Super Pong (C-140) Composite mod completed

[wildstar1063]

I just Joined tonight, this is my first post.

 

I have added a composite mod to my Super Pong, here it is in my 55" LG Curved screen

sorry about the flash in the pics.

 

 

 

I did it by adding one of those little composite boards for a 2600

here is the one I used

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-2600-7800-A-V-Composite-Video-Mod-Upgrade-Kit-DIY/311653998049?ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT&_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649

 

I only used the ground, Video in and and + power inputs on the composite board since Pong has it's own 

built in speaker. I took the power straight across the filter cap, as you can see in the second PIC above, which I also replaced..

 

You can see in the composite board pic that the only output is the video out it is going through the speaker hole under the board.

 

 

The video in for the composite board is coming from inductor L2 which you can see above, I un-soldered it from where in normally injects 

the video signal into the rf portion on the left, and soldered the video in directly to the inductor

 

In order that I can use the original rf cable for the video out, I unsoldered r23 from inside the rf area

as seen below

 

 

Then where the video out runs from the composite board out through the speaker hole and underneath the board I soldered the video out wire to the hole 

vacated by the end of r22, the trace connected to that hole goes straight to the center contact of the onboard RCA jack

 

 

 

After those connections it was basically just soldering the bottom shield on and buttoning everything back up again.

 

The nice thing about the mod is that it's completely reversible all you have to do is re-soldered the inductor and

resistor and remove the mod board and associated wires

 

If you have any questions let me know

 

 

Edited July 23, 2019 by wildstar1063
fixing my poor spelling

[+Stephen]

Very cool.  Anybody know if the same thing could be done for the Atari Video Music?

[wildstar1063]

Here is an overview pic to help get an Idea where everything is placed.

 

I did make one permanent change, I drilled a hole from the speaker area

through the shielding to the area where L2 is, to route the video in wire for

the composite board, as when I was done I re-installed all of the shield covers

 

 

 

I hope this was a decent first thread, I had been wanting to do this for a while,

but found no directions for The Super Pong. I did find where someone had done

a similar thing to Pong C-100, I noticed except for the fact that the main custom

chip was different, the way the video flows to the RF looked fairly similar so I

figured I could do the same thing. Here is the original thread I found, the original

question was actually about the Super pong, But all of the answers were about the

original Pong C-100 There was a pretty good schematic that helped me compare the

super pong schematic.

 

 

Thanks

 

Chuck E.

Edited July 23, 2019 by wildstar1063

[akator]

On 7/23/2019 at 12:27 AM, wildstar1063 said:

I just Joined tonight, this is my first post.

 

And an awesome first post it is ?

[wildstar1063]

2 hours ago, akator said:

And an awesome first post it is ?

Thanks! ?

[UnkieRobbie]

Ok, guys. I need some help, please. I had a great color picture via RF but I needed composite video. I followed the instructions and I got a picture, but it’s in B&W and the sides of the screen are cut off. I have white bars at the top and bottom and I can’t see the paddles anymore. Could someone take a look at the pic and tell me what I’m doing wrong?

[Voxel]

Overscan!... back in the day I would be at the back of the TV adjusting the horizontal to get the picture back in.  Chances are if it's a newer CRT you'll have to pop the back off and then find which trimmer will shift the horizontal image back onto the tube (boy will it be a pain when you plug in another device). 

 

Colour!... usually that should be a capacitor, also check the soldering just in case there is a bad connection (would normally point to the trimmer in the RF Modulator too, but you've bypassed it with your mod).

 

Good luck!

[Voxel]

Maybe I should have added that you check your pick up points too - you may want to confirm, as a sync signal issue could also affect the output.

[UnkieRobbie]

Thanks for the help, Voxel. I checked the connections and all was good, but I kept having the problem. Just on a hunch, I thought the problem might have been I signal that was too strong going to the TV. I kept playing around with different resistors on the wire coming from the video out. Eureka!!  A 1k ohm resistor soldered in between the video out wire on the mod chip and the coax port fixed the problem. Now I have a razor sharp (not blown out) image in vivid color. Not sure why I needed the resistor, but it did the trick!   

