Console and a snack, what's not to like. I bought an NES and even though if was very clean looking (just a bit of yellowing) I opened it to make sure. I have never seen so many spiders and the sac in a box (all dead) When I poured it out, my wife and granddaughter did a weird scared dance but couldn't look away.
@Mark Fixes Stuff Have you tried 303 Protectant as a final clean? I had been using it on car interiors for a while, so decided to try it on my Amiga. It made my brand new case (black) look better so I have used it on just about everything plastic since.
I use a product usually called "dash shine" for cars! I wonder if it's the same? Basically sillicone shine in a can. Where do you get the 303 stuff from?
@@MarkFixesStuff wow, really. Going to have to check again. the last time I was there they only had small spray bottles of the Armor All brand of car care products.
Is that AV mod also suitable for the 2600? I've got a mod kit but it talks about uncovering tracks and soldering on to them. Much prefer to solder in to a proper hole.
It is the same mod. No solder mask scraping and instruction picture at this link: www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/atari/deluxe-atari-composite-video-mod.html
Commando will be an issue for you with the unbalanced TIA and Pokey since sound effects are via TIA and the music is Pokey. As such, the TIA will overpower the Pokey music on that game. What should have been done was to simply lift the legs of R5 and R6 facing towards the back of the board and then solder your audio wire to the lifted legs together.
@@MarkFixesStuff No problem, I've done... alot of 7800 upgrades with the UAV and as it doesn't have audio mixing in that board, I've had to do a lot of this kind of stuff. I've also had quite a few of these simpler composite upgraded 7800s sent to me to fix the pokey/TIA audio issues. I know that the PAL consoles handle this differently from the NTSC units like you have in the vid so it can be confusing for sure. It is possible that what you did on the NTSC might work with balanced audio volumes on the PAL console but I've not worked on a PAL unit so I can't say for certain.
No. The NTSC machines don't have anything built in because it has the 128-bit encryption system that Atari Inc/Corp couldn't "export" to Europe at the time. Best Electronics does sell a kit to remove it and install the "Asteroids BIOS" like the standard PAL machines. Others have either taken that - or rolled their own kits - and added other game ROMs instead. I've seen a different TH-camr install "Pole Position II" instead. Atari Inc went with encryption to lock out unauthorized 3rd Party developers mainly to prevent the likes of Mystique from creating 7800 versions of "Custer's Revenge" and "Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em" with more realistic graphics via the MARIA chip versus the blocky 2600 graphics and cause a PR uproar in the media over it. And like with most things, Atari did it first [before Nintendo with the 10NES chip]...
My power connector only powers on if I hold it in the right place. I was intimidated because I didn't want to break anything but think now I can probably fix it. Thanks.
I felt the same way but as it was in the kit I thought I’d try it. Turned out ok. The genuine sellotape pad really worked a lot better than my Poundland stuff!
@@MarkFixesStuff from what i remember back when me and my mates got into collecting tamiya radio control stuff ,tamiya servo tape was very strong stuff .
@@MarkFixesStuff I actually use small strips of 3M velcro. I use the 10Lb rated stuff. This way it stays in place, but can be removed if needed in the future.
Not sure about the logistics but it might be a good idea to have a diode on the power socket to prevent accidental frying of the system if someone accidentally inserts a much more common center positive AC adapter. I'd maybe Dymo a label on there so at least nobody forgets about the center-negative aspect. If the new board was designed a little differently, it could be further secured with a zip-tie through those old holes from the RF can. I don't think that double sided tape will endure many insertions.
I was thinking of a diode but didn’t want to stray too far from the “kit”. I think I will upgrade the mod board with some resin adhesive. The board itself is made for many machines so it’s not 7800 specific. I’ll be returning to this console for some other mods and tweaks along the line.
@@captaincorleone7088 I did buy one last week.. the owner emailed me he had a small batch in. It sold out again. Hopefully he gets more. Its a Fantastic Kit.
Well if i couldn’t find a rf demodulator ,i might have let modded my atari 7800 as well, But am fine with mine as how it is,however i might have be better off with a $80 professional rf demodulator as mine $10 tends to sometimes fail picking up the signal or it sometimes generates a poor composite video signal from it,with the pro version that supposedly shouldn’t happen and you could also fine tune the reception of it.
