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Damn what a horrible game ! ... and that's not Pitfall Harry ( moustached ?! ) , but a "Mario" disguised as Indiana Jones ! I mean a porting of the real arcade game and all its magnificent gameplay ! Ok, I probably am a fanatic, since it was one of my favorite games and it still is even now :

I always wondered what would happen if David Crane had produced a sequel to his Pitfall II... The coin-operated division of SEGA did this in 1984 when they released the magnificent "Pitfall II - The Lost Caverns" - The Arcade Game. Well, Mr.Crane... if this will happen, I have already prepared my box, as usual in "WHITE LABEL", for a possible label-contest ...

I recently set up some consoles with CVBS+S-Video , Stereo mod boards and internal speakers, as I have already posted in a separate topic here in AA. While two of those consoles are pretty ok, there's one that seems to have some functional "problems", certainly not due to the mod boards... I tried with Gremlins and Pole Position ( both NTSC carts ) and I get those issues : > Gremlins When it has to change to the 2nd level ( the one with the Gremlins' comin' down from their "eggs" ) the VCS resets itself and come back to the title/selection screen > Pole Position Turnin' on the console it plays the "session completed" sound, title screen is replaced with the "playing screen" with kinda' "unfilled" background mountains; then it turns "normal", playin' as well as nothing was happened... Of course with the other two H6 NTSC and my PAL consoles, those games behaviours' are pretty normal... ... anyone knows what could be happened to that H6 ?

Just a bit of D.I.Y , not much skill is required.

AH ! ... the opened H6 placed on the top of the shelf just next to the TV is the one which has the video issue I talked about in this thread : http://atariage.com/forums/topic/230450-heavy-sixer-strange-behaviour/ It's still in this condition, 'cause I'm waiting for some "hints" to solve the issue... I would not put my hands inside it again until I know what I could exactly do !

It was my first though, Al ! It would have been a kind of SACRILEGE if me and/or anyone would sacrifiy an H6 or an L6 or even a Vader for such a purpose [ while junior consoles are too small *** and not too much "nice" *** to "accomodate" an audio tube (pre)amplifer inside... ] . Some people told me that it seems like a "fully-restored" console, compared with the other "real" one which shows the signs of aging ! Oh, it sounds as other stereo setups probably do... It could not be possible to talk about "audiophile sound" in this case, but the "magic" of the ("popped out") tube together with the woody finishing give it all a "full-vintage" feeling !

_____________________ H6 TUBE PRE-AMP ... It's just a small idea sprang from my “twisted” mind just a few days ago, when I decided I had to bring something new to the "Brusaporto Retrocomputing", a small italian retrocomputing/gaming expo. Well, there would already be something new : the three modded heavy sixers I recently set up also with internal stereo audio system. But for me it would be not enough … With an operation of "joint" between two of my hobbyes, I designed, developed and built a stereo preamp with a low-voltage vacuum tube buffer (to avoid having to take to a public event an object with an internal voltage of above 400V, as I usually do…), which fits inside a frame made entirely of Medium-Density-Foam wood and with the FRONT shape of an Atari VCS H6. I had a very-limited available time (3 days, almost 4/5 hours per day…) so I had to abandon the idea of ​​a decent power supply because I was not able to eliminate an annoying "humm" background noise... Then, I replaced it with a normal switching transformer… good quality but not too much “audiophile”… For the rest I have to say… IT “SOUNDS” GOOD : input Mundorf MKP "entry" 2.2uF capacitors ; output MKP AudynCap "entry" 10uF capacitors ; ECC86 Telefunken vacuum tube, selected and with matched triodes . I set up two different outputs, selectable by a 2-way bipolar “ON-ON” switch: one with the two “classic” L/R female RCA PinJacks and the other with a stereo headphone jack, which also made this pre-amp a good-sounding “Output-Transformer-Less” headphone amplifer, but for only headphones with an impedance of more-than-300Ohms… Hope I did it well ! ________________________________________________________________________________ And HERE IS a little "report" of the "Brusaporto Retrocomputing 2014" Really a great day, and, according to the natives, this event had never seen a sunny day like yesterday, so it was great also for the weather ! Oh well, yes, morning was cloudy, but in the early afternoon the sunlight was even annoying (see the first pic) ... but, hey, it’s the end of October, so we couldn’t ask more ! Many exhibitors, of course, each of them highly qualified in their specific subject, many gorgeous materials and also many visitors !!! Here are some pictures of our tables/stands of “l’Alba dei Videogiochi” / theRetroGamesMachine / comPVter / RetroCampus and, OF COURSE, AtariAge ! On this table you can see almost only BOARD GAMES secured by Dino Baldi of the comPVter association and my "usual" Dragon’s Lair Atari-European mini-cab "prototype cab", which I made just last year in occasion of his 30th' anniversary. *** [The DK board game (Italian) and Dragon's Lair (US-Canada) are mine] *** Then, you could see the Marabelli (me) / Miccoli table with some of the newest games for the AtariVCS/2600 and the Mattel Intellivision. Well, Inty’s Space Raid is REALLY BEAUTIFUL !!! Space Rocks for the VCS is a masterpiece !!! Great Darrell Spice! The AtariVox gave voice to Miccoli’s modded 2600Jr. ... playin’ Juno First and hear the "talk" of the enemies is something rather "special"! Thrust + *LIMITED EDITION* has a GREAT stereo audio track, which is pretty unusual for the "poor and simple" audio chip of the VCS ... excellent, therefore, to test the MODDED HEAVY SIXERs : compositevideo, S-video, stereo audio outputs and internal stereo audio system with the two built-in speakers ! For t his particular occasion ( almost NO ONE here had never seen an NTSC H6, and PAL H6 are way RARE ! ) I built up the new STEREO TUBE PREAMPLIFER I just talked about at the beginning of the thread, made with the shape of the H6, which provided a nice vintage audio quality together with the two small speakers and a SW, both with a modified livery matched to the amp and the VCS ! My autographed Atari/Sears PONG concludes the exhibition. [ other pics, provided by Stefono Paganini of "Archeologia Informatica" here : https://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.flickr.com%2Fphotos%2Fstepaganini2%2Fsets%2F72157648984673361%2F&h=MAQH4kmgY ] ... and the “group photo” outside of the Brusaporto "Multipurpose Center", which sign is missing the first “N”… ! 5:30pm: the sun was almost gone, and a little later we begun to put all our stuff in its boxes and we finally went to our houses, tired but extremely satisfied !

