Top 3 Atari ST Gadgets For Getting Started - UltraSatan, Netusbee & mouSTer!

[@ctrlaltrees]

There have been so many great innovations for these old machines over the years that it's difficult to narrow it down to just 3. The Gotek is always worth looking into (although to be fair the UltraSatan does make it kind of redundant so I decided not to include it here) as well as a decent SCART cable / VGA adapter. I'll cover these in a future video! Did I miss your favourite Atari ST gadget? Let me know here in the comments! 🙂

[@DaveVelociraptor]

I don't rate the Gotek for Atari STs. Better to save the money for an UltraSatan - or perhaps the newer alternatives? SCART/VGA adapters are a good thing to look into.

[@FoxbatStargazer]

I haven’t seen much comments on voltage mismatch with Atari ST and VGA/Scart. RGB levels on the ST are up to 1 V while the typical analog standard for scart/VGA is .7. This may have changed with some revision of the STE line. Its more frustrating when trying to input other analog signals into a JVC ST monitor because they end up dim. ST H and V sync is also specified as 1v when VGA goes up to 5? Just something to maybe investigate to avoid any incompatibility or long-term damage to equipment.

[@MQsto]

Being both cheap and poor I got myself a plain ols Satandisk and have been very happy with it. Still also using the Gotek I bought earlier, but very rarely as Satan really does make it more obsolete. MouSTer is the latest acquisition, it really is all it promises and some more. Somewhere along the line I also switched to a more modern power supply because the STe original made my lovely machine into a stove. Surprisingly easy fix, only needed soldering iron to disconnect the wires and now the Atari won't melt every time I have a healthy 5 to 10 hour dose of Llamatron, Civilization or Populous :-)

[@DaveVelociraptor]

@@MQsto Do you feel that buying the gotek was a false step and you would have been better waiting and going for the Satan instead? That is my conclusion but I don't know if other people feel the same way.

[@MQsto]

@@DaveVelociraptor Absolutely not. I even added a oled display to my Gotek _after_ getting Satan. Gotek made it possible to browse through ST-library so much easier than just slowly copying images to floppies. Which I also did at some point. And I still play my seemingly never ending game of Phantasie I using .st images & my dear Gotek because nostalgia & reasons. And sometimes it is just nice to do things the modern way but still hear the floppy drive sounds thanks to the speaker mod. And While the honorable PPutnik earns aal gratitude, many things I have wanted to try still require a floppy drive in some form.

[@ThisIsPete]

I know this is an old vid but I've only just got around to watching it! Thanks for the clear breakdown on these things -- they look great. My STs are pretty "vanilla" and I've been a bit hesitant to bring in "modern" gadgets on them (particularly those which do stuff like replace the original floppy drive -- I have a real attachment to those old floppy drive noises!) but the UltraSatan in particular looks like a great investment, and the MouSTer seems like a great means of replacing my tired old ST mice which are showing their age a bit!

[@richardestes6499]

Love that Arcimedes mousepad in the background.

[@randyiron2]

I learned some basic language on my Atari 800 when I was a kid. My dad had two floppy drives and a printer installed on it. I also had a drawing pad for some digital art work. I absolutely loved playing any of the many many games we had for it! My favorite probably was Spy vs spy! The game always had me laughing! I remember it taking forever to load up from being a bigger game.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Haha awesome! Thanks for sharing. Spy vs Spy was a classic! 😁

[@RetrogradeScene]

I love looking at all the new gadgets being made for theses older systems. Nice work Rees

[@RetroBytesUK]

Really interesting video, I have an ST I've not done much with. I think at the very least I might get my self an UltraSatan. Really glad you mentioned the hd versions of games being available as that would have been my first question.

[@P5ychoFox]

I’m always hopeful someone will create a flashcart for the ST’s cartridge port. Something that runs on STFMs.

[@muguk]

There is a limit of 128KB for the ST's cartridge port :(

[@Trusteft]

Great video man. Fantastic equipment indeed! Extra like for the cool edits and for the choice of music. :)

[@jasonc3a]

Feel free to drag on. I love it.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Haha thanks, I'll be covering all of these devices in more detail in future videos. 🙂

[@alexwoods1094]

Found and subscribed after reading your piece in Retro Gamer this month.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Thanks! Glad to have you here 😁

[@aaroncheah2088]

My 520STFM is over 33 years now. My dad bought it for my 11th birthday back in 1989. As it was kept in storage for over 20 years, I dare not power it on. Unfortunately, no one in Malaysia could repair or recap it. I also need to find a way to convert the RGB monitor port to VGA. The original monitor, SC1224 blew up many decades ago due to an voltage overload from the utility company. I did however found the MegaFile 60 too. At last, I don't have the ACSI cable to connect it to the STFM.

[@DaveVelociraptor]

RGB to VGA isn't too difficult, people do sell adapters and they're not terribly expensive.

[@tenminutetokyo2643]

That's nuts!

