CrossBow

Alex, I tested my Avox+ and SNES2Atari adapter and didn't encounter any issues on my primary 7800. But, to be on the safe side. I did cut all the traces to the channel select switch and run new wire from the pause board and back to the RIOT to a slightly modified channel select switch to allow me to turn that pause line on/off just in case. It would be better if I could find switches just like those used originally but with longer switches so they can poke through the back of the shell better. Currently I've been reforming the pins on the bottom and using the front set of vias closest to the edge of the board to mount standard difficult/channel select switches. I did it on both my main 7800 and on an extra in the lab that I actually sold last night in a record 20min time.
Anyway, thank you again for that suggestion!
 

Wow, all excellent info! Thanks! Well in my case, I believe I still have my channel select switch in place on my console and since I removed the RF from it over a year ago to add in the audio input jack, seems as good an option for making it useful again as possible? I will reform the leads on it a bit so I can try and move it further back a tiny bit to make it easier to reach.

I wasn't aware of the AtariVox functions being affected by this? I will have to give that try as one of the other many mods on my 7800 is an Audio input jack that I plug my AtariVox into to be mixed within the console and come out with the rest of the audio so I don't have to connect it to separate external speakers.
But the reason I use Up+Dn is not just because this pause kit also does, but because I originally years ago was using the Left+right combo and the Harmony cart did NOT care for it at all. I do have a diode pair inside my controllers to isolate the signals from each other independently, but the actual SMS kits only use a pair of 220ohm resistors off the inputs.
As for the driving controller and trackballs? I own them, but I never use them on my 7800 as I just don't play any games that use them.
 

Wow, all excellent info! Thanks! Well in my case, I believe I still have my channel select switch in place on my console and since I removed the RF from it over a year ago to add in the audio input jack, seems as good an option for making it useful again as possible? I will reform the leads on it a bit so I can try and move it further back a tiny bit to make it easier to reach.

Alex, I tested my Avox+ and SNES2Atari adapter and didn't encounter any issues on my primary 7800. But, to be on the safe side. I did cut all the traces to the channel select switch and run new wire from the pause board and back to the RIOT to a slightly modified channel select switch to allow me to turn that pause line on/off just in case. It would be better if I could find switches just like those used originally but with longer switches so they can poke through the back of the shell better. Currently I've been reforming the pins on the bottom and using the front set of vias closest to the edge of the board to mount standard difficult/channel select switches. I did it on both my main 7800 and on an extra in the lab that I actually sold last night in a record 20min time.
Anyway, thank you again for that suggestion!
 

Wow, all excellent info! Thanks! Well in my case, I believe I still have my channel select switch in place on my console and since I removed the RF from it over a year ago to add in the audio input jack, seems as good an option for making it useful again as possible? I will reform the leads on it a bit so I can try and move it further back a tiny bit to make it easier to reach.

Alex, I tested my Avox+ and SNES2Atari adapter and didn't encounter any issues on my primary 7800. But, to be on the safe side. I did cut all the traces to the channel select switch and run new wire from the pause board and back to the RIOT to a slightly modified channel select switch to allow me to turn that pause line on/off just in case. It would be better if I could find switches just like those used originally but with longer switches so they can poke through the back of the shell better. Currently I've been reforming the pins on the bottom and using the front set of vias closest to the edge of the board to mount standard difficult/channel select switches. I did it on both my main 7800 and on an extra in the lab that I actually sold last night in a record 20min time.
Anyway, thank you again for that suggestion!
 

Lance,
The reason I don't ask for all of their stuff is because it simply increases the shipping cost too much. Power supplies add quite a bit of weight in many cases and with shipping being what it is today, each pound adds up. I get what you are saying, but in most cases, I've done some troubleshooting with my clients ahead of time to make sure something simply like a bad PSU or controller isn't to blame first. Here is a such an example that happened last night in fact:
Had someone reach out to me through my FB profile for my ITC services. It was recommended they reach out to me to look at having their LCD replaced in their Lynx console so they wanted to know how much that would cost etc. With some questions, I asked why they wanted a new screen. And they stated because their original wasn't showing anything head on and you could only just make out the image when viewed from an extreme angle so they were looking to one of the newer screens installed etc. 
I asked them if anything changed when using the contrast wheel on the system... and they came back about 30min later stating they completely forgot that wheel was there and it was looking like it did originally again and thanked me for my time. I was happy to do that and while I could have insisted they get a new LCD still, it was only being suggested because they thought their screen wasn't working. It was and now they can play it as they wish. 
I would like to think that actions like that, will have them remember me when they might be in actual need of my services in the future so again, I try and make sure the simple stuff has been tried first for my clients before they send it all my way.
 

