27 replies to this topic

[patters98]

I use the official RGB SCART cable through a switchbox to my TV and the sockets are a bit stiff. When I tried to remove the plug for the Jag, the black plastic block that the pins are mounted in lost its edging inside and now the whole SCART plug is sort of pushed into its casing.

I bought a new plug from an electronics store and I'll have to laboriously resolder all the pins. Anyone else found this or am I just unlucky?

[Thunderbird]

patters98 said:

I use the official RGB SCART cable through a switchbox to my TV and the sockets are a bit stiff. When I tried to remove the plug for the Jag, the black plastic block that the pins are mounted in lost its edging inside and now the whole SCART plug is sort of pushed into its casing.

I bought a new plug from an electronics store and I'll have to laboriously resolder all the pins. Anyone else found this or am I just unlucky?

We're not lucky enough have SCART inputs to our 60Hz NTSC TV sets here in the U.S.!

[LinkoVitch]

Thunderbird said:

We're not lucky enough have SCART inputs to our 60Hz NTSC TV sets here in the U.S.!

Do Canadian TV's have them? (SCART being French and all). Failing that if your TV has component (RGB) inputs it should be pretty easy to make a converter, either SCART -> RGB or Jag -> RGB (if it doesn't already exist).

[Raijin Z]

Canada = USA Jr, with porn on basic cable, Beer Store on every corner, and bad drivers in every car.

[Stone]

You could probably fix the broken plug with a pair of pliers, some superglue and patience (or just buy a new one ).

If not, you can buy a mini-switchbox that has a SCART plug on one end and audio/svideo/composite plugs on the other...if you're up to making a female-to-female SCART widget then you'd be sorted (hint: buy 2 PCB-mount female SCART sockets, it's the only way i've found to get them). You can encase the whole thing in Araldite or other resin glue when you've finished it.

This would never happen were it not for the frankly shoddy design of mass-produced SCART plugs...the way they 'unfold' without warning and have rattly pins is shocking .Try filling them with hot-glue, that'd help some I suppose.

Best of luck!

Stone

[Thunderbird]

A while back someone had a photo of a European Jag catalog and it had a SCART cable in it. The cable looked like a ribbon cable with connectors crimped on the ends. Is this a real SCART cable? I have not ever seen one myself.

[patters98]

The real Atari SCART cable is very high quality in fact. It's a cable that's about the thickness of a VGA lead. The ribbon one you saw probably wasn't an official one. When I took the SCART end apart the shielding in the cable was all first rate and they had slid additional insulation onto the wires before soldering and then pulled it back against the solder.

In the end with a bit of work with a compass and a ballpoint pen I was able to remove each SCART pin from the block they're mounted in (which was damaged) and slide them into the new one. That way I didn't need to do any soldering at all. I figured it would have got quite tricky since it's been done so intricately.

I've just been playing Doom on my old Philips CM8833 from the Amiga days and on this 14" screen the frame rate looks a lot more acceptable than on the 32" in the lounge. Gotta love RGB though - it amazes me that US TVs don't have it.

[Thunderbird]

The SCART cable I saw was in an Atari Catalog! It was a ribbon cable! It must have been a prototype or something!

[myatari]

We have factory Atari SCART cables in stock. They are very well made with a heavy round cable and molded Jaguar connector. $29.95 plus S&H. We also have PAL I & PAL b Jaguar consoles. I will see if I can post a pic on our web site later this week.

[patters98]

Not too useful when you charge $18 shipping to Europe though

Telegames offer the SCART cable in the UK for £9.99 + shipping here:
www.telegames.co.uk

[myatari]

Great! You can not buy the parts for that price. Telegames has some great deals.
It is not me charging $18. but the Post Office. And the rates just keep going up. We have the same problem coming back this way. I have bought a number of items from UK & Germany off ebay and usually pay more for shipping than the item. Also 1/2 the time the stuff comes in all smashed. I pretty much stopped buying hardware from overseas because it is not worth it. I did get a good deal on a PAL 7800 I need to test a bunch of developer carts I have and it made it OK. I do not know why Atari made it so 7800 PAL carts just come up black in NTSC machines???

[gusbucket13]

B&C said

Quote

It is not me charging $18. but the Post Office.

