V-Tune Pro 📺 RF demodulator for vintage video games & computers

Get better video quality from your vintage RF-only video game consoles and computers, thanks to a piece of obsolete commercial-grade AV gear: the V-Tune Pro by Aurora Multimedia.
#retro #gaming #nes

[@desarrollo8997]

I love how you get straight to the point. Long drawn out intros annoy me personally.

[@Gunbudder]

2:05 The "CONTROL" port here is what's called a Mini-DIN 6 pin and the connector that RS-232 usually has is a D-Submini (or DB9 or DE-9). The RS-232 standard calls for all 9 pins to have a job, but you only need 4 at the bare minimum (TX, RX, 5V, GND). RS-232 is single-ended so you can get away with fewer pins. They most likely used a Mini-DIN 6 pin instead of a 4 pin (mini-dins go up to 9 pines) because the 6 pin is dirt cheap. there are probably still a trillion mini-din 6 pins sitting in a factory somewhere from the older PC part days. those connectors STILL get installed on modern motherboards for PCs.

[@jugularSignal]

I didn't know these were a thing until recently. I can't wait to pick one up to try out my new Mattel Aquarius.

[@belstar1128]

I wish i had this a few years ago when i was big into retro gaming but these rf cables made me rage quit

[@jadbatrouny6250]

When I run mine through the demodulator, I get a very snowy display?!! What can I do about this

[@alexisaguirrevazquez7900]

It looks horrible. I mean it's RF, so I don't expect much.

[@divarin1]

I just use a run-of-the-mill VHS VCR as an RF demodulator.

[@vwestlife]

That works too, although I think the video quality is better with the V-Tune Pro.

[@AaronBlair]

Same, but I'm considering picking this up if anything for the smaller footprint. Maybe there's an even better solution?

[@thaddeusmcgrath]

I noticed going RCA from a game system thru the VCR and RF out of VCR to tv also looks better than straight RCA from console to tv. I Got a 1985 GE TV and noticed a difference.

[@thaddeusmcgrath]

@@tarstarkusz Yes I agree, even with HDMI out on my PC is does not look good on my LED TV on my LCD monitor unless the emulator has video filters offered and the scanline filters are horrible. I still have a few consoles with RCA running thru a VCR that looks good going straight thru compared to RCA input but found the RF out on the VHS to the TV is more appealing. TV does not even have RCA input for a 1985 but the picture quality and the 3 1/2" speaker inside is what I started with in the 80's. Also got a Win XP running emulators with RCA out going to the VHS to emulate 8 & 16 bit games and prefer that method to LED & LCD.

[@BilisNegra]

Most people don't have any VCRs anymore, and if you buy one, it won't cost you much less than 10 bucks, so this being smaller, neater, and probably better quality for the task is clearly a better choice. A VCR is OK if you happen to still have or trash pick one.

[@SwitchingPower]

The "serial" adapter cable you used will never work, a normal serial connection uses pins 2 and 3 on the 9 pin side for the data transfer and those pins are missing from the adapter.

[@nickwallette6201]

That's probably an adapter for a serial mouse that also speaks PS/2, and puts those signals on unused pins in the D-sub. The male pins would imply this was meant to plug into the device, rather than the PC. I'm guessing VWestlife also knows this, and was just using it for illustrative purposes. :-) He's a technical fellow.

[@Skawo]

It's just a shame those top loaders put out a signal with vertical bars all over the screen...

[@michaeljackson5938]

Another Brilliant Video VWestlife, Definitely Need to Find One of These. 🎮🕹📺😊👍

[@lazarx77]

I wish we had thrift stores in my country... Nice find though.

