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title, categories, types, origins, years, cpus, params
title categories types origins years cpus params
Atari 520 / 1040 STf / STfm
Computers
Home Computer
U.S.A.
1986
Motorola MC 68000
name image company company_name specs tabs forum_thread photos adverts hardware emulators links docs related oc_id source
520 / 1040 STf / STfm /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_2logoversions_s1.jpg /companies/atari Atari
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NAME 520 / 1040 STf / STfm
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MANUFACTURER Atari
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TYPE Home Computer
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ORIGIN U.S.A.
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YEAR 1986
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KEYBOARD Full stroke keyboard with numeric keypad, editing keypad and 10 function keys
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CPU Motorola MC 68000
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SPEED 8 mHz
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RAM 512 KB (up to 4 MB)
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ROM 32 KB with TOS on disk / 192 KB with TOS on ROM
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TEXT MODES 40 or 80 chars. x 25 lines (bitmapped graphics)
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GRAPHIC MODES 16 colors among 512 (320 x 200) / 4 colors among 512 (640 x 200) / monochrome (640 x 400) this last mode needs a special monitor.
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COLORS max. 512
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SOUND 3 voices + 1 noise channel, 8 octaves (Yamaha YM-2149)
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I/O PORTS Cartridge, Midi (in, out), Centronics, RS232c, Hard Disk, Floppy disk, RGB, Joystick, mouse
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BUILT IN MEDIA 3.5'' disk-drive
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OS TOS + GEM
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POWER SUPPLY Built-in power supply unit
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hardware
emulators
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SAME MODELS The 520STF and 1040STF were same machines, apart from RAM size and floppy disk drive capacity. /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_with1040_s1.jpg
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LARGE VIEW /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_system_s2.jpg
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LEFT & RIGHT SIDES **(1)** Midi In and Out DIN sockets\ **(2)** ROM cartridges connector. /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_sides_s1.jpg
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TWO 520 STF VERSIONS The top one has 360 KB floppy disk, the bottom one has a 720 KB version. /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_2fdversions_s1.jpg
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REAR CONNECTORS From left to right: • Serial port dedicated to an external modem\ • Parallel printer connector\ • External hard disk drive interface\ • External floppy disk drive interface (15-pin DIN socket)\ • Monochrome or RGB monitor DIN socket\ • Power switch and plug\ • Reset switch (the grey plastic button is missing) /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_rear_s1.jpg
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INSIDE Like almost all Atari machines, the mainboard, power supply unit and floppy drive are surrounded with a metallic protection against magnetic fields. /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_inside_s1.jpg
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520 STF MAINBOARD **(1)** 512 KB RAM chips (16x41256). Provision is made to upgrade the RAM size to 1 MB\ **(2)** TOS ROM's (2x32K)\ **(3)** MMU custom chip\ **(4)** 68000 CPU, here a Hitachi version\ **(5)** The Shifter custom video chip is protected by a metallic cover\ **(6)** Glue custom chip\ **(7)** Multi-Function Peripheral (MFP) chip\ **(8)** 2x6850 ACIA chips\ **(9)** Yamaha sound chipset\ **(10)** Floppy disk controller chip\ **(11)** DMA controller chip For more information about each custom chip, see the 'Motherboard' picture of the Atari [520ST](/museum/atari-520-st-st-stm/) page. /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_mainboard_s1.jpg
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1040 MAINBOARD All the RAM area is populated with 41256 chips. /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_inside1040_s1.jpg
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MAINBOARD CLOSE-UP This version doesn't hold the TOS in ROM. /media/museum/photos/atari_520stf_mainboard_s2.jpg
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ATARI 2080 #1 Just before launching the Mega-ST series, Atari sold little quantities of this unofficial 2MB RAM version called 2080STf. A 4160STf was also planned but never left the Commodore research department. Thanks to **Sveto** /media/museum/photos/atari_1280stf_system_s1.jpg
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ATARI 2080 #2 Atari labels Thanks to **Sveto** /media/museum/photos/atari_2080stf_system_s2.jpg
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U.K. AD. (1986) In U.K., at 1986 Christmas period, the 1040 STF was sold £799 + VAT for the 12" monochrome version, and £999 + VAT for the 14" colour version. /media/museum/pubs/atari_1040st_pub_1.jpg
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U.K. AD. (1986) Advert said: As the American magazine 'Byte' commented, "for some time to come the 1040STF will be the clear leader in price/performance." /media/museum/pubs/atari_1040stf_pub_1.jpg
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FRENCH AD (DEC. 1985) "At the fingertip of the mouse..." "... 16/32 bits technology" /media/museum/pubs/atari_520stf_pub_auboutdelasouris.jpg
