SignGuy81

Yeah may be, I'm all out of ideas now I thought for sure that was going to be it after seeing the video with it jumped. Sorry you went through all that for nothing.

When I first got an Atari 2600 I got it with quite a few games but the one I remember playing the most was River Raid.

yeah I figured you would know off hand though because I saw a post the other day about changing out a cap with something else with one from it but couldn't remember, then I remembered that they had the RF section schematics

That is probably just because it doesn't have a cap in it now to smooth it out. Just take the cap off the RF box, it is a 15pF with one lead tied to one of the transistor leads. Take the jumper out and place that cap in there and check. When you desolder that cap try not to hold heat on it very long. Add a little solder to it first with the iron or flux if you have any. Also you could take an alligator clip and hold on the lead close to the cap to help avoid heat damage but as long as you don't hold heat to long you should be fine.

I forgot they have schematics of the RF box on this website. There should be a 15pF cap you can try in its place from the RF box you removed. I think it should be near the transistor.

Is there a 22pF or cap near that value he can use instead from the RF box Osgeld?

Oh I wasn't suggesting buying it all I was trying to find some sort of reference for what one sells for on ebay still in box.

Yeah I believe I just said color but you are correct it is color burst.

Well, here is a cib heavy sixer for $149.99 on ebay http://www.ebay.com/itm/Atari-2600-Launch-Edition-Woodgrain-Console-NTSC-/112387207254?hash=item1a2accb056:g:mh0AAOSw4A5YzuXR EDIT: It appears it is a light sixer in a heavy sixer box. EDIT: I didn't realize this but I guess it could have still been the original box I guess they use that picture for all of them I just seen this one http://www.ebay.com/itm/Tested-Works-ATARI-2600-Wood-Grain-Original-Box-Complete-Joysticks-Paddles-/122434148533?hash=item1c81a4d8b5:g:ZPIAAOSwax5YrJPqshows a 4 switch with the bottom case of heavy six.

Looking at the schematic and the board the 22pF and the 6.8k ohm resistor that are in series are opposite of what they show on the schematic, and I guess that is why they have the "S" shaped line there to show it was a mix up. This cap is now right beside that 15k ohm resistor that you first removed. Did you just clip the the lead of the resistor or apply head with soldering iron and remove. I'm wondering because you already mentioned you damaged one cap and wondering if perhaps the 22pF(C211) may have had heat applied to it too long. This can easily happen since it is right next to it and the trace goes right over too it. You may even notice too when either desoldering or soldering one of those resistors that the solder will melt on one beside it where it is so close to the other. The heat travels right too it. So if left on too long that cap could have some thermal damage. Reason I'm asking is this is right in line from the color output. I would place a jumper across that cap temporarily to see if anything changes. If so change the cap.

Has he already given you a price?

Okay I get the point guys, lol. I don't recall ever having to buy a betamax to see any particular movie I wanted however, or an HD DVD player even though I did have one of those back in the day.

Can you show the back side of the board also and also the mod board you have there.

Just watched your video. You are using a 300ohm to 75ohm balun, running 75ohm cable into the 300ohm input. Can you find an actual RCA to Coax adapter? Or if you have a TV/Game switch could you use it. If that is the same board from the first pic in your post though I believe your main problem is that 4.7uF capacitor because I didn't even see solder joints under it both points were completely black it looked to me from the pic.

That red wire in your pic that you used for ground. It looks to me like it is just sitting on top of the blob of solder on the board as if it may have broken off, or it could just be the way I'm looking at it not sure. Can you send pic of whole board both sides and including your mod board.

Yeah I didn't even think about that, so you may have problem elsewhere. Reason is that when you have resistors in parallel the total resistance is always less than the smallest resistance, so it really doesn't matter the resistance there is going to be around 3.3k anyway but slightly less, so putting the 15k ohm back in won't make much difference so yeah you should probably start looking at something else. You said you already checked your black and white switch correct? EDIT: I just did the math it works out to be a little more than slightly less than 3.3k it would actually be 2.7k ohms with the 15k and the 3.3k in parallel but sure you get my point and I believe your problem is elsewhere.

