Retro Collector vs. Retro Hardware - Round One: The TurboGrafix-16 Composite Cable

It has been some time since I've had the energy to post here.  Work and other obligations have kept me busy during the latter part of 2011.  Nevertheless I have found some time to work on improving my retro game collection.  I emphasize "improve" because most of my efforts of late have been that of making better the things that I already own.  I think this is a common theme among us retro collectors.  While we love our vintage hardware, we are sometimes at odds with its shortcomings.  Consequently we spend a lot of time tinkering, soldering, applying modifications to wring out better video signals or improved play control.  At times it can truly seem like we're fighting against our beloved machines, although that's not really the case.  We're just trying to make them better.

Hence the adversarial title of my latest post.  Round One of my hardware struggle sees me taking up the most common weapon in the retro collector's arsenal: the soldering iron.  I suspect all serious retro collectors will at some point wield one, or at the very least, pay others to do so.  I confess to occupying this latter camp for a long time.  I've paid other, more experienced tinkerers to mod my Odyssey² and Intellivision for composite video, and to draw S-Video from my ColecoVision and Atari 2600.  In just the past few weeks, I've purchased from gurus at the AtariAge forums a homemade Masterplay-esque Atari 5200 joystick adapter, which allows me to use 2600-compatible controllers on the 5200 instead of the godforsaken stock joysticks, and two NES dogbone controllers modified to work on the ColecoVision and Atari 7800, respectively.

I don't regret any of these purchases.  Composite and S-Video far outshine the standard RF signal these vintage machines output natively, and the NES dogbone is probably my favorite hand controller of all time.  Being able to use it on many of my earlier machines is easily worth the few dollars the mods set me back.  Some of the alterations I paid for are fairly complex.  Modifying the Intellivision for composite video involves a lot of de-soldering and drilling narrow holes in very tight quarters.  But other procedures, such as the O2 composite mod, are much simpler – things I felt that I should have been able to do myself.  I have some knowledge of electronics; I grew up learning about circuits from my mother, who made a living fixing such things for General Telephone, and I've studied some on my own. So I can understand circuits; it's the physical dexterity required to manipulate a soldering iron that I've been skeptical about.

Until recently, the only mod I accomplished on my own was rewiring two Odyssey² joystick connectors to be 2600 compatible, by attaching crimp-type 9-pin male DB9 ports to them.  This mod is easy; opting for crimp-type connectors meant no soldering was required.  It's served me well for a long time.  But a few weeks ago I decided to try a mod where the soldering iron could get some use.  I chose constructing a TurboGrafix-16 composite cable because it was fairly easy, and it doesn't require any direct modification to a console.  That meant if I screwed it up, I wouldn't ruin any of my machines.  But if I succeeded, I'd be able to get improved audio and video out of my TG-16 without shelling out $80+ for a TurboBooster.

If anyone reading this is in a similar situation, looking for an easy project with which to enter the wide world of retro modding, I think this one may just be the best one around.  It'll introduce you to wire stripping, pin crimping and/or soldering, and the application of heat shrink tubing.  And like I said, there's no danger of breaking anything other than a $5 video cable.  I won't reproduce the procedure here, but rather link to the excellent tutorial at Classic Gaming Quarterly.  This article on How To Solder can help you get started.  I recommend starting as I did by soldering together a few random lengths of wire, just to get the hang of things before beginning any real projects.  Soldering is not particularly difficult, although I do think it would be a challenge if you are trying to apply solder to a tiny joint within a confined space (inside a console for example).  Luckily this is not the case with the TG-16 cable.  And best of all, afterward you can enjoy Blazing Lazers or Bonk's Adventure with a much sharper picture and cleaner audio, which I can now do.

My own homemade TG-16 composite cable

I'm happy to have finally built a retro console enhancement with my own hands, even if it is an easier one.  And not having to buy an expensive TurboBooster is a nice bonus.  Next I hope to build a similar cable for my TI/99, and maybe build a 2600 joystick adapter for it.  Eventually I'd like to build a joystick adapter for the Intellivision, but that one is way more complicated.  Someday...