What
to look for when buying a Used or third party Reconditioned Atari 2600 / 2600A /
2600Jr console, A Best Atari Tech Tip.
(Get the printed Best Rev. 10 all Atari Catalog for more than 55+ other helpful Best Atari Tech tips)
If
you have been searching eBay / Auction sites, Swap Meets, Garage Sales, and Flea
Markets looking for a used Atari 2600 Console, the following Best Tech Tips are
helpful in finding a Working / Good 2600 Console, based on 18+ years in the
Atari Business, Reconditioning and Repairing Thousands and Thousands of Atari
2600 / 2600 / 2600Jr Consoles back up to Atari Factory Spec’s and answering
thousands of questions from Atari 2600 owners and former owners who are looking
for another 2600 console.
Well
it is kind of hard to use the following Visual Atari Tech Tips when buying Atari
Consoles on line (eBay / Auction sites)(it is another matter if you have it in
your hand) but at least when you receive / find your Atari 2600 system, you can
give it a quick check, using the following Best 2600 Tech Tips to see if you
got a Real Bargain in “Perfect
Working Order” as listed or something that is going to need some work on
or replacement Atari 2600 parts for it to reliably run.
The
Following Atari Tests and Points to check are Real
World Simple Tests you can do on an Atari 2600 /2600A / 2600Jr
Console without have the Atari Field Service Diagnostic Hardware (Atari MA017600
2600 /2600A /2600Jr Diagnostic Cartridge and the Atari MA017602 Test plugs).
With the
Atari 2600 / 2600A / 2600JR in hand check the following:
1.
Check
the Black RF cord that comes from under the Atari 2600 / 2600A console to the TV
Switch box for any Cuts,
Breaks, Crushed sections or bad sharp bends in the outer black wire
jacket, especially on the ends of the cable (Male Plug) or where it goes into
the 2600 Console. One of the most
common problems is a break in this outer black housing exposing the Copper RF
shield Braid around the male plug. If
this copper braid is broken (sometimes under the black housing without being
exposed, from over flexing) when you connect up your Atari 2600 System to your
TV you get a Poor fuzzy picture or a picture with a lot of RF interference on
the TV display. You can also check
for breaks under the Black RF cable housing by slightly flexing the RF cable
when the 2600 Console is running / connected to your TV.
If the 2600 Display on the TV goes from perfectly clear display to Fuzzy
when you flex the RF cable between the Atari 2600 Console and TV
switch box it is time to replace the 2600 / 2600A RF cable.
The same Tests can be run on the Separate Detachable RF cable that comes
with the Atari 2600Jr.
2.
The Atari Original
Equipment Manufacture (OEM) TV Switch box (the little box that attaches to
your TV) that came with the Atari 2600 / 2600A / 2600Jr consoles was set up to
go to the Twin Screw VHF input on older color and black white TV’s (US / NTSC
TV’s). If your 2600 Console did
come with above Old Style Atari TV Switch box, you are going to need some
adapters to connect it up to the Newer Cable (single Coax input) ready Color
TV’s
or the Atari
Upgraded Universal Cable Ready TV switch box.
If it did not come with a TV switch box, order an Atari Cable Ready
Universal TV switch box at the end of this article. All
of the Atari 2600 consoles ever made, REQUIRE the Mechanical type of TV Switch
box (the one with the little slide lever on top, Computer – TV or
Game - TV) and will NOT properly work with any of the Auto Switching (no slide Switch on
top) TV Switch boxes supplied with the Newer Game Systems.
If you do have an Auto switching TV Switch box connected to your TV
already, just add the Atari 2600 Mechanical TV Switch box in series before or
after the Auto Switching TV switch box. Using
an old used TV Switch box on your Atari 2600 console and you get a poor or fuzzy
display on your TV, check the connections between the TV switch box and Twin
lead flat wire and the Coax adapter. We
have seen Used Atari TV switch boxes where the Copper wire(s) under the twin
lead black plastic wire housing/covering, have broken (because of over flexing
of this cable) right next to the “U” shaped metal contacts (X 2).
The connections looks good on the outside (the outer black wire covering
is intact), but when you flex the TV switch twin lead wire connections, the
display on the TV goes from Clear to Fuzzy.
3. All Atari 2600 / 2600A Consoles Atari made over the
years have a little round black foam dust cover over each slide switch on the
inside of the console (none on the 2600Jr model).
If you look thru the 2600 front bezel around each Sliver Slide Switch (6
on the 2600 and 4 on the 2600A model) and Do
Not see this black foam dust cover (if you see silver metal), then somebody
has been on the inside of the 2600 console and consider this a Red
Flag that the 2600 Console is NOT Stock as shipped from the Factory
and something maybe wrong or bad with the 2600 Console!!
4.