[@CptJistuce]

I wish my thrift stores had anything that wasn't garbage or clothes(and usually garbage clothes)

[@__hjg__2123]

sorta unrelated to anything... but, for years, I used to drive by that Aurora Multimedia building (in NJ) back in the day................ small world

[@JonGallon]

I pretty much agree with your arguments about modding. It hurts my heart when someone get a pristine museum grade console/computer and do internal and/or external mods (the same goes for car and motorcycles) I, however, really encourage mods that gives a 'ready to the dumpster/junkyard' device/car a new chance and life. They call it restomod, right? 🙂

[@pineappleroad]

I remember that someone made a video where they tried to fix something, i cant remember exactly what it was, but it had an RF output for the TV it turned out the problem with it was with the RF modulator, they attempted to fix the RF modulator but they were unsucsessful, so they then did a composite mod on it

[@Vuusteri]

Besides, if you want 8K HD quality, use emulators.

[@devikwolf]

​@@tarstarkusz There's some truth and some myth here -- while old game consoles and computers were designed to be legible on old TVs with poor quality, most artists and game designers didn't stop there. The SNES has an RF modulator output and can be connected to an old B&W TV, but it also had a TON of other outputs presented right to the connector, and if you hooked it to a quality TV via component outputs, you'd get amazing graphics quality. The NES connected via composite looks much better than its RF output. Nintendo actually back-stepped on video output capabilities with the N64, due to cost cutting measures (and probably because of the jittery video quality the N64 produced compared to the NES and SNES meant it would look crappy on a TV which had high def connections). Game designers wanted to make people with older equipment weren't boxed out, but they didn't let that tie their hands from making a graphical experience for people with better displays. There's absolutely an argument to be made for external devices or cables which can take the native output of an old console and display a great picture. Case in point: The HD Retrovision cables for the SNES and Genesis/MegaDrive make absolutely beautiful output without needing to mod the console at all. Another case in point: the device in this video. However, internal modifications on a console which is otherwise in working order, that's a different matter entirely and I won't endorse that. Mods to fix an otherwise broken machine? Awesome. Making permanent changes to a machine which is working just fine, though? No thank.

[@devikwolf]

@@pineappleroad perhaps a Commodore VIC-20? I think I've seen that same video.

[@pineappleroad]

@@devikwolf just checked, and the video i had come across was of a CBS ColecoVision

[@THEBATMAN28AHH]

I'm always interested in what these kinds of things costed when they first released. It may be a measley 10 bucks now, but back in the day, we would have easily payed 30 to 40 big ones. What a cool find.

[@nickwallette6201]

@@tarstarkusz This is the kind of thing that hotels or sports bars might have. Anywhere you need to handle multiple video streams and do your own mux/demux. Not quite broadcast quality equipment, but probably not something the majority of people would walk into Radio Shack to buy for their den AV setup.

[@NintenDub]

I had rf adapters for n64,dreamcasy,ps1. I still have em. We didn't know composite was better,and s video was better than that,or component was better than that

[@CptJistuce]

Did you not have a VCR?

[@MrDuncl]

@@nickwallette6201 I was trying to think what NTSC video display wouldn't have had a tuner and the obvious answer is a projector so I'm sure you are right.

[@TechGorilla1987]

My NES I got for Christmas will thank you for this video.

[@beau-urns]

Your line when you hit that goomba about your playing was unexpected and funny AF. I almost spit out my coffee I was drinking.

[@williamwilliam9993]

Beau your channel logo that you are using is NESS

[@twocvbloke]

Neat device there, can't see them as cheap as you mention online, but, at the moment I don't really have much need for such a device myself... :)

[@vwestlife]

There was one on eBay for $10 when I recorded the video.

[@RXSVN_2]

@@vwestlife 2:13 The Male RS-232 DB9 serial plug that you showed seems to have pins 1,5, 8, 9 But the manual specifies that you must use pins 1, 3, 5 for data and use pins 1, 2 ,4 ,6 for a closed contact switch control. You may have to get some parts to build your own cable using the correct pins.

[@devikwolf]

Among my collection of old computers is a first-batch Commodore 64, manufactured about 5 months before it went to retail. It has the early monitor connection and this results in a dim and poor picture on any display I've connected it to, but the RF picture outputs normally. Folks on Lemon64 have told me to mod it which I've steadfastly refused, because aside from one repair done in a shop in '84 this thing is all original. This demodulator might be the perfect answer to let me use that 64, though!

