Power and AV mod reveals prior work under RF shield...what to do?

[Zilch]

Good morning, all! 

 

I started my first real console mod on my 1982 4 port beast 5200. Lots of good memories playing my grandparents' system back then, Qix and such. My only TV can't detect RF signal that isn't digital and I wanna route the 5200 through my home theater tuner anyway (Centipede sounds, FTW) so I decided to remove the RF second, add the power mod, and the UAV mod. 

 

I've watched a few YT videos on this and am basically duplicating:

 

 

No worries, this I can manage. Actually this has inspired me to learn electronics and repair the other half dozen old consoles I have awaiting my fun home theater...seems like a great use of time! 

 

Unfortunately, I got as far as removing the interior RF shielding and found that someone else has modified the console. It has a bunch of resistors and something else added to the existing resistor area with three leads going from these to the underside of the cartridge receptacle. I have no idea why someone would have done this, if I should keep it instact, remove it, modify it, or what. 

 

Do any of you know what this resistor playground equipment thing might be doing? 

 

Here's a (crappy) video of what's going on, since still shots don't really show it well. 

 

 

[RB5200]

The resister playground equipment thing is a vcs cartridge mod, so the earlier 4 port models can use the vcs adapter CX55.

Edited September 21, 2023 by RB5200

[+-^CrossBow^-]

7 hours ago, Zilch said:

Good morning, all! 

 

I started my first real console mod on my 1982 4 port beast 5200. Lots of good memories playing my grandparents' system back then, Qix and such. My only TV can't detect RF signal that isn't digital and I wanna route the 5200 through my home theater tuner anyway (Centipede sounds, FTW) so I decided to remove the RF second, add the power mod, and the UAV mod. 

 

I've watched a few YT videos on this and am basically duplicating:

 

 

No worries, this I can manage. Actually this has inspired me to learn electronics and repair the other half dozen old consoles I have awaiting my fun home theater...seems like a great use of time! 

 

Unfortunately, I got as far as removing the interior RF shielding and found that someone else has modified the console. It has a bunch of resistors and something else added to the existing resistor area with three leads going from these to the underside of the cartridge receptacle. I have no idea why someone would have done this, if I should keep it instact, remove it, modify it, or what. 

 

Do any of you know what this resistor playground equipment thing might be doing? 

 

Here's a (crappy) video of what's going on, since still shots don't really show it well. 

 

 

As @RB5200 stated that is for the VCS adapter modification on the 4 ports. Also worth noting that most AV mods disable the ability to use that adapter so the mod that was done in this case, isn't likely to be of use to you unless you design to do something different like the UAV and leaving the RF modulator in place.

 

Off topic, but I've always wondered why they didn't just do all of this on the bottom side of the PCB? the crimping off the wiring that you can see over time from the RF shield pinching and cartridges? I recently got a 4 port with the modification in place and redid all of the stuff on the bottom to avoid any issues with it in the future. But I do wonder why they didn't from the beginning? It isn't any more difficult than top side since you still have to remove the RF shielding regardless?

[Zilch]

Thanks so much! Now I know what it is, it makes sense, the console came with the VCS accessory. Fortunately I have a 2600 and also pre-ordered the 2600+, so the only thing the 5200 needs to do is 5200 things. 

 

If I leave the playground equipment in, would that affect my upcoming UAV and power mods? 

[RB5200]

9 hours ago, Zilch said:

If I leave the playground equipment in, would that affect my upcoming UAV and power mods? 

No, as long as the mods are done correctly, but since you'll have your solder iron warmed up any way, it would probably be better to just remove it, it would only take a few minutes, (and besides from the looks of it, a child could get hurt on that thing). But if you do leave it there you should at least do something different with the wiring so it will not be pinched under the shielding anymore.

[+x=usr(1536)]

4 hours ago, RB5200 said:

No, as long as the mods are done correctly, but since you'll have your solder iron warmed up any way, it would probably be better to just remove it, it would only take a few minutes, (and besides from the looks of it, a child could get hurt on that thing). But if you do leave it there you should at least do something different with the wiring so it will not be pinched under the shielding anymore.

Counterpoint: removing it will render the VCS adapter unusable.

 

It's probably best to leave well enough alone.  Removal also introduces the possibility of causing problems that weren't present in the first place, and installing a UAV remains a possibility either way.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

15 hours ago, Zilch said:

Thanks so much! Now I know what it is, it makes sense, the console came with the VCS accessory. Fortunately I have a 2600 and also pre-ordered the 2600+, so the only thing the 5200 needs to do is 5200 things. 

 

If I leave the playground equipment in, would that affect my upcoming UAV and power mods? 

You can leave it in place and it will not affect the operation of the UAV. It will also be fine with the power conversion mod as well. 

 

In fact, with the UAV in place, the VCS adapter would still work, but ONLY output video/audio through RF at that point. Speaking of, not sure which guide you might be using, but you do NOT have to remove the RF cable that is soldered to the board. Once you remove that inductor along side it between the cable and the RF modulator, you have removed the voltage that flows through it and it can then be used as a normal RF cable at that point.

 

[Zilch]

Thanks, guys. You're rad as hell, big help! 

[0078265317]

40 minutes ago, Zilch said:

Thanks, guys. You're rad as hell, big help! 

Ya don't remove it as that is cool.  Get another 4 port from ebay without the mod and use that.  Somebody who does mot have a 2600 will want it.  Or modify a 2 port as its already for the vcs adapter.  Best of both worlds.

[Tidus79001]

On 9/21/2023 at 5:27 PM, Zilch said:

Thanks so much! Now I know what it is, it makes sense, the console came with the VCS accessory. Fortunately I have a 2600 and also pre-ordered the 2600+, so the only thing the 5200 needs to do is 5200 things. 

 

If I leave the playground equipment in, would that affect my upcoming UAV and power mods? 

 

@Zilch actually the Atari 5200 VCS Cartridge Adapter for your 5200 may still be of use to you since it uses actual 2600 hardware inside it and should be able to play any games where as there will be some game that the Atari 2600+ is not able to play since it is using emulation to run the games.  Not sure if there are any games that won't run with the Atari 5200 VCS Cartridge Adapter but this will still have it uses if you don't already own an actual Atari 2600.

[+bent_pin]

5 hours ago, Tidus79001 said:

Not sure if there are any games that won't run with the Atari 5200 VCS Cartridge Adapter but this will still have it uses if you don't already own an actual Atari 2600.

There shouldn't be any, it's 1:1 hardware.