Hooking up a Famicom / old machine to Taiwanese tv

[fcgamer | 4,722]

Ok, I'm not sure if this is the best location for this post, but it is related to gaming, and I am stuck, and frustrated. It's a longshot, but maybe someone here can help me.

I've got some original Famicom machines, and also some other old clone machines, which I'd like to test, and also use (example an official Sega Mark clone). The problem is these machines all only have rf connectors.

I'm using a crt TV for my gaming, so that's not really an issue; however, even after plugging in a machine and what not, all I get is static. I have no idea what channel to be tuning my tv to, and even if I just run down through all the channels, I still get static, or occasionally a blank picture, but definitely no gaming images are coming through.

Thoughts what might be doing wrong?

[RH | 4,898]

How old is your CRT?  If you are remotely handy with a soldering iron, double-check that the RF connector is still connected to the board.  A solder joint could be cracked.  Regarding which channel to use, I'm sure that's different in Japan. In the US, typically, it's channels 3 and 4, with a toggle switch.  For Japanese TVs, that's channels 1 & 2 which are subsequently channels 95 & 96 on a US CRT.  But, I doubt you are playing on a US TV.

I think the main question you need to ask is which region did your CRT originate from?  You are in Taiwan, correct?  So maybe their channel frequencies are also different than both Japan and the US.  If the TV has a scan feature, I say just let it scan while the system is on, but maybe you've tried that.

Of course, if you are using a digital TV that expects to receive HDTV signals and, maybe, is converting it to a CRT image (which I could see being a thing in Taiwan) I'm not sure you can even do this without some form of A2D converter... that outputs on a digital RF line.  That's... probably not a thing but it's also not an impossible setup.

I don't know.  I could see it being multiple problems by just guessing, but the real questions may have to be asked based off of the age and market your TV originated from?

Edited April 17, 2020 by RH

[Deadeye | 1,596]

@RH is correct, Japanese RF is on a different set of channels, 95 or 97.  The clone devices might be a different channel based on where they were released.  What broadcast standard is your CRT and what are the consoles?

 

Here is a NESdev link that has some more info on troubleshooting RF channels for famicom: https://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?t=18535

 

Edit:

Looking at the Wikipedia NTSC page, Taiwan is NTSC-M, same as USA.  That NESdev link may help you. 

 

[fcgamer | 4,722]

Thanks guys! I got the Famicom up and running, the Sega Mark won't give me any image, though it could easily be a problem with the machine or game. And a few others I couldn't get to display images either, but we are on the right track.