Atari 2600 User manual

Atari 2600 4 switch Video Mod
Installation Guide
The installation kit contains the following items:
1. Atari 2600 4 switch Mod board
2. Black 3.5mm panel mount jack with attached wires & pins.
3. Black Svideo mini-din panel mount jack with attached wires & pins.
4. Yellow RCA jack with 1 attached wire & pin.
**NOTE** you will need to provide all external cables.
1. AUDIO 3.5mm male plug on one end and two RCA plugs on the other.
2. SVIDEO male-male Svideo cable to connect to your monitor or TV.
3. COMPOSITE If you also want to connect Composite Video you need a
male-male RCA extension cable.

The following list of tools are also recommended:
1. Phillips & Flat blade screwdrivers
2. Needle nose pliers
3. Sharp angled cutters
4. Hand drill
5. 1/8” and ¼” bits
6. ½” hole cutting bit
7. Awl or scribe
8. Xacto knife
9. Anti-stat mat with wrist strap (optional)

Phase1 Motherboard Removal
Place 2600 upside down on clean non-scratch surface and remove
four screws with the Phillips screwdriver. Two are located along
the bottom front of the 2600, the other two are located about ¾
towards the back as shown below.
When removing the rear screws make sure to angle your screwdriver as shown below.

Flip the case bottom over & behind the top section to allow access to the motherboard.

Lift motherboard/shield assembly out of case and set the case
top and bottom to the side. The motherboard/shield assembly
should look similar to the one shown below.
Remove the RF cable plug from its mating connector as shown.
It is a good idea at this point to completely remove the RF cable from
the case bottom as you probably will never use it again.

There are 4 tabs located around the metal shield which need to be straightened
with the needle nose pliers as shown below.

If all tabs have been straightened properly you should be able to remove both the
top and bottom sections as shown below. Set aside.
Phase2 Motherboard Modification
Place motherboard so that the TIA chip is in front of you as shown below.
Gently with a flat blade screwdriver pry up one side of the chip then the
other side until you can remove it with your fingers.

Once the chip is removed place it back into the mod board, making sure that the
notch or dot is facing to the left of the board exactly the same as when you
removed it from the motherboard.

Now plug the mod board back into the motherboard as shown below making sure
to use enough downward pressure to seat the pins in the board into the socket.
Visually verify that the board is seated and that you haven’t gotten the pins skewed.
Set the motherboard assembly aside for now.
Phase4 Case Machining
There are obviously many different positions to mount the two 3.5mm jacks.
We recommended this way of doing it. If you want to do it some other
way then you are on your own. The internal mod board wire are only so
long , if you want to mount the other places then please measure to verify
proper length.
Place motherboard inside of the top cover in its normal position.
Using the Awl or scribe mark the first hole for the mini-din as shown below.

Using the Awl or scribe mark the second hole for the 3.5mm audio jack as shown below.

Using the Awl or scribe mark the third hole for the composite RCA jack as shown below.

Remove motherboard and set aside, now using the 1/8” bit drill 3 pilot holes as shown
below.

Using the 1/4” bit enlarge the 3 holes as shown below.

Now, using the ½” hole cutter bit drill the left most hole. Drill at medium speed as shown
below.

Turn the cover over and clean the hole of any plastic pieces still clonging to the cover as
shown.

Place the mini-din connector in the ½” hole and using the Awl or scribe mark the
locations
of the 2 mounting holes as shown below.

Now drill the mounting holes with the 1/8” bit as shown below.

Counter sink the 2 mounting holes by angling the X-acto knife as shown below.

Turn the cover over and check the 3.5mm audio jack to see if the hole is large enough for
the
threads to go through the cover as shown .

If the hole is not large enough then you can use the X-acto knife to enlarge the hole as
necessary.
Now counter sink this hole from the inside of the case as shown below.
This is necessary due to the thickness of the plastic cover.
Otherwise the threads of the jack would not be long enough to attach the nut.