Question about CX55 adapter to play 2600 games

[Atari800Xl]

Hi guys I'm looking to buy a CX55 I saw a cheap one but the seller says it just makes a black screen when he uses it. Are these easily repairable?

[SoundGammon]

Easy to repair.

 

Haven't had one apart in years, just a little tricky taking it apart.

 

Start with the 5 volt regulator and go from there. Any 2600 will make a great parts donor!

[+-^CrossBow^-]

1 hour ago, Atari800Xl said:

Hi guys I'm looking to buy a CX55 I saw a cheap one but the seller says it just makes a black screen when he uses it. Are these easily repairable?

Assuming the seller was using a 2port 5200 when they tested it? Because if they used a 4port model and it hasn't been internally modified for the VCS adapter, then you get nothing from the adapter when trying to use it.

 

 

[SoundGammon]

8 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Assuming the seller was using a 2port 5200 when they tested it? Because if they used a 4port model and it hasn't been internally modified for the VCS adapter, then you get nothing from the adapter when trying to use it.

 

 

Forgot about that. And if memory serves, doesn't it short out the power supply on the 5200 if someone tries it in an unmodified system?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

7 minutes ago, SoundGammon said:

Forgot about that. And if memory serves, doesn't it short out the power supply on the 5200 if someone tries it in an unmodified system?

Not that I'm aware of... one of the parts of the mod is to feed the input voltage off the PSU before it gets to the regulators to an unsued redundant ground pin that you have to separate from the traces on the board and that becomes the input voltage for the VCS adapter.

 

[SoundGammon]

53 minutes ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

Not that I'm aware of... one of the parts of the mod is to feed the input voltage off the PSU before it gets to the regulators to an unsued redundant ground pin that you have to separate from the traces on the board and that becomes the input voltage for the VCS adapter.

 

Your right! You'd think I'd remember after doing a few mods myself!

[+x=usr(1536)]

In addition to the above, there are two basic things that could be causing it to not output a picture:

• Testing it without a 2600 cartridge inserted.
• Testing it on an A/V-modded system.

As far as the former goes, it should be pretty self-explanatory.  With regard to the latter, any A/V mod is going to be incompatible with the CX-55.  Without going deep into the weeds on this, the video that the CX-55 sends to the 5200 goes almost totally outside of the native video path used by the system itself - and the A/V mods require using the system's native video path.  You'll still be able to use the CX-55 via the 5200's RF output, but composite or S-Video are out for all practical purposes.

 

I've been waffling over adding a UAV to a CX-55 for some time, but quite honestly don't have a lot of motivation to do so since there's a 2600 Jr. and 7800 sitting right next to the 5200 in my office.  It's been a fun thought experiment, but one that's difficult to justify the effort of implenting.