Modify an Atari 2600 for a Modern Television
How do I Modify an Atari 2600 for a Modern Television ?
The Atari 2600 is a blast but is of no use if you cannot connect it to your modern television. Things have changed, technologies have evolved and you are left with a video system that wouldn’t play on your TV. The Atari 2600 comes with a RCA cable. Before you can plug your system to your TV and play, you will need to use an adapter. Although this RCA cable actually fits into either of the composite jacks of your TV, nothing will happen if you plug it there because audio and video signals are transmitted in the same cable. What you need to do is separate the audio and video signals before anything can work.
Ok folks, this should work for most of the old video game systems out there. Most importantly to us, it works for the Atari 2600. A quick note: there are two ways you can modify an Atari 2600 for a modern television, one is with the coaxial cable and the other with the composite jacks. We will only deal with the coaxial cable method here because it’s the easiest and most widely used. Are you ready? Ok, here goes.
Modify an Atari 2600 for a Modern Television: Coaxial Cable
Most people looking to modify an Atari 2600 for a modern television go the coaxial route. Why? It is the easiest option. Although the composite option gives you better video and audio, it involves more work and you’ll have to modify your Atari 2600 internally, which a lot of people balk at. You’ll be glad to learn there is nothing to actually modify, all you have to do is make a trip to your local hardware store.
The coaxial cable is found on most televisions, even old ones. If you don’t have it, well sorry. All you need to do is buy a little coaxial to RCA adapter. It only costs a few bucks and does the job without fuss. It scientific name, so to speak, is a "Gold-Plated Phono-to-F Adapter". It is a plug and play affair, we trust that you will find which end goes where, no need to spell it out for you ;-).