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The UAV Rev. D Video Upgrade Thread


Bryan

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On 9/14/2019 at 1:06 PM, CJ Atari said:

Amazed by the info here - thanks to all. 

 

I have the UAV (rev D) and will install it in an 800.

 

Has anyone articulated the process for the A8/800.  I THINK (hope) and can do it based on the threads and the instructions, but I'm not certain.

 

Thanks for any help in advance.  

 

The option for the 800 is the Super Color CPU Card by tf_hh here in these forums.

 

Edited by Sugarland
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Here's my attempt at installing the UAV, rev D on the A8 MB.  Not working - no signal.

 

Can I use the composite out via the 5-pin DIN connect or do I have to use the RF modulated output?

 

I did 'lift' (disconnect) the components specified in the instructions.

A800 MB.jpg

Edited by CJ Atari
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  • 4 weeks later...
On 9/10/2019 at 8:22 PM, -^CrossBow^- said:

That is why there is the Retrotink2x.

 

My point was that LCDs will always show the artifacting that was always present on composite and that the CRT was so good at hiding and blending away.

 

Forgot to mention another thing. Your image is stretched to 16:9 and under proper 4:3 aspect, the ghosting/bleeding...etc is much less noticed.

 

I got a Retrotink2x and it still does the ghosting/bleeding. Grrrrr

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On 10/11/2019 at 10:56 PM, -^CrossBow^- said:

You should take some close up pics of what you are seeing so that we can see and better understand. And are you using composite or S-video output from the UAV?

 

I will when I get a chance. I've clipped the 5 pins of the RF box and that helped out a pretty good deal. I'm leaning on using the S-Video to the Retrotink2x. Maybe I'm expecting too much but the composite looks really bad still.

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8 minutes ago, Stormbringer said:

I will when I get a chance. I've clipped the 5 pins of the RF box and that helped out a pretty good deal. I'm leaning on using the S-Video to the Retrotink2x. Maybe I'm expecting too much but the composite looks really bad still.

Remind me what you have the UAV installed in again? If talking about the 2600, I've never installed the UAV into a 2600 yet but I know that the composite from the UAV on a 7800 provides really good composite  from a 7800 and I've installed the UAV in just a "few" 7800s over the last nearly 3 years now. 5200 produces a good picture, but with noticeable thick jail bars on the left half of the screen that appeared to be caused by the DRAM in the system being noisy.

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I would like to say thanks to MacRorie for the fast shipping of the UAV and other hardware pieces. 

 

The UAV (the kit version) is already installed in my original 65XE with shield: 

 

1.- I did not want to go to the process of desoldering the CD4050 (I really suffered last time I desoldered a chip from this same motherboard), so I first soldered 5 pin headers (one by one for Lum0-3 and Synch) to the feet of the cd4050 (if my memory helps me.. pin 3, 5, 7, and 11 and 14 maybe?). So I soldered just the required minimum for the 5 signals. I used the supplied pin headers (the ones originally supplied for the configuration jumpers) but I cut (separated) them.

2.- I build jumpers with little pieces of wire (from a resistor) and soldered to the UAV to "configure" the UAV to XL/XE mode and redirect the signals coming from the cd4050. I did that to keep the uav low profile.

3.- I connected (soldered) good thick (but not that thick) cables to 5VDC and GND pads of the UAV and found a good place (thick trace) to pick the 5VDC from the motherboard.

4.- I soldered 4 cables (or wires) directly to "output section" of the UAV: Chroma, LUM, composite and Chroma In (input). So I did not use the green connector supplied (to keep the profile low)

5.- Since I wanted to avoid any interference and I want to eliminate the vertical lines on the left size of the screen, I cut all (except the audio and ground) traces arriving to the monitor socket Din 5 pins.

6.- I soldered all the outputs wires (Chroma, Luma and Composite) to the corresponding pin directly to the DIN socket (UAV-->DIN5 Socket) I also connected ground directly to the ground pin of the Monitor DIN5 Socket.

7.- I solder the chroma input wire to the right point in the motherboard (GTIA pin 21 or a close resistor.. I don't remember)

8.- Finally,  I soldered the UAV to the 5 pins I installed in the step 1 (very carefully to be sure the pins were entering the right position), so the UAV sits on top of the cd4050 separated by small space, but it is still low enough to install the shield back.

 

The vertical lines are gone, and the quality of the image is much better. I don't know why people keeps saying that the 130/65xe video circuit was good enough. Maybe I got bad luck with this unit since this 65XE (with 130XE motherboard) always produced vertical lines and super saturated colors (I have to decrease the saturation of the TV to get something close to the 800XL and 600XL I have).

 

Thanks again!

 

 

 

 

 

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30 minutes ago, manterola said:

I would like to say thanks to MacRorie for the fast shipping of the UAV and other hardware pieces. 

