Paul Sernine

Not at all, but i've been awfully busy this days (In fact I have two more designs 95% finished. They'll get posted soon). My goal is to make designs for all my unboxed carts, buy I'm taking it easy, my spare time is very little. missioncontrol, that's very good job with the frogger box. About the megadrive boxes tutorial, yes these are cartboard while the originals where plasticmade. The autor is not making replicas but custom designs based on the japonesse versions of the original boxes. The templates seems to exists, though they are not published with the article, if someone is interested i could contact the author (i'm afraid he doesn't speak english).

I've been making more templates, Solaris and Rampage this time: Edit: I've modified the original post, to include thumbnails and download links.

This kind of box looks a little more tricky but I'm sure is factible.

I was unnaware of that. I owned an original Parker Frogger but it was many years ago. In fact I had to figure out the side parts, as I was unnable to find a single photo of the box.

I can't believe you're seriously thinking about someone selling replicated boxes as if it were original. When I said "You could actually frame someone into thinking that the game is brand new" I was refering to the game as beeing displayed on a shelf, when you take a closer look and grab it in your hand, you instantly notice it´s not a original box. The original ones didn't have plastic covers. If someone wants to place a photo of a faked box on ebay, he doesn't need to go through all this trouble. It is simple enought to figure it out how to do it, without the need of any tutorials. I usually buy loose carts, and when I can find boxed ones, the casing is usually in pretty bad shape. That's the reason why I made this tutorial, to replace damaged or missing boxes, I'm sure it will be used for that alone. I was planning to release the gimp sources and the final bmp's, for people to print their own boxes, but if anyone finds it inappropriate please say so, I wouldn't want to be inconvenient

Hello folks. First of all, i don´t know if anything similar has been posted before but I think it's worth mentioning. Some weeks ago, after reading this superb tutorial on how to create custom megadrive boxes, I started thinking about recreating replicas of original Atari 2600 boxes for all those spare carts that are missing one. With this method, you can build almost perfect original game boxes. It´s fairly easy to do and the result is really good. You could actually frame someone into thinking that the game is brand new. All the handywork is made at home, no need for comercial printing. Here are the materials. - A color printer, and optionally a scanner. - Photo paper for inkjet printers. - Gross paper, at least 350 mg/m2. - Aironfix (plastic transparent auto-adhesive cover). - Cutter and scissors. - Special glue for paper (I'm using 3M Photo Mount with superb results) - Standar glue. We'll start from designing the cartridge box. You can use these templates for The Gimp or build your own. The use of the gimp or other programs exceeds the reach of this tutorial. But let's just say that pasting and resizing the box scans from atariage will not get us a very good result. Some degree of editing is needed. If you are not good at editing images, you can always print the ones that i have already done I'll be posting the final bmps ready to be printed once I get some free space on my FTP. If you take a look at The Gimp Templates I´m using, you'll see there is a layer which contains the set of lines wich are going to be used as a guide for cutting and folding. They are printed at 50% of transparency, you can change that if the lines result too obvious in the printout. The next step is printing the designs at the topmost quality of your printer, and in glossy photo paper if possible. Next, we need to glue together the photo paper over the gross paper. I strongly recommend using 3M Photo mount or any other equivalent adhesive in spray, as prior tests I made with other types of glue where unsuccesfull. We do this procedure for the front and back parts. Ok, next we cover the two glued surfaces with the plastic auto-adhesive cover. We use a flat object like a rule to push over the surface as we go, to make sure we leave no air bubbles between the paper and the cover. Now we're all set to cut the paper. I like to use scissors, but in some cases the cutter is more convenient, it all dependes on the gross of the paper used and the thickness of the blade. Once it's done, we are going to mark the lines where the material needs to be folded. We do this with the aid of a rule, and a round-borded object. Our goal is to create a depression without damaging the plastic cover, which will serve as a guide to bend the paper. Here im using the rounded side of the scissors, but any not sharp, round borded object will do just fine. I strongly recommend to do a previous test in any spare part of the paper. The next step is to fold the front cover where needed, we repeat the above steps for the back cover as well. It´s time to build the internal support that will keep the cartridge in place. There is also a template for that in the package. You can print this on a less gross paper if your printer shall accept it, or build it from scrach. This frame must be glued to the back part of the box, and then the front part is glued by the sides to the back part. You can use standar glue for this, a pair of drops in the correct places will do the trick just fine. Once the glue is dry, we only need to put the tabs in place and voila!, we obtain a nearly identical clone of an original Atari 2600 box. No more standalone cartridges stored on drawers, we can display our collection as it is meant to be. This method can also be used to replace damaged original boxes. Using a scanner at 300ppi and the gimp template provided, it should be easy to achieve. Another shot of the second cartbox i made, combat. Besides, an original (but very damaged) Desert Falcon box. Here's another shot were you can actually see the editing process the original atariage scan has undergone: Backpart: Hope you find it usefull. PD: This tutorial is based on Lord Hiryu's Build your own sega megadrive boxes (in spanish) PD2: I´m using the metric system for measures. The gross of the paper in Europe is measured in mg/m2, if you don´t know which kind of paper to choose, try using an original 2600 box as reference. You should use the paper which aproximates best. Also take into acount that the photo paper and the plastic cover provides extrar thikness no the final result. PD3: This project would have never been possible without the Astonishing carts database on Atariage, thanks a lot Downloads Combat: Frogger: Solaris: Rampage: (no download yet)

