My new Atari 520STFM

Posted by stiggyworld on

One of the chaps at work was having a bit of a clear out and knowing that I have a soft spot for older computers/consoles, he asked if I wanted any of them to save him the time of taking them to the recycle yard.

What I didn’t expect was a huge boot full of goodies and amongst various bits ‘n’ bobs was this rather nice Atari 520STFM, complete with cables, mouse, manuals and a software.

After the initial release of the Atari St in 1985, I used to pour over press adverts in the computer magazines of the time always in the knowledge that for a kid in his early teens, how the hell i was going to acquire the retail price.

Silica shop was always the source for a good deal.

Fast forward a year or so after ruthlessly saving pocket money, working three paper routes, picking potatoes on a local farm and a saturday job working as clay pigeon thrower, I’d amassed about £400. Around this time the Atari ST was being sold for  £399 with plenty of bundle packs to choose from and it was also around this time that my older brother had brought his first Commodore Amiga 500. After seeing his in action I was torn between the Commodore or Atari? In the end, I opted for the Commodore but…many, many years later I picked up a Atari 1024ST from a boot sale and this latest acquisition and rekindled my love of Atari machines…..although i don’t think I’ll ever get used to the color of that  TOS/GEM desktop 🙂

System Specs -Atari 520STFM

CPU: Motorola MC68000 @ 8mhz

Ram: 512kb

Display modes – STFM model contained an internal RF modulator for connection to a standard TV set.

  • Low resolution – 320×200 (16 color), palette of 512 colors
  • Medium resolution – 640×200 (4 color), palette of 512 colors
  • High resolution – 640×400 (mono), monochrome

Drive: Internal Double Sided 3½ floppy disk drive

Sound: Yamaha YM2149

Ports: TV Out, Midi in/out, RS-232 serial port, Parallel port (Centronics), external disk drive port, 13 pin DIN monitor port,ACSI port & x2 9 pin ports for joystick/mice.

Here’s a few more shots after i’d given the case a bit of a scrub. Some of the keys have yellowed but overall it cleaned up quite nicely. *Most of these were shot using a black scarf as a backdrop, spotlight and white balance set to tungsten.

I’ve always like the unique style of the Function keys on the ST range.

Gotta love the chunky Atari mouse.

As well as various manuals included in the box, I also found what must have been the original software bundle pack. Complete with game disks…Space Harrier will be the first to try!

Owners manual

I’m not sure how long it’s been since it was last used but it booted perfectly first time.

3 responses to “My new Atari 520STFM”

  1. i love you passion, very nice computer you have there and i will like to take my hat off to you for youe working efforts as a teen ….well done very well done.

    in fact i am on Ebay looking at this right now, and it comes with alot of games also in its box with the sleeve and manual.
    ill include the link for your fun:
    http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Atari-ST520-FM-Boxed-and-MINT-condition-No-YELLOWING-/150813512587?pt=UK_VintageComputing_RL&hash=item231d2f938b

    simon

  2. After being born into a house that had an ST and grown up playing one, I have no love for the Amiga’s superior sound. It just reminds me of those crappy cheapo sounding polyphonic phones from a few years ago compared to the more technically basic but masterfully produced sound we Atarians grew up with.

    Jesus Christ though, £180 for a 520FM is insane. Perhaps a Mega STE yes (though I would still consider that price a bit steep). I wouldn’t pay more than about £50 for a decent 4MB STE. Its just not a collectors computer, but an enthusiasts computer.

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