Bally Alley - The Newsletter for Astrocade Users

Miscellaneous Hardware Documents

	Released hardware by Bally, not including the Bally Professional Arcade console.
	The Lil' White Ram is a 32K memory expansion unit released in March of 2008.
	Astrocade Display Kiosk Assembly Instructions - Santa Cruz Wire and Mfg. Co. This is the set of instructions used to build an Astrocade point-of-purchase display unit (AKA as Astrocade Store Kiosk) . Also included are scanned pictures of the drawings of the Astrocade kiosk in various stages of assembly.
	64K RAM Board Manual - R&L Enterprises The documentation, including schematics, for this monster Astrocade RAM board. There is no actual Table of Contents, but here is what is included in the manual: 1) General Hardware Features 2) General Hardware Features NOT Included 3) Hardware Options 4) Addressing Ranges 5) PCB Layout 6) Power Supplies 7) Write Protect Installation 8) Routines for Accessing Upper Address Ranges With BASIC 9) Language Memory Locations 10) Useful Language Location Numbers 11) Installation 12) Precautions and Standard Operating Procedures 13) Circuit Description 14) Circuit Operation (See Schematic) 15) 50-Pin Bus Signals 16) Magic Memory 17) Intergalactic Politics (Memory Management) 18) 64K RAM Board Schematic
	Astrocade Add-Under Blueprints - Astro-Vision These are four Add-Under blueprints from April 1982. These GIF files are large (24" x 36"). If you have trouble viewing them, then save them locally to your hard drive and don't view them on the Internet. High-Res TIFF versions of these blueprints are available here.
	Cartridge Dumping Guide - Paul Thacker and Lance Squire This guide will allow you to digitally archive Astrocade cartridges using VIPERsoft BASIC, a Lil' WHITE RAM expansion, and an AstroBASIC cart.
	Computer Ear Manual, The - By ARD (Anderson Research and Design) A sixteen-page manual that explains how to use the Computer Ear voice recognition system. An additional four pages include four BASIC type-in programs: Digital Oscilloscope, Flash Math, Speech 1.8 and Speech 4.2.
	Jameco JE 610 ASCII Keyboard Datasheet These keyboards, from 1979, were often hacked with the 300-BAUD interface to create a keyboard that could be used with Bally BASIC. From the datasheet: "The JE610 ASCII Encoded keyboard kit can be interfaced into most any computer system. The keyboard assembly requires 5V @ 150mA and -12V @ 10mA for operation. Interface wiring can be made with either a 16-pin DIP jumper plug or an 18-pin (.156 spacing) edge connector."
	Lightpen Plans - By Leroy Flamm These are plans, including schematics, on how to build a light pen for the Bally / Astrocade. The documentation refers to a tape with a program for this hardware, but that program has been lost or has yet to be archived.
	Light Pen Plans - By Lance Squire Quick directions on hooking up an Atari Light Pen to a Bally / Astrocade.
	RGB Interface - Midway Note about this scan: It isn't the highest quality... but the original source isn't available. Ken Lill notes on Feb. 26, 2010: "It could be used to give you RGB out of an arcade, but you have to wire into the 3 different supplies and the ground. If you DID use this, you shouldn't need the modulator." Brett Bilbrey notes on Feb. 26, 2010: "That is the schematic for the Midway RGB board. It was a simple board that converted R-Y, B-Y, Video (where in this case, Video is Luma) to the RGB format. I don't know if you can get your hands on one of the boards anymore, but any R-Y, B-Y, Y to RGB converter should work. The nice part of that would be getting rid of the chroma crawl on the NTSC video and you could use the RGB input on newer TV sets. Specifically, the connector that the internal RF modulator (sealed box) mounts to here on the schematic: Astrocade RF Output
	R&L 64K RAM Board and Printer Interface - R&L Enterprises Two emails about new hardware that would have been available in the 3'rd quarter of 1996 (it never shipped). It was an Add-On Board with Configurable RAM, EPROM or EEPROM, PS/2 Keyboard Interface, Centronics Printer Interface, and two serial ports.