31 replies to this topic

[Philflound]

I went to Radio Shack today and thought that maybe they could help. The guys working there were barely even born to remember Atari, let alone help me with my dilemma.

I know I read it on here somewhere in the past, but maybe it was too long ago. I'm looking for the device that you can plug the Atari in that goes into new tvs. Not the 2 screw tv/video switchbox since my new tv doesn't have it. The front of my tv has the video in rca plug and the 2 stereo ones. I can connect my PS1 to the tv, but not the Atari.

What I remember reading about was someone who had a box where they had like 8 systems plugged into it and that went to the tv. Then you could switch game systems as you'd like without having to unplug things.

I don't necessarily need that device, but need something that I can plug my Atari to the tv. Not only the Atari, but Colecovision and Intellivision. Maybe even the C64 I picked up a few years ago.

Since I moved from my apartment 8 years ago, I have not played any vintage system. Not that I'm looking to play too much, but since I've been acquiring alot of stuff, my wife has been on my back about getting rid of things. I have spare units downstairs and would like to test them out with games and start selling. Also, since I've been acquiring a few hundred extra 2600 games, I want to test those too and probably dump alot of them for a buck or less. I don't want to sell dead games or systems.

So if you can link me to what I need, I'd appreciate it. I probably would try to look on my own, but I don't know what it's called.

Phil

[tz101]

Four step process here, but all equipment is available at Radio Shack or K Mart.

First, you will need this type of coaxial plug from your Atari/Coleco/Mattel console's output cable:



Next, the threaded end of that coaxial adapter will screw onto the 75 ohm input of this RFU modulator, readily available at most department/electronic stores:



Third, plug a component cable (red, yellow, white RCA male connectors on both ends) from the RCA outputs on the RF modulator to the RCA component inputs on this system selector switch. Again, readily available at most retail outlets:



Last, plug a component cable (red, yellow, white RCA male connectors on both ends) from the RCA outputs on the system selector switch to the component (RCA connectors) on your modern TV set (see picture below).



One thing to consider: If you want to be able to switch between systems with the system selector switch, you will need a separate RF modulator for each system (or just do an AV mod to each of the classic consoles and they will output component AV so no need for the modulator).

Hope this is somewhat helpful.

[Tom-Lynx]

I hear what you're saying about Radio Shack...most of the people there are unable to remember any kind of TV connection older than HDMI.

It sounds like you need an adaptor that converts a Coax output to an RCA input. If you do a Google search on "Coax to RCA converter" you'll get a bunch of results with vendors selling them under $15. Radio Shack's products go for about $30.

Make sure you get an RF Modulator that goes the proper direction....i.e. coax --> RCA. Some are made to go the opposite direction (RCA --> coax).

[Philflound]

tz101, on Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:25 PM, said:

Four step process here, but all equipment is available at Radio Shack or K Mart.

First, you will need this type of coaxial plug from your Atari/Coleco/Mattel console's output cable:

RFU coaxial connector.jpg

Next, the threaded end of that coaxial adapter will screw onto the 75 ohm input of this RFU modulator, readily available at most department/electronic stores:

RF Modulator.jpg

Third, plug a component cable (red, yellow, white RCA male connectors on both ends) from the RCA outputs on the RF modulator to the RCA component inputs on this system selector switch. Again, readily available at most retail outlets:

RCA Video Selector Switch.jpg

Last, plug a component cable (red, yellow, white RCA male connectors on both ends) from the RCA outputs on the system selector switch to the component (RCA connectors) on your modern TV set (see picture below).

RCA Input Jacks.jpg

One thing to consider: If you want to be able to switch between systems with the system selector switch, you will need a separate RF modulator for each system (or just do an AV mod to each of the classic consoles and they will output component AV so no need for the modulator).

Hope this is somewhat helpful.

Heh, this seems complicated. Thanks for the pics. I'm assuming you already have a similar setup?

Phil

[tz101]

Philflound, on Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:59 PM, said:

Heh, this seems complicated. Thanks for the pics. I'm assuming you already have a similar setup?

Phil

Yes, I have this setup. You can eliminate the system selector box and additional RF modulators if you do not wish to switch between Atari/Coleco/Intellivision at the push of a button. I just added that to the mix because your OP mentioned multiple systems.

[Philflound]

So I only need items 1 and 2 and wires to connect from picture 2 to picture 4. Probably can just use my PS1 cables for the last part. I don't really need multiple units at once. I plan on testing those systems, but separately is probably good. My wife complains when I take up room with things as it is. Thanks for the help.

Phil

[almightytodd]

This thread has brought to mind a gripe I have with the consumer electronics industry in general. It seems that whenever some new format/device/system/protocol/industry standard comes out, the assumption is that if you are buying this new technology, everything in your house is within the same generation of technology, and therefore compatible. I think the reality for most people is, that you upgrade one piece of technology at a time, and that your house is filled with a mixture of old and new technology.