[@mrt.7146]

08:25 - Rainbow Islands on original ST hardware using an XBOX 360 controller 🤩🤩🤩

[@JVHShack]

As a collector, I sadly don't have anything from Atari except for the venerable 2600/VCS. I do hope to get an Atari ST as well as the famous British Micros that I have seen so much of so I can do something besides MS-DOS and Windows gaming. It all seems like wonderful fun.

[@jakub.kosiec]

Great video, Rees!

[@boilerhousegarage]

Like me, you knew the joy of Escape from the Planet of the Robot Monsters, Final Fight, 9 Lives and Sim City that Christmas! I only recently discovered there was another identical pink "xtra" box but with 4 different games included, not sure if later or earlier.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Oh really? I'm not familiar with that one. Indeed, I played Escape From The Planet of the Robot Monsters to death that Christmas, it's still one of my favourite games on the ST thanks to those memories.

[@DeadCat-42]

I own 3 ST's, two 1040's and my original 520 stfm I saved for years to buy. They all have TOS 1.0. the ICD bootloader puts TOS 1.04 in RAM for my hard drive support.

[@Chris-yc3mm]

That dave guy gets around. I have seen his name pop up on a number of channels now.

[@ctrlaltrees]

He's very supportive of the retro community and in particular the Atari ST scene. Really nice guy who I've had some great chats with over the years.

[@lucinawalker3261]

I have never owned an ST, probably won't every own one since I don't have the space for retro computers, but sure youtube I'd love to watch a video about modern accessories, and I love it all the same

[@ctrlaltrees]

Thanks for the kind words. If only there were more people out there like you (and me!) who just want to learn about cool stuff. 🙂

[@MrLurchsThings]

The NetUSBee, as much as it does a min fileserver over TCP, can the ST itself take advantage of that for outgoing connections like BBSing?

[@drew73101]

Good question, I’d like to know if it’s possible also.

[@jamesfmackenzie]

Yep! You can install a TCP/IP stack like STinG and use the NetUSBee for mail, FTP, newsgroups, even browsing the web (although you can forget about the modern web or anything with CSS 😂)

[@RetroGameCoders]

@@jamesfmackenzie any idea where I can find jarnnn.prg? All my NetUSBee will do is the ucp file transfer as it crashes complaining about cookies for anything else

[@acbc2k]

Just bought some goodies for my 520STFM from Centuriontech namely the ST2VGA and GOEX. Both worked flawlessly. Only issue now is lack of RAM for many interesting titles. Even some demos won't run due to lack of RAM. Just wondering if anyone still making upgrades for the STFM? I guess that will be the next most important upgrade.

[@StonedSidney]

Show off! My Atari ST is only B&W. Keep up these vids.

[@MrPetari]

Your monitor, cable for it is B&W . Atari ST can color with proper cable and monitor/TV.

[@BollingHolt]

The MouSTer grabbed my attention because you mentioned that it works with Amiga as well. I just bought an Amiga 500, but I do not yet have a mouse or joystick. Perhaps one of those devices would be useful with my 500 ;)

[@ctrlaltrees]

I can highly recommend it, really useful device and works great with the Amiga too. Best of luck with the 500, it's a wonderful machine! 😁

[@BollingHolt]

@@ctrlaltrees Glad to know. Thanks a lot, man! I'm looking forward to gaming on it properly! In the mean time, I've put in my trust Wimodem232 and done some "BBSing" ;)

[@AE-bm4no]

that's a nifty monitor stand. is it commercially available? thanks

[@jamesfmackenzie]

Great video!!

[@ctrlaltrees]

Thanks! And thanks for answering people's questions in the comments, you're certainly more knowledgeable about the Netusbee than I am 😁

[@jamesfmackenzie]

@@ctrlaltrees no worries! I went on a “can my ST browse the web?” quest several years back - got intimately familiar with how to do TCP/IP and PPP on the ST 😂

[@DrVimto]

i regret selling the 1024 stfm. did keep 2 520st's just for games mostly.. always wanted a falcon for music purposes.. no idea if the 520 could be ramped upto falcon spec.

[@tiemanowo]

At first glance I was thinking: "yeah.. another april 1th (fools/joke) video", but I see that I was wrong :)

[@muguk]

Owned a UltraSatan when it was purely just a SatanDisk. Best device for the ST IMHO. Gotek's are "OK", but only if you can't be bothered downloading thousands of HD adapated games that are out there. Having used an ST with a hard-drive since my teen years, I got used to the extra drive space very early on.

[@MrPetari]

UltraSatan and Satandisk are not same. Designer is same (Jookie). Flash card capacities improved by time, so Satandisk's max 4 GB was insufficient at about 2012. Speed of UltraSatan is much better too. And one 'paranoid' notice: Not logical to say that DL-ing thousands of HD adapted games is bothering. Same is needed for Gotek or other HW floppy emulator (HxC came before Gotek) . Or you may DL compilations for both ... Still way less time needed to run games from Flash card compilation - just write on card and enjoy. In case of Gotek or other HW flo. emul. will need to copy images to Flash card, unpacked, what may need some special tools. And it depends from firmware in device how easy selection will be ...

