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Atarileaf

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Posts posted by Atarileaf

  2. Does anyone collect gaming magazines?

    in Comics & Books

    Posted · Edited by Atarileaf

    What were the ones in the 80's? Electronic Games? I used to love those, bought them every month back then. I'm pretty sure there's a site that has them all cataloged in PDF form which is great now so you don't need all those magazines taking up space. I used to have all the Rainbow magazines in the 80s too which was the monthly magazine for the Tandy Color Computer. 

     

    If I come across older gaming magazines I'll usually just pick them up to read through a bit and then re-donate them.

  3. The New Atari "VCS" - Official Topic

    in VCS Topics

    Posted

    The comments on facebook suggest there are people excited for this thing. Or they're just being sarcastic I can't tell. The video of the boot up screen just looks like a variation of a flashback screen. If anything you'd think they'd want to distance themselves from the look and feel of a flashback otherwise they just end up promoting the competition - "Hey look our machine looks and plays just like a flashback, only at several times the cost!" 

     

    I'll just get Tempest 4000 on the PS4.

  4. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted

    Basically any circuit requires voltage to operate in most cases, and to get a circuit to be a circuit...you need voltage and ground for it to go to. So yes, most of these mod boards should require a ground signal going into the mod board, and then you can either use that same ground point to go out to the RCAs, or you can ground the RCAs separately to another point along the main PCB.

     

    If a mod board has grounds on it, I tend to use them. If it only has the one ground for it self, then I will nearly always separate the ground from the video and audio.

     

    Sounds reasonable and I'm guessing normally separating the ground would be fine and indeed it is fine for normal carts but some homebrews seem to be giving this particular set up some fits. I'm hoping that redoing the mod with a board like the one I linked to will help alleviate that difference. 

     

    I'm assuming my problem is pretty rare if not completely unique. I don't think I've read of too many having a mod work perfectly fine for normal carts but have an rf interference style seizure when it comes to homebrews. The fact that I can clear up the image by moving the perf board does seem to indicate a grounding issue as you said. I suppose I could try to ground out from this perf board but when I look at the rats nest of solder joints underneath I think the smarter move is to get a new similar board and start from scratch. 

  5. Aging and gaming

    in Classic Gaming General

    Posted · Edited by Atarileaf

     the main appeal of retro gaming is that many classic games are relatively short affairs. This is particularly true of the earliest consoles, where arcade ports were the norm. Balancing family life, work life and other commitments leaves little free time for long adventures.

     

    I'll echo this sentiment. Although I do love some longer game sessions whether playing one of the older Sims games on the PC or a couple of hours of Star Wars Battlefront II on the PS4, I primarily prefer the shortness of the older games. When I have some down time I may dedicate a half an hour to play a few 2600 or NES arcade ports and have a blast in that time and then put it away. 

     

    I'm 48 now so closing on 50 in less than a year and a half and I do find that as I get older and particularly in the last year or so that collecting is a lot less important to me than playing is. I don't know if it is a coincidence of age or not but having a small, compact out of the way collection is much more appealing to me now as a 48 year old than a room of doom in my 20's and I actually find that the less I own, the more I play. I'm not sure it makes a lot of sense but as I age the playing is definitely more important than hunting and collecting. I used to be so focused on hunting that I hardly ever actually played anything.

     

    I'm sure part of that is because I've owned almost every console that I've wanted to try at one point in the last 25 years of being in this hobby and I've already experienced so much that the pull to get more just isn't there. I'm very happy with this change in my viewpoint as the experience is now so much more important than the physical thing. Getting old still sucks but I'm glad to have a hobby that continues to help me feel young.

     

    I still miss my hair though :D

  7. Facebook Finds

    in Price Check!

    Posted

    An Atari Flashback 2 modded to have a cartridge port!

     

    Did I need it?  No.  But I've wanted one for a long time.  Shocking how good the video quality is on this. 

     

    If I just got one of these I could have avoided my current conundrum :D

  8. Facebook Finds

    in Price Check!

    Posted · Edited by Atarileaf

    Mother-load

    Worm Whomper is my favorite Intellivision game. Very unique and quite challenging. I don't own an Intellivision anymore but I may try installing the emulator on my Wii just to play worm whomper again

  9. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted

    The mod board I like to use looks like this:

     

    attachicon.gifAtari 2600 mod.png

     

    And yes...you use ground and power from the RF board pins, and then ground goes out to the jacks from the little board.  

     

    PS - one other thing -- when you mentioned you don't have wire.  Do you have a "Harbor Freight Tools" near you?  I'm not sure if they are in Canada or not.  But they sell a variety pack of wire spools in a nice stand for cheap.  

     

     

     

    Thanks for the tip on the wires Rick :)

     

    I'm really starting to think this mod isn't installed correctly. I see boards similar to the one you show in this picture and the ground goes both in and out from this little board. Mine just goes in from the first rf pin but that's it. The other ground is soldered from that metal strip to the rca jacks so perhaps the video out wire on the perf board isn't being ground properly on that board? I may order one of these and redo it since it's a similar set up to what I'm already working with and again, the ground goes out from the mod board which I think is what should happen right?

