Connecting Sega Nomad via RF

[Skykid]

Old skool as it gets, I know, but I have a new very old CRT with RF out only and decided to test it by hooking up my Nomad. I'm using a third party RF adapter and I noticed that the TV input pin is unusually small, and when I try to put the jack into the TV it's incredibly tight.

At the moment I'm not getting a picture and I sat there trying to tune the thing for an hour. What am I doing wrong, and if this RF adapter is no good, why is it branded as a Sega RF Adapter (and I got it together with the Nomad).

Thanks for your input (excuse the pun).

[Fudoh]

You're still in China ? China uses PAL tuners on their TV sets, while your Nomad will have a NTSC RF output. You won't get this working. Or do you know for sure that your TV has a NTSC tuner ?

The plugs are also different. NTSC countries use for RF what PAL countries only use for satellite television (coax with screw thread), while PAL RF is a straight plug (no thread) with a thicker inner pin.

[Skykid]

Damn really?

It’s an old Sony Trinitron from the 80s, looks like this:

https://www.instagram.com/p/Bol74C2l1fP ... 1lp45lm9g8

It says made in Japan, but if it’s been made for the domestic market here then it’s possibly PAL. It reads 50/60hz on the back, that’s all I can ascertain.

I also have a Fami and SFC here, will they both not work for the same reasons, and if not, is it possible to mod the TV to NTSC? Or use some kind of decoder?

It’s a nice one, this model was originally for the Sony HIT BIT MSX, and was later turned into a terrestrial TV set (this one).

[Fudoh]

There's no easy way (at least nothing I can think of) to convert NTSC to PAL. It's complicated for composite already, but when you add in RF modulation, it's tough.

There are cheap composite NTSC to PAL converters, but these only convert the frequency of the color carrier, so basically get PAL60, which works on many PAL-only composite inputs, but can't be converted back to PAL RF.

You're positive that that TV is RF only ? If it was intended for any computer use, composite seems likely at least.

[Skykid]

Positive. The original Hit Bit monitor was for PC (MSX) use, but later the model was re-used as a terrestrial TV set.

I believe this is the Sony Prism G.T., however the one advertised here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7SbqfEOxakc

Has the RF socket in the front of the set as opposed to the back (like mine).

[Fudoh]

the one in the video has composite on the front, not RF. But it makes sense if yours was intended for TV use instead.

There is something like this

https://www.amazon.com/Universal-NTSC-C ... B074XL52FP

which seems to be multistandard and offers composite input and RF output. Maybe something like this can be found cheap locally ? You would just have to make sure that it does NTSC composite to RF PAL.

[Skykid]

69 bucks. Ouch. I only wanted to get something running on it at a bare bones minimum (this is RF we’re talkinf about) just so it’s not left sad and unused.

Someone mentioned something about hooking up RF via a VCR as a decoder, but not sure how that works.

I could go for the PAL 60 solution I suppose, I assume it just changes the colours to something inaccurate?

[Fudoh]

Someone mentioned something about hooking up RF via a VCR as a decoder, but not sure how that works.

not in your case, due to the standard conversion required. You would need a multistandard VCR to make this work and these are expensive (and rare).

I could go for the PAL 60 solution I suppose, I assume it just changes the colours to something inaccurate?

PAL60 is something that usually works well for composite, but cannot be encoded into RF.

If you wanted to put the TV to SOME use, find a PAL video source instead.

[Classicgamer]

There's no easy way (at least nothing I can think of) to convert NTSC to PAL. It's complicated for composite already, but when you add in RF modulation, it's tough.

There are cheap composite NTSC to PAL converters, but these only convert the frequency of the color carrier, so basically get PAL60, which works on many PAL-only composite inputs, but can't be converted back to PAL RF.

You're positive that that TV is RF only ? If it was intended for any computer use, composite seems likely at least.

When I lived in the Uk, I had a converter for my American SNES that allowed it to display a 60hz Pal signal through RF for TVs that could display 60hz but not NTSC or RGB. It also had a 50hz switch. So.... it is possible but whether anyone still makes decent converters is a different story.

It might be easier to convert to an SVideo output and then search for an SVideo to rf adapter.


But.... in a time where people are literally throwing old CRt TVs in the trash, surely it would be better to get one which at least has Svideo... it seems like a silly problem to be trying to solve in 2018.

As an FYI, every Sony crt tv I ever owned was capable of displaying a 60hz signal and all but my 14" (which had RGB) could do both ntsc and pal. But... I never had one from the 80's before every set had composite video and SVideo as a minimum. From memory, very few TVs that only had RF were capable of displaying anything except a 50hz pal signal.

[Skykid]

This one has 50/60hz on the back, so that’s not a problem. It is indeed a silly problem for 2018, but I’d feel sad to think the TV had no friends. I’d like to put something on it.

[FinalBaton]

I like that you're hanging unto this set instead of disposing of it Skykid. Looks like a sweet little monitor too.

Maybe finding a multistandard VCR that's broken(doesn't read tape anymore) and thus way cheap, could be an option?

[Skykid]

I think getting a PAL SNES hooked up to this thing would be the most ghetto experience ever, but also one of the most nostalgic. It would be like a time warp back to 1992.

I’d definitely never get rid of the set though, CRTs deserve saving.