[@djm9937]

loved my ST. Had a problem one time where I got so frustrated as some keys refused to work. I slammed my fist down on the keyboard and almost immediately realised the issue was down to the controller i had installed. It had a switch on it Atari/Amiga i think? flicked the switch and voila it was working again..well sort of ..I cracked the keyboard circuitry...doh. !

[@ctrlaltrees]

Doh! Yes, the ST keyboards can be a bit fragile 😬

[@CallousCoder]

I was an ATARI ST user too next to being a PC users. I swayed for the Atari because of Cubase and midi. I knew I had made te wrong choice when I saw the Amiga though. But like a true fanboy you defended your buyers remorse with arguments like: “Cubase was developed on the ST, MIDI clock and interrupts are very neatly timed in the hardware. But as a developer I noticed how hard it was to do graphics and sound - and you were tied to the OS. But I knew the Amiga was the better machine. And 3 year ago I refurbished an Amiga (two actually) and I started to develop some moving copper bars and sound in assembly and that’s when I really had to admit defeat to the all mighty Amiga gods. So easy and convenient. But recently I bought a 1040 stfm (I had a 520 back in 89) and can’t wait to revisit some of the old retro nostalgia of using that. That is after I finished my series on C64 assembly on this channel.

[@MrPetari]

I bought Atari 520 ST in April 1987 . When Amiga 500 just arrived in shops. Price was approx same. I was in dilemma which to buy. What decided was SW choice. Much more for Atari ST . And I don't regret it, even if at around 1990 SW choice for Amiga was better. ST is more universal, versatile than Amiga. It's OS (TOS) is very similar to DOS, and that was good for my later PC years :-) Could write more, but let's just not waste time in silly discussions of type 'which is better' .

[@deamondeathstone1]

I'm pretty sure my Rys mk 2 isn't of the PS/2 variety, though it probably wouldn't fit under a ST.

[@ctrlaltrees]

Hi! Yes, just looked into it and it seems the Rys MkII is a similar effort to the mouSTer with a proper USB HID implementation. It's not one I'd come across before so thanks for the info. 👍

[@tonycosta3302]

I had a 520ST with the high resolution BW monitor as a kid, and I still find it odd to see the UI in color. It looks so clunky compared to the higher resolution version.

[@CheshireNoir]

How does the ACSI2STM compare to the UltraSATAN? I know there was a flurry of development for the ACSI2STM, but I am yet to see a comparison.

[@ctrlaltrees]

I'd say they're much the same as far as functionality is concerned, the ACSI2STM being more "hands on" if you're looking for a project to put together. That said, that's based on zero personal experience with it and I really should get hold of one so I can compare.

[@randyiron2]

What was the main differences between the Atari st and the Atari xl computers? I always wondered but never knew.

[@ctrlaltrees]

The ST was a 16-bit machine built around the Motorola 68000 CPU. It was released in 1985. The XL was basically a restyled version of the 400/800 MOS 6502-based machines released in 1979. The ST was much more modern and had things like a GUI and built in floppy drive. 🙂

[@shertz43]

will the ultrasatan play stx disk images?

[@ctrlaltrees]

Unfortunately not, as far as I'm aware there's no way to run them on real hardware (ie other than an emulator).

[@shertz43]

@@ctrlaltrees i guess stx and st disk images will work with a gotek?

[@OliverJonCross]

I have a UltraSatan but I can't work out how to unpack .st files. I have my SD card set to load on GEM.

[@CyborgPrime]

I have a working 1040 s t e and a working falcon for sale. Any interest?

[@SproutyPottedPlant]

Woooo it’s Reesypops!

[@AlexPayneKU]

Спасибо! Очень интересно!

[@RetroSegaDev]

So is there an Atari ST web browser? 😁

[@jamesfmackenzie]

Yep! A popular one is CAB. Although it only supports very old HTML - do you can forget about the modern web or anything with CSS 😂

[@amirlx]

No CosmosEX?

[@Lachlant1984]

I'm not religious at all and I don't really like religion, I understand and believe the creator when he says the UltraSatan isn't related to Satanism, but the name does make me feel uncomfortable, I first heard about the UltraSatan last year and even then I found the name quite discomforting. I'm sure it's a fantastic product, and I'd probably use one if I owned an Atari ST. I do think there are far better names for the product that someone could come up with, such as MegaFile SD, Ultra SD, ACSI2SD, ST Card, I'm sure others could think of better names than me.

[@KimReneJensen]

Atari ST accelerator ? Terrible Fire 536 ? Recommandation ?

[@LordSzabonight]

OMG Just use an Emulator.

[@MrPetari]

OMG, just really unnecessary comment, 'advice' . There is plenty of people wanting 'real thing' . And this Atari STs were manufactured in some 6-8 million quantity. So, why not use some of them even 30++ years later ? That's history, and can learn some things which can not with your 'A.I' 'smartphone' .

[@LordSzabonight]

@@MrPetari I used to have one . And I love the aesthetics of the device. But it's just a collectors item now. And instead of using them maybe keep em in a museum and use an emulator.