BlimpPixel

I wondered if they were meant to stay in place, but couldn’t figure that they would compress enough. I’ll give it a try.

Very cool. Thanks! So this means the games have never been used, right? Unless the PO consistently stick the sponge back in after each use...

Both Activision. Bridge and Boxing. Im on my iPhone but it looks like I can attach a file. Trying....

I was testing all of the large assortment of Atari games I have acquired over time, and two of them have a sponge-like material stuck in the end. Im sure this was to keep the board clean, but its not like the sponge comes out very easily. I would need to use a pair of tweezers or something, in fact. Just curious what the background is on these and how common they are. Were they an accessory sold to keep your carts in good condition, or are they how the games shipped new, and therefore an indicator that these are NOS? Thanks!

Another update. I took a look at the cable and decided it just pulls out, so I said a prayer and found I was correct. With the switch boards swapped I had the same results. Wonky console was back to being wonky on account of the previously swapped VR, but the dead unit was still dead. So I took it all apart again and pulled the chips as instructed, blew out the sockets with some compressed air, put it all back together, and it works great! I really didn't have high hopes, I'll admit, but that shows what I know. So we're in business at last, although I still need to order the tune up kit for at least one, but perhaps both just for the heck of it. I really appreciate all your input! Couldn't have done it without you guys. BTW, is contact cleaner safe to use on these systems? I don't see why it shouldn't be, but I wanted to ask.

Thanks! And the cable? Does the white plastic end simply pry off as well?

I had it all apart for a good look. This is delving deeper into electronics than I've been before, so before I went prodding at anything I wanted to ask. Are the chips soldered onto the circuit board from the bottom or do they snap onto the bases they're sitting on (which is kind of what it looks like, but I'm not sure)? If the latter, are they just carefully removed with a little leverage? Same question about the cable. I'd like to swap boards with the other console and see what that yields but didn't want to mess with the cable before I knew for certain how it disconnects. Thanks again!

It's not a great strategy, but I had some free time and wanted to brush up on my soldering skills so I went ahead and swapped voltage regulators between the two units. I was expecting their symptoms to be the same only reversed, but to my surprise, the black screen console still gives a black screen, whereas the wonky one seems to work great. I haven't had it on for too long to see if it will heat up, but either way I can at least say it's regulator-related. I may order this "tune up kit" for both and just install all the components. Any other ideas? I haven't reset the chip yet as suggested. Not sure where it is but I'll investigate. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-2600-CX2600-6-SWITCH-TUNE-UP-PARTS-Voltage-Regulator-1-Amp-CAPACITORS-/311555817299?hash=item488a2c7f53:g:VfsAAOSwll1WxHyV Thanks.

I have reheated up the solder joints on the regulator and cleaned up a few things, but no difference. In addition to this one, I have another H6 that doesn't work at all. I checked that out, too. At the regulator, I'm getting the following readings: Wonky one: Pin 1 = 11.09v, Pin 3 = 4.88v, Pin 2 confirmed ground Black screen one: Pin 1 = 11.88v, Pin 3 = 5.05v, Pin 2 confirmed ground I'm not sure that either of these are too out of line. Thoughts, please? Many thanks!

Yesterday I booted up Adventure (on a different system than the problematic one mentioned in another post) and had some very odd findings. On the initial screen where you select the difficulty, the red dragon passed by the top of the screen. I thought that was very peculiar, but didn't get a picture because I wasn't expecting it. When I started the game, the yellow castle was already unlocked with the key left inside. The next room was normal, but to the left the wall was misplaced and blocking me from going any further. To the right, the wall was also misplaced, this time in the center of the room. I could go down to the orange room, but since I was on difficulty 1 there was nowhere else to go. Also, if I'm remembering correctly, the yellow dragon should have been in the room to the left, not this one. Pretty odd. Anyone ever experienced anything like this, or know the cause?

I have a heavy sixer (with M suffix) that I got just a couple months ago. I haven't used it much but it worked and looked really well when I did. Yesterday I had it on and things seemed to go wrong. The colors started changing, the image "vibrated", and sometimes it would just go wrong altogether and I'd just have ugly bars across the screen. It acted the same with different cartridges, and as far as I could tell letting it sit to "cool down" didn't change things. I don't know if the issue is a complete mystery or if there's a most likely scenario that you guys can suggest. I'm hoping it will be the latter. I have a little experience with electronics; probably enough to fix what I'm told to fix but not necessarily enough to identify the issue myself. Any help would be greatly appreciated! Thanks!

Question asked and apparently answered. Don't see one here. That price, though... http://www.ebay.com/itm/311520612875?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

It seems that I've seen the serial number sticker on the inner protective cardboard sleeve that the console was packaged in on some examples. I haven't seen a very early 1977 package that still has this sleeve in tact, but perhaps it would have had the sticker there. Can anyone confirm or deny this?

I agree that $700 is way too much, most especially with only one CX10 joystick and no hex disc. It is true that the cardboard sleeve from inside is extremely rare, though. But it's missing the serial number sticker, which would be the most important part of it.

July is obviously half way through '78. I wonder about when they really made the change. Interesting stuff. I wish mine had a date inside, it could shine light on this.

I hadn't heard that before, thanks for the explanation. I recently bought myself an H6 with an M suffix. This one has an N suffix. I don't know if they went sequentially or not but if so then I guess I got one of the last '77 units, as it doesn't have the channel select. Guess I lucked out, being as how my interest was merely to obtain an early 2600. I took mine apart but did not fine a date on the little slip of receipt paper, just a printed number.

