2600 A/V MOD in 600xl?

[Vyvyan B.]

I was getting around to doing the composite out mod for my 600xl and saw this kit for the 2600 on ebay. It comes with a circuit board + the jacks which I would have to order from mouser or digikey anyway and the whole kit is less than $12 USD shipped -

 

Someone posted this guide a while back -

Anyone ever use one of these kits on a 600xl or 800xl? Everything seems to be in order, but the kit uses a 3904, which is good for 200ma instead of a 2222 which is rated up to 1A. I doubt this circuit is seeing a fraction of that anyway, so that shouldn't matter much anyway.

 

[Beeblebrox]

funnily enough I saw a similar 2600 mod on Ebay (UK) earlier today also:

 

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/334694114984?

 

[mimo]

Fitted one to my 7800.

It's ok and will get you an image on a screen.

Uav or ugv is way way better 

[+x=usr(1536)]

1 hour ago, mimo said:

It's ok and will get you an image on a screen.

Uav or ugv is way way better 

Seeing this exact mod in a couple of 2600s was what convinced me that the UAV is worth the additional cost, and I'm looking forward to eventually getting a UGV installed in one of these machines so that I can say the same thing about it 

[Vyvyan B.]

10 hours ago, mimo said:

Fitted one to my 7800.

It's ok and will get you an image on a screen.

Uav or ugv is way way better 

I should certainly hope so. Anything is better than RF output. Now show me a simple mod that is readily available in the states that does not involve a two year waiting list for $12 and I'd be all over it.

[+x=usr(1536)]

12 minutes ago, Vyvyan B. said:

I should certainly hope so. Anything is better than RF output.

Granted, but this particular mod (I hesitate to call it an upgrade) is only a minor improvement.  It's probably the most paleolithic way that's still on the market of extracting composite video from an Atari, and it shows.

12 minutes ago, Vyvyan B. said:

Now show me a simple mod that is readily available in the states that does not involve a two year waiting list for $12 and I'd be all over it.

We all would.  Thing is, this is an area where you really do get what you pay for - better-quality output requires better-quality design, components, and assembly, which adds up.  Honestly, though, the extra $20 for a UAV isn't that much in the grand scheme of things and well worth it to only have to do the job once.

[mimo]

17 minutes ago, Vyvyan B. said:

Now show me a simple mod that is readily available in the states that does not involve a two year waiting list for $12 and I'd be all over it.

Well, it's a transistor and two or three resistors, a bit of wire and two rca sockets. So way less than $12 all in.
Schematics on line somewhere.
If you can wait a few weeks, Ali express has the ket for under $2 plus $2 for shipping

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004256692287.html?pdp_npi=2%40dis!USD!US %241.28!%241.28!!!!!%400b0a23b016742119478194276e680b!12000028543231311!btf&_t=pvid%3A4fa2310f-5273-4b17-b59c-85a5040d04ed&afTraceInfo=1005004256692287__pc__pcBridgePPC__xxxxxx__1674211948&spm=a2g0o.ppclist.product.mainProduct&gatewayAdapt=4itemAdapt

[Vyvyan B.]

My "daily driver" is an 800 with s-video using a trinitron WEGA CRT. This is adequate for the time being. Until I can get actual proper VGA from it anything else would be a marginal improvement at best. The 600's RF on the other hand is unbearable.

[Vyvyan B.]

8 minutes ago, mimo said:

Well, it's a transistor and two or three resistors, a bit of wire and two rca sockets. So way less than $12 all in.
Schematics on line somewhere.
If you can wait a few weeks, Ali express has the ket for under $2 plus $2 for shipping

I likely have everything knocking about already with the exception of the RCA jacks. But RCA jacks + shipping alone from mouser or digikey would be more than this kit in total.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Vyvyan B.

[mimo]

5 minutes ago, Vyvyan B. said:

I likely have everything knocking about already with the exception of the RCA jacks. But RCA jacks + shipping alone from mouser or digikey would be more than this kit in total.

well, you could hard wire a phono cable , I did that on my 7800. This would be fine IMO. But at the price of that kit fromAli, it's hardly worth Pi$$ing about 

[+x=usr(1536)]

3 hours ago, Vyvyan B. said:

The 600's RF on the other hand is unbearable.

Out of curiosity, how do you plan on physically getting the composite signal from inside the 600XL to the outside world?

[Vyvyan B.]

1 hour ago, x=usr(1536) said:

Out of curiosity, how do you plan on physically getting the composite signal from inside the 600XL to the outside world?

I'll remove the RF box and put a 1/8 AV jack in it's place so I can use a simple A/V cable and not have to cut anything.

Edited January 20, 2023 by Vyvyan B.