Are all RCA cords equal for the Atari 7800?

[treismac]

A more expensive/higher quality RCA cord in theory should give my Atari 7800 better picture and sound quality (i.e. cut out interference), right?

Are there any other non-AV mod tricks for improving signal quality for this RF using dinosaur?

EDIT:

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that I'm using one of these converters to plug directly intot he back of my TV:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATARI-2600-TV-Game-converter-direct-connect-switch-box-/120657328170?pt=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item1c17bcb82a

[alec006]

A more expensive/higher quality RCA cord in theory should give my Atari 7800 better picture and sound quality (i.e. cut out interference), right?

Are there any other non-AV mod tricks for improving signal quality for this RF using dinosaur?

EDIT:

Oh yeah. I forgot to mention that I'm using one of these converters to plug directly intot he back of my TV:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/ATARI-2600-TV-Game-converter-direct-connect-switch-box-/120657328170?pt=US_Audio_Cables_Adapters&hash=item1c17bcb82a

In theory a cable with better shielding, gold connectors for the best possible conductivity, a ferrite bead or "RF suppressing Torrid" and shorter cable length could produce better results. Also more shielding around the RF box internally could help as well.

One thing to also fair in mind is never have the cable cross other A/V cables or power cables, especially power cables. If they must cross always have the A/V cables crossing at 90 degree angles in +'s This puts any interference at lower levels. If you cross them at X's or 45 degree angles, the interference bubble around the cables increases. Power cables should of course always be routed away from any A/V cable.

The problem is there's so much more interference now days than there was in 1986 and no matter what you do there will always be some kind of interference with RF signals.

You could try connecting it to an old VCR and output using composite, sometimes the internal RF boxes in VCR's do a good job of cleaning up a small bit of interference with old consoles.

Also try another TV, you'd be surprised how different TV's can produce different results on RF connections.

And lastly sadly enough if all of that doesn't help or please you, then a composite or S-Video mod would be the better thing to do since the system does create them internally and the results are pretty comparable to the old RF. And cool thing about the 7800 is the fact you can now play 2600 games in better quality without having to mod your old VCS.

[treismac]

Thanks, Alec! I ran my 7800 through my DVD/VCR, which has helped a good bit. Now, I want to pick up a ferrite bead and a gold A/V cord to see how much they help. I plan on testing my 7800 on my different TVs this weekend, too.

[treismac]

Well, dammit. I bought both a ferrite bead and a gold A/V cord and my 2600 games look amazing on my 7800, however when I play an actual 7800 game the system randomly emits a sustained audio buzz and the picture blurs every so slightly. What the heck? Obviously this goes beyond cable A/V cable problems and external rf interference.

On the sunny side, my 2600 games have never looked better.

I'm gonna bust out a new thread with a more accurate title that addresses the nature of my 7800 hardware problem.

EDIT:

Hmmm... 2600 games still receive interference, just not as much as their 7800 counterpart.

[darkcat]

This is normally caused by the caps slowly going dry, replace them and then you should have a better picture. In electrical capacitance is used counter act the impedance thus lower capacitance will cause signal interference. Also this will cause the color(video color) to start to go bad in consoles overtime. electrostatic caps are the only ones you will need to replace 90% of the time so replace them, check the video and go from there.

[Niku-Sama]

familiar people familiar question familiar answers...


http://www.digitpress.com/forum/showthread.php?165359-2600-games-look-amp-sound-crystal-clear-on-my-7800-but-7800-games-have-audio-and-visual-problems

[Greg2600]

Fixing mine by having someone do a composite mod!