Atari Flashback Portable!

[KevinMos3]

I bought a few of these and they work great:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016LFN2C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=atariage&linkId=5fd7f216e06f77e89878538b1a80de49

 

The red plug is video, so I wrapped some yellow vinyl electrical tape around the red end to remind me that if I want to use it for video with my Atari or Genesis portables, to use that one.

 

In fact, every standard audio cable I've tried so far has worked just fine. I had a few shorter ones that I tested before I ordered these 12ft ones, and they all worked.

[Andromeda Stardust]

I bought a few of these and they work great:

 

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0016LFN2C/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&psc=1&linkCode=ll1&tag=atariage&linkId=5fd7f216e06f77e89878538b1a80de49

 

The red plug is video, so I wrapped some yellow vinyl electrical tape around the red end to remind me that if I want to use it for video with my Atari or Genesis portables, to use that one.

 

In fact, every standard audio cable I've tried so far has worked just fine. I had a few shorter ones that I tested before I ordered these 12ft ones, and they all worked.

Impedance matching on a 6 to 12 foot cable isn't critical at the 3.58 Mhz frequency required for composite video. It would make a huge difference if you're using it to carry VHF1 band (52-88Mhz) signal such as the analog NTSC channels 2-3-4 commonly used by classic consoles. The wavelengths dealing with VHF are an order of magnitude or more shorter than composite 3.58Mhz carrier.

 

Assuming it has proper shielding and the input has proper 75 ohm impedance, any short length of properly shielded cable should work for composite or any other digital or analog low bandwidth signals that transmit below 5Mhz. When the cable length approaches or exceeds the wavelength of the highest frequency signals transmitted, proper impedance matching suddenly becomes critical to clean transmission.

 

So unless you're using unshielded junk cables from Walmart or Dollar General (which often create buzzing sound if used with HiFi audio equipment or bleeding with composite video), I don't see why the cabling should be an issue.

[Flojomojo]

The red plug is video, so I wrapped some yellow vinyl electrical tape around the red end to remind me that if I want to use it for video with my Atari or Genesis portables, to use that one.

 

Would bad things happen if you swapped audio and video (besides it not working)? I wouldn't think you could damage anything with these low level signals.

[Asaki]

If AtGames releases a Flashback Portable 2 with an improved but still inaccurate emulator, then all of the effort to hack these titles will be lost if these "fixed" ROMs fail to work correctly on new revisions of the buggy emulator. Sorry but at this point, I feel the AFP is a flawed device, and fixing existing games to work with it does not benefit the future of emulation in any meaningful way.

 

If/when an AFP2 comes out, I'm not just going to throw the one I already have in the trash, so these ROMs will still be valuable.

 

We do what we do because we love the hobby, or maybe we're just bored and it's exciting to have a project land in your lap, even if it's something that will only take a few minutes. If we all sat around waiting for someone to sell us something that did what we wanted, we'd be waiting for a really long time. There's a reason why so many people "waste their time" porting or writing their own emulators for their favorite handhelds/consoles/etc.

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

Would bad things happen if you swapped audio and video (besides it not working)? I wouldn't think you could damage anything with these low level signals.

Nothing blows up. You'll get buzz on the audio side and nothing on the video side.

 

Also fun is when you plug a composite into the green jack of an older HDTV that's not integrated inputs, you get grayscale image. Now plug the left and right audio cable into blue and red, and the audio feed creates stripes of colorful interference!

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

If/when an AFP2 comes out, I'm not just going to throw the one I already have in the trash, so these ROMs will still be valuable.

 

We do what we do because we love the hobby, or maybe we're just bored and it's exciting to have a project land in your lap, even if it's something that will only take a few minutes. If we all sat around waiting for someone to sell us something that did what we wanted, we'd be waiting for a really long time. There's a reason why so many people "waste their time" porting or writing their own emulators for their favorite handhelds/consoles/etc.

