600XL PAL S-video (chroma/luma)

[Level42]

All in all nothing really new in this information here, but I had to look long and hard and combine some info to be able to make a S-video (chroma/luma) output on my PAL Atari 600XL.

NOTE 1 => THIS MOD WILL REMOVE THE COMPOSITE VIDEO OUTPUT !!!!!

 

I see very little use in keeping it when you want to do the hassle of making an S-video output and I didn't want to make a switch like is suggested in the article.

 

NOTE 2 => I HAD ALREADY REMOVED THE RF-MODULATOR FROM THIS MACHINE.

 

SOOOOOO, IF YOU WANT TO KEEP EITHER COMPOSITE VIDEO OR RF-OUT, DO NOT PERFORM THIS MOD !!!!

 

Unlike the NTSC version, the PAL 600XL has a composite video output, but it still lacks S-video.

I wanted to use S-video since it is a lot better than composite, although I must say since I removed one capacitor from the video circuit, the composite picture was the best I had ever seen on any 8 bit machine.

 

I based this mod on the info I found in the old Super Video mod article here:

http://atarionline.pl/biblioteka/materialy_ksiazkowe/SuperVideo%2021XL%20oraz%20errata.pdf

 

(this contains quite a few errors on part numbers by the way...so beware...)

 

Also used info that I found in the schematics by Jerzy Sobola.

 

Preparation:

 

- get 4 150 Ohms resistors

- Take 2 of them and twist both legs together, do the same with the other 2 resistors.

- Cut one of the legs on each side so you will not have two leads on the ends.

- Solder the twisted parts.

- Pull some isolation over both sets (shrink tube is ideal) so that there is only still a small part of the leads sticking out on each side.

- put a little bit of solder on all ends of those resistor sets

 

Now the real work:

 

1 - Cut the PCB trace (on the solder side) between pin 2 and 5 of the video connector. Pin 5 is tied to Gnd by this pin and we don't want that. Use a multi meter in Ohms setting or "diode check" setting to confirm the trace is fully cut !!!

2 - Remove R137

3 - Remove C112

4 - Remove C109 and throw it away. This simple mod will dramatically improve picture quality.

Following steps on the solder side of the board:

5- Take one of the resistor sets and solder one end to the emitter of Q6

6 - solder the other end of that resistor set to Pin 1 of the video connector

7- take the other resistor set and solder one end to the emitter of Q9 (if you want you can use the soldering hole of C112 that you just removed, just be sure to take the correct one

8 - solder the other end of that resistor set to Pin 5 of the video connector

9- once again measure between pin 5 and 2 to make sure there is no full short between them (50 Ohms is OK).

 

 

I've tried a couple of the other suggestions in the article, but none did anything to the picture as far as my eyes could see, so I left them out to keep things simple.

 

Done.

 

Connect chroma and luminance to your monitor and power up.

You should have a very nice picture now.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Level42

[Level42]

One more little note: I could have used the former Composite output as the luminance output (so connecting that to pin 1) however, I measured R124 on my machine and it was 17 Ohms or so for some reason, not 75. Same was true for R137.....no idea why this was. Anyway, you could replace R124 with a 75 Ohm set like above and re-route the output of L12 but that would be at least as much work as what I suggested above.

 

You can also remove R124 and L12 if you want of course, they have no function anymore but I left them in.

Edited October 13, 2014 by Level42

[_The Doctor__]

I never thought I would miss composite, and rf out on a few of my Atari's as well, but when my NEC monitors blew one after the other I was soldering them back in so I could use them on what was available at the time.. what a PITA! That taught me to add to the Atari not strip from the Atari... this ideology has served me well ever since!

[Level42]

I've got enough A8 machines as back -up. Plus enough display devices as Back-up too

My main screen now is the Bang & Olufsen MX4000 but I also still have a Philips CM8833 (which Commodore sold as the 1084) and a Commodore 1702. All of these support S-video. Even if I run out of those options it's cheap enough to pick up another CRT with S-video input. I never want to see RF again in my life

[16/32]

Sorry about my reply about this older topic.. But i have replaced the capacitors like the picture above. Now i have a more clear image, But also it's in black & white.. no color anymore.

What did i do wrong?

[Roydea6]

Did you remember to cut the trace between Pin 5 and Pin 2??

[16/32]

Thx for the reply rdea6. Yes i cut the line between pin 2 and pin 5 i also measured with my multimeter.. image looks good, only no color.

[shoestring]

I did the svideo mod to my PAL 600xl too, maybe my post can help retrace your steps.

 

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/249515-supervideo-atari-600xl-pal/

[dakidski]

You can also use the UAV to s-video mod the PAL 600XL. That's what I did.

[repetto74]

Hi Guys,

 

I am attempting to do this mod for my Atari 600XL. I checked the guide given on this first thread but I cannot get any picture from the S-video input.

Could you please tell me which S-video cable do I need for the ATARI? I am actually using a 5 PIN DIN cable to SCART shared between my C64 and the ATARI 600XL which is working good. I tried then to use a selfbuilt 5 PIN DIN to S-Video input cable (originally done for S-video on the Vic-20) but I cannot get any picture. Now with the scart cable I still have a picture but it is black & white after the mod.

Any idea??

[+tf_hh]

Was the DIN 5 monitor jack already installed? Then you should have a PAL computer. At this model, the pin 5 is connect to ground - then you always get a b/w picture.

