Super Pong power supply

[Zoyx]

Just got a Tele-games Super Pong (same as Atari super pong). No AC adapter. From googling, looks like I need a 6V adapter. The problem is, I don't know how the positive and negative were aligned. Anyone know? Thanks.

[BassGuitari]

Just got a Tele-games Super Pong (same as Atari super pong). No AC adapter. From googling, looks like I need a 6V adapter. The problem is, I don't know how the positive and negative were aligned. Anyone know? Thanks.

 

I can't really answer your question specifically, but IIRC an Atari 2600 power supply works fine. I know they work fine on my Sears Telegames Pong and Atari Super Pong Pro-Am 10. And off the top of my head, the Atari 2600 power supply is 9V, so I don't know where that 6V business is coming from.

 

Otherwise, you could use batteries...but I can see why that might not be an attractive option.

[Zoyx]

Two different sources said 6V. I'll try my atari 2600 adapter this evening, unless someone comes along and tells me that's stupid.

[+Mitch]

I believe the early pong systems used 6V and the later ones 9V. If I remember correctly Super Pong used 6V.

 

Mitch

[Zoyx]

Got the Super Pong up and running last night. Garbled screen. For brief flashes the playfield would focus. I am getting sound. My googling has turned up nothing on fixing it. I took it apart and inspected it, everything seemed in order. There was even some adjustment screws, but they didn't seem to do anything. Any clues on how to fix this?

[+Mitch]

What did you end up using for power?

 

Mitch

[Zoyx]

One of those universal AC adapters... you can adjust the voltage and polarity.

[+Mitch]

So how much voltage did you use.

 

Mitch

[Zoyx]

6V

[+Mitch]

You may want to try it with batteries, some power suppplies don't supply clean enough power for it to work properly.

 

Mitch

[Zoyx]

Tried batteries... same thing. I wouldn't be surprised if there was something "dirtying-up" the power in the unit.

[+Mitch]

Hmm, if it has the same issue with batteries than it's probably not a power issue. Have you tried it with a different TV?

 

Mitch

[Zoyx]

I found a hex screw to adjust. I got a playfield, but it was wavy with a few leftover artifacts. I think that is the best I am going to do.

[Zoyx]

Declaring my super pong a brick. Any recommendations for what I can do with the remains? Maybe put some plants in it? Aquarium?

 

I just bought Video Olympics for my 2600. That should suffice for my pong needs.

[fiddlepaddle]

This probably won't help, but I once got a "refurbished" Atari 2600 "new" and it had a power supply inside that said it was made for the Super Pong.

[Cassss]

I’m looking for a c-140 power supply and seeing lots of 9v options but no 6v ones which seems correct.  Can anyone who’s deep in Atari world confirm for me that I need the 6v and can not use the 9v from the 2600

[dendawg]

If there's a voltage regulator inside the Super Pong, the difference between 6 and 9 volts should be irrelevant (sp?)

[CatPix]

From what I see here :

 

There's nothing but a diode to drop the 6 V to 5V, so NO, don't ever use 9 volts on the Super Pong.

I would also recommand using a regulated power supply instead of a power brick.

Unfortunately there aren't many modern sources of 6V... I think old Nokia phone chargers were 6 volts; if you have the knowledge, you can replace the original tip by a mono jack (It's level 101 of electricity and soldering )

 

Edited January 15, 2021 by CatPix

[carlsson]

As a rule of thumb I learned to determine polarity: if you open it up and follow the wires on the power connector, the one that leads to huge areas of wide traces and entire pools should be negative (ground) while the one that usually ends in one or a few places and more narrow traces is the positive (6V).