There is it being said again about the 5200, what on Earth was backwards compatible in the early to mid 80s, I think that was an objectively silly want in hindsight Ie. future software emulation was easier than past hardware emulation. It costs more but there is an excellent S-Video mod available for the 7800 right now and an RGB mod in the works that is pending. My AC is a little ratty but if I didn't have it that would be mandatory to mod that to a universal one. ;) Just got informed about another 7800 mod one can do to add the console switches of the 2600 to complete the backwards compatibility. Since there is a TIA inside you can fairly easily attach switches to aid in games that pause with the TV Type switch on 2600 and for full console switch games like Space Shuttle. My take on that is probably an external module that attaches to one new DE-9 port in the console Ie. less janky heh. Also a controller pause button mod too but I'm not sure how you do that with stock controllers in a transparent way. O_o??? Winter Games actually does look pretty good, I'll give that a chance. ;)
The reason it was a big deal and the 5200 drew criticism was that the Colecovision had an add-on that allowed their system to play 2600 games. The Intellivision also had a "system changer" that made THEIR system compatible with Atari's back catalogue, but the actual atari 2600 successor did not. In response to commercial pressure Atari eventually launched the CX-55 2600 game adapter for the 5200, but it was clunky and not compatible with all models. After Atari saw both intellivision and Colecovision gain a foothold with buyers who upgraded from the 2600 because of the backwards compatibility, they included it in the 7800 to stop further market erosion.
@@MarkFixesStuff Oh yeah I've heard of those adapters. Funny thing about the Coleco one is that despite the hardware difference it's just an entire 2600 console at heart. Coleco created a freak event in that historical spike for the time but it didn't happen again till the PS2, Egs. NES carts didn't go into the SNES, SNES carts didn't go into the N64, N64 carts didn't go into the GC. Later there was the backwards compatible PS3 which turned into later models that didn't. As a console feature it's never been very consistent, not something to count on from any company. I do think Atari was late to that party and it's kind of embarrassing when the competition gains from something you should have done yourself. After all it wasn't like they weren't still making lots of 2600 hardware.
@@loganjorgensen Yes. The difference was back then, that the market actively migrated away from Atari due to those adapters. These days people just demand backward compatibilty (and then mostly never use it).
@@MarkFixesStuff go with Bryan's "UAV" mod. It's the more popular mod now amongst the Atari community for the 2600/5200/7800 and Atari 8-bit computers/XE Game System.
I enjoy Mark's soldering, oh sorry, I mean I like they way Mark fills the holes with his hot liquid. It's a good job he didn't pull off to many Wangs first. This is just pure filth. 😆
I dont mean to be so off topic but does anyone know a method to get back into an Instagram account..? I was dumb lost the account password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me!
@Cruz Krew thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im in the hacking process atm. Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
Mark you really need to update you're TH-cam and Twitch avatar pictures, with the newer Chesney Hawkes 80s hair style photo. Really, really miss the Twitch streams, can't you get the whip cracking on the house improvements? Miss the innuendos to! but do still spot the odd 'unintended' ones. 🖖👍
Subscribed! That was great stuff and you've made me more confident about soldering/desoldering. Was there a particular preference or advantage why you choose the NTSC machine over a PAL 7800?
I didn't understand most of the technical stuff but I found it highly entertaining & interesting nevertheless. The double entendre inserts were very appreciated btw as it brought things down to my level. Good work that man, keep it up 🙂
@@MarkFixesStuff there wasn't!? I thought I heard you slip a big one in. Apologies! Actually, the wife just asked me what a double entendre was so I gave her one.
Blasphemer! The 5200 is the greatest Atari console ever when paired with the glorious CX53 Trak-Ball Controller! Instant conversion into being a Holy Roller!
great video, I especially enjoyed the wang removal!
Me too!
Love my 7800. I've had it since I was a kid, and as the last time I had it hooked up, it worked. I'd love to have it cleaned up
Very neat mods👍
Some nice innuendo too, everything needed for a great video experience!
No innuendo in this one Duggie. Sorry 😣
Innuendo? Mark can keep it up all night.
@@worstuserever you just had to get that in.
