Madaracs

Well that's weird. I replied to an ancient post and it ended up here. No way to delete my own post so... This space intentionally left blank?

As per our PM, money sent. :-) Tanks.

Apparently flickr doesn't allow external linking? That's bogus. Hmm. I'll edit my post to point strictly at flickr. Less image intensive anyway.

The cart slot cleaning didn't do any good. The Mario Bros. cartridge loads to the "Collectorvision" screen and just stalls out. All of the standard carts continue to work. I think it has to be a RAM problem at this point. Most cartridges in the original Coleco library do not exceed 8 or 16K. And of course, this cartridge still works great on all of my other machines. It's just so sad because I can't get it to work fully. I will probably end up recylcing it at this point. *le sigh* In other news, I successfully modded one of my "good" ColecoVision units with a new switch, a cool active/standby LED and the RGB component kit from 5-11under. I'll post about that in the appropriate forum.

I successfully modded one of my "good" ColecoVisions with a new switch, a really cool active/standby LED and the RGB component kit. I had to resize the template to 6" in Paint Shop Pro. I did a fair amount of tweaking after I drilled the main holes too. On the full flicker set you'll notice I also accidentally removed an inducter I shouldn't have. No big loss though, the thing still works like a champ! 5-11, I'm gonna take another if they're still available. I'll PM you. Here are some photos of my new favorite machine: Full flickr set.

I didn't know what to buy to re-grease the switch so on my first one I ended up modding it... adding a big ol' chunky switch and I also popped in a power light. I quite like adding new switches to the machine and power lights are very nice to have on a ColecoVision. It works flawlessly now. I do have one Coleco that is very clean and is in the original box. The switch on that one is not the greatest either so I'll go see if I can find some "High Quality Lithium Dielectric Grease" and refurb that switch. I don't intend on ever modding that model. I'll try the cart slot cleaning this weekend and post a response. I'm going to see Henry Rollins tonight and have some errands tomorrow so it probably wont' happen until Sunday.

Oh, I'm not in any danger of not being able to play Mario Bros. I have 5 Colecovision machines right now. 4 of them work fine... well--with a switch mod or two here and there. Anyway, I will give the cart slot cleaning a shot but I really think it's RAM. I should take a photo of the bottom of that board it's really really sad. I was shocked that after a switch mod it even turned on! Thanks for the help though! -Madaracs

Hey gang, Long time lurker here... I was wondering if anyone knew of a ROM or a cartridge that exists to do some bank testing on the ColecoVision mainboard? I have a RevF that appears to have been submerged in Coca-Cola or some other toxic abrasive yet the board still functions... mostly. It will load standard ColecoVision carts but nothing with a large memory footprint. So homebrew games like Mario Bros. will not load or play. I bought some ICs to replace bad memory (if that's the case) but I was wondering if there was a way to test the memory... I do have a way to burn a ROM if necessary. Of course, it might be a trace since it's all nice and bubbly but I still think it would be great to have a bank tester if there were such a thing. Thanks, -Madaracs

Totally. I told them they also might want to use some acetate and a q-tip and remove that "free" mark on the box. Most likely, they don't have the mad skills to take a photo and replace it in their auction. Still a great find that deserves some attention from true Atari fans. And now the bid is up to $26. So that's pretty darn keen.

Hey guys, could you all pass the word around about this great auction on eBay? (No it isn't mine! Zoyx and S1500 can vouch for me.) http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewI...em=270420781029 The listing party originally had a starting bid of $75 on it and they had it listed as a wood-grain. I emailed them and politely corrected them. Then I convinced them to drop it to a $1 for starting bid. I didn't really expect them to take my advice, but now it will be an interesting auction. It looks to be in great shape, and the seller is new to eBay. So if you want to pass this on to anyone who may be looking for an awesome Vader system with a great looking collector's box... now is the time! I put in a starting bid but I expect that it will get a lot higher than a $1 now. Since I own a working Vader system--The box is worth at least $15 to me! Heh.

Does anyone have an Atari 2600 Ghostbusters cartridge they want to part with? I'd like the one with the original logo and not the blue label one. I've scoured the eBay and Chase the Chuckwagon. No dice on 1/2.com either. If you do please send me a pm.

Me, what? I don't know what you mean! Oh wait, yeah that's right, I have done this. The standard ColecoVision power switch is a DPDT (double pole, double throw) switch. Meaning that its basically 2 switches that can be connected in one of two ways. Technically one of the throws for each pole is not used. So while the standard switch has 6 contacts, only 4 are used. The center contacts are the live contacts. The one nearest the left edge of the board is the +12V line and the inner one is the +5V line. When the switch is is slid to the rear (ON position), the center (live contacts) make contact via the internal contact slides to the rear contacts which then send the +12V and +5V to where they need to go and power on the PCB. When the switch is slid forward (OFF position) the center (live contacts) make contact via the internal contact slides to the front contacts which aren't connected to anything. Coleco could have used a DPST switch, which is all that is needed, but DPDT switches are more standard and probably easier and cheaper to find. And by the by the -5V from the power supply is always on, which is why the ON/OFF switch is only a double pole not a triple pole. Though the post above is almost a year old, I thought I'd share the below link with you guys since I got a lot of my ideas from it. http://www.gridcycle.com/?p=1844 Today, I modded my Coleco and though it isn't as pretty as Doubledown's-- I think it turned out alright and my "new" old ColecoVision is a blast to play!