That is not strictly true - up to 3lbs can be sent to the UK small packet international rate for less than $7 according to USPS own web site, so I dont see how charging $18 for a single CD jewel case to england when all others charge $4 or $5 can be justified, I would like to see a breakdown of you costs.
Gusbucket13

[myatari]

Because of all of the problems getting stuff to overseas we only ship insured. You can not insure Global. Air Mail 1 lbs insured for $30. is $17.85 according to www.usps.gov. I loose about $1. for the cost of gas diving to the post office. Plus we loose about 3% if Pay-pal/Visa/MC are used. In the US we use Priority mail which can be insured but for now the Post Office will not insure Global. Otherwise we would gladly use it. I do not own any Post Office stock so do not profit one bit by using them.

[gusbucket13]

It is not a very valid excuse to hide behind insurance as a reason to charge triple the price of your competitors, others in the USA dont charge one third your prices - I was going to buy one of your $20 CD's but when I found you wanted $18 to send it I decided to go without.

I cant get postal insurance to USA either cos so much stuff gets stolen in the US postal system, but I just sent a £16 ($24) Russian helmet to California on recorded delivery - it was good enough for me to continue trading with the usa without fleecing my customers, you know how much that cost for a steel helmet - a lot lot lot heavier than a CD jewel case - just $11.50 recorded delivery, It still dont wash sorry!

Gusbucket13

[patters98]

Dude - I made an enquiry about buying the overlays for AvP which you have and you quoted me $5 for them, then $18 for shipping - hardly necessary for flat pieces of plastic!

[patters98]

I appreciate that for something expensive, or something quite breakable such as a Jag cart, that you would need insurance. But I think a CD, or items for <$10 then you could probably take the risk, maybe increasing prices by 50c here and there to cover any eventual losses on shipping.

[gusbucket13]

AvP lazer copies of the three overlays - shipped from UK to america airmail total price £2:50p shipped within England £2 go figure!!! who is making money!!!
Gusbucket13

[patters98]

Apparently they're the real Atari ones, not printouts.

[patters98]

I'd be very happy to pay say $10 for those overlays including delivery, and whilst I appreciate that I could get more items shipped for the $18 charge, the fact is that since buying AvP and T2K recently on eBay my collection is complete as far I'm taking it, so the overlays are all I really want.

If any of you US people are feeling charitable - maybe you if I paid you via PayPal you could buy them on my behalf and ship them on to me in an ordinary envelope. PM me if you're willing...

(edit) Thanks to B & C ComputerVisions kind compromise I've ordered direct through them

[myatari]

Send $6. US cash or Pay-pal $7. to sales@myatari.com and we will
put them in an envelope and air mail them to you at letter rate.
There is no guarantee on delivery.
These are all 3 new original Atari AVP overlays. Not laser copies.
We have shipped hundreds of packages overseas and they have all been Air Mail not Global cheap rate. The postage paid is on the box. We are not the ones making the money. People do not want to pay for the guaranteed service but sure complain loud when the item does not arrive.

[gusbucket13]

If they are real $5 is very reasonable still does not excuse the postage charges though
Gusbucket13

[gusbucket13]

So have we established that B&C computervisions are willing to send stuff out at the cheaper air letter rate as long as customers waive any right to compensation, well as long as you get a free proof of posting certificate - Ill buy into that - humm if you agree to that Ok then Ill be ordering your demolition man / captain blood demo CD air mail.

Gusbucket13

[myatari]

US Post Office does not have proof of posting.
Since we have never tried this before I'm not sure what category a CD ROM would fall under. It will not fit into a simple envelope like 3 overlays will and I do not think it would make it in a global letter flat pack. The next time I go to the post office I will ask them. Maybe a Global variable letter pack. See www.usps.gov find international rate calculator.

[LinkoVitch]

I know in the UK you can get special box packaging for transporting CD's so you don't need a Jiffy bag, you just put it in this box which is just a bit bigger than the jewel case, and write the addy on the front etc. Perhaps that could help?..

Or carefuly peal the film off the disc and send that in an envelope. Then the person at the other end just puts it back on a CD and away you go

[Thunderbird]

LinkoVitch said:

I know in the UK you can get special box packaging for transporting CD's so you don't need a Jiffy bag, you just put it in this box which is just a bit bigger than the jewel case, and write the addy on the front etc.  Perhaps that could help?..  

Or carefuly peal the film off the disc and send that in an envelope.  Then the person at the other end just puts it back on a CD and away you go

I usually just fold them in half and put them in an envelope. The receiver just unfolds it and plays it.