Does anyone have an original authentic Atari 2600/2600A VCS Domestic Field Service Manual? Not the photocopied copy-of-a-copy Best Electronics sells.

Kirkland · March 18

So I bit the bullet and bought a 2600 Field Service manual from Best Electronics for $40, and it arrived shiny and new and shrinkwrapped. But instead of some overstock OEM reprint job from 1983, the last couple of pages contained a March 24, 2020 email exchange between Art @ Alta Roofing Inc. and Henry Nguyen @ Vietnam Printing in San Jose California (who is obviously doing the print job for Best Electronics). My intent was to clean up the blurry/botched scan jobs out there, but of course this is just more of the same. So my question is, does anyone have one of the authentic 2600 FSMs, and if so, are the drawings and schematics as bad as they are in the PDFs available on the internet (AtariMania, archive.org, Console5, etc, etc, etc.). My plan was to rebuild at 1200dpi and have a definitive copy that is clean / not page skewed / not speckled with toner dots. Any help or insight would be appreciated.

Page 41 attached for reference- I would like to actually be able to read this.

Atari 2600 Field Service Manual (USA)_041.tif

Kirkland · March 20

Minor update to show where I'm at / what I'm thinking. Here are the first 3 sections (haven't dived into flowcharts yet). Downsampled from 1200dpi to 4K resolution for testing.

2600FSM-Test3-4K.pdf

hizzy · March 20

Looks great!

+Stephen · March 20

3 hours ago, Kirkland said:

Minor update to show where I'm at / what I'm thinking. Here are the first 3 sections (haven't dived into flowcharts yet). Downsampled from 1200dpi to 4K resolution for testing.

2600FSM-Test3-4K.pdf 6.09 MB · 9 downloads

Looks great.

tremoloman2006 · March 20

Awesome work! Keep it going!

hizzy · March 20

How is this done?

Kirkland · March 21

7 hours ago, hizzy said:

How is this done?

Through much caffeine, anger, and brute force retyping while attempting to match font styles, spacing and kerning to remain true to the source material. Should probably be using InDesign, but I'm manually hacking away at in in Photoshop one page at a time.

I am attempting to cheat, though, and use EDrawMax to modernize the flowcharts just a smidge. Looks promising.

Atari 2600 Field Service Manual (USA)_054.tif

Edited March 21 by Kirkland
attaching example

Kirkland · March 22

Ok, some questions for the experts while I'm muddling through all these flowcharts:

1) On section 6-26 of the Atari 2600 FSM, is the 2nd box supposed to be: "Is there -5v at one end" or "Is there +5v at one end"?

Even with my better scan I'm not entirely sure if it's -5v or +5v.

2) Which is the most correct way to label the Φ0 and Φ2? I assume #1, but my last electrical engineering work was 30 years ago.

image.png.26f211928170497ae7456c1a9e885030.png

3) Next questions refer to next/attached image from section 4-7:

3a) Ok, same sorta deal with 0v.. Any complaints about my slashed zero volt in yellow on the right side?

3b) middle box: "Is there an open between J201".. should that be "Is there an open trace between J201"? Unless something else would make it open?? The resolution is to "Repair open trace"

so that seems more fitting.

3c) Can anyone explain the reference for "I" in the middle? No other flowchart references it as far as I can tell. Section 4-8 is "H", section 4-9 is "J".

Should the "G" in the lower left corner actually be an "I"? Or should that step truly take you back to identifying bad switchboard/motherboard instead of where "I" is?

And if "I" is really a starting point, it wouldn't need a page number- which is why I'm confused.

3d) Similarly, is it proper/OK to have two arrows pointing to "A" like I have in blue on the lower right?

Typically, the arrows will run to an existing connection (like the original on the left side) with only one terminating at a symbol.

And if it is OK to have two results hit the same symbol, should I tighten up the arrows to the box for "Swapout A200-A202"

I'm thinking no, but I'm asking for clarification.

3e) Yeah, I know referring to other sections should be using the "home plate" symbol instead of a circle. I'm just trying to maintain some look & feel of the original.