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

If you look for the "HD" or "4K" version of this box, they have HDMI output.

[@grimreboot]

Thanks for the upload! :)

[@jesicae5975]

4:09 I didn't know Nintendo started making the Switch in box form! /jk

[@8_Bit]

Thanks, looks like a nice box. I prefer to keep my computers and game consoles unmodified as well. I've been using the tuners in VCRs to convert from RF to A/V but as you say, they're bulky and maybe they don't do as good a job. I'm pretty intrigued by that serial connection in the V-Tune Pro.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Also use for European TVs or PAL SECAM TVs that doesn’t have NTSC tuner but NTSC on SCART AV inputs. Try with RCA TO SCART adapter

[@wyokaiju992]

That FM tuner sound rather good. Thanks for uploading a sample of it!

[@vwestlife]

But it doesn't filter out the 19 kHz MPX pilot tone. I wonder if anyone can hear it?

[@niek024]

@@vwestlife I've been told the FM pilot-tone will mess up noise reduction. At least my Highcom units have their own MPX filters.

[@nickwallette6201]

@@vwestlife Not likely. Even if your ears can still detect that, I'm pretty sure none of the YT audio encoders pass signals >18kHz. (And why should they?)

[@wyokaiju992]

@@vwestlife Seems that youtube doesn't encode it. I can't pickup any MPX phase reference in the audio

[@vwestlife]

@@nickwallette6201 KZbin now passes audio up to 20 kHz. I can see the 19 kHz pilot tone on a spectrum analysis graph when playing the end of this video.

[@kbhasi]

Cool!!! I imagine the serial control would've been there for when they were likely or possibly used to rebroadcast free-to-air TV channels and radio stations into headend systems in hospitals and hotels, besides pay TV receivers for select popular pay TV channels the hospital or hotel may have decided to carry. At this point, I'm reminded of when I was in a chalet or short-term rental house a few years ago, that a family member booked for one or two nights to host a birthday party in, and I was up in one of the bedrooms, channel surfing on the TV, a headend system was used and on one of the channels, I saw the StarHub TV "smart card not detected" error message or something along those lines, and didn't feel like attempting to call the reception. This also reminds me of those "GADMEI" external analogue TV tuners that had VGA outputs.

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

In fact, pre-"4K" HDTVs often had VGA inputs and going HDMI to VGA from a VCR/DVD recorder with HDMI output and an HDMI to VGA converter works great with LaserDisc technology.

[@CatFoodCritic]

earliest ive ever been to a video

[@EddieJazzFan]

This is a useful component and looks like a good quality unit. I think I have a Radio Shack version of this type device somewhere in my basement..... Now my afternoon is shot 'cause I'm gonna have to look for it for the next 2 hours LOL.

[@Narayan_1996]

I'm glad that you do not like to mod the original devices, they must be preserved like that cuz one day they will be priceless, I really enjoyed this video ^^ ♥

[@keancv]

Nothing wrong with preserving the original device, how ever back in the days of the Timex 1000 and Vic 20 many of my friends simply took the modulator's input to get a quick cheap composite feed

[@marshmower]

Those top loaders really should have been A/V because in Japan, they had the option. But that is the one modders like. All I remember is it was $50 and seemed like crap when it came out. Shoulda bought a bunch. Like that one guy who just warehouses everything and sells it decades later....

[@battra92]

With the modern FPGA consoles put there now, there is no reason to mod an old console any more.

[@CptJistuce]

With flash carts and console mods, there's no reason to buy FPGA clones. Everyone has different motivations.

[@flyingninja1234]

It's nice to know that Aurora Multimedia is still around.