Hello again. Sorry for the lack of updates, but I was on vacation. Anyway here I am again with renewed determination to fix the composite video circuit. Yesterday I bought all the required parts and put the circuit together, today i have tested it to discover I get sound, but no video at all This is a close up of the circuit, could someone please review this ? I don´t know where the flaw may be. Perhaps the resistor is not in the correct position? the golden band is looking to the output of the circuit. I have used the NTSC pin-out as reference, and soldered the cables directly to the TIA chip, (including chroma, as I was unable to follow the track of pin 9 to the first capacitor). The connections are as follows: Black cable ---> Pin 5 (LUM1) Pink cable ---> Pin 7 (LUM2) Violet cable ---> Pin 8 (LUM0) Red cable ---> Pin 2 (CSYNC) Yellow Cable ---> Pin 9 (COLOR) White Cable ---> GND (to the metal plate) Green Cable ---> Pins 12 and 13 (Audio) As you can see, Video signals are joined together just before entering the RCA Cable, The same ground is used for audio and video. As for the potentiometers, i have mounted them acording to this picture: Chances are that, inexpert as i am, I made some stupid mistake with the circuit. Otherwise the pin-out of my TIA chip is not like the NTSC one, and i´m left to the "test and error" method to determine the correct location of the LUM pins. Any help will be much appreciated, I need a morale boost right now

I´m a bit puzzled right now. You´d probably noticed i have mistaken the TIA, for the RIOT. The part number on the chip gave me the clue, so forget about the pictures above since they are useless. When I gave a second glance at the real TIA chip (TSU C010444-11D) first thing I noticed was that it´s part number was very similar to the NTSC one. Second thing was that pins 12 and 13 were soldered together. Just to be sure, I have connected a RCA cable to pins 13-12, and grouded it to the metal plate (no soldering here, just sticky tape), then plugged the RCA conector on to my TV set, and what did i get ?? SOUND :!: It is correct, it is a NTSC Stella Chip What is it doing on a SECAM board ?, beats me !. Is this really a SECAM board ? I dunno, only clue I have is the "-S" after the model number. It should be "-P" for PAL or "-N" for NTSC. I´ll keep you posted.

Ignorant as i am, i´m not even able to identify the TIA chip. I have two 40 pined chips on the board, allow me to introduce them. This one reads: TSU C010444-11D And this other one: C010750-12 I´m asuming that the TIA chip is the second one. Well, i have been following the paths on the circuit board. And this are the results: TIA -------------------------------> Component ______________________________________ Pin 8 (PAL-I) ---------------------> C223 (rightmost side) Pin 9 (Color) ---------------------> C222 (rightmost side) Pin 12 (PAL-S) -------------------> C219 (leftmost side) Pin 13 (AUD-0) ------------------> C218 (leftmost side) In the following pictures, spots marked with the red circle are directly coming from the TIA. am I wrong or all this capacitors seem to be directly connected to ground on the other side ? I´m unable to follow the path further. Relating to PAL-I and PAL-S, right at this thread I read: I´ll keep investigating, just want to be as sure as posible of the soldering spots are correct before going for the soldering iron. Regards.

A.J. Franzman, many many thanks. That´s all i needed to know. I will go for method one. Tomorrow i will be locating the first capacitor coneccted directly to pin 9 of the TIA to use it as input for the chroma signal. Just a silly question more. What would the result be if i take the chroma just directly from pin 9 of the TIA, before it reachs the other side of the capacitor ? just curious about that. If i happen to be the first to make this mod on a SECAM board, i´ll have my work documented for others to follow. I´ll keep you posted.

