Ian Primus

I dunno. $20? It's electrically the same as a standard 2600, just in a neat case. -Ian

Nobody said it would be easy. You do realize that the Atari 2600 is probably the single most difficult computer/game platform to code for, right? Assembly language is pretty much mandatory for more than simple games, and everything must be super optimized. The 2600 has only 128 bytes of RAM, and can only address 4k of ROM without bankswitching tricks. Yes, that's right - the Atari has one eighth of a kilobyte of RAM. And your assembled code needs to be able to fit in 4k. Sure, you can bankswitch - swap one 4k bank for another - but that means that anything that was in your first 4k is now banked out, and you can't read from it again without swapping banks again. The Atari has no frame buffer. You must draw everything one scanline at a time - and keep the timing with the TV set, ensuring that every frame you draw has the proper number of lines. Most calculations have to be done in between drawing lines on the screen. I'm not saying not to go for it - I have dabbled a bit in 2600 programming myself. It's just not easy, and you have to be prepared to take small steps. Good luck with your adventures - we'll try to help you the best we can! -Ian

8 bit all the way. In fact - both the Atari 2600 and the NES use 6502 processors. The Atari's is just a cost reduced version (the 6507) that is identical in every way - except it lacks the upper address pins. So, the 6507 can only address 8k of total memory. The cartridge slot can only address 4k of that memory space. The rest is used for the Atari's internal RAM (128bytes), the TIA, the RIOT, etc. -Ian

Hmm. This is weird. It's so hard to do this remotely! Check the pullup resistor for pin 6 of the controller port. Try swapping the TIA from another Atari - that's the quick and easy way to rule that out. If it still won't work, desolder pins 9 and 10 of the 4050 and pull them out of the board - then connect the pads where they used to be. That rules out any kind of internal resistance short that could have been created. Check carefully for bad connections all the way from pin 6 of the controller port back to the 4050 and then back to the TIA. -Ian

Man. this gets evil after ten laps... It's simple, yet addicting. I like it. If you want - I can make up a cart for you. But I have no graphic design skills, so someone else needs to design a label - unless you like Dymo labels... -Ian

The cartridge slot could be dirty, or as shadow mentioned, it could be starting to come unsoldered. About the best easy way to clean one of these connectors that I've found is: Take some thin cardboard - like a business card or the cardboard from a thin cereal box. Regular paper works well too - like printer paper. Fold it over so it's about the thickness of the board in a cartridge, and cut it to size with scissors. You want to ensure that you have the rough side (not the shiny, printed side) out. Wet the folded edge with alcohol and put it into the cartridge slot and wiggle it around, in and out. It should come out with black lines on it from the dirt that was on the connector. To open the cartridge slot on the console, use a thin flat screwdriver in one of the tiny holes next to the "teeth". These holes are usually engaged by the "teeth" on the cartridge - and vice versa - the carts open the same way. Slide the dust guard on the cart down and clean the connector fingers with alcohol on a q-tip. The RF cable can be repaired or replaced if the end is bad. It's a simple process to cut off the end and solder on a new connector - but if you've never worked with coax before, it can be a royal pain. The cable can be replaced, but you'll need to file down the "pin" in the center of the RCA connector on the end that plugs into the Atari's board - look at the old one to compare. -Ian

Five to ten bucks each. Honestly, I'd just see if he'd take ten or fifteen for the pair as-is, no testing. 2600's are pretty hard to kill, and even if they don't work - I can walk you through fixing them -Ian

I just found this thread yesterday - I downloaded the latest release (the one with the faster vertical movement, I think) last night. I burned it to an EPROM and stuck it in my test cartridge. Truly an excellent game! Way to go DEBRO! This is what the 2600 Pac-Man should have been! It plays very, very well, and it reminded me just how much I suck at the real Pac-Man Great work! -Ian

One thing to remember is that 5200 cartridges don't have end labels. (Stupid, stupid design!) As such, putting them on shelves makes it pretty hard to find a game when you want to play it - unless you add labels to the end of the carts. This is where a Dymo labeler comes in handy. I presently store my 2600 and Coleco carts in the tops from photocopier paper boxes. They're exactly the correct height to store the games on end, and they're big enough to fit three rows of carts (plus two rows of a couple edgewise), and they stack pretty well. NES carts live in taller boxes from some kind of computer hardware (I forget what), as well as in piles, as they've outgrown their boxes. The 5200 carts are with the N64 carts in a smaller box lid - I just leave enough room to flip through them. Of course, I've only got about a dozen 5200 carts, so it's not that big a deal. I intend to build shelves for this stuff Real Soon Now. But, that's been on my mind for years - and yet the games still live in boxes... -Ian

I'll trade 'ya a TV set for it -Ian

Yeah - pictures would be a big help. This is a weird one! Have you considered the possibility that your Atari may be haunted? :D -Ian

Yeah, it could very well be a bad modulator. I don't think I've ever seen one fail in an Atari. And it's weird that it only happens before he starts a game. -Ian

That won't work, or at least not well. For one, records aren't cut with Dolby NR - that's for tape. It'll sound different, but that's because the Dolby will cut out the real high frequncy and effect the equalization of the rest. Also, a turntable needs a preamp - the signal won't be strong enough to drive the coil in one of those "tape on a wire" devices. But, it would still be an interesting experiment - to see how it sounds. I wonder if the frequency response of those tape adapters is even good enough to be able to notice a difference... -Ian

