PeST PS2 Mouse Interface v.040 PeST allows a standard PS2 mouse to be used with the Atari ST. It was designed in mid-2005 by myself and Chris Swinson. Initially it was for ourselves as we'd had enough of Atari mice, and we couldn't find anything like it out there. This is the only interface available which is not much more than a cable, which means it simply plugs in and you're away! It uses an embedded microcontroller (which is what I work with) to decode the PS2 byte type data packets and to 'display' these movements on the Atari mouse port. The Atari mouse port uses the BUS standard which practically has no electronics between the slotted wheels inside the Atari mouse and the Atari ST. Today's optical mice can now be used with the ST. The "Microsoft Wheel Mouse Optical" was used when developing PeST.

72-pin 4Mb Memory Upgrade Instructions An Atari ST can be upgraded to 4Mb using a 72-pin SIMM. It was previously assumed that only 30-pin SIMMs could be used. These are the instructions with images of this procedure. It is not for the faint hearted! It requires delicate soldering. It requires a Fast Page type SIMM and these are not always clear what they are.

Happy Computers Discovery Cartridge This is the ultimate disk copier available. It overrides the Atari's WD1772 internal disk controller and allows ANY disk to be copied. The difficulty lays in programming the cartridge on exactly what to do. It can copy 'flakey' bits commonly used for disk protection, it can do anything. Copying parameters are controlled via a config file located on the software disk. The 2.6 revision is available here.

Frontier Forget-Me-Clock II Cartridge A real time clock for the Atari ST. Modified version of software downloadable here.

Monochrome VGA Cable VGA monitors can be used with the Atari ST. This cable connects the 31.5Khz monochrome signal to the VGA monitor's RGB lines. The VGA 15-pin high density D-type connector on the monitor has no pins assigned for the ST's audio output. A stereo 3.5mm audio line socket comes out of the 13-pin DIN plug which goes into the ST. This is what would be found on most PC computers to output their audio. Not all VGA monitors will work with the Atari ST, but almost all will. The ST's high resolution mode can only be displayed with this cable.

Colour RGB Cable The low and medium resolutions from the ST can be displayed with ease on almost all European televisions. They have a SCART socket on the back which is effectively an RGB socket as was fitted to the older monitors in the 1980's. Unfortunately this doesn't help those outside of Europe, whose televisions accept only SVIDEO or regular AV sources.

Using a Samsung LE19R71BX 19" LCD Television This television will display all of the ST's resolutions with the right cable setup. Unfortunately it does tend to suffer from artifacts and digital bleeding in low resolution. The LCD panel is 1440 x 900 pixels.

520STF - The One That Survived This is an old style 520STF which I bought off of eBay and didn't work, all it displayed was coloured bars. In the end I removed all of it's memory, and replaced it with 30-pin SIMMs. 41256 DRAMs are no longer available so that was my only real option. The machine now has 2MB of RAM and is repaired.

Using a Panasonic TX-26LXD52 26" LCD Television Low and medium resolutions can be displayed on this television. The display is excellent, without any of the niggles experienced on the Samsung. It is comparable to a CRT television. The artifacts can still be seen if moving across the screen quickly but it is much much better. The LCD panel is a Wide XGA 1366 x 768 pixels, 16:9.

Sony MPF-920 Modifications A modern PC FDD can be used with the Atari ST but requires modification. This shows you how to set the DSELECT to 0 for the ST, a PC is 1. It also shows you how to enable Pin-1 as the Disk Change line. The MPF-920 draws about 300mA maximum despite being spec'd as 900mA. The drive is capable of 85 tracks (0 thru 84) and can format to 11 Sectors Per Track. It's a good little drive by today's standards.