Thanks in advance for assisting.

Kirkland · March 24

More progress, more questions..

From section 4-18:

image.png.b5692a2be2e3220648cbaca78dd15836.png

I'll take a wild stab and say "Check for and repair opens between RF module pin 1 and J101 pins 6 and 10 (ground)."

And then I'm scratching my head a bit at Section 4-21:

At first look, the question on CR200 is asked identically twice in a row. Now is the 2nd one simply a typo and should just be CR201? (Which is what I think is correct)

image.png.bd26137b5b5e15478f39022d32169750.png

OR, (and I'll show my ignorance to subject material here)

After replacing the defective CR200, should it be re-checked, and it there is still a signal, the CR201 is then defective.

but I feel that the lower left "open or shorted trace to diodes" would catch that. And an extra step like the above should have been mapped appropriately, which is why I lean towards just typo.

Kirkland · March 25

Continuing to track down oddities.

In section 4-26 (Defective I/O Lines)

in the middle of the page it says:

image.png.62f10b77cb85e21aee3b031c2c331715.png

Shouldn't that be "and the J202/J203."?

+Atari_Warlord · March 25

I found my manual yesterday. It looks like the photo copy version. Unfortunately I don't have any electronics knowledge to help with questions. I do have several units that need some work, so may have to start learning.

Pitfall Harry · March 29

I don't know whether this is just another photocopy of a photocopy or what you're looking for, but there is a 2600 Field Service Manual available on eBay right now.

Atari 2600/2600A Field Service Manual on eBay

-Ben

+-^CrossBow^- · March 29

45 minutes ago, Pitfall Harry said:

I don't know whether this is just another photocopy of a photocopy or what you're looking for, but there is a 2600 Field Service Manual available on eBay right now.

Atari 2600/2600A Field Service Manual on eBay

-Ben

Auction details on my ebay app state this is for a digital copy to be emailed to you. So they are charging $1 for something you can download for free from several places already.

Kirkland · March 30

If you are looking for an official Atari 2600 Field Service Manual, then this is one of the original 185 copies:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275948044537

I initially snagged the $39 copy from Best Electronics hoping that it was an official, high quality version- but instead it's the same as the scanned version on the internet. Complete with skewed pages and copies-of-copies with hole punches. I had hoped someone lurking on here might have one of those 185 originals, to see if the illustrations and diagrams were of noticeably better quality. Was trying to avoid plunking down $362 just to find out. Either way, I'm well on my way with a rebuild.

Jstick · March 30

14 hours ago, Kirkland said:

to see if the illustrations and diagrams were of noticeably better quality. Was trying to avoid plunking down $362 just to find out.

Can’t you discern this from the photos of the diagram pages in the ebay link you posted?

+Mitch · April 14

I finally got around to checking my copy and it is an original Rev 2 version. Now to find someplace to scan it.

Mitch

Rom Hunter · April 14

You mean this one?
https://www.atarimania.com/2600/files/vcs_domestic_field_service_manual.pdf

Been there for ages.

+Mitch · April 14

I think the OP is looking for a very high res scan of it.

Mitch

cbelcher · June 24

@Mitch Even a document scanner on a cell phone would be better than what we have currently, but it would be a lot of page turns...

Hoping the work of @Kirkland is ongoing.

Kirkland · June 26

On 6/24/2024 at 4:48 PM, cbelcher said:

@Mitch Even a document scanner on a cell phone would be better than what we have currently, but it would be a lot of page turns...

Hoping the work of @Kirkland is ongoing.

It is, slowly but surely. I do get sidetracked with multiple other projects in motion.

My stumbling block was I started redoing the schematics, and that's.. too much.

I need to loop back around and finish the text portions at least and push out a "cleaned up" copy.

