Atari Sparrow '030

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Alias -X » Thu, 01 Jun 1995 04:00:00



I bought a "Sparrow '030"-Revision2 from Atari OZ just before they
closed operations (they told me it was a Falcon). I managed to use its
memory and hard drive (which crashed shortly afterwards) in another Falcon
which I bought from Atari Beneluxe (sp?) in Holland. The Sparrow is now
just sitting on my desk as a very expensive paperweight. I am wondering
what can be done with it.

From the outside it looks exactly the same as a Falcon (with a Swedish
keyboard) and has the same ports as the Falcon, but the borad is quite a
bit different. The TOS chips (yes there are two) contain TOS 2.07. I've
tried burning TOS 4.04 into a couple of eproms - but this didn't work.
It has a DSP chip, and several graphics/sound chips which I can't identify.
It also won't give out a proper signal to a VGA/MVGA monitor - the sync
is totally out.

Can anyone supply information/advice on the possibility of upgrading it
to a Falcon?

                                        Yiannis Paschalidis (Alias "X")


 
 
 

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Nat » Fri, 02 Jun 1995 04:00:00



Quote:

>I bought a "Sparrow '030"-Revision2 from Atari OZ just before they
>closed operations (they told me it was a Falcon). I managed to use its
>memory and hard drive (which crashed shortly afterwards) in another Falcon
>which I bought from Atari Beneluxe (sp?) in Holland. The Sparrow is now
>just sitting on my desk as a very expensive paperweight. I am wondering
>what can be done with it.

Auction it off. Or keep it and sell it in twenty years for a million :)

Nat!

------------------"Bang that bit that doesn't bang"---------------

   And I love to talk philosophy / but I gotta take a*
   Man, that philosophy / runs right thru you

                                                    David Lee Roth

 
 
 

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Tom Thomas » Sat, 03 Jun 1995 04:00:00


On 31 May 95, Alias -X- shot this through the ether to All ...

 A> From the outside it looks exactly the same as a Falcon (with a
 A> Swedish keyboard) and has the same ports as the Falcon, but the borad
 A> is quite a bit different. The TOS chips (yes there are two) contain
 A> TOS 2.07. I've tried burning TOS 4.04 into a couple of eproms - but
 A> this didn't work. It has a DSP chip, and several graphics/sound chips
 A> which I can't identify. It also won't give out a proper signal to a
 A> VGA/MVGA monitor - the sync is totally out.

  This is a bird that neither I nor anyone I've spoken to has ever heard
of. I wonder if it might not be simply an STe (or, if the keyboard is seperate,
a MSTe) with some kind of 030 card installed. Strange that it would have a
Swedish keyboard.

ATB,
Tom

( UUCP Dialup connection )

 
 
 

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Jo Even Skarste » Mon, 05 Jun 1995 04:00:00



|> On 31 May 95, Alias -X- shot this through the ether to All ...
|>
|>  A> From the outside it looks exactly the same as a Falcon (with a
|>  A> Swedish keyboard) and has the same ports as the Falcon, but the borad
|>  A> is quite a bit different. The TOS chips (yes there are two) contain
|>  A> TOS 2.07. I've tried burning TOS 4.04 into a couple of eproms - but
|>  A> this didn't work. It has a DSP chip, and several graphics/sound chips
|>  A> which I can't identify. It also won't give out a proper signal to a
|>  A> VGA/MVGA monitor - the sync is totally out.
|>
|>   This is a bird that neither I nor anyone I've spoken to has ever heard
|> of. I wonder if it might not be simply an STe (or, if the keyboard is
|> seperate,
|> a MSTe) with some kind of 030 card installed. Strange that it would have a
|> Swedish keyboard.

"Sparrow" was the name of the project that resulted in the Falcon. So a Sparrow
is a very rare bird indeed! It's propably one of the original
developer-machines.

|>
|> ATB,
|> Tom
|>
|> ( UUCP Dialup connection )
|>

--
  ***
Jo Even Skarstein

URL:   http://www.stud.unit.no/~josk
Tlf.:  73 93 52 76 (Tr.heim)  57 87 33 84 (Olden)

"Pils, hamburger og saccosekk."

 
 
 

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Rod McCal » Mon, 05 Jun 1995 04:00:00


Quote:>"Sparrow" was the name of the project that resulted in the Falcon. So a
Sparrow
>is a very rare bird indeed! It's propably one of the original
>developer-machines.

Atari Benelux had a sale about 6 months ago where I was able to purchase
a number of development machines including the replacement TT called the
Atari BlueTTit (BT) 040. Then of course the Atari Budgie 020
and the Music Workstation "Humming Bird 010". Not forgetting the 060 based
Atari Shag 060.

During the mid eighties they also had the replacement XE games console called
the "Atari Turkey 65"

I asked Sam Tramiel to comment on these names and was told "Tweet, tweet,
cheep", he then ate some seed and flew off :)

Rod

--
Rod McCall, Student, Applied Computer Studies Division, Dundee University
Atari WWW: http:/www.mcs.dundee.ac.uk:8080/~rmccall/atari.html
Atari Falcon 4/65: ex-President University Dramatic Society (read mistake!)

 
 
 

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Marcus J. Schme » Tue, 06 Jun 1995 04:00:00


The Atari Sparrow030 was the codename for the development falcons.

I didn't read the original article, but it sounds like you have a rare
bird indeed!!!

If you want to ship it to Australia, I'll have it!!!

Skip

 
 
 

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Paul Hil » Wed, 07 Jun 1995 04:00:00




Quote:>  This is a bird that neither I nor anyone I've spoken to has ever heard
>of. I wonder if it might not be simply an STe (or, if the keyboard is seperate,
>a MSTe) with some kind of 030 card installed. Strange that it would have a
>Swedish keyboard.

        From information given me from an Atari insider: the Sparrow was the
original name of the Falcon, developed in Israel. The name lives on in the
Falcon's DMA chip (SDMA = Sparrow DMA). The small-scale operation in Israel was
closed down, and development continued in America, eventually producing the
Falcon. I didn't know any Sparrows were ever sold, though.

        It was initially intended to be an upgrade to the STE, with a 68030,
but then the idea of chucking a DSP on came along, and after that it became
a bit more than just an upgrade.

        The machine being talked about here is probably one of the prototypes,
hence it not being fully Falcon compatable, but it IS a Falcon (of sorts),
not an STE.

        Paul

 
 
 

Atari Sparrow '030

Post by Aidan Kea » Wed, 07 Jun 1995 04:00:00


: >"Sparrow" was the name of the project that resulted in the Falcon. So a
: Sparrow
: >is a very rare bird indeed! It's propably one of the original
: >developer-machines.
: >

: Atari Benelux had a sale about 6 months ago where I was able to purchase
: a number of development machines including the replacement TT called the
: Atari BlueTTit (BT) 040. Then of course the Atari Budgie 020
: and the Music Workstation "Humming Bird 010". Not forgetting the 060 based
: Atari Shag 060.

: During the mid eighties they also had the replacement XE games console called
: the "Atari Turkey 65"

At least nobody's mentioned the Dodo 030 !

Aidan.