Finally found an asterisk

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1 hour ago, atari-dna said:

 

Yes, they are inter-changeable. It makes no difference.

 

She was not turning on so I opened her up and added few more pics.

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The rf cable is bad at the tip.  But I heard clicking sound from the switch box.  Now I don't.  My good 4 port does mot turn on either now.  I thought my switch box was bad.  I was using my 9.3v ac adapter.  I tried my 11.5v adapter from my 2 port I got on ebay and the spark was back.  So I fried my ac adapter.  Not sure if the asterisk killed my ac adapter.  I am scared to try other good adapter.  Same thing happened in sandiego california in 1992.  I was visiting my cousin.  He had a 2 port.  I wanted to try it.  I plugged it in and I got power.  Then I cleaned up the wires in the back of the tv andctried again.  I heard a pop sound and blew a fuse or something.  It refused to turn on then.  There was no pop this time.  Just stopped sparking.  I want to try the other adapter but if ai fry it also I have no 5200 then.

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And just for shipping purposes out of curiosity.  How uch does a 5200 console weigh?

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Any guess why my ac adapter fried?  It was working on both my other systems but not the asterisk.  Can a faulty 4 port or rf cable break an ac adapter?  Its weird my 9.3v ac adapter broke but my switch box still works.

[+discotronic]

I can only tell you about my experience with these damned 5200 systems. This is all from my time with 4 port systems.

 

I had 2 power supplies and 1 TV switch blow for no reason that I know of. One of the power supplies worked and out of nowhere just took a dive. Another worked great and did the same thing. The TV switch was working and one day I walked away and left the 5200 powered on and running a game for about 30 minutes. Came back in the room and there was nothing on the TV. The switch never worked again after that.

 

After that I purchased a 4 port upgraded motherboard from Best Electronics. Brad's description is below:

 

• Atari 5200 4 Port fully populated US / NTSC Atari Engineering Upgraded, last version 5200 Motherboard made with Atari 5200 retro fit Kit built into the motherboard.  This last production run of Atari 5200 4 port Motherboard has the 5200 Retro fit kit designed into last 5200 4 port motherboard.  So this Atari 5200 4 port new replacement motherboard will work with the Atari CX55 2600 "T" shaped 2600 adapter.  About 98% to 99% of the Atari 4 port consoles and 4 port 5200 motherboards made will not work with the Atari CX55 2600 Adapter 

http://www.best-electronics-ca.com/cx52_j.htm#CX52

 

Scroll down a ways on the linked page. The website is straight out of 199so be prepared to look and read if you are looking for something.

 

So this motherboard is apparently the same as what is supposed to be in the * models. Works with the 2600 adapter. I have had no issues at all with this board and it was worth the price at the time a few years ago. Pretty sure the price has gone up since then. $75 as of right now.

 

If you really want to have the * model on the case and you want the functionality I would recommend going with the Best Electronics board. I had a ton of problems out of old used eBay stuff that it ended up more expensive in the long run. Since buying the motherboard and the Best rebuilt controllers I've been a happy 5200 owner. It has been at least 5 years at this point.