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Question for the UAV modders out there


unixdude

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I have now completed my 3rd/4th/5th UAV mod, something like that.  Anyway, it's my second on a 2600, and I really don't like soldering to the CPU pins.


So, what do y'all do?  I assume that I can find every pin somewhere else on the board, and that I can hook around a leg on a component.  That's what I did this time for audio, but I didn't do it for the other connections.

 

I haven't looked at schematics yet, so I don't know what components the pins connect to but I have to think might be a good way to go.

 

I need to redo this one anyway, since the color line (IC to UAV) already came off the IC.

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You could also just solder to the bottom of the pins of the PCB off the IC chips as well and I do that on occasion sometimes. But, you are correct, in that the next best thing is to get the schemes and start looking for the next component off the IC legs attached and solder to that point. Use your DMM to verify continuity to that component to be sure. That is essentially what is done on the UAV mods on the 7800. We solder to the bank of resistors because they are all lined up nicely and also happen to be the next direct connection to the actual IC and data lines we need to attach to.

 

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Yeah, I was going to use my multimeter to verify continuity.  That's what I did for the audio -- then it occurred to me that all of the rest of them should work that way too.  I have no idea where on the board they will be, but since I need to redo this one anyway (at least that one line) I'll look around and find them all.  I would definitely prefer hooking around a component leg.

 

Thanks.

 

Also, thanks for the PM about S-video -- I have some S-video connectors on order and will be modifying all these systems with that once the connectors arrive.  My SCCC-powered 800 gave me a preview of S-video vs composite quality, and you're right -- no sense stopping at composite now that I have a RetroTINK 2X-MINI!

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Tonight I modded that 2600 and looped all of the UAV leads around resistors, and in my opinion this is much better -- it is much more solid and much less likely to come apart.

 

Unfortunately, this mod fails the whole reason I modded this 2600: On my other one, Asteroids has major sync issues.  Space Invaders and Pole Position (these are the only other games I have tried so far) are just fine.  Asteroids, on the other hand, does what you see in the attached video.

 

This is: UAV-2600 -> RetroTINK 2X-MINI -> Vizio TV.  With other games and other sources (e.g., my UAV-modded 5200), the RetroTINK 2X-MINI does great -- it produces a nice, solid picture.

 

Note that Asteroids is washed out and it cuts in and out.  I thought the other 2600 had a bad NTSC crystal, but maybe it's something else.  This is an actual Asteroids cartridge, not a ROM file, but a ROM file does the same thing in my UNO-2600 multicart.

 

Anybody have any ideas about this one?

 

Edited to add: the video isn't playing for me, so I uploaded it here.

 

 

IMG_5269.jpg

Edited by unixdude
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That’s not the fault of the UAV or the Retrotink, particularly. It’s the way the Asteroids game code basically flickers the sprites for the asteroids. A CRT is much more forgiving of the weird video signal generated by Asteroids and the persistence of the phosphors minimizes the perceived flicker.

 

The RetroTink 2X models can only line-double resolution and output it on HDMI. When the signal is screwy, but the display hardware requires a rock solid perfectly stable digital HDMI signal train, there’s only so much an inexpensive scaler can do.

 

Try BattleZone, Empire Strikes Back and Buck Rogers for examples of games that give modern TV’s fits, even when converted by the RetroTink.

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Thanks. I don’t really care that Asteroids itself doesn’t work, but I love the game, and the 2600 version is one of my all time favorite games, so I really should try Space Rocks. 
 

So far I’m super impressed with the UAV+RetroTINK combo. Can’t wait until I get to add S-video to these units. 

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22 minutes ago, unixdude said:

So far I’m super impressed with the UAV+RetroTINK combo. Can’t wait until I get to add S-video to these units. 

s-video will have the same video issues just be aware of that.

 

It really is the Tink2x it seems that has the most issues. I wasn't even aware there were issues with some of these games as my setup with the UAV doesn't exhibit any problems with any aside from Buck Rogers that I've found. So yeah, it just depends on how the scaler handles the signals.

 

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So I tried Space Rocks (RC7 from here) and then discovered elsewhere that Space Rocks does not work on the UNO-2600.  Maybe I should buy a Harmony cart, and I should definitely buy the Space Rocks game cartridge once the AA store is back online.

 

Also, I've been searching and it seems there's a short list of games that don't work with the RetroTINK 2X-MINI.  Oh well.  I don't really see a $300 5X in my future, at least not today.

 

Hopefully Space Rocks displays correctly when a cartridge is used with a UAV-modded 2600 into a RetroTINK 2X-MINI.  @DrVenkman, any chance you could confirm that?  I saw where you were planning to buy the Space Rocks cartridge, and I know you have a 2600, and I'm pretty sure you have a 2X-MINI. ?

Edited by unixdude
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1 hour ago, unixdude said:

Hopefully Space Rocks displays correctly when a cartridge is used with a UAV-modded 2600 into a RetroTINK 2X-MINI.  @DrVenkman, any chance you could confirm that?  I saw where you were planning to buy the Space Rocks cartridge, and I know you have a 2600, and I'm pretty sure you have a 2X-MINI. ?

