Atari 5200 Guy

This arrived in my mailbox today. Did anyone else get one? I only wish I remembered how I got it.

UPDATE: Well...nice surprise. I found out why the RF was not working. I had forgot about cleaning up any cables I was not using around my gaming TV. That meant unhooking the RF stuff as well to help untangle a rather large hairball of cords and eliminating what I can do without. When reconnecting everything I neglected to reconnect my cable for a direct connection for RF signals mostly used for the 2600/7800 consoles. Dragging out the 7800 for a bit of fun led to the discovery. The cable ran to the back of the TV but I didn't complete the connection to the 5200's switchbox. I got so use to the cable being there, ready to go, that I forgot about disconnecting it until the 7800 refused to show a RF signal. In more simple words...there is nothing wrong with the SMS. It is 100% fully functional...and clean, too!

Thanks, MaxRD. If I had the space I'd gladly give every non-working console I could a home. At least until I could get them fixed and then I'd try to find them a new home if I already one. I love to tinker and fix electronics.

You're right. And thank you. It is in pretty good shape overall.

All done. RF fix on hold until I do more research and find replacement parts. Sorry for the rough images. Tablet camera is not very good quality. Now, Justin, let's see some score challenges with SMS games, bro!

And...we have the hidden Snail game! It works! Now...let the SMS collecting begin. But after I put it back together.

That...is a thing of beauty. RF still shows no signs of life so I am going to assume it is dead. I might fix it sometime in the future just to have a 100% working system but for now it works and I'm happy with that.

Some good news...I got a power light. Bad news...no RF signal of any kind. Next I am going to try the A/V out. If I can at least get something from there then I will just ignore the RF modulator.

Bath time done! In the back of my mind, however, I kept hearing the SMS crying out, "NO! My instructions specifically state that I am NOT TO GET WET! How dare you!!" Me: "But, I am your father now." SMS: "That's not true! That's impossible!! Nooooooooo!" Surprisingly, there are literally no scratches on this system. It must have been well cared for. Sega built these systems like a tank! Even with the vent holes there was very little dust allowed to enter inside the system. Probably some of the best Japanese engineering I've seen yet. Operation check & repair is now under way.

This is what I use to clean electronics... ...and I soak the electronics along with any and all parts. This chemical can remove most stains including years of cigarette buildup in a matter of seconds. And before most say water and electronics don't mix...you can wash electronics on a board level provided there is no power going through the circuits of any kind including battery power and if they are dried off immediately or allowed to air dry. Personally, it would be better to dry them off asap as air drying can promote corrosion. More work coming...stay tuned!

Disassembly process completed. Time for a bath. Don't worry...I will remove the heatsink from mobo before washing it. I also removed the sticker.

I believe this is the shiniest 30+year RF shield I have ever seen in all the years that I've been cleaning and repairing electronics.

It arrived today. Spoiler alert! Images show a sticker with wording on it that might be rated T. See what I mean? Bath first then I will start the repair process.

Genny had an awesome and flexible sound processor. I often wonder if that chip could be used in other consoles. Namely the 7800 since it has cart-addressed audio ins. That chip, and my experience with early Yamaha keyboards, are the reasons why I remain loyal to Yamaha. It didn't take me long to understand why Yamaha named their PSS-480 keyboard line "MusicStation"... It was more than a run of the mill keyboard.

My wife and I found a Netflix original series called The Crown, centered around Queen Elizabeth. We've only made it to the 7th episode of season one and word has it they are working on season 3. So far it has been a very interesting show. And John Lithgow, of Harry and the Henderson's/Footloose/3rd Rock fame, portrays Winston Churchill very well in this series. Highly recommended to Atari I/O members with Netflix access. Thought I'd pass it along.

Got an amazing trade with RickR completed. Simply amazing! I would definitely trade with RickR again. Thanks!!

Agreed.

Ah. I had similar issues with a d-pad on a Dreamcast controller trying to play Space Channel 5. Still drove me bonkers.

It's been said the Power Base converter has no electronics...it simply reroutes cartridge connections. I took mine apart to clean it decades ago but don't remember what was inside.

And if you don't like Hang-On or the other two games that accompany it, and can live without that card slot, the Master System II has Alex Kidd built-in as well. Thanks guys! So far so good. No 3010 models have the common built-in games. And a 3000 model was discovered! Awesome!

I was never good at MK but analog controls for a game with digital controls? That would drive me crazy in an instant.

Thanks guys. I have updated to first post to include the 3000 model which was not listed. Also, RickR, cool converter. I had one back into 2000's with a box. Stupid me sold it. If I had known then what I do now I would have kept it.

John Hancock did a review of this system on YouTube. As for Justin's response about the 7800's competition...it wasn't just those systems he mentioned the 7800 competed with. By the time the system reached my area it was up against the TG-16, Genesis, Game Boy, Game Gear, and the SNES was not far away. Who would want a 7800 when Sonic, Bonk, and Mario dominated the gaming industry? The 7800 simply couldn't compete because of poor timing as well as Atari seemed to neglect that releasing to many systems at once was creating competition for itself. I'm surprised that no one has ever tried to make a 7800 clone yet. At least I've not seen or heard of one yet. Then again, it's a unique beast of a console. I've been studying it and have learned how to generate sprites on it. I've even pushed the hardware as much as I can by duplicating those sprites. I've managed to get 150 multi-colored sprites moving on the screen simultaneously before the system starts to slowdown and almost crash. Once I figure out the playfield and how to create scrolling backgrounds I will be doing some of my own development for the 7800. As for the Retron 77, not to get of subject just now, it would be my choice over Atari VCS.

The JVC I have has component as well but it can't handle anything over 480i. It can't do anything with progressive signals. Sort of a dummied down component. Its there but given its limitations its not any different than s-video that I can tell.

Once in a blue moon I drag out the TI-99/4A for some gaming fun. I really don't play it much. Maybe once or twice a year. It's not a system I grew up with and I only have three games for it so I get bored with it quickly. Last night (Wednesday night) I decided to drag it out for some Burgertime fun. However, when I hooked it up the computer would come on but there was no signal. Further investigation confirmed the RF died. So I began to do some research so I could attempt to make an A/V cable. To my surprise, the RF end that plugs into the computer could be disassembled. So, I disassembled it. With soldering iron in hand I removed the old cable from the connector. And I have tons of PS2-style A/V cables I got at auction a long time ago so I sacrificed one and made my own A/V cable. I made sure to cover up the 12 volt pin so there is no chance of any connections coming lose and shorting out. My TI now performs better than new! I can now play Burgertime and my other two games. Another saved system...but I'm not going to keep the RF switchbox. It's too janky to mess with. Besides, it looks like someone tried to repair it before because most of the solder points on the on-off switch inside the box are missing.