mojoatomic

Updates: Mar 13 - All kits now include a tube of heat sink compound - Includes C242 & (C241) .1uf, C243 2200uf 16v, C214 & C201 4.7uf 50v, A203 LM7805 Voltage Regulator & a 820ohm precision resistor for 4 switch consoles that require the TIA modification. These are are high quality fresh parts that I use in my repairs. $7 shipped to any address in the continental US, at cost elsewhere. If Atari had installed these originally, you wouldn't be needing one now :-) simply the highest grade, American Made Switchcraft jacks. There are none finer. $2.50 additional per.

Man! You saw those? That was a weird find, up in the loft - forgot all about them for years, who would have known back then that people would need them?? Glad I kept them! Guess I could part with some :-) What I was looking for, I didn't find... But I know I still have them somewhere - about 500 820pf polystyrene audio caps for the 2600.

If your looking locally, find out who supplies the local repair shops. In Memphis, where I am, the only one left is Bluff City Electronics. I'll buy there if I'm in a hurry, but they can't compete on price for my normal stock parts. I checked my bulk pricing and shipping cost - I can do the parts for $7 shipped, anywhere in the continental US. Think I'll put an ad in the marketplace tomorrow.

Well, mostly large parts houses in my case. I'd be happy to post the part numbers from where I mostly purchase from, but truthfully, it's not cost effective to order that way unless you do it in large quantity. My normal order is 100 caps plus for each value, and then multiples of that for the caps that are used in greater ratios - for example 4.7uf, .1uf, etc - point being, that's where the price break comes in. The 2200uf caps aren't $3 each anymore when purchased in quantity. They will also give vastly superior pricing if you have a business license on file in most cases. That's why I generally post part's with descriptors, so people can source them on their own at vendors of their choosing, but in reading your post, I think I could probably do a better job of it. I'll try to give better descriptions. Here's the breakdown.. Normal parts from a HUGE supplier - Digikey, in single repair quantities... All prices are in USD. Index Quantity Image Part Number Description Customer Reference Available Quantity Backorder Quantity Unit Price Extended Price 1 493-14399-ND CAP ALUM 2200UF 20% 16V AXIAL 0 Immediate 1 Lead Time 2.33000 $2.33 2 493-6100-1-ND CAP ALUM 4.7UF 20% 50V RADIAL 2 Immediate 0 0.26000 $0.52 3 1572-1186-ND CAP FILM 0.1UF 10% 250VDC RADIAL 2 Immediate 0 0.36000 $0.72 4 LM7805CT-ND IC REG LDO 5V 1A TO220-3 1 Immediate 0 0.62000 $0.62 Subtotal $4.19 Shipping Estimate Sales Tax unknown Total unknown But here's the deal breaker... their only shipping option is - U.S. Postal Service Priority Mail* - - $7.40 Total cost? $11.95 Which brings me to my next thought... would anyone want these supplied at a cheaper shipped cost, to make these repairs easier? Let me come up with a set shipped price for the US and see if anyone's interested. I need to weigh the parts and double check pricing. Other countries might benefit from local shipping.

Replace C242 (C241) .1uf, C243 2200uf 16v, C214 & C207 4.7uf 50v. Check/replace A203 LM7508 voltage regulator, make sure it has a good curve. Check 9v supply, make sure it's close to 9v. Be prepared to replace the RF cable on the unit.

Also, check the voltage on your 9V walwart... Pin 10 of the TIA picks up 9V unregulated from the supply side before it reaches the 5V LM7508 (A203) voltage regulator and uses it for one side of the color delay reference. If it's drifted it can cause issues like washout. Factory 2600 supplies tend to increase in output voltage before failure.

Here's the vector - http://seeklogo.com/vector-logo/12732/atari#

Could be several things, actually. The caps are 40 years old, and really do need to be replaced. Other issues on the board (multiple) and RF section can cause a washed out look as well. If you've got a 4 switch model, it very likely will fall into a board revision range that benefits from a 820ohm resistor across pins 6 and 9 of the TIA chip that improves color greatly, as referenced in a factory bulletin (it was originally included as a 680ohm resistor, R213, on 2600 6 switch models and dropped on 4 switch models until late in their production life - and when reintroduced, was changed to a 820ohm resistor. As for your memory... It might be like mine :-)

Have a look at this thread :-) http://atariage.com/forums/topic/145732-us-games-vidtec-what-is-the-link/

I'll send you a set, PM me

Anythings possible. In troubleshooting a issue like this, it helps to have an absolutely minimal setup for testing - 2600>F connector>TV. I noticed you said " I get the same effect on multiple consoles with multiple rf cords and multiple power supplies." Do you have a UPS with a battery lying around, or can you borrow one? If you unplug it and run in UPS mode, that will get you a divorce from any issues with line power being the culprit. Plug in the Atari and TV, and that's it. On another note... the caps are 40 years old, they're suspect right off jump street - I would change them prophylactically.

PM sent

Back to the original 2600A from this post - got a few parts in the mail today, so on with the repair - Everything else has been repaired... except for the RF. You could buy the module and slap it in :-) or... you could make it like new for a few pennies instead. Unrepairable? Pish posh. There's no magic to it. Remove as much solder from the 2 joints on the side as you can, and then use desoldering braid for the rest - after that, just pull the board out.. like so - Make a few tests - it's a bad IC this time, just a transistor array. DON'T install an IC socket for this repair... I know what I said before, but it doesn't count for RF :-) New IC installed, ready to go.

