the official Channel F thread!

[+atari2600land]

I just bought Bowling #21 for about $30. I figured since there was only 1 more at that price and the rest were really expensive that I should buy one at that price, so I did. I doubt I'd be able to play the actual bowling game since buttons #1 and 2 don't seem to work on my Channel F, but I guess I should try anyway. As for Kevin Vs. Tomatoes, I don't know what happened, since Fredric stopped talking to me for some reason. I restarted work on my space shooter and got a spaceship that can move up and down.

[BassGuitari]

Can't Bowling be started with the controller?

 

Good game, BTW. It doesn't look like much, but it's got it where it counts! $30 probably isn't too bad a price these days.

[+atari2600land]

How odd. I got Bowling and I pressed and held down 1 when I turned it on and it went to regular 1-player mode. So why can't I play Tic-Tac-Toe when I do the same thing with Videocart #1?

I have also been working on my game some more. It now looks like this:

[Phoenix02]

That's awesome you're making new games for the Channel F, atari2600land! It is just such an obscure system. I have one in my meager collection I will be putting up in the Marketplace when I can. I did all I could to get it running, but it looks like the transformer is dead, for some odd reason. I found it in my father-in-law's garage when I was moving him and my mother-in-law cross country.

 

I just stumbled upon this forum, and it's such a cool place. I love how much development is being done for these old systems. It's nice to see people putting their time into something they love, not just making another flappy bird port on iPhone to make some money.

[Cdstahlman]

Anywhere I can find information on rebuilding the joysticks also by chance?

 

Awesome there's some development in this realm though. Glad to see new games being made.

[+fdr4prez]

Anywhere I can find information on rebuilding the joysticks also by chance?

 

Awesome there's some development in this realm though. Glad to see new games being made.

 

Not sure what you mean by rebuilding the joystick.

 

If you mean that you need to rewire one, then the wiki has the pinout

http://channelf.se/veswiki/index.php?title=Pinouts

 

Controller connector pinout

On the Fairchild VES/Channel F, Luxor VES, SABA etc with a fixed controller the pinout of a hand controller is this: (in the order of the internal 18 pole connector)

1:  black: push down3:  brown: pull up 5:  red: clockwise 7:  orange: counter-clockwise9:  yellow: forward11: green: backwards13: blue: left15: grey: right18: white: groundSkipped numbers are empty in the connector, 16 is plugged. Colors vs function are very helpful when resoldering wire in the hand controller.

Channel F II, Grandstand, Nordmende, Luxor  9 pin D-SUB connectorDE9F connector watching the mating end of connector:             5 4 3 2 1              9 8 7 6 1: counter-clockwise2: clockwise3: pull up4: push down5: right6: forward7: back8: left9: ground

[Cdstahlman]

Re-wire is most likely what I'm looking to do. However all my wires look like they have good connections, they just don't function in all, and disassembly made them worse.

 

I'll try a re-wire and assess from there. Thank you.

 

Also, is there a good vendor (like console5) that sells a re-cap kit?

 

Thank you,

Chris

[+fdr4prez]

There is no recap kit that I am aware of.

 

For the controllers, odds are that there is a broken wire within the cable itself. That is a very common issue when people wind the cable around the joystick itself. The wires are very thin and break easily.

 

If the joystick doesn't work at all, then the ground wire is broken in the cable.

 

If you have a Channel F System 2 that has DB9 connectors, then go to eBay and purchase a set of DB9 extension cables. Now you can cut off the unneeded end and use that to rewire the joystick.

https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_trksid=p2380057.m570.l1311.R1.TR2.TRC0.A0.H1.Xgenisis+ex.TRS0&_nkw=genesis+extension+cable&_sacat=0

 

If you have the original Channel F with the internally connected joystick with a straight connector, then I would cut the cable off a few inches below the joystick, and then check the internal wires for continuity from there down to the connector. If the cable still has a wire that doesn't work, then cut some more off and recheck. Hopefully at some point you will get a working cable down to the connector. Now you need to solder on a replacement 9-conductor cable to replace what was cut off. You can make it as long as you like now.