[@simplename1064]

Wow I can play video games and listen to the radio. Amazing

[@JacGoudsmit]

3:14 I knew it! Philips made tv/radio tuner modules for many many devices and they got very good at it. If you have a TV tuner for your PC, chances are it's got one of those modules on it. They used them in TV's too because why not. I never looked into technical data but I bet they have an i2c or serial port for control and all you need to do is send it a command to change the channel or frequency. My first tv was a Philips cm8833 monitor (also known as the Commodore 1702S) with a matching AV7300 tuner.

[@MrDuncl]

Philips actually invented I2C so it is highly likely they would use it. p.s. In Europe the best thing about having a TV card in your computer is that it would cache every single Teletext page giving instant access to them all.

[@runforitman]

I prefer buying a cheap, sometimes broken, model of old devices, if I want to mod it

[@Roboat06]

This is certainly a useful thing, although I can't think of any uses I personally have for such a thing at the moment.

[@dayvancowboy9833]

I bought a 1989 Gameboy from a thrift store for $3. It works perfectly fine but the cartridges here are impossible to find.

[@aperson6955]

The "1989 Gameboy" was made until 1996, but they all have the 1989 copyright year on the back.

[@cjpwolf2436]

Pin ball sounds like the song Surrender before the Surrender.

[@lucasn0tch]

I would have liked to get an individual Top Loader NES, but unfortunately, they're only sold in sets at $200. I do have an AV Famicom, which, paired with a 72-to-60 adapter, could be better than a top loader NES.

[@CptJistuce]

Sharp Twin Famicom here. Mostly because it looks super-cool.

[@Madness832]

Bit of a farty Space Invaders clone on the CoCo2.

[@vwestlife]

With a super sensitive analog joystick, too.

[@probnotstech]

Do you know if this actually supports stereo demodulation on the tuner with MTS stereo? I guess without analog TV anymore, that would be useless though. Everything I've found that can output in stereo, only did so on the RCA line level outputs - The RF modulated output was always mono.

[@brianleeper5737]

That's because the circuitry to modulate TV stereo is/was apparently very complex and expensive, so it was very uncommon to find an RF modulator capable of it. You might wonder how analog cable boxes handled it and the answer is that they just passed the stereo encoded RF signal received from the RF input straight through (shifting it in frequency to correspond to the channel 3 or 4 output).

[@windestruct]

Sorry to break it for you, but VCR.

[@thevacdude]

Thanks for the video, Kevin.

[@JonGallon]

Dear Kevin, despite analog TV broadcast ended in US, I wonder if this device is capable of decode mts stereo and/or sap since it has rca output jacks for Left and Right channels. Some people commented they used a vcr to do the same. It's a valid approach but most vcr are kinda big in all axis and this device of yours looks small. This may be a nice pair to those Sony PVM sets.

[@Alexis_du_60]

I think Sony made TV tuners for their sub-14" PVMs (such as the 9" ones), although I cannot find much about them at the moment.. Extron also made some tuner boxes (like the AVT-100 and AVT-200HD [not sure about the latter's model #, all I know is that it can demodulate (?) ATSC signals]), with the AVT-100 being very compact.. The Sony tuner units had a battery slot on them just like the smaller PVMs (such as the 9042QM/8042Q and 6041QM/5041Q), which would be pretty useful if you wanted to make a portable setup (just find a PVM with the correct batteries alongside it and find a way to power a console or other RF source on battery power as well).

[@NJRoadfan]

Not likely since most companies couldn't be bothered to pay royalties to dbx for the MTS patents. That Philips tuner should be capable of tuning it though.

[@frankowalker4662]

I've got something similar I bought in the 90's. It's called P.I.P., (Picture In Picture), by Rotek. It hasa 100 channel, (00-99), analog TV tuner and 3 stereo AV inputs with Stereo AV output. All selectable with the remote. As the name suggests, you can have one input on the screen with another input in a small box in any corner. It realy is useful for old VCR's and computers.

[@deathstrike]

Wholeheartedly agree with you NOT modifying a classic system. Too often the mods are done either slapdashed, or done in a way that completely detracts from the original look and feel of the classic game console. There is an old saying "If it ain't broke, don't fix it". Very true for classic game consoles. The more original, the more valuable.

