Tempest Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 My composite video mod for my 5200 was acting funny (displaying in B&W) so I decided to open up my 5200 and have a look. In the process of reseating the board a pin broke off it and now the colors are all messed up. I think the original problem was some bad (loose?) wires, but now I have a broken pin as well. The mod is by RetroKidz (copyright 2003), and I can't remember where I got it now (either AtariMax or 8-bit Domain). Is this fixable or is there a better mod I can do in its place? I honestly haven't looked into what the latest composite mods are. This mod was always a bit flaky, so I'm hoping there's something better now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted November 15, 2013 Share Posted November 15, 2013 http://electronicsentimentalities.com/Assembled%20Mods.html Atari 5200 / Atari 800 Computer AV Mod Board. S-Video, Composite, and Audio (Mono) Out. Assembled and Tested. You supply wire and jacks for complete installation. $33.50 Thread in connection with it here: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/193474-better-atari-5200-s-video-mod/page-2?do=findComment&comment=2828714 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 15, 2013 Author Share Posted November 15, 2013 Hmm... How hard is it to wire it up yourself? The jacks already exist from the previous mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 Bump? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 It should be easy enough. You have the 8-bit domain mod. I would think you can cut the wires from the plastic connector and solder them to the proper place on the new mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 It should be easy enough. You have the 8-bit domain mod. I would think you can cut the wires from the plastic connector and solder them to the proper place on the new mod. So it uses the same wires and everything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted November 18, 2013 Share Posted November 18, 2013 Well the 8bit domain mod has only the one wire with the grabber to take audio from Pokey. Otherwise it just has the harness with wires for the Svid or composite / audio jacks. I would guess the mod contains all that in needed minus the audio / video jacks that you already have from your current mod. Hopefully someone with the mod will be able to verify that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 18, 2013 Author Share Posted November 18, 2013 I think I'd need instructions to install this one, I'm not going to go guessing at it. The 8-Bit Domain mod requires the video chip (GTIA?) to be attached to the board. Does this one do that? It doesn't look like it from the pictures. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted November 19, 2013 Share Posted November 19, 2013 I think I'd need instructions to install this one, I'm not going to go guessing at it. The 8-Bit Domain mod requires the video chip (GTIA?) to be attached to the board. Does this one do that? It doesn't look like it from the pictures. The instructions are here: http://electronicsentimentalities.com/5200InstallInstructions.html This mod is not a simple chip swap like the 8-bit domain mod. The only advantage you would have by already having your current mod is that the RCA jacks are already mounted and have wires soldered to them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted November 19, 2013 Author Share Posted November 19, 2013 Is this mod any better/worse than the 8-bit domain mod? Am I better off trying to get the original board fixed (I think it just needs the pin soldered back on). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twoquickcapri Posted November 20, 2013 Share Posted November 20, 2013 (edited) Here my install of the ElectronicSentimentalities AKA low_budget Mod v2.1 kit. I found it to be an easy install, way better then the 1.1 and 1.2 boards that low_budget used to sell. Edited November 20, 2013 by twoquickcapri Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 Little bump. I got my pin fixed at the MGC, but I have a new problem. There's one wire that goes to the pin of another chip, but I don't remember which chip or which pin it is. I don't have a picture of my mod, but you can see it in this picture from someone elses thread: That green wire at the top of the connector is going to a pin of a chip, but I don't know which one (you can't see it in this picture unfortunately). I had mine going to the chip below the one this guy has it going to (on the 4th pin from the upper left of C012294), so maybe this signal is something that can be tapped from multiple chips? I have no idea what signal it is. Currently my mod is only displaying in B&W, so it must have something to do with chroma I'd guess. Anyone have instructions for this old mod? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 here you are. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 Ok that answers that question, but what signal is the wire getting off the POKEY chip? Would that explain the B&W issue or is this because of something else? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 (edited) Ok that answers that question, but what signal is the wire getting off the POKEY chip? Would that explain the B&W issue or is this because of something else? The grabber on the pokey chip is for audio. On both my 5200's I am only using composite, not s-vid. So I'm using the yellow wire. Seems like yours is only getting the luma (purple) and maybe a bad connection with the chroma (blue)? Edited April 15, 2014 by Official Ninja Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 The grabber on the pokey chip is for audio. On both my 5200's I am only using composite, not s-vid. So I'm using the yellow wire. Seems like yours is only getting the luma (purple) and maybe a bad connection with the chroma (blue)? Yeah I'm wondering if there's not something messed up with it as it would lose color if the 5200 got bumped too hard which is why I was constantly opening it up. I'll have to take a look at the wires and make sure they're all connected properly. Funny thing is that my wires are different colors than the one in the picture. Where can I get a grabber? I had the wire just smashed under the pin which worked, but can't be the best way to do it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Yeah I'm wondering if there's not something messed up with it as it would lose color if the 5200 got bumped too hard which is why I was constantly opening it up. I'll have to take a look at the wires and make sure they're all connected properly. Funny thing is that my wires are different colors than the one in the picture. Where can I get a grabber? I had the wire just smashed under the pin which worked, but can't be the best way to do it. I thought I had an whole extra wire harness for this mod. I just went through my drawer of crap and couldn't find it. Micro-grabbers are on EBAY, seem a bit expensive though, but I didn't look too long. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Also want add I've had problems with that 7 pin connector too... You have to press the tabs in a bit on the ends in the connector. So they make a better grab of the pins on the mod board. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 Also want add I've had problems with that 7 pin connector too... You have to press the tabs in a bit on the ends in the connector. So they make a better grab of the pins on the mod board. Hmm... Maybe that's my problem? I'll try that out and see if it helps. Do you have problems playing Space Invaders with this mod? IIRC the controls go nuts when I try to play it on my modded system but they work fine on my non-modded one. This was a real cartridge too, not through a multicart. I know I posted something about it here on AA years and years ago but I can't find it now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlie_ Posted April 15, 2014 Share Posted April 15, 2014 Hmm... Maybe that's my problem? I'll try that out and see if it helps. Do you have problems playing Space Invaders with this mod? IIRC the controls go nuts when I try to play it on my modded system but they work fine on my non-modded one. This was a real cartridge too, not through a multicart. I know I posted something about it here on AA years and years ago but I can't find it now. I do remember you having that problem with Space Invaders. It works fine for me, but I'm not sure I've ever played on an actual cart... only Multicart. I'll have to look around for my original.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 15, 2014 Author Share Posted April 15, 2014 I do remember you having that problem with Space Invaders. It works fine for me, but I'm not sure I've ever played on an actual cart... only Multicart. I'll have to look around for my original.. I had the same problem with the one on my multicart IIRC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tempest Posted April 18, 2014 Author Share Posted April 18, 2014 I give up. I'm still only getting B&W and I've tried everything. At this point I think the mod may be too borked up to fix anyway. I may just go for the mod that was mentioned earlier in this thread. It's not like this one worked particularly well anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted April 19, 2014 Share Posted April 19, 2014 Best has brand new mobo's for only $35 if you want a new one to play with FYI. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 23, 2014 Share Posted April 23, 2014 (edited) I have the newer mod board provided by ElectronicSentimentalities and love the s-vid and composite it outputs. Lowbudget's mod does require that you lift about 5 pins from the gtia and solder connections from them to the modboard. Point is, it is a little more complicated the older one. But, since things are soldered I'd say the connections are much better. Also, I was careful and chose to solder the pins directly to the mod board for even better connection. As was stated, you already have the jacks and wiring in place, so you would only have to lift the gtia chip out, bend the pins and attach the to the mod board. This new mod board also still requires you to run a wire off the pokey for audio. I split the audio to two RCAs as I can't stand to play anything with sound only coming from one side. I added a 220uf 16v cap to the audio to help with it more. Here is the link to the pics I took of my 5200 mod: http://www.facebook.com/jesse.hardesty.9/media_set?set=a.10201868503891591.1073741829.1153072122&type=3 Edited April 23, 2014 by -^Cro§Bow^- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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