RUNNER Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 I've already av modded 5 2600 so far in the past 2 years or so. All of them worked perfectly and were easy to install.I'm trying to install last one I have on a 2600A -four switch- and I don't know what I'm doing wrong as I can't make it to work. I've followed the schematics step by step and solderings seem to be fine but it's nor working, neither image nor sound. Things have been made same as other times. Black wire is ground, blue is video, yellow is audio and red is voltage. Not to mention I tested the console before modding and worked fine on rf.Any ideas. I'm enclosing some pics for you to have some idea of what I've done. Thanks all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamrodHare Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 (edited) Just read Osgeld's post. I think he answers your question better than I did. Edited December 30, 2017 by RamrodHare Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 http://www.coolretroprojects.com/Atari_2600_AV_Mod_Installation_Guide.pdf you got to remove R 209 at the end where you connected audio, otherwise you are feeding audio into your composite video and the tv wont like that 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 Thanks for the info. I'll try after work and let u know. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 It also looks like you're using a LOT of solder on those small joints, and have a solder bridge on two of the resistor pins on the back of the board. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 Will check on the bridge you're talking about. Yep, not big soldering skills here. Just removed R 209 but still the same. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted December 30, 2017 Share Posted December 30, 2017 The yellow wire is shorting to the components next to it on the board. Trim the wire and resolder it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted December 30, 2017 Author Share Posted December 30, 2017 Just removed and resoldered the yellow wire. Also checked on any other possible soldering bridges but not such thing. By switching it on/off several times I randomly get weird video only. Things appear to be mixed up in the games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jason_Atari Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Judging by the picture, i would say the TIA needs replacing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dphirschler Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Was gonna guess TIA too. Do the games play normally otherwise? Could be CPU if not. Darryl 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 Games played perfectly yesterday before modding. Could it be audio/video shorting/interference? Problem is that I've rechecked all the solderings and none of them is touching the other so I don't know where to look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RamrodHare Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 Games played perfectly yesterday before modding. Could it be audio/video shorting/interference? Problem is that I've rechecked all the solderings and none of them is touching the other so I don't know where to look. It's possible that something got fried during the mod or a component was somehow damaged. This could be one of those cases where something unrelated decided to kick the bucket at the same time you were doing the mod. If that's the case, it could be anything. When you were modding it, there could have been a static discharge that messed up the TIA chip. Static can ruin electronics. If you have another mod board, you could try swapping it, in case there's a problem there. Did you mess up any of the RF components when you removed them? If not, I'd try reconnecting them and see if it works right. If it does, at least you know it's an issue with the mod and not the 2600. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 Yes, I thought so. Something could have got fried. On the other hand I guess it could be the mod board itself so I'm letting the guy who sold me that know to see if he can send me another one. That was the only one I had left. As for the rf it's still there but pins and the small board on the left are gone so it'd need a lot of work to get it back to normal and my soldering skills are poor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SignGuy81 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Also too one thing that helps in the winter time when working with electronics is to have a humidifier going in your work area. When the air is dry static electricity is worse and a humidifier helps prevent it some. Anti static wrist strap would work too I don't use those. I usually touch something grounded at my bench before I start to discharge myself of any static. Edited December 31, 2017 by SignGuy81 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 Could it also be one of the small resistors or the black transistor on the mod board? Has anybody had problems with these small pieces on such a similar board?