RF Modulator amplifier?

[leech]

Has anyone tried something like this with the 2600/7800 to see if it clears up the signal for modern TVs?  https://www.amazon.com/Modulator-KKmoon-Compact-Converter-Amplifier/dp/B079JXQKQJ/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=rf+modulator&qid=1579020941&sr=8-6

I was thinking it'd be nice if we had an alternative to modding the systems that was more external to get a great signal.

[mimo]

I've never tried anything like that , but my guess is crap in crap^2 out 

[+SmittyB]

I've tried it, not with one so fancy but a signal amplifier nonetheless; mimo's hypothesis is correct at least in my case.

[Swami]

1 hour ago, leech said:

Has anyone tried something like this with the 2600/7800 to see if it clears up the signal for modern TVs?  https://www.amazon.com/Modulator-KKmoon-Compact-Converter-Amplifier/dp/B079JXQKQJ/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=rf+modulator&qid=1579020941&sr=8-6

I was thinking it'd be nice if we had an alternative to modding the systems that was more external to get a great signal.

I’m confused by this. Everything says it’s input. I’m assuming the RF coax connector by itself on the short side is RF out, so it doesn’t work on modern TVs. You need a demodulator, the best of which are good VCRs. Do not buy a VCR on eBay or Amazon. It’s like the $150 1990 zeniths on ebay that are free on Craigslist. 

[leech]

4 minutes ago, Swami said:

I’m confused by this. Everything says it’s input. I’m assuming the RF coax connector by itself on the short side is RF out, so it doesn’t work on modern TVs. You need a demodulator, the best of which are good VCRs. Do not buy a VCR on eBay or Amazon. It’s like the $150 1990 zeniths on ebay that are free on Craigslist. 

Ha, last VCR I bought was a nice high end one, but then I ended up having maybe 30 VHS for it, which I gave away or something other happened to them, and I ended up giving the VCR to my parents, so I don't even know where it is now.  I may just order one of these and report back.  I mean 29 is pretty cheap. 

Weirdly, my 4k LG TV actually does work with my 5200 (the picture isn't fantastic, but it's not completely unusable with the standard 4-port box setup).  It does have some noise on it.  It wasn't until yesterday that I read that most HDTVs won't even detect there is a signal there and won't work with old game consoles, so apparently I lucked out with the 49" LG.

[Swami]

45 minutes ago, leech said:

Ha, last VCR I bought was a nice high end one, but then I ended up having maybe 30 VHS for it, which I gave away or something other happened to them, and I ended up giving the VCR to my parents, so I don't even know where it is now.  I may just order one of these and report back.  I mean 29 is pretty cheap. 

Weirdly, my 4k LG TV actually does work with my 5200 (the picture isn't fantastic, but it's not completely unusable with the standard 4-port box setup).  It does have some noise on it.  It wasn't until yesterday that I read that most HDTVs won't even detect there is a signal there and won't work with old game consoles, so apparently I lucked out with the 49" LG.

I’m not sure how the modulator will work with your 4K tv with only RF coax out to tv. 

 

It it is strange how TVs interact with these old consoles. Even some CRT tvs from the late 90s-2003ish had probs with my 2600, like a strange blocky jigsaw like border around the picture with my Panasonic to no picture at all with my RCA. 

[leech]

2 minutes ago, Swami said:

I’m not sure how the modulator will work with your 4K tv with only RF coax out to tv. 

 

It it is strange how TVs interact with these old consoles. Even some CRT tvs from the late 90s-2003ish had probs with my 2600, like a strange blocky jigsaw like border around the picture with my Panasonic to no picture at all with my RCA. 

From what I read, it's because most of the consoles report as channel 3-4 (or 2-3) and don't show up as any sort of digital signal, and most TVs these days apparently ignore analog signals altogether.  But yeah, my 5200's stock cable to RF to power thing would display a picture after the infamous spark!  Guess I'll find out soon enough how the 7800 looks on it.

[leech]

The TV does have an RF Coax connection.  I'm really quite impressed with this TV (it's a WebOS version).  I did end up getting Sophia for the 5200 and connecting it via SCART to the OSSC.  But would much prefer not to have to open up the 7800 and solder things in.

[Swami]

43 minutes ago, leech said:

The TV does have an RF Coax connection.  I'm really quite impressed with this TV (it's a WebOS version).  I did end up getting Sophia for the 5200 and connecting it via SCART to the OSSC.  But would much prefer not to have to open up the 7800 and solder things in.

Okay. I thought perhaps you thought it had composite out. You can give it a try. My experience with tv signal amplifiers similar to this, limited to trying to help my mom out in the boonies get better tv antenna reception, is that they were designed for long cables from a clean signal that gets weakened due to cable length but is still fairly clean because the amplifier amplified the noise almost as much as the signal. As a result, they were not much use for noisy antenna reception where the antenna cable was less that 20 feet and possibly lots of atmospheric noise or something that was also amplified with the incoming tv signal.  The 7800 may be a different deal. 

