Atari 7800 assistance

[campbell828793]

Did not plan on this, but I found one at a thrift store without any wires or controllers. Can anyone point me where I can find the wires I need? Or can I use wires from other systems, since a lot of them are interchangeable.

[Steve W]

Unfortunately, the power supply to the 7800 is uniquely shaped, so you can't pick another one up. Someone here should have plans so you can mod it with a generic power supply, if you're up to soldering. As far as plugging it into a television, just use a non-automatic switch box. The old style, that you have to switch manually, not the NES/Genesis style. Those won't work. You can also get an RCA-to-Coaxial adapter at Radio Shack for a few bucks and bypass the switch box altogether. Joysticks-wise, you can use Atari 2600 compatible, but you won't have access to the second fire button, so some games won't be playable. If you can solder, there should be instructions online how to mod a SMS controller or Genesis gamepad to make it compatible.

[campbell828793]

Problem is, there is no tv hook-up wire at all. it's just the system and nothing else.

[coreys429]

Power adapters can be found on ebay for less then $20 bucks. They are 3rd party ones but hey it works.

[Pantechnicon]

These guys (http://www.myatari.com/) sell OEM power adapters for $20. I've dealt with them before and can vouch for them.

The RF cable is no big deal. Just takes a standard one which you can get at Radio Shack or whatever. Put a coaxial adapter on the end and you're in business.

Controller-wise, you can use any Atari 2600 controllers, but you might be able to also use gamepads from either the Sega Master System or Genesis. On the other hand that vendor I linked to sells controllers too. I'd recommend the European Atari Gamepad (http://www.atariage.com/7800/controllers/con_Atari7800Joypad.jpg) if you're not comfortable with joysticks. Those go for about $20 as well.

And yes, the 7800 games are worth this extra investment.

[campbell828793]

Searching on Radio Shack's website only leads me to this.....

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=3132689

There is another of the same function but by Madcatz.

Sorry if I'm being ignorant and its under my nose or something.....

[Steve W]

No, that's not what you need. You have to use a manual switch box, not an automatic one. Here's the difference: In the 1970s and early 1980s, to switch over from TV to play a game, you actually had to reach back behind the TV set and slide a switch on the RF adapter. Nintendo came along later and decided to run a small current through their RF adapter, so whenever the game console was on, it switched off regular TV and played the game console signal. That's the way all modern game consoles do RF input. But the Atari 7800 wasn't designed with that in mind, so you have to use either a real manual switch box or an RCA-to-Coax adapter. Here's a pic of what you're looking for:

http://i414.photobucket.com/albums/pp222/StevePW/Atariswitchboxes.jpg

The switch boxes have actual switches on them. These are some I picked up at dollar stores a few years back. Do you see the little adapters at the bottom of the picture? You can pick one of those up at Radio Shack for a few bucks and connect a common RCA cable from the back of the Atari 7800 to the coaxial input on the back of your TV set using one of those, which will give you a slightly better picture in comparison to a switch box. And any old RCA cable will work, those are the standard issue component cables you hook a DVD player up with.

[MachineGex]

Use those little adapters at the bottom of "Steve W"'s picture. Also, you can get the power supply on GameGavel.com for about $10 shipped.

[AB Positive]

for gamepads - Genesis pads will *not* need soldering. SMS controllers WILL need soldering, as their +5 and GND wires (IIRC) are not the same and could cause damage.

Same with Atari computers, C64 and Amiga - do NOT use a SMS controller with them without modding. Genesis... just fine.

Don't know what's up with SMS wiring but thankfully it was just the one setup, after that they went to a 'normal' wiring with the Genny

[Mitch]

for gamepads - Genesis pads will *not* need soldering. SMS controllers WILL need soldering, as their +5 and GND wires (IIRC) are not the same and could cause damage.

Same with Atari computers, C64 and Amiga - do NOT use a SMS controller with them without modding. Genesis... just fine.

Don't know what's up with SMS wiring but thankfully it was just the one setup, after that they went to a 'normal' wiring with the Genny

Uh, SMS and Genesis use the same pinout and they both work fine without modding. You only get one button without modding though.

Mitch

[AB Positive]

Uh, SMS and Genesis use the same pinout and they both work fine without modding. You only get one button without modding though.

Mitch

Really? Huh...

I know of damage being caused to A8 and Amiga setups (having both) - the pinout is definitely not the same though... since as you said you only get one button with the SMS. Although perhaps a 7800 is sturdier wiring wise.

I'm just coming from the retro computer side of things.

[Mitch]

Really? Huh...

I know of damage being caused to A8 and Amiga setups (having both) - the pinout is definitely not the same though... since as you said you only get one button with the SMS. Although perhaps a 7800 is sturdier wiring wise.

I'm just coming from the retro computer side of things.

Here is a pinout for the SMS controller: http://gamesx.com/wiki/doku.php?id=controls:sega_master_system_controller . There's nothing on there that I can see that would cause any problems. The +5V on Pin5 is on the Master system console side not the controller. The Atari machines had +5V on pin7 which is not even connected on the controller. All of the other pins are the same.

Mitch