Hank Rearden

No discernable difference running it through a VCR I picked up today. Grrrrrrr .....

Can you play Vic 20 games on the 64?

I was looking at their site and actually sent them a question trying to inquire about some of the potential issues in this thread. Curious to know what your experience has been? Have you had any issues in setting it up and running games, etc? Is this a good source of games? http://www.c64.com/

Can you please clarify this for an learning noob? I saw a comment on a YouTube video about people with an NTSC 64 having issues finding disk images online as most of them are for PAL. What is the best option for someone USA based? The only game I have is Radar Rat Race and that will get old fast! LOL Oh, I also have Munchmath on cassette....LOL And why are 64s so popular in Europe?

Thanks. I'll give it a shot and hope for the best.

Thanks for the information. I do plan to only use it with the C64. Retron Innovations seems a bit pricey for what you get in my opinion. It was worth the look. I might just pay a little extra and ship one in from England.

I just got a like new C64 and looking for the best and fastest way to start playing some games. I've learned a little about the SD2IEC and it seems like you can only really get them from overseas. I have no real issue with that other than the shipping charges. Anyone have a USA source? Preferably one of those that looks like a mini 1541?

I've never been a fan of variants in any hobby. Although at least in the case of Atari games, I really don't think it was done intentionally like it is for comic books. But I have a soft spot for Raiders of the Lost Ark as it was one of the first games I ever solved! I don't remember if it was before or after my perfect score in Pitfall. After all, it was over 30 years ago!!

Can I get a little help on what exactly to search for when I'm on one of those sites? Also, are there any other items, other than the caps that I replaced, that I might try?

Is it X200? It appears to be grey on mine. [/url]">http://http://s1153.photobucket.com/user/Zeppo1989/media/Composite%20Upgrade/20170302_174948_zpswabniwyl.jpg.html'> It says on it 3.579545 NAC CO-16010. What is it called exactly so I can ask for one at Radio Shack?

Replace the chips?

I will give it a shot and report back. Just need to find someone that still has a VCR!

Ahh...makes sense. Hence why an AV should be good for such a thing.

What do you mean by self induced noise?

Did yours also have ghosting? I absolutely hate the way the picture looks on the AV mod. Arguably the picture is better on my RF unit. I need to see if I can borrow a stand alone VCR since the AV input on the TV with a built in VCR and DVD may not be accomplishing what you are getting from a stand alone VCR.

What part is this on the board? I'm still a novice. Could this be tested by swapping chips with another unit?

It is a 4 switch unit. Rev 13 board. RF removed. Composite mod installed. Resistor underneath attached to pins 6 and 9. I did as you said and have little to no issue with any non-Activision carts. I pushed forward and backward with Asteroids in there and only when I pulled it half way out did it finally fault. Freeway took several times to get going but once it boots it plays just fine. I cleaned the heck out of the slot and the cartridge. I like your theory about the thin boards but they seem to play fine once booted. And once booted I can push and pull and it won't glitch. Any other thoughts?

Still trying to nail this power up issue down. I welcome any additional feedback to troubleshoot this. And I have yet to hear from anyone on the Pitfall sound issue. I have 2 different Pitfall carts now, and the only sound I get on the CRT is running into logs. Swinging, falling, dying....no sounds. But if I hook up to an LCD TV, I hear everything. I have not yet completely ruled out a possible soldering issue but since it seems to mostly only happen on Activision carts, I'm thinking soldering isn't the problem. However, what resistor specifically are you referring to? When I did the composite mod, I completely removed the RF unit, the transistor 202, and resistor R209. I also removed the tall pink (I forget what it's called) but it's used for RF. I also added a resistor underneath the board to pins 6 and 9. Is that done for either RF or composite? I do as of today. I purchased a second Pitfall and also Freeway. They seem to have by far those most problems. I put them in and they'll start right up on occasion. So I switched on and off in rapid succession and they'd be fine for some but then go on a run of like 12 times glitching and then it'd work again. I tested Donkey Kong (Coleco), Survival Run (Parker Bros. I think), Frogs & Flies (Mattel), Cosmic Ark (Imagic), as well as Space Invaders and Superman. All of the rest except Superman I would say had no issues. Superman had a couple but excluding the Activision titles I'd say 95% of the time the other titles came on as expected. What do you think is the issue with Activision since you mentioned it specifically?

I'm sorry that the caps replacement didn't work for you. I just can't get happy with the picture via RF or composite. I guess when I was a kid playing my 2600 on a black and white TV I didn't give much thought to the video quality. While I can play on both my composite mod unit and my 2 RF units, I'm going to upgrade one of them to RGB so I can get as perfect of a picture as I can out of it. I just like HD too much now to have to compromise too much. I totally appreciate those that don't want to mod their system but I guess there's those that like to keep their vintage cars as close to original as possible and there are others that make street rods out of them. As long as there are enough to go around. Honestly, I think someone might be able to make some money creating some RF cables for the Atari. I suggest using the best shielded cables available and having the short plug on the one end. It won't be original but you wouldn't need to mod the unit since you could always swap them back.

And the only Activision cart I have is Pitfall. It has the same power on issues but also has a sound issue only on my CRT. When it does come on you don't get any sounds except when you run into a log. What's weird is on the LCD the sound works fine.

Which one is that? Would the one that I added to pins 6 and 9 make a difference? Is that only for RF units and not for composite?

The good news is that I was able to reinstall the switches with the springs in them! So I can say with absolute certainty that dirty or gunky switches is most definitely not the problem with powering up. It still only powers on correctly about 1/3 of the time give or take. When it does power on correctly it seems to run fine although I have left it running for more than it takes to play a game of Ms Pacman. I tested the new voltage regulator. I get readings of 4.9-4.92 on the bottom prong and anywhere from 10.37 to 10.54 on the top prong and it doesn't seem to matter if it kicks on properly or not. What else can I try?

Any reason you couldn't put a dab of super glue on the non-compression side of the spring to keep it in place? Or is that the cowards way out? Lol

I cleaned all the contacts with Brasso and soaked them in alcohol. All the copper contacts are nice and shiny and clean from any and all gunk. Now, anyone have any tips on getting them back on there again?! Basically I got them off by loosening one side and pried them off without too much trouble. So now one side is still curved and I was thinking of straightening the other side and rolling the contact back on. Probably need to hold it upside down in order to do so. Anyone else have a method they've used that might help?

What would be my best 'one off' solution if I was only concerned with my 2600? Aside from an outright emulator what would be the best way to get the best picture? I appreciate the feedback.