My apologies for not taking a look at your pic to start with but at least with the atari you showed the pic of you need to remove the electrolytic capacitor 4.7uF near the RF box. Take some alcohol and a scotch pad and clean the traces around it. Also another tool I use for that is a small drill bit with a hand held holder hobby drill holder, and clean the holes out. The electrolytic cap has started leaking and has eaten away at your board. That is causing problems on that unit. Make sure it is completely clean so it doesn't continue to eat away at the traces. From the looks of them now I can tell that when you put the new cap in you will probably have to bend the leads back and solder them to the traces on the board to get a good connection on the backside. Also don't press it down all the way to the board on the front side so you can also make sure you have good solder flow on that side as well(you may want to solder from that side as well too, the pipes are probably eaten away). EDIT: Go ahead and remove and replace all those electrolytic caps and scrape, scrub traces where needed.

Here is the link where I got my caps that DrVenkman mentioned. http://www.ebay.com/itm/100-Pcs-DC-100V-0-1uF-Polyester-Film-2A104J-Capacitor-0-5-x-0-3-x-0-2-TS-/172288217132?hash=item281d2d902c:g:VLwAAOSw4GVYIqki They shipped extremely fast and at $2 free shipping good deal.

Just wanted to make sure I had a good understanding of everything you've tried. Sorry if I seemed rude any. It just seems extremely strange to me getting 4 units at once which all have the same exact RF static problem on 3 different TVs, but anything is possible.

Okay this is what I'm thinking correct me if I'm wrong. You either don't have 3 original RF cables for the atari or you don't have a GAME/TV switch? So to test them you just use a regular RG59 or RG6 cable with one end cut holding the wires to the solder joints where the RF out is making sure to connect at the right joints? That can be the source of your RF interference right there, holding the wires up to it, and also even if you were doing it in a manner where you aren't touching the wires you still don't have a good, solid connection by doing that. Almost better off using a crappy RCA cable set like I described above, but only if you had an RF to coax adapter or a GAME/TV switch which I don't believe you have either of at the moment.

Positive, I looked at the schematic. As a matter of fact it is in series with the resistor you were supposed to remove anyway and that cap would have no affect on anything with that resistor(R209) removed anyway.

What do you mean by wired up straight from the solder points on the main board? Did you cut your RF cables and soldered to the board. Should be no need to do that. Did you also just try plugging the RF cable in where it goes? If you really want to block out as much interference as possible instead you could drill out a quarter inch hole in the RF box(or widen the top one that is already there) and mount an A/V jack there and cut the trace that leads back out to the main board, but that little bit it travels on the board before the RF jack I don't think would be a big issue. And by 3 different cables do you mean you tried 3 original Atari RF cables or did you instead try an A/V cable set with the yellow, red, and white. The reason I ask is because some of them are cheap and have absolutely no shielding at all, just the center lead with insulation and then the ground outside(not surrounding the inner leads insulation) traveling up inside the outer insulation. Usually the cheap A/V cables like this are very thin and you can tell they are cheap. I just wanted to make sure that wasn't what you were using to test and to see if you meant by 3 cables you meant that you received actual atari RF cables.

Yes, you should instead remove resistor 209, and transitor 202 for the NTSC 4 switch models but not necessary according to instructions. Don't worry about C209 that is on the output of the audio and won't affect your color, and I'm assuming since you have sound you tie into the audio before that point so you are fine. Just put the 15k ohm resistor back in place and recheck it is from the point you connect for your video in on your mod to ground and should probably be there.

Seeing as all your Ataris have the exact same problem with RF I would try a different TV if you haven't already. Not saying though that it isn't possible for all of them to have bad RF as they are old machines, but i would try that first to rule out a bad TV or VCR tuner you may have possibly have it hooked into. And $200 for 3 Ataris sounds really high to me. That's over $66 a console. I'm assuming you got them to maybe clean up and repair and make money off of right seeing as you have so many or really just like having one in every room not sure but I feel you paid too much, unless they came with a lot of extras. EDIT: Just realized you mentioned trying it on 3 TVs already, my bad. Are you using the same TV/GAME switch on every Atari(if you aren't using an RF to coax adapter)? If so this could be your culprit. Take it apart and check the switch contacts, if bad just bypass them with wire and solder(then just leave switch slid to game position) and should fix problem if that is what the problem is. I did mine like this then wrapped it in foil tape. I'm not saying the other guy is wrong as that can very well be possibilities just giving you something else to check for seeing as issue with all systems.

Yeah, I thought that was kinda messed up. Imagine if back in the day all the VCR manufactures designed there own style cassettes that would only work in there systems and and made it to where you had to by multiple VCRs to play the movies you want due to deals like that. Glad they were standard.