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Bandai TV Jack 5000


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So, seems there is lots of questions out there about this rare gem. Been doing a bit of research online, and the following is what I figured out, with several helpful links to pictures. Hope this helps anyone who is looking for more information on the TV Jack 5000.

 

Channel F clone?

Lots of people have suggested that the TV Jack carts are similar to Channel F carts, and maybe interchangeable (maybe even a clone of the Channel F). Bandai did distribute a lot of North American systems in Japan. Though the TV Jack has very similar carts to Channel F (shape, size, colour, even the grip ridges at one end), if you look at the end-label, the Channel F cart has rounded edges, while the TV Jack cart has square edges (compared YouTube videos). The dust covers are also different. The games, and the graphic quality of the games are obviously different too. So, could you classify this as a PC-50x? It appears it likely uses GI chips, but I don't think the carts would be interchangeable (again, YouTube comparison).

 

The entry in my list/database:

 

Bandai TV Jack 5000 (1978)
http://68.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m5y78z1IpO1qzjpvuo1_1280.jpg

  1. Models/Licensed Variants/Clones

    1. Bandai Video Mate TV Jack 5000 (Beige) (Japan)
      https://i.ebayimg.com/thumbs/images/g/OXkAAOSw-89ZPSnJ/s-l225.jpg

    2. Bandai Video Mate TV Jack 5000 (Blue) (Japan)
      https://vgcollect.com/images/front-box-art/97243.jpg

  2. Games [of course, I can't read Japanese, so there is a bit of guess work here]

    1. Sports title (PC-501?) (AY-3-8610?)
      http://www.datasheetspdf.com/PDF/AY-3-8610/586568/1

    2. Car Racing title (PC-504?) (AY-3-8603?)
      http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/100/3773/1600/tvjack5000games.jpg
      http://www.datasheetspdf.com/PDF/AY-3-8603/586562/1

    3. Motocross? (PC-502?) (AY-3-8760?) [couldn't find any close-ups of cart 3, so process of elimination from screenshots in ad, first link]

    4. Block 10 (PC-506?) (AY-3-8606?)
      http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/MTIwMFgxNjAw/z/bR4AAOxyIYhSWVxk/$(KGrHqF,!lMFJTZzDBMLBSWV)jYH-g~~60_1.JPG
      http://www.datasheetspdf.com/PDF/AY-3-8606/586564/1

Unless it can be shown that the TV Jack is interchangeable with PC-50x, I would suggest the Bandai TV Jack 5000 is its own unique system of the Pong era ("generation 1"), the precursor to the Bandai Supervision 8000. In my own list/database, I classify dedicated Pong consoles separate from "cartridge-based" consoles (even though they basically use the same chips or discrete circuitry (Odyssey), and the carts aren't actually "programmable"). So I'll be adding the TV Jack 5000 to my list of Gen 1 removable media consoles.

Edited by mikayla_skye
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Definitively looks like a Pc-50* based system. The screen for the games are identical, even if colors are different but technically, all PC-50* are grayscale and recolored them on the fly, so colors might be different for PAL, SECAM and NTSC chips (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AY-3-8500 )

The video was in black-and-white, although it was possible to colorize the game by using an additional chip, such as the AY-3-8515.

So the chip might have used different colors as each color system have issues with hue (NTSC), chroma (PAL). SECAM have none (but has other defaults).

 

The console size, keyboard, joystick also screams of Pong console :)

Very cool stuff.

I wonder why the USA never got those. Maybe the price was too high to compete as a poor man version of the VCS.

 

As fer being interchageable, It's not a valid argument if you only consider cart shapes. The Interton VC-4000, Rowtron Computer System and Radofin APVS-1292 have carts shaped differently, but with adapters, they works.

Well, a more common example would be Famicom and NES cartridges :)

Edited by CatPix
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  • 2 weeks later...

Definitively looks like a Pc-50* based system. The screen for the games are identical, even if colors are different but technically, all PC-50* are grayscale and recolored them on the fly, so colors might be different for PAL, SECAM and NTSC chips (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/AY-3-8500 )

So the chip might have used different colors as each color system have issues with hue (NTSC), chroma (PAL). SECAM have none (but has other defaults).

