2600 "Vader" has bad picture quality with 2 different mods. Any idea why?

[RamrodHare]

 

You might have a marginal power supply and/or a 7805 voltage regulator in the Vader that's starting to go bad. The Harmony Cart does draw more power than a standard 2K - 8K Atari cartridge.

I just spent too much time worrying about how the menu looked on the Harmony cart.The 7805 is new, I did a full tune-up on the console and replaced the caps and everything. I tried two different power supplies and had the same results. Both power supplies work fine on my Jr. and checked out OK with my meter. I'm thinking that the picture quality I have is normal and I was just expecting too much. Most of the time I've been playing on my 42 inch TV, which wasn't the best way to judge the picture quality. As long as I stick to a CRT with this 2600, the picture is fine. I just got hung up on the fact that the Harmony menu is clearer with my Jr. and my 7800. I'm thinking now that that wasn't a fair comparison. The only way I could do a real comparison would be with another revision 12 motherboard with the same mod. I'm not going to worry about it anymore. I'm just going to use this 2600 with my CRTs and use the Jr. and 7800 for my big LCDs.

[RupanIII]

well, I found finally one of my nylon tools is the right size and shape. Will report back later.
it may be a trace I think needs some work too, maybe disconnected at one of the diodes pad.

I have 2 A2600 H6ers , I think rev 8 and rev 13 boards, both are 2 board solutions original parts. I can't get the video out to sync up.
I see the 2 coils but they just appear to be fixed coils? is there any adjustment for those or is it just the 500k pot?

I plan to keep RF out and install an Svid mod or RGB mod and do what's necessary to keep the RF, but, for now.... I can't get the RF working.

I took the RF apart and it seems it should work, they are totally different RF boards inside by the way, different IC's and everything.

Thanks for any help,

Cheers: JW>

[hizzy]

Curious to ask, which mod board is this?

[alex_79]

Curious to ask, which mod board is this?

http://atariage.com/forums/topic/176257-lets-design-a-new-video-mod/

 

latest revision is on post 87

[hizzy]

Maybe the OG poster should give this mod a try? I just ordered a VCS with the above mod. Here is a photo with the s-video out. Getting the VCS from a fellow named Steve Nutter.

[crazydean]

Maybe the OG poster should give this mod a try? I just ordered a VCS with the above mod. Here is a photo with the s-video out. Getting the VCS from a fellow named Steve Nutter.

 

Interesting. I didn't know there were any PVMs with S-video.

Edited September 12, 2017 by crazydean

[+-^CrossBow^-]

 

Interesting. I didn't know there were any PVMs with S-video.

 

For sure there are! I have a tiny little 8" Sony PVM I use as a bench display when modding and testing consoles on. It only has a BNC composite and S-video as the inputs on it. So they did make non-RGB PVMs...hehe.

[RamrodHare]

Maybe the OG poster should give this mod a try? I just ordered a VCS with the above mod. Here is a photo with the s-video out. Getting the VCS from a fellow named Steve Nutter.

I may have a forum member/buyer coming to look at it this week. If he thinks the picture quality is OK, then I'm gonna give him a deal on it. I'll start fresh with a different console and I'll look into this mod.

[hizzy]

In talking to Steve, I think he gets his mod boards from Electronic Sentimentalizes. Here are more photos of his work:

 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/atariagemarketplace/permalink/833836833456404/?sale_post_id=833836833456404&ref=messenger_share

 

This is the composite output on plasma TV

[simon.plata]

Hi, I tried some AV mods from internet in my Vader board with terrible results, blurry image, dark, etc. Then I designed my own transistor video amplifier mod an the results are good for me. First image is in a CRT TV and the second is a LED TV.

 

Very simple and cheap DIY circuit.