Non-Working Famicom

I bought a Famicom this weekend that is looking more like a Nintendoriffic paperweight. Anyone have one of these things and/or any tips to get one to work?

What exactly is wrong with it? No picture showing up?

I haven't used a Famicom in a long time but it just uses regular R/F and AC adapters, doesn't it?

Supposedly, it uses the same hookups as the NES. I'm getting nothing out of it - if it has an LED like the NES, I'm not finding it. And I've doublechecked all my wires with my toploader.

The switches on the back say CH 1 - CH 2 and TV - GAME, but I\'ve tried almost all the combinations and I\'m not getting any sign that anything is getting any power.

So it uses an early '80's style TV-Game switch TV hookup? Interesting.

What exactly does that switch do? I'm not proficient in early consoles.

I don't know the exact reason why but early consoles had TV hook-ups that made you have to set it to "TV" when you're watching TV and "Game" when you are using the console. The Atari 5200 eliminated the need to do this with the R/F adapters that did this automatically without the need of a switch and the NES popularized the usage of the new TV hook-ups.

So does it follow that a NES RF switch might not work on a Famicom?

My guess is that a NES RF adapter will not work. Using NES RF switches on older machines that need TV-Game switches has never worked for me.

If your TV-Game hook-up is what's broken, then I suggest looking at some thrift stores. Those switches should be easy to find if Atari 2600s are nearby.

Mine only works on one of my TV's. I had to use a NES RF switch, set it to channel 2 on the deck, and cycle through every channel on my TV until I found one that it would come in on. 98 on mine, by the way.

I use a generic NES RF adapter on my Famicom unit, and it's an original model as well. Though it responds on channel 96 for me.

The guy who sold it to me mentioned that Genesis 1 switches should also work, though I don't have one to try. Does that make any sense?

I cycled through channels 1 to 125, and none worked.

Yes, my cousin owned a Super Famicom awhile back which he hooked up through RF and it could only be played on channel 98 or 99. I would guess it'd probably be the same for a regular Famicom. Hope you didn't get a bum unit, burg.

Quote:

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Originally posted by burgundy
The guy who sold it to me mentioned that Genesis 1 switches should also work, though I don't have one to try. Does that make any sense?

I cycled through channels 1 to 125, and none worked.

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Yes, Genesis (original) or SMS RF cables will also work. Actually, and generic RF switch will work, or just a plain cable for that matter.

You might want to try the NES RF you're using on one of your NTSC systems, just to see if the RF cable works or not. Also, the FC won't give you any signal unless the cart is seated properly; make sure everything's properly clean.

The Famicom's RF is a pain in the butt, especially for those of us with older TVs that don't go up to channel 98. It is possible to do an A/V mod on them, though.

- Matt

The original NES AC adaptor and original Famicom AC adaptor have different polarity. I unfortunately learned this the hard way by killing a Famicom with an NES adaptor.

If you're talking toploading NES and toploading Famicom, then I dunno.

Did I forget to tell you that the guy selling the Famicon was the guy who sold 88 the broken Toukon Retsuden 4? And that he was also selling bootleg GBA 100 games in 1 cartridges? Oh, well sorry then.

Matt - do you know exactly how to A/V mod the Famicom, or know where to find the docs? AFAIK they aren't at GameSX. I've been wanting/trying to mod my toploader, but I don't have the soldering experience to be sure I know what I'm doing. At the very least, trying it on the Famicom will give me a bit of practice.

Lithium - I did use the NES adaptor, but only briefly. Maybe that's what killed it.

Briefly should be fine. It took mine a few days to die. Since it was working, I figured it must have been ok. Learned my lesson.