Wow, all excellent info! Thanks! Well in my case, I believe I still have my channel select switch in place on my console and since I removed the RF from it over a year ago to add in the audio input jack, seems as good an option for making it useful again as possible? I will reform the leads on it a bit so I can try and move it further back a tiny bit to make it easier to reach.

I wasn't aware of the AtariVox functions being affected by this? I will have to give that try as one of the other many mods on my 7800 is an Audio input jack that I plug my AtariVox into to be mixed within the console and come out with the rest of the audio so I don't have to connect it to separate external speakers.
But the reason I use Up+Dn is not just because this pause kit also does, but because I originally years ago was using the Left+right combo and the Harmony cart did NOT care for it at all. I do have a diode pair inside my controllers to isolate the signals from each other independently, but the actual SMS kits only use a pair of 220ohm resistors off the inputs.
As for the driving controller and trackballs? I own them, but I never use them on my 7800 as I just don't play any games that use them.
 

I wasn't aware of the AtariVox functions being affected by this? I will have to give that try as one of the other many mods on my 7800 is an Audio input jack that I plug my AtariVox into to be mixed within the console and come out with the rest of the audio so I don't have to connect it to separate external speakers.
But the reason I use Up+Dn is not just because this pause kit also does, but because I originally years ago was using the Left+right combo and the Harmony cart did NOT care for it at all. I do have a diode pair inside my controllers to isolate the signals from each other independently, but the actual SMS kits only use a pair of 220ohm resistors off the inputs.
As for the driving controller and trackballs? I own them, but I never use them on my 7800 as I just don't play any games that use them.
 

Lance,
The reason I don't ask for all of their stuff is because it simply increases the shipping cost too much. Power supplies add quite a bit of weight in many cases and with shipping being what it is today, each pound adds up. I get what you are saying, but in most cases, I've done some troubleshooting with my clients ahead of time to make sure something simply like a bad PSU or controller isn't to blame first. Here is a such an example that happened last night in fact:
Had someone reach out to me through my FB profile for my ITC services. It was recommended they reach out to me to look at having their LCD replaced in their Lynx console so they wanted to know how much that would cost etc. With some questions, I asked why they wanted a new screen. And they stated because their original wasn't showing anything head on and you could only just make out the image when viewed from an extreme angle so they were looking to one of the newer screens installed etc. 
I asked them if anything changed when using the contrast wheel on the system... and they came back about 30min later stating they completely forgot that wheel was there and it was looking like it did originally again and thanked me for my time. I was happy to do that and while I could have insisted they get a new LCD still, it was only being suggested because they thought their screen wasn't working. It was and now they can play it as they wish. 
I would like to think that actions like that, will have them remember me when they might be in actual need of my services in the future so again, I try and make sure the simple stuff has been tried first for my clients before they send it all my way.
 

There is a dedicated blanking pin on the Maria. However, the odd bit is that the pin is only attached to the expansion port bus and doesn't seem to go into anything else within the video circuit. But obviously that isn't the case or there are additional signals being provided by the Maria that effected this that weren't working.
It wouldn't have surprised me if this was always an issue with this 7800 that again, just wasn't really discovered. When playing on a consumer level CRT, that extra info was likely in the overscan and just wasn't noticed.
 

I only request the consoles to be sent in because I have spare PSUs and controllers, plus several different test carts for servicing the consoles. There has only been a few times where something arrived working 100% for me that didn't work for my clients and yes...it was indeed their power supply that was faulty in those instances, or in one case, the video cable the owner was using apparently had some loose connections in side it.
But I normally pre-test all consoles to verify the issues that are being reported or to find issues that the owner may not be aware of. An example of this would be a faulty player 2 difficulty switch or the paddle controllers not working properly for player 3 or player 4 on a 2600/7800 console. Because they might not normally use those functions, they aren't aware that they were faulty.

The IPL/Monitor label..looks exactly like the labels used on actual Parker Bros proto and WIP games. Same size lable...same looking dot matrix font printer used to print that label. 
So I'm wondering if that might not be something from PB? I know it looks a lot like my labels on my PB protos of SW:TAG WIP build and Rls1 of Gyruss that I own.
Also...IPL usually means Initial Program Load or Loader. So it could essentially be a firmware type chip for something unrelated?
 
