CTF is on the bench!

[P-Man]

After the great bench re-arrangement over the last few days, and the demotion of my Pat9000 to upstairs, its time for the CTF-1 to hog some space, but this time hopefully i'll be using it unlike the Pat9000 aka the worlds-largest-paperweight...

http://www.andysarcade.net/pix/CTFprogress1.JPG

just thought i'd share...

 

[andyman]

Nice share, what does it do ? (I have made an edumacated guess already). Must be special though, says Atari on it

 

[cliff_poole]

I like the way they have still used a space age typeface even though it is workshop equipment

.

The Variac is a nice touch, I have always fancied one for repairing PSUs.

 

[P-Man]

The two variacs are very neccesary on 70's Atari pcbs, as each pcb uses two AC supplies, and its not the same voltages for them all.

Andyman - its the PAT9000 of the 1970's.. with the right program plugs (that you plug into the front) you can plug in every pcb Atari made.

I have a page here :

http://www.andysarcade.net/personal/bronzeage/CTF-1/index.htm

Only now have i started to look at it, I am doing more b/w pcbs these days. My PAT9000 that was on the bench has never been any use to me as i have built my own rig that has more features and is more amenable, but what i lack is the Variacs for AC testing... My CTF-1 is missing the main brain part of the unit which is very unfortunate, but it means i can use the unit for my own purposes and not be tied to finding/making program plugs. I do have a bunch, but i have lots more games than adapters, and dont have the money to throw at program plugs (much like the pat9k plugs).

My rig was modified for Asteroids testing so there's a fair bit of hackery that needs reversing. I'll try document what i modify on it, but it will be a working rig, unlike a giant paperweight as my pat9000 was...

Incidentally if anyone wants a pat9000 let me know

 

[Alpha1]

it's a boot

 

[andyman]

Spotted your web page just after I asked the question, looks pretty cool from the pics. One question though, every atari PCB (With correct plugs) on the same rig, how does it do vectors and rasters on the same monitor ?

 

[P-Man]

ah, young Padowan, you have much to learn...

"Every Atari pcb ever made" - from the relative position of when it was made, which was probably in about 1978.

Even still, they made plugs for vector games, you just had a breakout cable for a vector monitor which you could sit on top of it. I'm not going to use it for vector stuff however as my other rig does that anyway

 

[the-hat]

i hope your bench has re-enforced supports. that thing looks like a beast

 

[P-Man]

yeh, if you thought the pat9000 was heavy, this thing is twice as heavy as a PAT, I dont know its weight, Atari never put that on its flyers, but yes you need a super sturdy bench for it to go on, if i were guessing i'd say 200kgs easily.