Danwood Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Hello. I am french and I just bougth an Atari 2600 with 20 games I cleaned the Atari 2600, so now I would like to play with. Then I connect my Atari 2600 to antena connector of my TV (Sony Trinitron which support PAL SECAM NTSC). I try to make a search on channel by scanning signal with Atari 2600 "Power on" with a game. I didn't find any channel but on some channel the screen has only in orange not any graphic game appear. The only thing I am sure a label "UHF" is attach on the cable connected to the TV. Is there any one have already success to use an Atari 2600 with new TV ? Someone can tell me, is it possible to make it work, if yes how I can make it work on my TV ? Thanks a lot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
spongebue Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Well, UHF is channels 14-69, so you want to plug it into a VHF plug, which is channels 2-13. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
christianscott27 Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 well being from america i might miss the finer points of euro TV standards but you did mention UHF. UHF is a seperate set of channels on american TVs, its the higher numbers (13+) and it uses a seperate antenna from the lower numbers (-12). which are called VHF. american consoles out put to channel 3 or 4 on the VHF spectrum. modern TV tuners are funny things too, it used to be so much simpler with old TVs that had a real dial where you could just set it on ch.3. what i do to make my old consoles work on newer TVs is to run them thru a VCRs coaxial input and then out to the TV thru the VCRs RCA output. many modern sets arent built to accept the old antenna inputs that were standard in the 2600s time so you have to use adapters or the VCR trick. of course this might not work for you if the VCR does not support NTSC also. confusing eh? start with this, disconnect everything from your TV and then tune it to channel 3, then try hooking up the atari. good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwood Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 Thanks. I already tried to connect my Atari on my VCR and I found nothing. In Faq it speak about RCA - Coaxial Vidéo Adapter like you tell. So where I can find this type of Adapter on the Internet ? and how much is it ? Regards Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Is there any one have already success to use an Atari 2600 with new TV ? My 2600 works very well with my 8 years old Sony Trinitron (PAL). It only doesn't like NTSC carts (screen rolling), but that rolling disappears when I switch it to my VCR (via SCART). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwood Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 You may think that I am boring. But what do you meen by SCART ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Better leave NTSC tips to US guys, since the channels are different in Europe and sometimes change by brand (example: 0 to 99 on both bands for Digivision ITT (formerly Nokia)). The antenna cabling they use is much different. Plus, the use of RCA plugs is most diffused in stereos here, since the VCRs are commonly plugged via SCART (also known as "PeriTelevision") connectors. DO NOT BUY AN ADAPTER NOW. Back to your problem: on modern european TVs there's no more difference between the Ultra High and Very High Frequency antenna plug. You can plug your atari to the UHF terminal, which is actually the only one you have since the '50s. Then, refer to your TV manual for tuning. Usually the default that the TV propose to you is the UHF band (where you usually get almost all of the TV channels broadcasting today in Europe), but the Atari works on the VHF band. Find out how to switch the TV tuner to the VHF band (should be some keystroke on your remote control, not a hardware setting). Sometimes the VHF band is divided into 2 sub-bands; in case, try both of them. Then, with the Atari plugged and running, search through the entire VHF band, as you do when you normally search for a TV channel. Note that usually - at the end of the VHF frequencies - the TV tends to switch to the UHF band again. So, in case you don't find the atari signal at first try, always make sure to switch again to VHF before searching again. Eventually, search through the UHF band as well. I purchased a SECAM atari by mistake some time ago, and I remember it had something weird about tuning, but I can't recall if it was the fact was that it fell into the UHF band instead. Maybe yes, since I guess I remember that it had no channel switch below it, as PAL and NTSC units do. SECAM atari have special RadioFrequency modulators. Ah, apropos: you bought a SECAM atari, right? Are you sure? In any case, make sure that your TV tuner is set on "Auto" regarding the signal standard. If it doesn't work, try "SECAM" and "PAL" settings as well. Last thing: you can change the sound encoding system (again, refer to the TV manual). There are 3 or four values you can choose from, whose names I can't recall now (D, K or similar names). In some cases, when you're set on a wrong sound encoding, you can't SEE the signal as well. So try to go through the VHF and UHF bands with different sound type settings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 PS, about the SCART connectors: http://freespace.virgin.net/matt.waite/res...ce/av/scart.htm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Better leave NTSC tips to US guys... I thought he is French. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Yes, so did I. That's why he doesn't need to know how guys in the States plug and tune an Atari, right? Isn't he from France? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Yes, so did I. That's why he doesn't need to know how guys in the States plug and tune an Atari, right? Isn't he from France? I probably just misinterpreted that quote (guys = people who get help or people who give help?). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Hmm... And it sounds a little rude too... Damn, if I only had that "edit" button still! Well, no intention to be rude here, folks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwood Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 Yes I am French and I live in France. So I will try this evening to disconnect all device from my TV and connect only my Atari 2600 make search like a new tv channel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Yes, go ahead! I've PMd this thread to another french folk, he may have more regional-specific details about tuning a SECAM unit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwood Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 Just a question before make test this evening. There is any default posistion on switch button of the Atari 2600 ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
highinfidelity Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Yes: looking at the unit from the front, "UP" mens off, "DOWN" means on. So make sure to plug the power supply, to plug a game cartridge in, and to push the power button DOWN. Since there's no way to tell if the unit is turned on or off, I know it may be confusing... In case, I'll be back on Monday. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danwood Posted May 21, 2004 Author Share Posted May 21, 2004 thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Thomas Jentzsch Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 Since there's no way to tell if the unit is turned on or off, ... Unless you have a Jr. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eckhard Stolberg Posted May 21, 2004 Share Posted May 21, 2004 If you have a SECAM VCS (the UHF sticker on the cable indicates this) and your TV is set to SECAM mode when you search for a channel, and you can't find anything but an orange screen, then this is probably comming from your VCS. On my SECAM VCS I sometimes also only get a fuzzy orange screen when I accidentally touch the cartridge after the console has been turned on or when I don't flip the power switch all the way. Maybe trying a different cartridge or cleaning the carts and the cartridge slot or the power switch might fix the problem for you. Ciao, Eckhard Stolberg Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pongbeat Posted May 24, 2004 Share Posted May 24, 2004 Hello boys...i've got several secam, pal and ntsc 2600 and i live in France somaybe i've got the solution! For Pal and Secam it's the same...you have the search the right channel (on secam or pal setting) and it's around 34 or 35 and in automatic search it works most of the time! But when you describe the problem it's seem you have to clean the cartridge or maybe the motherboard have a malfunction! I do like this everytime and i haven't encounter any problem! Keep us informed and you can send PM like highinfidelity does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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