Really no one can help to find out what is the flaw ?

I recently set up some consoles with CVBS+S-Video , Stereo mod boards and internal speakers, as I have already posted in a separate topic here. While two of those consoles are pretty ok, there's one that seems to have some functional "problems", certainly not due to the mod boards... I tried with Gremlins and Pole Position ( both NTSC carts ) and I get those issues : > Gremlins When it has to change to the 2nd level ( the one with the Gremlins' comin' down from their "eggs" ) the VCS resets itsel and come back to the title/selection screen > Pole Position Turnin' on the console it plays the "session completed" sound, title screen is replaced with the "playing screen" with kinda' "unfilled" background mountains; then it turns "normal", playin' as well as nothing was happened... Of course with the other two H6 NTSC and my PAL consoles, those games behaviours' are pretty normal... ... anyone knows what could be happened to that H6 ?

VCS Heavy Sixer >Model : Atari >System : NTSC >S.n. : 29572F >MFG : Sunnyvale >A/B Channel Slot/Switch : No/No >Overall electronic conditions: fully working ! Only got to replace power connector which works but is also a little bit "unsteady". >Overall aesthetic condition : good but not too much... it has scratches on the front "woody" panel and all around the chassis; discolored orange trim around the switches panel. >Equipment : "loose" console, no psu, controllers, box, etc... >Extras: I recently modded it with CVBS+S-Video+StereoOut and, most important, I installed two internal speakers, which could be turned on/off by an apposite switch ( can switch between external audio or internal... no "mixed mode" ).

Track & Field , certainly ! The only "flaw" is the lack of the coin-operated "easter eggs"... [ CVBS on Philips CRT and S-Video on Samsung LCD ]

Ok, mission accomplished ! I finally set the three H6 as Atari intended (or close to... ) ! The third console ( the one without the RCA and S-Video plugs ) is more "well-ordered" [ pic ] ... but it has a problem... I tried with Gremlins and Pole Position ( both NTSC carts ) and I get those issues : > Gremlins When it has to change to the 2nd level ( the one with the Gremlins' comin' down from their "eggs" ) the VCS resets itsel and come back to the title/selection screen http://youtu.be/uRA7C-C04ek > Pole Position Turnin' on the console it plays the "session completed" sound, title screen is replaced with the "playing screen" with kinda' "unfilled" background mountains; then it turns "normal", playin' as well as nothing was happened... http://youtu.be/uHkq8yMlInk Of course with the other two H6 NTSC and my PAL consoles, those games behaviours' are pretty normal... Anyone knows what could be happened to that H6 ?

