The UAV Rev. D Video Upgrade Thread

[gargoyle]

Perhaps Bryan can setup one of those free websites (Wix, Weebly, ect) so that there is a central indexed area to find specifications and installation photos.

 

- Michael

 

That would be extremely cool and helpful.

[Bryan]

That would be extremely cool and helpful.

It's on my to-do list. Right now I'm linking to the best info here:

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/260267-the-uav-rev-d-video-upgrade-thread/?p=3656312

 

Between making UAV's I'm messing with the audio board. It gets its power from being soldered across a capacitor, and you just run your sound sources in and an audio out. No cutting or removing parts on the board is required.

[+DrVenkman]

Between making UAV's I'm messing with the audio board. It gets its power from being soldered across a capacitor, and you just run your sound sources in and an audio out. No cutting or removing parts on the board is required.

 

Oooooh!!!! Gimme gimme gimme!

[+Stephen]

Bad ass design!

[iesposta]

I have a Rev. C in my good 7800.

With a LONG S-Video cable, I still have light blue ghosting a dark blue to the left. Much clearer than the Longhorn mod I replaced.

Using a shorter S-Video cable makes it less, but I like the console on the sofa coffee table and the display across the room.

The original Atari has what, a 15 foot RF cable along with a very long power cable. (1968 Living Rooms had 3 plug outlets).

 

Any thoughts of a tweak to align that ghosting back up? The full range of the artifact adjustment does absolutely nothing noticeable.

 

I have a little mini Composite & S-Video mixing board I guess they used originally for editing VHS together. You can saturate, desaturated, sharpen, blur, fade out, and mix sound / AtariVox and send it all to one display, but it usually ends up adding another level of signal degrading, although sometimes a color boost looks better than a washed out weak signal.

[Bryan]

I have a Rev. C in my good 7800.

With a LONG S-Video cable, I still have light blue ghosting a dark blue to the left. Much clearer than the Longhorn mod I replaced.

Using a shorter S-Video cable makes it less, but I like the console on the sofa coffee table and the display across the room.

The original Atari has what, a 15 foot RF cable along with a very long power cable. (1968 Living Rooms had 3 plug outlets).

 

Any thoughts of a tweak to align that ghosting back up? The full range of the artifact adjustment does absolutely nothing noticeable.

 

I have a little mini Composite & S-Video mixing board I guess they used originally for editing VHS together. You can saturate, desaturated, sharpen, blur, fade out, and mix sound / AtariVox and send it all to one display, but it usually ends up adding another level of signal degrading, although sometimes a color boost looks better than a washed out weak signal.

I might have you send me your 7800 when I get a little time. There should be no problems driving a 15 foot cable so I'd like to see what's happening.

[seastalker]

ooh! What added functionality or features does your audio board add?

[BillC]

ooh! What added functionality or features does your audio board add?

I believe it's mainly for the 400 and some other devices which have no monitor/audio out port. The UAV can add composite/s-video to these devices, this audio board is used to also add audio without using the RF output.

[+DrVenkman]

I believe it's mainly for the 400 and some other devices which have no monitor/audio out port. The UAV can add composite/s-video to these devices, this audio board is used to also add audio without using the RF output.

 

Indeed. I'm gonna put one in one of my 7800's, since Bryan has designed it to accept signals from both TIA and the cartridge line for POKEY-enhanced cartridges, while proving a balanced line-level output. I seriously can't wait to put one in.

[mattsoft]

Spent this nice, sunny afternoon installing a UAV rev D into an 800XL with the goal of obtaining clean s-video for a Commie 1702 monitor. I had mixed results.

 

My install: https://www.dropbox.com/s/cjlodca4syilfo2/IMG_1689.JPG?dl=0

Proof of life: https://www.dropbox.com/s/srgnzh4qatbzfxf/IMG_1688.JPG?dl=0

 

It lives!

 

The video is very clean, especially compared to composite. However, the video is DARK. I cannot get it to be very bright. I crank the brightness on the monitor up and it's just visible. Thought it was my monitor, so I hooked it up to another 1702 and same thing. Any tips for a dim picture?

[Bryan]

 

Don't use Rev C jumper settings!

[mattsoft]

 

Don't use Rev C jumper settings!

 

 

DUH! OK, lemme go move those suckers around.

[mattsoft]

Derp! That was it. What a difference, the picture is SUPER CLEAN and BRIGHT now. Thanks man!!

[Bryan]

Derp! That was it. What a difference, the picture is SUPER CLEAN and BRIGHT now. Thanks man!!

I know it's confusing. I'll get a better guide together in the coming weeks.

[seastalker]

Hey Bryan! Please check PM. Need ordering info. Please Please! I wish to join the SUPER CLEAN and BRIGHT club!! :)

[ultrasteve]

@Bryan - I'd love one of these (in the UK). Am I able to order one please?

[seastalker]

I'm searching- anyone have an install guide for a 800xl?

[+DrVenkman]

I'm searching- anyone have an install guide for a 800xl?

 

Page 1 of this thread has links for installation in basically every Atari model.

 

I've got one installed in an 800XL, two in 1200XL's and another in a 4-switch 2600. So if you can't figure it out from the links on Page 1, let us know.

