Connecting Atari 2600 through vcr and tv

[JUDE1977]

Hi I’ve tried to connect my Atari 2600 to my vcr and vcr to tv I’m getting no picture I have a game cartridge in and set to channel 3 I’ve also tried channel 2 and channel 4 but no luck I’ve also tried leaving on channel that picks up vcr picture when vcr is on would anyone know if I’m doing something wrong or what I need to do I’ve taken some photos of how I’ve set it up 

[+x=usr(1536)]

If my understanding of the pictures is correct, you have the 2600's RF output cabled directly to the input on the VCR marked 'AERIAL' and are taking video out of the recorder via the LINE OUT output to the TV.  A couple of things come to mind:

 

This is probably a dumb question, but as there was no mention of it, have you tried setting the channel switch to different positions when attempting to tune it in on various channels?

 

Judging from the aerial connectors, 240V / 50Hz label, etc. it appears as though you're using a PAL VCR.  Is your 2600 PAL or NTSC?  If NTSC, the channel assignments won't match the ones used in PAL territories and your VCR will very likely not be able to tune it in properly.

 

Assuming this is a PAL 2600, have you tried tuning on UHF channel 36?  That was standard in some countries.

 

Does the video recorder work with other TVs?

 

One other thing that comes to mind is a vague memory of owning a Sony VHS unit somewhere around the turn of the millennium which required manually setting it to the output you wanted to use.  This was configured in the on-screen menus; if you didn't specify it in there it just defaulted to RF.

 

 

[JUDE1977]

Hi I had a look at Atari and it says pal on back of Atari I’ve have tried switching the switch to channel 2 and channel 3 on Atari consol my vcr is pal and ntcs but switched to pal 

[JUDE1977]

I’m pretty sure I’ve tried channels 36 after I did a auto tune of channels on tv I’ve also tried other channels 

[+x=usr(1536)]

2 hours ago, JUDE1977 said:

Hi I had a look at Atari and it says pal on back of Atari I’ve have tried switching the switch to channel 2 and channel 3 on Atari consol my vcr is pal and ntcs but switched to pal 

 

Sounds good.  FWIW, it was fairly common that video recorders that were both PAL- and NTSC-switchable usually didn't apply this to the tuner, just tape and / or outputs.  Dunno about your specific model, but it sounds like it's just designed to play back NTSC cassettes on PAL TVs.  I had a Mitsubishi that worked the same way.

 

27 minutes ago, JUDE1977 said:

I’m pretty sure I’ve tried channels 36 after I did a auto tune of channels on tv I’ve also tried other channels 

 

Do you have a TV you can directly connect the 2600 to via its RF output?  Also, can you take a photograph of the label on the underside of the console?

[JUDE1977]

Hi I’ve got a small lcd tv with rf witch is picture on the side and I’ve tried connecting to that as well but with know luck I have provesly tried on a crt tv and it worked fine on that but I find I haven’t really got the room to use the crt that’s why I’m trying to use it with vcr and lcd as they don’t take up so much room ive taken pic of under the Atari as well

[+x=usr(1536)]

1 hour ago, JUDE1977 said:

Hi I’ve got a small lcd tv with rf witch is picture on the side and I’ve tried connecting to that as well but with know luck I have provesly tried on a crt tv and it worked fine on that but I find I haven’t really got the room to use the crt that’s why I’m trying to use it with vcr and lcd as they don’t take up so much room

 

Couple of things come to mind:

 

Verify that the connectors on the small LCD TV are inputs, not outputs.  This will sound completely counterintuitive, but in my experience some of the smaller devices have no video inputs, just output.  We have a boombox with a small built-in TV that works exactly like this, but I've run into a few others that are the same way.

 

If the LCD TV won't tune in the 2600 over RF but the CRT will, chances are that the LCD may not have an analogue tuner built in; this is not uncommon with LCD TVs, especially newer ones.  The only real way to tell without trying 9000 different devices, however, is going to be by either the instruction manual or Googling it.

