Atari 2600 PAL and sound

[Yannis_uno]

Hi guys,

 

I would like your help please. I have a PAL 2600 and when I connect it on my TV (Sony) using the typical RCA cable I get a picture but the sound is covered with interference. The problem is that I cannot lock to a channel frequency where the picture and sound are perfect. Is this normal with new TV sets or it is a problem of my Atari 2600? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

Best regards,

Yannis

[Spirantho]

I would like your help please. I have a PAL 2600 and when I connect it on my TV (Sony) using the typical RCA cable I get a picture but the sound is covered with interference. The problem is that I cannot lock to a channel frequency where the picture and sound are perfect. Is this normal with new TV sets or it is a problem of my Atari 2600? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

 

Is your TV NTSC or PAL? If it's NTSC then no, you won't be able to without twiddling a knob inside your Atari (and even then the colours will be all wrong).

 

If your TV is PAL then you may still need to twiddle the knob a bit. It'll be either a flat translucent plastic thing with a screwdriver hole in the top, or else a tall red pillar which you need to turn the graphite core of (carefully! Preferably with a plastic key).

[Yannis_uno]

I would like your help please. I have a PAL 2600 and when I connect it on my TV (Sony) using the typical RCA cable I get a picture but the sound is covered with interference. The problem is that I cannot lock to a channel frequency where the picture and sound are perfect. Is this normal with new TV sets or it is a problem of my Atari 2600? Thank you in advance for your help.

 

 

Is your TV NTSC or PAL? If it's NTSC then no, you won't be able to without twiddling a knob inside your Atari (and even then the colours will be all wrong).

 

If your TV is PAL then you may still need to twiddle the knob a bit. It'll be either a flat translucent plastic thing with a screwdriver hole in the top, or else a tall red pillar which you need to turn the graphite core of (carefully! Preferably with a plastic key).

 

 

Hi,

 

thanks for the reply. My TV is PAL. The knob you are talking about helps tune the Atari to achieve better picture AND sound? From your description I understand that the knob is actually a POT(?). Where exactly is it located (i.e. left or right hand side from top view)? So nothing is wrong with my Atari right?

 

Best regards,

Yannis

[MiKOTRON]

The knob you are talking about helps tune the Atari to achieve better picture AND sound?

 

The inductor controls the sound. You'll need an allen wrench to adjust it. Be really careful doing so or it'll break. If that works out for you then great you're good to go. If it doesn't help then you'll probably need to change the 50V 820 picofarad polystyrene film capacitors on the motherboard.

[MiKOTRON]

Oh yeah before you go around messing with the insides of your 2600, are you using the RF switch box? If so, get one of those RCA to F-connector adapters and get rid of the RF switch box.

[Spirantho]

Oh yeah before you go around messing with the insides of your 2600, are you using the RF switch box? If so, get one of those RCA to F-connector adapters and get rid of the RF switch box.

 

No, whatever you do don't get an RCA to F-connector. That'd be pretty pointless on a UK TV.

 

On all but the earliest VCS machines in the UK, the connector is a standard aerial lead, you can just bypass the switchbox directly. One very early VCS I have has a phono connector and matching switchbox, the rest are all normal co-ax.

 

The knob is a pot, yes, (it's short for potentiometer). It may make the picture better because it changes the position of the sound signal relative to the video signal. If your sound signal is too close to your picture signal you'll get interference on both.

 

How good is your picture quality? If it's poor, you might just need a signal booster (£10-£15 from Argos kind of thing).

[Yannis_uno]

Oh yeah before you go around messing with the insides of your 2600, are you using the RF switch box? If so, get one of those RCA to F-connector adapters and get rid of the RF switch box.

 

No, whatever you do don't get an RCA to F-connector. That'd be pretty pointless on a UK TV.

 

On all but the earliest VCS machines in the UK, the connector is a standard aerial lead, you can just bypass the switchbox directly. One very early VCS I have has a phono connector and matching switchbox, the rest are all normal co-ax.

 

The knob is a pot, yes, (it's short for potentiometer). It may make the picture better because it changes the position of the sound signal relative to the video signal. If your sound signal is too close to your picture signal you'll get interference on both.

 

How good is your picture quality? If it's poor, you might just need a signal booster (£10-£15 from Argos kind of thing).

 

Thanks both of you for your replies. Yes, the connector is a standard aerial lead which I connect directly from the Atari to my PAL TV. The picture quality seems ok to me, it's just the sound. I get absolutely no sound, just constant interference. By the way, do you have a picture showing the location of that pot I need to adjust? Would it be possible to upload it here for me to see? Thank you in advance for your time.

 

Best regards,

Yannis

[Spirantho]

Thanks both of you for your replies. Yes, the connector is a standard aerial lead which I connect directly from the Atari to my PAL TV. The picture quality seems ok to me, it's just the sound. I get absolutely no sound, just constant interference. By the way, do you have a picture showing the location of that pot I need to adjust? Would it be possible to upload it here for me to see? Thank you in advance for your time.

 

I don't have a picture to hand..... but if it's the later version, you won't be able to miss it (there aren't many tall-standing red pillars on the board ). If it's the older version it's still fairly obvious as it's quite large and turnable.

 

Be warned that some pots are glued, though, so you might need to remove the glue first. I don't think this one usually is, though.

