CrazyImpmon

I'll list a few that were rather advanced hardware wise. Solaris: 16 K of ROM. Atari 2600 can only address 4K and to get around that for really large games requires really complex bankswitching scheme. Only think more complicated than this would be a 16K game with RAM chip. Pitfall 2: AFAIK 2600 can only 2 souned channels but Activision added a sound chip that allowed a 3rd channel and made possible the background music. Supercharger: a reprogrammable 6K RAM cart that can play off any sound sources. Cuttle cart is like this except it also contasins several bankswitching circuit and can handle all 2600 games except for Pitfall 2. Burgertime: it had the most difficult bankswitching scheme of any single game cart. I posted this a few weeks ago. It's a shame Mattel couldn't do a better graphics with the extra hardware. Space Shuttle: probably the only realistic sim for 2600. and finally: Video Chess: the only 2600 game that can cheat.

I've had a couple that just wouldn't play (Chip's CHallenge and California Games, both was new and DOA right out of the box) If the usual cleaning doesn't work, you probably have a bad game. Before writing that off, see if you can borrow another Lynx and test the game.

That would be weird. If you put the 2600 gut inside 2600 cart, where would you go to plug in a game? In an empty 2600 console with game ROM? That would be a switch: game that is bigger than the system.

Considering he's just making a chip, what you attach to it is up to you. You could attach a cartridge port, or a compact flash interface with a bunch of ROMs on a card... Or how about something like a Cuttle Cart and a portable MP3 player in one unit? Play everything currently available (except for Pitfall 2 naturally ) and be able to upload and play new games as they become available. Cheap MP3 player with decent RAM can be bought for around $20-$30 AFAIK those have fixed RAM and has to be hooked to PC to add new files, while the MP3 players with removeable memory card or stick usually costs more. As the guy said on the site, his main idea for the chip was to produce Atari 2600 handhelds that require a lot less current (= longer battery life), and don't involve cutting up existing ataris. So... yes If the chip's as small as the person's making it to be, then it's possible to just modify a portable TV and fit the chip inside. No more making custom case or using ugly experiement box from electronics part store. of course if one were to add Cuttle Cart and MP3 player, a new case would be required. Now is there any chance someone would consider restarting the production of Cuttle Cart? I missed it because I forgot about it back then. I even found a post-it note on my older computer with the reminder to set aside about $100 for "SuperDuperCharger"

AFAIK Gauntlet is a clone of Dark Chambers. Dark Chambers was out first and auntlet was a copy of Dark Chamber.

I've never seen that one either. All picture label I've seen had black, silver, or red background.

That's interesting. Did you use a plain vanilla 7805 regulator from your corner electronic store? Or is there something special about the replacement regulator? When I do my AV mod, I'm going to pull out the whole RF modulator box so there would be no load on any of the signal.

@cupcakus: I think I can do something about that. I have an old cap that I fished out of a dead PET. It's about 5" in length, 2" in diameter and holds a whopping 23 farad (23,000,00o uF) If this monster's still good I could charge it up and then play the VCS without external powerr for possibly a few minutes or so. The 2600 I have shows a 2200uF so my cap is about 10,500 times more capacity, or roughly 3 hours for VCS.

I don't think dust buildup was an issue for C64 because the cart port doesn't face up (like Intelly). TI-99/4A did have dust flap even though the cart port is horizontal as well yet most of the failure with that port is weak support. (inserting & removing carts will cause the connector to break off the board or so I heard) Had to be the most useless design as it's much easier to clean the cart contact free of dust and AFAIK it's the only 3 non computer based system that uses dust cover built on the cart. (Fairchild Channel F & 5200 being the other) Withthe dust flap, cleaning the dirty contact's a major PITA as you have to manually open the shutter and push the shield back to expose the contacts.

Probably the cost thing. Some later 2600 and just about all jr's don't use dust flap. AFAIK 7800 don't use any either probably because it's already too complicated in the cart port having both 2600 and 7800 support. Many other console uses the flap but not inside the cart slot. Rather the flap's covering the whole cart slot. Colecovision, SNES, Genesis, etc. Console with cart port on the side (Intellivision and Vectrx) and portable console don't use flaps.

It's there because in some older 2600 models there's a retractable dust flap in the cart port. The prong there is what opens the dust flap. Not used on 7800. I don't think there is any 2600 cart produced without some type of prong.

