbon as s}hort as possible for reliable cartridge operation*** Conclusion: There are of course many ot}her things that can be put inside your new 'PC' case, but only you can decide what's best for you. Most importantly}, plan out this project carefully before you purchase your 'PC' case and be sure to leave yourself sufficient room for f}uture additions. (This will keep you from having to start all over again... Yuck!) Most of all, have fun with your }new ATARI PC and enjoy the looks of approval you'll get from those unsuspecting IBM'ers out there. } Sources for Items Mentioned: BLACK BOX Computer Software Services P.O. Box 17660 Rochester,NY 1461}7 (716)586-5545 MULTI-IO (MIO) ATARI---->PC Conversion Page 7 ICD } 1220 Rock Street Rockford,IL 61101 (815)968-2228 SUPRA HARDDRIVE INTERFACE BEST Electronics 2}021 The Alameda STE 290 San Jose, CA 95126 (408) 243-6950 XF35 KIT Innovative Concepts 31172 S}hawn Drive Warren,MI 48093 (313) 293-0730 TRANSKEY (IBM keyboard interface) Micro Solutions P.}O. Box 750396 Petaluma,CA 94975 Genie M.ST.PIERRE1 TRANSKEY (IBM keyboard interface) Micro Solutions P.=Date: 5 Nov 90 23:29:02 GMT From: noao!ncar!gatech!uflorida!uakari.primate.wisc.edu!zaphod.mps.ohio-state.edu!magnus.ircc.ohi}o-state.edu!news@arizona.edu (Frank E. Seipel) Subject: Transkey -- IBM keyboard on an 8-bit To: Info-Atari8@naucse.cse.nau.e}du {TRANSKEY Hardware Review PRODUCT DESCRIPTION: The main emphasis of this product was to provide a means of utilizin}g a better quality keyboard with the Atari than the one originally provided. The modification works with the 4oo, 8oo, XL, an}d XE models. Since IBM style keyboards have become so plentiful and are made in numerous configurations, it was deemed that }this would be the keyboard of choice. This gives the added flexibilty of locating the keyboard where you want it, independent} of the computer and it's associated peripheral equipment. Also, due to the additional function keys, cursor keys, ect., seve}ral new features are provided that could not be implemented by the original Atari keyboards. One of the most interesting of t}hese, is the ability to send out full commands (BASIC & MAC65) with a single keypress. This and many other features will be c}overed in greater detail a little later on, for now let's look at what TRANSKEY is from a hardware point of view and what is }involved in installing it. THE HARDWARE TRANSKEY is a microprocessor based translater board measuring aproximately 2.5 x} 3.5 inches and is designed to fit underneath the RF shield on the Atari motherboard. The TRANSKEY board is provided with dou}ble sided tape attached to the solder side and is meant to be placed in a location where it can be sandwiched between the shi}eld and the motherboard. The location will vary depending on what model of computer it is installed in. On the 1200XL it will} be necessary to either cut the RF shield or not use it, since there is virtually no room underneath it. On the 400/800 & al}l XL models, the TRANSKEY derives it's main communication and power from the Atari via a small piggy-back board that attaches} to TRANSKEY with a ribbon cable. This piggy-back board is designed to be plugged into the socket where POKEY (Atari Part# C0}12294) would normally reside, with POKEY then plugged into the piggy-back board to complete the installation. On the unsocket}ed XE series machines, the installation requires soldering directly to the POKEY chip. To fully complete the installation an}d assuming that one wishes to have START,SELECT,OPTION,RESET available from the remote keyboard, will require the attachment }of 4 jumper wires. Three of these wires go to a single chip called CTIA or GTIA (Atari part# C014805) to tap into the option }select circuitry. The point where the 4th wire for Reset goes, varies depending on the model of computer. Generally to instal}l these jumpers, it merely requires pulling a chip out of it's socket, inserting the bared end of the jumpers into the approp}riate holes in the socket, and then re-inserting the chip that was removed. Of course on the XE series it isn't possible to r}emove the chips, so these jumpers will have to be soldered in place. With TRANSKEY installed, all normal operations of the A}tari are unimpaired, including the use of the stock Atari keyboard. However, with TRANSKEY and an external IBM style keyboard} attached, there will no longer be any need to use the stock keyboard except for the following conditions: When Cold-Booting} from cassette tape, it will only work by pushing START from the stock keyboard prior to engaging power. On XL/XE machines t}o disable Basic on Cold-Boot, it will still be necessary to push OPTION on the stock keyboard (See section 'Other Special Key}s' page#3 for a way to disable basic after boot-up). The reason for this, is that for the 1st couple seconds after powering }up, the IBM style keyboards usually run a self-test which basically doesn't allow for proper recognition of a key pressed dur}ing this time. Since the Atari looks for these special key presses to occur very soon after the power is turned on, it will f}ail to see these with the IBM keyboard and instead just do a normal Cold Start. The IBM keyboard is connected by means