[@NALTOdeluxe]

Yeah, I could use one of these.

[@StevenSmyth]

I watched this video the day it dropped and picked one up from eBay the same day with a power supply and a manual for $15 plus $10 shipping. I’m gonna try it on my C64 even though I have the RGB to S-Video cable. I really want an Atari 65XE which I don’t think has an RGB output, just RF.

[@minombredepila1580]

Didn't know this even exist. Thank you for the heads up :-)

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Also RF TO AV are also worst item sold on Aliexpress. RF TO AV just like a PAL VCR, the menu is always PAL, if NTSC detected, then the menu works just fine. If no signal, then turned back to PAL.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

They also use RF TO AV on European TVs (NTSC PAL video SCART inputs only and PAL SECAM only analog Tv tuner built in).

[@minombredepila1580]

@@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY Thank you very much for this !!!

[@igorszamaszow171]

A really cool device indeed. Straightforward RF modulators without RCA output were readily available for many years though, and the quality wasn't too bad, so certain channel incompatibility wasn't really a problem. A real problem was that my country used SECAM, and my family had SECAM-only TV sets. So growing up I had to play an NES (or rather, some Taiwanese Famiclone) in black and white. The only devices that had SECAM output out of the box were ZX Spectrum clones, which, incidentally, didn't really need colour all that much. Some games actually looked better in black and white. By the time the switchover to PAL had been completed (which was not actually necessary since almost all newer TV sets since the mid 80s had PAL support. Stupid political stuff from anti-communist revisionists) I was a PC gamer already.

[@vwestlife]

Atari also made a SECAM version of the 2600, but it was limited to only 8 colors!

[@igorszamaszow171]

@@vwestlife for French market perhaps? There was some stuff that people brought from France -- the French had a "socialist" president at the time, and the actual communist party was rather popular over there, so we had good relations. It's also the reason why there are more genuine Master Systems than NES/Famicoms in Poland and the former Soviet Union. By the late 80s however, a lot of official Atari stuff was readily available: Jack Tramiel was born in Poland and quickly reestablished some connections during "perestroika". We even had Atari magazines (they were supposed to be multiplatform, but Atari-centric anyway). But since it was all official and quite new, it was also quite pricey.

[@vwestlife]

@@igorszamaszow171 Yes, the SECAM Atari 2600 was sold in France. Later they came up with the SCART connector which had RGB so it avoided the need for SECAM (or PAL) encoding.

[@Alexis_du_60]

French here, can confirm, the French 2600 was heavily watered down, on top of my head it was akin to a PAL console set permanently in b/w mode and (as Kevin said it, limited colors).. SÉCAM's usually got ridiculed by many people into "Surtout Éviter la Compatibilité Avec le Monde" (avoid compatibility with the rest of the world) just because of its sheer complexity, I can't remember the technical details but broadcasts in France had to be edited in PAL then transcoded into SÉCAM to be broadcasted.. So when France passed a law that stated that TV sets sold on the French market from 1981, up to 2013 must be fitted with a Péritélévision (or later shortened as "Péritel", SCART referring to the "Syndicat des Constructeurs d'appareils Radiorécepteurs et Téléviseurs") originally made for external Teletext decoders... It was only a bit later that console manufacturers started using Péritel's RGB input (by setting pin 16 to a certain voltage you can toggle the RGB blanking to normally overlay text above a existing image, but this can also be used to display a RGB signal, and using another pin, this time pin 8, you can force a TV to switch to the AV input).. And the rest is history.

[@Alexis_du_60]

Another fun fact, the French version of the NES didn't output true RGB, but more some kind of Composite video signal shoddily transcoded to RGB ! On the other hand, the original Master System (the French version at least) had a true RGB output, in fact I do have one, with the original "Adaptateur RVB" cable, although I suppose you could take a Mega Drive 1 cable and use it instead.