Actually the diagram shows a bar over RST, which suggest the pin is normally low so you may need to pull the pin to 5v to initate the reset. Do you have a logic probe? If so, check pin 40 for normal operation before deciding if it's low or high for normal operation.

Checking the schematic, pin 40 of the CPU (6502) is the reset line. It's someplace for you.

My 7800 can use Supercharger without a problem. Some 7800 do have problem with it. Just try with a few Activision games like Robotank ro Decathlon and if both works, it's probably OK to use the Supercharger. If not, don't bother. Some people have claimed that 7800 fried the Supercharger or vice versa.

Well, a score of 64 to 0 is possible but it takes a major feat of thinking and careful planning to blow the computer away at the last moment. Because when you claim all of computer's pieces and computer has no valid move left, the game's over even if the board's not full. I've completely won over the computer a few times, with final score usually at 20-30 to zero.

If you mean the regulator as a little black box with silver tab and 3 silver legs, you can pick one up at Radio Shack or any other electronics shop. What you need is 7805, and the only reason you should replace it is if the output is not 5v DC. (When facing the front of the chip, right leg's usually output. Center's ground and left's unregulated input)

Well, it is Oct. 5 now so technically the game is "available" and I'm inclined to go with Euchure as my favorite card/board game for 2600. That is until someone comes up with Gin Rummy.

That board sure looks very neat and should be simple for electronic clueless. Maybe I should hold off my 7800 AV mod for a little while for your PCB.

That would be neat!!! I wish it was that easy. I have an extra working 7800 (case is badly smashed) and I had considered it before. The board's a bit big and even if I snip out redundant compoment (namely the RF box) the final result would be bigger than some Windows CE handheld. I have the schematic for the 7800 and if I leave out the 2600 specific compoments, it's possible I could make a portable 7800 as small as a Lynx but you'd only have about 60 or 70 games to play with, not over 500. :/ If someone here's an expert in making PCB layo, it's possible to feed the schematic sans the RF modulator circuit, replace the voltage regulator with a DC-DC converter (better efficiency than the best 7805's) and maybe plan adhead the mod required to make the 7800 more compatible with cranky Activision and Supercharger if the schematic on Atari Age is not the more compatible version. Another issue with making portable 7800 with custom board, both 7800 I have has the chips soldered in. The TTL chips (3 or 4 on the right side), no problem but it's going to be hard to find a supply of TIA and MARIA chips

It's really simple to mod either 2600 or 7800 with a few pieces of wires, some resistors, a couple pots for fine adjustment. And for even better video quality and you're sure you never want to use RF modulator again, snip the connection from the mainboard to RF box.

It seems to be a common problem withthe ac adapter port coming loose and causing problem when using AC adapter or external battery pack. Also my only Lynx is DOA, its internal light is out and I just never had the motivation to fix that or use alternative backlighting solution. I do need another Lynx though as my collection of 32 games are gathering dust and I've been itching to get back in STUN Runner and RoboSquash for a while now.

If I had $200, I probably would buy that working or not as I could probably fix it. Assuming the battery is external snap in, I have a few other Sony Infolithium batteries for my digital camera and camcorder including the monster F-960 that lasts over 1,400 minutes (almost a full 24 hours) on camcorder. No doubt the VCSp would draw less since it doesn't use mechanical parts (motors and solenoids tended to draw the most power, up with the CCFT used in backlit display) Anyway if I had $200, I would be on that VCSp in a blink. Plsying Euchure on the road seems fun plus no wind can ruin the game.

I checked the Koolaid Man on my 7800 and it plays just fine. I guess not all 7800 has this problem. FWIW the 7800 I have plays the finicky games like Robotank and Decathlon and even Supercharger without problem. I haven't tried 2600 Dark Chamber to see if it works properly or not.

If you seems to be stuck bouncing only in the upper left corner of the screen, this seems to be a common problem with Kool-aid Man. I had similiar experience with one of my jr but not on the larger 2600's.

Enterprise's the only ship I've seen so far in the new show. Her registry number is NX-1 FWIW the United Federation of Planets as we know didn't exists and wouldn't be for a few more years in the new series so existing ships from Earth probably wouldn't be using NCC registry numbers.