___Update___ I set up two of the three H6 with external plugs, while the other one will have the three RCA+S-Video cables comin'out "directly" from the original RF cable hole. First of all (but I expected it) the plastic of the Heavy 6 chassis is SO thick, while the RCA and ESPECIALLY the S-Video plugs threaded bolts are short... Since I do not have specific drills to adjust the thickness of the hole in the plastic, I was forced to use a very peculiar system: I heated up two dots of steel with the oxyacetylene torch and then slightly made ​​the "rush" to the holes, enough to fit all the connectors... then, they were all fixed with respective nuts and some cyanoacrylate . CVBS quality is pretty good, as I already seen in one of my 2600 PAL consoles, but the Separate-Video gives to the images a quality I never thought it was possible from such a '77 ( but better say '76... ) console !!! Of course we european Atarians couldn't have the privilege to have such a connection on our PAL consoles due to the different TIA construction/layout. This feature together with stereo sound makes these H6 SUPERLATIVE consoles ! I would not have ever imagined !!! In the **MOD_26** image ( the penultimate one ) I show up a strange thing saw in the switchboard of the 2nd H6 I opened ( the one with a different, green mainboard ). Maybe someone already lay his hands on this board, because I found the polyester capacitor ( underlined in the last image **"MOD_29** ) soldered between the 5V line after the power switch and the center hole, while it should have been connected to the ground... In fact the console didn't work at all. Well, I fixed this issue (human mistake, for sure) and also re-soldered all the pins of the flat-connector port on this board. 2200uF power capacitor still has its correct values ( WOW ! It's a "low-ESR"... i would think to replace it and use it for audio purposes... ) and the others components are also good... then, no needs of re-cap or replacements . ____________________ I have just TWO "BIG" QUESTION, though : internal speakers "slots" accepts a maximum of 21mm diameter magnet and 10mm (circa) of speaker thickness... maybe Atari thought to include inside the H6 and L6 two of the same speaker which is inside the Pong console ? And with a "fixed-volume" (stereo) amp ? I ask it because: A> I still haven't found a compatible speaker ( beside micro-loudspeakers, which are really crusty, though ) B> I don't see any hole or even "predicted hole" in the chassis which was intended for the volume potentiometer shaft...

Dintar, it's a pretty much amazing job ! I'm at least happy to hear that particular "modulation" in the intro music, which finally reached the coin-operated *right* feeling !!! Ghosts truly have the arcade game behaviour, but I noted that at the second "speed change", BLINKY becomes really QUICK (!!!) and can outrun the poor Pac-Man even when he is not slowed down by eating pills ! [ edit: I didn't see that "Blinky matter" was also referred by SoundGammon... I was typing my message meanwhile ]

Ok, boards have just been delivered here . ... just waiting for Marco and Carlo, next week, to spend a nice "Atari day", get the three H6 and start some modding works... Time to heat up my soldering iron (which is cold since the last tube audio amp I built... almost 2 years ago ...) !

Hi Darrel and pleased to hear you again ! Yep, I already saw both NTSC and PAL TIA pins layout and also know that some pins which were normally "used" by the NTSC were repurposed to adapt the PAL TIAs for been compatible with the various PAL-B , PAL-S etc. TV systems... So, for a PAL VCS/2600 it's impossible the stereo-out as it also is impossible to come out with a Separate-Video signal (while NTSCs of course can). I saw (and so "hear") some clips on this YT channel [ https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC_QO04tteYy160P-o5ITQdA ] but I'm terribly disappointed for the "echo" DSP-generated audio effect ! The thing I (we) still haven't see (hear) ANYWHERE is the "simple stereo" mod for PAL consoles: the main (and pretty good) site of those german guys whose made that "simulated-stereo mods" offers a nice configurator in which we could "setup" our console or even buy from them a pretty refurbished and already one [ http://www.konsolen-mod.de/en/index.html ]. I suspect they use something else than a DSP IC (maybe an INTERNAL modding of the TIA ?...), but since I did not listen to that simple-stereo I could say almost nothing... I'm already discussing about that "original H6" question on FB in a group called " l'Alba dei Videogiochi " ( "Videogames Dawn" )... if you want to join us we'll be proud to have you among us !!! Best regards, Marco

Hi. At this point, THREE H6 are in the house of Marco Miccoli, a friend of mine and great collector/technician... he's goin' to clean and "restore" their chassis and fix some issues on the mainboards, just before we could mod them all .

Since, as I said, I am not an expert in console moddings ( only few small repairs ), I had wrongly attributed to the "SIMULATED stereo" that particular modify, as the title of the thread says, capable to "restore" the H6 audio at the state they intended before the marketing... when, instead, it is the most common separation between the two audio pins of the TIA, one of which is also "dedicated", in addition to the relative monaural soundchannel, also to the two noise/square waves generators ! My mistake was given mainly by the fact that me and friends saw some PAL VCS' with a more complex mod that also introduces a chip able to perform an audio in stereo SIMULATED and / or even a kind of "surround" ( do not ask me "how" because I really don't know ).

