Hank Rearden

The voltage regulator was replaced. Can I just trim down another RCA cable or should I go online and search for one? Best Electronics I think is sold out.

I have fond memories of: Pitfall Raiders of the Lost Ark Space Invaders (invisible) Asteroids Superman Combat Dodge'em Frogger Yars Revenge Circus Atari Can't wait to play Space Rocks and Pacman 4k or 8k!

If I still have similar picture quality issues after replacing all of the capacitors and installed the resistor, can it be anything other than the old RF cable preventing me from getting a nice clean picture? Is there anything else I can try other than eliminating RF altogether and installing the composite upgrade kit I have?

I replaced all the caps and added the resistor on the one board and still have the jail bars. And the picture looks way better on the LCD TV than on the CRT TV. Pitfall is horrible on the CRT but playable on the LCD. Donkey Kong is more or less fine on either but probably because of the black background. I'm going to do the composite upgrade maybe this weekend and eliminate the RF altogether. Hopefully that will do the trick.

Guess it's not an exact science. Just really want it to look good.

I could do that but I have gold plated ports and don't want to have the cord hanging out.

Anyone have a link to a template for drilling the AV holes? If no template, how far apart minimum on center should they be? I have a 4 switch, are there pros and cons for having them centered versus front right or left? I want a solid plan before drilling holes. Thanks

For the spring try Best Electronics. They have an online Atari supply store.

Is it possible to get pics of exactly where to place the resistor on the chip? Just want to make sure I get it right. Thanks.

Just ordered 2 kits!

Nope! That would be my own doing for online purposes. I know my knowledge does not do this great character justice but I try.

Well alright then. I will order up a set of new 21st century capacitors and add on the one resistor and hope for the best. I will do some before and after pics and report back.

So all of those resistors are likely of no concern regarding my picture quality? Whereas even a capacitor that may appear operable could be causing picture quality problems?

I posted the figures for the voltage regulator and they are the same on both units and both units do work but don't output perfect pictures. I may have misspoke by saying they are in spec since I don't know what they are supposed to read. I'm more than willing to dig into replacing the 5 caps and voltage regulator along with adding the resistor as suggested. I'm just trying to understand how/why those items will improve my picture when there are still many other old items on that board. I gather resistors have a longer shelf life? I do eventually want to upgrade at least one of the unit to composite but want to maximize the picture on RF first.

Why replace caps that are still on spec?

Not a nice way to talk about yourself. Lol How much for a kit.

Anyone have this in a kit? I have 2 units that could use updates. Check my RF thread.

As requested I'm attaching pics of the board bottoms. Please keep in mind I am very much a novice at this and greatly appreciate the help. I want to get these 2 running optimally and want to learn in the process. That being said, I'm starting to get the hang of the multimeter...at least as far as the A203 Regulator is concerned. Rev 13 board is the one with the vertical line problem. Both boards seem to have ghosting problems. The A203 regulator reads 4.9 - 0 - 9.1 volts with the setting at 200v and 5.04 - 0 - 9.07 set at 20v on the meter. Rev 14 board The A203 regulator reads 4.9 - 0 - 9.0 when set at 200v and 5.05 - 0 - 9.15 set at 20v on the meter. Seems like they are either both good of both bad. Thoughts at this point?

Apologies for not properly breaking up the quote. I'll see if I can edit it. Here are pics from both units. I don't see resistor between pins 6 and 9.

Thanks for the tips. Need a new multimeter. Heading out to get one then will run those tests and report back.

I have 2 units and both have picture quality issues. On the first one with the vine there are vertical lines that don't go away. I've tried both channels and different cables and messed with color on TV and the potentiometer. I don't have the right size bit to adjust the RF itself. On both units it appears I have bad ghosting. Shouldn't the trunks of the trees be solid? I've seen screenshots of really clear pics. I plan to do a composite mod on the unit with vertical lines. Might that help? Thoughts and suggestions would be appreciated.

Could they have expanded to 8k back in the day and just didn't? Did it have everything to do with cost? Or is it just time and patience finally got us to a decent 2600 Pac Man.

Novice question. I see that the 4k cartridge is available in the Atari store. Is it possible to put the 8k onto a cartridge? Or is that only for an emulator? I'd greatly appreciate a link to an explanation of the differences in 4k and 8k and the ability of the original unit. I do want to understand.

Just started play Atari after many years. My teenage son and I had a blast playing Dodgem! Would make a great tournament game.