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Atari 5200 - 4 port - power modification. WARNING: BIG !


CPUWIZ

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This is a followup for Mitch's instructions on how to get rid of the pesky switchbox on the 4 port Atari 5200.

 

See:

http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=17441

 

I did mine slightly differently ... 8)

 

Start.jpg

 

C45Removed.jpg

 

PartsRemoved.jpg

 

WireBits.jpg

 

WireBitsAssembled.jpg

 

WireBitsInstalled.jpg

 

FinishedInside.jpg

 

Finished.jpg

 

Hopefully this will help someone else who was confused by the text-only instructions. :)

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Dude... that's great!

 

I have 2 4 port Atari 5200 's just sitting here collecting dust!

I don't know if they even work, but I guess this is one step closer for me to find out!

 

I remember... I used to collect just about every single 5200 game... I had quite a few , near every single one!, and I had a 5200 but I didn't have any controllers...

 

I continued to get the games and more games... and then one day, I was able to come across a controller! It was very disappointing to realize just how bad the controllers really are... so bad that I didn't even like most of the games because I felt the controller ruined the system.

 

I used to have a stack of about 7 5200 systems.. now I'm down to 2 :)

with I think 1 game, Moon Patrol... anyone have any luck with that PSX conversion controller for their 5200's? Any Good?

 

Thanks! Nice pics too! :) Good work....

 

Clint Thompson

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Someone (maybe Lee Krueger?) posted once that the thing to do was get the video mod instructions (the 5200 ones are in the FAQ) and go down to a small tv/vcr repair place and see if they'll give you a decent quote for the work. I'd say take the printout and an open 5200 system so they can see the motherboard. If they're interested, you might have to pick up some of the components they don't have on hand like the cable connectors. Mounting the RCA jacks onto the system case for them would help even more.

 

Electronics can be a fun hobby though. My soldering was horrible at first but improved. Now my 4-port has S-video, standard power supply jack, built-in adapters for genesis and 2600 paddle controllers and a 7800 board mounted on top that uses all the same connections; so it's two consoles in one.

John

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Someone (maybe Lee Krueger?) posted once that the thing to do was get the video mod instructions (the 5200 ones are in the FAQ) and go down to a small tv/vcr repair place and see if they'll give you a decent quote for the work. I'd say take the printout and an open 5200 system so they can see the motherboard.  If they're interested, you might have to pick up some of the components they don't have on hand like the cable connectors.  Mounting the RCA jacks onto the system case for them would help even more.

 

It's a good idea, I only need to find the right guy (actually, I have a friend that do it for job, but he isn't really interested in it); and, first, maybe another 5200 console, to be sure - you know, in Italy are quite rare ;) -.

 

Electronics can be a fun hobby though.  My soldering was horrible at first but improved.  Now my 4-port has S-video, standard power supply jack, built-in adapters for genesis and 2600 paddle controllers and a 7800 board mounted on top that uses all the same connections; so it's two consoles in one.  

John

 

Could I call you Dr. Frankenstein? :D j/k

You must be very able with solder for doing all this work!

 

Thanks John.

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  • 2 years later...
  • 1 month later...
About 'hacks' on 5200, anyone here modify the console to have the rca video-output? I'd like to do it, but I have only one 5200, and I'm not so good with solder...  :)

229728[/snapback]

As I recall, doing the RCA video mod makes it so that you cannot use the 2600 adapter. Someone was going to work on a design so that the 5200 adapter would still work. Was it ever done?

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  • 10 months later...
Which cap did they have? Haven't even tried to see if they have all the parts, they usually do not.

Hard to believe, but they actually have all the parts.

 

You'd need to hit the yellow book to find a local electronic supplier or go online and order from some like mouser or digi-key

Radio Shack sucks wildly, but there aren't any local electronic suppliers in the area. Got everything else under the sun, but not one of those :( I usually go with mouser or digi-key, but I hate waiting for stuff in the mail.

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Radio Crap had everything but the correct diode when I modded my 5200. I went back to finish up a Supercharger, and when I asked them to look up their catalog number for the 74HCT32, they were like "Invalid SKU". When I asked for something else for a different mod, all the salesmen started to avoid me like I had AIDS or something. Oh, I know what it was...I asked for a 10K x2 pot to replace the volume control in my classic game boy. The dude showed me a pot that was three or four inches long and an inch in diameter. I know the Game Boy is enormous, but geez, it's not that big. And he starts to tell me how that part would work...yeah right, it won't even fit the stupid case!

After that, the salespeople leave me alone when I walk in there. Trst me--unless I need batteries ('cause the do have decent batteries), I ain't setting foot in there again.

I just can't believe how naive some people are!

 

Anyway, I got a larger diode than what Mitch used. It had all the same specs, but it was rated for three times the current. Everything else they had, but I bet our local supplier would have been a bunch cheaper. I'm going down there next week to see what they've got.

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