On the back of the set or _in_ the back of the set. Any controls for convergence won't be on the back, just the color drive adjustments. They hide all the "would screw up the picture big time and take an hour to put right" controls inside the set. The problem you're having - is it color bleed, or is it that the colors just don't line up? Purity adjustments would cause improper colors - but the colors wouldn't bleed, and they'd still line up. Similarly, if the tube face has become somehow magnetized, the colors would be wrong - but they would be in the right place. It sounds more like a convergence problem to me. All sets have purity rings, but if this set is what I think could be, the yoke is going to be much, much more complicated than your typical inline gun yoke. Also, IMHO, I like to avoid messing with yoke controls until I absolutely need to. Convergence is a pain in the rear -Ian

Hmm. Now thisis weird. I've never seen one do odd things only before the game starts. Do you have a picture of what it's doing? What games does it do this on - only the ones that start with standby modes, or all games? Try an Activision cart, like Pitfall! or River Raid, and see if it does it there. The only thing I can think of to check is the components coming off pin 9 of the TIA. Check for cracked soder joints at that pin, and the 6.8k resistor(R210, IIRC), as well as the 22pf coupling cap (C210?). There should also be two 1k pullups and a 47pf cap in there as well. Test the resistors with your meter. While the game is on, try putting your finger on them, touching the pins if you can - this'll change the capacitance of the circuit slightly - see if it affects the picture. Thanks! I appreciate that. I try -Ian

Well, I dug out my Atari 5200 last night. Haven't had it hooked up in a long time because the controller doesn't work any more, and no amount of cleaning would fix it. I had modified the console to use the power supply from an old Sega CD, as well as for composite video. I left the RF circuit though, so that still works as well. I soldered together a really quick and ugly little adapter so that I could use a Tandy 1000 joystick with the 5200, and played a few games. It works quite well, although the Tandy stick must be wired differently inside, because both axies (axesis, axisis?) were inverted. But, flipping the controler around works I need to go in and swap the wires, but wasn't in the mood last night. I forgot just how great the 5200 graphics were. Too bad the controller crippled the system so badly. Now I just need to track down some more games... -Ian

HD, plasma, LCD - Bah! Humbug! Give me a tube set any day. I hate all this stupid 16:9 aspect ratio garbage. Why stretch and distort your picture, and take up more horizontal space for less overall screen size? I don't get it. I _much_ prefer CRT's. But then again, I still listen to cassettes and vinyl records, use a rotary phone and play video games on the Atari. But that's just me -Ian

I have a set that's _very_ similar to that one. I don't remember for sure, but that might have a delta gun tube in it, as opposed to in-line. On delta gun tubes, the fine convergence is done differently than an in-line. Take the cover off, and look inside. If you see a board with a bunch of controls on it (usually near the top - upper right when viewed from the back), it's a delta gun tube. These controls adjust the dynamic convergence. There should be a legend there that tells what section of the screen each affects. Be very careful adjusting these, as they're not necessarily independent of each other! So adjust in small increments. Best to have a test pattern on the screen when doing this. I have a DVD I burned with various crosshatch patterns that I use for aligning sets. Post pictures of the problem you're having with the picture, and a picture of the inside back of the set. I'll see if I can help you. -Ian

Sounds almost like your 5v is low. Check the 5v at the regulator IC (7805). It should be right at 5v. If it's not, then replace the 7805. How's the sound? Distorted, or OK? -Ian

There are plans in the FAQ - http://www.atariage.com/5200/faq.html?SystemID=5200 - see section 6.3. This will allow you to use unmodified 7800/2600 sticks with the 5200. Then you can also wire up the Star Raiders touch pad as described by bohoki. You'll probably also want to add Start and Pause buttons, since the Star Raiders pad lacks enough keys - but that's easy enough, the pinout of the controller is also in the FAQ. Note that the Y cable on eBay does NOT allow you to use digital sticks - it lacks the active circuitry for them. It will only work as-is with paddles or a Wico analog stick. -Ian

E.T. Fall in a pit, take a drink. Fall in another pit, take a drink. Fall in another pit, take a drink. Fall in the same pit, take a drink. Actually, forget the drinking game. Just drink the booze, then put in E.T. Maybe then it'll be fun. -Ian

I've been telling him to adjust that pot since Thursday <grin> :D -Ian

The TIA is inside the metal box in the middle of the board. To remove the metal, straighten the tabs out, and seperate the halves from the board. The TIA will be marked with Atari part number C010444. (At least, that's the part number in NTSC Ataris. Never seen a PAL console before.) Look at the chip with the notch to the top - the pin in the upper left is 1, and the pins numbered going down the left side of the chip - so count down to find pin 12 and 13. The color adjustment pot is that white dial looking thing at the lower left of the board. If that isn't a PAL console, then it's misadjusted. -Ian

Discharged some static??? You mean you zapped it with static from your body? The copper coil is an inductor - and the vertical hex screw thing is the adjustable inductor. That's definitely the sound circuit. Probably just a cold solder joint or a loose chip that was fixed by the action of taking the thing apart and touching things. Either way, glad you got it working. Happy gaming! -Ian

I actually have a 2600 at home that does something very similar. You can hear the TV static, but it's quieter than normal, and if you turn up the volume real far, you can hear the game sound, faintly. I haven't even tried to fix it yet, but if I have some time tonight, I'll take it apart and see what's wrong with it. Sound in the Atari is generated by the TIA chip, then it gets coupled with the video to send to the modulator via some caps, resistors and a transistor. There's also a variable inductor in there to adjust the tuning of the audio. Try mistuning your TV set (the fine tuning ring behind the channel knob) and see if you can get the audio to come in at all, and try one channel above and one channel below. See if you can get ANY sound from the game at all. So, it could be the TIA, or the audio coupling circuit (or it's mistuned). I'll see what I find on mine as soon a I get the chance to work on it. -Ian