The Good, The Bad, The Ugly

The Good:  Score!  Not once did I think in only my second attempt of hitting up local garage sales did I think I would find what I had been looking for.  Yet this past Saturday that is exactly what happened.  As usual I had scouted out a few places on Craigslist that talked about having video games and consoles. In my last trip this turned out to be newer games and consoles.  This time it was different, this I had found it.

It was an original NES.   In the second house that I approached my eyes scanned and quickly fixated on a small box on a table. A whit index card on the box read "Nintendo $25".   My eyes lit up as I rushed over to the box. Looking in I could tell all the hooks up where there, in their usual Nintendo tangled mess.  I took the system out and looked it over, making sure there were no major flaws.  A quick scan of the box found two controllers, an RF switch, a power supply, and Dick Tracy.

My first and most obvious question was if it worked.   The lady told me she got it from a friend, but her friend said it worked.  So I took my chances, and offered her twenty bucks for it.  I figured that way if something was wrong, the money I spent to fix it, it would total up to around what a refurbished one near me would cost, which is fifty dollars.   She accepted and I walked out, with a big smile and a NES in my hand.

The Bad:   I quickly came home and untangled the mess of the wires in the box.   My wife made fun of me as I began hooking up wires.  On a side note, I didn't realize that the NES had AV outputs.  The things you forgot over a twenty year period. So I get everything hooked up, to my LCD Vizio and turn it on. Of Course the Nintendo is giving me the blinking power light syndrome. I take out the game, blow in it, blow in the NES and try again. Still blinking.   So I decide I need to clean my 72 pin connector.  So I break down the NES, which scared me because I had never done anything like this before.  I quickly clean the connector pin, and the connection on the motherboard.   Once done, I reassemble and try again.   Still blinking, so I decide to replace the 72 pin connector.

The Ugly:  I was able to score a brand new 72 pin connector from a friend, which was great because one I did not have to pay for it, and two I did not have to wait for it to be shipped to me. I was able to pick it up on Sunday morning, and once home I immediately began the install of it. Since this was my third time to break the NES, in less than 24 hours, it took no time at all. Before I knew it I had the NES reassembled and hooked it all back up to my TV. I press the power button and wait for it. And I wait some more.

My TV is telling me no signal. I figured it was doing this earlier because it was resetting itself every two second.  I try the AV cables, and still nothing.  So I decide to use my old school "tube TV".  Here is where it gets interesting.  I use the RF switch to hook up my NES.  When powered on there is a shift in the picture on the TV.  It gets darker, but it is still nothing but snow. It acts as if its on the wrong channel.   It does this when I chose channel three or four.  Next I try my AV cables.   When I power on there is a flash on the screen, but then it stays black. No picture and no sound on either type of hook up, so now I’m confused.

I figure it has something to do with the RF modulator, and I am guessing that it means I have to fix or replace it. Only problem is I am not sure what to do. Any suggestions?