  14. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted

    Thanks Crossbow I really appreciate the offer and you're right shipping would be crazy. I also agree a UAV is the way I'll probably go if I can't get this sorted. Is the UAV the one where you solder wires directly to the pins on the TIA? This Vader is one of the ones that has a resistor between two pins of the TIA to bump up the color, something I only discovered yesterday evening.

  15. How many games do you have in your collection?

    in Classic Gaming General

    Posted · Edited by Atarileaf

    I've gone from a couple of dozen systems and a couple thousand games to 4 systems (2600/7800/Atari 8-bit/NES) and 1 handheld (GBA SP) and about 150 games give or take.

     

    Atari 2600 - 50 games + 6 homebrews

    Atari 7800 - 15 games + 3 homebrews

    Atari XL/XE - 32 games

    NES - 25 games

    Famicom - 5 games

    Gameboy - 8 games

    SNES - 3 games + 1 homebrew

    Genesis - 4 games

     

    I got rid of all my Genesis and SNES consoles and just use a Retron 5 for those games. It didn't seem worth it to keep those consoles for a tiny amount of games I had for them. My collection is now back to when I first started in 2009 and was what I intended - to collect for the 3 Atari systems and some NES and just games I actually play. I no longer own games and systems that just sit on a shelf. I'm at the point now where I don't actually view it as a video game collection and just the systems and games of my youth that I still enjoy playing.

     

    As for what I use to track my collection (even though I don't think it's necessary because of its small size) is the database at VGcollect.com

     

    I haven't found a decent app for the older systems but I don't actively look for them so if there's a mobile app that works well and looks good for systems like the 2600 or NES let me know and I'll check it out.

  16. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted · Edited by Atarileaf

     Is it common knowledge to swap out a stock 7805 with a more robust version when modding? If so I didn't know and haven't read anything about it in the modding guides I've been reading. I'll ask the modder if it was 1amp or not, if not I'll swap it out. I know the refresh kits console5 sells include 1amp versions and I have one or two of those kits here.

     

    On a different note, going though the forums here I saw Osgelds sale post about his modded systems for sale (I was originally going to buy his but he doesn't ship to Canada) Anyway this line in his sale post caught my eye:

     

    Removed RF modulator and installed composite video mod featuring a FMS636x video buffer/driver/filter

     

     

    It got me wondering if this filter is something I should look at as a possibility to solve my issue because I'm sure my mod doesn't have one.

  17. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted · Edited by Atarileaf

    Thanks again for the replies. I did try different power adapters with no change and the 7805 was replaced by the AA modder. I was wondering if it could even be the big 2200UF cap or the green chicklet cap being the issue. Strong enough for regular carts but some more demanding homebrews causing a strain? He said he only replaced the 7805 and cleaned the power and a couple other switches. I do wish I had the rf shield to at least try putting that back to see if it makes a difference. I don't have an extra one for a vader but I do have a heavy sixer rf shield. I know it won't fit but I wonder if just to test, I place the top part of the shield over the IC chips to see if it makes a difference, or is that crazy?

     

    I'll try removing the glue tomorrow and take a look at of the underneath of the perf board, see if there's any bad solder joints and report back.

  18. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted

    Might all be a moot point. The perf board is hot glued to the motherboard and I was able to cut it off the atari board fine but to get the glue off the underside of the perf board is impossible without destroying it. I may just live with it as is and chalk it up to a learning experience. The mod is fine with normal games but these unshielded homebrews are giving it a fit. Which is a shame since homebrews are what I play the most.

  20. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted · Edited by Atarileaf

    I found these instructions online - http://www.coolretroprojects.com/Atari_2600_AV_Mod_Installation_Guide.pdf

     

    So first I'm going to remove the two resistors it mentions to remove to see if that does anthing - R209 and Q202

     

    If that doesn't work I'm going to replace that wire that runs from the perf board to the yellow composite and hope that does the trick.

     

    Problem is, what kind of wire? I don't think I just have wire laying around the house. If I buy some, Console5 sells it but it doesn't look any thicker or more insulated than what's already in there. In fact the person who installed this mod might have bought his wire from them - https://console5.com/store/30ga-kynar-hookup-wire-8-color-assortment-12-30cm-length.html

  21. RF Interference on Composite modded 2600? Homebrews only

    in Hardware Hacking

    Posted

    Well I removed the little ties holding all 3 wires together and moved the ground and video wire as far away from each other as possible but it made no difference. I guess i should try replacing the video wire and finding a thicker wire somewhere. I assume I'll have to pry the perf board off so i can get underneath it. I'm stumped with this as I've never dealt with mods before and the reason I bought a modded system was because I'm not comfortable with that level of solder work yet. 

     

    If there's a manual for this mod out there I'd appreciate being directed to it.

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