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U.K. AD. 1989 Special 520-STFM bundle advert.\ Advert said: There's no catch. We're giving you the Atari 520 STFM and £500 worth of great software titles for just £399.99.\ The twenty-three super titles include some of the greatest games and three excellent programs which introduce you to the BASIC programming language, computer-created music and the more popular computer applications such as word processing and spreadsheets... /media/museum/pubs/atari_520stfm_pub_1.jpg
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SF-354 Single density disk-drive /media/museum/hardware/atari_st_sf354-diskdrive_1.jpg
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SF-314 Disk-drive /media/museum/hardware/atari_st-disk-drive_sf314.jpg
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CUMANA DRIVE /media/museum/hardware/atari_520_cumanadrive_1.jpg
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SUPRADRIVE 20 Mb hard-disk /media/museum/hardware/atari_supradrive_20mb.jpg
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170MB QUANTUM HARD-DRIVE This unit has an ICD Host Adapter. /media/museum/hardware/atari_st_quamtum_hd170.jpg
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ATARI MEGAFILE 30 This hard-drive has a 30Mb capacity. /media/museum/hardware/atari_st_megafile30_1.jpg
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INSIDE THE MEGAFILE 30 **(1)** Seagate MFM 30 MB hard-disk Type ST-238\ **(2)** Power supply\ **(3)** Logical board\ **(4)** Power and disk access LED's /media/museum/hardware/atari_megast_insidemegafile_1.jpg
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ATARI UNIVERSAL MODEM The SX212 modem was one of the rare Atari peripherals that could be used with all the Atari computers range, from the 400/800 series up to the Falcon. It had both the Atari I/O ports for the 8-bit systems and a standard RS-232 connector for ST's It was a 300/1200 baud modem compatible with the well-known Hayes 'AT' commands.\ Cable and software was sold separately, depending of the computer used. /media/museum/hardware/atari_520_modemsx212_1.jpg
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SML-804 Laser printer The SLM-804 was actually a Kyocera F1000 printer but without neither on-board processor and memory nor buttons other than the on/off switch. It was first delivered with the Mega ST but could be connected on all of the ST series computers through a dedicated interface box.\ The printer used the processing power and the RAM memory of the ST computer for printing at 8 pages per minute and 300 DPI. The paper tray held 250 sheets. Thanks to **Francois Michaud** who donated us this printer. /media/museum/hardware/atari_megast_slm804printer_s1.jpg
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SMLC-804 Laser printer interface This interface allowed the SML-804 printer to be connected to any Atari ST holding at least 1 MB RAM. /media/museum/hardware/atari_megast_slmcinterface_s1.jpg
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Pacifist ! http://www.pacifist.fatal-design.com/ MS DOS Pretty good emulator
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Emulators Online http://www.emulators.com/ Windows Demo of Gemulator, a commercial product from BraSoft.
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Gemulator http://www.emulators.com/gemul8r.htm Windows
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MagiCPC http://www.application-systems.de/magicpc/index.html Windows
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Pacifist http://www.pacifist.fatal-design.com/ Windows The best Atari ST emulator
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SainT http://saint.atari.org Windows The best Atari ST Emulator !
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Steem http://steem.atari.st/ Windows Excellent emulator for 1040/520 STE !
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STonX Homepage http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/nino/stemu.html Windows The Atari ST Emulator for Linux/X windows
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Toad Computers' Atari Central http://www.ataricentral.com/ Windows Demo of Magic, a commercial emulator for PC/Windows and Macintosh.
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Tos2Win http://www.aixit.com/tos2win/ Windows A good Atari GEM Emulator !
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TOSBOX Atari emulation homepage http://www.geocities.com/SiliconValley/Vista/4448/ Windows
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WinSTon http://www.winston.fatal-design.com/ Windows An emulator for Win95 / Win NT
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MagiCMac http://www.application-systems.de/magicmac/index.html Apple
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NoSTalgia & PowerST http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/ Apple
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NoSTalgia The AtariST Emulator for the Macintosh http://users.skynet.be/sky39147/ Apple
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Toad Computers' Atari Central http://www.ataricentral.com/ Apple Demo of Magic, a commercial emulator for PC/Windows and Macintosh.
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STonX Homepage http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/nino/stonx.html Unix / Linux
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STonX Homepage http://www.complang.tuwien.ac.at/nino/stonx.html Unix / Linux
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Atari ST Emulator http://www.atari-st.lovely.net/ Other platform Written in Java !
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ARAnyM HTTP://ARANYM.ATARI.ORG Multiplatform Multiplatform project
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Hatari http://hatari.sourceforge.net/ Multiplatform Hatari is an Atari ST emulator for Linux, BSD, BeOS, Mac OS X and other systems that are supported by the SDL library. More precisely, Hatari is an adaption of the WinSTon source code to the SDL library.
