THE ULTIMATE WAY to hook up your 5200 to an HDMI system!!! RF-to-HDMI converter!!!

[BIGHMW]

 

I just got this RF-to-HDMI converter back 2 weeks ago and it was so easy to configure, I am sure glad I saw this video from Hirudov first before I took delivery on it. I also got a couple of RCA-to-IEC (PAL antenna for UK/Europe/Australia TVs, a.k.a. type "DVB-T") adapters (readily available on eBay or Amazon, after finding out here this was not either an RCA or US/Canada-based F-type antenna connector, it was a European IEC connector for PAL-formatted TVs, so I was well prepared for it when it came in.

 

You can find the RCA-to-IEC adapter you need for your Atari to work on this device right here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/2-PCS-PAL-IEC-Male-to-RCA-Female-Connector-USA-Seller/231190947531?hash=item35d40de6cb:g:~gIAAOSwi4pa73mk

 

An F-Type-to-IEC adapter is also available here: https://www.ebay.com/itm/CESS-IEC-PAL-DVB-T-TV-Male-to-F-Type-Female-Coax-Adapter-AV-Connector-LW-2/254705058611?hash=item3b4d9ac333:g:8boAAOSwpHxfTFIA

 

Thanks to this clip I was easily able to change the OSD to English (the default is Chinese), and channel scanning was a breeze, but you have to have your gaming system powered on for it to recognize its signal during the scan, it picks it up easily though, as I am only using it with my vintage Atari 5200 arcade system I have owned since 1983, so it read analog channel 3 easily, but it reads frequencies in MHz, rather than by channel number. It operates like your typical old-school TV tuner, with adjustable color/tint/brightness/contrast controls along with selecting between both PAL (UK/Europe/Australia) and NTSC (US/Canada) and either 720p or 1080p, I set it for 1080p and my Sony STR-DH590 home theater receiver started to go haywire and after re-plugging the unit directly to the TV I corrected it and set it back to 720p instead. Then she worked perfect on the STR-DH590 after that.

 

Also, one word, you also have to set the sound mode on this device out of "Dk" in order to get rid of the excess noise and have it set up to the proper format for your country's system (PAL or NTSC) to have it work right.

 

BTW, after that, once you get the right adjustments, the picture quality is quite good, the only thing is is that you will still get the old-school RF audio "buzzing" noise but other than that it puts out a great picture. An absolute must especially when more and more HDTVs are now coming equipped with only HDMI inputs and no composite or component a/v inputs or even an antenna jack. This unit is the quickest way to use your vintage arcade setup with modern TVs. In the old days, you had to buy an old VCR and use its built-in tuner outputted to RCA composite a/v out, not anymore.

 

You can find them on eBay mostly from sellers in China or domestically right here: https://www.hdtvsupply.com/rf-coax-to-hdmi-adapter.html

 

I will soon be filming a video of my own on this device on my Ray Jackson YouTube channel (my personal channel I use mostly for browsing) so all of you can see from an American perspective how this wonderful little rose-gold-colored box can be the solution to hooking up your Atari to a modern HDTV.

[unoclay]

gonna be dead honest, no way i'd trust something like this to work for longterm.  Having fallen prey to various chinese knockoff/imitation tech over the years, i've learned to expect the tech to either not work correctly, or, fail after a short lifespan.  Hopefully this wont happen to you, but, imho, there's a reason ebay has a "north america only" setting for auction filtering..

 

maybe you'll get lucky and this one has staying power.  

 

Personally i find it much more reliable to just have a CRT (or 2) laying around, since i havent made the jump to a modded 5200.  

[rayik]

That setup will introduce a good amount of lag.  Alternative:  Sophia DVI mod; or Sophia RGB mod to OSSC / Framemeister mini outputting HDMI to TV.  Expensive but absolutely perfect picture.