Ok, we decided to buy an AV mod board from "electronicsentimentalities", but it has no simulated-Stereo. I saw a simulated-Stereo modding on YT but I didn't see any schematics for this. Perhaps it should be simple, watchin' on the small number of components used for this purpose... Does anyone have clues about this scheme ?

Mine is certainly PAL. One little particular (besides speed and "stretched" screen) that makes the difference is the green of the "warp nacelles" coupler of the spaceship (sorry for the bad pic...). Watchin' on the NTSC TIA palette it corresponds to the 2-B or 2-C while on the PAL one is the 0-5 or the 2-5... If it was a NTSC Glacier I probably should have seen a PURPLE instead of the green ( the same 0-5 or 2-5 position on the NTSC palette... ) !

I would say loose carts should lose ( sorry for the "pun" ) at least "1 point" from their rarity value, which has been intended for a "CIB" one. And, if I could say, it should be better to add 1 point for the "NIB"+sealed (SIB ? ), even if it already is a R10 (although find a "SIB" R10 is so difficult as to find a Minshara-class planet in our galaxy...) !

Hi there. A good friend of mine, who worked as former reporter for italian video game magazines of the 80 / '90 and collector of all kinds of consoles and home computers, asked me to perform some very specific mods on one of his many NTSC Heavy6ers . Since I had my PAL L6 from the beginning of the 80s, though, some of you know, I also got some NTSC cartridges besides PALs, I've never thought to do any type of mods on it, even if I confess that I do mind of having a NTSC VCS or 2600, of course to modify it just to be able to properly display NTSC carts' color palette! That said, this friend is askin' me to make the following changes : > video output - composite video on RCA pin-jack and separated chroma/luma on suitable connector > audio - in stereo simulated mode ; installation of two speakers, in the typical "slits" of the H6 (and also L6), with their "deidcated" small audio amplifier ; ability to "switch" between internal sound system and pin-jack RCA audio outputs to also been able to use an external amplifier. I'm not exactly a novice about using the soldering iron, but even I do not think that build tube audio amplifiers is comparable to this, I think I will read up WELL all the work which should be done to achieve such a (complicated) purpose . As for the audio issue, external mode aside, I believe that owning a H6 as it would have been intended in '76 before they decided to "exclude" an internal audio system, could be something even commendable ! A bunch of stereo digital audio amplifiers are available today, of course with performance definitely not "exciting" but with very little dimensions, cost, current consumption and working with a 9V supply voltage without having the need of further voltage regulators... then, in my opinion, they're kinda' perfect for this purpose. Obviously I would need to make some calculation about current absorptions and so do a "drift" on the power connector in order to "bypass" the VCS' 7805 and give power directly to the audio amplifier with the 9V adapter, which obviously could not be the original one... I know a good stabilized switching 9V/2A PSU should be fine for sure. In conclusion, what I can see on the web about those various mods on H6 is rather confusing to me (sorry ... maybe it's a bit 'of atherosclerosis .. ) so I was wondering if someone could do a little "update" here (but I know it would be much better to do it directly on a dedicated thread on the site), maybe with plans and any possible PCB ready for installation on H6 currently available on the market, with regard to the two CVBS + S-video mods and simulated stereo audio... Obviously, I would think at all the rest (internal amplification and eventual switch for the int/ext audio) in a later time ... If you have any suggestions, links, or even want to RE-talk about these changes ... thanks in advance ! Marco

I have a friend who studies videogames issues in our culture ( he wrote in 2004 a book called "I mondi di Mario" = Mario's Worlds ) and he's now lookin' for infos about the authors of various drawings concerning labels, boxes, covers and artworks in general. He asked about the autor of VCS &/OR 5200 Pengo label/box but he couldn't find anything... Does anyone know, or even knows where he can get infos about ? Thnx :-)

Thanks. I think we need a lot of luck...

Rumors says there could be a RSC cart in an abandoned shed where there could be some other "treasures"... There should be some remnants of a well-known publisher of videogames magazines of the 80s inside. Some people ( like me ) are planning a way to gain access into the shed, but it will take time, legal permits and equipment ... @R.H. That magazine I just spoke of... Do you remember the scans of the review of Los Angeles '84 Games I sent to you years ago ? Yep... it is THAT magazinev! Shall we HOPE to find that *other* holy grail ? :/