My modified 5200 (Warning - large images)

[Ian Primus]

As I have been exploring my 5200 lately, I decided to make it more useful. The video output from the 5200 is particularly awful, something tells me that this has something to do with Atari's scheme of putting the power input and RF output in the same cable. I rigged mine up with a power jack, and I am using a standard Sega Genesis power adapter. I built the video board as described in the FAQ. But, since Rat Shack never has any of the parts I need, I ended up building the entire thing from my junk box. I couldn't find the resistors I needed, so I had to build them, using my bin of resistors salvaged from scrap boards, and adding values as I needed. It was great fun, and resulted in a rather odd looking board (My 1.6k resistor consists of five resistors in series...), it works very well. This entire circuit board was built from salvaged componenets. I hooked the board up to the 5200 with a srap of ribbon cable, cut as necessary, and I mounted it to the 5200's logic board wtih some electrical tape (I insulated the bottom of the board with tape as well). The composite video and audio connectors were mounted on the expansion slot cover, and the power jack was mounted near the channel select switch. I had to cut off a part of the metal sheild to get it to fit back on (the part that normally goes around the expansion connector, it was in the way of the jacks and the cable). It works very well, and I am getting a much clearer picture out of the 5200 now. I have also repaired my controller to the point where it actually works, although I really have a hard time with that analog stick, Pac-Man is almost painful to play. The fire button is also a problem (who came up with a _rubber_ fire button, anyway?!?), as it really hurts my thumb, and needs to be pressed pretty hard to work. I think my next 5200 related project will be to build a better controller...

 

Ian Primus

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[Curt Vendel]

So is that the same board in finished PCB form we see CPUWIZ showing off??? If so, where do we all sign up, thats a nice mod!!! If its not, your mod looks far more simple then the other mod board, maybe you should talk with Mark over at www.sunmark.com into making it into a professional plug in board, he is amazing with cranking out stuff like that and I'm sure everyone would enjoy seeing more hw for the consoles, between the vid mod and Joe's Redemption interface, there have been some nice items coming out lately for the 5200.

 

 

Curt

[jsoper]

. I think my next 5200 related project will be to build a better controller...

 

Nice pics. Just to be sure is that S-video (chroma/luma) you're doing or composite?

Sometimes with missing resistor values, I'll wire in a pot and dial it for a certain value.

As for controllers, they're schematics for genesis pads, psx-dual shocks, and 2600 keypads

floating around if any of that interests you. I'm working on a really sweet 5200 project that should get posted

in a couple weeks, just got the first part going tonight.

[Ian Primus]

Nice pics.  Just to be sure is that S-video (chroma/luma) you're doing or composite?

 

It's just composite. I could have very easily done S-video, but I don't really have very much hardware that takes S-video. That Commodore monitor takes sepaerate chroma and luma, but my TV set doesn't.

 

Sometimes with missing resistor values, I'll wire in a pot and dial it for a certain value.

 

I thought about that, but I didn't have very many little pots that would be able to give me the right value. It's hard to get a 100k pot to stay at say, 75 ohms... That, and I happen to have lots of random, salvaged, resistors.

 

As for controllers, I have seen the schematics for the adapters, and I'll definitely build one of those, but I was thinking in terms of building a self contained stick, complete with a keypad and better fire buttons. At the moment, I haven't decided wether I want an analog or digital stick, the analog stick is required for some games (Centepede, Missle Command, etc.), but is very annoying to use for other games (Pac-Man, etc) I'll have to see if I can track down some broken 5200 controllers (all I really need is the cable, stick and the casing). At the moment, I only have one 5200 controller, and I really hate it, but I should keep one original controller around. I think I need to oil the sliders a little, is is supposed to squeak when the stick is moved? I really don't know what I want to do about controllers. Best Electronics sells repair kits, but then I would still have that junky feeling controller that is hard to use. Mine works fine now, and I still don't like it... The 5200 is a wonderful system, crippled by it's controllers.

 

Ian Primus

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[Ian Primus]

So is that the same board in finished PCB form we see CPUWIZ showing off???    If so, where do we all sign up, thats a nice mod!!!

While I haven't seen the board that CPUWIZ has in person, I doubt it's the same circuit. I built mine based on the information in the faq, but with some changes. It's far less complicated that what CPUWIZ's board looks like, but then again, his board plugs in easily, while mine has to be soldered to the logic board, tapping into the proper signals. While it would be possible to mass produce boards like this, but they would still have to be soldered into the 5200. The circuit is simple, and had I had the proper parts, it could have been half that size, and a professional board could be even smaller. But, needless to say, the "plug in mod" that CPUWIZ is showing off is a much nicer product, since it can be installed easily and without solder.

 

Ian Primus

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[tyranthraxus]

I find the the 5200 joystick to be fairly comfortable but what I do is

instead of using my thumb to press the fire buttons I use my index

finger. Squeezing the stick with the thumb is awkward and an unnatural

hand position. But with the stick resting in your palm the fingers reach

the second set of fire buttons comfortably. Since I am used to using

the fingers with the Playstation R1 R2 L1 & L2 buttons this seemed like

the natural way for me to use the joystick.

 

John

[CPUWIZ]

So is that the same board in finished PCB form we see CPUWIZ showing off???

 

Nope, the one I have does not require soldering onto the motherboard, it's plug and play. The designer told me that it is far superior in quality to the FAQ mod.

[Ian Primus]

Nope, the one I have does not require soldering onto the motherboard, it's plug and play. The designer told me that it is far superior in quality to the FAQ mod.

 

I wouldn't doubt it. It definitely looks a lot more thought out. The FAQ mod is a very simple amplifier circuit, and it does a pretty good job, although I modified it a little to get a slightly better picture. The picture I get from my modified 5200 is pretty good, much better than the RF picture, but it's not perfect. That plug in video board looks nice, but I rather like building things myself, and I am happy with my little homemade version.

 

Ian Primus

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[t.skid]

So is that the same board in finished PCB form we see CPUWIZ showing off???

 

Nope, the one I have does not require soldering onto the motherboard, it's plug and play. The designer told me that it is far superior in quality to the FAQ mod.

 

I know that being out of AA forum for long time I could lose something important... What do you mean for "plug and play" and "don't require soldering"? It's a long time that I would love to connect my 5200 in a more 'enjoyable' way. You know, I have a Sony multistandard TV (PAL, NTSC), but sound never was clear, always some buzz during play.

BTW, if I recall, I find AA forum right for this reason, asking for an help...