I have a 2X-Pro, but same basic device under the hood. I also do own a physical copy of SPACE ROCKS and a Harmony Cart, though my UAV-modded 2600 and 7800 are both connected to a CRT currently. I’ll have to rearrange and reconnect things to test through the RetroTink. I’ll try that in the next couple of days.

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Space Rocks is brilliant! Think of it as "Asteroids Arcade" though, as it's much closer to the original vector arcade game than the 2600 game you remember.

 

There are several different tweaked ROMs for Asteroids, some fix VSYNC and are stable on my RetroTink 2X-MINI. This one works for me, and the front-end menu is wonderful instead of remembering game numbers: 

 

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1 hour ago, DrVenkman said:

I have a 2X-Pro, but same basic device under the hood. I also do own a physical copy of SPACE ROCKS and a Harmony Cart, though my UAV-modded 2600 and 7800 are both connected to a CRT currently. I’ll have to rearrange and reconnect things to test through the RetroTink. I’ll try that in the next couple of days.

Thanks, I appreciate that! I expect it will work.

 

1 hour ago, MrZarniwoop said:

Space Rocks is brilliant! Think of it as "Asteroids Arcade" though, as it's much closer to the original vector arcade game than the 2600 game you remember.

 

There are several different tweaked ROMs for Asteroids, some fix VSYNC and are stable on my RetroTink 2X-MINI. This one works for me, and the front-end menu is wonderful instead of remembering game numbers: 

 

Yeah, I've heard a lot of good things about it.  I think I played it once a while back.  How are the colors on Asteroids Menu for you through your 2X-MINI? Mine are still washed out, but maybe I need to adjust the color pot, but I'm not going to touch that until after I add S-video.  Also, who knows, maybe adding S-video will help the colors.

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6 minutes ago, unixdude said:

How are the colors on Asteroids Menu for you through your 2X-MINI? Mine are still washed out, but maybe I need to adjust the color pot, but I'm not going to touch that until after I add S-video.  Also, who knows, maybe adding S-video will help the colors.

My Asteroids colors (regardless of the ROM) are fine, on either composite or S-Video, although my color pots were set by @-^CrossBow^- who has a good eye for calibrating things. ;)

 

I leave my HDMI input on my TV where the RT 2X-M is connected in Game mode, which helps compared to Cinema or Standard modes. My AVR also has a Game mode that adds a bit of spatial effect to the Atari mono audio output that helps with making me feel I'm part of the game.

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S-video will make things sharper for sure, but I tend to adjust the 7800 color pot (Only when it is really needed!!!) using the RF or composite on a CRT. Using the s-video or an LCD, you will never get the colors to look quite right because s-video doesn't do artifacting and LCDs handle the color differently. So yeah...best to adjust it using a CRT through RF or composite outputs.

 

But that also means that the colors will always look different on modern displays as opposed to a CRT to some degree. Just a trade-off you have to deal with until there is something better that comes along to compensate for that.

 

 

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11 hours ago, unixdude said:

IMG_5269.jpg

In looking at this, what you could do to tidy things up even more is to mount the UAV on the PCV directly below the reset switch as there is room there for it. That would allow for shorter wire runs from the UAV to the components where you are tapping the video signals from. From there, you could also use shorter wires to the AV jacks on the back. The shorter the wiring the less there is for outside interference to affect any of the signals.

I also try and reuse the RF shielding if at all possible as it not only helped in the day to prevent interference from the Atari to nearby devices, but it helps with all of the radio we use today from interfering with the Atari and the video signals there as well. But you would have to run the wiring either through an opening in the RF shield, or better yet. Cut out a notch on the side of the RF shielding for the wiring to come through.

 

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Thanks, guys. Unfortunately I do not have a CRT -- I only have this Vizio D43fx-F4 in the game room, and a Sharp LC-52D64U in the family room.  I could swear I remember the rocks in Asteroids being many colors -- yellow, blue, orange, pink, green -- and that the score text at the top is red.  Using the TV's game picture mode, the colors are better, but the Asteroids score text is gray and the rocks are only yellow and gray.  Maybe I need to keep fiddling with the TV settings.

 

Also, thanks @-^CrossBow^-, for the suggestion about locating the UAV -- I will redo this, as I don't like how it sits now.  Since this UAV came out of my 5200, it has the socket pins on it, so I'll need to desolder those so the UAV can sit flat on the board.  Or, since I still have some foam around here, I can just put that below it.

 

Every time I do this, I get better. :)

Edited by unixdude
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Space Rocks (actual cart) played on my UAV-modded 4-Switch on composite (NOT s-video) through my 2X-Pro. Works a treat. I can check s-video from my daily driver 7800 but I’ll have to rearrange a lot more stuff and can’t do it tonight. 
 

 

5B079B88-43F5-4163-80E2-D30A5FC9AFB3.jpeg

1764846B-4AA5-4E32-823C-3E774FD9FB7B.jpeg

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14 minutes ago, unixdude said:

Thanks - it didn't occur to me that you might not be using your 2600 with the RetroTINK. :)  Sorry about that.

 

Anyway, that game really looks awesome, so I'm going to add it to my list.

It's fantastic, truly. @SpiceWare outdid himself. There are tons of game options too. As close to a perfect videogame as may exist. :)

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