@@DouglasTitchmarsh Always manage to squeeze it in somehow. 😇
You pulled your Wang off nicely.
Thanks . I’ve had a lot of practice!
VERY nicely done video.
Wow thanks Winston, and thank you for watching!
As soon as you chopped the lug off the power socket, I put my head in my hands. I also did this once.
And remember folks, keep your wangs safe.
I think I might have done it before as well, which is even worse.
Tidy job Mark - still on the hunt for a fixer-upper 7800 :) Great work mate!
Fingers crossed!
Nice work!
Thank you! Cheers!
Great video Mark, absolutely wangtastic. 👏
Glad you enjoyed it. I love the smell of Wang in the morning.
I have just bought one of these bad boys. hopefully no bugs when i get to strip mine down.
The bugs are part of the experience. Embrace the bugs.
Console and a snack, what's not to like.
I bought an NES and even though if was very clean looking (just a bit of yellowing) I opened it to make sure. I have never seen so many spiders and the sac in a box (all dead) When I poured it out, my wife and granddaughter did a weird scared dance but couldn't look away.
Nice! Classic Mark!
Thank you!!!!
Great update and repair with very little going wang, I mean wrong
Yeah. None of the Wangs had leaked over the board.
You would be surprise that ball blazer came out in 1984. The 7800 is a port of the Atari 800 Computer.
Wow! really? I had no idea!!
I used to know the guy whose job at Atari HQ was to catch and add the bugs into their consoles. That is a lie I just made up.
Seems likely to be fair.
Panasonic caps are a good call. Always go for quality Japanese caps.
I did a 7800 AV mod but couldnt get [TIA] sound. Not sure what i did wrong. Will try to figure it out at some point.
@Mark Fixes Stuff Have you tried 303 Protectant as a final clean? I had been using it on car interiors for a while, so decided to try it on my Amiga. It made my brand new case (black) look better so I have used it on just about everything plastic since.
I use a product usually called "dash shine" for cars! I wonder if it's the same? Basically sillicone shine in a can. Where do you get the 303 stuff from?
What kind/brand of silicone polish did you use ?
Generic Poundland (Dollar Tree) dashboard cleaner.
@@MarkFixesStuff wow, really.
Going to have to check again. the last time I was there they only had small spray bottles of the Armor All brand of car care products.
Nice work; old wangs can be prone to leakage.
I’ll bet a Tena you’re right.
Is that AV mod also suitable for the 2600? I've got a mod kit but it talks about uncovering tracks and soldering on to them. Much prefer to solder in to a proper hole.
It is the same mod. No solder mask scraping and instruction picture at this link: www.thefuturewas8bit.com/shop/atari/deluxe-atari-composite-video-mod.html
@@MarkFixesStuff cheers Mark, will order one today :D
@@MarkFixesStuff Ordered :D
Next job, dim screen on my HX20
@@Tech-Nobby Think it's a potentiometer to tweak IIRC.
@@MarkFixesStuff general tidy up, contact cleaner and recap Seems to be the consensus
My faves are always the console jobs that you do. Will the mid board be secure with the sticky foam block or do you suggest securing it more?
Seems to hold OK. I have hotglued a second one in though. Less "wobble". It's nice that the pad is part of the kit though.
Commando will be an issue for you with the unbalanced TIA and Pokey since sound effects are via TIA and the music is Pokey. As such, the TIA will overpower the Pokey music on that game. What should have been done was to simply lift the legs of R5 and R6 facing towards the back of the board and then solder your audio wire to the lifted legs together.
Thanks for this! I’ll give it a go this week :)
@@MarkFixesStuff No problem, I've done... alot of 7800 upgrades with the UAV and as it doesn't have audio mixing in that board, I've had to do a lot of this kind of stuff. I've also had quite a few of these simpler composite upgraded 7800s sent to me to fix the pokey/TIA audio issues. I know that the PAL consoles handle this differently from the NTSC units like you have in the vid so it can be confusing for sure. It is possible that what you did on the NTSC might work with balanced audio volumes on the PAL console but I've not worked on a PAL unit so I can't say for certain.
What about the TIA "stereo" mod and mixing the POKEY with it?
Great mod mark, definitely worth doing.
Ps, you can pull my Wang off anytime 😆😆😆😆.
