Room of doom setup question

[chadtower]

I'm setting up what for now will be my room of doom. I've already got a stereo/vcr/directv etc setup in my gym area so I'm hooking up all my systems to it. I took those Iris style plastic drawers, drilled holes in the back of the drawers for wires, and put a console in each drawer. All I have to do is pull out the drawer and pop in a game...

...but the question is the best way to switch between consoles as a/v input. I'm thinking of a couple of cascading switchboxes, but what about the older systems like the 2600? I know you can get coax from them but I'm having a hard time finding a decent switchbox that also handles coax. Is there an easy way to convert the output from an older system to a/v? Does anyone know of a decent switchbox that they woudl recommend? Does anyone have any better ideas than what I'm working with here?

[nesman85]

i would just "daisy chain" the rf's, you won't even have to switch between systems, they'll all be ready to go.

[Phosphor Dot Fossils]

Getcha some RF switchers and hook 'em up through a VCR running through the A/V switcher and you're set.

[stonecutter]

I just used the daisy chain style. I got a 3 way splitter and put 2-3 systems off of each split. Even with 3 systems, the last one on the chain has no signal degradation if you buy a decent splitter. That way they are ready to go all the time.

[junglehunter]

I also use the daisy chain style. It's useful for popping a game in one system while the other one is going, then turn system 2 on while you turn system 1 off. Pretty handy although where the heck did the name come from?

[chadtower]

So how exactly does one daisy chain, for instance, a 2600, a 7800, a 5200, and a colecovision? Those are the ones I'm wondering about.

[Epicenter]

Basically, you hook up the RF OUTPUT from one console to the TV's RF input, then hook up the next console's RF output to the last's RF input. then just turn on one machine and it will work. You can probably also get an RF Modulator to convert the RF signal to a Composite Video signal, which you can run through a switchbox.

[chadtower]

The older systems don't use that type of automatic RF switch, they use the manual game/tv switches that don't work that way. If they had the signal types to use an automatic RF switch this wouldn't be an issue.

[Keir]

Go with PDF's solution. That's what I do, though my selector box only has 3 inputs.

[chadtower]

I did take a look at that... that's half the question I originally asked, whether or not anyone knew of a switchbox that would handle coax. A switchbox that would handle coax would work nicely for those older systems but I haven't had any luck finding one yet.

EDIT:

Here's some that may be what I need here... anyone have any comments on the suitability of these?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=21169

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=32835

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=21169

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...category=32837

[video_game_addict]

Yes do check out PDFs site. Basically you'll need some sort of selector to switch between the systems. The way Earl's doing it, he just leaves all the manual switchboxes to "game" Then just selects the system of choice with the video selector box.

I personally use those F-type to female RCA adaptors like what Atariage sells in their store. These don't need a manual switchbox, they are direct, and will work better IMO than most of the switchboxes I have had. Then I would sugest buying some COAX spliters from Radio SHack or wherever. Note those are Bi-Directional 4-ways, you can hook 4 systems up to this, or buy two and you can run 7 systems! Add the F-type-FemRCA adaptors to each system and hook to your spliter/s.

Now heres where it gets tricky, if you use COAX for your cable, and have it hooked up to the same spliter, then it will override the games even when they are on. You could leave the spliter in a place that it's easy to get to, and simply unhook your cable from it while you play games, or if you have an RF modulator, or spare VCR you can run all those systems thru the spliter into the one COAX input in the back of the VCR or Modulator, and then use the A/V outputs of it to another video source. If you have an unused or even used with y-cable spliters for the video inputs on your TV, and simply select the input on your TV (eg: video 2), make sure the power is on for the system of choice and the VCR/Modulator that's converting all the COAX to A/V and you're set.

So all systems are hooked up and the only thing you need to do to play is press a button on your remote, and turn the power on the system.

One more thing of note: If you don't have a VCR and you're thinking of buying an RF Modulator, make sure it works the way you need it to. Alot of the ones on the market today are backwards of what you're trying to do! They are made to change the A/V composite or S-video even, down to COAX for using DVD players on older TVs. You basically need one set up like a VCR that will change the COAX into composite outputs. Not the other way around.

[midmagic]

This is probably a silly question but using the daisy chain method what happens if you have multiple systems turned on at the same time? Does one system override the other?

What if they are turned on at the same time and the systems set to different channels?

[chadtower]

See, once I get it set up, I don't want to be playing with the cables. Ever. That's why I'm trying to get it all squared away now. Those nice little coax adaptors you mentioned from AtariAge (or radio shack, for that matter) are what I would like to use. I don't want to daisy chain manual game switches since I use the VCR/DTV portion just as often if not a lot more than the games there. I think if I can find a decent coax selector and use those coax adaptors, that should pretty much do it for those... I'd like a solution where there's no changing the VCR channel, too... which would mean that if I could, I'd have to step that coax output up to a/v so that it could go into the same inputs as the a/v systems. Buh, much to think about.

[Tom61]

Keep in mind that an A/V switch box is just a box of switches (no noticable impedence, logic, or resistance). Therefore, you can hook up RF cables (99% of which use RCA jacks) from a console to each switch on the switch box's input (I'd use 'Video' personnally, but it doesn't matter), then hook the box's output to an RF switch or an RCA to coax adapter. A/V switch boxes are cheap and easy to find (walk into most any electronics departments and you'll find at least one for $20-30).

I'd have to step that coax output up to a/v so that it could go into the same inputs as the a/v systems

You need an 'RF Demodulator' then, I think they sell them on www.RadioShack.com , you switch to channel 3 or 4, and it'll output composite video and sound. Or you could go the less elegant, but cheaper route and use an old VCR that started to eat tapes, and hook it's A/V output to your system.

[christianscott27]

anythings possible once you understand the RCA and RF inputs and make a trip to radio shack. this monster actually works when i can resist the urge to swap consoles around, theres about 20 systems running off this, you dont even need a VCR.

[chadtower]

Keep in mind that an A/V switch box is just a box of switches (no noticable impedence, logic, or resistance). Therefore, you can hook up RF cables (99% of which use RCA jacks) from a console to each switch on the switch box's input (I'd use 'Video' personnally, but it doesn't matter), then hook the box's output to an RF switch or an RCA to coax adapter. A/V switch boxes are cheap and easy to find (walk into most any electronics departments and you'll find at least one for $20-30).

You know, I'd never thought of that. That you can just connect the consoles to the selector with rca cables and then hook the selector's output into an rf switch... I'm going to test that this weekend, and if it works, you may have just solved my problem in a big way.