[+Stephen Moss]

14 hours ago, Swami said:

I’m confused by this. Everything says it’s input. I’m assuming the RF coax connector by itself on the short side is RF out, so it doesn’t work on modern TVs. You need a demodulator, the best of which are good VCRs. Do not buy a VCR on eBay or Amazon. It’s like the $150 1990 zeniths on ebay that are free on Craigslist. 

Although the larger picture lower own does have text stating the RF connector on the right side is RF input, it is clearly an error as the text on the case states "RF out".

 

Depending on your location it may depends on what type on connections you have on your TV set, in the UK digital TV is still received via RF. I don't know about the newest models but my 6 year old HD set has both an analogue and digital tuner connected to the RF coax input.

If a TV has a coax RF input then I would think this should work (assuming the 2600/7800 is not AV modded) provided it can handle an analogue RF input as the description is not clear. I presume the text on the case says "digital full band modulator" mean that it converts analogue RF/AV to a digital transmission format otherwise it will not be of any use. That said, even if you can get the signal from a 2600/7800 in and out it do not expect it to necessarily clean up the signal as theoretically you should get out what you put in.   

[leech]

On 1/15/2020 at 2:20 AM, Stephen Moss said:

Although the larger picture lower own does have text stating the RF connector on the right side is RF input, it is clearly an error as the text on the case states "RF out".

 

Depending on your location it may depends on what type on connections you have on your TV set, in the UK digital TV is still received via RF. I don't know about the newest models but my 6 year old HD set has both an analogue and digital tuner connected to the RF coax input.

If a TV has a coax RF input then I would think this should work (assuming the 2600/7800 is not AV modded) provided it can handle an analogue RF input as the description is not clear. I presume the text on the case says "digital full band modulator" mean that it converts analogue RF/AV to a digital transmission format otherwise it will not be of any use. That said, even if you can get the signal from a 2600/7800 in and out it do not expect it to necessarily clean up the signal as theoretically you should get out what you put in.   

Yeah, the idea was RF in, amplified RF out.  Although you're right in that if the signal is crappy going in, it'll probably just be amplified crappy going out.  But I think for my 5200, it really did look like it needed a stronger signal and it would have been fine.  Especially since I think when I first hooked it up, it looked rather sharp and impressive, it wasn't until I correctly situated it inside my shelves that it looked more filled with static, I'm guessing some interference from somewhere.  But then I got Sophia in that one.

[ChildOfCv]

 

1 hour ago, leech said:

it wasn't until I correctly situated it inside my shelves that it looked more filled with static, I'm guessing some interference from somewhere.

Never discount the possibility of a bad connection to the RF plug on the 5200 either.  My 2600 has that problem.  If you hold the cord in a certain way, it's clear.  Otherwise it gets static.

[leech]

2 minutes ago, ChildOfCv said:

 

Never discount the possibility of a bad connection to the RF plug on the 5200 either.  My 2600 has that problem.  If you hold the cord in a certain way, it's clear.  Otherwise it gets static.

Yeah, I tried it out this morning when I was swapping over to the 7800 (which didn't power on) and the picture is fairly clear, it's just the sound that likes to pop along with fuzz.  I'll possibly try to make a video.  This is using the old 4 port power to RF box method.  Got to keep that awesome Spark!

[Swami]

29 minutes ago, leech said:

Yeah, I tried it out this morning when I was swapping over to the 7800 (which didn't power on) and the picture is fairly clear, it's just the sound that likes to pop along with fuzz.  I'll possibly try to make a video.  This is using the old 4 port power to RF box method.  Got to keep that awesome Spark!

I found, with my Intellivision, I was getting bad reception by RF and it would improve a little by holding the cord a certain way. What I found out was that RCA type RF plug was not fitting in the RF jack well. I replaced it with one half of a decent quality RCA plug stereo cable, like the ones used with composite, and it worked perfect. 

 

Could also be you you need to clean the RF jack inside with detoxit and 91% isopropyl alcohol with a q-tip. 

 

 

[leech]

3 hours ago, Swami said:

I found, with my Intellivision, I was getting bad reception by RF and it would improve a little by holding the cord a certain way. What I found out was that RCA type RF plug was not fitting in the RF jack well. I replaced it with one half of a decent quality RCA plug stereo cable, like the ones used with composite, and it worked perfect. 

 

Could also be you you need to clean the RF jack inside with detoxit and 91% isopropyl alcohol with a q-tip.

I'll have to give that a shot, even though I do have the SCART output, it seems to be kind of quiet.  Gives me something to do while I hunt down new buttons for the 7800 ha

[christo930]

On 1/14/2020 at 11:57 AM, leech said:

Has anyone tried something like this with the 2600/7800 to see if it clears up the signal for modern TVs?  https://www.amazon.com/Modulator-KKmoon-Compact-Converter-Amplifier/dp/B079JXQKQJ/ref=sr_1_6?keywords=rf+modulator&qid=1579020941&sr=8-6

I was thinking it'd be nice if we had an alternative to modding the systems that was more external to get a great signal.

Try an old antenna booster.  People use them now-a-days to broadcast NTSC signals within their house, so they really do work in terms of boosting the signal.  But that is all it will do.  It will boost the signal strength.  That will help if the signal coming out is weak, but not if it's bad.