Atari 5200 4 Port RF Adapter Problems

[ApacheDave]

Hello Folks,

 

     I have had an Atari 5200 for a while that had a RF adapter with a slightly bent composite input that seemed to give me some RF issues on the HDTV, but it did work.  I decided after many years to find an buy a "new" RF adapter on Ebay that worked well from the start.  I stupidly threw away the old RF adapter thinking I would never have to deal with the RF interference (static looking lines) of the old one, as playable as it still was.  

 

    A week or so later, I decide to power up the 5200 and play some Robotron with my 9 yr old son.  And then...

 

1.  The HDTV cannot find the 5200 on analog 2, 3, or 4 as it had done on channel 4 previously ( as I recall channel 4). 

 

2.  The red light on the 5200 is for sure is on.  

 

3.  I get the same negative results when I switch to the alternate channel and back to the primary channel. 

 

*****Interestingly, when I switch to alternate or back to primary, the Atari 5200 power shuts off.  I never noticed, is that normal?****   

 

    I suspect that the RF adapter has given up on me, as new it seemed in appearance (the white plastic sticker cover for the velcro that you stick on the TV is still on it).

 

   Before I burn up to $50 for another RF adapter, does this sound like an RF adapter issue to you all?  Does anyone think my 4 port is the more likely culprit (once again, it has a nice red light)?    

 

Thanks for any and all sage advice,

 

David Perry

 

 

 

[+-^CrossBow^-]

I suggest putting in a game and powering on the 5200. Then make sure you know which channel you have the 5200 selected to use. 

 

Now on your TV go into the channel section and select the autoscan for channels option. Choose for it to autoscan on the ANT connection. 

 

If you TV tuner will still support analog, it should find and tune into the 5200. 

 

I have to do this with any new TV that I want to play an older RF console on. Sometimes I have to do it between different consoles as one might be slightly different from another. It was due to this differences all the time along with the crummy video signal that eventually lead me to AV mod all of my daily use retro consoles for at least composite and in several cases, s-video.

 

[ApacheDave]

6 hours ago, -^CrossBow^- said:

 

    I tried to autoscan for the analog channels, no dice.  I have never had a 4 port RF adapter completely on me, so this is a first.  I might try switching to another TV in the house, a slightly older HDTV from 2006.  But my living room HDTV originally was able to tune the Atari 5200.  Has anyone out there had a failed 4 port RF adapter?  As said earlier, the red light does turn on for sure.  Switching from primary to alternate channels actually will turn off the 5200.  Does anyone else get a power down when switching channels?  That might be a clue for me.

 

Dave

[+DrVenkman]

15 minutes ago, ApacheDave said:

Switching from primary to alternate channels actually will turn off the 5200.  Does anyone else get a power down when switching channels?  That might be a clue for me.

Sounds to me like a component inside your RF switchbox is shorted. Changing the channel selector switch should have no effect on power to the system itself.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

30 minutes ago, ApacheDave said:

    I tried to autoscan for the analog channels, no dice.  I have never had a 4 port RF adapter completely on me, so this is a first.  I might try switching to another TV in the house, a slightly older HDTV from 2006.  But my living room HDTV originally was able to tune the Atari 5200.  Has anyone out there had a failed 4 port RF adapter?  As said earlier, the red light does turn on for sure.  Switching from primary to alternate channels actually will turn off the 5200.  Does anyone else get a power down when switching channels?  That might be a clue for me.

 

Dave

You mean switching the channel switch on the back of the 5200 causes the 5200 to power off? Or are you talking about the switch on the RF adapter box itself that you plug the power into? 

 

And yes I've had that box fail before, but not in a way that still powered on the 5200. I've only had them where the relay inside wasn't kicking in usually because the transistor inside had gone bad. There isn't too much in that box to fail honestly.