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Colecovision AV Mod - PAL


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Hey guys,

Got a console of a client to mod and thought I would document the process for anyone wanting to give it a try.

Things you will need are

Soldering iron

Solder sucker or solder braid

Phillips head screwdriver

drill and drill bits to mount the RCA connectors

Heat shrink or electrical tape for insulation or wires

double sided tape to mount the circuit

1 x 3.3K resistor (needed to replace one on the motherboard)

Perfboard to make up the circuit

  • 1 x 3.3K resistor
  • 2 x 1K resistors
  • 1 x 75ohm resistor
  • 1 x 4.7K resistor
  • 1 x BC547 transistor

 

We will start by making up the circuit. I just use a 5 x 5 piece of perfboard to make it up. Below is a diagram of what needs to be done.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/ColecoCircuit.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0512.jpg

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0513.jpg

 

We start with our colecovision console.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0495.jpg

 

Remove the controllers from the console

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0496.jpg

 

Flip the console over and remove the 7 screws that are holding the top lid onto the console

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0497.jpg

 

The top lid comes off by lifting the back of it and pulling forward. This can be a bit tricky but you will manage eventually. Now we see the inside of the console

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0498.jpg

 

Remove the RF cable from the RF unit. Throw this in the bin as you will not be using this crapping video output anymore!

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0499.jpg

 

Start by desoldering the grounding cable from the RF unit to the metal shielding

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0500.jpg

 

The metal shielding is attached by solder. Remove the shielding by heating solder at the following points and lifting off

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0501.jpg

 

Another one here

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0503.jpg

 

This one is on the left side of the shielding

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0505.jpg

 

One more here. The is another one on the front left of the console. I forgot to take a picture of this one.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0502.jpg

 

We now have the motherboard visible and ready to work on. We need to remove 5 screws of the mother board as we will need to lift it out later to remove a resistor. There is a screw on each corner and one above the cartridge slot

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0506.jpg

 

Look at the wires coming from the RF unit to the motherboard. We need to cut the blue wire

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0507.jpg

 

Now cut the red wire. The red wire coming from the motherboard is where we will grab the audio signal from.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0508.jpg

 

I used some heat shrink here to insulate both ends of the blue wire and one end of the red wire coming from the RF unit. Do not insulate the other piece of red wire coming from the motherboard as this we will need later

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0509.jpg

 

Now is a good time to drill the RCA connector holes in the back of the console. I use a ruler and mark out in texta 3 points all 1.5cms apart. Ensure that you drill a pilot hole first cause a lot of these older consoles are very brittle and can

 

crack the casing if you just jump right into drilling the full size hole

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0510.jpg

 

Screw in your RCA connectors

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0511.jpg

 

We need to remove the following resistor as we need to replace this with the 3.3K resistor mention earlier. This is labeled as R140 on the board

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0514.jpg

 

Flip the board over and look for the two ends of the resistor. Using a solder sucker or solder wick remove the solder

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0515.jpg

 

This is another picture of the board with the resistor removed

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0516.jpg

 

This is the underside of the board with the resistor removed

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0517.jpg

 

Here I have now installed the 3.3K resistor in the spot where we just removed the resistor.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0519.jpg

 

Now to start soldering the wires from out circuit to the mother. we will start with 5volts. You can grab it from this point

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0520.jpg

 

Here you can see where that point is a little better and also where I mounted the circuit

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0521.jpg

 

Next we need to attach the next wire to the contact of the 2N3904 transistors collector.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0522.jpg

 

Here you can see a little better where that wire goes

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0523.jpg

 

Now attach the next wire to the right side of R156

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0524.jpg

 

Here is a closer look at that resistor

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0525.jpg

 

The next wire is the audio wire from the circuit. Solder this to the red wire coming from the motherboard that we left earlier

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0526.jpg

 

Here is another shot of the audio wire soldered on to the red wire

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0527.jpg

 

I used some heat shrink to insulate the wire. You can also use electrical tape.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0528.jpg

 

Next we need to solder the ground wire to any ground point on the motherboard. The entire surround of the motherboard is ground. I just pout some solder on the edge of the motherboard and attached the ground wire there

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0529.jpg

 

We are nearly there folks. Now we attach the video out wire to the yellow RCA connector we installed earlier

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0530.jpg

 

Now we need to attach the audio output wire to the white and red RCA connectors. I just strip a bit of the wire so it will reach both connectors and feed the wire through the first connector and then solder to both.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0531.jpg

 

Last thing we need is to solder a ground wire to all three of the RCA's. once again just put a blob of solder on the edge of the motherboard and then attach a wire to the RCA's like below.

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0532.jpg

 

Put the lid of the colecovision back on. Be careful when doing this as the rest and power switch connectors can snap if not put on correctly. Just give it a jiggle and you will get it on

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0538.jpg

 

Now for the moment of truth. Plug everything back in and attach RCA;s from the console to your TV. Cross your fingers and switch on. Ta da!!!

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0533.jpg

 

Now go forth and play Cosmic Avenger is super clear composite output!!

http://i1138.photobucket.com/albums/n532/jmicari/ColecovisionAV/IMG_0536.jpg

 

 

It seems like a lot of work but if you have everything ready such as the circuit it can be done fairly quickly. Ensure that you double and triple check your circuit and you should be good to go.

 

Now everyone get out your RF Colecovisions and start modding!!

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I would love S-video on this coleco but don't think it is possible. I know with the US version you can get these custom AV boards that output component. Nothing for the PAL market though. I have done a few of these and are extremely happy with the results.
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  • 5 years later...

Epic!!

 

Hey yo!!!

I was looking all over for find something like this!!! there is a only a few tutorials for Pal mod..

I did it, and works gorgeous well!!!!!!!!!!

You are great man !!!! :041: :041: :041: :041: :041:

Thanks a lot!!!;)

My best wishes for you, from the other side of world!!

:D :D :D :D :D

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Hey yo!!!

I was looking all over for find something like this!!! there is a only a few tutorials for Pal mod..

I did it, and works gorgeous well!!!!!!!!!!

You are great man !!!! :041: :041: :041: :041: :041:

Thanks a lot!!!;)

My best wishes for you, from the other side of world!!

:D :D :D :D :D

 

Good Stuff! Glad someone still needs this information and is works!! I have also been advised that the AV mod works with an Atari 2600 add-on and gives great results

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I have also been advised that the AV mod works with an Atari 2600 add-on and gives great results

 

Be interested to see how that works - any guides out there on how to get this to work with the 2600? Been looking for an alternative to the basic "resistor kludge" mod for the 2600, and I need to practice my circuit building anyway (right @Roxbury? ;) )

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  • 5 months later...

By a massive strole of luck Photobucket messed up, by opening every link above into a new window you get the dreaded image, BUT if you right click and save you get the image - haha

So, I grabbed them and I'm sharing them on my google drive here.

If anyone fancies rebuilding the thread go for it, I'll leave the files safe.

 

https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B4teqNnSlIUleHZnSXc2UjNCTTA

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