Question- 5200 4 prong modification for 2600 adapter

[Flyindrew]

Have a question. I recently bought a refurbished original 4 prong 5200. As there is no * in the serial # I know the 2600 adapter wont work. I was wondering if anyone in 2022 does these modifications or if there was a method to see if my 5200 had modifications in the past that would allow the 2600 adapter to work?

[johannesmutlu]

Well atari did made an huge mistake because the atari 5200 4 port model lacks composite line input so it is not compatible with that atari 2600 adaptor,even the manual says that it does require a moddification by atari services to makr it work,however the atari 5200 2 port model did work right out of the box with the atari 2600 adaptor since it does have composite video line input.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

54 minutes ago, johannesmutlu said:

Well atari did made an huge mistake because the atari 5200 4 port model lacks composite line input so it is not compatible with that atari 2600 adaptor,even the manual says that it does require a moddification by atari services to makr it work,however the atari 5200 2 port model did work right out of the box with the atari 2600 adaptor since it does have composite video line input.

There does exist a newer revision of the 4port boards that also has these fixes implemented into it. Those are the ones that came from Atari with the Asterisks on them already and I believe are usually the ones that had dedicated power jacks installed in them also instead of relying on the switchbox. There aren't that many of them out there, but they do exist.

 

Aside from that, yes most of the 4 port consoles require hardware modification. I've not been asked to do it myself but I believe what Atari did was detach one of the extra ground lines at the cartridge slot and then route that pin to the composite feed into the RF modulator. Basically...

 

There are some components in that mix that you wire up together as well, resistors and diodes but basically that is what I think the modification is doing.

 

 

 

[0078265317]

8 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

There does exist a newer revision of the 4port boards that also has these fixes implemented into it. Those are the ones that came from Atari with the Asterisks on them already and I believe are usually the ones that had dedicated power jacks installed in them also instead of relying on the switchbox. There aren't that many of them out there, but they do exist.

 

Aside from that, yes most of the 4 port consoles require hardware modification. I've not been asked to do it myself but I believe what Atari did was detach one of the extra ground lines at the cartridge slot and then route that pin to the composite feed into the RF modulator. Basically...

 

There are some components in that mix that you wire up together as well, resistors and diodes but basically that is what I think the modification is doing.

 

 

 

I have an asterisk 4 port.  There is a hole where there should be a power supply barrel jack.  But its empty.  There is no adapter.  It still requires the switch box.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

1 hour ago, 0078265317 said:

I have an asterisk 4 port.  There is a hole where there should be a power supply barrel jack.  But its empty.  There is no adapter.  It still requires the switch box.

Okay, then it could be a slightly newer 4 port that is in a 2 port bottom shell case and had the modification done by either Atari or an authorized service center back in the day. But since you already have the asterisk on your serial number sticker, you wouldn't need to worry about it.

 

[0078265317]

1 hour ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Okay, then it could be a slightly newer 4 port that is in a 2 port bottom shell case and had the modification done by either Atari or an authorized service center back in the day. But since you already have the asterisk on your serial number sticker, you wouldn't need to worry about it.

 

It was 35 off eBay broken.  I spent another 25 sending to Atari_Dna two have it fixed.  He fixed 2 chip failures and not sure what else.  He said it works with the vcs adapter as he had one to test.

 

here are my pics.

 

https://mvvg.blogspot.com/2019/12/4port-5200-asterisk.html?m=1

 

And he said:

 

Hi *****,

 

Your console had two bad Ram, the video cable was also faulty.  That’s been replaced. Also, your power supply was shot. I corrected that problem (faulty filter capacitors on the A/C input. It’s been rebuilt with all new higher temperature high quality capacitors. It’s better than it was when it was new. Your switchbox is with me. I changed the RF connector as the old one was a bit ratty—but there wasn’t anything actually wrong with the switchbox.  I updated the port just to improve longevity.

 

Thank you!  Also, I didn’t mention above. I replaced the two power regulators on your 5200 PCB.  To ensure reliability, you’ll be all set for *lots* of gaming.

Edited April 6, 2022 by 0078265317

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Correct, as I said it has the asterisk so I would have expected it to work. The only time you would have one with an asterisk that didn't work, is when someone in the past swapped bottom shells. But that is the 2 port bottom shell hence why it has the hole for a power port but doesn't have one. I've have several like this come to me for power conversions and I install the DC jack in this opening along with star washers to secure them into place.

 

I actually don't even own a VCS adapter because I've never seen the point to wanting to play 2600 games through my 5200 when I have a half dozen 2600 systems plus my 7800s to play 2600 games on. So for me at least, I've always considered the 5200 mainly dedicated to 5200 games only in my collection.