14 replies to this topic

[King Atari]

The idea for this came from my Pong post. So, what I'm planning to do is to find a spare Atari (preferably JR), take the thing apart, and try to install it into a TV, making a built in 2600. Now, this is still in the planning stages, and I don't know how it will turn out, so I need all the help I can get. I would kind of like for the 2600's power supply not to be hanging out the back along with the TV's cord, somehow wire them together. Any help would be greatly appreciated, as this is a project I'd actually like to finish (unlike my building an authentic Crow T. Robot, couldn't get all the parts).

[liquid_sky]

The first thing you should do is dreaded.. preplanning.

1. Make sure the television you are using has accessable scematics. This will save many problems in the long run

2. Study the Atari schematics, and learn all of the parts. By doin this you will learn how the wiring works and what parts are not nessasarry to the ataris survival.

3. MAKE SURE that you dont f- around and shock yourself, because this sounds like a great idea and I would like to see it working, finished, and being played to death

[liveinabin]

What a great idea, how about building the sticks and paddles into an armchair for the total experiance

[Bill Lange]

Make the arm chair joystick Forced Reaction with a giant subwoofer wired under the chair. Yea!

[liquid_sky]

that would be badass.. an atari tv and an atari recliner with all the rest built in

If your tv works make the chair next

[jsoper]

Opening up a TV is just plain dangerous. It can give you a serious shock even when unplugged and there is also a risk of the CRT exploding.

I would say change to another project, unless you are familiar with TV repair.

If you don't wanna listen to my opinion, go on to usenet and check the sci.electronics.repair archives
John

[Fretwobbler]

We want tilt action in the chair remeniscent of Outrun coin-op for Enduro purposes

Adam

[Raccoon Lad]

Probably the easiest starting point would be to consider building it into a TV/VCR combo. You could rip out the vcr components, and have plenty of room for the Atari guts. The VCR's power supply could be tapped to power the Atari, and the tape hole on the front would be a great place to put the cart connector, switches, and joystick ports.

[Cassidy Nolen]

Most televisions have plenty of room inside for such a project. I would probably:

1. Find the two input points for the power cable on the TV then jumper two wires off of that for power to the unit.

2. Jumper in to the coax input on both sides of the RF cable (one to the threads and one to the center tap) for the signal input (do inside of the tv itself, that will mean no external wires.

3. Decide where you could mount the unit internally. Then, make a hole for the cartridge to fit into the unit. I would recommend a toaster style system, might be the most practical. If you had to move the cartridge port off of the main board, that could be done, just would take some time to relocate with jumper wires.

4. Next, use a dremel tool or equivalent to make spaces in the front for the controller ports. I would just make ports rather than hard wire in controls. That way, you could switch for other games.

It would not be that technical a job. My question would be is it worth the trouble? I have converted arcades, rebuilt classics from conversions and even built a game from the ground up (I would never do that again!). Just do not know if the end justifies the work it took to make.

Cassidy

[jahfish]

aaaah, so you wanna do this?

[MattyXB]

Never see this before. Great thing.



Matthias

[King Atari]

Someone beat me to it?!?! Well, I'll do the first modern one. I like the idea of using a TV/VCR combo, but I don't have that kind of money ! I've got a huge TV in the garage I'm thinking about using, it's from about '78, but works well. It would probably be big enough to fit a regular 2600's guts in. Can anybody post a picture of a 2600's guts? I don't have a spare yet, and I don't dare open one of my current ones (for fear of doing something that will mess them up, I'm waiting till I can find a spare to experiment). I also like the armchair idea, but the TV is gonna be hard enough (maybe once I finish, though). I'm thinking about making joysticks, driving controllers, and paddles extend from the back, but that could prove pretty difficult. Right now I'm still trying to figure out how to get the guts in the TV safely. I might end up only making two joysticks extend from the back, although "Indy 500"/ "Breakout" etc. would be unplayable . Keep the ideas coming, they'll make this thing go much faster.

[King Atari]

Okay, I've got a pretty decent idea of how I'm gonna make the thing work and all, but I'm having some difficulty figuring out how I'm gonna work out the joystick thing.

[jahfish]

ok, my idea ....

this TV was allready build. so try a good variation of it ....

build it in a portable TV, and try to find a way to incorporate the joysticks like on a vectrex console. that would be cool

[King Atari]

I'm not that skilled ! Although, that is a pretty good idea. However, after I finish this project, might try that out. I think what I'm gonna do is have the joysticks extend from the back. If the wires aren't long enough, I'll have to use joysticks by another company.