89 replies to this topic

[Skaarg]

Worksheet:
NTSC
Serial #: 43596F
MFG Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: As of today me. Ames, IA, USA - Did not know previous owner.
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): Yes
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): No
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Notes (Previous owner, display only, white sticker, parts fixed, green connector, Switchboard/Motherboard Revision #):
Great condition cosmetically! Will post pictures and other info when I have time. =)
Not sure if it's the cable or system, but power plug is a little finicky. If bumped the system might turn off.
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): No

[Schizophretard]

Pioneer4x4, on Mon Oct 24, 2011 7:18 AM, said:

Schizophretard, on Mon Oct 24, 2011 3:31 AM, said:

I don't mean laminating the labels but putting clear plastic over the labels and then laminating the plastic, so if you took the lamination off it wouldn't tear the labels.

Maybe something like a "Packing Slip Pocket" would work. Thos clear plastic rectangles with adhesive only on the surrounding edge, so the center part is protected, but not adhered to. Something like this.
http://www1.mscdirec...archandizedOk=Y

Maybe something like that but I was thinking more along the lines of laminating smart phone/ Nintendo DS type screen protectors or cutting the plastic out of old photo albums that you always find cheap at Goodwill.

[Mark T]

Last call for alcohol!...umm...I mean last call to update the list for end of 2011! If you have gotten a Heavy Sixer please post your 411 here cos I'm updating next week...last time for this year!

Happy Holidays & New Year!

-Mark

[krypton85]

I'm already on the list, but here are some pics and more info:

NTSC
Serial: 86077F
MFG Location: Sunnyvale
Owner: Krypton85, Upstate, NY, USA
A/B Channel Slot: No
A/B Channel Switch: No
Functional: Yes
Notes: Switchboard Rev B, Motherboard Rev 8



Front and back (no channel switch)



Top off:


Label on casing:


Switch board rev:


Motherboard rev:


Innovative Leisure:

[Aaron D. Bertholf]

I paid just $30 for my heavy sixer a few months ago. Found it at a small video game shop in Grand Prarie, they sold it to me for $30 because there was no guarantee it would work so I took my chances. I refurbished it recently. I put a new AC Adapter on it, new orange paint edge, using FB 3 controllers, rebuilt paddle controllers. PLAYS PURE AWESOMENESS!!!!

Worksheet:
NTSC
Serial #: 56910E
MFG Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: Aaron Bertholf from Fort Worth, TX
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): No
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): No
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Notes: I personally refurbished this heavy sixer. I changed out the RF Cable with a 6 ft. coax cable using a coax to phono adapter to go inside the 2600. I am using joysticks that come from the Flashback 3 since my CX10 controller is in total disrepair. Repainted the orange edges with new orange paint. The paddle controllers have been rebuilt by myself. Probably one of the best heavy sixers I have personally seen IMO.
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): No

Edited by Aaron D. Bertholf, Sat Jan 7, 2012 12:15 AM.

[Mark T]

LIST UPDATED!

[bah]

New one
NTSC
Serial #: T0046391
MFG Location: Taiwan
Owner: bah, Sugar Grove, PA
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): Yes
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): Yes
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Notes: paper tape dated Jul 29 1978
Refurbished (Silver Label) No

Updates
NTSC
Serial #: 94723M
MFG Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: bah, Sugar Grove, PA
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): Yes
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): Yes
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Refurbished (Silver Label) No

NTSC
Serial #: 85373R
MFG Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: bah, Sugar Grove, PA
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): No
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): No
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Sears version
Refurbished (Silver Label) No

NTSC
Serial #: 64838H
MFG Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: no longer bah, sold to robotkingnes
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Refurbished (Silver Label) No

[high voltage]

I'd love a cib heavy sixer, obviously impossible to find and expensive to ship to Europe.

How many heavies sixers were made in the first place?

[Mark T]

I couldn't find any statistics on the first run/year "Heavy 6-Switch" consoles but Atari did end up selling over 30 million consoles all together.

However I came up with a rough estimate:
Take the lifespan of Atari 2600 (1977-1992) 15 Years
Take the total amount of units sold: 30,000,000

Divide that evenly to obtain a rough yearly estimate: 30,000,000 / 15 = 2,000,000 Units a year.

