827 replies to this topic

[Longhorn Engineer]

If you look at the schematic it says to lift pins 6,9,12,13. Make sure you use the CD74HC4050E instead of the CD4050BE.

[Longhorn Engineer]

6-switch guide done

http://www.longhorne...ods/6switchNTSC

4-switch will be done soon at this address.

http://www.longhorne...ods/4switchNTSC

[Longhorn Engineer]

Didn't get the mods shipped but I did finish 4/5 Guides.

http://www.longhorne.../Atarivideomods

Just need the single chip Junior and they will be done. Also that page has the most updated schematics and designs.

[the.golden.ax]

Longhorn Engineer, on Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:32 PM, said:

Didn't get the mods shipped but I did finish 4/5 Guides.

http://www.longhorne.../Atarivideomods

Just need the single chip Junior and they will be done. Also that page has the most updated schematics and designs.

.... working on that this weekend buddy, sorry it took so long, it was a heckofaweek. With any luck you should have the single chip boards Wed.25th by priority mail.

AX

[Longhorn Engineer]

the.golden.ax, on Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:35 PM, said:

Longhorn Engineer, on Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:32 PM, said:

Didn't get the mods shipped but I did finish 4/5 Guides.

http://www.longhorne.../Atarivideomods

Just need the single chip Junior and they will be done. Also that page has the most updated schematics and designs.

.... working on that this weekend buddy, sorry it took so long, it was a heckofaweek. With any luck you should have the single chip boards Wed.25th by priority mail.

AX

Sweet! Thanks Ax!

[Frotz]

Consider this as an alternative to bending up chip leads. Take a chip socket and clip the leads that need to be lifted. Solder to this modified socket instead of the TIA. Plug that into the socket where the TIA was. Then plug the TIA into the prepared socket.

Another question. Why are the SYNC and LUMA signals (among others) tapped at resistors instead of directly from the TIA?

Edited by Frotz, Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:54 AM.

[Ransom]

Ignorant question...

Since I don't have the schematics for the 2600, I was wondering why the one resistor and one capacitor were clipped and then not hooked to anything. Does that disable the RF circuit?

[Longhorn Engineer]

Frotz, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:21 AM, said:

Consider this as an alternative to bending up chip leads. Take a chip socket and clip the leads that need to be lifted. Solder to this modified socket instead of the TIA. Plug that into the socket where the TIA was. Then plug the TIA into the prepared socket.

Another question. Why are the SYNC and LUMA signals (among others) tapped at resistors instead of directly from the TIA?

I see no problem with bending the chip leads. The Sync and luma lines take from the board to deduce the amount of bent leads and part count on the board. You would need to add pull ups to each line if you disconnected them.

Ransom, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:45 AM, said:

Ignorant question...

Since I don't have the schematics for the 2600, I was wondering why the one resistor and one capacitor were clipped and then not hooked to anything. Does that disable the RF circuit?

They are clipped to keep the color line clean on the 6-switch. Alternatively you can just lift the pin 9 but this way reduces the amount of bent pins.

[Spazmonkey]

When removing the resistor, can you just clip the legs, and solder the wire to the clipped leg?

[Longhorn Engineer]

Spazmonkey, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 12:23 PM, said:

When removing the resistor, can you just clip the legs, and solder the wire to the clipped leg?

Sure what ever floats your boat. These guides are just guides. You can install these kits many different ways but the guide is the easiest way to do so. For the mod to work Pins 6,9,12,13 MUST be disconnected from the board in some fashion. Some of the Ataris it just as easy as snipping a resistor. The 12 and 13 pins are connected via traces which requires lifting the pins or cutting traces. Lifting pins is much easier then having a razor slip and cutting through 5+ traces.

[Ransom]

Longhorn Engineer, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 11:31 AM, said:

Ransom, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:45 AM, said:

Ignorant question...

Since I don't have the schematics for the 2600, I was wondering why the one resistor and one capacitor were clipped and then not hooked to anything. Does that disable the RF circuit?

They are clipped to keep the color line clean on the 6-switch. Alternatively you can just lift the pin 9 but this way reduces the amount of bent pins.

Ah. Good plan!

[Frotz]

Longhorn Engineer, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:31 AM, said:

Frotz, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:21 AM, said:

Consider this as an alternative to bending up chip leads. Take a chip socket and clip the leads that need to be lifted. Solder to this modified socket instead of the TIA. Plug that into the socket where the TIA was. Then plug the TIA into the prepared socket.

Another question. Why are the SYNC and LUMA signals (among others) tapped at resistors instead of directly from the TIA?

I see no problem with bending the chip leads. The Sync and luma lines take from the board to deduce the amount of bent leads and part count on the board. You would need to add pull ups to each line if you disconnected them.

Ransom, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:45 AM, said:

Ignorant question...

Since I don't have the schematics for the 2600, I was wondering why the one resistor and one capacitor were clipped and then not hooked to anything. Does that disable the RF circuit?

They are clipped to keep the color line clean on the 6-switch. Alternatively you can just lift the pin 9 but this way reduces the amount of bent pins.

So I see that making modifications to a chip socket will indeed work. Clip some pins but not others and tap at the bottom close to the socket body. Aside from clipping two resistors and one capacitor, no soldering to the 2600's board needs to be done.

[Longhorn Engineer]

Frotz, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:54 PM, said:

Longhorn Engineer, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:31 AM, said:

Frotz, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:21 AM, said:

Consider this as an alternative to bending up chip leads. Take a chip socket and clip the leads that need to be lifted. Solder to this modified socket instead of the TIA. Plug that into the socket where the TIA was. Then plug the TIA into the prepared socket.

Another question. Why are the SYNC and LUMA signals (among others) tapped at resistors instead of directly from the TIA?