 

Look at the thread Showstring mentioned in post #8. Follow the instructions and cut the path between pin 5 and ground:

 

[repetto74]

Hi tf_hh

 

Yes I do confirm the DIN connector was already there and this is a PAl 600 xl

The instruction I followed are the one given on the first post of this thread. I have cut between pin 2 and pin 5 but I assume this is not sufficient and I need also to cut between 5 and grnd?

I am a little bit confused here ??

[+tf_hh]

Yes I do confirm the DIN connector was already there and this is a PAl 600 xl

The instruction I followed are the one given on the first post of this thread. I have cut between pin 2 and pin 5 but I assume this is not sufficient and I need also to cut between 5 and grnd?

I am a little bit confused here

 

Ok, then all is fine. Pin 2 = ground, so if you cut the connection between pin 2 (the "middle one") and pin 5 that´s fine.

 

You mentioned SCART... do you have ever tried successfully (!) a S-Video output on your TV or monitor? S-Video is not a real official thing using SCART connectors. Some TVs accept it, some not. Because Luma contains the synchronisation signals, a B/W picture is shown, but Chroma (color signal) is ignored. In some cases a special setting in the TVs menu is needed. Or, if the TV has more than one SCART jack, S-Video works only at one specific SCART input. You´ve to test all possibilities.

Edited January 9, 2017 by tf_hh

[repetto74]

Ok thanks for the clarification I should be good concerning the mod. ?

I have tested the mod on two different monitors. The one with the Scart input is giving black and white picture and there is only one scart input.

The second test was done on a vga monitor via a video converter. I am using then a Din to s-video cable to connect the 600xl to the converter. Problem is that I never tested this cable before and cannot confirm it is properly built.

I have successfully hooked up a C64 with this converter and its own S-video cable.

I am waiting for an high quality Din to Save video cable and will test again.

Alternatively I can test both scart and s-video to another flat TV soon. ?

[repetto74]

Hi,

 

Just to close this topic I have received the S-video cable and working perfectly with the modded Atari 600xl ?

Next move will be to upgrade to 64k ram ! ?

[Gunstar]

I never thought I would miss composite, and rf out on a few of my Atari's as well, but when my NEC monitors blew one after the other I was soldering them back in so I could use them on what was available at the time.. what a PITA! That taught me to add to the Atari not strip from the Atari... this ideology has served me well ever since!

I also did the 1200XL version of the SV 2.1 mod, and removed the RF modulator which I would never use again, so I disagree with only adding and never removing, but I don't remove everything. I kept the composite out and since my RF modulator was removed, I just used the channel switch for RF as the switch to turn composite on or off for a much cleaner S-video when I use it. I had my 1084S monitor blow up on me recently, but I just went to an LCD monitor.

 

But, my LCD monitor didn't have S-video input, but I had kept my composite signal, so I used that for a while until I got an Ambery video/s-video-to-vga converter box and now I use S-video again via that converter box and it looks fantastic, even better than my 1084S because this Ambery box converts the signal to progressive scan. And with the 1200XL's unique chroma boost circuit, my output looks just as good VGA now, to my eyes, the Ambery converter is really amazing and head and shoulders above any other brand of converter box that I've tried, and I've tried several. I use a similar RGB-to-VGA converter from Ambery for my Atari Jaguar, and it looks amazing too. So now I have a VGA switch box with my 1200XL, Jaguar, Dreamcast and PC all hooked in and all use my LCD monitor's VGA in, and all look fantastic.

 

Removing the RF modulator and using a switch to turn off composite must be done to have the most optimal S-video, RF creates a lot of interference and needs to be removed for the best picture, period.

Edited January 13, 2017 by Gunstar

[Gunstar]

Hi,

 

Just to close this topic I have received the S-video cable and working perfectly with the modded Atari 600xl

Next move will be to upgrade to 64k ram !

It sounds like you are pretty handy with internal modding, so I would suggest to go ahead and upgrade beyond 64K. (unless you are just going to plug in a 1064, but then you can't use any other PBI devices)

[repetto74]

Hi Gunstar

 

I did not understand really what you are referring to. What is the impact in changing to 64k the 600xl? I assume that it will behave exactly as the 800xk then ?

[Gunstar]

Hi Gunstar

 

I did not understand really what you are referring to. What is the impact in changing to 64k the 600xl? I assume that it will behave exactly as the 800xk then ?

Well, yes, a 64K 600XL acts just like an 800XL, and you can either do it by adding a 1064 memory module to the PBI port on the back, or do it with an internal upgrade. I was just saying that if you are going to upgrade the memory of your 600XL internally, instead of using the 1064 module, then you might as well upgrade beyond 64K since there are a lot of 128K+ programs these days that you can use as well. There are a number of different internal upgrades for XL machines these days, from 256K (Rambo or clone) to 1MB (Ultimate 1MB) and even the newest being a 4MB upgrade (Antonio 4MB)

Edited January 13, 2017 by Gunstar

[repetto74]

Hi Gunstar

 

Ok now I better understand ? Well actually the ram mod was to upgrade to 64k and have then the 600xl running as the 800xl version. Upgrading to 128k or more is also interesting but does this have an impact on the memory map of the computer ? I would like to play with Atari basic a little bit as I was more à Commodore 64 user on those old school days ? I have a lot of books for Atari 800xl programming so I was wondering what are the major changes in the memory map of the computer if going further than 64k?

Anyway do you have the reference of chips and mod tutorial for a 128 or more upgrade ?

Edited January 14, 2017 by repetto74

[repetto74]

Anyway I am fine with a 64k upgrade as I want to run mostly programs and games originally edited during the lifespan of this computer so mostly 80's and beginning 90's