Teenretrogamer Posted October 10, 2019 Author Share Posted October 10, 2019 Here are the images of the inside of my 5200. However I did not take of the shield plate because some of the hooks have rust on them, and I’m afraid they’ll snap if bent. I noticed that there are two wires that run from the A/C Jack. One is a green wire that runs to one of the capacitors, but the red wire goes under the board. I tried lifting the board, but it wasn’t wanting to lift, and I was not going to force it because it could have broke. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 I'm going to say this looks like it could have been factory done but unless it is on the bottom of the main PCB, I don't see the protection diode? Unless Atari never actually installed them and that is something we've added during the power mod conversions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 A pic of the bottom of the board would be nice. It does look factory modded though. Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 Yeah I was stating that due to the lack of any residue from solder removal around the inductor or original coax cable that would have normally be soldered to the board there. Surprised the wires from the power jack are so thin though. The kits come with thicker gauge wire and if they didn't I would have used thicker gauge wire. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted October 10, 2019 Share Posted October 10, 2019 How it's mounted with that bracket is having me lean towards a factory mod now as well. That or someone just did a really clean job. I would have used much higher gauge wire but that's just me. Still, without any provenance you will never be able to know if it was a factory mod or a home mod. I would like to see the solder joints for the common jack. If it has been previously used I'm still gonna stick with home mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 It's no mystery. Atari Corp did this in 1984-86. They were doing whatever it took to sell off their inherited inventory* to pay to finish up developing the ST, paying all of their loans to Warner, keeping the doors open, and paying GCC for the 7800. They sold a lot of these in bundles through the early editions of the Atari Explorer magazine. If someone could link to one of those magazines to here, you'll see the ads where Atari Corp mentions this as a big feature improvement. And the key point is the Atari Corp label instead of the Atari Inc label. Teenretrogamer lucked out here with this. *The inherited inventory could've been unsold NOS consoles as well as refurbs. Either way, factoring modding them basically made them refurbs... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
David Alexander Posted October 14, 2019 Share Posted October 14, 2019 Great find. I wish I had this one on my collection. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shawn Posted October 23, 2019 Share Posted October 23, 2019 On 10/14/2019 at 12:52 PM, Lynxpro said: It's no mystery. Atari Corp did this in 1984-86. They were doing whatever it took to sell off their inherited inventory* to pay to finish up developing the ST, paying all of their loans to Warner, keeping the doors open, and paying GCC for the 7800. They sold a lot of these in bundles through the early editions of the Atari Explorer magazine. If someone could link to one of those magazines to here, you'll see the ads where Atari Corp mentions this as a big feature improvement. And the key point is the Atari Corp label instead of the Atari Inc label. Teenretrogamer lucked out here with this. *The inherited inventory could've been unsold NOS consoles as well as refurbs. Either way, factoring modding them basically made them refurbs... Is there previously documented units like this confirmed to be from Atari? I've not been able to find anything. I'm not doubting what you are saying, I just like to see background on these sorts of things. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 On 10/23/2019 at 10:54 AM, Shawn said: Is there previously documented units like this confirmed to be from Atari? I've not been able to find anything. I'm not doubting what you are saying, I just like to see background on these sorts of things. Atari Explorer Magazine. The 1985 issues. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted November 6, 2019 Share Posted November 6, 2019 2 hours ago, Lynxpro said: Atari Explorer Magazine. The 1985 issues. I'm correcting myself. I can't find mention of the factory mods in the Atari Explorer Magazine ads during the 1986 issues that note the 5200s are modded. The ads were called Atari Bonanza and everything was sold straight from Atari Corp themselves. It must've been listed on the sheets they updated and mailed off to customers that didn't appear in the actual magazines. But the point is, this was known amongst Atari enthusiasts back then. We knew about it in the Users Groups that it was a great way to get a 5200 if one wanted to have a great discontinued system that they had previously held off on. What is listed in the magazine ads are packages of the 5200 being sold with the Piggyback Parasite 2600 Adapter and Super Breakout and Pac-Man for $99 in 1986. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayik Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 To me it looks like someone did a power and video mod. The channel selector switch looks like it is missing which means the RF modulator was removed. If video is composite (and not channel 3 / 4) then definitely both mods were done Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 10 hours ago, rayik said: To me it looks like someone did a power and video mod. The channel selector switch looks like it is missing which means the RF modulator was removed. If video is composite (and not channel 3 / 4) then definitely both mods were done ??? The channel 2/3 switch is right there to the left of the power plug section? And the RF modulator box is clearly still attached in the shots. Now the RF cable has been unplugged but I'm suspecting the OP did that and it would normally still have the RF attached. What I think is more interested, is that the OP states there isn't an * in the serial number and we don't see evidence of the VCS adapter mod having been done. I would have assumed both mods to have been done if Atari was doing these power mods on the 4 port units. Perhaps by the time this was being done, the VCS adapter wasn't a concern since they were planning to relaunch the 2600 anyway with the Jr. model. Thinking would have been, to just have consumers purchase the newer and cheaper $50 2600jr if they want to play 2600 games. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rayik Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 2 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said: ??? The channel 2/3 switch is right there to the left of the power plug section? And the RF modulator box is clearly still attached in the shots. Now the RF cable has been unplugged but I'm suspecting the OP did that and it would normally still have the RF attached. What I think is more interested, is that the OP states there isn't an * in the serial number and we don't see evidence of the VCS adapter mod having been done. I would have assumed both mods to have been done if Atari was doing these power mods on the 4 port units. Perhaps by the time this was being done, the VCS adapter wasn't a concern since they were planning to relaunch the 2600 anyway with the Jr. model. Thinking would have been, to just have consumers purchase the newer and cheaper $50 2600jr if they want to play 2600 games. Sorry. Couldn't see the switch in the picture. Still think this is a power mod. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted November 8, 2019 Share Posted November 8, 2019 It is a power mod yes, we all agreed to that. We were discussing if it was done from Atari back in the day as a factory mod. At this point I think we have all agreed it was likely factory done as stated in the previous comments? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lynxpro Posted November 13, 2019 Share Posted November 13, 2019 On 11/8/2019 at 6:33 AM, -^CrossBow^- said: ??? The channel 2/3 switch is right there to the left of the power plug section? And the RF modulator box is clearly still attached in the shots. Now the RF cable has been unplugged but I'm suspecting the OP did that and it would normally still have the RF attached. What I think is more interested, is that the OP states there isn't an * in the serial number and we don't see evidence of the VCS adapter mod having been done. I would have assumed both mods to have been done if Atari was doing these power mods on the 4 port units. Perhaps by the time this was being done, the VCS adapter wasn't a concern since they were planning to relaunch the 2600 anyway with the Jr. model. Thinking would have been, to just have consumers purchase the newer and cheaper $50 2600jr if they want to play 2600 games. The label is done by Atari Corp. Often, there wasn't rhyme or reason to what they were doing while just getting surplus stuff out of their warehouses and sold for cash to keep the company's doors open. As I mentioned above, Corp sold 5200 bundles with the [Piggyback Parasite] 2600 Adapter with 2 5200 games for $99 in early 1986 [and before]. So if they could make a 4-port 5200 compatible with the 2600 Adapter, they probably did it so they could clear out that inventory. They probably forgot to crank out labels with the * and didn't want to spend extra money to correct it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teenretrogamer Posted December 21, 2019 Author Share Posted December 21, 2019 Well, I tried playing my 5200 today, but when I hit the power button, nothing happened. The LED didn’t light up, and nothing happened on my tv. So, I decided to open it up. Nothing seemed to be blown or broken, but this having a put in ac input, I don’t know the problem. Could it just be my adapter, or is the machine busted? If it’s the machine, would the ac input be easy to replace? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+x=usr(1536) Posted December 21, 2019 Share Posted December 21, 2019 Question: did you have a cartridge inserted when you powered the machine on? Have a multimeter? Start by checking the power output of the adapter. If the adapter's shot, replace it. You can even use a generic one provided that polarity, voltage, and amperage are within more or less the same specs as the ones listed on the adapter you currently have. Beyond that, you'll need to do some circuit-level troubleshooting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted December 22, 2019 Share Posted December 22, 2019 If the psu adapter seems to be giving out the right amount of voltage, then the next thing is to check the flip/flop 4013 IC responsible for completing the power circuit on/off states. https://console5.com/store/cd4013-flip-flop-ic-atari-5200-power-stuck-on-or-off.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teenretrogamer Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 (edited) I looked at the back of the system when I plugged in the power. If the system was in the off position, the ac input wouldn’t spark. But if I hit the on button, then it would spark. I don’t know if that is normal or not for two port systems. I tested it with a game, but I had no response from the system. Also, how would I check the 4013 IC? UPDATE: I noticed that the input jack felt loose. So with the power brick unplugged, I put the ac input back into the machine. It still sparked with no power going to the machine. Edited December 22, 2019 by Teenretrogamer Forgot to add something Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teenretrogamer Posted December 22, 2019 Author Share Posted December 22, 2019 Is this the chip that I need to test? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted January 2, 2020 Share Posted January 2, 2020 I apologize I didn't your reply in this thread. That is the chip I'm talking about, but yours isn't in a socket as I'm used to seeing so that does make it a bit more difficult. I thought all the 5200s had this chip in a socket but here we have a 4 port that does not? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BlueFates Posted January 9 Share Posted January 9 The 4013 IC chip not having a socket would fit the idea of the power mod being done in the factory since they were probably trying to assemble them as fast as they could with what they had so either they didn't put a socket in, to save time or they ran out of them. By the way, have you had any success fixing the 5200? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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