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Wow, this went into technical stuff i a- dont understand and -b never expected haha

 

had a thought earlier, aside from the space issue, would it be possible somehow to run 2 different logic boards in the one system with a switch to change them over?

That's a very intriguing idea! You must have a super-ultra TV to handle PAL and NTSC RF inputs! ;) Or be a world traveler with a penchant for packing up and lugging an Inty around w/ you.

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Aside from the fact 2 complete logic boards won't fit even in the Intellivision's porky case...

 

Anything's possible, since they have many common core components. You'd need a 110V-240V power supply that provides the correct power, and a switching unit that switches between the PAL and NTSC STIC, and between the PAL and NTSC clock/colour generator circuitry, and for simplicity ditches the RF for composite output.

 

This is my Intellivision's early "REL 1" mainboard, that has the PAL circuits on a daughterboard connected to the mainboard via a double ribbon cable that replaces the GI AY-3-8915 colour generator (I imagine it would be possible to use this version to add a switch between an GI AY-3-8915 colour processor chip and the daughterboard):

 

http://atariage.com/forums/uploads/monthly_01_2013/post-34908-0-50162100-1359376376.jpg

 

Here's a later revision PAL 3668 model Intellivision board with the PAL circuits integrated onto the mainboard and more modern printing (see the RF modulator is an AUS one), I presume this would not be as easy to mod to work with NTSC:

 

http://www.the-liberator.net/site-files/retro-games/hardware/Intellivision-1/Intellivision-1-1981/Intellivision-1-1981-012-motherboard.JPG

 

Here's a USA NTSC board...

 

http://atariage.com/forums/uploads/monthly_11_2012/post-34193-0-29481100-1352059433.jpg

 

You can see the crystal down in the bottom left corner of the board near the ribbon cable.

 

Paging Ben Heck...

 

- J

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No flash tv. Was just having a fiddle with it and when you are programming anologue channels manually you can choose whether it is a pal or ntsc channel.

 

My thought was that I put a spacer inbetween the top and bottom of the case so I have room for the extra logic board, then make up a loom for the ribbon strip. From there it runs into a switch that selects which logic board receives power.

 

They would both be running of the original pal transformer into the power board so that wouldnt be an issue.

 

To make it less messy I would need to ook into an adapter that allows 2 rf inputs into one. I dont know if they exist but provided there is only one signal at a time I dont see that it would be an issue.....

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Thr majority of the games I have will be pal, all the ones from my childhood. However the games I have incoming have some reall good ones, pacman, bump and jump and a few others. This way they would both run perfectly using the one console. In wll likelyhood ill just run an ntsc one and deal with the crappy music and game speed but if its within my own talents to hook one up to run both I might give it a crack.

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This is my Intellivision's early "REL 1" mainboard, that has the PAL circuits on a daughterboard connected to the mainboard via a double ribbon cable that replaces the GI AY-3-8915 colour generator (I imagine it would be possible to use this version to add a switch between an GI AY-3-8915 colour processor chip and the daughterboard):

 

Of course, one fly in this ointment is that NTSC and PAL use different STICs, so you'd have to have both on-board. So, you'd need both of those 40-pin caterpillars on board...

 

And, you'd need to be able to switch between 4.0MHz / 3.579545MHz for the CPU+PSG+STIC, and keep a 4.43361875MHz clock around for PAL modulation...

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Of course, one fly in this ointment is that NTSC and PAL use different STICs, so you'd have to have both on-board. So, you'd need both of those 40-pin caterpillars on board...

 

And, you'd need to be able to switch between 4.0MHz / 3.579545MHz for the CPU+PSG+STIC, and keep a 4.43361875MHz clock around for PAL modulation...

 

Yup, I mentioned the need for both STICs and clock generator crystals and color processors. Still do-able, just quite complex.

 

I was contemplating transplanting a NTSC logic board with composite video mod into my PAL Intellivision so I could run games like Thunder Castle and D2K at full speed.

 

I don't think there were any games modified for PAL release? We just received the same ROM versions as elsewhere. I don't recall any of the Activision Intellivision games being released here, Dreadnought Factor was definitely never released.

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I don't think there were any games modified for PAL release? We just received the same ROM versions as elsewhere. I don't recall any of the Activision Intellivision games being released here, Dreadnought Factor was definitely never released.

 

Well, Chip Shot had two ROM revisions that differed in the spelling of caddy / caddie, and I think one of them fixes a PAL timing bug. Other than that, I know of no PAL-specific releases. If Spina the Bee had come out, I imagine it would have been tuned for 50Hz (PAL/SECAM) systems, since that was the target market.

 

Dreadnaught Factor simply didn't work. But, as you already know (seeing as you're the one who dug it up), I posted a patch to make it work. :-)

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Ok so my package arrived today. Set it up and 2 out of the 3 systems seem to work, but ntsc or not im getting static sound and this picture. The multicoloured on is an inty and the black and white is a sytem 3. What do? 20141024_135235.jpg 20141024_134954.jpg

im guessing your tv does not know how to properly convert ntsc?? On coax. Edited by pimpmaul69
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Looks like its the wrong version of ntsc. American stuff is normally NTSC 3.58 where as NTSC4.43(from europe) is apparrently totally different.

 

Next step, will a composite mod solve this issue?

i could be wrong but i think it will. You can try running it through a vcr and out in composite Edited by pimpmaul69
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I am pretty sure a composite video mod will fix it, it eliminates possible incompatibilities with the RF signal modulation/demodulation and problems fine tuning to the signal, as long as the TV is a more modern multistandard one, and supports a 60Hz vertical refresh mode (if it doesn't, the picture will roll) and NTSC 3.58 MHz colour (if it doesn't the picture will be black and white). Check the manual for your TV.

 

You will at least get sound. ;-)

 

- J

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Looking through the manual,it says that through the hdmi cables it is able to support between 50 and 70 vertical refresh rates, but it says nothing about the composite. it looks like I need to do the composite mod, then if that doesnt work, buy a ntsc to pal converter. has anyone else done this? had any issues along the way?

Edited by Oldmannewhobby
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I want to bring a special twist to this thread.

 

Recently I bought on Ebay a modded Intellivision console.

A US 2609 model. But with german power input (50Hz/240V), AV out (incl. contrast tuning) and 2 extra controller ports (perfect for grisp03's arcade controller).

 

I can play with this console for the first time Dreadnaught Factor on PAL TVs!

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I want to bring a special twist to this thread.

 

Recently I bought on Ebay a modded Intellivision console.

A US 2609 model. But with german power input (50Hz/240V), AV out (incl. contrast tuning) and 2 extra controller ports (perfect for grisp03's arcade controller).

 

I can play with this console for the first time Dreadnaught Factor on PAL TVs!

You may be asked to supply schematics and internal pictures of these mods.

 

How's your electrical retro-engineering skills?

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I want to bring a special twist to this thread.

 

Recently I bought on Ebay a modded Intellivision console.

A US 2609 model. But with german power input (50Hz/240V), AV out (incl. contrast tuning) and 2 extra controller ports (perfect for grisp03's arcade controller).

 

I can play with this console for the first time Dreadnaught Factor on PAL TVs!

 

So no issue with the av out?

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