[seastalker]

Yeah I saw the links which were mostly to pics. I didn't know if there was a step by step, but I THINK I got it: I installed 5 wires to all the places in the pix. I removed my rf box and 2-3 channel switch a while back, so my ground is the bottom metal of where the rf box WAS. Is that it though? In one picture link I see a wire on the bottom of the board, but no one else seems to list that step on youtube or in the other links. I got this for better video and to hopefully fix my chroma (I'm in black and white after lifting right leg of C54 [since removing it altogether]) but I'm still in b&w. It's no fault of Bryan's device but I do hope someone can help get my board back to color with chroma and luma.

[+DrVenkman]

Yeah I saw the links which were mostly to pics. I didn't know if there was a step by step, but I THINK I got it: I installed 5 wires to all the places in the pix. I removed my rf box and 2-3 channel switch a while back, so my ground is the bottom metal of where the rf box WAS. Is that it though? In one picture link I see a wire on the bottom of the board, but no one else seems to list that step on youtube or in the other links. I got this for better video and to hopefully fix my chroma (I'm in black and white after lifting right leg of C54 [since removing it altogether]) but I'm still in b&w. It's no fault of Bryan's device but I do hope someone can help get my board back to color with chroma and luma.

 

Photos of what you've done would help.

 

Anyway, in the 800XL, you want to solder a wire to the base of a small discrete component to pick up the Color signal, which then runs to the right-most pad or terminal on the UAV (if the UAV is plugged into the 4050 socket, back of the machine being "up"). You don't necessarily need separate power or ground wires but it can help if you see interference or system noise in your picture. You have three wired coming out of other pads or terminals - Composite, Luma and Chroma. Each of these signals goes somewhere specific - Composite goes to the rear-most via from a lifted inductor, and Luma goes to the one right next to it. On an NTSC system with no separate Chroma line on the DIN jack, you run that signal to the appropriate pin on the jack. Some solder straight to the back of the jack but it can be tricky to get the wire soldered to the thick metal at the back. Alternately, you can do what I did and solder the Chroma line to the unused pin under the board.

[iesposta]

Yeah I saw the links which were mostly to pics. I didn't know if there was a step by step, but I THINK I got it: I installed 5 wires to all the places in the pix. I removed my rf box and 2-3 channel switch a while back, so my ground is the bottom metal of where the rf box WAS. Is that it though? In one picture link I see a wire on the bottom of the board, but no one else seems to list that step on youtube or in the other links. I got this for better video and to hopefully fix my chroma (I'm in black and white after lifting right leg of C54 [since removing it altogether]) but I'm still in b&w. It's no fault of Bryan's device but I do hope someone can help get my board back to color with chroma and luma.

 

If you can get the chroma wire to the bottom of the board, it is simple to solder to the unused chroma DIN pin.

I went down thru the cart port.

 

The 5V is from the top of capacitor C18. Previously I had to bring 5V to the PBI exansion connector.

Ground is the closest ground.

Some show the ferrite jumpers lifted from the bottom, others from the top.

Bryan's pictures showed from the bottom so I used that first, which means the video out of the UAV is going through the ferrite beads to the DIN connector..

One connection (Color) goes from the green terminal to a spot under the Rev.D board. The top of the last resistor on the right. (There is a capacitor to the right of that resistor.)

 

Those two jumpers at the bottom are either for more stability with RAM attached to the PBI port, or it was some kind of picture improvement. I don't remember.. Just ignore that.

 

The JUMPERS PICTURED are NOT CORRECT. See above for the Rev.D jumper settings.

A hand-made S-Video cable that plugs into the large DIN Atari video port works perfectly and with a beautiful picture.

 

Edited July 15, 2017 by iesposta

[seastalker]

@iesposta: Thank you GREATLY for the pictures, info, and especially your effort to help, but respectfully, I think I'd do more damage than good if I changed to configure your way. You seem to have the opposite legs of the chroma luma barrels lifted, and I cant make out where your red/white wire connects to/from. My chroma (socket 3 on a plug in) is wired fine to the top side on the Din 5. I HAD a wire under the board based on the now outdated easy 3 step Faicuai method. I have two separate issues: making sure UAV is installed properly and then sorting the color that left me after I messed with lifting a leg of C54.

[+DrVenkman]

Here are a few pics of the install in one of my 800XL's.

​Here are the connections at the terminal block. From bottom-to-top, the first red wire is Color, the first black wire is ground (which runs to the video DIN ground pin under the board), next black wire is Chroma (also runs to the bottom where it's soldered to the otherwise-unused Chroma pin on the DIN), next red wire is Luma and the last red wire is Composite. The Luma and Composite wires run to the pads vacated by the lifted ends of the two ferrite inductors. The blue wire is a separate +5V power line I ran to the UAV - this particular Revision C 800XL board has "noisy" video and separate power/ground leads to the UAV help.

 

 

Here's a close-up of where to pickup the Color signal. You can also see where I've soldered the power lead to the split pad on the UAV:

 

 

Now a couple examples (Chroma/Luma through the rear connection on my Commodore 1702 monitor - yes, I need to clean the screen ).

 

 

[BillC]

 

If you can get the chroma wire to the bottom of the board, it is simple to solder to the unused chroma DIN pin.

I went down thru the cart port.

Why run the wire to the bottom of the PCB? The connection to pin 5 of the monitor jack is visible just to the right of the cartridge port in your image.

 

The plastic cartridge port guide can be removed to make soldering the connection easier.

[+DrVenkman]

Why run the wire to the bottom of the PCB? The connection to pin 5 of the monitor jack is visible just to the right of the cartridge port in your image.

 

 

Can't speak for ieposta but in my case, I found it easier and neater to solder to the unused pin than to solder it to the back of the DIN (which I did before on a different machine with a different mod).