Monitor/TV distortion

[KLund1]

I'm having some trouble with the picture from my 800xl, 1200xl, & 130ex. On my CRT TV, going in from the co-ax input, I get a lot of 'noise' on screen; wavy moving diagonal lines, and snow easily seen on the 'READY" screen. The connections are good. I'm using an RCA to co-ax changer. I've tested with anything that generates an rf in the house, powered down (most turned off). No change. There is little difference if the computers are 12", or 6' from the TV. I then hooked up all three, to my 50" DLP, running first though a higher end VCR (co-ax, & composite), to my AV Receiver, then to the 50". I get the same thing. I've change cables (RCA), I used the cable with the small black box on one end that came with the 800xl, and I get the same sort of on screen distortion. I even used a 'Monster' cable I had. These are all unmodified Atari's. Either I had bad luck, and got 3 bad computers, or I'm missing something. I'm not using the old "TV/Computer" switch boxes!

I've read posts about the best monitors are those made by commodore, the 1804's? But they do not have sound. I've seen pictures of screen shots posted elsewhere here that look crystal clear!! How can I get that kind of picture?

Thanks

KLund1

ps I had the same thing with 2 800's, before I sold them off thinking they might be going bad.

[+therealbountybob]

This might not be much help, but maybe you should consider taking one of the Atari's to another house... it's hard to believe they all have the same fault?!

[mimo]

you need to forget rf and get at least a composite cable or better yet s-video cable (but you will have to do a small mod to the-800xl)

[KLund1]

you need to forget rf and get at least a composite cable or better yet s-video cable (but you will have to do a small mod to the-800xl)

 

Thanks for the reply. It made me remember a cable I had that plugs into the 'Monitor' output of each computer. I tried it on each and got different results. 800xl 50% better picture, but lower sound volume. 1200xl - no better picture, but probably due to the 1200's lower video quality output, generally regarded as needing an upgrade, and higher sound volume. 130ex - no difference in picture or sound, on either TV set up. The cable is of 'regular' quality. I remember getting off ebay some years ago, but appears to be in good working order.

Suggestions?

KLund1

[nathanallan]

Interesting results. My 800XL has a bad RF onboard, but the AV monitor out works great. I used a pretty thick speaker cable with n RCA adapter. Also works on Commodore and TI, btw.

[sl0re]

you need to forget rf and get at least a composite cable or better yet s-video cable (but you will have to do a small mod to the-800xl)

 

I second that. I get a terrible rf picture but then (from the same atari) a great picture, on my tv, when using composite.

 

Part of it also requires a good tv. On my old composite monitors from the 80s the picture is not as good as my modern tv...

[atariksi]

you need to forget rf and get at least a composite cable or better yet s-video cable (but you will have to do a small mod to the-800xl)

 

Thanks for the reply. It made me remember a cable I had that plugs into the 'Monitor' output of each computer. I tried it on each and got different results. 800xl 50% better picture, but lower sound volume. 1200xl - no better picture, but probably due to the 1200's lower video quality output, generally regarded as needing an upgrade, and higher sound volume. 130ex - no difference in picture or sound, on either TV set up. The cable is of 'regular' quality. I remember getting off ebay some years ago, but appears to be in good working order.

Suggestions?

KLund1

 

I remember my Atari 7800 had problems with the RF because the shielding wasn't there. And 800XL had problems because the internal RF switch box was making loose connection to the motherboard so when I pressed on the box, the signal looked great. I also noticed that sound getting lower using S-Video cable; Atari 800 had the highest volume output, but it's GTIA didn't look as good as Atari 800XL.

 

What's the small mod for the 800XL?

[+remowilliams]

I've read posts about the best monitors are those made by commodore, the 1804's? But they do not have sound. I've seen pictures of screen shots posted elsewhere here that look crystal clear!! How can I get that kind of picture?

Using RF out (i.e. chan3/4) output is not a great option if you want a nice clear picture. Using a composite or s-video cable is the way to go.

 

Commodore 1084 monitors do have sound, and the 1084S models have stereo sound.

[mimo]

small mod is to just solder one wire to add the missing chroma signal.slightly more intensive is the quick and easy 800 xl video mod,search for it in these forums