4 Port 5200 RF Questions

[DistantStar001]

So I recently got an Atari 5200 (4 port model). I don't have any games for it yet, but I took it apart for cleaning and noticed what appears to be an RF port around where the RF/power cable is soldered to the board. So this got me wondering, is this port functional? Can I just plug an RCA cable into it and bypass the main RF/power feed and get a better picture? Will that fry my TV? So many questions and I was wondering if anyone has tried this?

 

I gave it a power test with the hardwired RF/power cable and got a greenish black screen with some looks like interference, but until my games arrive, I can't really say what the picture quality is. I was just wondering if there is a way to clean up the picture on a 4 port without breaking out a soldering iron.

[DistantStar001]

I've tested it. It works fine, and I seem to have a working controller as well, but there are snowy diagonal lines in the picture. Any suggestions?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Depending on how strong those lines are...it is basically just part of the 'charm' of using RF with these old consoles on newer TVs. This is why so many of us that play these on the regular are quick to AV mod them or find someone who can. There are a few things you can try.

 

You could see if your TV has a manual fine tune on it. Not all modern TVs will because they are digital and expect signals to be more exact. But my TV I use in the game room still allows me to adjust manually on an analog channel to hone in the signal better. Make sure you don't have anything else that puts out strong RF signals nearby. As an example anytime the Microwave is used, it will cause noise to appear on my classic consoles while it is operating and it is literally on the other side of the house.

 

Make sure that if you plan to use RF, that you always keep the shielding on the console that was covering the main PCB.

 

You can also try adjusting the actual RF modulator itself using a small plastic hex key designed just for that purpose. There is hole about 1/4 or so little bigger on one side of the RF modulator. Inside is where that adjustment is made.