Dec 8, 2017

Atari 2600 Project



Cystic Fibrosis Summer Camp '94: Charley and Jesse

July 1989 was my 2nd 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 11th 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 40th 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) 


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