MaximRecoil

I just tried Jr. Pac-Man for the first time, and I beat the first level on my first try ... the arcade version in MAME that is. I also tried the 2600 version for the first time (in Stella), and I didn't beat it on my first try, nor on my tenth, at which point I'd had enough of that foolishness. It is bizarre that a 2600 port is harder than its arcade counterpart, at least on the first level. By the way, if you have Space Attack, give that a try with both difficulty switches set to "A". There's a review of that game on YouTube by "Nin10Guy" where he lambasted it for being too easy. After posting the video he added this note to it:

That Tod Frye video is interesting; it shows why he's not the best choice for the job of porting a game. I have no doubt that he's a talented programmer, but he doesn't understand why people were disappointed with his top/bottom exits / altered maze layout, and I bet he also doesn't understand why people were disappointed with his altered color scheme either. Just by getting the maze layout and color scheme right, and no other changes, his Pac-Man port would have been better received. A programmer's creativity and personal preferences should be saved for programming original games. When porting, the goal is predefined, i.e., make it as accurate as possible, at least for the main variation anyway. No one would complain about an altered color scheme and maze layout for an alternate variation that you could choose with the Game Select switch (if there was room for such a thing); that would just be a bonus.

That's funny. A couple months ago I had the exact same problem (and the same cause) in the upper monitor in my Super Punch-Out arcade machine, i.e., it would intermittently lose blue, only showing green and red (I happened to have one of my regular Punch-Out boardsets running in it when I took the picture): If I smacked the side of the machine the blue would come back. The problem was this: A broken leg on the blue bias pot. I found it while I was reflowing its solder joints; as soon as I touched the iron to that leg's solder joint, it moved freely; obviously broken.

Whenever something can be fixed, however temporarily, by banging on it or wiggling something, the problem is the result of a bad electrical connection somewhere. The most common cause of a bad electrical connection in consumer electronics is a bad solder joint. I would suspect one of the solder joints for the vertical position pot on the chassis first. Your consoles obviously had nothing to do with it.

Like this, in any condition, as long as it is complete and the cord isn't damaged in any way. In fact, I would prefer one that is sloppy / worn out.

Space Attack with both difficulty switches set to "A" (or "Expert" if you have a Sears unit) is a hard game, especially if your goal is to beat it without losing any lives. I've only done it a few times since I first played the game in 1985, one of which I recorded: It is pretty hard just to beat the game at all, even though you have 9 lives total. With most games that I'm good at, I can relax while playing and still do well, but not with this one. If I try to play this game casually I lose quickly. You have to be moving almost constantly or you'll get nailed. This game is unusual in that with both switches set to "B" ("Novice"), or even just the left difficulty switch set to "B" (the left difficulty switch is the one which controls the difficulty of the space battles), it is ridiculously easy, like shooting fish in a barrel. On that setting, I beat it the first time playing it as a 10-year-old. So this game can be set to be wicked easy or wicked hard; no middle ground at all. It is also unusual for an Atari 2600 game in that it not only has an ending, but it doesn't take long to get there (less than 5 minutes). If you want some quick, intense gameplay, this game is about as good as it gets.

A 2600 trackball controller definitely exists (two models actually: CX-22 and CX-80). I don't know if any original 2600 games supported true analog trackball input, but the trackball controllers could be used with any joystick game; it just sent joystick inputs as you rolled the ball. However, there are definitely some hacks which make use of true analog input from the 2600 trackball controllers, such as Thomas Jentzsch's Missile Command TB.

OEM 72-pin connectors were loose when brand new, which is why they were called "ZIF" (even though they aren't so loose that they truly have zero insertion force), and why you were supposed to push them down after inserting them. A brand new NES generally won't work with the cartridge in the up position. My cousin got an NES when they first came out nationally in 1986, and he almost returned it because he couldn't get it to work. Finally he read the manual and discovered that you have to push the cartridge down. In hindsight that may seem obvious, but in 1986 it was a completely foreign concept. Brand new NESes worked flawlessly for a couple/few years, and then started "blinking" occasionally, eventually blinking most or all of the time. Since my cousin was the first person I knew to get an NES, his was also the first blinking NES I ever heard of, and it started around '88 or '89. I accused him of mistreating it. "What did you do, drop it? Get mad and hit it?" But then it started happening to everyone's NES. The bending that happens to the pins of an original, unaltered 72-pin connector when you push the cartridge down is harmless. Those pins are designed for that degree of bending. All card-edge connector pins bend when you insert a cartridge; that's the only way they can have the tightness they need for a good electrical contact. The only difference is: with a standard card-edge connector like in most consoles, the bending happens as you insert the cartridge, and with the NES design, the bending happens when you push the cartridge down after inserting it. The reason that standard card-edge connectors tend to be more reliable over time is because they are somewhat self-cleaning, i.e., the friction from inserting the cartridge into a tight set of pins has a cleaning effect. That doesn't happen with a ZIF or pseudo ZIF design, so to keep it reliable you have to thoroughly clean it every couple/few years if you are using it regularly (or in my case, every decade or more, because I don't use it all that much).