 

The IPL/Monitor label..looks exactly like the labels used on actual Parker Bros proto and WIP games. Same size lable...same looking dot matrix font printer used to print that label. 
So I'm wondering if that might not be something from PB? I know it looks a lot like my labels on my PB protos of SW:TAG WIP build and Rls1 of Gyruss that I own.
Also...IPL usually means Initial Program Load or Loader. So it could essentially be a firmware type chip for something unrelated?
 
 

The IPL/Monitor label..looks exactly like the labels used on actual Parker Bros proto and WIP games. Same size lable...same looking dot matrix font printer used to print that label. 
So I'm wondering if that might not be something from PB? I know it looks a lot like my labels on my PB protos of SW:TAG WIP build and Rls1 of Gyruss that I own.
Also...IPL usually means Initial Program Load or Loader. So it could essentially be a firmware type chip for something unrelated?
 
 

Few things...
Changing out the original LCD with one of the newer IPS kits apparently will extend the life of the batteries since the newer LCDs consume much less power than the original screens. Especially since the high voltage is disabled as part of those LCD upgrades.
There is a charging kit you can get to install into the Lynx II console that is specifically designed for using NiMH batteries in the lynx. Essentially the system always runs off batteries in this modification and the standard AC port now becomes the charge port. I've not done or offered this as a service due to the fact that the modification kills being able to use AC power by itself on the Lynx afterwards. But, it is an option.
One interesting thing to test would be to try finding and installing a LiON pak into the external Lynx battery pack to replace the D cells. With enough watt hours on the cell you might get quite a bit of gameplay from such a setup when combined with an LCD upgrade.
 

Few things...
Changing out the original LCD with one of the newer IPS kits apparently will extend the life of the batteries since the newer LCDs consume much less power than the original screens. Especially since the high voltage is disabled as part of those LCD upgrades.
There is a charging kit you can get to install into the Lynx II console that is specifically designed for using NiMH batteries in the lynx. Essentially the system always runs off batteries in this modification and the standard AC port now becomes the charge port. I've not done or offered this as a service due to the fact that the modification kills being able to use AC power by itself on the Lynx afterwards. But, it is an option.
One interesting thing to test would be to try finding and installing a LiON pak into the external Lynx battery pack to replace the D cells. With enough watt hours on the cell you might get quite a bit of gameplay from such a setup when combined with an LCD upgrade.
 

The 5200 is my second favorite Atari console only bested by the 7800 for me. I've always like the original controllers since I first played the system using one of them. Over the past 20+ years now, I've done the foil dots bit on them to keep them going but after having to do it after every 2 or 3 years (due to the dots eventually falling off), I got sick of it and over the summer I purchased two gold set replacement rebuild kits from the new Atarireapairparts.com website. Installed them in a matter of minutes and I don't think I will have to touch them ever again at this point.
That said, I also have a set of the Wico controllers (I don't like this, they don't feel right and they actually break stupid easy internally.). But the command control keypad that they also use is quite nice and well built. So I also have one of the older AtariAge redemption adapters that lets me use that Wico keypad and a Sega Genesis 3 button controller with the 5200. For games that require the more digital precision, that is the setup I will use. But even still I mostly use the original controllers when I play on the 5200.
 

Oh yeah! Missile command is pretty much arcade like with it on the 5200.

Yes... yes you do!
 

Yes... yes you do!
 

Yes... yes you do!
 

The 5200 is my second favorite Atari console only bested by the 7800 for me. I've always like the original controllers since I first played the system using one of them. Over the past 20+ years now, I've done the foil dots bit on them to keep them going but after having to do it after every 2 or 3 years (due to the dots eventually falling off), I got sick of it and over the summer I purchased two gold set replacement rebuild kits from the new Atarireapairparts.com website. Installed them in a matter of minutes and I don't think I will have to touch them ever again at this point.
That said, I also have a set of the Wico controllers (I don't like this, they don't feel right and they actually break stupid easy internally.). But the command control keypad that they also use is quite nice and well built. So I also have one of the older AtariAge redemption adapters that lets me use that Wico keypad and a Sega Genesis 3 button controller with the 5200. For games that require the more digital precision, that is the setup I will use. But even still I mostly use the original controllers when I play on the 5200.