of a }5 pin DIN inline jack attached by a small ribbon cable to the TRANSKEY main board. This ribbon can be routed through an exist}ing hole or slot on the computers case, by unplugging it from the Transkey board and then reconnecting it when done. For thos}e of you that prefer to permanently mount this jack, it is available as a chassis style jack with mounting hardware (specify }when ordering). FEATURES With either an XL or XE computer, almost full use of all the extra key functions on the IBM key}board are implemented. This includes single key cursor movement, Home cursor, End of page cursor and Insert/Delete modes. Als}o a special Cursor Left Page/Right Page is available by pressing Page Up/Page Down respectfully. On a 400/800 machine the pag}e movement functions are not recognized, although everything else is. These functions are directly accessable from the numbe}r pad after powering up the system (Default), if you want to use the number pad for number entry, simply press the NUMLOCK ke}y. These functions will still be available, but will now require a Control - Function combination to initiate. If you want to} restore the default condition (single keypresses), just press the NUMLOCK key once more (pressing NUMLOCK toggles between th}e two modes). The Home key has yet another use, when pressed with the Shift key it will both home the cursor and clear the s}creen. This is the same as Shift - Clear on a stock Atari keyboard. Pressing the Escape key prior to this combination will st}ill print the curved arrow symbol like the stock system. The Insert & Delete keys when pressed with Shift, will perform whol}e line insertions or deletions. If a 101 key Enhanced keyboard is being used, the extra cursor control, Insert and Delete ke}ys will work the same as their number pad counterparts, unchanged by either Shift, Control or NUMLOCK. Perhaps one of the ni}cest features, is the indication of CapsLock and NumLock by led indicater lights on IBM style keyboards, that are so equipped}. The Function Keys: On an XL or XE series machine Control F1 - F5 will provide the following special functions: Contr}ol F1 Disables the keyboard (both stock an external) and until pressed again, all keys will be ignored by the computer. Con}trol F2 Disables DMA. Pressing this will cause the screen to go black until any other key is pressed. While the screen is bla}ck, processing time is accelerated by 30%. Control F3 Disables the audible keyboard click when a key is pressed, pressing i}t again will re-enable the click sound. Control F4 Toggles between International symbols and standard graphics symbols on t}he screen. Control F5 This acts as the HELP key, since there isn't one on most IBM keyboards. On all other machines 400/80}0's included, Control F6 acts as the Atari Inverse Video key, Control F7 is the BASIC macro select and Control F8 is the MAC6}5 macro select. The last two keys (Control F7 & F8) control possibly the most interesting added feature of the new keyboard,} it's the ability to send out an entire string of characters with but one signal keystroke (Macros). Built-in to TRANSKEY are} two predefined tables of some commonly used commands for either BASIC or MAC65 Assembly languages. These are sent by pressin}g F1 - F8 and depending upon whether Control F7 or Control F8 was last pressed, will spit out either the BASIC macro or the M}AC65 macro (Defaults to BASIC on power-up). Below is a list of the supplied macro commands. MACROS BASIC MAC/65 F1 LI}ST LIST F2 RUN ASM,#-,#D: F3 SAVE"D: SAVE#D: F4 LOAD"D: LOAD#D: F5 ?PEEK( FIND/ F6 POKE REP/ F7 Backup} Backup F8 ?FRE(0) SIZE * F7 = SAVE"D:BACK" in Basic, "SAVE#D:BACK" in MAC/65 Note: stands for Carriage }Return, commands with this as a suffix will be executed immediately. F7 is a way to easily save a back-up of whatever you are} working on to disk (under the name 'BACK') with a single keystroke. Function keys F9 - F12 (F11 & F12 available on Enhanced} keyboards only) are used as option select keys. F9 START F10 SELECT F11 OPTION F12 HELP The ALTERNATE (ALT) key wil}l also function as the OPTION key and the SYSREQ key will also act as a HELP key (as well as Control F5). OTHER SPECIAL KEY}S The key with the ($-) and (`) symbols on it (normally on the upper right corner) acts as an extra Escape key, thus placi}ng it where most people are used to it being. Since these symbols are not directly available on the Atari, this key now has a} practical use. The key marked PRINT SCREEN (or Shift *) when pressed will output an unused character on the keyboard matrix} (Dec #36, HEX $24). This in itself isn't very useful, but with a little ingenuity on the user's part, this key could be look}ed for and caused to activate a screen printing program. To see this key in action, you could type in: 10 ?PEEK(764):GOTO 10 } RUN (or F2). This routine will continuously look for any keypressed and print out it's raw matrix keycode value. T}he Control SCROLL key combination will actually be recognized as the Break key to the Atari computer (On most 84 key keyboard}s this key is also labled as break). If Control, ALT and the NumPad DELETE key are pressed together, this will result in a S}ystem Reset to occur (assuming the Reset jumper