Airshack Posted March 18, 2018 Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) Greetings Atari 5200 faithful! Yesterday I picked up an Atari 5200 for $10 at a garage sale in a deal which included an Apple monitor and Apple //c. My new 5200 has no RF pack/Power supply. Is there a good mod solution for powering the system and maybe adding composite or VGA output? Looking to hook it up with the best quality video available. Any help is appreciated. -james Edited March 18, 2018 by Airshack 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+therealbountybob Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 You might want to re post this in the 5200 forum, it might not get seen here (5200/A8 programming forum) http://atariage.com/forums/forum/3-atari-5200/ I'll ask one of the mods to move across Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 I'll ask one of the mods to move across Thanks! Topic moved. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Looking to hook it up with the best quality video available. Congratulations! That 5200 could use a little cleanup but otherwise looks pretty good, especially at that price! The best solution for A/V upgrades right now is probably the UAV, which adds composite and S-Video output. These outputs can be used directly with TVs that support them, or with an upscaler like the FrameMeister for conversion to HDMI. Here is a forum thread which provides more information. (I understand they're on backorder at the moment, but that a new revision is in the works.) The four-port 5200 used a hybrid TV switchbox which also provided power to the console; to fully replace it, you'll need to do a power mod to the console as well. Fortunately, it's not a difficult upgrade; I've done it on all three of my four-port 5200s. Here is a thread which documents the process, and here is an inexpensive kit from Console5 which provides the necessary components. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Lizard King Posted March 23, 2018 Share Posted March 23, 2018 http://atariage.com/forums/topic/20871-atari-5200-4-port-power-modification-warning-big/ https://console5.com/store/kits/power-supply.html?console_type_revision=85 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 (edited) Congratulations! That 5200 could use a little cleanup but otherwise looks pretty good, especially at that price! The best solution for A/V upgrades right now is probably the UAV, which adds composite and S-Video output. These outputs can be used directly with TVs that support them, or with an upscaler like the FrameMeister for conversion to HDMI. Here is a forum thread which provides more information. (I understand they're on backorder at the moment, but that a new revision is in the works.) The four-port 5200 used a hybrid TV switchbox which also provided power to the console; to fully replace it, you'll need to do a power mod to the console as well. Fortunately, it's not a difficult upgrade; I've done it on all three of my four-port 5200s. Here is a thread which documents the process, and here is an inexpensive kit from Console5 which provides the necessary components. Thanks JayBird! I tested the unit out with a RF unit I picked up off eBay. Good News: Video looks great; BAD NEWS: No sound?! Wondering if this is a typical 5200 failure and if there's list of typical sound failure causes? Maybe it's the RF box? Could be anything I suppose and I have no idea. I'd like to do both power and UAV mods if the sound is salvageable? Wondering about further testing..... Edited April 4, 2018 by Airshack Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SINGLE TOOTH Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 Thanks JayBird! I tested the unit out with a RF unit I picked up off eBay. Good News: Video looks great; BAD NEWS: No sound?! Wondering if this is a typical 5200 failure and if there's list of typical sound failure causes? Maybe it's the RF box? Could be anything I suppose and I have no idea. I'd like to do both power and UAV mods if the sound is salvageable? Wondering about further testing..... Do you have controllers that you can actually start a game and get it out of demo mode? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 (edited) Correct most games on the 5200 do not have sound in their demo mode and require you to actually start up a game before you can hear anything. I think Frogger will play sound as soon as you power it up, unless I'm thinking about the 2600 version again... If you're savvy enough to do it and find that you still don't have sound through the RF, you can attach a simple 10uf 16v cap with the positive end tied to the south leg of R50 and round the negative end to the center post of an RCA jack, and then the other end to a ground point on the system. That way you can at least see if you have audio since you will be bypassing the RF area that way. If you get sound, than you know an AV mod will be golden. Edited April 4, 2018 by -^Cro§Bow^- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted April 4, 2018 Author Share Posted April 4, 2018 Do you have controllers that you can actually start a game and get it out of demo mode? I assumed demo mode had sound. So...maybe my audio is fine? Onward to a controller! Is the referb contacts via Best Electronics the way to go? Buying a controller on eBay and rebuilding it? jjs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SINGLE TOOTH Posted April 4, 2018 Share Posted April 4, 2018 I assumed demo mode had sound. So...maybe my audio is fine? Onward to a controller! Is the referb contacts via Best Electronics the way to go? Buying a controller on eBay and rebuilding it? jjs Someone else just posted about the same thing with no sound in demo mode. Personally, I would go with the Best option. I bought the parts and rebuilt mine last year and haven't had a problem since. Hopefully it lasts. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BassGuitari Posted April 11, 2018 Share Posted April 11, 2018 ... Yesterday I picked up an Atari 5200 for $10 at a garage sale in a deal which included an Apple monitor and Apple //c.... Interesting that your 5200 system is an Atari Corp. system...and they clearly weren't too careful about putting their sticker over the old Atari Inc. one. Also interesting that it's a 4-port system, as it had been replaced by the 2-port system by the time Tramiel took over. It speaks to how much backstock and inventory there must have been and how much mixing-and-matching must have been done with parts, consoles, controllers, and components. I believe my 2-port has an Atari Inc. sticker, but one of the square (instead of rectangular) flat-gray (instead of silver) Atari Corp. boxes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigO Posted April 12, 2018 Share Posted April 12, 2018 If you're up for it, connecting together pins 4 and 7 of the controller port is the same as pressing the start button. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted April 15, 2018 Author Share Posted April 15, 2018 Progress Report 15 Apr 2018: I picked up two nice looking 5200 joysticks off eBay. The sound does indeed work once the games begin! No failed sound after all! Problem: Of course BOTH joysticks have multiple failed buttons. I started a game by mashing down on START and holding it for about ten seconds. No fire buttons, etc... Question: How do I get ahold of the repair kits for the joysticks? Seriously, that Best Electronics website is the worst ever! I couldn't figure out how to order online from this site?!? eBay seems to be out of them as well? I swear I saw a listing last week? BEST ELECTRONICS SITE: Lots of reviews on the upgrade kits and excrutiating details on the history of joystick mods, yet no freaking "Order Here" button????? I feel like that site is fixed in a 1992 time warp. Painful experience looking at that website....God awful! Help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Osgeld Posted April 15, 2018 Share Posted April 15, 2018 yea you have to send an email with atari in the subject or phone it in I think everyone knows my opinion on that site so lets put it this way, people post threads about submitting and receiving orders from them like its an accomplishment .... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 Someone else just posted about the same thing with no sound in demo mode. Personally, I would go with the Best option. I bought the parts and rebuilt mine last year and haven't had a problem since. Hopefully it lasts. I fixed both units with $27 eBay Revision9 refurb kits from Electronics 4 Fun, Chris Heffernan, of Danville Indiana. Seriously, that Best Electronics site was an abysmal torture session to navigate. Absolutely the worst website in the world for electronic commerce. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airshack Posted July 9, 2018 Author Share Posted July 9, 2018 I assumed demo mode had sound. So...maybe my audio is fine? Onward to a controller! Is the referb contacts via Best Electronics the way to go? Buying a controller on eBay and rebuilding it? jjs Turns out the sound issue was no issue at all since there's no sound on the demo mode of most carts. Once I fixed the two controllers the games started up with sound. Now I'd like to do the UAV mod and a proper power mod since RF is never going to look as good as the UAV. Any tips as to the best way to install UAV for the 5200? Which power mod is most common these days? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Like us on Facebook
Follow us on Twitter
AtariAge on Instagram
Watch us on YouTube
Chat on Discord
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.