[@drphilxr]

This unit- like so many cool old gadgets KZbin retro influencers show- is pretty much impossible to find. good for you! The Chinese units on amazon are total crap (just bought a $21 one BNC->hdmi, of course doesn't work), and difficult to weed through (language barrier, poor marketing, rebranded models, etc). The pro models sold on ebay and amazon are $65-over $200 range. crazy. So many opportunities for an enterprise to take on, but US tech seems to be limited to designs outsourced for manufacturing to...China!

[@grizzlydino]

Should be noted that their was some offical modded rca Nes top loaders that nintendo did for anyone who complainedabout their only being Rv, however these are really rare and is hard to tell between a offical modded one or fanmod

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Can you please test V-Tuner Pro with VGA TO VIDEO plugged into RF MODULATOR, IF THAT TUNER WORKS WITH PAL-M and PAL-Nc ??

[@vwestlife]

I have the American version of the V-Tune Pro, which only supports NTSC, not PAL.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

@@vwestlife Try with Brazilian PAL-M. It uses 525 lines for both NTSC and PAL-M, different color between 3.575 MHz and 3.579 MHz for NTSC. PAL-Nc and PAL-N from Argentina uses 625 lines as PAL (4.43 MHz), but uses 3.582 MHz color. System M and N sound carrier both uses the same on 4.5 MHz sound carrier between video and audio.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

@@vwestlife some Sony Bravia TVs with PAL support input, it also accepts PAL-M, NTSC and PAL-N for using RF modualtor to that analog tuner. PAL still black and white for analog TV channel but PAL-N receives color. It didn’t indicate NTSC or PAL, but PAL-M and NTSC are both indicated NTSC.

[@cosmocat5118]

Wheres rofl copter?

[@DominatorHDX]

The silkscreen datecode only indicates the manufacturing week and year of the bare PCB by the PCB manufacturer. The actual assembly of the PCB (mounting and soldering of the components) by the EMS (most of the time a different company) is done later. Could be somewhere in 2006 I guess.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Can you also buy HDMI TO RF (Channel 3 (US) / Channel 4 (EU) / CATV 58 (US) / CATV 57 (JP), UHF 31 (EU; 2 MHz higher on US UHF 27)) with NTSC-M, PAL-B/G, PAL-I and PAL-D/K select TV system outputs.

[@spartanx5806]

very good video...right up my alley.....with the retro game console and computers....i will try to find one....do some more videos about gaming computers and consoles if you can....

[@IvorySoul696]

There's nothing wrong with mods. It's YOUR system do what you want with it. I don't understand shaming this. I do however believe people should try to better a picture without mods FIRST as nearly every gaming console has something available to do this without hard mods.

[@twentiethcenturygamer5508]

Ok so I am awaiting the arrival of the v-tune 4 k version to use with my Atari 5200 and a Sony PVM. I hope this was a better choice vs getting a vcr.

[@JessicaFEREM]

You can buy modern ones of these that convert RF to HDMI and have a full tv tuner like this. so just because yuou have a modern tv doesn't mean you can't enjoy rf-based tv games.

[@ataricom]

I'm not sure you did the right thing with using a null modem cable. Correct me if I'm completely wrong, but I recall that those were meant for bidirectional data transmission and not control applications. Regular serial cables and null modem cables have at least the tx/rx pins swapped.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

I agree about modifying my stuff either like my 1979 Sears Atari 2600 !

[@shaunclarke94]

Your serial cable adapter is missing pins 2 and 3, which are transmit and receive. So it's likely a proprietary cable for another purpose.

[@mysterypotatocat]

I just bought an rf demodulator and im gonna play pong on my computer monitor

[@ddddmmmm9026]

Do you think you can send me the specifications of the 12v dc power for your pro v tuner?

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Also use that tuner on Japanese menu CRT TV (Sony, Victor, Toshiba, Samsung, etc.)

[@TRONMAGNUM2099]

I wish I could find something like that. The cheapest RF Demodulator is like 80 bucks. Luckily I have other options for all my machines except my CoCo. The picture looks great on it. As good as composite. I love my Retrotink. I wish it had a RF input.

