Hi all. I've had this original Intellivision 2609 for years that has been broken since I got it. I have picked it up, troubleshooted it, put it back on a shelf, and repeated this cycle countless times and still don't know what's wrong let alone how to fix it. Just wanted to see if anyone knew something I didn't to point me in the right direction.
Symptoms: does not display anything other than static with some random colors here and there, unable to make out any picture, though static clearly changes compared to when system is off
Troubleshooting methods used so far:
- did the obvious to clean contacts and carts, adjusted contacts, make sure it's set for the right channel on the TV, pressed reset after starting console, nothing
- used two different RF cables with simple coax adapter, no NES RF adapter here since that seems to be a common thing people try to use
- resocketed chips on motherboard, nothing
- tested continuity on power supply, main ribbon cable from power supply to motherboard, and from where ribbon cable meets with board to the rest of the board circuit, all are good
- scanned for channels with console plugged in and powered on, colors did change somewhat as channels scanned, maybe some very weak signal is being received? may be placebo on my part since nothing is recognizable
- cleaned power switch with WD40, nothing
- checked inside of RF modulator and attempted to readjust contact point with cable incase plugging in RF cable over and over misplaced it somehow, nothing
I haven't tested voltages on the power supply yet as I need to learn how to test voltages in the first place, but I was hoping that there was something I missed before I had to do that. Based on what I see on the TV when it's on, I feel like it's some kind of RF modulator failure. Any guesses? I can provide pictures if needed. Thanks!