Colleton Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 I bought a 130XE recently and while it works, it has the worst video output I've seen on an A8. Vertical bars of lighter and darker color across the entire screen. I'm attaching a couple of pics that show the problem. The motherboard is pristine, I don't believe that the machine has ever been messed with. The only socketed chips are the CPU and the ANTIC chips, and I have reseated them using deoxit. Anyone have any thoughts on what this might be? Are there any video clean-up options like Super Video for the 130XE? If I go with an aftermarket video solution, which one suits the 130XE best?I have machines with Sophia and UAV, but have never tried VBXE. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 4 minutes ago, Colleton said: I bought a 130XE recently and while it works, it has the worst video output I've seen on an A8. Vertical bars of lighter and darker color across the entire screen. I'm attaching a couple of pics that show the problem. You mean worst when paired with an LCD. Results on a CRT are a completely different story. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleton Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 1 hour ago, MrFish said: You mean worst when paired with an LCD. Results on a CRT are a completely different story. Could be. I have multiple stock A8 machines, and none of them look like this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faicuai Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 1 minute ago, Colleton said: Could be. I have multiple stock A8 machines, and none of them look like this. I don't think you are alone, as It does mimic my experience with a 130XE "rescue" I dealt with in the past... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voxel Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Colleton said: The motherboard is pristine Could I trouble you for an image please. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sugarland Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 Yes that doesn't look right. Try reinstalling Windows. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Colleton Posted May 16, 2020 Author Share Posted May 16, 2020 1 hour ago, Voxel said: Could I trouble you for an image please. Sure. I'm assuming that the two wires are factory, but I could be wrong? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+MrFish Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 I'm gonna say factory. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted May 16, 2020 Share Posted May 16, 2020 (edited) yep factory, and ntsc... though the posted reference picture is pal... the dram timing noise can be alleviated a little by putting toroid beads on bodge wires, and supplying power directly to the video circuits instead of being fed off the same lines as the cmos dram chips... some folks swear that using better fresher caps helped them as well ymmv Doc Brown Edited May 16, 2020 by _The Doctor__ 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tjlazer Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 You could get a super video cable and try it on the LCD if it has super video. Thr chroma and Luma should improve the image. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
R.Cade Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 (edited) It looks like there is a wrong resistor value in there somewhere, probably from the factory. I would trace them all down based on the schematic and find which one is wrong. It looks to me like the Chroma is way too hot, so I would start there. Edited May 17, 2020 by R.Cade 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Voxel Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 15 hours ago, Colleton said: Sure. I'm assuming that the two wires are factory, but I could be wrong? Those wires are fine. Thanks for the image. I've taken the liberty and borrowed your image so I can bring something to your attention. The typical scenario with an image such as yours, is that the video circuit is incomplete. If you take a trip to the link below, you'll look for TWAUG issue 33 (the last one), then go to page 32, for your remedy. http://ftp.atarimania.com/atari-magazine-twaug-newsletter_65.html 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+kheller2 Posted May 17, 2020 Share Posted May 17, 2020 I curious why this would make a difference. Those components are for using a crystal vs oscillator and are for the clock. If you do all that work, then at that point, just pull the OSC and shove in Y1 and be done with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
_The Doctor__ Posted June 7, 2021 Share Posted June 7, 2021 (edited) On 5/17/2020 at 10:03 AM, kheller2 said: I curious why this would make a difference. Those components are for using a crystal vs oscillator and are for the clock. If you do all that work, then at that point, just pull the OSC and shove in Y1 and be done with it. it makes the difference because the digital noise is reduced and the supply to the video circuit is not as restricted. The video circuit on the 130XE is starved... more so and especially when there are modifications added to it.. this mod and a quality cable cleans it up nicely. It allows quick response killing the noise a bit and allows the current to flow nicely. It's a better tune and simply put... it works very well Edited June 7, 2021 by _The Doctor__ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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