 

If you're in doubt take a photo of your main board and we'll photoshop an arrow onto it for you.

[Yannis_uno]

Thanks both of you for your replies. Yes, the connector is a standard aerial lead which I connect directly from the Atari to my PAL TV. The picture quality seems ok to me, it's just the sound. I get absolutely no sound, just constant interference. By the way, do you have a picture showing the location of that pot I need to adjust? Would it be possible to upload it here for me to see? Thank you in advance for your time.

 

I don't have a picture to hand..... but if it's the later version, you won't be able to miss it (there aren't many tall-standing red pillars on the board ). If it's the older version it's still fairly obvious as it's quite large and turnable.

 

Be warned that some pots are glued, though, so you might need to remove the glue first. I don't think this one usually is, though.

 

If you're in doubt take a photo of your main board and we'll photoshop an arrow onto it for you.

 

Thanks Ian. I will attempt to tune my Atari and post back the outcome.

 

Best regards,

Yannis

[Yannis_uno]

Thanks both of you for your replies. Yes, the connector is a standard aerial lead which I connect directly from the Atari to my PAL TV. The picture quality seems ok to me, it's just the sound. I get absolutely no sound, just constant interference. By the way, do you have a picture showing the location of that pot I need to adjust? Would it be possible to upload it here for me to see? Thank you in advance for your time.

 

I don't have a picture to hand..... but if it's the later version, you won't be able to miss it (there aren't many tall-standing red pillars on the board ). If it's the older version it's still fairly obvious as it's quite large and turnable.

 

Be warned that some pots are glued, though, so you might need to remove the glue first. I don't think this one usually is, though.

 

If you're in doubt take a photo of your main board and we'll photoshop an arrow onto it for you.

 

Hi,

 

I finally opened up my Atari 2600 and tuned the chroma pot. Unfortunately, that didn't make any difference in the sound quality. Varying the pot's position changes the picture quality though (i.e. the colours). Instead of sound I am getting a constant hiss of interference Any ideas?

 

Regards,

Yannis

[Yannis_uno]

Hello again,

 

I forgot to mention that I bought this Atari 2600 from UK through Ebay and at the back label PAL-I is printed. Currently, I am trying to use the same Atari on a Greek PAL TV however I am not sure if it is PAL-I or not. I also found the following information in Wikipedia:

 

On RF (i.e via a Modulator or TV Aerial) the difference between I, D/H and B/G is audio. These use different audio subcarriers, so with mismatch on Modulator Settings or an imported TV there will be perfectly normal Colour Video, but possibly no audio.

 

Could this be the cause of the problem (i.e. not being able to hear any sound apart from interference)? Is there any workaround?

 

Thank you in advance for your time.

 

Regards,

Yannis

[Spirantho]

I forgot to mention that I bought this Atari 2600 from UK through Ebay and at the back label PAL-I is printed. Currently, I am trying to use the same Atari on a Greek PAL TV however I am not sure if it is PAL-I or not. I also found the following information in Wikipedia:

 

On RF (i.e via a Modulator or TV Aerial) the difference between I, D/H and B/G is audio. These use different audio subcarriers, so with mismatch on Modulator Settings or an imported TV there will be perfectly normal Colour Video, but possibly no audio.

 

Could this be the cause of the problem (i.e. not being able to hear any sound apart from interference)? Is there any workaround?

 

Yup, that's your problem right there. That's good. It means your Atari is almost certainly fine.

 

You do however need to open it up and twiddle the correct pot - that's the only difference between PAL-B and PAL-I.

 

[Edit: changed to say the correct pot! Not the Chroma one!!]

Edited July 10, 2007 by Spirantho

[Yannis_uno]

I forgot to mention that I bought this Atari 2600 from UK through Ebay and at the back label PAL-I is printed. Currently, I am trying to use the same Atari on a Greek PAL TV however I am not sure if it is PAL-I or not. I also found the following information in Wikipedia:

 

On RF (i.e via a Modulator or TV Aerial) the difference between I, D/H and B/G is audio. These use different audio subcarriers, so with mismatch on Modulator Settings or an imported TV there will be perfectly normal Colour Video, but possibly no audio.

 

Could this be the cause of the problem (i.e. not being able to hear any sound apart from interference)? Is there any workaround?

 

Yup, that's your problem right there. That's good. It means your Atari is almost certainly fine.

 

You do however need to open it up and twiddle the correct pot - that's the only difference between PAL-B and PAL-I.

 

[Edit: changed to say the correct pot! Not the Chroma one!!]

 

Hello,

 

thanks for the reply. I didn't notice any other pot in the motherboard. The chroma one was near the on/off power switch. Could you please indicate where is the other pot? Could it be under the top shielding? If yes, how can I remove the shielding?

 

Best regards,

Yannis

[alex_79]

Hello,

 

thanks for the reply. I didn't notice any other pot in the motherboard. The chroma one was near the on/off power switch. Could you please indicate where is the other pot? Could it be under the top shielding? If yes, how can I remove the shielding?

 

Best regards,

Yannis

It's a variable inductor, not a pot.

Check this topic.

[Yannis_uno]

Hi,

 

yup, tuning the inductor solved the sound problem. Thanks a lot!!

 

 

Best regards,

Yannis