Atari Technical Information


This is a collection of technical documentation and notes I've collected about Atari 8-bit computers. I'm using it to design another emulator, but perhaps other emulator writers will also find the information useful.

Under ConstructionThis collection will be undergoing major construction for a bit, since I'm just starting to translate my data to HTML. Actually, it may never really be finished. If anybody finds a typo or inaccuracy, please let me know. Also, if you have any useful information that's not covered in these notes, please send me a copy (or the URL where I can find them).

If you have questions about the Atari, look here first, then look here.


The Chips

Sally (Atari's 6502 CPU)

ANTIC

CTIA / GTIA

Pokey

PIA (6520A)


Miscellaneous

ATASCII

I've created a True Type Font (TTF) file using CorelDRAW which contains all of the 8x8 character definitions in Atari's character set. By request, I'm making this ATASCII.TTF file available for public download. This can be useful, for example, to print a listing of Atari programs exactly as they should appear on the screen.

Note that most of the control characters in this font are out of place, due to certain limitations of the font file format. All graphics characters with ATASCII codes 00-1F16 have been moved to characters A0-BF16 in the font file, and ATASCII 7F16 has been moved to FF16 in the font file.

Also note that the set does not include reverse-graphics characters, for precisely the same reason the control characters are mixed up -- there just isn't enough room for them in the font's character set.


Links to Other Atari Sites


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