Retailers seem to have no interest whatsoever in helping you get your new stuff to work with your old stuff. Their "solution" seems to be that you should just buy "all new stuff". Along with not being very realistic for most people economically, this is also not a very "Earth-friendly" attitude to take - yesterday's technology is tomorrows landfill.

I'm currently waiting on an online order for a VGA to TV converter from Sewell Direct that I found for less than $40. I would have gladly made the same purchase from my local Best Buy or Radio Shack, but their least expensive solution was $70 more. Their attitude seems to be that I should just use a more modern computer with a video card that feeds S-Video through the VGA output, requiring a simple two-dollar adapter cable like this.

That's all well and good, except the computer I'm using to do this is ten years old, making it difficult to find the right card to fit its outdated slot (...is it PCI? AGP? slim profile?). But it cost me 30 bucks. It has a (relatively) small hard drive, and not enough memory to run Vista or Windows 7. I don't need it to do much - I just want to display video games on my TV, and maybe watch some streaming video from You Tube, Hulu and Net Flicks.

I just don't want to hear the brick-and-mortar retailers complaining that it's hard for them to compete with the internet sellers. It's not just the big warehouse stores or nation-wide franchises... ...I went into a "Mom and Pop" computer store with the same request and they couldn't help me. It's frustrating...

[Philflound]

Actually it's funny but it's sort of what the guy at Radio Shack told me. He says, since there isn't much of a demand for such items, the store won't carry it at all and to go online.

Phil

[seanhq]

Anybody here remember when Radio Shack had the battery of the month club when you got a free battery once a month with a little card they punched? Man that was a long time ago, back when Radio Shack was actually a decent electronics store... now it's all about cell phones and computers. At least you can still get the Phono Plug to "F" Jack Adapters that work great for connecting Atari 2600's and other systems to semi-modern TV's.

[Prodos8]

You need one of these: RF demodulator

Its the opposite of a RF modulator.

Or, you could use an old VCR to do the same thing.

Edited by Prodos8, Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:28 AM.

[Tickled_Pink]

almightytodd, on Fri Mar 19, 2010 10:13 PM, said:

This thread has brought to mind a gripe I have with the consumer electronics industry in general. It seems that whenever some new format/device/system/protocol/industry standard comes out, the assumption is that if you are buying this new technology, everything in your house is within the same generation of technology, and therefore compatible. I think the reality for most people is, that you upgrade one piece of technology at a time, and that your house is filled with a mixture of old and new technology.

You're dead right but also works the other way. Even when a new generation of products look like they'll work out the box with an old one, chances are that the industry has moved on, fiddled around with a few numbers and for some reason come up with an attachment exactly the same as the old one but which isn't.

Until recently we only had CRT TVs in the house (we still only have one newly bought 19" LCD). When I first got the Xbox 360 I tried it on our 21" CRT through the SCART and RCA connections and nothing. No picture. Tried it on the newer 15" CRT TV/VHS Combi and the SCART worked fine. A friend gave us another 21" CRT of a similar age to ours and again no picture. On neither 21" did the TV detect any input from the Xbox ... or the Wii. And yet they detected the PS2 fine.

So, at the minute we're still using the 21" CRT as our main TV but have a slightly complicated setup. We have both consoles connected to the RCA connectors on a SCART switch box. Again, neither would work if they were directly connected to the SCART sockets on the box. In the first SCART socket we have our DivX DVD player. For the consoles to display a picture we have to have our digital satellite box switched on, our DVD player put on standby and the DVD player's connection selected on the SCART box.

Don't know what the industry did between the PS2 and the current generation but they really fucked up somehow.

[ls650]

Prodos8, on Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:27 AM, said:

You need one of these: RF demodulator

Yes, if anyone is using a crappy old RF switch box, these give a much better picture...

Edited by ls650, Sat Mar 20, 2010 11:08 AM.

[Godzilla]

most thrift stores have vcrs in the $5-$10 range and they don't even need to work (as far playing tapes,) to be used as a demodulator. They just have to turn on and switch between inputs. I used one like that for ages. I also recommend the coleco adam with the 2600 module, it has straight video out that is very good quality. the pain in the ass thing is u still need to demodulate it's rf to get audio! Still easier than doing a a/v mod :-)

[tremoloman2006]

Prodos8, on Sat Mar 20, 2010 12:27 AM, said:

You need one of these: RF demodulator

Its the opposite of a RF modulator.

Or, you could use an old VCR to do the same thing.

Which does a better job:

a) RF Demodulator
b) VCR

I've used RF modulators which are OK but never thought of going the Demodulator route since I had never heard of one until now.