Also look at the condition of the Atari 2600 /
2600A Silver Slide Switches. In
about 95% of the cases over the last 15 to 20 years, the levers should be made
out of a brushed Aluminum material. In
the Best case they should be Bright and Shinny, at
worst case they will be Dark / Black or Corroded White!
Avoid the used Atari 2600 Consoles with Black and Corroded slide
switches. Usually this indicates
the 2600 Console has had VERY heavy use over the years!
See #5 for a 2600 Slide Switch test.
5.
The Atari Slide Switches on the 2600 / 2600A
consoles do Wear out (the
most common are the On/Off and Reset Switches)(on / off on the 2600Jr
model). Try the following tests to
check the condition of your 2600 console Slide Switches.
With the 2600 / 2600A On/Off Slide Switch in the On / Top position,
slightly move the top of switch slightly Left and Right.
If the 2600 game cartridge Display on your TV Glitches, Resets or Turns
off the display, it is a bad switch and it is time to replace this On/Off
switch. On the 2600 / 2600A Monetary Slide Switches (Select and
Reset) Move the brushed metal lever up and down.
The Level should move smoothly up and down with No binding or sticking.
When you are moving the Monetary Switches,
if you see excess Static Interference on the
TV Screen with a 2600 game cartridge running or no action on the 2600 Game
cartridge functions (for left or right player or starting the 2600 game), it is
time to replace/solder in some replacement Atari Monetary switches.
On the Atari 2600 / 2600A consoles, the Color slide switch is very easy
to test to see if it is properly operating on a Color TV.
To test for proper operation of the original Atari 2600 model Left and
Right Difficulty player options slide Switches, insert an Atari 2600 Space Invaders, Breakout
or Super Breakout Atari Game Cartridge. Select a 2 player game.
Then start the game, and notice the size of the Cannon (Space Invaders)
or Cursor size on the bottom of the screen.
When you move the left or right Difficulty switches Up and Down, the size
of the Cannon or Cursor should get larger or smaller as you move the slide
switch. If you see no change at all
on both version games (for left or right player), then the slide switches are
bad. You will have to do this test
for each different 1st and 2nd player versions of the 2600
game to properly test both the Left and Right Difficulty switches.
The same Difficulty switch Tests can be run on the Atari 2600A model
(back side of the Console angled part of the cases) and Atari 2600Jr (back side
of the console) black slide Difficulty switches.
These 2600A / 2600Jr Difficulty and Channel 2 / 3 TV channel selector
switches are many times
missing or damaged on used
2600A / 2600Jr Consoles. On the
Original Atari 2600 model, you may or may not have a channel 2 / 3 selector
switch on the under side of the console.
6. Atari
2600 / 2600A /2600Jr Video/Color Test.
Insert an Atari 2600 Space Invaders, Missile Command, Pac Man or Casino
Game Cartridge into your 2600 and turn it on.
If your Atari 2600 console video is set to factory 2600 video standards,
when you start the Atari 2600 Game Cartridge, you should see a green color on
the bottom of the Space Invaders Screen, Orange
on the bottom of the Missile Command Screen, off Green bottom Strip on Pac Man
Screen, or full screen bright Green on the Casino screen (based on US/NTSC 2600
Game cartridges, colors may vary Slightly on International 2600 Atari Game
cartridge versions). Another
quick 2600 video test, is to turn on your Atari 2600 with a Game
cartridge installed. After
about 3 to 5 minutes of no use / play on the Atari 2600 consoles, it should go
into What’s called “Video
Attack” Mode. You
should see the Color TV display keep changing colors every so many seconds.
This was designed into the Atari 2600 consoles to prevent them from
burning a permanent Image (like you see on some well used / old ATM cash machine
screens) on your TV Screen, if left on for Hours / Days.
This Video test can also used to test (burn in / Heat up) the Atari 2600
chip sets and motherboard inside. We
have seen many Atari 2600 consoles go bad (Glitch, Reset or Turns off the 2600
display) when the internal Atari 2600 Chip set or motherboard heats up from use
or the above easy test.
7.
One of the most common failures on the Atari 2600 / 2600A / 2600Jr consoles is the
rear Right Angle Power Jack on the inside of the 2600 Console.
There is a simple test for this. Insert
your Male 2600 plug of your Atari OEM 2600 Power Supply into your Atari 2600
Console and the wall adapter in the Power outlet.
With a Game cartridge inserted and running, wiggle the Male plug slightly
back and forth and up and down. If
the Atari 2600 console Glitches, Resets or Turns off the 2600 display, the
internal Power Jack it bad. Please
note this same symptom can also be caused by a Bad Atari 2600 Power supply wire
too. Check where the wires going
into the male plug, to see if there are broken or exposed copper wires.
Sometimes the Power cord wires will break under the plastic wire covering
or right next to where the wires go into the 2600 wall adapter and the only way
to test for this is to wiggle the wire connections while the 2600 is running.
Another
high failure rates on the Atari 2600 Consoles are the Wall adapters!