Was looking at this auction and was surprised to see a channel select switch on this Sunnyvale Heavy Sixer. I didn't think they started that until the Light Sixer. And although similar, it's not a light sixer bottom that got thrown on at some point. There are clear differences. Pretty interesting. http://www.ebay.com/itm/1978-ATARI-VCS-Heavy-Sixer-Console-System-LOT-Sunnyvale-8-Games-CX10-Gatefold-/371524269721?hash=item5680927699:g:4yoAAOSw5dNWim2r

Now that I've posted that, I did some brief searching and see at least two other Sunnyvale 4 switchers without the light sixer bottoms listed currently. Curious that all my research here has pointed to them always having the L6 bottom and now I see three that don't. As was said above, never say "always."

The plot thickens. Here's a beautiful, practically NOS made in Sunnyvale 4 switcher. On one hand, we can see that it isn't a promo or refurb. On the other, you'll see that the light sixer bottom has disappeared and there's no red service label. Interesting. This is a later serial number than mine, 7k versus 10k. http://www.ebay.com/itm/NEW-1980-ATARI-VCS-2600-Sunnyvale-CA-US-Console-System-LOT-Complete-Original-BOX-/311514606104?hash=item4887b7aa18:g:H-oAAOSwHPlWgwrn

I've been reading about this but there seems to be an odd combination of too much yet not enough info. I assume a CX10 *always* had a hex disc originally. Yes? But did the first CX40 controllers also have the hex disc early on? Or does hex disc equal CX10 and only CX10? Also, I have seen hex disc joysticks with a hole in the center of the stick, as though the disc was pinned in place, and also examples that clearly had a hex disc at one time but have no hole in the middle. Does anyone have an explanation for that? See photos for comparison (which I have "borrowed"). Thanks, as always.

Okay, nevermind on that last part. I was paying attention and some non-USA units do have the red service sticker.

Curiouser and curiouser. Here's a theory that I didn't see before. They made the heavy sixer in Sunnyvale and the early light sixers as well. When they started making the four switcher there, it wasn't so much about using up the old stock of bottoms as it was not retooling there equipment which was sitting around still set up to make the light six molds. They just needed to add one or two small revisions. Just a theory. Not that I'm an expert, but browsing the subject here and from the very few I've seen pop up on ebay, all Sunnyvale 4 switchers have the red service sticker. I can't think if I've seen any that weren't made in Sunnyvale that do, but I could just be having a brain fart.

Just white noise, really, but as I was just saying in another thread, my 2600 has been in the family since new. Can't tell you how many hundred and perhaps thousands of hours of use it's had. Still works great, never had an issue. Don't know too many other people that own one, but I've never heard of any of them having a problem either.

Okay, here's some fun and interesting story, at least for me. Sorry for the long read but if you're into this stuff you may find it interesting. "My" Atari is the one that has been in our family since new, circa 1981 or so. My spare was given to me by uncle much more recently. The label on mine is gone but it's still there on my uncle's, which is the Sunnyvale four switcher discussed above. After reading through the mentioned threads I took a look and noticed that it does indeed have a light sixer base, as indicated namely by the channel select switch and blank-out plastic glued to where the controllers used to go. Now even though my 2600 is missing the label, they both have the same orange Super Service sticker on the bottom, and I got curious. I flipped mine over and sure enough it, too, has a light sixer bottom. On a hunch, I called my dad and asked if he and my uncle had bought their Ataris together. They hadn't, but I wasn't far off, as it turns out they were given to them both by my grandma for Christmas. I therefore think it's safe to say that they are both Sunnyvale four switchers, and more interesting still, they are more or less siblings! I'll see if there's any chance my grandma remembers where she bought them, or if she ordered them from somewhere. It's a bummer that the sticker on mine is gone and we'll never know just how close the serial numbers are, but they're bound to be pretty tight. Okay, so for future reference, here's the boring stuff. I took them both apart and they have identical markings everywhere. The boards are marked Rev 12 1980. The top plastic is marked Rev 5. There are a handful of other markings, shown in the attached photos, that are also identical. Inside each was taped a piece of receipt paper with a number on it. I have never had an Atari open before so I don't know if that's normal or not. They seem to have the usual aluminum switches but definitely yellower accents instead of the usual orange. Something else they have in common appears to be that the labels didn't stick very well, as mine is missing and the others is coming off pretty good. Coincidentally, in another thread I was asking about the speaker holes in the top of the consoles. It has come to my attention that four switchers generally don't seem to have them, at least the ones I've seen don't. Both of these do, however. Something else they share with their six switch ancestors? Inside, you can still see the oval shape of where they filled in the location of the first and sixth switch (but maybe that's normal?). I was expecting the board to be marked Rev 5 as mentioned in another thread but that wasn't the case. But this has the "regular" style of SN sticker as opposed to the style that looks like it was printed out that zylon shared above. As I'm sure you can tell, it is silver, not white. As to the question of are they Factory Reconditioned or Promotional, my dad says they are not. I don't remember ever seeing the box in my life, but my dad was saying just the other day that it's been in the basement for years until "the flood" happened a little while back. I showed him the pictures of the promo and recon boxes and he's sure it was the standard box and that my grandma bought them brand new. So that's that. Pretty neat to have sibling 2600s. Shown are pictures of just the one unit. I have pics of the other but they are identical. Both "receipts" from inside are shown, however.

Thanks for the links. Seems like all we can do is speculate. I'll have to pull it out of the box again and see if I can identify it as a light sixer bottom, and maybe I'll even feel like taking it apart to see the Rev number on the board. I've been searching ebay tirelessly lately and even since this post I have seen a couple Sunnyvale 4 switchers. Like anything, it's worth only what someone will pay. In this example, I think they would only be worth more than any other 4 switcher if a serious collector decided he had to have one. I've seen even more Sunnyvale L6ers.