Does the ntsc version have the version of asteroids built in?
I actually have no idea. I would assume so.
Hang on...
Nope. It actually has nothing built in at all. Had a quick google after testing and only the PAL machine had the built in game.
No. The NTSC machines don't have anything built in because it has the 128-bit encryption system that Atari Inc/Corp couldn't "export" to Europe at the time. Best Electronics does sell a kit to remove it and install the "Asteroids BIOS" like the standard PAL machines. Others have either taken that - or rolled their own kits - and added other game ROMs instead. I've seen a different TH-camr install "Pole Position II" instead. Atari Inc went with encryption to lock out unauthorized 3rd Party developers mainly to prevent the likes of Mystique from creating 7800 versions of "Custer's Revenge" and "Beat 'Em & Eat 'Em" with more realistic graphics via the MARIA chip versus the blocky 2600 graphics and cause a PR uproar in the media over it. And like with most things, Atari did it first [before Nintendo with the 10NES chip]...
My power connector only powers on if I hold it in the right place. I was intimidated because I didn't want to break anything but think now I can probably fix it. Thanks.
Very good video, as always. I wasn’t too sure about using a sticky pad to attach the composite mod board, but it seemed work well enough.
I felt the same way but as it was in the kit I thought I’d try it. Turned out ok. The genuine sellotape pad really worked a lot better than my Poundland stuff!
@@MarkFixesStuff from what i remember back when me and my mates got into collecting tamiya radio control stuff ,tamiya servo tape was very strong stuff .
@@MarkFixesStuff I actually use small strips of 3M velcro. I use the 10Lb rated stuff. This way it stays in place, but can be removed if needed in the future.
Not sure about the logistics but it might be a good idea to have a diode on the power socket to prevent accidental frying of the system if someone accidentally inserts a much more common center positive AC adapter. I'd maybe Dymo a label on there so at least nobody forgets about the center-negative aspect.
If the new board was designed a little differently, it could be further secured with a zip-tie through those old holes from the RF can. I don't think that double sided tape will endure many insertions.
I was thinking of a diode but didn’t want to stray too far from the “kit”. I think I will upgrade the mod board with some resin adhesive. The board itself is made for many machines so it’s not 7800 specific. I’ll be returning to this console for some other mods and tweaks along the line.
I contacted TFW8B and they said it will not be restocked.. shame.. this mod is very clean and I really like it.
Check again! I bought one last week.
@@captaincorleone7088 I did buy one last week.. the owner emailed me he had a small batch in. It sold out again. Hopefully he gets more. Its a Fantastic Kit.
Well if i couldn’t find a rf demodulator ,i might have let modded my atari 7800 as well,
But am fine with mine as how it is,however i might have be better off with a $80 professional rf demodulator as mine $10 tends to sometimes fail picking up the signal or it sometimes generates a poor composite video signal from it,with the pro version that supposedly shouldn’t happen and you could also fine tune the reception of it.
dont forget to mark polarity and voltage of the new connector, you don't want someone that isn't you use the wrong polarity.
I hear reversing the polarity of the neutron flow is the way to go...
You're right, it is good practice and I will do that!
Don't cross the streams!
Never touch your wang unless you intend to replace it. Wang jokes..... subbed!
If your wang is old you really need to remove it.
@@MarkFixesStuff That's if your wife does get to it first. Good thing I'm not married. xD
There is it being said again about the 5200, what on Earth was backwards compatible in the early to mid 80s, I think that was an objectively silly want in hindsight Ie. future software emulation was easier than past hardware emulation.
It costs more but there is an excellent S-Video mod available for the 7800 right now and an RGB mod in the works that is pending. My AC is a little ratty but if I didn't have it that would be mandatory to mod that to a universal one. ;)
Just got informed about another 7800 mod one can do to add the console switches of the 2600 to complete the backwards compatibility. Since there is a TIA inside you can fairly easily attach switches to aid in games that pause with the TV Type switch on 2600 and for full console switch games like Space Shuttle. My take on that is probably an external module that attaches to one new DE-9 port in the console Ie. less janky heh.