I see no problem with bending the chip leads. The Sync and luma lines take from the board to deduce the amount of bent leads and part count on the board. You would need to add pull ups to each line if you disconnected them.

Ransom, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:45 AM, said:

Ignorant question...

Since I don't have the schematics for the 2600, I was wondering why the one resistor and one capacitor were clipped and then not hooked to anything. Does that disable the RF circuit?

They are clipped to keep the color line clean on the 6-switch. Alternatively you can just lift the pin 9 but this way reduces the amount of bent pins.

So I see that making modifications to a chip socket will indeed work. Clip some pins but not others and tap at the bottom close to the socket body. Aside from clipping two resistors and one capacitor, no soldering to the 2600's board needs to be done.

Most 4 switchers and all Juniors are not socketed. Thus using this method alienates most of Atari players.

[Frotz]

Longhorn Engineer, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 4:43 PM, said:

Frotz, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:54 PM, said:

Longhorn Engineer, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 9:31 AM, said:

Frotz, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 5:21 AM, said:

Consider this as an alternative to bending up chip leads. Take a chip socket and clip the leads that need to be lifted. Solder to this modified socket instead of the TIA. Plug that into the socket where the TIA was. Then plug the TIA into the prepared socket.

Another question. Why are the SYNC and LUMA signals (among others) tapped at resistors instead of directly from the TIA?

I see no problem with bending the chip leads. The Sync and luma lines take from the board to deduce the amount of bent leads and part count on the board. You would need to add pull ups to each line if you disconnected them.

Ransom, on Sat Feb 21, 2009 8:45 AM, said:

Ignorant question...

Since I don't have the schematics for the 2600, I was wondering why the one resistor and one capacitor were clipped and then not hooked to anything. Does that disable the RF circuit?

They are clipped to keep the color line clean on the 6-switch. Alternatively you can just lift the pin 9 but this way reduces the amount of bent pins.

So I see that making modifications to a chip socket will indeed work. Clip some pins but not others and tap at the bottom close to the socket body. Aside from clipping two resistors and one capacitor, no soldering to the 2600's board needs to be done.

Most 4 switchers and all Juniors are not socketed. Thus using this method alienates most of Atari players.

I was just suggesting a means of applying the mod. The way I want to mod my own hardware is by the least changes to the old hardware itself.

[the.golden.ax]

Longhorn Engineer, on Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:41 PM, said:

the.golden.ax, on Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:35 PM, said:

Longhorn Engineer, on Fri Feb 20, 2009 7:32 PM, said:

Didn't get the mods shipped but I did finish 4/5 Guides.

http://www.longhorne.../Atarivideomods

Just need the single chip Junior and they will be done. Also that page has the most updated schematics and designs.

.... working on that this weekend buddy, sorry it took so long, it was a heckofaweek. With any luck you should have the single chip boards Wed.25th by priority mail.

AX

Sweet! Thanks Ax!

We have gravy! At least one has now been located.
AX

[Vectorman0]

Do you have an idea on when the PCB's will ship?

[Longhorn Engineer]

Vectorman0, on Thu Feb 26, 2009 1:20 PM, said:

Do you have an idea on when the PCB's will ship?

Bare PCBs and Unassembled Kits will ship Friday morning. All packed and ready to go

I am currently making assembled kits.

[Vectorman0]

Cool, I can't wait.

Do you think you could post that drilling template by any chance? I see it pictured in your guides, but I can't find it anywhere to print out. I was actually looking for a good way to make my own, as I am using different video jacks, but I haven't been able to come up with anything yet and yours would be good in the mean time.

Thanks!

[Longhorn Engineer]

Vectorman0, on Thu Feb 26, 2009 2:36 PM, said:

Cool, I can't wait.

Do you think you could post that drilling template by any chance? I see it pictured in your guides, but I can't find it anywhere to print out. I was actually looking for a good way to make my own, as I am using different video jacks, but I haven't been able to come up with anything yet and yours would be good in the mean time.

Thanks!

Yah I will add it to the website later.

All the Unassembled kits and PCBs are ready to ship. People that ordered Blank PCBs will receive a free CD74HC4050E cause I kinda accidentally ordered 75 of them . Assembled kits will ship next week. Monday if everything goes as planned.

[pepax]

Hi!
I thought of ordering a few kits but I didn't find any report on PAL compatibility here. Hm, maybe I completely missed it...

[Longhorn Engineer]

pepax, on Fri Feb 27, 2009 12:12 PM, said:

Hi!
I thought of ordering a few kits but I didn't find any report on PAL compatibility here. Hm, maybe I completely missed it...

We actually dont know yet. Mimo is going to be the guinea pig

Unassembled kits and Blank PCBs where shipped today. Expect them sometime next week.

[mimo]

I'll get the soldering iron on standby

[Frotz]

When is the magic time for those of us who somehow missed out on the preorder?

[davemorris]

Longhorn Engineer, on Fri May 30, 2008 4:08 PM, said:

7800 is done. I combined the D/A Ladder and a FMS64000 which is a S-Video filter. It outputs a clean S-Video image and a composite image that is multitudes better then any capacitor or analog combination. This chip got rid of most if not all of the bleeding common with video mods. Some games like Pole Position 2 still have a bit around the lettering (see pictures below) but it is much less then what it was. Ballblazer also suffered from this. Games that have a black background had some blue bleeding and smearing (see centipede below) which are corrected by the chip as well. I am quite happy with it and I am almost done with the 5200 version. Should be done Monday since I am going camping this weekend. I will be releasing the schematic for the mod after I finish the 2600 version.

DO you sell the upgrades??? If so, I need a few for 2600 X5/7800 x3/5200 X2

thanks, DM

[Longhorn Engineer]

Only the 2600's are done. Once I get the Assembled Kits out the door I will open up regular orders.