For most of us it is only 29 (the NES didn't get a nationwide release until 1986).

Exact amounts aren't important. You don't want it to be a thick paste, but you don't want it to be so watery that it has little effect. I've been using it for years and never measure anything; I just sprinkle a little bit in the bottom of a bowl and add a little bit of water. However, if you want to measure, a 1:1 mixture is fine, and so is a 2:1 mixture (2 parts water, 1 part BKF), or anything in between. The active ingredient in BKF is oxalic acid and it works very quickly, removing invisible oxidation that rubbing alcohol (which is only a solvent, not an acid) has little to no effect on. Only replace the 72-pin connector as a last resort. My main NES was given to me years ago for free because it was "broken" (it blinked, like yours, and like they all do eventually). After cleaning with BKF, it works first time, every time, as you can see in this video: You can see that it still has its original Nintendo-manufactured 72-pin connector in there by the ease with which I insert and remove the cartridges. Aftermarket 72-pin connectors have a death grip on the cartridges, and still don't work 100%.

Yes, CRT projectors and video games are a bad combination. Those things get heavy screen burn in relatively short order just from normal TV/movie viewing, so you can imagine what static images will do to them. Here is a typical example. Notice that it's not a static image pattern burn like from a video game, but a full coverage burn just from displaying ordinary video (and all of them with any significant amount of usage will have screen burn like that). The reason is: a CRT projector uses 3 small (usually 7" for a rear projection TV), high-intensity monochrome CRT monitors; one red, one green, one blue. They have to be high-intensity because they are projecting an image, which requires a lot more light output than direct-view, and because each of the 3 CRTs is monochrome, it is always the same color phosphors being energized in each one no matter what colors you're seeing on the screen. The warning against playing video games on CRT projectors has plenty of merit.

Yes, I know; I'm talking about U.S. TVs. We weren't nearly as lucky here. Even composite inputs weren't common on our TVs until the '90s. In the '80s and earlier, most TVs here only had RF input. As for RGB input, I've never heard of any ordinary consumer-grade TV in the U.S. having it. The best we got was component (YPbPr), starting with high-end "progressive scan" (480p / ~31 kHz) TVs in the late '90s and eventually ending up on some lower-end ~15 kHz TVs by the mid '00s (like the 32" RCA I bought new in 2005 for $250 and still use). As for using European SCART RGB CRT TVs as arcade monitors, in some cases it works fine as-is, but in other cases there is a mismatch (voltage, I believe) between what the TV expects and what the arcade board outputs, so you have to compensate for that in order to get a good picture. I don't have any experience with using a European TV with an arcade motherboard, because I'm from the U.S., but I've read various accounts over the years from Europeans who have done it. All of my arcade machines have actual arcade monitors. One method is the reflective aluminum layer I referred to in a previous post. As for other methods, I don't know, but CRT PC monitors from the 2000s seem especially resistant to screen burn. For example, I bought the CRT monitor I am using now (22" Mitsubishi Diamondtron), used, in 2006, and it has been on pretty much all day, every day since. You would think that after 9 years of heavy usage it would have the light gray Windows taskbar severely burned into it, since that is a static image that's always showing, whether I have an application open or it is just sitting here idling on the desktop, but I can't even see a hint of screen burn anywhere on this monitor. Most likely, but I don't know; it isn't mine. Screen burn doesn't have any effect on whether or not the monitor works, and if the screen burn matches the game currently running on it, you don't always even notice it (except during scenes which don't match). The only arcade monitors I own that have screen burn are from Punch-Out, and they aren't as severe as that Pac-Man monitor: I swapped those picture tubes out for some burn-free ones a few years ago though. Also, I think one of my parts monitors may have Donkey Kong screen burn, come to think of it.

That's the way I would do it too. Those legs are relatively thick/heavy/long, and the through-holes are not only plated-through, but they are a relatively tight fit. The high mass of the legs means it takes a large quantity of heat to melt the solder all the way down through the plated-through hole so it can all be sucked out of there, and those delicate pads don't generally like that much heat. Is Best Electronics the only source for new ones?

According to Wikipedia: Modern CRT displays are less susceptible than older CRTs prior to the 1960s because they have a layer of aluminum behind the phosphor which offers some protection. The aluminum layer was provided to reflect more light from the phosphor towards the viewer. As a bonus, the aluminum layer also prevented ion burn of the phosphor and the ion trap, common to older monochrome televisions, was no longer required.