[BigO]

I never had a Channel F as a kid and didn't know anyone who did. I bought one as an adult because I recognized the games from my memories of "TV POWWW". I used to watch it after school on channel 2 out of Oakland.

[mckafka99]

On Thursday 2/22, Jerry Lawson was mentioned during the 'CPtime with Roy Woods Jr.' segment on the Daily Show with Trevor Noah.

[+atari2600land]

I broke one of my Channel F controllers. The plastic wore out. I kept trying to put it back together, but it left me clueless on how it fit together in the first place. Thankfully it's not likely that anyone will come over to my place to play the Channel F with me. And also thankfully I have another controller.

[CatPix]

So, to make things a bit different, let's have a look at an European "System-Fairchild" system from Germany, will you?

This one isn't the most common Saba Videoplay, but the much sleek, streamlined and definitively "70's plastic utopia" Nordmende Teleplay.

Lovely. It reminds me of those "45rpm record eaters" that were all the rage here for young people

It had the advantage of being more reliable and better-built, and also come with removables VES-style joysticks.

More reliable because Saba Videoplay power supply tend to go "poof" And better built because... for having both, I find the Videoplay to be more heavy and clunky. The buttons are gummy switches with weak springs (tho, that might be due to their venerable age) that wobbles around. It's a bit like C64 keys, but even more loose.

On the Nordmende, the switches are rock solid and feel nice and strong when you press them.

Plus the Videplay is an ugly monolithic slab of black plastic.

Commands in German. There is an international model of this console (there are pics of such a model found in Australia) but I have no idea if they had a locally translated sticker or just pictograms.

Note the big protruding green LED. If I remember well, green LEDS were still a novelty in the late 70's.

A handy hinged door to store all cables, with notches on the corners so the cables can easily go out without leaving the door open.

The rear and back are devoid of any stickers, as they are in the "joystick bay".

The carts are still the standard yellow carts, only with different labels. Those are Saba, because for some reasons Nordmende and other (ITT) carts are much rarer.

I suppose that Saba were cheaper or had a bigger sale network.

You know you're on vintage stuff when it says it's made in West-Germany.

Serial number sticker: you can see the connectors for the joysticks.

Europe didn't used switch boxes (even if some were found on US consoles like the Intellivision). T connectors were banned to avoid RF pollution, so many video electronics equipments like VCR had a pass-through to daisy-chain the antenna cord. However, this is the only video game system I know that have it. I suppose Nordmende's high standard show here again.

I wonder how sleek-looking those carts could have been made by Nordmende?

Maybe some silvers boxes to go with the system design, with miminamist stickers like on the Interton VC 4000 :

I don't know if the Pac-Man box replicate the originals faithfully, but well, that's the only way you'll get to compare the Saba boxes and the US ones

There are, apparently, "international" versions of the Nordmende and Saba boxes. I haven't seen any so far.

And, last but not least, that cool item that I'm not sure I'll see the likes of it anytime soon :

Yep, an original Saba games shipping box.

This one used to contain 10 N°3 carts :

Lovely :

If I had a second one, I could store the whole European releases in such boxes.

Funnily, the seller shipped me a lot of games, without even mentionning the box, so it came as a super-duper unexpected gift.

Sadly, he didn't had a second one. Ah well. Better be happy with what you have than being annoyed at what you don't.

Edited March 4, 2018 by CatPix

[+atari2600land]

I just got a CIB Bowling for $28. So if all goes well, I'll sell the loose one I have. Any interest in it?

[Ashevent]

I was trying for a complete boxed set for years but I think it's time to realize that's just never gonna happen . So now i'm going for a "mostly boxed set" Still, I was SUPER excited to snag these, especially #15 which i've been trying to since..well, FOREVER. Now to make box's for display purposes to match the ones I have so far. Did a paper mockup and it seemed spot on so time to use cardstock and cut/score it using the Mrs. circuit machine. Wish me luck!

 

[wolfy62]

That's awesome you're making new games for the Channel F, atari2600land! It is just such an obscure system. I have one in my meager collection I will be putting up in the Marketplace when I can. I did all I could to get it running, but it looks like the transformer is dead, for some odd reason. I found it in my father-in-law's garage when I was moving him and my mother-in-law cross country.

