Atari 2600 RGB Mod Blue RCA Port

[erik343]

Hi,

I just bought an Atari 2600 that was RGB modded with Tim's mod.

I have a composite video port that is yellow.
I have an S-Video port.
I have an 3.5mm audio jack.
I have an 8-pin mini din for RGB.

I also have a blue RCA port, but what is this port for? I tried to hook it up as sound, and that did not work...

I have the Framemeister by the way on a big 4K TV.

I suspect that this is an RF port? What do you think?

[leonk]

Only 1 way to find out for sure - open it and see how it's wired. I suspect it is RF. Instead of a permanent cable coming out the back, the modder added an RF port.

[erik343]

I hooked my Atari up to my RF antenna input on my TV to that blue port and it worked! It’s a RF port after all. It looks like garbage although, so thank God that it’s RGB modded!

[PC Engine Fan X!]

I hooked my Atari up to my RF antenna input on my TV to that blue port and it worked! It’s a RF port after all. It looks like garbage although, so thank God that it’s RGB modded!

That's how it was with the late 1970s & early 1980s gaming consoles like the Atari VCS/2600 and the Atari 5200 Super System with solely just RF output at best.

Heck, even the NEC TurboGrafx-16 console initially came bundled with an RF switcher box if bought brand new back in the Summer of 1989 -- if you wanted the marginally better RCA composite video, L&R RCA stereo phono outputs + pre-amp upgrades, you had to buy either the optional NEC Turbo Booster add-on (which had a MSRP of $34.99 back in 1989-1990) or the Turbo Booster Plus ad-on (with built-in game saving functionality with it's internal rechargeable battery setup -- basically a bloated "PC Engine Booster Plus" add-on reconfigured for the TG-16 back in those days). Of course nowadays, an RGB-modded PC Engine or TurboGrafx-16 console is highly recommended and desired these days.

PC Engine Fan X! ^_~

[D]

I would not mod a pc engine at all,
I have the Super SD System 3
And if you want hdmi, I'd get the super-hd-system3-pro
For all the features it offers quite the bargain

[leonk]

I would not mod a pc engine at all,
I have the Super SD System 3
And if you want hdmi, I'd get the super-hd-system3-pro
For all the features it offers quite the bargain

You have no choice. At the very least, you need to replace 2 ceramic capacitors on all NEC consoles to get rid of jailbars in RGB output. Even SSDS3 requires this. More info here: https://etim.net.au/av-driver/pcebars/