I've been having bad luck with these. I have a few here, and they all have poor diagonal response (you have to push hard to get the diagonal directions to respond), and a couple of them have torn rubber switches. I just bought one from eBay and it had both torn rubber switches (the D-pad switches) and poor diagonal response. Fortunately, he promptly refunded my money. I think a lot of people don't notice poor diagonal response on well-worn NES games because a lot of NES games (including the most common one: Super Mario Bros.) only use 4 directions or less. The only used NES controller I have that has good diagonal response is one I converted to an Atari 7800/2600 controller a few years ago. So I'd like to buy one that has already been taken apart and inspected for tears in the rubber switches, and has also been tested with an 8-way game to make sure that the diagonals respond just as well as the 4 cardinal directions. By the way, the main cause of poor diagonal response seems to be the black coating on the PCB's switch pads wearing thin, which not only increases resistance, but also slightly increases the distance between the PCB's switch pads and the rubber switches. I do know of a sure-fire fix, but I don't like the side-effects of it. First, scrape off all of the remaining black stuff from the PCB's switch pads, down to the bare copper. You would think that this alone would make it work better, because bare copper has practically zero resistance, while that black stuff has about 80 ohms of resistance; but it doesn't; it makes the diagonal response even worse, probably because of the increased distance between the pads and the rubber switches. Then, add little mounds of solder to each pad. This builds their height, and the diagonals become super-responsive; too responsive if you make the mounds of solder too big (i.e., it becomes easy to hit diagonals unintentionally). If you get the mounds of solder just right, you have ideal diagonal responsiveness, but the side effect I don't like is it makes the D-pad movement feel weird; the "throw" is too short and stiff. So I'd rather just have one that hasn't been used to death yet, like the one I converted to a 7800 controller. Edit: I don't see any option to delete this post, but I don't need an NES controller anymore. I had an idea, tried it, and it worked beautifully. I used a flat file to file the tops of those mounds of solder flat, in order to decrease the height without creating low spots like if you just made smaller solder mounds in the first place. This controller is now perfect; excellent diagonal response and the D-pad feels fine.

No, the "picture tubes" (CRTs) are the same. Ordinary TVs from the '70s and '80s are a good source for replacement arcade monitor tubes in fact; you just need to find one with the same part number (or a compatible part number, or a compatible neck board pinout and yoke impedance). For example, Nintendo arcade monitors such as the Sanyo EZV-20 and the 20-Z2AW used a 510UTB22 tube, which is also commonly found in Sanyo TVs from the '80s, as well as in some other brands. I don't know of any standard resolution arcade monitor that didn't use an off-the-shelf CRT which was also found in various TVs of the day. The workhorse of the industry, i.e., the Electrohome G07 (used in Pac-Man, Missile Command, and many other classics), used a 19VJTP22 tube, which can be found in various TVs of the day, such as from Panasonic and Mitsubishi. Many of the Wells-Gardner K-series monitors used that tube as well, which were also very common in the classic arcade machines. The only difference between a standard resolution (~15 kHz) arcade monitor and a standard resolution TV is the chassis, i.e., an arcade monitor has direct RGB input and the TV doesn't. The TV also has a TV tuner, audio amplifier, and speakers, while the arcade monitor doesn't (Nintendo/Sanyo arcade monitors included an audio amplifier, but no speakers or TV tuner).

I'm going by the typical time frame of an arcade machine, i.e., after a couple/few months you start to see screen burn; it becomes really noticeable after a year or so, and after a couple/few years it becomes severe, like this: And it doesn't have to be non-stop; the effects are cumulative, so leaving it on the same game for 12 hours straight is the same as leaving it on for 1 hour a day for 12 days. It happens because the phosphors coating the screen wear away with usage. This wear is happening all the time, but with random motion/colors such as with typical TV shows and movies, the wear is more or less even, so no distinct images are burned into the screen. It can be different for different TVs; different settings can make a difference for example. The brighter/more intense the image is, the faster the burn will happen. Also, some TVs may have a thinner coating of RGB phosphors than others. Also, traditional Pong uses white graphics, which lights up all three colors of phosphors at once (in a color TV; in a B&W TV, white lights up the only color of phosphor to the full intensity that the settings will allow), which is the quickest route to burn-in. More modern CRTs, especially PC CRT monitors, may have some form of screen burn reduction technology built in. Atari's color-cycling only comes into play when the console is left on and not being played, so that seems to be what they were worried about. Did any other console manufacturer do this with their games? Not everything Atari did was particularly necessary, such as using 3/8" thick solid plastic in the bottom half of the heavy sixer case, or 1/8" thick wall cast aluminum enclosure for an RF shield.