My comment specifically referred to fixing good ROMs for bad emulators. I suppose these "fixed" ROMs are buggy on real hardware or accurate emulators? If so, Atgames could change the emulator at any time, resulting in the fixed ROMs developing bugs. Efforts should be focused on fixing the bad emulator, not tweaking the ROMs. If the manufacturer of said device won't be bothered to fix their emulator to make the ROMs compatible, and there is no known means to hack the device to fix it, then maybe the AFP is something we shouldn't support. Plenty of hobby emulation projects like Raspberry Pi or Wiibrew exist with known good emulators that do a much better job. Is there an Atari emulator for PSP?

 

My point being, fixing "good" ROMs to work correctly on a "bad" emulator is puting the cart before the horse. If the horse (emulator) is dead or broken, fixing the cart (ROM) won't accomplish much. Either fix the horse or replace it.

[Moo]

Probably the official cables are no better than the cheap $5 crap you buy at Walmart.

 

Like if you are carrying RF VHF over an RCA jack, most RCA plugs including composite are no good, you need to use a "digital" cable rated for high speed communication, or plug an F-connector adapter on the console side and use TV coax like what the cable company uses, rather than improperly shielded or impedance matched RCA.

But people are spending money buying cables that don't work just for the chance of saving a little money.

 

Also, I hope Nukey gets pacman 4k working, maybe even pacman 8k.

Edited January 8, 2017 by Moo

[Andromeda Stardust]

But people are spending money buying cables that don't work just for the chance of saving a little money.

Ypu get what you pay for.

 

Also, I hope Nukey gets pacman 4k working, maybe even pacman 8k.

Well it's his prerogative if he want to fix ROMs for a broken emulator. I've stated my opinion on it. People are free to disagree with me.

[atarifan88]

But people are spending money buying cables that don't work just for the chance of saving a little money.

 

Also, I hope Nukey gets pacman 4k working, maybe even pacman 8k.

 

Pacman 8k V2 works on my portable.

[AtariLeaf]

Well the Canadian site for Bed Bath and Beyond finally got some more portables in so i took the plunge. Hopefully it won't take too long to get here. I'll let everyone know what I think when it arrives because I know what I think is very very important to everyone else here

[+LS650]

My order from BB&B shipped from somewhere in the US, and took about a week to show up. They shipped via UPS.

[+LS650]

Well it's his prerogative if he want to fix ROMs for a broken emulator. I've stated my opinion on it. People are free to disagree with me.

Maybe Nukey enjoys the challenge, and more than a few folks have said thank you for the effort.

 

Who knows? Maybe someone from ATGames will see his efforts (though doubtful) and get off their Duff's to fix their broken emulator.

[AtariLeaf]

My order from BB&B shipped from somewhere in the US, and took about a week to show up. They shipped via UPS.

 

Did you order from the Canadian site?

[+LS650]

Did you order from the Canadian site?

Yes.

[Everett1954]

Thanks for posting that amazon link, I was looking for a longer cable. The FBP video looks good on my LCD.

 

Also can you point me to or post the working Pac-Man 8K V2?

 

Doctor Clu thanks for your favorites collection also.

 

Is Ascend just a graphics demo? thats what it appears like to me.

[+MrBlackCat]

Ok, is there any reason you guys won't just buy official cables from the official store? Then you wouldn't have to buy non working cables.

Yes... they are relatively expensive ($14.99USD + $4.00 shipping) and often out of stock... for months at a time. That cable with shipping cost almost as much as I paid for most of my Flashbacks new... I was just looking for a less expensive alternative for a cable that should cost less than the shipping from AtGames.

 

On a side note, my Knock-Off Sega Gopher (100 games version) came boxed, with USB Charge cable and Audio/Video cable for $22 shipped.

