2600 Jr. composite video

[davidbrit2]

I've wired up my 2600 Jr. with the directions listed here: http://www.classicgaming.com/vcsp/Question3.htm

 

The results were only mediocre. Connecting the Atari to my Toshiba TV through a VCR yields an acceptable picture, but connecting the Atari to my Phillips TV produces a monochrome scene that rolls and jumps all over the place. Any electronics engineers have some ideas? Is the signal too weak, too strong, or just screwed up?

 

Also, has anyone actually gotten this method to work? http://www.atariage.com/howto/composite.html

I tried it this way but it didn't do a damned thing. It's rather suspicious that the listed color codes by the chroma resistor are incorrect...

[jsoper]

Both those mods are lousy, and every few months, someone posts how lousy they are. The chroma-luma mod in the 2600 FAQ is the way to go. If you only want composite, use one transistor for all the signals instead of two.

John

[davidbrit2]

Is it the modification with the enormous schematic listed below the other crappy modification? If that's the one, it might be a bit much for me to dive into, since I'm not really an electronics expert.

[Rob Mitchell]

Is it the modification with the enormous schematic listed below the other crappy modification? If that's the one, it might be a bit much for me to dive into, since I'm not really an electronics expert.

 

I did the mod that features the CD4050 chip (available at Radio Shack). I did it in 1998 .. It gives a great picture on the Commodore Monitors. I have lumina and chroma out .. which when shorted together make composite video.

 

I have not had success with the cheap, "solder all the wires together and see what happens" mod.

 

I also did the two audio channel out mod .. for stereo effects. These shorted together give the standard TV sound out.

 

Do the mod .. it's easier than you think .. and makes the 2600 picture clear as a bell ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[davidbrit2]

Maybe I'll give it a shot if the chip is available at Radio Shack. I was hoping I wouldn't have to place an order with Jameco just for a single IC. Of course, I can usually find other things to add to an order from an electronics supplier. He he.

 

Oh, since the video is separate Luma and Chroma, that would basically make it S-Video, right? That might be cool to try, since my TV supports it.

[Rob Mitchell]

since the video is separate Luma and Chroma, that would basically make it S-Video, right? That might be cool to try, since my TV supports it.

 

Sure .. But you might need a special S-Video cable connection ..

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[jsoper]

The mod looks just fine even if you don't use a 4050 IC. The transistor provides enough of a buffer by itself.

[davidbrit2]

Well, it's good to know I don't really need the IC since neither of the local Radio Shacks has them in stock, and ordering a 25¢ IC from Jameco seems a bit silly.

 

So if I wire this up without the IC, then would the TIA outputs go to the resistors like this?

TIA2 -> 750

TIA5 -> 9.1K

TIA7 -> 4.7K

TIA8 -> 18K

 

That shouldn't be too hard...

[davidbrit2]

So the complicated modification that took several hours to build didn't work (no surprise,) and the whole mess is sitting in the garbage can where it belongs. I suppose I'll go back to playing my Atari 7800, despite its horrible RF performance.

 

By the way, are those video signals on the expansion port inputs or outputs?

[misfits]

I did the solder all the wires together mod on my woodgrain and it worked very well, I didn't need the potentiomiters either and all the colors came out perfect. I tried it on my 6 switch and the video worked but the audio didn't. It is very good if you can get it to work, just takes alot of messing around with it.

[Rob Mitchell]

So the complicated modification that took several hours to build didn't work (no surprise,) and the whole mess is sitting in the garbage can where it belongs. I suppose I'll go back to playing my Atari 7800, despite its horrible RF performance.

 

David .. send me your mess and I'll make it work for you ...

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[gulag picture radio]

Hi Rob,

 

I did the two audio output and video output mods to my six switch to use it with the 2600 Synthcart. I haven't worked on it for a while, but I seem to still have a bit of grounding hum- and also a bit of bleedthrough between the two oscillators.

 

I need to go back and check my work obviously, but are your outputs totally separate or can you hear some bleedthrough as well?

 

Thanks- I'd love to get this project finished finally.

 

BTW I did the video mod a la the VCSp instructions and the two oscillator mod is one that was published in The 2600 Connection zine.

