No signal on my atari 2600 four-switch model (and what I tried)

[saucistari]

Hello everyone !

This is my first post on the forum, and I am writing to you guys about the atari 2600 I bought in a garage sell last year.

It's a four switches model with an rca-to-coaxial adapter and 10 games. We tested eveyrthing  with a friend who has a functionnal atari 2600 vader.

My console has no signal but we tested on my friends console and he had signal on his console and all the games worked.

So I searched on what I could try on youtube and websites, as well as this forum before posting

 

Here is what I tried :

- I tested the input of the big grey cylinder with the multimeter and it outputs 9V

- Tested the voltage regulator next to big cyinder and it has the correct 9V input and 5V output

- I seated and unseated all the chips

- Cleaned the board with isopropyl alcohol

- Then I tried to find signal on my plasma TV (searched all analog channels and switched manually to every channel but nothing)

 

 

https://youtu.be/LbbLblXLhTE I watched this video from DV game repair, and the guy talks about checking traces (he did it with a microscope) as well as checking transistors Q200 and Q201 (I don't know if the hardware is the same on 6-switch and 4-switch model tho) 

 

 

Do you guys "check traces" like this guy when you repair your console and if yes can you explain me how I can do it ?

How do I check for the resistors ? 

Maybe you have other suggestions on what I could try next ?

I could buy replacement chips and test them, as well as test another RCA-Coaxial adapter my friend has for his famicom.

And also I noticed there are some rusty-looking yellow parts on the back of the console (you can see them on the picture as well as a part of the green paper stuff that is scratched down), so I'll check it out when I go home this weekend

 

Have a good day everyone !

 

 

[alex_79]

1 hour ago, saucistari said:

It's a four switches model with an rca-to-coaxial adapter...

Can you take a picture of the connector at the end of the console cable and the adapter you're talking about?

What you have is a SECAM console, for the french market. The RF cable should already have the right connector to plug directly into the antenna socket of any European TV, so no adapter should be necessary.

1 hour ago, saucistari said:

Then I tried to find signal on my plasma TV (searched all analog channels and switched manually to every channel but nothing)

You might need to manually set your TV to "System-L" and "SECAM" color format when searching for analog channels, assuming that it is compatible with the SECAM-L standard.

At least with the LCD TVs I have, an automatic scan won't find the signal from my SECAM console. I have to set it manually (on channel UHF 36) and specify System-L and SECAM in the options.

Edited March 9, 2023 by alex_79

[saucistari]

Hey ! I am back with great news ! I searched for channel 36 manually and I got some signal ! There is quite a lot of static noise and I have to swap between black&white and color to get a correct signal but it's playable : Jungle hunt works correctly and space invaders only works for player 2, because with player 1 I cannot move for some reason (I can shoot tho)

 

I'll add pictures later, thank you for your help !

[saucistari]

Here is some footage : at first I get a gray unstable picture, then I switch to B&W, then back to color. I can't move with the first player for some reason and some times it just glitches.

 

I will try with my friends cartridge of space invaders as well as clean my cartridge, I'll tell you if it works !