 

MrBlackCat

Edited January 8, 2017 by MrBlackCat

[JimmyIpock]

Just for the heck of it, I tried it out on my TV (CRT), and it's really not that bad. The picture's got a bit of color fringing (not sure that's the correct term), and it goes a little too far into the overscan, but otherwise it's decent. The scanline refresh has this diagonal thing going on, but it's like that on the built-in LCD also, and it's not that noticeable in most games.

 

BTW, here's a helpful diagram for anyone interested:

 

pinout.gif

 

So with a typical stereo audio cable, video would be right/red and audio would be left/white.

Thank you VERY much for the diagram! I've been looking for this.

[Arenafoot]

Also can you point me to or post the working Pac-Man 8K V2?

 

Is Ascend just a graphics demo? thats what it appears like to me.

use the older Version 2 of the ROM (no title screen)- http://atariage.com/forums/topic/229152-new-pacman-for-atari-2600/page-27?do=findComment&comment=3158159

 

Yes - Ascend is a graphics demo only.

[Everett1954]

Thanks Arenafoot, Pac-Man 8K works great on FBP.

[Asaki]

...Atgames could change the emulator at any time, resulting in the fixed ROMs developing bugs.

No they couldn't It can't be updated, it's just a simple plug'n'play device, albiet with a built-in screen.

 

I actually would be surprised if next year's model has better emulation.

 

Efforts should be focused on fixing the bad emulator, not tweaking the ROMs.

It's all embedded in a glop-top, so there's fat chance of anyone getting at it, if anyone actually wanted to.

 

If the manufacturer of said device won't be bothered to fix their emulator to make the ROMs compatible, and there is no known means to hack the device to fix it, then maybe the AFP is something we shouldn't support.

Harsh.

 

Idunno, I feel like something that fits in your pocket and plays almost every 2600 game at full speed for only $32 is a pretty good deal. Especially when SD card support is practically an unsupported bonus.

[atarifan88]

No they couldn't It can't be updated, it's just a simple plug'n'play device, albiet with a built-in screen.

 

I actually would be surprised if next year's model has better emulation.

 

From what I have heard AT Games will be going with new hardware which may result in a new platform emulator. Hopefully it will improve as well...

[Keatah]

Unless there is new hardware I would not expect improvement in emulation compatibility. And if there is, there could be a host of different issues. Anyhow, emulation doesn't have to be perfect. The community has proven it is willing to modify roms to operate on defective emulators.

[Flojomojo]

I agree with Asaki, I expect to see very minor (if that) changes to future (if there are any) Atari Flashbacks.

 

The onboard games play fine, there are a lot of them, the price is cheap, and even imperfect SD card support is pretty awesome. I like what AtGames tried to do here, and I hope it makes them a ton of money.

[+sramirez2008]

...Anyhow, emulation doesn't have to be perfect. The community has proven it is willing to modify roms to operate on defective emulators.

And I want to thank everyone that's helped modify the ROMs. I almost didn't buy the FBP. I only did so because of the SD card support and (okay I admit it) the 20% off coupon at BBB. Now, I can't stop playing the darn thing, especially since I travel a lot for work.

[Andromeda Stardust]

No they couldn't It can't be updated, it's just a simple plug'n'play device, albiet with a built-in screen.

 

I actually would be surprised if next year's model has better emulation.

 

 

It's all embedded in a glop-top, so there's fat chance of anyone getting at it, if anyone actually wanted to.

 

 

Harsh.

 

Idunno, I feel like something that fits in your pocket and plays almost every 2600 game at full speed for only $32 is a pretty good deal. Especially when SD card support is practically an unsupported bonus.

Yes, and there is no guarantee that these "fixed" games will work on the second iteration of Atgames hardware, which may or may not be broken in other ways.

 

Unless there is new hardware I would not expect improvement in emulation compatibility. And if there is, there could be a host of different issues. Anyhow, emulation doesn't have to be perfect. The community has proven it is willing to modify roms to operate on defective emulators.

This defeats the purpose of doing it "right" the first time. They are on what, the seventh iteration of Atari Flashbacks now?