[ls650]

If I understand things correctly, an RF modulator converts (or modulates) the video signal into a radio (RF) signal. They used this with old gaming systems because pretty much all old TVs had an antenna connection. The switch box connected to the antenna connection, and once the RF signal reached the connection the TV 'demodulated' the RF signal.
Now with newer TVs, you can use a demodulator external to the TV to feed the TV a direct video signal from the gaming system.

Old VCRs have a demodulator built into them to do this function, so no cheap RF switchbox is required, and the TV gets a cleaner signal from the gaming system.

Is that right? So I don't think an old VCR would do any better or worse of a job than a cheaper dedicated demodulator..?

Edited by ls650, Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:12 PM.

[Pioneer4x4]

ls650, on Wed Mar 24, 2010 5:10 PM, said:

So I don't think an old VCR would do any better or worse of a job than a cheaper dedicated demodulator..?

I would agree that both should do the same thing more or less equally. Some old VCR's might even be better since they were designed to produce excellent picture quality, not just perform a task of getting a picture from one device to another.

[A.J. Franzman]

tz101, on Fri Mar 19, 2010 8:25 PM, said:

Third, plug a component cable (red, yellow, white RCA male connectors on both ends) from the RCA outputs on the RF modulator to the RCA component inputs on this system selector switch. Again, readily available at most retail outlets:

RCA Video Selector Switch.jpg

Last, plug a component cable (red, yellow, white RCA male connectors on both ends) from the RCA outputs on the system selector switch to the component (RCA connectors) on your modern TV set (see picture below).

RCA Input Jacks.jpg

FYI, the yellow RCA connection is comPOSITE video, not comPONENT. (The white and red are left and right audio, which can be used with either composite or component video). In your 4th image, the red, green and blue RCA jacks (which only carry video signals, not audio) on the right side are for component video.

Whether by internal mod or external adaptors/converters, there would be no benefit to a component conversion anyway, since the best the 2600 provides internally is the equivalent of S-video (a lower quality standard) -- up-converting to component RGB would only add a conversion step without any improvement to picture quality, so could even result in a worse picture than S-video.

[Godzilla]

yea, i use an old fisher hi-fi 4 head vcr that has mixing controls & equalizers on it, got it for $10 at a thrift and It -BLOWS- away the $60 demodulator I bought.

[bohoki]

Godzilla, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:48 PM, said:

yea, i use an old fisher hi-fi 4 head vcr that has mixing controls & equalizers on it, got it for $10 at a thrift and It -BLOWS- away the $60 demodulator I bought.

yea there are tradeoffs a demodulator is expensive but a vcr is huge and blinks 12:00 all the time

[BigO]

bohoki, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:15 PM, said:

Godzilla, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:48 PM, said:

yea, i use an old fisher hi-fi 4 head vcr that has mixing controls & equalizers on it, got it for $10 at a thrift and It -BLOWS- away the $60 demodulator I bought.

blinks 12:00 all the time

You can fix that with electrical tape.

Edited by BigO, Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:04 PM.

[tetrode kink]

BigO, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:04 PM, said:

bohoki, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:15 PM, said:

Godzilla, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:48 PM, said:

yea, i use an old fisher hi-fi 4 head vcr that has mixing controls & equalizers on it, got it for $10 at a thrift and It -BLOWS- away the $60 demodulator I bought.

blinks 12:00 all the time

You can fix that with electrical tape.

Or by using your brain.

[batari]

tetrode kink, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:38 PM, said:

BigO, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:04 PM, said:

bohoki, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:15 PM, said:

Godzilla, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:48 PM, said:

yea, i use an old fisher hi-fi 4 head vcr that has mixing controls & equalizers on it, got it for $10 at a thrift and It -BLOWS- away the $60 demodulator I bought.

blinks 12:00 all the time

You can fix that with electrical tape.

Or by using your brain.

Brain has poor adhesive qualities and in thin strips, it's too translucent to block light. Also, you wouldn't want to use your own brain for that task as you might remove the wrong part and forget what you were doing.

[coyo5050]

batari, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:50 PM, said:

tetrode kink, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 11:38 PM, said:

BigO, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 5:04 PM, said:

bohoki, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 4:15 PM, said:

Godzilla, on Fri Mar 26, 2010 3:48 PM, said:

yea, i use an old fisher hi-fi 4 head vcr that has mixing controls & equalizers on it, got it for $10 at a thrift and It -BLOWS- away the $60 demodulator I bought.

blinks 12:00 all the time

You can fix that with electrical tape.

Or by using your brain.

Brain has poor adhesive qualities and in thin strips, it's too translucent to block light. Also, you wouldn't want to use your own brain for that task as you might remove the wrong part and forget what you were doing.

LOL

[ls650]

Heh - good response....

[Godzilla]

or, if you have the nice studio fisher model like I have, it has a button that mutes all it's leds.