kalgran

Ok. I'm gonna cut straight to the chase. I messed up working on two 2600 consoles. Heavy sixer: Is able to play basic games but won't play more complex ones. I'd have to go find the carts to specify but this one. I believe I have 2 extra riot chips ready for install and I'm going to test that as soon as I can before requesting more help on this front. Darth Vader: this is my problem child. This is the console with sentiment because it was my dad's when he was a kid. I was unwise and decided to try and modify it with a composite audio video kit. My soldering was less than ideal at the time and I ended up lifting a solder pad or two. It's also likely that some of the chips were damaged with static, shorting or something in the process. I'm lost at where to even start a diagnosis on this one. I'd actually rather ship this one out for repairs and mods than try and tinker for hours on end with it. If anyone is up to the task please contact me (kalgrandy@gmail.com) any suggestions of where to start or people to contact would be appreciated. thanks atariage!

Hey! @Cmherndon79 Sorry for not responding yet. It'd be kinda difficult to take a pic of the console and upload it but I can do it if that's what it'd take to get it working (i don't have much motivation cause I'm burnt out of working on it) My 12v regulators are working in both consoles (i have a multimeter). I think there's definitely a relation between the 2k games being the only games that are working in the heavy sixer. For the CPU thing I was talking about I was mostly just toying with the fact that the darth vader console that had no output at all, could've somehow hurt the chips in the system. Both riots are in working condition. Maybe I'll try re soldering the RF module back into the darth vader so I can isolate the issue from being a "mod" issue. Plus at this point I'd rather not have the composite mod if its causing this many problems.

Ok I was looking at the commonalities between the 4 working game cartridges and I noticed they were all 2k game carts. Does this mean I have a dead cpu? also the first game should've been breakout not commando raid my mistake.

Hello fellow retro enthusiasts. I've been wanting to post for a while about my father's classic 4 switch Darth Vader but haven't had the guts too. So... here we go. A short history of my console: first, Worked flawlessly then, attempted composite mod results: it didn't work and i only got it to glitch onto the screen once then, tried swapping chips with a working atari 2600 (no mods) results: DV won't output composite. 'working' 2600 only worked on 4 games then, swapped chips back to original consoles results: DV no output again, other atari still only worked on 4 games has some lines on the left side screen. 4games included: Commando Raid, Space Jockey, Combat, and telegames 27 then, replaced riot chip in the other atari results, still only plays 4 games How can I fix either of my consoles? Christmas is coming and I want to have at least ONE working atari to give to my dad.

I didn't think that static was THAT huge of a deal but having toasted all of the chips handling them improperly, I'll probably order a ground strap so this doesn't happen in the future. I'll look around for more chips and let you know what happens then.

Thanks for the feedback! I realize that I haven't actually worked on this project for a couple months. I've been working on my soldering so I've since cleaned up the board and fixed those really nasty bridges and such. Looking at proper soldering videos really helped. Thx ChildOfCV. @Nickp716 thanks for the info about the composite kit that I have. It seems that it is kind of a cruddy kit so is there one that anybody has used that they would suggest? None of the chips seem to be working now. The 6'er that I have that WAS working is only giving a black screen now (with either chip set). Is there any way I can use a multi-meter to test the any of the chips?

Hey guys. I've seen a lot of good help on this forum that I've used to help me diagnose my Atari 2600 4-switch that has not worked ever since I tried to install a widely used composite mod. (Kit Link Here) I installed it using an instructable (Instructable Link Here) I followed all instructions including removing q202, r209, r222, and c205, aaaaand... nothing it didn't work. (note: when I say nothing, I mean the TV says no signal.) I suspected bad connections but that wasn't it. I tried re-soldering the old components and that did something for a while but then it stopped. Next I thought that it wasn't getting enough power so I checked the power supply and 5v reg. Both were just fine except the 5v Reg had 2 of it's pins crossed. After uncrossing them I got some video for about two seconds and then it quit. (see attached video) I thought it was the chips now so I replaced all 3 (TIA, RIOT, and CPU) and this put me back to the same old no signal screen. I tried the old chips on a working system (w/o composite mod) and they gave a black screen. Not sure what to do at this point. Nothing is abnormally hot. Maybe my somewhat noob soldering skills maybe be a problem Cheers, kalgran Glitching.mp4