Pantechnicon
08-15-2004, 12:24 AM
Sometime back I found an Atari 5200 at the Goodwill. I already have a 4-port model, so I haven't really done anything with this 2nd unit until today other than holding onto it as a spare. I was going to sell it on Ebay but I ran into something odd so I'm holding off on that for now.
It's a 4-port case and a 4-port board, but controller ports 3 and 4 are actually missing :hmm: . I opened up the unit to see what was inside. There are slots on the board for the 3rd and 4th ports but the connectors are simply not present. The solder holes look perfectly clean, so I don't think they broke off. It's more like they were never there. Presumably there could have been some plastic dust plugs over the actual ports but I didn't get any with this unit.
Could it be a board put in by Atari under a waranty replacement? And if so why only 2-ports instead of 4? Or could this have been some system released in between the 4-port production run and the release of the 2-port model with the redesigned case? The serial number on the unit is SV 402 0030758 if anybody knows how to translate that into when it was released. So that's it, really. A 4-port board with only 2-ports. I doubt this is anything rare but I'm curious as to what theories any of you might have as to what this is.
I'll post pics if I have to but anybody who has seen a 5200 ought to follow what I've described well enough. Thanks for any help.
It's a 4-port case and a 4-port board, but controller ports 3 and 4 are actually missing :hmm: . I opened up the unit to see what was inside. There are slots on the board for the 3rd and 4th ports but the connectors are simply not present. The solder holes look perfectly clean, so I don't think they broke off. It's more like they were never there. Presumably there could have been some plastic dust plugs over the actual ports but I didn't get any with this unit.
Could it be a board put in by Atari under a waranty replacement? And if so why only 2-ports instead of 4? Or could this have been some system released in between the 4-port production run and the release of the 2-port model with the redesigned case? The serial number on the unit is SV 402 0030758 if anybody knows how to translate that into when it was released. So that's it, really. A 4-port board with only 2-ports. I doubt this is anything rare but I'm curious as to what theories any of you might have as to what this is.
I'll post pics if I have to but anybody who has seen a 5200 ought to follow what I've described well enough. Thanks for any help.