barrelsAndRivets

I have a couple of consoles that need new momentary switches (game select and/or reset). BEST lists these as p/n CO10388 I was surprised to learn that BEST now charges $9.95/each for these and has a limit of 2x: https://www.best-electronics-ca.com/2600_Tech_Tips.htm It seems like the supply of OEM parts is drying up -- or is it? Assuming there is not a good source out there still offering these at $2.50/each...: Does anybody know of a (mostly) compatible part available via mouser/digikey/other source? Even if it's not exact, maybe "good enough"? Has anybody come up with creative replacements using more common parts, even if it looks fundamentally "wrong"? All of my bad switches could probably be repaired -- that is, they "work", in terms of contacts and pinouts. But in all cases, the switch posts / handle (or the place the post attaches to) are failed/gone. So, cosmetic breakage. Here's to hoping, thanks in advance.

Thanks for the reply. I hope the SVA was a lost cause as that’s my personal favorite intellivision design. It’s so… weird! I put Mouser up there with digikey and already exhausted the same like-minded parts. I also am fortunate to have a local electronics store, Anchor, that has just about everything. The problem, or my confusion really, comes from the fact that this isn’t just a reset switch. It functions as both power and reset. A single press turns the console on, subsequent single presses reset, and a press held down for ~5 seconds powers off the unit. So there’s a bit more upstream monitoring and acting on the circuit status and that’s where I’m falling short on a workaround. I do not have a picture but basically the base is a metal square with 4 outer contacts, which are meant to remain connected. An inner contact, meant to be hit by a momentary switch, takes action. I have two problems… the top momentary switch plate is in pieces. Similar replacements work, sort of, but not reliably. This makes me think the contacts are problematic as well. This is why I was hoping to wire something in further on the board. my thought is that this is a typical “nc” circuit but that’s not quite working. I hope someone reading this has dealt specifically with the INTV ii and can make sense of this for me.

While cleaning my INTV II, I broke the metal momentary switch that allows the combination power/reset functionality. I untaped it, dropped it, one of the metal feet broke off, and it got warped. It was a cascading case of bad luck. I ordered a bunch of potential replacements from Mouser and nothing seems to hit the contacts correctly. Console5 has it on their page but they're out of stock. I've tried some dedicated momentary switches with wire combinations against common/NC/NO. I get mixed results, it works when the stars align but mostly doesn't. Does somebody with experience with this board know where can I tap into to possibly install a conventional on/off rocker switch for this? Or, are there articles that I'm missing that discuss this terrible design and how to work around it? Apologies if I'm not explaining this well. I'm just incredibly frustrated, as this console was otherwise working 100% and now I can't keep it stably powered 😕

Many thanks to @Jim P. The items have a new home. I really appreciate the generosity as well as the individual component overview!

Generous indeed! I'm in Santa Clara. PM incoming

Thanks so much for the reply! If what you said/showed above are the certain giveaways, then this appears to be the PAL version (noting color of sky, space above score, and other color off-ness [and of course, the rolling]): Interestingly, too, I noticed the branding on the back of the cartridge -- a quick check of my other 20th Century Fox games shows that none of the other (known NTSC) ones have this -- maybe it's a coincidence but thought it was worth noting here: And finally, for future folks that may look -- here's what this (confirmed) PAL version looks like on the front: Mystery solved. Now to find a reasonably-priced NTSC copy. Thanks @alex_79

necrobump, but I have the exact same issue on a copy of Crash Dive. Looks to have an NTSC label. Could this be PAL? Screen rolls like it’s PAL but for all I know this indicates failure of the rom.

This is the last one I need for the “activision” blue label set. Please PM me if you have a loose cart you’d let go.

Thanks to all that replied -- parts arrived, and after swapping the capacitor locations I'm in business

Can you confirm that where I have the yellow caps in on my board, right above the joystick, that the 0.22UF caps are actually supposed to go there (C1/C2)? Thanks!

I just took another look at this and I may have an explanation. Here's the board: The yellow caps are 399-4264-ND‎, which are 0.1UF. The blue caps are 490-7533-1-ND‎, which are 0.22UF and are meant for the potentiometer step-up. The "blues" were supposed to go in C1 and C2, and the "yellows" in C3 and C4, but those aren't labeled on the board. I'm going to take a wild guess that I inadvertently swapped the relative positions (!) especially when comparing to pics of others' builds. I'll plug it back in later this evening and see what my minimum/maximum values are as it sits, but could this be the culprit?

I assembled one of Dr. Baker's Atari 5200 controllers as documented here: http://www.smbaker.com/homemade-atari-5200-analog-controller Overall I'm confident in the build. However, even before trying to use it, I thought to run it through Pete's Diagnostic Cart to make sure everything was mapped correctly, etc. The main thing I noticed involves the positioning of the analog control. When centered, my stock (rebuilt) CX52 registers at position 100,100 and the blue dot appears almost exactly centered in the blue box. I've previously adjusted the pokey so I'm confident that the system itself is in good shape in this sense. However, with the smbaker build, the joystick registers at position 50,50 as pictured here: It appears to the top-left of the blue box as pictured here: This goes well beyond my understanding of the schematic and the digital -> analog potentiometer solution and I'm wondering what could be off and/or what I can adjust. Again, I have not tested any games yet but can only guess this is problematic (?) Thanks in advance!

Hopefully I can pry one of these loose.. This is the final game I need for the loose NTSC set (excluding the diagnostic and monitor cartridges) I'm only looking for a loose (genuine) copy. With only complete/sealed copies recently sold on ebay, I'm not even sure what to offer -- PM me and we'll go from there. thanks!

Good to know! Thank you

Planning to hang onto it for now. I've opened it up and the fuse actually looks OK, so I'm wondering what else may be wrong with it. It's not taking up too much space, so I'll probably circle back to it at some point.