 

If you want to use Atari 5200 RF output, get an old Sony TU-1040U tuner off ebay and a RetroTink pro.  Not as expensive as Sophia solution, but no real lag.  Sony is a pro grade tuner from back in the day and will do a good job converting RF to composite output.

Edited November 20, 2020 by rayik
added RF output solution

[mimo]

 

[Omega-TI]

$75.00 is a little steep!  << THIS EBAY LINK >> has it for $26.88 which might be a little more practical if you want to gamble on it.  The "de-noise" option sounds cool, but considering how often I play it, I'll stick with manually switching the TV to antenna from my HDMI auto switcher.

 

 

 

 

 

[BIGHMW]

9 hours ago, Omega-TI said:

$75.00 is a little steep!  << THIS EBAY LINK >> has it for $26.88 which might be a little more practical if you want to gamble on it.  The "de-noise" option sounds cool, but considering how often I play it, I'll stick with manually switching the TV to antenna from my HDMI auto switcher.

 

 

 

 

 

Yes I also got mine on eBay from China as well, I only wanted to provide you guys with a domestic route to get it if you didn't want to wait a couple of weeks to get it from China, but yes I did get mine also from China. Then I found out about the USA route after that.

[0078265317]

I just use a vcr,

[Omega-TI]

36 minutes ago, 0078265317 said:

I just use a vcr,

 

Doh!  I'm glad you mentioned that!  Come to think of it, I already have a HomeworX DVR that would probably work that way and give me the ability to RECORD my games as well!

 

NOPE!  It picks up DIGITAL signals only.  Bummer!

 

Edited November 25, 2020 by Omega-TI
Updated with a FAIL~

[BIGHMW]

I at first actually tried using an Insignia NS-DXA3 Digital-To-Analog Converter Box with an HDMI output I bought at Best Buy back in April thinking it would do this same trick, I bought it originally (and my Sony STR-DH590 a/v receiver and Roku Ultra at Best Buy back in April) to only use it with my 5200 and my Sony STR-DH590 a/v receiver, wanting to output it to its HDMI output, and then found out only after running the scan through that it only picked up DIGITAL broadcast signals and not analog signals at all, and so I almost got rid of it until I tried using it again a few months later, this time with our apartment building's rooftop antenna only days after finding out about it, and now it stands as my now digital tuner for my home theater setup (you can't go wrong with 56 free TV channels with it, who needs to pay for local cable when you've got that!!!) but then I discovered the analog RF-to-HDMI box I use with my 5200 a few weeks later back in April but never really pursued getting it because of its "weird", European-style, IEC (PAL) antenna connector in which I months later confirmed it was (and got the appropriate adapter for, an RCA-to-IEC plug adapter, in which I described above and have the link to use for the RCA game cord) after watching Hirudov's video on this device just days after ordering up mine when he tested it with his 126-in-1 TV Boy Atari 2600 clone he used it with. I highly recommend that no matter if you get it through China on eBay (or Alibaba, DHGate.com, or AliExpress.com) or through HDTV Supply at the address shown above, albeit for a big price, it'll also maintain your 2-port 5200's full compatibility with the VCS Cartridge Adapter as well, and give you as nice "HD"-like picture, like I said once you dial it all in and get the right settings she puts out a very good picture and will be well worth it considering that most if not all newer HDTVs will soon only be equipped with HDMI inputs, no composite or component a/v or even an antenna input, period. You could either get this and the plug adapter I described, or, you could spend $200.00 on a broadcast-grade product just to do merely the same thing, why waste the dough, get this!!!

[Ducky01]

How bad is the lag on this solution?

[Omega-TI]

6 minutes ago, Ducky01 said:

How bad is the lag on this solution?

The $64,000 question.

[BIGHMW]

Here is my just-produced review on this device, .....and one from an American perspective!!! Enjoy!!!

 

 

[Tamerlane]

 

I'll leave an eBay link here for any potential UK buyers (just in case anyone is looking for one):
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/185383806151