Issue 31: May 2003
Features
- | Foreword
- | Open Letter To The ACP Developers
- | Menu Print: Resurrection
- | Probe House Expense Manager
- | YM Sound
- | RAF Meets 3sat
- | Relics of the Past
- | Interview: Gaztee
- | The Atari MIDI Tool Box
- | Tip of the day
M@ilbox
News
| RAF Meets 3sat Harry Reminder and company show their Atari stuff for the television camera Have you ever dreamed of being requested to present your Atari computer on TV? No? Neither did I, but for the members of the German RAF group this potential dream became reality. Start and decision The story began at end of January, when Carsten Strotmann got an e-mail message from Ralph Benz, the editor of the computer broadcast "neues". He requested our support for the 3sat TV channel's next programme featuring Atari. He wanted to show what is going on in the scene this year. Carsten answered and listed our 8-bit Atari computers and available self-made hardware. He also indicated the close date of our upcoming RAF meeting. Ralph was delighted and wanted to visit us with his film crew. So we arranged the meeting for 3 February. 3sat The German TV channel 3sat has mainly culture, science and information programmes. On Monday evening it broadcasts "neues.computer und mehr". Ralph Benz searched the internet and found the web site of ABBUC, the German 8-bit Atari club. Here he spotted the link to the RAF, a regional working group of the ABBUC. Ralph decided to get contact with this active Atari group and was not disappointed by his choice. Preparation The monthly RAF meetings take place at different locations and this time it was Gunnar Busse's turn to invite the group to his home. He recently moved to a nice village where he found a large flat with a huge living room, luckily enough space to present all the Atari stuff and finally for all his guests. We posted each other by e-mail our ideas about what computers, software and accessories to show. Because we are members of an 8-bit club these computers should have priority. All of our self-built hardware and software had to be shown to express the vivid action of the scene. Meeting The studio of 3sat is not very far from Gunnar's location, this was another good condition for the meeting. Normally the RAF and guests meet at 20:00 but this time we started one hour earlier. We had our bags full of hardware and other gadgets and were very excited on our way to Gunnar. It was cold and streets slippery with some snow but happily we drove without problems. Team When I arrived with Thomas and Marc the film crew was already there. The editor Ralph Benz together with his cameraman and his sound and lighting engineer were preparing for the film session. They just arranged the big lights for a well illuminated area around the table. We said hello and were given a friendly welcome by the team. We quickly presented ourselves and talked about the planned actions. Ralph was formerly an active computer freak and had already reported about the scene of older computer systems by television broadcast. This time Atari was the topic and the contribution about the 8-bit systems should take place this evening. Show off While we unpacked our hardware devices and placed them on the dinner table the 3sat team decided to film it by waving along there with the camera. Then they wanted someone to explain the use and function of the most interesting devices. But Ralph started to discuss the course of other events and then made up his mind to show the network interface in particular being used. So Thomas and I started to put two TV sets and XL computers on the table while more and more guests arrived and the room was well filled. The network game MultiDash was started and the competitors must have felt like movie stars. Then the film crew wanted to show the variety of the Atari computer models and panned from one system to the other. The VCS, XL, Lynx, Portfolio and Jaguar were placed on a small table in the other corner of the room. The Atari 800 with its memory cards and 810 floppy disk drive attracted their special interest - Oldie but Goldie. Then it was time to show someone using these computers. It was Gunnar who should act now, selected because of his nice T-shirt with Atari logo at the front. With ease, he operated his Portfolio where he stored data of chemical elements and scientific programs. To show the activity of the RAF group during their meetings the camera crew wanted to film the members doing what they usually do in that situation. They had to act relaxed to get the atmosphere of those events. I did this by explaining my recent hardware projects to the newer guests. Luckily my ring binder with all the schematics and layouts was so interesting for them that we didn't really notice the cameraman filming us. Interview and game session Afterwards an interview was prepared. Carsten was asked about the activities of the ABBUC club and what led to the enthusiasm we have for Atari computers. Carsten did this very well and Ralph was satisfied with the first take. When they had finished we wanted to play one of our favourite games, Cervi. This MultiJoy8 software is a simple Tron-like worm game, but for up to eight players using the MultiJoy8 interface. Again we had a lot of fun with this game program obvious by the kind of conversation while we were playing. Group picture Finally I wanted to have a picture of all the attendees. Gunnar's girlfriend was so kind to do this for us. The three people of the 3sat film team together with the people of the RAF are recorded in this photograph reminding us of this unforgettable event. Moreover this was also a record-breaking event in terms of number of participants. Beside the film crew, ten Atari freaks came together for the RAF meeting.
From left to right, standing: Harry Reminder, cameraman, Ralph Benz, sound and lighting engineer, Gunnar Busse, Sven Pink. Sitting: Winfried Piegsda, Florian Dingler, Carsten Strotmann, Holger Hinterschitt, Marc Mortara, Thomas Grasel. On the floor: Thorsten Butschke. [Click to enlarge]
Broadcast One week later the 30-minute programme was broadcast including a 5:24 minute contribution about the topic of Atari. A short sketch of Atari's history introduced this part. Beside our scene they also showed further Atari systems and projects of other groups. Emulation software was an interesting share, too. It was made clear that Atari still lives and has the potential to become an Evergreen. Video The complete broadcast was recorded by many people and there is a SVCD available at the ABBUC, including more interesting video stuff. Comment We can not deny that all the attending people are proud to have supported this extraordinary event and some people can say, "Look, I was on TV with my Atari!" harry@myatari.net
Useful links
3sat: German TV channel, collaborating with other German, Austrian and Swiss TV channels http://www.3sat.de ABBUC eV: Atari Bit Byter User Club, the world's biggest 8-bit Atari club with headquarters in Germany and more than 400 members http://www.abbuc.de RAF: Work group of the ABBUC located in Frankfurt/Main, hardware and software development and manufacturing, founded 1997 http://www.abbuc-raf.de 8-bit network interface and MultiDash (issue 6, April 2001) http://www.myatari.net/issues/apr2001/network.htm MultiJoy8 interface and Cervi (issue 16, February 2002) http://www.myatari.net/issues/feb2002/multijoy.htm
[ Top of page ] | MyAtari magazine - Feature #6, May 2003
Copyright 2003 MyAtari magazine