Time to Replace NES RF Cable? Or Fix It?

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I only have one RF cable for my NES & I get "speckles" on the screen every once in a while (at best). It's definitely from the RF cable because the picture gets worse or better when I try to adjust it.

I don't know where it's damaged, so I don't know how to go about fixing it, & my TV is an old RCA that has RF only.

If I'm going to buy another one, I want one that lasts. Anyone know any good third party cables?

[Xious]

Do you mean the switchbox?

You could buy another one, or buy a male Fairchild (F-type) to female RCA adapter and use a standard RCA cable, or use a manual switchbox, etc. I doubt anybody is making these anymore, although NOS switches definitely exist,both as factory and aftermarket versions.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Do you mean the switchbox?

You could buy another one, or buy a male Fairchild (F-type) to female RCA adapter and use a standard RCA cable, or use a manual switchbox, etc. I doubt anybody is making these anymore, although NOS switches definitely exist,both as factory and aftermarket versions.

Thanks, I'm buying an F->RCA converter seeing as I don't have cable in my room anyway.

[ericj]

Make sure the converter isn't a cheap version and you have good cables; otherwise, the picture it produces will be kinda bad.

[Jamtex]

Surely it would be easier to buy a cheap second hand TV that has AV jacks and use AV cables rather then put up with godawful RF...

[Jedi Master Baiter]

What?! And replace ol' boxy?

NEVER!!!

[petik1]

Can't you just use a regular RCA cable along with this?: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103471

I use it for my Atari 2600, and it works like a charm.

Edit: If you read the reviews for it, most of the people who bought it bought it for retro game consoles, including the NES.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103471

Do they sell these in-store? I went to Fry's & couldn't find anything like this.

[Xious]

Can't you just use a regular RCA cable along with this?: http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2103471

I use it for my Atari 2600, and it works like a charm.

Edit: If you read the reviews for it, most of the people who bought it bought it for retro game consoles, including the NES.

That is exactly what I suggested to buy; see above. 

[Jedi Master Baiter]

Just saw the "Find in Store" button.

Apparently it's in stock. I'll go check it out tomorrow. One of these had better be good.

[petik1]

That is exactly what I suggested to buy; see above. 

Hey, I included a link.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

It works great!

Thank you, Xious! Thank you, Petik! Thank you, Flying Spaghetti Monster!

Edit: Holy shiv! I just got the other one in the mail today! That was quick! The one from Radioshack is gold-plated while the one I ordered on Amazon is silver-plated. Does that make much of a difference? They both cost the same amount (w/ shipping included).

Also, would any modders want a finicky RF switch?

[133MHz]

Gold plating makes connectors more resistant to corrosion. It also looks a lot cooler.

[MaximRecoil]

I prefer using the original NES-003 RF switch to an RCA cable + adapter because it is an original part, it feeds my sense of nostalgia, and the wire from the TV to the console is thinner and more flexible than many standard RCA cables. And it of course allows you to hook up an antenna to the TV without removing the switch, which an ordinary RCA cable + adapter doesn't do by default (you'd need to add a splitter). Also it seems to be less vulnerable to occasional interference. Maybe that is due to whatever is happening electrically on that little PCB inside the gray plastic housing, or maybe it is my imagination.

The NES-003 can be fixed, and it is a permanent fix because it addresses the design flaw that is the root of the problem that all of them eventually have if used enough. I made a lengthy/detailed post about this on another forum. I'll repost it here:

The NES-003 RF switch works great when it is new, but over time, it tends to become flaky. The reason for this is the type of coax cable / F connector combination that they decided to use when they made it. They didn't use a solid-core coax cable, so the F connector has a little center pin that presses against the stranded wire in the center of the coax cable.

That's right, it just presses against it to make contact; i.e., the F connector's center pin is not soldered nor crimped to the stranded center conductor of the coax cable. So over time, the F connector's center pin and the coax cable's center conductor can start to become separated, in which case, your RF switch starts having intermittent problems (i.e., sometimes you'll get good video/audio and sometimes you'll get fuzzy/staticky video/audio). Wiggling the RF switch and its coax cable around will help at first, but does more harm than good in the long run. Eventually the switch will completely fail to work most of the time.

The better quality coax cables that are intended to carry RF signals and be terminated with F connectors (like cable companies use) have a solid copper center conductor. This eliminates the need for a center pin on the F connector, because the coax cable's center conductor is sturdy enough to act as the center pin. As a bonus, this completely eliminates the potential for the eventual flakiness that I described above. The only drawback is that coax cable with a solid center conductor is far less flexible than coax with a stranded center conductor. In the case of an RF switch, this is irrelevant however, because it is only a short section of cable, thus it doesn't need to be very flexible.

RG-6 coax is what the cable companies normally use, but it is too thick overall for this application (it wouldn't fit through the hole in the plastic housing). I used some coax cable that is about halfway between the thickness of RG-6 and the original coax that Nintendo used. I don't know what it is specifically; it was just a short section of coax that I had laying around. It is good quality, has a solid copper center conductor, and it [just barely] fit through the hole in the RF switch's plastic housing; so it was ideal for this application.

First I removed the plastic housing (4 small screws), and then I desoldered the original coax cable from the PCB (3 solder joints). The original coax cable has a small metal connector with 2 legs crimped to its ground/shield and insulation, and both of those legs are soldered to the PCB (ground). One of the solder points here is redundant of course, as they are both part of the same connector and both go to ground. The center conductor is soldered to the PCB as well.

Next, after removing the coax cable from the PCB, I used a small screw driver to pry open the crimps on the 2-legged connector, and I removed said connector. This connector needs to be reused, but not in exactly the same manner that it was used on the original coax cable. The front crimp area of the connector is too small to be of any use here, because the replacement coax cable is much thicker. So I cut the connector in half, which resulted in a one legged connector that retained the larger of the two crimp areas; i.e., the crimp area that was crimped to the outer insulation of the original coax cable. I then crimped it to the replacement coax cable's shield-covered inner insulation so that I could solder it to the PCB, thus properly connecting its shield to ground.

The solid center conductor was too thick to fit in the pad for it on the PCB, so I filed the center conductor down until it was small enough to fit in the hole, and bent it over at a right angle. Now both the center conductor and the crimped on connector could be soldered into the proper pads on the PCB.

It now works perfectly, and should continue to do so indefinitely.

Here are some pictures:

[lobdale]

Came in here basically to post what Maxim said, excellent post.