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SignGuy81 Posted December 31, 2017 Share Posted December 31, 2017 (edited) Here is a couple things I noticed from the pictures. The 15k ohm resistor(brown, green, orange) has a cracked solder joint on the side closest to the edge of the board. EDIT: I just looked again I wasn't following that right it isn't the 15k ohm resistor it is the cap right beside it to the right if looking at the top side of board(it is a cap but looks like a resistor has a greenish tint some people will argue it is a resistor but it is a cap but anyway it has a cracked solder joint). You can see it in the pic of the back side of the board where there is a gap/crack around the lead of the cap. Also the solder joints where the mod wires are soldered to(where the RF board used to be) all appear to be cold solder joints. You need to either turn your iron up higher or leave it on longer. Also heat up the area to be soldered(pin, pad) then apply the solder to the area, not the iron(you may already be doing that right just wanted to add that just in case). Edited December 31, 2017 by SignGuy81 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted December 31, 2017 Author Share Posted December 31, 2017 You're absolutely right. As I said unfortunately my soldering skills are poor and I never heat up the pins before soldering but apply solder directly on the iron. Thanks for the advice. Will check on all these tomorrow and will post it. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 Here is a couple things I noticed from the pictures. The 15k ohm resistor(brown, green, orange) has a cracked solder joint on the side closest to the edge of the board. EDIT: I just looked again I wasn't following that right it isn't the 15k ohm resistor it is the cap right beside it to the right if looking at the top side of board(it is a cap but looks like a resistor has a greenish tint some people will argue it is a resistor but it is a cap but anyway it has a cracked solder joint). You can see it in the pic of the back side of the board where there is a gap/crack around the lead of the cap. Also the solder joints where the mod wires are soldered to(where the RF board used to be) all appear to be cold solder joints. You need to either turn your iron up higher or leave it on longer. Also heat up the area to be soldered(pin, pad) then apply the solder to the area, not the iron(you may already be doing that right just wanted to add that just in case). I checked this but it's not a crack/gap, it's just a bad shade in the picture. I don't know if you can see it better in the pictures below. I also resoldered all the joints carefully previously heating them and applying solder straight on them as you said. Solderings appear to be much neater now but still same result, weird video with out of place things. Take a look at other games I tested. Sent a message to Michael -the guy who sold me this- nice guy, he's looking into it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted January 1, 2018 Share Posted January 1, 2018 The mod itself can't cause video corruption like that- it is only a passive amplifier. You may have dropped solder on some TIA pins or damaged it somehow. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 The mod itself can't cause video corruption like that- it is only a passive amplifier. You may have dropped solder on some TIA pins or damaged it somehow. Nice remark. I'll check if I've dropped some solder on some other pins... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted January 1, 2018 Author Share Posted January 1, 2018 The mod itself can't cause video corruption like that- it is only a passive amplifier. You may have dropped solder on some TIA pins or damaged it somehow. Amazingly I've found a thick solder drop on a rear TIA pin which probably fell down from soldering tool while soldering from the upper rear of the board. Just removed it but problem remains. The drop wasn't shortening or bridging anything so question is could this just have damaged the TIA chip by heating it for a second?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 I'm coming to the conclusion that either the TIA or the cartridge slot are fried. Why the cartridge slot? Cause I've just realised that when putting a cart in the slot and slightly moving it towards the sides to make it fit better the image changes. Also when tapping the TIA with a finger the patterns on the image -numbers, ships, etc vary. Question of course is how yo determine which of them both is wrong and most importantly why did this happen? I don't want to buy another unit -standalone console- and make the same mistake. My guess is the yellow audio wire was initially bridging the resistor next to it -bad soldering- or one of the resistors on the mod board was broken and caused the TIA to get fried. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 I dunno I have personally taken a pair of tweezers shorting out all kinds of crap around the TIA trying to find the source of jailbars and blur that happens (more) on older 6 switcher systems, I have made it quite angry to the point of shutting off but no damage (yet) have you cleaned the cart slot? I assume yes but checking 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+DrVenkman Posted January 2, 2018 Share Posted January 2, 2018 A bad socket can cause all kinds of problems, and corrupted screen images are often signs of a bad RIOT as well, since it provides the system’s minuscule RAM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RUNNER Posted January 2, 2018 Author Share Posted January 2, 2018 I dunno I have personally taken a pair of tweezers shorting out all kinds of crap around the TIA trying to find the source of jailbars and blur that happens (more) on older 6 switcher systems, I have made it quite angry to the point of shutting off but no damage (yet) have you cleaned the cart slot? I assume yes but checking I've cleaned the slot pins with a thin qtip and alcohol, yes and now for whatever the reasons the image is worse :-( now nothing turns up with most of the carts and on space invaders only a row of invaders at the bottom. Coincidence or a bad 24 pin slot? Btw how do u remove this? I tried and pushed back board tabs to get the plastic frame of the 24 pk slot but it won't come out. There's the black plastic frame around and the center black plastic where u insert the carts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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