Intellivision checklist

[jjh76]

On shopgoodwill.com I just won an auction for an Intellivision. It was listed as "untested" but I have had some good luck with this site in the past as I was able to grab a fully working model 1 genesis and a 6 switch atari 2600 that only needed the power port to be re-soldered. Does anyone have a list of common things to check if I find the Intellivision is non-working when it arrives?

 

Also, was wondering if the controllers from my Intellivision Flashback will work with an original console?

Edited July 4, 2017 by jjh76

[mthompson]

Pretty much the first thing to do is to hook it up to your TV, insert a game cartridge, turn it on and press the Reset button on top. If the game boots, you're in business. If it doesn't, clean the contacts on the cartridge port and possibly the game cartridge connector as well and try again.

 

If the picture on your TV is lousy, make sure the channel select switch on the bottom is set to the channel you're using. Also, you'll get a better picture if you don't use the Game/TV switch box that originally came with the console. Go directly RF into the TV with a RCA-to-coax adaptor and a quality cable.

 

Then it's on to the controllers. Baseball is a good game to test with because it uses all of the controller keys and buttons plus the 16 positions on the disc.

 

You'll need an adaptor cable to use Flashback controllers with an Intellivision, but they're available.

 

Congrats and good luck.

Edited July 4, 2017 by mthompson

[+Lathe26]

Keep in mind that it is normal to have to adjust how the cartridge is seated in the slot several times (power off, wiggle the cartridge, power back on, tap reset, repeat). Cleaning the contacts helps.

[jjh76]

Finally arrived, and it looks like my streak of good luck continues as this is the third working console I've bought cheaply off shopgoodwill.com. Cosmetically it looks pretty decent too. There are some scratches and dents on the foil stickers, but the plastic of the case is unbroken and the woodgrain panels are in near perfect condition.

 

As I was expecting though, the controllers are completely shot. Tried opening one up to see if maybe a little bit of cleaning might help, but the conductive layer under the disc is almost completely worn away, and in other places it's turned from silver to this darkish bronze color, looks almost like it got burned. So I'll definitely need to get some of those flashback controller adapters, got a link to who sells them?

 

Also, even though it's working, I get an occasional pop of static noise from the tv speakers and the rf out feels a little loose. How hard is it to do a composite mod on one of these?

[mr_me]

Contact atariage user Nurmix regarding flashback controller adapters. Or you can get them here. https://intellivision-productions-inc.myshopify.com/