Help: Can't get a signal from my Atari 5200.

[Coleco Kong]

I just got an Atari 5200 and I can't understand what I am doing wrong. I followed the manual, it's being hooked up to an CRT TV of course, and I can't tell if it's the Switch Box or the PSU that is giving me issues. There is no signal. Maybe I'm hooking it up incorrectly?

[AtariBrian]

Bet it is that switch box. I have one that you have to keep moving the cord on it all while I keep pressing the power button.

[+DamonicFury]

A couple of questions:

 

2-port or 4-port console?

Does the power light turn red on the console?

[Coleco Kong]

No light and it's a 4 port model.

[+DamonicFury]

No light and it's a 4 port model.

 

I like the 4-port model myself, but I'll freely admit it's harder to troubleshoot thanks to the unique switchbox. Do you have a multimeter so you can test the power supply? (Alternatively, if you have an Intellivision 2, it can use the 5200 power supply, so you could test it with that.)

[+DamonicFury]

Also, make sure the switch on the switchbox is set to Normal instead of Standby.

[zylon]

Usually, only one of two components fail in the switchbox. I always get mine going again easily.

1- the transistor inside, or,

2- the small IC chip inside LM193 I think.

[+DamonicFury]

Usually, only one of two components fail in the switchbox. I always get mine going again easily.

1- the transistor inside, or,

2- the small IC chip inside LM193 I think.

 

+1 to what zylon said. I fixed up three recently, and they all just needed that transistor (a 2N3906)

 

So step 1 would be to determine if the power supply works (if not, it may just need the fuse replaced.) Step 2, after verifying you have a good power supply, would be to either try a known good switchbox, or replace the transistor in the switch box (if that doesn't work, perhaps the LM193N as well.) Step 3, if both the power supply and switchbox are good, would involve repairs to the console. (Here's hoping it doesn't get that far for you... I tried to fix two 5200's this year with power issues with no success. )

[Coleco Kong]

Good news? Power Supply works after testing it with the Multimeter, bad news I think it could be the switch box.

[+DamonicFury]

Good news? Power Supply works after testing it with the Multimeter, bad news I think it could be the switch box.

 

The power supply working is certainly good news... cracking it open even to just replace to fuse would be harder than fixing the switch box will probably be.

 

So onto the switch box! Got any soldering skills? If you've done any soldering in the past, replacing the transistor shouldn't be hard at all.

[zylon]

3rd item to look at is not in the switchbox, but related to the switch itself: the little 4013 IC near power switch on the board. Either way, all 3 are easy cheap fixes if even slightly handy.