Here I go again. Well, i´ve finally found the PAL TIA pin-out (it was right in this forum, by the way). TIA PAL TIA NTSC My idea is to construct the following circuit, replacing the NTSC TIA pins with it´s corresponding PAL TIA equivalent. I Have LUM0, LUM1, and LUM2 located on pins 7,5 and 6. Also I have CSYNC on pin 2 like in the NTSC version. But i´m still needing the chroma signal to feed the circuit, sadly i still don´t know where to get it at this link i read: However this doesn´t stand true for my board, I´ve looked for Capatitor 210 and Resistor 210 and they aren´t even near each other. So i´m stuck here, whith no chroma signal. My second option, is to construct this other circuit which doesn´t look like it needs chroma to function (i´m a litle puzzled about that): link Luma signals 0,1,2 are fed into the circuit, along with CSYNC and a +5 V signal which, i believe, can be obtained from pin 20 of the TIA (please correct me if wrong). Nevertheless, by following this method I need to crush some of the resistors already in the board in order to make it work. I don´t know which ones need to be removed (becouse my board is totally different) so here i´m stuck again. Basically what i need to know is wether there is a way in which i could locate te chroma signal on my board so I can use method one. Or alternativelly if the second method would work without removing the resistors on the board. Audio it´s a whole different story, i don´t even know where to get it. Does the TIA carry audio too, or is it managed elsewhere?. Again thaks for the help, it´s much appreciated.

Hello, thanks for your reply. You´re right, SECAM system only applies to France and it´s former colonies. I live in Spain so I suppose the console was bought across the border. I agree with you, finding a proper replacement for the RF unit would be nearly impossible. I shoud stick to the composite video mod, but haven´t find so far a document explaing how to do this modification on a PAL console. I don´t think the RF modulator is servicable no more, the broken choke is impossible to adjust (the photo may lead to error, it appers to be in better shape than it really is) as the coil is almost gone and the little screw falls apart whenever touched. Adjusting it from the bottom. might be possible but i have to de-solder de unit first, maybe this weekend I find the time to do it. Anyway, I still think my better option is the composite video mod. I´ll keep searching, if anyone has information regarding PAL consoles please follow up. Again, thanks very much for the reply.

Hello folks. My name is Paul Sernine, i´m a videogame and console collector that have allways been very fond of owning an Atari 2600 system witch are quite rare where i live. I have finally have, and hope to be around this boards to extend my knowledge of the system. However, I need help with my new toy. it´s RF modulator is not functioning, and i´m unable to find the correct soldering spots for the composite video hack. I´ll better tell you the story from the begining. I have recently come across an Atari 2600 witch acording to his previous owner was not functioning properly, the problem beeing he was not able to see a clear image on the screen. A first inspection of the console, leads me to think that is is a SECAM one (the stiker bellow says: "MODEL 2600CX-S", S standing for secam, i suppose). I live in a PAL region, so i figured out that there was no misfunction whith the console at all, and the problem was the user conecting it to a non secam capable monitor. After serious testing, whith the console connected to my PC capture card (whitch supports all kinds of SECAM), I am still unable to see a clear picture. Game below is Frogger. Next thing I do, is try to adjust the potentiometers in the RF modulator, but then i find one of the potentiometers is badly damaged. I take for granted that it was broken by the prior owner, during a frustrating attempt to make the image show up on a PAL TV set. In the image is the one pointed by the arrow. Then I decide to say goodbye to RF and go for the composite video hack, but after reading a whole bunch of tutorials, i find myself unable to simply identify my board. It´s a "four switch wooden front" but the board doesn´t even look close to none of the photos i´ve seen on the internet. A photo of my board can be seen below. Another option, would be to replace the damaged RF modulator. I don´t know if this can be achived easily, the modulator comes attached to the board by three soldering spots with no label at all, so i assume it should be posible to replace it with a similar one, either buyed new or recicled from an old VCR, I even have a broken down Genesis around whose RF modulator i could borrow. My ignorance is great, the potentiall replacemente for the RF modulator would be a PAL one ¿will it work on a secam console? In fact, i don´t even know if the console will work with the cartridges I have (which should be PAL). Are the 2600 cartridges region specific? Any help identifying my board or rf modulator would be greatly appreciated. Thanks in advance for all the help. PD: As you probably noticed, english is not my mother lenguage, so please spare the typos i certainly made, hope the text makes sense.