Those drawings are awesome; they struck me funny; both the "problem" drawing and your creative Rube Goldberg solution. I know this is an old thread, but if you want to use that TV/Game switchbox, the correct solution is a matching transformer to go between your antenna's 75 ohm coaxial cable and the screw terminals on the RF switchbox which are intended for 300 ohm twin lead cable: Your solution would probably result in a picture on your TV, but perhaps not a very good one. If you want to ditch the TV/Game switch and use a coaxial A/B switch like Xucaen suggested, you will need an RCA-to-F adapter instead of a matching transformer: That will plug onto the end of your Atari's RF cable, allowing you to screw it onto one of the F-connector inputs on the A/B switch.

My heavy sixer has a green card-edge connector. I guess that explains why its grip on the cartridge feels so weak compared to my light sixers and 4-switchers. So far I haven't had any problems with it, but I'd still like to replace it with a new one, because I don't like the soggy, no-feedback feel when inserting a cartridge (as opposed to my other 2600s in which cartridges "snap" into place with a nice detent sort of a feel). How are these things put together? Are the long, bent-at-an-angle legs which solder to the motherboard integrated with the card edge connector, or can the card-edge connector be separated from those legs? The black plastic cartridge guide makes it hard to see what's going on under there, though I can see that there is a screw on each side of the green card-edge connector securing it to something. Annoyingly, that black plastic cartridge guide is riveted to the motherboard, which makes things more difficult (my light sixers use screws there instead of rivets), so those would have to be drilled out and replaced with short screws.

I can confirm that the Texas Instruments CD4050BE is a correct replacement for the original hex buffer chip. I now have a new one in the heavy sixer, the good one I swapped out of the light sixer put back in the light sixer, the bad one in the trash, plus an extra new one for a spare.

You would have to leave it on for a long time, i.e., the equivalent of all day, every day, for months on end; over a year straight for screen burn to become particularly noticeable; years for it to become severe. You'd have to really, really like Pong.

How?

The plastic that the front-loader NES case is made out of is only about 1/16" thick, about half the thickness of the light sixer and 4-switch case plastic. The NES RF shield probably weighs a couple/few ounces at best; it is very thin sheet metal just like the shield in the 4-switch Atari (though the NES shield is larger than the 4-switch shield). The NES does, however, have that spring-loaded cartridge tray contraption inside, which adds weight. The light sixer has a relatively thick-walled (about 1/8") cast aluminum RF shield, which makes it weigh significantly more than the 4-switch. The heavy sixer has the same cast aluminum shield, but its screw-on aluminum cover/lid is twice as thick as the light sixer's cover (1/8" vs. 1/16"). I just did some weighing: 4-switch woodgrain: 2 lbs., 11.7 oz. Light sixer: 3 lbs., 6 oz. Heavy sixer: 4 lbs., 7.9 oz. NES front-loader: 2 lbs., 12.5 oz. All of those consoles are stock, and the light sixer I weighed isn't the one with the broken corner, which would weigh slightly less for obvious reasons. Since the NES weighs only 0.8 oz. more than the 4-switch Atari; removing its RF shield would definitely make it lighter than the 4-switch. Also, don't you have a big ferrite choke in your Atari, along with a section of RG-6 coaxial cable and a panel-mount F-connector? That adds several ounces of weight.

You need to clean the 72-pin connector properly, assuming it still has its original one; if it has an aftermarket one its not as good. If the cartridge slides in and out of the connector with very little resistance then it is an original one. If the connector grips the cartridge tightly, then it is an aftermarket one. You need: - Toothbrush - Bar Keepers Friend (original powder form, about $2 a can at your local grocery store) Take the console apart and remove the 72-pin connector from the motherboard. Sprinkle some BKF in a bowl and add a little water, mixing it up to make a thin whitish solution (mix frequently because BKF settles to the bottom quickly). Dip the toothbrush in the BKF solution and scrub the contacts in the 72-pin connector thoroughly, both the set of contacts which mate with the game cartridge and the set which mate with the motherboard. Keep scrubbing for a minute or two, then rinse thoroughly with water. Either let air dry or you can use a hair dryer to speed things up. To make sure all of the BKF residue is gone, after it is dry, dip a clean toothbrush in rubbing alcohol and scrub the contacts again, and let dry. Ideally, you would do the same thing to your game cartridge contacts, but in most cases you need a special security bit (commonly called a "game bit") to open them with. Early NES cartridges have regular screws though. It is best to open them before cleaning with BKF, so that you can easily rinse the residue off the contacts afterwards. Reassemble and it should work flawlessly, assuming it is an undamaged original 72-pin connector and your game cartridge contacts are clean enough.

That's hilarious. Were you ever able to convince them otherwise?