[@MrDuncl]

I was in a second hand shop today and they had a load of DVD recorders which typically have analogue RF tuners and an HDMI output for around £40. Ones with a failed DVD drive can be found far cheaper.

[@OnlyEdandTheAlmost]

Your "thrift stores" seem kind of awesome. All I ever see at mine are moldy books, broken lamps and "collectible" Disney plates.

[@igorperuchi2114]

I simply love when you shoot your videos with old cameras! Thanks for the video!

[@azraeltheundying]

we never got the top loader model of the nes in Europe which is a shame because front loaders are unreliable however the us top loader being rf with the horrible jail bars in the video signal is a massive downgrade, the Japanese model had av so imo its the better option then modding the us ones..

[@Alex_Valentine]

Would this work for a Timex Sinclair 1000/1500?

[@RetrofIex]

I like RF , it just takes me back to when I was a kid. I never knew I could use a VCR as an AV converter, nobody teaches you this stuff as a kid!

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Also use TM70 UHF TV LINK RF MODULATOR (UHF 14 - 83)

[@diamonddave45]

I remember seeing those years ago. Wish I had bought one. Seems to be a great device.

[@johndavis1465]

I use Extron AVT100 PAL and NTSC versions

[@primus711]

Why you can just have a break out cable going through vents etc so you don't have to screw up the case

[@AMDRADEONRUBY]

Nice it's new Kevin video day

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

In fact, eBay values on this unit have slightly increased since this video was posted.

[@MakarovFox]

nice

[@infinitecanadian]

By the way: these things are ridiculously expensive.

[@卡拉永遠OK唱不完]

0:52 RIP Sinead O’Connor😢.

[@intel386DX]

Cool 😎

[@cavemanweasel7553]

Can't find one for less than $50 now... wanna sell yours?

[@williamwilliam9993]

What is the song played at 0:52?

[@aperson6955]

Isn't the sound 2-channel mono, rather than stereo?

[@paulstubbs7678]

I thought the Tandy CoCO also had RGB video out - or was that on later units.

[@vwestlife]

The CoCo 3 has composite and RGB outputs (as well as RF). The CoCo 1 and 2 are RF only.

[@andygozzo72]

i've been trying to make a simple(cheap) untuned tv rf to composite demodulator, for doing this sort of thing, but so far no real practical success, problem is the variation of signal amplitude from the modulator in the computer/console feeding it

[@andygozzo72]

there used to be a device available from a 'surplus' company here in the uk, adapted from an analogue cable tv box, with rf uhf or vhf input, 8 presets, and either rgb (pal decoded) or composite output depending on what version you bought, i have the rgb version, some versions also had an internal speaker, plus audio out socket, fpr sound,

[@Markimark151]

If this had HDMI output, I would get this demodulator, I have a lot of old game consoles with RF only or AV output, since AV composite is being removed on newer TVs and monitors, playing older games or running Commodore programs on modern flat screens would be nice!

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

There are V-Tune Pros on eBay that have HDMI output or you can use a composite to HDMI converter in the chain, available on eBay. Make sure they have "HD" or "4K" in their names.

[@Markimark151]

@@BradOlsonBemidji you can’t really get 4K nor HD with upscaling low resolution TV signals. It’s like those cheap antennas that advertise 4K on the box, but they’re just misleading!

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

@@Markimark151 You stated a reason why I said that those V-Tune Pros that have the HDMI output are those that have "4K" or "HD" in their names. I used quotation marks because those terms are used for advertising purposes only. The "upscaling" converter boxes are just what I said, a converter box.

[@Markimark151]

@@BradOlsonBemidji I meant HDMI output, but not the misleading “HD” or “4K” which is false advertising. They should only put HDMI logo.

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

@@Markimark151 I agree.

[@infinitecanadian]

I thought the toploader was more advanced than the regular Nintendo Entertainment System. As I recall, that one had composite video output. Why didn't it have that?