 

The console size, keyboard, joystick also screams of Pong console :)

 

Definitely, the TV Jack 5000 resembles other systems based on the GI chips, AY-3-86xx and AY-3-87xx, like the PC-50x family. This would, essentially, make these systems "software" compatible, though can hardly be classified as software, but you know what I mean.

 

 

 

I wonder why the USA never got those. Maybe the price was too high to compete as a poor man version of the VCS.

 

If you mean a PC-50x family system, you should maybe check out this thread... http://atariage.com/forums/topic/221608-tcr-video-sport-900pc-found-in-the-wild-please-help-me-out/

 

 

As fer being interchageable, It's not a valid argument if you only consider cart shapes. The Interton VC-4000, Rowtron Computer System and Radofin APVS-1292 have carts shaped differently, but with adapters, they works.

Well, a more common example would be Famicom and NES cartridges :)

 

Sure, and with the right adapters I can play both Colecovision and MSX cartridges on my SpectraVideo computer. (I don't really have a SpectraVideo computer; was just saying)

http://msx.ebsoft.fr/msx-genesis.php

 

But software compatibility is not the same as cartridge interchangeability, as can be seen in the Arcadia 2001 faq by Sly DC and Ward Shrake.

http://www.digitpress.com/faq/arc2001.htm

 

I suppose what I am building up to here is adopting the classification system talked about in the aforementioned faq. Thus, the TV Jack 5000 would be a new "cartridge family" within the AY-3-86xx/87xx "console group", alongside the already established PC-50x family of interchangeable cartridges. Other first generation families that could belong to this console group is the VideoMaster Color Cartridge system and the Takatoku Video Cassette Rock (first cartridge system made in Japan), which both use the GIMINI 8600 chips.

http://www.pong-story.com/GIMINI1978.pdf

 

First generation systems outside this console group would be the Coleco Telstar Arcade, which used Mostek 7600 chips and the Interton Video 2000, the Philips Tele-Spiel, the TeleTenis Multi-Juegos, and of course the Odyssey which all used discrete circuit cards/cartridges (<--- which begs to question: do these constitute another console group of their own? Are any of these 4 discrete circuit systems "software-compatible". Interesting)

 

So...

-First generation consoles (with removable media)

 

--Magnavox Odyssey

 

--Interton Video 2000

 

--Philips Tele-Spiel

 

--TeleTenis Multi-Juegos

 

--GIMINI 8600 console group (AY-3-86xx/87xx)

---PC-50x family

---TV Jack 5000 family

---VideoMaster CC family

---Takatoku VC Rock family

 

--Telstar Arcade

 

... is how I'm classifying these systems, in my head :grin:

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  • 3 years later...
  • 4 weeks later...
On 6/18/2021 at 5:42 PM, Brice T said:

Is there an av, s video or rgb mod?

 

I've just done a simple composite video mod with strip board on one this week.

Owner is in the UK so couldn't use it at all with the Japanese modulator.

I removed the modulator, and added a very simple circuit for a buffered 75 ohm video output. Pretty much the same mod done on 2600s.

Put the circuit in the gutted modulator can, and use the existing RCA output jack.  Didn't want to drill a hole in this, the plastic feels very brittle, and would probably have cracked.

 

Works well, but had to turn down volume a bit, as the speaker causes some interference on loud sounds.  I tested with the speaker disconnected, and it was fine, so it was the actual speaker causing the issue, and not the amplifier driving it.

 

Recapped while I had it apart, all 4 caps where 50%-90% over the rated value, but hadnt leaked.

I didnt pull any components from the board, mod is using the 10uf coupling cap, and 1k resistor on the video line, this means I've had to change one of the resistors on the circuit to a 680ohm, to get the correct DC voltage on the base of the transistor.

 

P1060476.JPG

P1060478.JPG

P1060482.JPG

Edited by marauder666
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