25 replies to this topic

[ahuffman]

I am patiently waiting for my new Colecovision to arrive. I am very excited, I have been wanting one for a while but did not have the cash. Now with my new job, I was able to grab one from yurkie, and several games to go with it.

I do have a quick question for anyone who owns the expansion module 1 and the 7800, how does the picture on the module compare to the 7800 for 2600 games? The video on my light sixer seems to be dying and I want something else to play my 2600 games on for now.

I just wanted to say hello and share my excitement with everyone.

Thanks
Aaron

[retroillucid]

Heya, Congrats and welcome aboard!

[Ransom]

Congratulations! There are a ton of really great, inexpensive games for the CV. It's a great system to collect for.

I've never compared the video on the 7800 vs. expansion module #1. Plus, my 7800 has an S-video mod, so I'm not sure how valid the comparison would be if you have a stock 7800. Hopefully someone else will be able to help with the comparison.

[AtariBrian]

the picture is much better with the atari module on your modded coleco... 7800 has dull colors sometimes i think. 2600 homebrews look sweet on the atari module

[Mark T]

Wow this must be the year of ColecoVision! I been browsing these forums and besides myself there have been two others who just within a week that have purchased a CV.

[SlowCoder]

Welcome to the forums! I'd say the module #1 output is just as good as the 2600. In fact, the module is basically exactly the same hardware as a real 2600, so the difference would be minimal. However, as the module is porting out through the CV's video system, the image will tend to be a bit crisper, ESPECIALLY if you have one of Yurkie's RCA modded consoles.

[ahuffman]

I got it today, and while I am struggling a bit with the controllers, I am thoroughly enjoying it never the less. Yurkie did an awesome job, the composite looks great, the pause button comes in handy and the straightened cords came in handy. So far I am thrilled and am looking forward to getting some more games going!

[AtariBrian]

you can always plug a atari controller into port 1 and your coleco controller into port 2

[SlowCoder]

AtariBrian, on Wed Feb 1, 2012 9:03 PM, said:

you can always plug a atari controller into port 1 and your coleco controller into port 2

I thought that wasn't possible, lest you potentially blow your controller chip?

[Yurkie]

I thought everybody loved the CV controller with the ball knob. Pluging a different controller is no more likely to blow the controller chip than plugging in the stock controller.

[ahuffman]

I am only having problems in Defender and Burgertime as of now. I am getting better with BT now that I found out you can use the diagonals to help you turn. Defender I am struggling with getting the ship to go when I change directions, it takes me a couple of seconds to get moving. But Frogger is just awesome with the controller, the ball knob makes it feel just like the arcade, and much better than using the keypad on the 5200.

[SlowCoder]

Yurkie, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 10:46 AM, said:

I thought everybody loved the CV controller with the ball knob. Pluging a different controller is no more likely to blow the controller chip than plugging in the stock controller.

Is it the Genesis controller that does it, then?

[Mark T]

SlowCoder, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 11:24 AM, said:

Yurkie, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 10:46 AM, said:

I thought everybody loved the CV controller with the ball knob. Pluging a different controller is no more likely to blow the controller chip than plugging in the stock controller.

Is it the Genesis controller that does it, then?

I think you can use both Genesis 3 Button (not sure about the 6 button) and Atari 2600 contorllers (not sure about the pro controller)

However when I play I'll use the ball knob controller that Yurkie's consoles come with since I spent the money on it....no point in using anything different.

[ACrystal2011]

Mark T, on Wed Feb 1, 2012 2:23 PM, said:

Wow this must be the year of ColecoVision! I been browsing these forums and besides myself there have been two others who just within a week that have purchased a CV.

I also just bought a colecovision

[Mark T]

ACrystal2011, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:40 PM, said:

I also just bought a colecovision

Nice! Did you buy your's off of Yurkie too?

[boxpressed]

I'm interested in this topic because I've come across three CVs that have blown octal buffer ICs, and one of them was working for a few days before the IC went bad. Maybe Yurkie can throw some light on this.

When an octal buffer goes bad, is the reason only that "its time was up"? Or can something like a power supply on the fritz or even a Genesis controller cause it to happen? I hate that I'm beginning to treat my CVs with kid gloves the way that I treat my Astrocade.

Edited by boxpressed, Thu Feb 2, 2012 2:53 PM.

[5-11under]

boxpressed, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 2:52 PM, said:

I'm interested in this topic because I've come across three CVs that have blown octal buffer ICs, and one of them was working for a few days before the IC went bad. Maybe Yurkie can throw some light on this.

When an octal buffer goes bad, is the reason only that "its time was up"? Or can something like a power supply on the fritz or even a Genesis controller cause it to happen? I hate that I'm beginning to treat my CVs with kid gloves the way that I treat my Astrocade.

I think the issue is ESD damage.
I've broken one by plugging in a controller with the power on.

[Mark T]

5-11 Under: Wow is the system that sensitive?

[boxpressed]

5-11under, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 3:45 PM, said:

boxpressed, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 2:52 PM, said:

I'm interested in this topic because I've come across three CVs that have blown octal buffer ICs, and one of them was working for a few days before the IC went bad. Maybe Yurkie can throw some light on this.

When an octal buffer goes bad, is the reason only that "its time was up"? Or can something like a power supply on the fritz or even a Genesis controller cause it to happen? I hate that I'm beginning to treat my CVs with kid gloves the way that I treat my Astrocade.

I think the issue is ESD damage.
I've broken one by plugging in a controller with the power on.

Is that electrostatic discharge? So no plugging or unplugging with the power on?

[NIAD]

boxpressed, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 4:19 PM, said:

Is that electrostatic discharge? So no plugging or unplugging with the power on?

Yes to electrostatic discharge and everyone should get themselves in the habit of turning off the ColecoVision to swap out controllers as well as, of course, cartridges. Why take a chance!

[Mark T]

Well I know not to swap games while the console is on...however I swap controllers when a console is on sometimes...soo your saying thats a bad thing then? So far nothing bad has happened...yet

[ACrystal2011]

Mark T, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 2:10 PM, said:

ACrystal2011, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 1:40 PM, said:

I also just bought a colecovision

Nice! Did you buy your's off of Yurkie too?

Yes

[NIAD]

I've swapped controllers out thousands of times on videogame systems and computers without ever experiencing a problem, but it only takes one time to cause damage to the Octal Buffer IC or port in a ColecoVision or ADAM Computer via numerous means (usually ESD)... so why take that chance especially since repair options usually mean shipping the system out if you can't handle the repair in-house. That's all I'm saying and I follow this credo religiously now, 100% of the time.

[Mark T]

Hmm...well that's nice to know! I plan not to do that with my ColecoVision when it comes in...it's bad enough I ended up repairing 3/4 of my Atari 2600s!

Hell for the record I might just stop swapping out controllers when the console is on all together haha.

[5-11under]

Mark T, on Thu Feb 2, 2012 4:45 PM, said:

Well I know not to swap games while the console is on...however I swap controllers when a console is on sometimes...soo your saying thats a bad thing then? So far nothing bad has happened...yet

All I'm saying is that it happened to me once, and if it happened to me, it could happen to someone else, too. There's not too much I can control to make them last longer, but at least I can control some of the conditions when I'm plugging or unplugging the joystick.

In the ColecoVision service/repair notes, it says something to the fact that if the 74LS541 octal buffer chips are from Texas Instruments (TI), then they should be swapped out with parts from another manufacturer. I haven't paid enough attention to the manufacturer or year of manufacturer, but I also know I've blown newer buffer chips.