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

As a "cost cutting" measure. The regular NES is more advanced than the top loader for its time as that was one of the first game consoles that had composite video output.

[@alliejr]

#WNYC 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽

[@Zickcermacity]

Now let me ask - MUST you feed it an antenna load for it to work? Right now I'm using an old TV/game switcher to an old tube TV with my Atari 2600, and it plays fine. I bought a 5200 ten years ago that did not work through its own game switcher to the same TV. Yes I did make sure both the 5200 and my TV were set to ch 3 for my local broadcast area. So my guess is the that that 5200 was a brick, unlike my fine 2600

[@DONK8008]

RF can look decent these days, I actually found my old SNES RF cable and decided to hook it up for lolz, and the image quality was acceptable. Then I switched back to RGB SCART (through an OSSC ) and I preferred that

[@RXSVN_2]

I think some old cable boxes are capable of doing the same thing... Where you would hook the game console up to the cable box via the RF coaxial cable, turn the cable box to channel three or four depending on what you have the game console set to, and then connect the cable box audio video output to a TV that accepts those connections. And of course VCRs will do the same. I mentioned it on here for other people because of the ridiculous high prices they're charging for those things on eBay. While its compact size is a benefit, it doesn't justify the prices that they're charging. Especially if you're only using it for the basic function of converting RF signal to audio video jacks.

[@RXSVN_2]

2:13 The Male RS-232 DB9 serial plug that you showed seems to have pins 1,5, 8, 9 But the manual specifies that you must use pins 1, 3, 5 for data and use pins 1, 2,4,6 for a closed contact switch control. You may have to get some parts to build your own cable using the correct pins.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

Also use for European PAL only analog TVs with NTSC/PAL video SCART inputs.

[@ShowNoMercy6666]

Nice!

[@andygozzo72]

in many cases its possible to mod a rf only computer/console internally to output rf AND composite simultaneously from its rf out so you could use either at will , saves drilling extra holes, or losing the rf out capability

[@mercuryoak2]

Thats really cool. That NES top loader I never got because we had the original then it died. I remember them days and it was all due to the connector issues foe the games.

[@-abacchus]

This is a much better way to view these old consoles and computers instead of cutting unsightly chunks out of the plastic to mod them. Great stuff! Now to see if I can find a similar model on this side of the pond...

[@Zickcermacity]

5:47 - That Space Invader sounds like it has gas! lol

[@adultmoshifan87]

This would be nice to have! Although my NES and Sega Master System do have AV out, I may still play either one in RF, either because I can’t find AV cables or to save me disconnecting another device. My NES is currently hooked up to my 23 inch Sony smart TV via RF and I recently played Tom & Jerry on it! Bought it CIB at Comic Con for £30. It was the only stall this year selling games! Comic Con this year was a downgrade from previous years. Hope Hyper Japan next year will be better!

[@BradOlsonBemidji]

For AV output cables for these devices, just get the cheap RCA cables sold on eBay or Amazon.

[@pikgears]

I do kind of wonder how well this actually sold given by 2003 most people would've already had a VCR that had an antenna tv input and composite output.

[@FrancisLitanofficialJAPINOY]

US/South Korean/Taiwanese/Philippine/ South American CRT TVs with Japanese VCR on RF output, and it’s RF to RCA tuner with FM RADIO.

[@coondogtheman]

Definitely need to find one of these. I have a satellite receiver with a TV 2 and that runs to another room and I'd like to use this to record stuff from the TV with my capture card. Also that FM radio would be useful.

[@MrDuncl]

Most capture cards used to have RF in. Hauppage made loads including USB ones. Look for the ones called Hybrid and they can do both Analogue and Digital TV.

[@coondogtheman]

@@MrDuncl I would really like a stand alone device like those clear click composite recorders on amazon but if I'm going to pay that much for one of those and the quality that it is, I'll just spend the money and get a pro one. They use those on the new ghost nation show. It's basically a HDMI composite recorder.

[@richardbrobeck2384]

very cool !