My childhood Atari 2600 26 years later.

[chopperthedog]

Been meaning to grab my old 2600 from mom's house for the last four years and finally did so a couple months ago. It was our original family system from Christmas 1980 and I used it til about 1990 when I packed it away. I could never get into any other console beyond the 2600.




Got it home and grabbed an old 13" TV I had in the garage and the thing fired right up. It was fun remembering how much fun some of these games are and might explain why I've come to love the old B&W vids. So I played it like this for a couple days and then got lost in an internet worm hole for about 4 hours after discovering Atari age. Whoa! Harmony cart (clicked add to cart instantly) whoa! Electronic Sentimentalities s-video/comp/stereo audio board (add to cart)....






I received and installed the video board first. During install I also replaced caps, voltage regulator and cleaned all the switches, along with a small switch that toggles the audio outs from stereo to mono. I'm glad I did it, there are a number of the newer home brews that were programmed with stereo in mind.

The s-video looked amazing on my 37" LCD and the sound is awesome through my system. BUT.... I found the input delay lag on the lcd to be maddening (even with game mode on). Games that required precise timing and fast scrolling images were awful to play. Went back to the little 13" CRT for a couple weeks.



Kept an eye out on CL for a curved CRT with s-video and found this 20" about 30min from me for $10. Upon first test I was blown away. Kaboom! is stunning and got my best score ever on the first game.




Composite into new TV.




S-video into new TV.




S-video into new TV.




I wasn't gonna use the internal speakers and I didn't want to look at that awful looking case so I decased the TV and made a stand for about 17 bucks.




Perfect little table. Harmony cart is pretty damn cool. When I was doing the video mod I knew the harmony needed to be power cycled to change games so I added the red momentary button to the back of the unit to interrupt power for selecting new game.




Took a peek into the wico stick to see why it was so badass feeling and it quickly made sense after seeing the orgy of leaf switches packed in there.


Was fun to re-discover and upgrade this unit. Been a blast playing and will continue to be for years. 



good day.

[yotsuya]

That's a great idea on the power reset for Harmony use. I'm loving mine.

I modded two Ataris. But I'm with you, CRT or GTFO.

[yotsuya]

Hey, Chopper, does that mod disable the RF output? The other ones do and I'm sure this is no different, but I wanted to confirm.

[chopperthedog]

It disables. Here's the site I got it from. http://electronicsentimentalities.com/Assembled%20Mods.html



good day.

[yotsuya]

Thanks, brother. Enjoy the Harmony!

[thomas_surles]

Thomas_Surles Likes this

[Howard_Casto]

Nice man. 

I'm still on the fence with resurrecting Atari stuff.  I lost my childhood one some years ago in a flood.  I was extremely young when I got it, so my memories are pretty much of combat! and maze craze.  So be fair though, those are probably the most awesome games on the console.  As I've mentioned on other threads I'm researching home-made multi carts..... I dunno why, but eliminating the SD card out of the equation seems very appealing to me. 

[yotsuya]

I dunno why, but eliminating the SD card out of the equation seems very appealing to me.

Why's that? The SD card makes it extremely plug and play as well as fullproof.

[danny_galaga]

Ha! You really did go to town on it, didn't you? Top work Chopper.

I was thinking aloud in my thread about whether all or only some 2600's had socketed TIA's. What was yours?

[Le Chuck]

Your threads are consistently my favorite threads.

[chopperthedog]

Awe shucks guys, thanks. I need to get back in the cade world, got delayed by the 2600 and was also shopping a pinball for a co-worker, plus I picked up a bunch of last minute tech gigs.

I was thinking aloud in my thread about whether all or only some 2600's had socketed TIA's. What was yours?

Mine was socket-ed, but I seem to remember a thread recently that was going to be offering a plug in piggy back to the tia option. I really didn't care what I did to mine, it was all for the better imo. This one is nowhere close to being a museum piece light sixer, it was hammered and worn well throughout its first tour by myself and 2 older brothers.



good day.

[ark_ader]

Love the mod. 

[opt2not]

Nice looking mod, and I agree with the Command stick assessment.  Leafs are awesome!!

Your threads are consistently my favorite threads.

I agree.  Yours too, Chuckster! 

[danny_galaga]

Awe shucks guys, thanks. I need to get back in the cade world, got delayed by the 2600 and was also shopping a pinball for a co-worker, plus I picked up a bunch of last minute tech gigs.

I was thinking aloud in my thread about whether all or only some 2600's had socketed TIA's. What was yours?

Mine was socket-ed, but I seem to remember a thread recently that was going to be offering a plug in piggy back to the tia option. I really didn't care what I did to mine, it was all for the better imo. This one is nowhere close to being a museum piece light sixer, it was hammered and worn well throughout its first tour by myself and 2 older brothers.



good day.

Yeah, soldering to the back is totally reversible of course. Was thinking more along the lines of a simple setup for people who don't want to solder.