Hello from a new 7800 owner

[OldPAL]

Hi,

 

New to the community, just joined. I setup my first 7800 and ordered bunch of games from eBay. I am in my mid 40's and 2600 was my first console (other than a pong clone). I have so many childhood memories with that machine. Recently I had this   itch to revive those fun days. Emulators weren't cutting it, so I started looking for a 2600. While I am at it, why not get the 7800, since I learned it was backwards compatible. I am already working on some custom labels for some of the duplicate games with damaged labels. Why the hell not. Here are 2 pics showing the 7800, and the connection hack for a modern TV. Surprisingly the picture on TV is pretty clear without interference unless I touch the adapter.

 

 

[+MattelAquarius]

Welcome!

 

I'd recommend getting your 7800 modded with more modern video-out options, or purchase one of these to continue your RF video usage.

 

If you're more interested in playing than collecting, you may also want to consider purchasing one of the in-production multi-carts:

 

Concerto

DragonFly

 

With one of those, you can download Trebor's Pack, to play a huge list of the original retail 7800 games, hacks, homebrews/demos, and trial versions of for-sale homebrews.  Note that the Concerto allows you to load it up with both 2600 ROMS and 7800 ROMS, while the DragonFly is focused on 7800 games only.

 

Of course, you can always buy latest homebrew games on-cart, right here at the Atari Age store.

[OldPAL]

Thank you for the info!

[john_q_atari]

1 hour ago, MattelAquarius said:

Welcome!

 

I'd recommend getting your 7800 modded with more modern video-out options, or purchase one of these to continue your RF video 

I bought those exact ones and the quality is lacking, but I guess it gets the job done. If you have a retro game store near you they can probably sell you one. I think that is where I got my original gold plated one. If you are happy with your picture then I recommend you spend your time enjoying what you have for awhile. 

[+sixersfan105]

On 6/22/2021 at 9:56 PM, MattelAquarius said:

I'd recommend getting your 7800 modded with more modern video-out options, or purchase one of these to continue your RF video usage.

Hmm that's not looking right. All of my RF adapters look like this. And btw, @OldPAL, the idea with these adapters is that you can bypass the old switchbox entirely, which can improve signal quality because most of those 80s switchboxes are faulty by now. 

[Dopy25]

1 hour ago, sixersfan105 said:

Hmm that's not looking right. All of my RF adapters look like this. And btw, @OldPAL, the idea with these adapters is that you can bypass the old switchbox entirely, which can improve signal quality because most of those 80s switchboxes are faulty by now. 

I have the same ones you point out, but I think the idea of the other ones is to use coax from the console to the TV because it has a better ground. You can always find quality RCA cables to use the ones we have, but in theory, even the cheapest coax cable is better quality than the cheapest RCA cable.

 

Both work, but it depends on whether you want coax or RCA from the console to the TV.

[+sixersfan105]

@Dopy25 interesting! I've never seen the other style cable recommended. Thanks for the info. 

[koolmoecraig]

Get yourself a 19" CRT TV or 13" for next to nothing off of craigslist.  Games look so much better on CRT's compared to LCD's.

[Giles N]

@OldPAL

If you want input or discuss which games are worth getting, go ahead and ask. 
 

I don’t own everyone, but have almost every official release and some homebrews.

 

?

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 7/5/2021 at 7:53 PM, koolmoecraig said:

Get yourself a 19" CRT TV or 13" for next to nothing off of craigslist.  Games look so much better on CRT's compared to LCD's.

This x1000.  Ignoring the obvious picture differences between LCDs and CRTs for a moment, most modern TVs have really terrible analogue tuners and processing.  Plugging my 7800 into any of our modern TVs would make you think it had a need for at least a recapping if not deeper work, but running it on a 2000-era CRT gives a fantastically sharp picture.

 

And yep, definitely eliminate the switchbox.  That will also help.