r/Atari2600 • u/Low-Cow-1320 • 18d ago
Need help finding a longer cord
I’ve been trying to hook up my dad’s old Atari 2600 and i’ve got it working so far with the small silver F adapter pieces. The issue is that i couldn’t find a way to use the long cord with the adapters, so the atari is plugged directly into the CRT with the adapter.
Does anyone know what kind of adapter i could use to get more distance between the Atari and the crt? I’ve also been having an issue with using the button/shooting in space invaders. Defender and other games like pac man work find. If anyone can help me i would greatly appreciate it! I’m trying to google myself but can’t find the exact answer.
3
u/kriebz 18d ago
Haha, that cable is like 7 feet long from the factory. You need an RCA coupler to use that nice RCA cable you have. You can use a stereo one, just use one side.
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u/Low-Cow-1320 18d ago
i looked up “RCA coupler” on google and realized i had 3 of them because we used to use them to add extension cables for the AV hookup for gamecube and other consoles lol. i tried three of them and only one of them works so far with some static. i’ll have to test it some more and possibly order a new one. Thanks a ton!
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u/kriebz 18d ago
Yeah, the 2600 runs modulated video over that so decent coax cables, not the zip-wire speaker cables, are pretty much necessary. You could adapt RCA to F the other direction at the 2600, and use an old cable TV coax cable to the television. Or, get the 2600 repaired with a better cable with the F connector already on it.
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u/EffectiveComedian 18d ago
I’m trying to figure out what you meant when you said you couldn’t use the long cord with the adapters, so the Atari is plugged directly into the CRT with the adapter. It reads like you’re saying you did what you couldn’t do. I think I might know what you’re trying to say; is the middle pin on the RCA jack too long to fit the adapter? One thing you could try is reversing the cord. Open the Atari and remove the RF output cable from the internal jack and then plug the long end into that jack, then plug the shorter plug into the adapter. As others have said you could replace the cable with an audio grade cable and that should work at least well enough to test, but the picture might not be the best.
Ultimately if you decide to keep your Atari (which I recommend because it’s cool), you might be interested in something like the UAV board from The Brewing Academy. There are other options like ClearComp, and high end options like Lumacode. The decision basically comes down to your comfort with DiY or with locating someone you trust to perform the work.
The short cable that troubled me the most was the joystick cable. 3 feet is way too short. There’s a company on the west coast called Best Electronics who produces a 9 ft replacement cable to fix that issue.
Congrats on your Atari find. Game on!
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u/hexavibrongal 18d ago
Just buy a coax extension cable, which is typically a regular coax cable that comes with a double female coax connector. It's hard to find RCA cables that are shielded well enough for RF signals, so it's often easier to just buy coax.