I would remove the chips one at a time, starting with the RIOT and test after each reinsertion. Make sure your well grounded when you do this. If still no joy, my best bet would be the RIOT chip. I'd be happy to fix it for you, but I'm afraid the shipping round trip to Germany would be more than it's worth - more than the cost of a RIOT anyway.

Well, I haven't found the paperwork I was looking for..yet - but man oh man oh man look what I did find!! several boxes of these!

Im not sure that I understand the first part of the question - you can remove the 680 and replace it with a 820 on the light 6 if you want to, but on 2600A boards it was simply omitted from the circuit (from the factory) completely up till 2600A rev 16 boards. You wouldn't think it would make a difference, but it does for whatever reason, as only the undervalued resistors ever have an issue, and not all of them do at that. Here's another weird thing... All of the ones that have an issue measure quite a bit lower than they are marked. No idea why. It's just weird and one of those things I guess. The best reason I can think of as to why it was omitted up till rev 16 2600A boards is that it saved 1/100 of a cent per board, or something like that. The color is better with it, and I think that's why the bulletin was worded in a "If you want to" tone. Basically it says, "This will make it look better, but we're not gonna pay for it. You can provide the resistor and charge your customer a few bucks to install it if you want to." Which reminds me of something I haven't thought of in a long time... I seem to remember later on Atari added the resistor to the reimbursement schedule. I need to find my original NARDA forms that Atari reimbursed us off of and see if I ever made a claim for installing these resistors... There was a booklet that they gave to factory authorized repair centers, and I can't find mine - but they had the repair reimbursement schedule in them. If I can find it I'll research this and post. I guess it doesn't really matter, other than being an interesting bit of what us now ancient history.

Please have a look at your schematic for the light 6 2600 - you'll find that r213 is a 680ohm resistor running between pin 6 & 9 on the TIA. On some 2600's this resistor was inexplicably a 1/8w part, and it should have been 1/4w. Also notice the following circuitry on the pins is identical. See that 5v downstream? It's an issue and can cause a dry joint over time, and the color gets screwy. You can without harm replace it with a 820ohm 1/4w and enjoy richer color saturation, or put the original value part at the correct wattage in its place. To my knowledge, there was never a bulletin addressing this; I don't remember seeing one anyway and I don't have one in my old files. Hence the need for old guys who know to look for it :-) You are correct that the bulletin addresses the 2600A board, but it also works for the light six as well, better than original actually - that's why they made the change from 680ohm to 820ohm on the 2600A.

Well, I zoomed in but it's hard to tell. I haven't seen a rev 5 board in quite awhile! Looks like a few cold joints on the cart connector, and looks like a few dry/cold joints on the RIOT as well, and since those are the most likely culprits, that's where I'd start.

Got a light sixer on the bench - Replaced caps, VR was good, reflowed IC's - they had some really bad cold joints, caused an issue that looked like a bad RIOT, but just cold solder joints. Installed an 820ohm resistor per factory bulletin - look at how vivid it makes the colors. Small RF adjustment and there we have it. The old man still knows how to fix 'em after all these years :-) Someone just sent a PM for clarification; yes, that's RF, not composite :-)

Most welcome! It can take a bit of effort to get them running correctly for sure. Your gonna need an assembly line for 100 :-)

I haven't received the parts for the original machine posted about yet, but I did receive parts for other new ones on the bench :-) Onto the show - running out of room, they're sitting on the laser cutter. All cases washed, polished and shining like new money. Top left - caps, voltage regulator and replaced female cart connector (too far gone to be reliably repaired). Original symptom was blank screen, issue was RIOT, replaced. After that it didn't like Activision, so cart connector replaced with new OEM connector. It's ready for another 30 years now. Bottom left - caps, voltage regulator good, replaced left joystick port, reflowed dry IC joints, made RF adjustment. This is a version 8 board - my favorite of all the 4 switch units. Top right - caps, voltage regulator, TIA showed bad on burn in after 10 minutes (wavy rainbows, then blank) replaced. Replaced channel switch, reflowed high stress joints and all IC joints. Bottom right - caps, voltage regulator, both joystick ports, reflowed switches and IC joints, replaced jack Here's the version 8 ready to go -

OK, with the board positioned with the cartridge slot towards the top and the 3 large chips towards the bottom, the chips in order from top to bottom are: RIOT CPU TIA Can you confirm that the chips are socketed? Looks like they are, but it's hard to tell for sure. Can you remove the shield from the back side of the board and take a good shot of the solder joints for the 3 chips in question?

What part? I have some friends in Bremen. Once we see the board, I can point you in a very specific direction. Until then, is it a 4 or 6 switch model?

Do you have a soldering iron or access to one? Baring that, what part of the world are you in?

It means the Atari is creating a screen but not populating it with data. That's a good thing, shouldn't be anything wrong hat can't be reasonably repaired. Can you take it apart and send a good clear pic of the board (or boards depending on the model)? Also, do you have a multimeter?