Atarileaf

Hello all. Justin pointed out to me this special section of the forums for posting one's own youtube videos so I thought I'd start one. These are my last two reviews, not necessarily last two videos but reviews. Enjoy ☺️
 
The Dreadnaught Factor for Atari XL/XE computers:
 
 
Draconian homebrew for the 2600:
 
 
 

My biggest goal for this year is to fix my consoles instead of breaking them. 

Hello all. Justin pointed out to me this special section of the forums for posting one's own youtube videos so I thought I'd start one. These are my last two reviews, not necessarily last two videos but reviews. Enjoy ☺️
 
The Dreadnaught Factor for Atari XL/XE computers:
 
 
Draconian homebrew for the 2600:
 
 
 

Big fan of your channel BTW. 
 
I'm mostly concerned about Atari's as they're my primary love. It seems I'm having bad luck the last year of so with chips or parts dying like IC's getting fried, ram or other chips on 800XL's going, buttons on 7800 consoles or XEGS's, etc.
 
I'm wondering if it's me who's causing the problem, especially now. My gameroom is carpet, I shuffle around in socks and it's winter with cold dry air. I wonder if I should being wearing an antistatic wrist strap or something when I touch consoles. Maybe that's what happened yesterday when I apparently killed a chip or chips in a six switch I was working on. Maybe I killed it with static electricity. 
 
On a side note, the Keystone Kapers I was using to test the RF picture with is also dead from what happened. A previously working copy absolutely will not work on any other 2600 I've tried it on no matter how much I clean it. I've never heard of a game frying from a console dying but I have no other explanation.

Hello all. Justin pointed out to me this special section of the forums for posting one's own youtube videos so I thought I'd start one. These are my last two reviews, not necessarily last two videos but reviews. Enjoy ☺️
 
The Dreadnaught Factor for Atari XL/XE computers:
 
 
Draconian homebrew for the 2600:
 
 
 

My biggest goal for this year is to fix my consoles instead of breaking them. 

My biggest goal for this year is to fix my consoles instead of breaking them. 

Hello all. Justin pointed out to me this special section of the forums for posting one's own youtube videos so I thought I'd start one. These are my last two reviews, not necessarily last two videos but reviews. Enjoy ☺️
 
The Dreadnaught Factor for Atari XL/XE computers:
 
 
Draconian homebrew for the 2600:
 
 
 

Big fan of your channel BTW. 
 
I'm mostly concerned about Atari's as they're my primary love. It seems I'm having bad luck the last year of so with chips or parts dying like IC's getting fried, ram or other chips on 800XL's going, buttons on 7800 consoles or XEGS's, etc.
 
I'm wondering if it's me who's causing the problem, especially now. My gameroom is carpet, I shuffle around in socks and it's winter with cold dry air. I wonder if I should being wearing an antistatic wrist strap or something when I touch consoles. Maybe that's what happened yesterday when I apparently killed a chip or chips in a six switch I was working on. Maybe I killed it with static electricity. 
 
On a side note, the Keystone Kapers I was using to test the RF picture with is also dead from what happened. A previously working copy absolutely will not work on any other 2600 I've tried it on no matter how much I clean it. I've never heard of a game frying from a console dying but I have no other explanation.

Complete my M Network subset. 7 to go.
 
Dive into the Lynx, never owned one and only got to play one back when it was new, ONCE!
 
Make more Atari related videos and get my channel back on track.

Found this at a GameStop yesterday!

I personally play guitar and some bass. Picking it up again after not playing for like 8 years. I just picked up a new strat and been playing a lot since I've bought it. Here's a pic of it.
 

 
It's a Fender EOB Sustainer Strat. I love it so much. Plays so nice and sounds amazing
 
Let's see some of your gear!

I have small hands too -- yep it can be hard to find a guitar that feels right.  It's just a matter of finding a 3/4 sized guitar or getting one that has a very thin neck.  Electric guitars can have thinner necks, so I'd start there instead of going acoustic.  It does take a lot of practice, but the learning aids they have these days are incredible.  Pawn or thrift stores can have really nice selections of guitars, and it's fun to try them all out to see which feels best in your hands. 
 
My guitar is a 1965 Silvertone strat-style electric.  It's small.  Feels great to me.  I got it from a pawn shop probably 30 years ago. 
 
I say if it's something you really want to try, then go for it! 

A special THANK YOU to everyone here   

First of all, It's Great To See You Posting Here!
This is one of the friendliest forum sites around.
 
I'm not nervous about most of my older system, except for my Game Gears (which seem to go bad) and my disc based games, due to the potential of disc rot.
 
But overall, I've been pretty lucky.

I'm loving the advice guys, it's helping for sure. I do think I need to step away from it for a bit and not focus on it so much. Rick, Rob, Justin, you guys have been great and I'm thankful to find good friends online. I'm really liking these forums and am sorry it took me so long to join

I envy the musically talented. I would love to learn guitar or piano. I think my fingers are too short for guitar though. When I did try I could never seem to get my hands around the neck properly. I have small hands I guess. 

I was given this heavy sixer which I was told was dead and noticed the ribbon cable is in very poor condition. I get a black screen when it's powered on and am thinking there's a good chance it's this ribbon cable. It seems to be separating which would lead me to believe there's poor or no communication between the two boards. Any advice on this and possible replacements?
 
