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Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:06 pm
by Steve
Hey guys,

I'm currently working on the following Falcon and this will be my service blog. This board is rather interesting with some bodge wires on the board, which are Atari fitted. Also it is fitted with a very old TOS 4.01 which I've personally never seen before, rather exciting :)

As you can see from the TOS screenshot, it boots with a dithered green background (with no floppy or hdd) which made me wonder, since Falcons usually boot with a blueish background. Also it did not seem to have any of the '3D' windows that Falcon TOS usually has. So I removed the RAM module and found 4.01 stamped on the ROM. Cool stuff. @mikro ;)

We plan to:
  • Re-cap motherboard
  • Fit EXXOS PSU
  • Fit Exxos clock patch
  • Replace NVRAM with Exxos module
  • New CF card IDE
  • New Fan
  • New fast TOS 4.04
  • Wait states removal
  • Resolder ports
  • Clean floppy drive
  • And a general clean as she is a dusty old girl
Revision information:
B52803000012
B5 = First batch
28 = October 1992, first production month
0 = Pilot production
3 = PALB
000012 = Apparently the 12th unit produced

Link to history.
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Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:45 am
by mikro
Wow, this confirms my earlier findings. There was a batch in 08/1992, too. So far I have seen only 10/1992 Falcons, cool. I'm pretty sure this is the first Falcon batch ever, presented at Atari Messe'92 in August.

Btw, my Sparrow had the exact obscure RAM card.

Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Thu Apr 22, 2021 9:21 pm
by photonstorm
I bought this Falcon (it's my machine) from HiSoft as they were winding up their Atari products and clearing out.

It's my understanding that they used it as one of their development machines, so it makes a lot of sense they had it right from the very start.

Cheers,

Rich

Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Fri Apr 23, 2021 9:21 pm
by Steve
Hey @photonstorm good to see you here :)

PSU finished tonight, beautiful blue PSU to make the falcon fly :D

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Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 8:35 am
by pixelpusher
Steve wrote: Wed Apr 21, 2021 8:06 pm Hey guys,

I'm currently working on the following Falcon and this will be my service blog. This board is rather interesting with some bodge wires on the board, which may or may not be aftermarket. Also it is fitted with a very old TOS 4.01 which I've personally never seen before, rather exciting :)

[...]
You got the bodge wires by factory - see my motherboard screenshot here: https://www.exxosforum.co.uk/forum/viewt ... =59&t=2525

That machine also was received in 1992 directly from ATARI.

Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:19 am
by Steve
Cheers @pixelpusher I think the serial number on this means it was the 12th falcon produced?

Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:32 am
by photonstorm
12th? Wow. Is that worldwide or just EU?

Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:46 am
by Steve
photonstorm wrote: Sat Apr 24, 2021 10:32 am 12th? Wow. Is that worldwide or just EU?
B5 = First batch
28 = October 1992, first production month
0 = Pilot production
3 = PALB
000012 = Apparently the 12th unit produced

Link to history.

Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Sat Apr 24, 2021 9:18 pm
by Steve
Tonight just dusting and cleaning the old girl up.

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Much better:

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Re: Falcon B52803000012 service blog

Posted: Sun Apr 25, 2021 11:29 am
by Steve
Just a quick test in the morning after leaving overnight to make sure completely dry & pop TOS 4.04 in. Next will be on to the re-capping.

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