 

I just stumbled upon this forum, and it's such a cool place. I love how much development is being done for these old systems. It's nice to see people putting their time into something they love, not just making another flappy bird port on iPhone to make some money.

I have the same problem I believe.

 

The system I picked up looks great so I bought the multicart from Sweden.

I just cant get it to run. I need more spare time to mess with it I

quess.

[Intellfan]

I have a chance to pick up a Fairchild channel F at a sale friday boxed with about 10 games . I know nothing about system anyone have any advise ?

[Hwlngmad]

It was the first second generation video game console. If the console still works and it comes with 10 games, buy it. You won't be disappointed to have a genuine piece of video game history.

I have a chance to pick up a Fairchild channel F at a sale friday boxed with about 10 games . I know nothing about system anyone have any advise ?

[Blazing Lazers]

I have a chance to pick up a Fairchild channel F at a sale friday boxed with about 10 games . I know nothing about system anyone have any advise ?

Of course you should take that chance!!! I know I'd drive a distance for such a rare thing. If nothing else, you can make your money back and then some, but even better is owing such a great piece of history. Plus, that's almost half the games for it, some of which could be very desirable for collectors- good trade bait at the least.

[Everett1954]

I have not had any luck repairing my Channel F (not 2). It has the motherboard with 5 large 40 Pin chips and I need the one marked FCM 9102 (it gets blazing hot to touch) Does anyone here have this chip? I cannot locate one through the internet.

 

If I cannot find one, I have a unit for spare parts, power supply, two wired controllers, the rest of the chips including 4 video ram chips. iI also have two game cartridges

 

#1 in an unopened shrink-wrapped box and cart #12 (loose). If anyone needs anything please PM.

 

I guess I'll be doing a MESS emulator....

[HoshiChiri]

I have a chance to pick up a Fairchild channel F at a sale friday boxed with about 10 games . I know nothing about system anyone have any advise ?

 

The built-in games are hockey and tennis. Both look like Pong. If you get the chance to test the unit/games, just make sure the game that loads isn't Pong-like (which would mean the cart didn't load at all!)

 

If you can test it, the built-in hockey game is your best bet for checking the controllers becuase it uses every function. If it's a model 1, this is extra important since the controllers are hard-wired to the unit.

 

If you can't test anything, buy it anyway! Fairchilds seem to be increasing in interest lately. Pricing is a bit difficult becuase it's still kind of all over the place. For reference, I paid $100 for mine tested from a local shop (model 1, no games). Check the games too- the bigger the number, the rarer it is. Especially check for 15, 19, 20, and 22-26. These are all especially rare- I've seen everything but 15 fetch triple digit prices. ESPECIALLY 19. Any of those would justify a higher sale price if necessary.

[+atari2600land]

If you decide to buy it and didn't get Bowling with it, I have an extra copy. I paid about $75 for my semi-broken one. It came with its original box too. I love it and don't regret getting it at all.

[Intellfan]

Thanks for all the help . I will let you know what happens even if I dont get it I will let you know what they are asking it may be high . I just looked at games they are 1.2.3.4.5.6.7.8.9.10.11.12

Edited April 7, 2018 by Intellfan

[Intellfan]

Well I didnt get game I was 17 in line someone got there before i did . Was 125 for boxed system and 12 games . maybe next time

[CatPix]

125 sounds like a decent price, too bad.

[BassGuitari]

 

Check the games too- the bigger the number, the rarer it is. Especially check for 15, 19, 20, and 22-26.

 

At the risk of being semantic, that's not necessarily true. #26 (Alien Invasion) turns up far more frequently than #22 or #25, probably even #24. There's at least one copy on eBay at almost any given time. And #19 is probably the rarest of all.

 

I get what you're getting at, though. Generally, yes, #19 on up are going to be the really collectible ones (except #21 and #23, which are borderline common).

 

#15? Meh. It definitely isn't common (to the extent that any Channel F cartridge can truly be called "common"), but you can snag one with some patience. And probably for not too bad a price, either, since it's not one of those "A-list" games.