Need some help with my future setup.

[Rubiks]

So I'll be moving into a new place with my girlfriend fairly soon. And that means my current set up is going to have to be taken apart. I'd like to get a head start on planning my new retro gaming area. Here is my current setup.



Now, the way I have it set up now is alright I guess, but it has some faults that I would like to eliminate. Right now I have my atari 2600, colecovision, coleco telstar ranger, NES, SNES, Sega MS, Sega Genesis, all hooked up at once in a long chain of RF switches. It allows me to play them all but I lose a lot of picture quality because of using so many switches in a row.

Now, I plan on picking up some AV cables for the Genesis, Master System, NES and SNES to reduce the amount of RF switches used. But my problem is with the older consoles such as atari that only use RF. Ideally, I want as many of them hooked up to the tv as possible, but I want to find something that is more reliable than the crappy little manual RF switch that came with those consoles. I have about 10 of those little COAX adapters, so I was wondering if there is a way to hook up many RF inputs to one output without losing picture quality.

I was looking for a large RF switch, something with like 8 inputs and 1 output, but the most I've found is 3. Does anyone have any experience with this problem?

PS: Modding my consoles is out of the question. I like to keep things original.

[AppleQueso]

I think those coax adapters combined with daisy chaining some of those RF switches might give you something decent and usable. At worst, you might need to throw a signal amplifier in there somewhere I'd imagine.

[jinx]

♥Vectrex♥

Sorry I can't add anything of use here, and just wanted to show some love to that set-up. I'm terrible with figuring out audio/video and am in a similar predicament with an HDTV...

[theclaw]

There's already RGB output in your SNES, Master System, PS1, and Genesis.

An external component converter box would bring their image quality potential near PS2, Xbox, and Gamecube, without modding.

[CRTGAMER]

Now, the way I have it set up now is alright I guess, but it has some faults that I would like to eliminate. Right now I have my atari 2600, colecovision, coleco telstar ranger, NES, SNES, Sega MS, Sega Genesis, all hooked up at once in a long chain of RF switches. It allows me to play them all but I lose a lot of picture quality because of using so many switches in a row.

Now, I plan on picking up some AV cables for the Genesis, Master System, NES and SNES to reduce the amount of RF switches used. But my problem is with the older consoles such as atari that only use RF. Ideally, I want as many of them hooked up to the tv as possible, but I want to find something that is more reliable than the crappy little manual RF switch that came with those consoles. I have about 10 of those little COAX adapters, so I was wondering if there is a way to hook up many RF inputs to one output without losing picture quality.

I was looking for a large RF switch, something with like 8 inputs and 1 output, but the most I've found is 3. Does anyone have any experience with this problem?

PS: Modding my consoles is out of the question. I like to keep things original.

Can you use smaller sized pictures in your post? The huge files take forever to load when one uses a cell or is on a slow server. The forum reduces them anyways, 725 wide is the ideal size.

I would go with the best signal each console is capable of, RF is the worst connection to use. For instance the NES does not need a specialized cable, it uses standard RCA cables for the composite and audio signal.

There are RF boxes that support more then three inputs, the trick is getting one that has good shielding. I tried a five input box years ago, but there was an interference issues. I had good luck with using heavy duty A B switchers and there are also three switch models. Limit the RF switch boxes to just consoles such as the 2600 and telstar that do not have another unmodded option.

[Rubiks]

I'll resize my pictures before I post next time. Sorry about that.

In my post I said I was going to get some AV cables for the NES, SNES, Master System, and Genesis. So yeah, the only systems I am going to use RF for are the older consoles like Atari, Colecovision, Intellivision etc etc... I guess I don't have any other choice but to use the small 3 input switches. I was hoping there were switches with more inputs, but I guess it defeats the point of there is a ton of interference.

Thanks for the help!

[theclaw]

Yeah unfortunately the NES has few options. Unlike newer consoles its video chip generated composite, which is a lossy format not ideal for hardcore users.

[o.pwuaioc]

There's already RGB output in your SNES, Master System, PS1, and Genesis.

Any suggestions for the Genesis? I just got a TV with no composite inputs, so I'm ready to see my Gen/32X/SegaCD upgraded to component. Also, would a simple component switch work just fine, or do I need something bulkier?

[pierrot]

There's already RGB output in your SNES, Master System, PS1, and Genesis.

Any suggestions for the Genesis? I just got a TV with no composite inputs, so I'm ready to see my Gen/32X/SegaCD upgraded to component. Also, would a simple component switch work just fine, or do I need something bulkier?

You'll want something like this:

RGB Scart to Component Converter

With the model 1 end of the genesis <-> 32X cable and a model 2 RGB Scart cable, you have free reign over Genesis Trio hardware RGB. (Also, Master System.) You'll need a break-out box, or a scart cable with modified RCA stereo out for audio if you're not getting it from a Sega CD, or a model 1 headphone jack.

Also, that's kinda weird that your TV has component but not composite. If it's an HDTV, you'll want to make sure it can display 240p, or none of what I mentioned will matter. If it is an HDTV, the picture will probably suffer a bit from the internal upscaling also.