 

The UAV (the kit version) is already installed in my original 65XE with shield: 

 

 

The vertical lines are gone, and the quality of the image is much better. I don't know why people keeps saying that the 130/65xe video circuit was good enough. Maybe I got bad luck with this unit since this 65XE (with 130XE motherboard) always produced vertical lines and super saturated colors (I have to decrease the saturation of the TV to get something close to the 800XL and 600XL I have).

 

Thanks again!

 

 

 

 

 

Glad it all worked out!  If you are coming to PRGE, I will be there in Booth #166!  Enjoy your "high definition" 65XE!

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  • 4 weeks later...

65XE with no satisfied results: any suggestions?

 

Here is the installation:

- The output to the TV is Composite Video. Luma and Chroma don't play any role.

- It was also tested with the ground red cable properly connected and with direct connections to the 5-PIN output jack, and the results were the same. It doesn't seem to be interference because of the cables used. The RF modulator hasn't been touched.

 

2.thumb.jpg.cef931ef51a47a93803a191aa197d144.jpg

 

1.thumb.jpg.660a619418a5dcb5dad8c008794636cf.jpg

 

 

 

Lifting the Color-In cable (GTIA pin 21) as the following photo, the results in black and white are very good, very sharp image. However, when connecting the Color-In cable again, the image is almost the same as before installing the UAV, not very sharp.

 

3.thumb.jpg.a5620dd34812fd2205e52596fc75b6ce.jpg

 

Very sharp image without the Color cable (the horizontal lines are not there, is because of the camera):

4.thumb.jpg.b060a92e82eaecc045aa038a96760698.jpg

 

 

But with the Color-In cable connected:

5.thumb.jpg.7b927df3bef8b8aae1c6cdb36cb95c43.jpg

 

6.thumb.jpg.1dc07cbbd5544127ee626c0e76497e29.jpg

 

7.thumb.jpg.d6d0369319661172e5eefb0e3b040d15.jpg

 

 

Any suggestions to improve the image regarding the installation? The problem is only when the Color cable is connected.

 

 

EDIT: the 3 ferrite beads were removed. Some people suggest a direct connection between the UAV and the 5-PIN output (as I did), but there are pictures with the ferrites in between. It could be the reason, but too late for testing today.

 

Edited by tane
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The jumpers looks good for a 65XE:

8.jpg.4206f9b343b9bb68d3cdcbeb69869743.jpg

 

 

I've been realizing that the best results are for S-Video instead of Composite Video, however I've been reading that many are stating that Composite Video could achieve the same accuracy as S-Video.

 

For comparison from other post: S-Video image:

S-Video.jpg.62265882f4b35f4462d8c8c62247f806.jpg

 

Edited by tane
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1 minute ago, tane said:

The jumpers looks good for a 65XE:

 

 

 

I've been realizing that the best results are for S-Video instead Composite Video, however I've been reading that there are many stating that Composite Video could achieve the  same accuracy as S-Video.

For comparison from other post: S-Video image:

 

 

There are also limitations on how the screen you have it hooked up to processes Composite Video and S-video.  S-video is going to be a higher quality image.  

Edited by MacRorie
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6 minutes ago, manterola said:

You might want to try providing ground to the uav card from the same point where the DIN connector is connected. 

Also you can try to supply 5v to the board from a thick trace in the motherboard. 

 

- Ground: In the beginning I did some tests with the ground cable (red cable) in different places. I concluded that it's the same. The UAV is actually grounded, it gets ground from the socket.

- Voltage: I tested the UAV pads given: 5.05V, and the power source is 5.07V.

 

Edited by tane
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I mentioned this because most problems are caused by "ground loops" . Basically, small differences between the voltages of the grounds that should be the same. Those differences are compensated thru currents in the signal traces (like composite signal). 

By connecting both ground together you ensure that at least that part of the circuit is ok: the uav and the connector are almost exactly at the ground voltage level. Then, once that is ok, you keep searching for the problem maybe in the cable, in other words, maybe the monitor and the atari video connector have a different gnd. You can connect a wire between them (b/w grounds) to test if that is the source of the problem.. An so on. 

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1 hour ago, tane said:

however I've been reading that many are stating that Composite Video could achieve the same accuracy as S-Video.

Those people are absolutely wrong. If you have a display that accepts a chroma/luma signal, you will see a much sharper, cleaner image than you will get from composite. Composite is certainly much better than RF, but S-video is another step better entirely.

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1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

Those people are absolutely wrong. If you have a display that accepts a chroma/luma signal, you will see a much sharper, cleaner image than you will get from composite. Composite is certainly much better than RF, but S-video is another step better entirely.

 

The manual says the following in the number 6:

 

1855048976_UAVTBA.thumb.png.efcaf40670e1331febd43fe8ccc4677d.png

 

 

 

1 hour ago, manterola said:

BTW I'll check my 65xe composite out out to see how bad it is in comparison with the svideo

A comparison would be good. Here there are not many people using a 65XE, mostly are using XL. In fact, my photos are the first for a 65XE.

I'll make further tests with the ground in different locations.

 

 

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