Help with a 5200

[Hawkvet]

Hi, new guy here. Bought a 5200 pristine condition with original box. Want to give to my grandsons. Hooked it up on an older tv, using the plastic switchbox provided. Tried channel 2 & 3 got nothing. I did notice some sparking when I connected the cable from the console to the switch box. Could that female connctor on the switch box be bad? I'm going to the Shack today to get the F connecter so I can bypass the switch and connect the console direct to the tv. Any tips would be appreciated.

[RickR]

You need that switchbox for that 5200. Without it, where would the power plug in?

 

So when you power up the console, do you get a red light above the power button? No means the switchbox is most likely broken. But it could be repaired.

[Hawkvet]

Console powers up. I'm just going to connect plug from console directly to tv. I will still use the switchbox for power

[RickR]

You lost me. There is one wire that comes out of a 4-port 5200. It goes into the switchbox. Switchbox has a power connector, which transfers power back to the 5200 via that one wire. Then you have another wire that goes from the switchbox directly into the tv (antenna coax connector).

 

If the switchbox is broken, you have several options:

 

1. Find another switchbox. They are hard to find and expensive.

2. Build your own. Look for the 5200 FAQ on this board. Easy if you have basic electronic skills. About $20 in parts. They only work so-so image-quality-wise.

3. Fix your switchbox. Search this forum, usually there is one chip that is about $5 that can be swapped.

4. Power-mod the console. Gutsy -- only do this if you have electronic skills.

[Charlie_]

The Spark is normal. Youre supposed to have the wire plugged in before the wall power is plugged in. Still it should not harm anything.

If you are not getting anything from the console on your TV (just snow) but the consoles power light comes on it is probably a bad switch box.

Do you hear a click from the box when you power on the console? You can't power the system and go directly to the TV because the switch box sends power to the system on the same cord. You can find a switchbox on ebay, or repair yours, it is most likely a little chip that needs to be removed and a new one soldered in.

 

Edit: here, read this:

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/199871-4-port-switch-box-broken/#entry2552665

Edited June 9, 2013 by Official Ninja

[Hawkvet]

Yea prob that lm393n . Gonna try that. Thanks

[jetset]

 

 

1. Find another switchbox. They are hard to find and expensive.

 

 

They're on ebay all the time for around $20 bucks.

[+wongojack]

4jays offers them too

 

http://4jays.net/store//index.html

[+wongojack]

Yea prob that lm393n . Gonna try that. Thanks

 

Did you get it to work? Buying a new one?

 

If the original switch is broken, I'll pay you to ship it to me. I need one and maybe I can fix it.

[Hawkvet]

No Jack, I haven't got around to trying that fix yet.

[7800]

I'm guessing the only reason why Atari designed the 5200 to work this way was to eliminate multiple wires and to have only one. Good idea... I guess.