Also a controller pause button mod too but I'm not sure how you do that with stock controllers in a transparent way. O_o??? Winter Games actually does look pretty good, I'll give that a chance. ;)
The reason it was a big deal and the 5200 drew criticism was that the Colecovision had an add-on that allowed their system to play 2600 games. The Intellivision also had a "system changer" that made THEIR system compatible with Atari's back catalogue, but the actual atari 2600 successor did not. In response to commercial pressure Atari eventually launched the CX-55 2600 game adapter for the 5200, but it was clunky and not compatible with all models.
After Atari saw both intellivision and Colecovision gain a foothold with buyers who upgraded from the 2600 because of the backwards compatibility, they included it in the 7800 to stop further market erosion.
@@MarkFixesStuff Oh yeah I've heard of those adapters. Funny thing about the Coleco one is that despite the hardware difference it's just an entire 2600 console at heart.
Coleco created a freak event in that historical spike for the time but it didn't happen again till the PS2, Egs. NES carts didn't go into the SNES, SNES carts didn't go into the N64, N64 carts didn't go into the GC. Later there was the backwards compatible PS3 which turned into later models that didn't. As a console feature it's never been very consistent, not something to count on from any company.
I do think Atari was late to that party and it's kind of embarrassing when the competition gains from something you should have done yourself. After all it wasn't like they weren't still making lots of 2600 hardware.
@@loganjorgensen Yes. The difference was back then, that the market actively migrated away from Atari due to those adapters. These days people just demand backward compatibilty (and then mostly never use it).
@@MarkFixesStuff Lol very true. XD
It looks like there's room in there to put in an AC power supply and give it an AC plug. You may need to cut the case though.
I could potentially do that, but it want the mods to be easily reversable. Great idea though!
Here we have another Wang to pull off...
Pull, don't twist.
You should of done that Atari 7800 svideo Mod! Still I enjoyed the video:)
I have another couple of consoles here Cameron!
@@MarkFixesStuff go with Bryan's "UAV" mod. It's the more popular mod now amongst the Atari community for the 2600/5200/7800 and Atari 8-bit computers/XE Game System.
I enjoy Mark's soldering, oh sorry, I mean I like they way Mark fills the holes with his hot liquid. It's a good job he didn't pull off to many Wangs first. This is just pure filth. 😆
:blinks innocently:
I dont mean to be so off topic but does anyone know a method to get back into an Instagram account..?
I was dumb lost the account password. I appreciate any assistance you can give me!
@Lochlan Dominik instablaster ;)
@Cruz Krew thanks so much for your reply. I got to the site thru google and Im in the hacking process atm.
Looks like it's gonna take quite some time so I will reply here later with my results.
@Cruz Krew It did the trick and I finally got access to my account again. Im so happy!
Thank you so much you saved my account :D
Mark you really need to update you're TH-cam and Twitch avatar pictures, with the newer Chesney Hawkes 80s hair style photo.
Really, really miss the Twitch streams, can't you get the whip cracking on the house improvements? Miss the innuendos to! but do still spot the odd 'unintended' ones. 🖖👍
All things will become real in time grasshopper!
Subscribed! That was great stuff and you've made me more confident about soldering/desoldering. Was there a particular preference or advantage why you choose the NTSC machine over a PAL 7800?
None. The mod is very similar on PAL and NTSC but this unit belongs to a friend and it needed to be installed.
I didn't understand most of the technical stuff but I found it highly entertaining & interesting nevertheless. The double entendre inserts were very appreciated btw as it brought things down to my level. Good work that man, keep it up 🙂
Glad you enjoyed it! No double entendres in this one though...
@@MarkFixesStuff there wasn't!? I thought I heard you slip a big one in. Apologies! Actually, the wife just asked me what a double entendre was so I gave her one.
LMAO, I did these mods back in 2006
Only one wang left untouched? Pulled out all our wangs?
Would love to see you fix a 5200 and then throw it straight in the trash.
Blasphemer! The 5200 is the greatest Atari console ever when paired with the glorious CX53 Trak-Ball Controller! Instant conversion into being a Holy Roller!
@@TheJeremyHolloway Ehh I disagree..and I've had them all.
5200? Shaka, when the walls fell...
Nothing really wrong with the 5200 other than the joysticks and the TV box where you plug the power into.
@@MarkFixesStuff nice star trek TNG reference