Help fix thrift store Odyssey 2000

[Jagasian]

I was born in 1979, so the Odyssey 2000 is a bit before my time. However, I bumped into an Odyssey 2000 in a thrift store today and it only cost $5 USD, so I figured I would see if I could give it a home. The box came with the system and nothing else, no power cable and no RF switch. It apparently can use large D sized batteries for power in addition to an AC/DC power adapter. The thing that worries me is the video cable. The end tip of it doesn't look familiar, so either it is broken or it is missing some kind of an RF switch box.

 

Can somebody please help me out? I need pictures and directions for hooking this baby up to my television. I am eager to experience true retro gaming, and I am willing to do the work to get this up and running, as that is part of the fun. Does anybody have pictures of the end tip of their Odyssey's video cable, as well as pictures of the RF switch box?

[oesii]

It's a non-standard RF tip, check out this thread:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31402

 

I ended up splicing a standard Atari RF cable to the cable going out of my Ody2000 that was hardwired into the console.

[Jagasian]

It's a non-standard RF tip, check out this thread:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=31402

 

I ended up splicing a standard Atari RF cable to the cable going out of my Ody2000 that was hardwired into the console.

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How is the original video cable attached to the system's circuit board? Is it soldered? I think that I will just attach an entirely new cable to the system... a really long one, so that I can sit far back with the system. Can it be powered off of batteries alone?

[oesii]

Yeah, the cord is soldered in, I didn't want to mess with it so I just spliced a new standard Atari tip on the cable. If I remember right, it was very easy to open up and since it's a mid-70's console everything on the inside is easy to ID

 

The power supply is optional you can run it all from batteries.

[Jagasian]

Yeah, the cord is soldered in, I didn't want to mess with it so I just spliced a new standard Atari tip on the cable.  If I remember right, it was very easy to open up and since it's a mid-70's console everything on the inside is easy to ID

 

The power supply is optional you can run it all from batteries.

1024751[/snapback]

 

I tried to remove the circuit board from the plastic case, but it is very tightly bolted, not screwed to the case and I was unable to even get the bolts to budge. Do you have pictures of your mod? Exactly where did you cut the original video cable to do the splice? Do you still have to use an RF switch box? Is it possible to replace the cable with an RF coax cable?

[hex65000]

I had to do this too with one of my Odyssey units. What I did was scavenge one of those quick connect F-jack cables, and just cut it. With some creativity with shrink tubing and a meter to make sure I didn't short the line, I was able to splice on a proper connector. It's not terribly pretty, but it gets the job done. Option two is to use an RCA->F adapter and just solder a good quality RCA jack on the end. It'll look pretty clean and no more goofy switchboxes.

 

Hex.

[ If you ask me... I may not care... ]

[Bruce Tomlin]

I was born in 1979, so the Odyssey 2000 is a bit before my time.  However, I bumped into an Odyssey 2000 in a thrift store today and it only cost $5 USD, so I figured I would see if I could give it a home.  The box came with the system and nothing else, no power cable and no RF switch.  It apparently can use large D sized batteries for power in addition to an AC/DC power adapter.  The thing that worries me is the video cable.  The end tip of it doesn't look familiar, so either it is broken or it is missing some kind of an RF switch box.

It's apparently a European RF plug. The only reason I know that is from when I found a PAL TV at a thrift store and had to replace the plug so that I could use it at all.