Hello from Barcelona

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crashman
Posts: 45
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 2:55 pm

Hello from Barcelona

Post by crashman »

Hi all,

my name is Jordi, crashman on forums and such...
I've around Atari since childhood, as my first approach to anything electronic related was an 2600 woody from a friend.
I love Space invaders on it!

When my parents bought me a computer, can't remember if it was I that was asking for, or what..., it was an Spectrum.
Pretty common in the 80's in Spain.
Later I bought the 520STFM, upgraded directly before it touches home, to 1Meg.
On those days I used mainly to play, and "spread" whatever comes to hand, to anyone in the city. (sorry... :twisted: )
On the 90's I manage to buy a Falcon030 from UK, I think it was from Sylica...? Have to check it...
Phone calls with my poor English, faxes up and down...
But i managed it, and got a 4Mb Falcon with and upgraded 250Mb HDD.
I think it was on 96, that I went to London with the college.
I wrote down every single Atari shop form London, to take a visit and buy some things.
That's was the time when I learned that London is veeeeeeeeeery big.
I got to take a train, no tube, no DLR, a train to a supposed London shop, but I can't remember where it was.
I bought there some software, NVDI, ImgCopy... and the FPU for my Falcon.
Lovely days back then...
Well, then Atari closed, everything became absorbed with PC's and I felt in the dark side, leaving the Atari's on the shelve.
Oh! I forgot to mention that the Falcon, opened me the hunger to write some progs, and I managed to make a prog that stills floats around the net, it's name ModRipper, pretty obvious what it does.

On 2014 I visited a retro fair in Barcelona, and I get shocked that there wasn't a single Atari, form ST to upwards..., in the fair.
Even more, there was a huge table with all the existing Amiga's. I was angry! (well, a little bit...)
I told my wife:
- Next year I'm taking mine to the fair!

And right there at this moment, my Atari addiction became a reality...
I started to buy computers and restoring them to it's better days.
So in 2015 I was part of the fair and showed all kind of Atari's, form 260ST booting the TOS from floppy, to a Falcon with a Centurbo, on a transparent case that I made myself. I could try my CosmosEX on that fair, as I got it delivered right to there, with also MegaST ,MegaSTE, Stacy...

But that was the last time I showed them, as it became clear that what the audience of that fair want, was to play games.
Only a few people got interested on the details of the machines, and for what they were used to.

In 2016 I repeated fair, but these time with the games consoles from Atari, but it wasn't the same.
i like more my computers, so no fair in 2017.

Now I'm focused on preservation of, mainly, Midi software for the Atari.
I bought a SupercardPro to preserve the protected disks, and I have on mind to explore the dark world of dongles, to try to replicate them.
But that is another story.
Happy to be here!!!

And thanks exxos for all your work on the Atari's!!!
Neffers
Posts: 86
Joined: Thu Jan 25, 2018 12:25 am
Location: West Yorks.

Re: Hello from Barcelona

Post by Neffers »

That's quite the journey you had. Good on you for sticking with it all :D I lusted after a Falcon when I was a kid, not just for the DSP stuff and audio, but it just looked gorgeous to my eyes. The Falcon and A1200 were both good looking machines. I had an A1200, but secretly I wanted that Falcon so much.
Resident idiot. (Qualified, got a Diploma and everything)
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exxos
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Re: Hello from Barcelona

Post by exxos »

:welcomewave:

crashman wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:24 pm I've around Atari since childhood, as my first approach to anything electronic related was an 2600 woody from a friend.
I love Space invaders on it!
I started out with the plastic 2600, got pole position, centipede, phoenix, space invaders.. think that was it, loved it!

crashman wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:24 pm On the 90's I manage to buy a Falcon030 from UK, I think it was from Sylica...? Have to check it...
I think I got mine from there as well, can't remember how much I paid for it back then.. ?

crashman wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:24 pm On 2014 I visited a retro fair in Barcelona, and I get shocked that there wasn't a single Atari, form ST to upwards..., in the fair.
But that was the last time I showed them, as it became clear that what the audience of that fair want, was to play games.
Only a few people got interested on the details of the machines, and for what they were used to.

In 2016 I repeated fair, but these time with the games consoles from Atari, but it wasn't the same.
i like more my computers, so no fair in 2017.
Good you tried to get more Atari people involved at least :) I think "retro computing" is pretty big, many many systems about to play with.. maybe not so much people in recent years.
crashman wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:24 pm Now I'm focused on preservation of, mainly, Midi software for the Atari.
:thumbup:
crashman wrote: Thu Jan 25, 2018 3:24 pm And thanks exxos for all your work on the Atari's!!!
:thanksyellow:
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/ All my hardware guides - mods - games - STOS
https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/atari/store2/ - All my hardware mods for sale - Please help support by making a purchase.
viewtopic.php?f=17&t=1585 Have you done the Mandatory Fixes ?
Just because a lot of people agree on something, doesn't make it a fact. ~exxos ~
People should find solutions to problems, not find problems with solutions.
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Atari74user
Posts: 59
Joined: Sat Jan 13, 2018 9:19 pm

Re: Hello from Barcelona

Post by Atari74user »

That's an interesting and committed journey Jordi!

I remember my first Atari experience was a Pong, handed down to me in the late 70s / early 80s from my sisters. I then started to collect a small collection of Nintendo Game & Watch and other variants of a similar ilk.

My first computer was an Atari 800XL, I actually asked my parents for a Spectrum Plus, which they tried to get at the Co-Op in the UK on Hire Purchase, but they got refused. They then got me an Atari 800XL from my mother's Club Book (oh the days of the Club Book)! I imagine around 1985.

I remember I swapped my 800XL with my neighbour who worked at a model shop for a Tamiya Frog radio controlled beauty. I had to beg my neighbour to swap the Frog back for my 800XL because I missed it, then begged my parents for an ST for Christmas, but had to sell the 800XL to help them. Still have the same STFM purchased I believe Christmas '87, upgraded over the years with purchased from The Upgrade Shop (TUS), Compo, System Solutions / Atari Workshop and others. At first it was a games machine, then music machine, served me through college using Papyrus and Atari Works. It is still set up to this day now in my little music studio, never once has it been resigned to the loft.

My first PC wasn't until around 2004.

It was some time after that, that I finally got hold of a used but beautiful Falcon, probably around 2010 (can't remember exactly), and like you Jordi, now collect mostly Sound / MIDI software / peripherals, mainly because it's my interest, and I get use out of them of course.

Don't worry, I still find London daunting, they don't call it the Big Smoke for nothing :o
AtariTOSser
Medusa Hades 060 512mb, ET4000 / MACH64 | Atari Falcon 14mb, 68882, 8gb CF, Steinberg FDI, FA8, GigaFile & CT60e | Atari Jaguar, GD, Skunkboard & Cat Box | Atari 520STFM 4mb, Exxos Booster, TOS switcher, OverScan, UltraSatan, PARCP-USB, Unicorn-USB, ICD Link 2, ADAP, ADAP II, Lynex, ADAS-ST, SoundPool MO4, Steinberg MIDEX, SMPII, Emagic Log 3, C-Lab Unitor 2, Combiner & ExPort...
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