Atari 2600 Project

Cystic Fibrosis Summer Camp '94: Charley and Jesse

July 1989 was my 2^nd year attending Cystic Fibrosis (CF) summer camp in Dowling, MI (outside of Battle Creek) and that’s when I met my 20 year old friend Charley. I was 10. Charley had been attending camp a few years prior to 1989 and we continued going until camp folded in 1996. Charley and I kept in contact through the years. In 1994 he sent me an Atlas book (still have it, looks new), because he knew I was taking Geography class my Freshman year in high school and figured I could use it. Charley worked at a map store in St. Louis, MO, where he and his family lived while attending local college. I received a B semester grade in Geography. Charley was proud.

No matter how busy Charley was, we kept in contact via postal mail and e-mail. There were summers that he didn’t attend camp, because of work or school, and I always understood. He was bummed when he couldn’t attend.

Through the years, my friend lived everywhere (laughs), in St. Louis, San Francisco, CA, Ames, IA (Graduate school- Iowa State University), Cleveland, OH, Minneapolis, MN, and his last residence was Omaha, NE, where he moved back home to live out his final months. Charley’s profession was a banker at KeyBank (Cleveland, OH) and later at U.S. Bank in Minneapolis, MN.

Charley died from CF on May 11^th 2007 at age 38. Through his death (years later) I’d meet his Mom, Alice, who I’ve known for 6 years. We connected quickly. I told her all the times I spent with Charley, the letters, and the things we had in common.

Last month she learned that I liked the Atari 2600 game console via my e-mail signature, when I noted that it was the 40^th anniversary (back in September) of the Atari 2600 system. She told me she still had Charley’s game system in the closet, where it had been for the past 25+ years. She asked if I’d like to have it? It could’ve been a rock that Charley had, I still would’ve said yes.

Atari 2600 Box (front)

Alice sent Charley’s Atari my way. I was hoping it worked, or I was going to have to do some repairs. I couldn’t believe that Alice still had Charley’s Atari in its original box. After waiting a week (had to order a part for it to hookup to a modern HD TV) I plugged it in and it worked. Alice sent along three games that Charley had, and would eventually send three more. I was waiting for fuzzies and lines to appear on the TV, being that Charley’s system was 36 years old. The picture was clear. If it wasn't, I would’ve had to order a radio frequency (RF) interference filter. I didn’t have to.

Charley's Atari 2600 (before) right out of the box

With accessing what parts I needed to order (and waiting for those parts) it took 29 days to make Charley’s Atari 2600 look new again. I replaced and restored a few things and made it shine…once again.

Charley's Atari 2600 (after) w/ new orange trim and shine

Below details everything that I did to Charley’s Atari 2600 to partially restore it. To see everything I worked on, please click on the link.

- Atari 2600 (CX-40) joystick –

* Washed washable parts w/ soap and water via toothbrush, soaked in vinegar

* Restored printed circuit board (PCB) due to worn contacts. Replaced w/ gold PCB board

* Replaced red (fire) button due to bottom nipple (worn) not touching the contact on new Board

* Replaced spring inside red (fire) button due to dark coloring caused by age

* Replaced white joystick handle (under the black joystick boot cover) due to two cracks

* Replaced black joystick boot due to age

* Replaced top cover due to 75% of paint coming off due to age

* Joystick had 65% of its function. Now has 100%

- Atari 2600 Top Case -

* Washed top case and faceplate in soap & water via toothbrush

* Painted trim (orange) on faceplate, lost 80% of its original paint due to age

* Mixed Acrylic Cadmium Orange Hue and Burnt Umber to get desired color

* Applied paint to Craft foam sheets and gently pressed front faceplate down on paint w/ painters tape for protection, let dry for 24 hours

* Applied a touch (little) of Pledge to top case and front for moderate shine

- Atari 2600 Bottom Case -

* Washed bottom case by hand with soap and water

* Fixed Atari Super Service (repair) sticker that was peeling off w/ multi-purpose adhesive spray, applied w/ q-tip

- Atari 2600 (Switchboard) Inside -

* Cleaned switchboard with compressed air

* Cleaned switchboard with 71% alcohol pads, let dry for 10 minutes

* Cleaned inside switches (Power (On/Off), TV Type (color b-w), Left Difficulty (a b),

Right Difficulty (a b), Game Select, and Game Reset with 91% rubbing alcohol w/ q-tip

* Cleaned metal Electromagnetic Interference (EMI) shield case w/ 71% alcohol pads, let dry for 10 minutes

- Atari 2600 Motherboard -

* Cleaned motherboard with compressed air

* Made sure all (4) chips were clean and secured in place

* Accessed ribbon cable from the switchboard to the motherboard

- Atari 2600 Cartridge Connector -

* Cleaned cartridge connector where the game cartridge slides into the Atari 2600

* Cleaned contacts w/ craft foam sheet (inserted) and 91% rubbing alcohol, dry for 10 minutes

- MISC -

* Purchased Gold Plated RCA Female to Coax (male) Adapter to work with modern TV

* Replaced radio frequency (RF) cable with gold plated RCA stereo cable (goes from Atari to TV) for better secured connection, kept original RF cable for backup

* Replaced Atari 2600 power adapter due to age of original, which was very dry

* Cleaned all game cartridge plated contacts with Brasso & q-tips

* Cleaned all game cartridge plated contacts w/ 91% rubbing alcohol & q-tips to get Brasso off, dry for 5 minutes

- Atari 2600 Paddles -

* Charley never used the paddles, they look new

- Charley’s Atari 2600 Games - I Purchased Donkey Kong

* Top row, left to right: Combat (1977), Frogger (1982), Superman (1979), Donkey Kong (1982), SeaQuest (1983), Missile Command (1981), and Defender (1981)