Mockduck · June 26

On 3/29/2024 at 10:46 PM, Kirkland said:

If you are looking for an official Atari 2600 Field Service Manual, then this is one of the original 185 copies:

https://www.ebay.com/itm/275948044537

I initially snagged the $39 copy from Best Electronics hoping that it was an official, high quality version- but instead it's the same as the scanned version on the internet. Complete with skewed pages and copies-of-copies with hole punches. I had hoped someone lurking on here might have one of those 185 originals, to see if the illustrations and diagrams were of noticeably better quality. Was trying to avoid plunking down $362 just to find out. Either way, I'm well on my way with a rebuild.

If there really are only 185 copies and this ebay auction is legit, that price doesn't seem too bad actually to own a quite rare thing that even folks on AA don't really have access to. Maybe "we" could do a fundraiser for Atari Age on it and have it become an official high quality scan? I'd chip in $5-10 for it.

Kirkland · July 1

On 6/26/2024 at 10:23 AM, Mockduck said:

If there really are only 185 copies and this ebay auction is legit, that price doesn't seem too bad actually to own a quite rare thing that even folks on AA don't really have access to. Maybe "we" could do a fundraiser for Atari Age on it and have it become an official high quality scan? I'd chip in $5-10 for it.

The only issue I have is that this Ebay listing is for an original 1981 Rev 1 NTSC manual (part number C018040) that has had the Rev 2 ECR/ECN updates added in- which is absolutely great for that specific version. You can tell the one on Ebay looks physically typed/printed vs. a photocopy. But I don't know where it was produced in the timeline of Atari 2600 releases. Does it have schematics/info for just the 2600, or was it printed somewhere in the 2600A journey from Revs 1-13, 14/15, or 16 up? The copy floating around on the internet appears to be the final(?) 1983 Atari 2600 field service manual- revision 2 with a part number of FD100133. I have only ever seen photocopied versions of this manual.

This later copy has "2600/2600A Domestic VCS" on every page, while the older one has "NTSC".. and my copy of the newer one has a handful of the NTSC pages at the end of it. Not sure if that was standard issue or just how people handled it.
My main reason for getting an original copy would be for the diagrams and schematics. If they aren't any better than what is in my photocopied FD100133, or only include 2600 (but not 2600A schematics), then it is a moot point.

CPUWIZ · July 1

I have a variety of them, but they are packed in a box, maybe I'll go through it again soon,

I just released the training manual:

+Mitch · July 1

My copy includes the schematic for the 2600A but not the jr. It is not a photocopy but the screenshots are not very high quality.

Mitch

Kirkland · July 5

Release Candidate #1!

I do not like the quality of the image on page 3-3.. part of why I requested if anyone has a legit copy to scan in the first place.
I don't like how tech tip #18 on 9-4 is worded. Should "Taiwan games" be replaced with "Taiwan consoles"? or reword the whole thing?

There are a couple motherboard images that will need to be pushed closer to the edge of the page to allow for spiral binding.

I will likely move the footer to be mirrored on the bottom edges when printed.

Index page was from the original NTSC manual and I had to update all the pages. Was there a legitimate index page in the real FD100133 Field Service Manual?

Should I change the cover to FD100133 Rev 3? Final Rev? Leave as is? I punted the ECN to the back before the index.

Speaking of ECN, if this is a final copy, do I need to leave the 4 pages with the extra "Changed per ECN 21" notice intact (4-25,6-21,8-3,8-7), or should I just standardize all footers?

Do I even need the ECN since the cover is Rev 2 (which should make its inclusion a moot point)? I'll probably leave it in for posterity.

Any questions, comments, rants, things that should be fixed/different, gotchas- whatever.. Let me know so I can fix as needed.

I'll probably do a good sanity check read through over the weekend, then fire off to Lulu.com on Monday to see what a printed copy looks like.

Atari_2600-2600A_VCS_Domestic-Field_Service_Manual.pdf

Does anyone have an *original* authentic Atari 2600/2600A VCS Domestic Field Service Manual? Not the photocopied copy-of-a-copy Best Electronics sells.

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Does anyone have an original authentic Atari 2600/2600A VCS Domestic Field Service Manual? Not the photocopied copy-of-a-copy Best Electronics sells.