[Voxel]

Way to go!

[gbennett0321]

I'd like to mod my Super Pong(tm). Can anyone point me to a source for a screwdriver or security tip to remove the weird security screws used on the Super Pong? I saw in one of the forums that people have made their own, but I would prefer to go the lazy route and just buy one if possible. 

[Voxel]

The absolute lazy/cheap route is to get a 5 inch pair of vice grip / mole grips.

 

You may need to file the tips flat.

 

Google image.bmp

[gbennett0321]

On 3/28/2020 at 7:12 AM, Voxel said:

The absolute lazy/cheap route is to get a 5 inch pair of vice grip / mole grips.

 

You may need to file the tips flat.

 

Google image.bmp 626.55 kB · 6 downloads

Thanks for the help. I thought about using vice grips, however, my anal-ness wants me to keep everything stock and in original condition as much as possible, including the screws. I really don't want to scratch up the screws.

Since I cant find the driver, I'll probably take your advice and then try to be as careful as possible.

 

[Voxel]

The screws are well made and as long as the mating surface on the vice grips is not too rough they will be okay.

 

You can add masking tape to the surrounding surface to protect from scratches.  That's assuming you don't file the tips of the vice grips flat.

[virtvic]

I've only just found this! I'm going to give my poor old Super Pong this mod!

[mragonias]

Hi! Anyone know how to solve paddle shaking? both paddles are unstable

[Voxel]

6 hours ago, mragonias said:

Hi! Anyone know how to solve paddle shaking? both paddles are unstable

 

That depends on your skill level.

 

You can open up the potentiometers and clean/oil them and reset the wiper arm for good contact.

 

You can just squirt some oil into the potentiometers and have a play on the console and wait until the jitter settles down.

 

You can believe the words of many and replace the potentiometers altogether.  You'll need to find a compatible set, similar to the ones in the Pong Console.  You may be able to find ones like in the paddle controllers for the VCS 2600 and adapt them to fit.

 

[Voxel]

Should have added that with a little work it would be possible to disconnect the built in potentiometers and add connectors so you can plug in external controllers.  You could also then make your own controllers and use "B1M" type potentiometers.

[mragonias]

Thanks a lot Voxel! 

[Erixson99]

Hey I followed the tutorial but still I got no video output. The pong system did make audio sounds so I assumed that it works with no problem. I tried to get signal with external rca Jack on the front with extra wires on the back of the board for ground and video but still I didn’t get any video.

[virtvic]

Wow - 'I only just saw this' 2 years ago and I've just got around to doing it - video works really nicely - thanks for the post!

 

However - The controller pots don't seem right? If you move the knob all the way one, your bats (both players) go WAAAAY off (the bottom) of the screen, thus not giving you the full motion of the pots. It seems like the pots are wrong - but these are from factory?

Edited January 8, 2023 by virtvic

[Jpenner64]

I recently followed this thread for a composite mod on an Atari Super Pong. I acquired a board similar to the one in this thread and installed and had two issues when installing.

1. Kit had the wrong pull down resistor of 0.75ohm instead of 75ohm. Had to replace
2. Screen was very clear but all washed out like that described of UnkieRobbie (above)

 

The first issue clearly wrong resistor applied when board was made; oops. I let to seller know…Purple, Green, Black (not Purple, Green, Silver). Replacing it cleared up color bleeding and fuzziness with a sharp picture. However, the image was black and white, where the white was washed out. 

 

To clear the second issue I applied a 1k variable resistor on the video out…Adjusting (increasing) the resistance, brought the color back, but darkened the picture. Without any in-depth knowledge into Composite signaling, I settled on this approach to the best reasonable resistance of 180ohms. Color is not the full vibrant color from original, but the sharpness is there. Good for now.

 

If there is any consideration to further improve the color vibrancy, please advise

 

 

Edited July 7 by Jpenner64