wire was installed). Releasing the DELETE key 1st prior to Control and ALT, w }ill usually result in a re-boot with Basic disabled. Releasing the ALT key 1st prior to DELETE, will result in a normal Reset } with Basic enabled. If you are using a BTC series keyboard, the extra key labeled MACRO will produce a simultaneous Shift C }ontrol action in combination with any other key pressed. Several programs recognize this as a send macro string function, of  }course on keyboards without this key, the normal Shift Control combination would be used instead. Keys not utilized are: SCR }OLL LOCK and the combination PAUSE/BREAK key found only on Enhanced keyboards. SOFTWARE COMPATABILITY TRANSKEY is an ext}ernal independent device, having it's own processor and memory, and by design is suppose to emulate a piece of hardware (a st}ock Atari okkeyboard). To the Atari computer, signals coming from TRANSKEY will be indistinguishable from signals that a stoc}k keyboard would produce. This means that any software ever written wil be compatible with the TRANSKEY board, the only excep}tions are as follows: When a program such as a wordprocessor looks at keys in an entirely new light and essentially reassign}s new meaning to these keys, there could be a conflict. An example would be where the extra symbols on the arrow keys no long}er print to screen, but instead are used for moving the cursor to the next word, or the next line, ect.. Since these characte}rs are on entirely different keys on the IBM standard, it will take some getting used to to make the same things occur in a p}rogram of this kind. For instance when running from MAC65's DDT menu, to increment or decrement the memory being viewed in th}e display window requires pressing either the (-) or (=) keys on the upper right of the keyboard. If you tried pressing the u}p-arrow or down-arrow instead (as the program instructions dictate) nothing will happen, at least not on the IBM keyboard. Th}is way of doing things is rather rare, since most programs will recognize the keys in a more standard fashion. Another side }effect of some of the word processing programs, is that many times they are designed to put the system in lower case when fir}st booted up. Since there is no communication of this to the TRANSKEY board, the keyboards CapsLock light will indicate an up}per case (or CapsLocked) condition (this is not the case when using a PC/XT keyboard see next section for details). This can }usually be easily remedied by pushing the CAPSLOCK key twice which will reinitialize the computer to the keyboard and put the} computer in upper case mode. This particular problem can also occur if the CAPS key is pressed on the stock Atari keyboard, }but the same fix will also correct this problem. KEYBOARDS TO USE TRANSKEY was designed to be as flexible as possible an}d because of this, should be compatible with most any IBM PC/XT/AT or 3rd party equivalent keyboard. Best results will usuall }y be obtained by selecting an 'AT' configured (or dipswitch configurable) keyboard instead of the auto-configuring types. !}Configuring TRANSKEY to the keyboard is extremely easy, all that is required is to plug in the keyboard with the computer off"} and then simply switch the computer on. TRANSKEY will then perform an analysis of the keyboard attached and auto-configure i#}tself to it. If you have a switchable PC/AT keyboard, be sure to set it's dipswitches to 'AT' mode. This will insure proper s$}etting of the CapsLock light on power up. When using a PC/XT keyboard, TRANSKEY will initialize itself to lower case mode (al%}though the computer will be in upper case, unless a boot-up program has changed the setting). The action of pressing CAPS LOC&}K would then place the computer positively in an upper case mode and indicate this condition by lighting the CapsLock light. '}Repeated pressing of this key and the indication of the CapsLock light, would then correspond to the actual case mode of the (}computer. The reason for this difference between an 'AT' keyboard and a PC/XT keyboard, has to do with who controls the indi)}cater lights. On an 'AT' keyboard the computer is solely responsible for activating or deactivating a given light, on a 3rd p*}arty XT keyboard it's the keyboard that controls the action of the lights ( When powering-up it turns all the lights off). Si+}nce the Atari normally powers-up in upper case mode, TRANSKEY was designed not to alter this initial setting and if at all po,}ssible to reflect this by turning the keyboard CapsLock light on ('AT' keyboards). With a PC/XT keyboard you will still be in-} upper case mode from the computer's point of view, but the CapsLock light will be off. The state of this light after powerin.}g-up, will also act as a good indicater as to what type of keyboard you are using or in what way TRANSKEY has configured itse/}lf when used with an Auto configuring keyboard. MICRO SOLUTIONS BOX 750396 Petaluma, CA 94975 (707) 763-9103 Price Listing 0} TK01-SD TRANSKEY BOARD (Solder in Version) $48.00 $(Fits all models 400/800/XL/XE$) TK01-PB TRANSKEY BOARD (Piggy-Back1} Version) $58.00 $(400/800/XL ONLY solderless installation$) all models 400/800/XL/XE$) TK01-PB TRANSKEY BOARD (Piggy-Back=