This is usually caused by not
removing the Wall adapter from the Power Outlet when you are finished
playing. You may turn off the 2600
console, but the Atari 2600 Wall adapter is still running (sometimes for years)
if it is plugged in.
8.
Another very simple test on the Atari 2600 /2600A
/2600Jr consoles, is to check the DB-9 Male Joystick ports. Looking at both of the 2600 Consoles DB-9 connectors, you
should see two rows of 5 and 4 Male Pins in each connector. Look for bent pins, Missing or broken pins, or pushed in
pins. Just one bad male pin on
these connectors can cause the Atari Joysticks or Paddle controllers to Not
work properly! If you
have a known good Atari Joystick (or a couple of unknown Joysticks, the chances
of having the exact same problem on two unknown Atari Joysticks in a row are
slight), plug it in the left side DB-9 Connector (most,
but not all, Atari 2600 Games use the left DB-9 connector for #1 Player).
Put in an Atari 2600 Joystick game like Missile Command, start the Game
and check to see if you can get the Cursor on the screen to go in 8 different
directions, up, down, left right and at 4 angles.
Next check to make sure the Fire button is properly working.
If you are using an known working Atari Joystick and the DB-9 Connectors
look good, and you still have Joystick direction or Fire button problems, then
the I/O Chip (CO10750 that handles the Joystick / Paddle functions) on the
inside of the 2600 console is bad or going bad.
10. Looking
inside the Atari 2600 /2600A /2600Jr Cartridge tiny 1 3/8 inch rectangular slot
opening (the place where the 2600 cartridge PCB board plugs into the 2600
console). You should see two rows
of 12 each gold plated contacts top and bottom.
If you see, Bent,
Greasy,
Corroded,
Green,
one or two contacts out of place or Dirty
contacts, you will have problems with your Atari 2600 Games not
working properly. With your Atari
2600 running with a game cartridge installed, slightly or lightly tap the 2600
Game cartridge on the top side (label side), if you see the 2600 game glitch or
crash the 2600 game, then it is time to either clean or replace the worn out
2600 Game cartridge connector.
11.
Insert any Atari Game Cartridge into your Atari
2600 console and turn it on and start the Game and listen for the normal game
sounds. It is a Very
Common Problem on the older Atari 2600 and 2600A models to completely
loose the sound function (but the 2600 game still displays on the TV fine) or
have a weak sound output of the console.
Atari US 2600 Power supply CO16353 / CA014034
$9.95
Atari German 2600 Power supply CA017087
$12.00
Atari 2600 / 2600A / 2600JR Right angle Power Jack FK100308
$1.50
Atari 2600 / 2600A / 2600JR DB-9 Male right angle connector. FK100307 / CO19062 $1.25 each
Atari 2600 / 2600A On/Off, Color/BW
Slide Switch
CO10373
$2.50 each
Atari 2600 / 2600A Momentary Reset / Select Switch CO10388
$2.50 each
Atari 2600Jr On/Off, Color Slide Switch CB101199
$1.50 each
Atari 2600 / 2600A Round black Foam Dust covers
CO10813
Atari 2600 NTSC/US Populated Motherboard CA010434
$35.00
Atari 2600 PAL Populated Motherboard CB102595
$35.00
Atari 2600Jr. Select and Reset Mylar Switch
CB101198 $3.00
Atari 2600Jr US Motherboard CB103110 $39.95
Atari 2600A and 2600 Upgrade Switch Static Foil
Strips CO17294
Atari 2600A Black Cartridge guide and 24 pin cartridge connector CO15573A $10.00 (Limit one)
Atari 2600A NTSC/US Populated Motherboard CA015911 $35.00
Atari 2600 angled 24 pin female Cartridge Connector
$3.00
Atari 2600A/2600Jr 24 pin female Cartridge
Connector, straight $3.50
Atari 2600 / 2600A Stock RF cable CB101871
$4.00
Atari Cable Ready Universal TV switch box CA010112C
$9.95
Atari Coax adapters for above TV Switch box, 300 Ohm twin lead barrel adapter to female Coax adapter CO19783 $1.00
Atari Twin Lead to Right Angle Male Coax adapter CO18994 $.75
Atari NTSC/US “TIA” Custom Chip CO10444D
$11.50
Atari PAL/Euro “TIA” Custom Chip CO11903
$8.00
Atari CPU Chip CO10745
$5.00
Atari I/O Chip CO10750
$8.00
Atari NTSC / US Diagnostic Cartridge MA017600
$45.00
Atari PAL / Euro Diagnostic Cartridge CB102363
$45.00
Atari DB-9 Shorts plugs (2) for above Diagnostic
Cartridges MA017602 $12.00 pr.
Atari US 2600 / 2600A /2600JR Field Service Manual, 161 pages FD100133 $39.00
Best Electronics in the Atari business since February 1, 1984.