[Rob Mitchell]

are your outputs totally separate or can you hear some bleedthrough as well?

 

Here is the mod that I did .. 2 sound channel out .. and a switch to short pins 12/13 together to reestablish mono sound for the standard RF 2/3 out. Very clean, quiet audio .. no buzz.

 

 

From: khorton@tech.iupui.edu (Kevin Horton)

Date: 21 Jan 1996 02:20:11 GMT

 

Also it's confirmed: You *can* get stereo out of a 2600!!! Both sound

channels exit the TIA seperately. To get two seperate audio outputs from

a 2600:

 

Lift pins #12 and #13. Tie each to 5V through a 2K resistor. Attach

two .1uf caps to the two joins formed by the pin and resistor. Attach

two audio cables to the free ends of the caps and ground the shields

of the audio cables. I suggest adding a switch to short the two

pins together (that's what was done in the 2600) for mono sound. You'll

need mono for things like Pitfall ][, unless you like your music in one

side and all the sound FX in the other! :-)

[gulag picture radio]

Okay- it looks like we both did the same thing. I need to go check my work and see what I did wrong. I think that I may have the pair of signals sharing a ground somewhere, so maybe that's bridging things someplace.

 

BTW it's interesting that a couple of the audio mods that I've read suggest bending the pins out and soldering right onto them. I've broken the legs off of a couple of TIA chips that way. Why not just solder to the underside? It seems easier to use an xacto to cut any traces rather than soldering onto very fragile legs of an IC.

 

Or is there just something that I'm not seeing?

[Rob Mitchell]

I've broken the legs off of a couple of TIA chips that way.  Why not just solder to the underside?  It seems easier to use an xacto to cut any traces rather than soldering onto very fragile legs of an IC.

 

Really? If you are gentle .. you should not be breaking pins. For me it was easier to just bend the pins and solder. The board tracing has the two connections shorted together immediately .. so that is harder to cut and separate .. than just soldering directly to the pins.

 

Another thing I did was put electrical tape over the exposed pins and wires to prevent connection to the aluminum, RF shield when reassembled. I think I lined the inside of the shield with electrical tape too to prevent any possibility of short with pins 12/13.

 

I did drill some big holes in the shield to accommodate all the A/V wires coming out.

 

Then the wires go off to the SPST switch mounted on the back of the console, then back to the 2x resistor/cap circuit (outside the aluminum shield) and out to 2x RCA jacks on back. Never any problem or buzz.

 

When you get it fixed, check out all the early games (combat, Indy 500, Air-Sea Battle) to make sure you got the Left/Right wired up correctly and not backwards. Then plug in Turmoil and crank up the volume! You will be truely amazed !!!

 

At the first Cinciclassic (1998), I connected the 2600 to a stereo in the hall, plugged in Turmoil, cranked up the volume, hit reset .. and everyone in the hall turned their heads and dropped their jaws! What the hell was that? Sight unseen, one guy said, "TURMOIL!"

 

Rob Mitchell, Altanta, GA

(Next is Synthcart to be shown at Cinciclassic 2002.)

[King Asmo]

You should really consider selling your modified 2600's.. I imagine you'd get lots of orders from people like me who barely know which end of the soldering iron to hold.

 

KA

 

[the sad part of it is, my Dad was a highschool shop teacher]

[gulag picture radio]

I've thought a little about selling modded Atari's. I have been pimping out my Atari pretty well, and doing little things like putting all the parts on a little circuitboard rather than having components rattling around, etc.

 

There are a few other things that I plan on adding, like a blue power LED, flip-up LCD TV etc. to make it truly portable and modern... but time is not on my side. Hopefully it won't be long before I have a couple evenings again to do some of this work.

[Rob Mitchell]

There are a few other things that I plan on adding, like a blue power LED, flip-up LCD TV etc. to make it truly portable and modern...

 

That would be cool!

 

I guess an original 1977 console would be best to modify .. You could put two speakers under the grill where it was supposed to have speakers. Then you could add a volume knob for a small stereo audio amp inside. Audio jack out for headphones.