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Application Systems Heidelberg http://members.aol.com/ashinfo/index.html
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Atari & Commodore Home Computer Museum http://www.best.com/~hmk/
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Atari Demo Scene http://rzserv2.fh-lueneburg.de:8080/Demo_Scene
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Atari game links http://www.fortunecity.com/skyscraper/cache/369/index.html
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Atari Music Network http://www.atarimusic.net/ Atari Music Network welcomes and celebrates all vintage digital musicians no matter what their computer
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Atari ST Demo History http://wwwbrauer.in.tum.de/~brandtf/ataridemos.html
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Atari ST Download Area http://www.chebucto.ns.ca/Services/PDA/atari.shtml Atari 400/800/XL/XE & ST/TT/Falcon Software download page
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Atari ST Download Area http://www.gpfn.sk.ca/Services/PDA/atari.html
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ATARI.ORG http://www.atari.org/ Looking for something on any Atari machine ? Follow the links !
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Atari-WEB http://web.cnam.fr/Comp/Atari/
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Calculating Pi and Atari ST-Falcon http://www.ast.univie.ac.at/~wasi/PI/stuart_lyster/stlib.htm
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CareBears Online http://hem1.passagen.se/carebear/
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Centek Homepage http://www.centek.fr
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Dead Hackers Society http://www.dhs.nu/ Atari demo scene
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Elysium Atari & TOS Compatible Pages http://www.users.zetnet.co.uk/aseabrook/a_index.htm
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Emulators Online http://www.emulators.com/
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Gem programmer's page http://www.dtek.chalmers.se/~d2cg/gem/
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Little Green Desktop http://www.atari.st/ Largest Atari ST ressource!
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Medusa computer http://www.kingx.com/kingx/medusa/thes.html You can still buy an Atari ST family clone computer
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MiNTOS Distribution http://www.earth.ox.ac.uk/~steve/mintos.html
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Musique.Atari.Org HTTP://MUSIQUE.ATARI.ORG Web site dedicated to the ATARI and the Music...
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PLOPBOX - Atari music archive and jukebox http://www.plopbox.net/ listen to atari tunes directly from your browser
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Polish Atari Wikipedia http://atariki.krap.pl A lot of info about Atari (in polish)
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ST Anwender Bern http://my.blackpoint.ch/stab/ Atari ST Usergroup Bern (Swiss)
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The Atari Historical Society http://www.atarimuseum.com/ The complete history of Atari Arcade and Home games and computers. Complete site with pictures, commercials (streaming), and full text articles. Amazing site !
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The Atari ST Quick FAQ http://www.megacom.net/~q-funk/ST/
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The Atari WebRing Homepage http://b.webring.com/hub?ring=atari Useful !
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The New Funkyware Generation http://www.megacom.net/~q-funk/
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The Ultimate ATARI Resource http://www.atari.org
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The Wonderful World of Atari Computing http://inet.uni-c.dk/~netop/atari.htm
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What is TOS http://www.vanc.igs.net/~roughley/tos_main.htm
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Atari ST-TT-Falcon030 FTP sites http://www.mcc.ac.uk/~dlms/ftplinks.html
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Index of -~archive-atari- http://www.umich.edu/~archive/atari/
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Web Wiz CAPTCHA http://www.webwizcaptcha.com French forum
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ATARI 520 ST OWNER'S MANUAL http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/atarist/index.htm /media/museum/docs/couvs/atari_520st_user_doc.jpg [**ATARI 520 ST OWNER'S MANUAL**](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield/atarist/index.htm)written by Atari  compiled/archived by Daves Old Computers\  type of document : PDF\  size : 5 Mb\  source : [Daves Old Computers](http://www.classiccmp.org/dunfield) **... READ THE ONLINE VERSION BY CLICKING BELOW :**
/museum/atari-130-st-260-st
/museum/atari-4160-ste
/museum/atari-520-1040-ste
/museum/atari-520-st-st-stm
/museum/atari-falcon-030
/museum/atari-falcon-030-microbox
/museum/atari-fx-1-sparrow
/museum/atari-mega-st
/museum/atari-mega-ste
/museum/atari-st-book
/museum/atari-stacy
/museum/atari-stylus-st-pad
/museum/atari-tt-030
25
url date
https://web.archive.org/web/20230406043136/http://www.old-computers.com/museum/computer.asp?c=25 2023-04-06

The Atari 520 and 1040 STf were the direct successors of the Atari 260 ST and Atari 520 ST. In fact, they had the same technical characteristics except from built-in floppy drive (hence the f of STf).

The 3.5" floppy disk drive has been integrated with the power supply into the computer. The early first versions of the Atari 520 STf had a RAM based Operating System (they have a 32 KB ROM), this ROM will be quiclky replaced by a 192 KB ROM which holds all the operating system (called TOS 1.0).

An enhanced version of the Atari 520 STf was launched a few months later : the Atari 1040 STf to replace the Atari 520+ : It also had the same characteristics as the 520 STf except its memory (1 MB instead of the 512 KB) and the floppy disk drive : it used 3.5" double side disks (720 KB).
Not long after the launch of the 1040 STf, the 520 STf would be "unofficially" equipped with 720 KB floppy disk drives.
There was also a STfM model with a built-in floppy (the f) and an RF Modulator (the M).