 

One thing that might be worth considering: picking up an older LCD TV from a charity shop or similar and seeing if it works.  That would at least give you the ability to figure out if the issue is in the Atari, VCR, or display.

 

Also, just out of curiosity: there appears to be a warning sticker in German on the 2600.  Why?  

[JUDE1977]

Hi thanks for your advice I might try and get a older lcd tv and give it a try I’m not Shure why that German sticker is on it I brought the Atari at cash converters for a good price and noticed the sticker was on it when I brought it I didn’t really notice it till you mentioned it interesting 

[JUDE1977]

[BIGHMW]

Dude, forget the VCR, if you own an HDTV with HDMI jacks, watch this video and get this device, and since you own a PAL system and PAL antennas have that IEC connector you won't need the antenna plug adapter that I had to get (also mentioned both in the video and the post description on it)... and yes they DO work on Aussie TVs as well, you just need to proper power adapter with the proper AU plug blades (240v)

 

 

[BIGHMW]

The "N50" marking gives away the OP's location being in Australia/New Zealand. I have bought portable Walkman units out of the Australian market before on eBay (the Sony D-NE700 ATRAC/MP3 CD Walkman and MZ-NH700 Hi-MD Walkman come to mind from 20 years ago).

[JUDE1977]

Wow thanks for the info on rf coax to hdmi adapter I didn’t even know they exsisted will give it a try many thanks 

[Stephen Moss]

20 hours ago, JUDE1977 said:

I’m pretty sure I’ve tried channels 36 after I did a auto tune of channels on tv I’ve also tried other channels 

I am pretty sure that channel 38 (606.500 - 613.500 MHz) is the free use channel in the UK, thus both the VCR and 2600 RF outputs will both be on that channel.

The problem with auto tuning is that sometimes they only go through fixed frequencies, and so may not pick up the signal if the frequency of the incoming signal is not spot on the centre frequency.

So if the VCR/TV allows you to do so, find the fine tuning menu and try manually tuning across the given frequency band.

 

Have you tied connecting the VCR to the TV via RF to see if it you can pick up its output that way just to confirm it is creating a video signal?

Have you successfully used the Line output on that VRC before? If not, then although the connectors may be present on the case there is the possibility it is not actually connected internally on that version of the VCR, only being connected in a more expensive version/version for a different market (i.e. connected in versions sold in the US but not in the UK as AV use in the UK was probably much lower at the time).

Have you tried tuning in the RF output from the 2600 directly to the TV in case the VCR is the problem, as going through the VCR may not be necessary? 

[JetmanUK]

8 hours ago, BIGHMW said:

Dude, forget the VCR, if you own an HDTV with HDMI jacks, watch this video and get this device, and since you own a PAL system and PAL antennas have that IEC connector you won't need the antenna plug adapter that I had to get (also mentioned both in the video and the post description on it)... and yes they DO work on Aussie TVs as well, you just need to proper power adapter with the proper AU plug blades (240v)

 

 

I can confirm that I also have this box and it works pretty great. The issue I had was with quality, the connector fell off the end of the PSU so I had to source a new PSU myself. 

 

I also tried to run my PAL RF console through a Panasonic combo DVD/VCR unit but it added a macrovision style fuzz to the screen, seemingly it thought that the Atari was a VHS tape and I was trying to record it. 🤣 This was a shame as the Panasonic has HDMI output. 

 

The console now has a composite mod.

[+x=usr(1536)]

On 4/10/2024 at 8:44 PM, BIGHMW said:

The "N50" marking gives away the OP's location being in Australia/New Zealand.

 

This is not entirely correct.  That marking could also appear on devices intended for multiple PAL regions; it came down to how and where the manufacturer wanted to retail a specific model.

 

The real giveaway is in the the VCR, which was sold in Australia and New Zealand under that specific model number.