 

I'm loving the advice guys, it's helping for sure. I do think I need to step away from it for a bit and not focus on it so much. Rick, Rob, Justin, you guys have been great and I'm thankful to find good friends online. I'm really liking these forums and am sorry it took me so long to join

In addition to what others have stated above...I'd add the following.  Most of these things we play with aren't terribly valuable.  For example, they made MILLIONS of Atari 2600's, and you can find one working for $30.  They do break, and if they aren't fixable, then you have spare parts for the next time or for a friend that needs parts.  I say use em and have fun.  If they break, they break.  Save up if you must and buy a replacement. 
 
That being said, I've been known to sell of the stuff I'm afraid to touch for the reasons you mention.  Example:  Milton Bradley Microvision.  They cost a lot, aren't really that fun, and will almost certainly break at some point.  No fun?  SOLD. 
 
Some expensive stuff I love.  I play it.  Even if it may break.  Vectrex and Virtual Boy are my examples here.  I play them.  I love them.  If they break...well, at least I had fun with them.
 
And more:  Most of the stuff you end up trying to fix is broken to begin with, so don't stress out if you fail in your attempt.  It's OK.  It's replaceable.  You learned for the next time.  Not really related, but it reminds me of CPR training...the first thing they teach you is that a person that's stopped breathing is dead.  Don't be afraid to attempt CPR because you can't do more harm to the person. 
 
We are all friends here.  If you need something, ask.  I try to help in repairs whenever I can, or in providing cheap parts if I have them.  Or even replacement consoles if I know someone is going to keep and play them. 
 
It's ok, too, to take short breaks from the hobby.  But like all things in life, don't let it be due to fear.  Life is too short to worry about "stuff". 
 
And one final little tiny bit of advice -- I always use a surge suppressor with my consoles.  Just a tiny bit of insurance against power spikes. 

Well try not to get too stressed over it, after all we ARE dealing with some 30+ year old systems now and it is not always easily to pinpoint exactly what the issues are. IC's, solder joints and PSU's have served for many years and prone to failures. That said as well, I turned 50 TODAY and I am definitely at a different place, I always been a tinkerer, one to experiment but I think I am past most of that now, not saying I WONT do anymore of it but I think I like the idea of just enjoying and expanding on areas of my collection that currently work well. I don't think I want to get too much beyond more "creative" type modding like maybe painting a case that has sever yellowing or something, I think anything more serious I just want to phase out and pass on to those who are more likely and better equipped to restore and satisfy people who enjoy repairing more.  
 
Anyway Atarileaf if I may say you brought ME and I am sure many with your retro videos for years, do what makes you happy, just be patient and think it through before doing anything to drastic, you don't owe anyone anything so do what you need to to ensure your enjoyment of the hobby! 

Thanks guys and Justin you're right, I know I would have regrets. I just gotta battle through it. I've got some IC chips on order from Best Electronics so hopefully they'll fix my latest blunder.

Strange title I know but I'm having a bit of a crisis of conscience, so to speak, with the collection. Lately I've been more and more trying to repair systems with various degrees of luck. Some success but a lot of failure. Just this morning I'm trying to diagnose a light sixer 2600 that had poor RF and I must have done something to blow a chip because I'm just getting the dreaded black screen now. Nothing works, probably one of the 3 main IC's.
 
I often get stressed at the idea of making a video for youtube because I fear when I turn any of my machines on I'm going to find a problem or it doesn't work at all, which has happened more recently. Hence the reason I've been trying to get into repairing more. It's getting more difficult to convince myself to sit down and actually play because of this hardware failure dread that I'm always experiencing.
 
This dread is one of the big reasons I sold off my Tandy Coco collection and TG-16 collection, among others.
 
The whole thing has caused me quite a degree of stress where I'm not enjoying the hobby anymore and like I did in 2005, it's causing me to consider selling everything off and being done with it. The whole point of this great hobby is to enjoy it but I'm not finding that enjoyment anymore due to hardware failure, which lets be honest is going to be more and more prevalent as time goes on.
 
Is what I'm feeling normal and have others experienced these feelings? I actually start getting depressed when things break down, which I suppose is a sign I'm in too deep with this hobby perhaps. Feedback and suggestions are all quite welcome. Thanks.

Thanks guys and Justin you're right, I know I would have regrets. I just gotta battle through it. I've got some IC chips on order from Best Electronics so hopefully they'll fix my latest blunder.

I have been drifting away from the retro home gaming stuff myself somewhat and have moved on to playing competitive pinball. I haven't decided to get out of retro gaming it had just taken more of a back seat. That said I discovered on my road trips to find all the various what-nots. I would find in all my time testing the items the working stuff would get put on a shelf and the non-working stuff got the majority of the attention and the enjoyment was getting these things to work.
 
  My skills have improved in the tinkering but still far from what the professionals do in their diagnostic approach. The experiences I have gained have moved onto pinball ownership and fixing of my own machines. I am finding my limits there as well but celebrate  others that find the areas of my limits to be more of a success (painting of all things is one of my weaknesses )
 
I had recently just heard of "Makerspaces" https://www.makerspaces.com/what-is-a-makerspace/and may venture down that avenue.
 
So I suppose to answer the question of the title I would say it IS normal to get the blues about the piles of stuff that doesn't work. I still find it interesting to tinker. I haven't measured my success rate as of late on retro systems but know for sure it isn't very high. ( thinking of a couple of identical pong systems that I am not sure are working properly)