 

Back in 1998, I modded my four switch .. for 2 ch audio and Lumina/ Chroma out. I also put in the Battlezone Tread Control circuit with controller ports up front for the two suckered joysticks. Added autofire circuit for controller port 1. But now I have removed the Tank circuit .. in favor of having controller ports up front. And I am adding five buttons on top of the deck for Asteroids style control.

 

Now if I could only find the best PDA for playbin WAV all the BIN games to the Cuttle. I am tired of being tethered to the family desktop! I want to get back to the basement where I have my Commodore monitor and small stereo setup.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[gulag picture radio]

So where can I learn about the Battlezone circuit? I might want to kick that into my pimped out Atari, eh?

 

As for the Palm, I don't have any experience with that, but how about just burning some CDR's with your stuff? perhaps CDRW's with your favorites of the moment? Then you can just use a discman in your rumpus room.

 

Even cheaper, you could probably find an old laptop at a thrift for $10. I've found two at such prices, but with Win 3.1 installed... do the approrpiate programs also run on the old OS?

 

Would either of those work for you?

[krisjohn]

Now if I could only find the best PDA for playbin WAV all the BIN games to the Cuttle.  I am tired of being tethered to the family desktop!

 

I use a range of stuff.

 

For "new" games I use a Diamond Rio MP3 player. 128k mono, converted from WAV to MP3 by Streambox Ripper. I hit the index limit (50 tracks) before I fill an 8MB card.

 

For old games I bought Cuttle Cart Underground. Six audio CDs. I was using a Sony Discman, but it chokes on discs 1 and 6. Now I can use any CD player hooked up through a particular switching box. That's currently my Sega Saturn.

 

I've made a copy of one of the CCU discs to the 8cm CD format. Now I can play it on my Imation RipGO! I'm looking at producing a "CCU Jnr", but it will have to wait until after the second week of semester, at least.

 

If you really want to do it with a PDA, any old WinCE 2 or better with an audio out should be fine. Downloads are here. You could probably pickup an old Compaq clamshell for next to nothing at a local pawnbrokers. Chances are someone you already know has an unused PDA in a drawer somewhere. I probably could have bought a secondhand Compaq PocketPC pretty cheap from one of the people I used to work with, since he never did workout how to use it.

 

Meanwhile, can anyone tell me if a PAL S-Video hack of decent quality is available for the 2600 Jnr? I've only seen NTSC and composite PAL hacks. Not that I have any more room on my switching box.

[davidbrit2]

I've always wanted a decent device for playing my choice of games on the Supercharger. Nobody's ported any of the WAV format ROM players to Windows CE, unfortunately. But if I had an iPod right now, I would be going absolutely nuts with the Supercharger. Can you imagine if someone ported WPlayBin to that thing? Drool...

[Eckhard Stolberg]

I've always wanted a decent device for playing my choice of games on the Supercharger. Nobody's ported any of the WAV format ROM players to Windows CE, unfortunately. But if I had an iPod right now, I would be going absolutely nuts with the Supercharger. Can you imagine if someone ported WPlayBin to that thing? Drool...

 

Actually PlaybinCC has a switch that lets you select if you are using a Cuttle Cart or a Supercharger. I'm pretty sure it's available in the WinCE version as well. You can just download it from Chad's site (see the link in the message above) and use it with your Supercharger, if you don't have a Cuttle Cart. Of course it would only work with the smaller games that fit into the SC's RAM.

 

 

Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg

[davidbrit2]

Hmm, I'll have to find a copy of that program... A PocketPC would be the ultimate multicart. :-)

[Rob Mitchell]

Hmm, I'll have to find a copy of that program... A PocketPC would be the ultimate multicart. :-)

 

My thoughts also .. coupled with the Cuttle Cart.

 

Right now I have a DOS palmtop (HP200LX) connected to the Vectrex RAMCart .. and that is the best setup for the Vectrex.

 

I want the same thing for the 2600.

 

Rob Mitchell, Atlanta, GA

[davidbrit2]

An HP 200LX would be awesome for doing that. I wonder if I could achieve a similar setup with my Fujitsu Poqet Plus... The ideal program for loading ROM data to an external cart would be able to apply patches on the fly before loading, so you could have customized versions of different games. That would be cool to have several versions of Montezuma's Revenge with different level layouts. Mmm...