So in short 2,000,000 Heavy 6-Switch Consoles have been released

[Schizophretard]

Mark T, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 10:30 AM, said:

I couldn't find any statistics on the first run/year "Heavy 6-Switch" consoles but Atari did end up selling over 30 million consoles all together.

However I came up with a rough estimate:
Take the lifespan of Atari 2600 (1977-1992) 15 Years
Take the total amount of units sold: 30,000,000

Divide that evenly to obtain a rough yearly estimate: 30,000,000 / 15 = 2,000,000 Units a year.

So in short 2,000,000 Heavy 6-Switch Consoles have been released

.

That is a good estimate but the first year that they sold over 2,000,000 was in 1980 when they released Space Invaders. You also have to consider when the sales boomed and then started to drop in 1983 with the video game crash.

From what I read on wikipedia there were 250,000 sold. More than likely most of them have been trashed. So, there are probably way less now. I believe there are enough for every collector to own more than one of them though because there aren't many of us.

[dustygraves.]

got this unit for free the other day with its original box)
it is reconditioned and has two identical white stickers, the bottom sticker has the s/n#99462- n and the sticker on top of it has
the s/n#38135-k and is stamped as recondition with the #209 stamped in red.the bottom sticker also has the name of the
previous(original?)owner(J.T. riordan jr.)also inside is a tiny round sticker with the #7801 on it(what does the# mean?).

ntsc.

s/n#99462n(bottom stkr)/#38135k(top stkr)

mfg.atari inc. sunnyvale,ca.(both stkrs).

a/b slot:yes a/b switch:no.

works:yes.

refubished:yes.(white stker).

Edited by dustygraves., Sat Feb 4, 2012 5:39 PM.

[Atari_Bill]

Ok, I've finally taken the initiative to dig out info on mine. Here is one of mine. More to come as I go through extra inventory '

NTSC
SN# 25578H
MFG Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: Atari_Bill - Bowling Green, OH
A/B Channel Slot: No
A/B Channel Switch: No
Functional: Yes
Refurbished: No

[iesposta]

I would like to add my two Sixers:
NTSC
SN# 98019L
Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: iesposta in Pennsylvania
A/B Channel Slot: Yes
A/B Channel Switch: No
Functional: Yes
Refurbished: No

NTSC
SN# 48331M
Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: iesposta in Pennsylvania
A/B Channel Slot: No
A/B Channel Switch: No
Functional: Yes
Refurbished: No

Where can I find more info? Which one is older?
The one with sn xxxxL came with a CX-10 stick and gray power supply.
L comes before M, but the M doesn't have a channel slot. Were the slots orig and then removed later?
Thanks.

[atari181]

Got my second heavy six serial number 0042624. An absolute gem in mint condition.

[Mark T]

atari181: Please fill out the details so I can add you to the spreadsheet.

All: Since I been bombarded with tons of new heavy sixers I plan to have a new update sometime this week...hopefully tomorrow.

[racerx]

I'm not the original owner of this one, but my parents bought for me used in 1979 and I've had her ever since.

NTSC/PAL/Sears/Special: NTSC
Serial # (Ex: #54035V or #007649): 93660F
MFG Location (Sunnyvale, Taiwan): Sunnyvale
(Owner/AA Member), (Location= City, State, Country): Zion, Illinois, USA
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): No
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): No
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Notes (Previous owner, display only, white sticker, parts fixed, green connector, Switchboard/Motherboard Revision #): White sticker, original
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): No

[atari181]

WORKSHEET:
Atari 2600 Heavy 6 Switch List
Worksheet:
NTSC
Serial #0042624
MFG Location Sunnyvale
(Owner/AA Member), No idea previous owner was
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No):no
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No):no
Functional (Yes/No):yes

WORKSHEET:
Atari 2600 Heavy 6 Switch List
Worksheet:
NTSC
Serial # 96268G
MFG Location (Sunnyvale
(Owner/AA Member),No idea previous owner
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No):yes
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No):yes
Functional (Yes/No):yes

[atariluvr77]

Worksheet:

NTSC/PAL/Sears/Special: NTSC
Serial # (Ex: #54035V or #007649): 67012G
MFG Location (Sunnyvale, Taiwan): Sunnyvale
(Owner/AA Member), (Location= City, State, Country): Dave, Pennsylvania
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): NO
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): NO
Functional (Yes/No): YES
Notes: white sticker, Switchboard: Rev B
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): NO


NTSC/PAL/Sears/Special: NTSC
Serial # (Ex: #54035V or #007649): 63914K
MFG Location (Sunnyvale, Taiwan): Sunnyvale
(Owner/AA Member), (Location= City, State, Country): Dave, Pennsylvania
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): YES
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): NO
Functional (Yes/No): YES
Notes: white sticker, Switchboard: #C010462 Rev 5
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): POSSIBLY (read below)


OK, so there's the 2 I have. I'm new to this forum and have a few questions/comments for the experts here: The first unit I am sure, is an original Heavy Sixer guts and all, as I purchased it at retail from a reputable seller (in and of itself, no guarantee) and it has the Rev B switchboard which I believe only the heavies have (is there a Rev. A?) -- also it has the chrome switches which I have heard from a few that the earliest heavies have...

The second unit I/m not so sure because it has a Rev. 5 board, which based on the service manual would be a Light Sixer board (Rev.1 - 16+), and it has brushed aluminum switches... I believe this is a refurbished unit although there is no sticker to that effect.

A few questions here: Are ALL original heavy sixers supposed to have chrome switches? There is conflicting info on that... I have seen many videos of people exposing the inerds of their heavies and many have the brushed aluminum switches... I would like to determine if the originals should always have chrome and which board revisions were ORIGINALLY used... there's possibly many refurbished units out there. Also, the later revs have the nice neat flat ribbon connectors whereas my rev. b has a sloppy one with multicolored individual wires coming from the connector, to me that makes sense...

I also have a Light sixer and the switch board more resembles the rev 5 from my second heavy sixer (the light sixer has a rev 1 board)... there are differences in the heat sink below the left bank of switches and there are R101 and C104 capacitors present above the on/off switch which are not there on the rev. B, the RF cable hookup is in different places as well.

One myth that I have seen on MANY sites relates to the shielding... the heavier weight of the heavies is 99% due to the thicker housing (specifically the base)... every single Light Sixer I have ever seen has the thick aluminum shielding (it is only about 1/2 oz. lighter than the shielding on rev. B boards) -- wikipedia however has it right, they state that the heavy shielding was retained up until the release of the 4 switch consoles.

I would love any feedback/clarrifications, thanks in advance

[atariluvr77]

OK... I have researched this a bit more and have information that may be useful... First of all (don't laugh) I inadvertantly switched the guts of 63914K with a second light sixer I have while I had them all open comparing notes... so I need to update that worksheet, I've redone the worksheets below.

From what I can tell, the original Heavy Sixers used switchboard C012173 boards... they have no capacitorsabove the on/off switch, they have an integrated flat panel heatsink below the left bank of switches, the switchboard ribbon is individual wires (not flat), and the RF connection os on the main board.

The Light Sixers used switchboard C010462 boards... they have 2 capacitors above the on/off switch (R101, C104), they have a finned heatsink that extends off the main board below the on/off switch, the switchboard ribbon is uniform and flat, and the RF connection is on it's own very small circuit board that is perpendicular to the main board.

One thing I have debunked is that all heavies should have chrome switches because both of mine have the C012173 Rev. B board and one is chrome while the other is aluminum... I believe that the earlier models have chrome, there is a possibility that a repair had been made in which all 6 switches were replaced to the switchboard but I find that unlikely due to time and cost, it would have simply been swapped out for the later board.

I apologise for the confusion above... After opening all 4 of my systems umpteen times I have everything straight and the two Heavies have the C012173 Rev. B Boards and my 2 light sixers both have C010462 boards... one is Rev.1 and the other is Rev. 5 - I see no differences in them but didn't take out a magnifying glass or compare part numbers...

One last thing, I see that KRYPTON85 (a few posts back) has a C010462 Rev. B board? -- that may not be a "B" -- it's unclear in the photo, sure its not a 8 or other number? Based on my findings I believe thats a Light Sixer board used as a repair...

Again, all replies welcome, here are the revised worksheets (please diregard the specs in my first post):

NTSC/PAL/Sears/Special: NTSC
Serial # (Ex: #54035V or #007649): 67012G
MFG Location (Sunnyvale, Taiwan): Sunnyvale
(Owner/AA Member), (Location= City, State, Country): atariluvr77, Pennsylvania
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): NO
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): NO
Functional (Yes/No): YES
Notes: white sticker, Switchboard: C012173 Rev B - chrome switches
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): NO


NTSC/PAL/Sears/Special: NTSC
Serial # (Ex: #54035V or #007649): 63914K
MFG Location (Sunnyvale, Taiwan): Sunnyvale
(Owner/AA Member), (Location= City, State, Country): atariluvr77, Pennsylvania
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): YES
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): NO
Functional (Yes/No): YES
Notes: white sticker, Switchboard: #C012173 Rev B - brushed aluminum switches
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): NO

[Mark T]

LIST UPDATED!

[getbent]

Worksheet:
NTSC
Serial #: 54500V
MFG Location: Sunnyvale, CA
Owner: Original: Cape Cod, MA, now: Berwick, ME
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): No?:
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No): No?
Functional (Yes/No): Yes
Notes (Previous owner, display only, white sticker, parts fixed, green connector, Switchboard/Motherboard Revision #):Just got a Sears Heavy Sixer from my Aunt. The serial # is 54500V. Also, there is some sort of sticker on it "Your game received personal attention from: *******". It is signed by someone, presumably that worked for Atari. I'll show some pictures and maybe someone could make sense of it.....
Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): No

Attached Thumbnails

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Edited by getbent, Tue Feb 28, 2012 5:06 PM.

[CastleofIllusion]

WORKSHEET:
Atari 2600 Heavy 6 Switch List
Worksheet:
Sears
Serial #:#50440S
MFG Location :Taiwan
Owner: Me, New York, USA
A/B Channel Slot (Yes/No): Yes
A/B Channel Switch (Yes/No):Yes
Functional (Yes/No): Maybe, it will only display picture if I wiggle the power cable, and even then it doesn't really show up.

Refurbished (Silver Label) (Yes/No): No

Edited by CastleofIllusion, Fri Mar 2, 2012 3:21 PM.

[zylon]

Brushed aluminum switches are the norm on all except promo decks and factory repairs.
There are quite a few H6ers with the "L6er" boards. This was a common factory repair/recondition method and also done by owners over time.
The only H6ers that came with the L6er boards originally were the few Taiwan units with a hole for the channel switch. They are out there.

[Brad2600]

Here's mine as well with attached image:



NTSC
TELEGAMES Unit
MFD for Sears Roebuck and Co.
S/N: 30855T (very hard to read but my best guess)
Sunnyvale
Me: Brad, South Burlington, VT
A/B Channel Slot: No
A/B Channel Switch: Not sure
Functional: Cord is frayed. Cannot test, have no tv with rf adaptor at the moment. Also, appears that Game Select switch needs replacement. I believe I got this in a lot on EBay a few years ago.
Refurbished: Nope
Manufacture Date: N/A
Additional Label: "STOP - DO NOT ATTEMPT GAME REPAIR. THERE ARE NO USER ADJUSTABLE PARTS INSIDE..."

Mine has the same additional label as Lana's Heavy Sixer. I would really like to restore and use it.

[Lodmot]

Just literally got this in the mail today!
Bought it on eBay for 34 dollars, and fixed it to nearly perfect working condition. Hell yeah. ;D
The guy said it was missing an RF cable, so I replaced it. I also had to replace the PIA and MPU chips. Other than that, the system is working great now.
Awesome reception, and I can't believe how fat this thing is compared to a regular sixer! DAYUMN!!!!!!!!
I replaced two of the three chips in the main board, but before I did, I got the latest date code from them, which was 7734.

The only problem it still has is that the fire buttons will be triggered by themselves after a period of use.




SERIAL NO: 67410F
TV Type: NTSC (However I discovered that adjusting the vertical hold on an older TV allows PAL games to display correctly as well)
Date Codes: 7734, 7709, 7732 (These are the original ones that came with the system)
Channel A/B Select: No switch, and no hole, tramsmits to channel 3
Working: Wasn't before, but now it is.