Commodore MAX - comp.sys.cbm

Hi there, right now I'm selling a MAX and a VIC-1001 (Japanese VIC-20) on Ebay and a potential buyer is asking me this question, to which I can, unfortunately, not answer...can someone out here help me please? Thanks in advance. Dimitri Hi, I would be interested in this machine (MAX) and the VIC-1001 you're selling. However, I live in Switzerland and while getting a voltage converter would probably be no problem, I've noticed the warning on your page, that says, that I'd need a Japanese TV set as well.. I'm not familiar with the TV system used in Japan, but would a modern TV that can play NTSC be enough? Or alternatively, could I use some sort of RGB cable or some other method to get it to work?

Hey Dimitri, .... long time, no see. ;-) > I would be interested in this machine (MAX) and the VIC-1001 you're selling. > However, I live in Switzerland and while getting a voltage converter would > probably be no problem, I've noticed the warning on your page, that says, > that I'd need a Japanese TV set as well.. > I'm not familiar with the TV system used in Japan, but would a modern TV > that can play NTSC be enough? Or alternatively, could I use some sort of RGB > cable or some other method to get it to work? .... I can't make a definitive statement here, tho I have a MAX Machine. I would say, that any NTSC TV should be fine. Still, no garantee on this, tho. Hope this helps. -- cul8er, Paul paul.foerster@gmx.net

I agree, NTSC should work just like consoles, it is either PAL or NTSC, you can use Jap consoles in the US and vice versa. On Fri, 23 Jan 2004 03:01:45 +0100, Paul Foerster <paul.foerster@gmx.net> wrote: >Hey Dimitri, > >... long time, no see. ;-) > >> I would be interested in this machine (MAX) and the VIC-1001 you're selling. >> However, I live in Switzerland and while getting a voltage converter would >> probably be no problem, I've noticed the warning on your page, that says, >> that I'd need a Japanese TV set as well.. >> I'm not familiar with the TV system used in Japan, but would a modern TV >> that can play NTSC be enough? Or alternatively, could I use some sort of RGB >> cable or some other method to get it to work? > >... I can't make a definitive statement here, tho I have a MAX Machine. >I would say, that any NTSC TV should be fine. Still, no garantee on >this, tho. > >Hope this helps.

Hi Paul, yep...indeed....long time no see/speak...I've been rather calm with my collection the last months, although I guess that's normal as I am now well over 500 (540 I think) different home-computers and new items are getting harder to find! I once in a while sell some things to get some money to buy other stuff with, that's the only reason I sell, too much hassle for me to do it on a regular basis, although, if I hadn't had the kart track I am sure I could make a living out of it! Thanks for the answer by the way. Have a great 2004, Dimitri "Paul Foerster" <paul.foerster@gmx.net> wrote in message news:bupvg2$k30i5$1@ID-3726.news.uni-berlin.de... > Hey Dimitri, > > ... long time, no see. ;-) > > > I would be interested in this machine (MAX) and the VIC-1001 you're selling. > > However, I live in Switzerland and while getting a voltage converter would > > probably be no problem, I've noticed the warning on your page, that says, > > that I'd need a Japanese TV set as well.. > > I'm not familiar with the TV system used in Japan, but would a modern TV > > that can play NTSC be enough? Or alternatively, could I use some sort of RGB > > cable or some other method to get it to work? > > ... I can't make a definitive statement here, tho I have a MAX Machine. > I would say, that any NTSC TV should be fine. Still, no garantee on > this, tho. > > Hope this helps. > -- > cul8er, > > Paul > paul.foerster@gmx.net >

"Dimitri Kokken" <dimitri.kokken@pandora.be> wrote in message news:ky_Pb.965$4x4.207907@phobos.telenet-ops.be... > Hi there, > > right now I'm selling a MAX and a VIC-1001 (Japanese VIC-20) on Ebay and a > potential buyer is asking me this question, to which I can, unfortunately, > not answer...can someone out here help me please? Thanks in advance. > > Dimitri > > Hi, > > I would be interested in this machine (MAX) and the VIC-1001 you're selling. > However, I live in Switzerland and while getting a voltage converter would > probably be no problem, I've noticed the warning on your page, that says, > that I'd need a Japanese TV set as well.. Hey there, First, Do I get credit somewhere from you for stealing my auction listing? :) I have sold a few MAX machines, and my experience was that none of my normal TV's (I am in USA) would work with them, at least with any favorable results ..... some models straight from Japan would it seems however. It seems that even tho Japan uses NTSC, the voltage is slightly lower, etc, so its anyones guess. The MAX has a channel 1 or 2 selector, and I am guessing in Japan that 1 and 2 are different than channel 2 (we don't even have channel 1) here in USA for frequencies. The last MAX I had possession of I modified to get around this problem by soldering in a few RCA connectors for Chroma and Luminance.... hooked into a 1702 very nicely. You may want to try to raise Dan Benson or Bo Zimmerman ... I know they have had MAX Machines as well and I am unsure if they got normal USA TV's to work with them. Good luck RaYzor

G'day Dimitri; I can take this one - I can sucessfully view my MAX on my Australain PAL TV via the TV tuner. No problem there at all. Anthony "Dimitri Kokken" <dimitri.kokken@pandora.be> wrote in message news:ky_Pb.965$4x4.207907@phobos.telenet-ops.be... > Hi there, > > right now I'm selling a MAX and a VIC-1001 (Japanese VIC-20) on Ebay and a > potential buyer is asking me this question, to which I can, unfortunately, > not answer...can someone out here help me please? Thanks in advance. > > Dimitri > > Hi, > > I would be interested in this machine (MAX) and the VIC-1001 you're selling. > However, I live in Switzerland and while getting a voltage converter would > probably be no problem, I've noticed the warning on your page, that says, > that I'd need a Japanese TV set as well.. > I'm not familiar with the TV system used in Japan, but would a modern TV > that can play NTSC be enough? Or alternatively, could I use some sort of RGB > cable or some other method to get it to work? > >

Most TVs here in Europe can now handle an NTSC signal okay... EXCEPT through RF which is how the MAX would need to be connected! I've been told you can get around this little "problem" by first routing the RF through an NTSC compatible VCR, but as my one isn't, I haven't been able to test this trick. Does the MAX have monitor output? It's been so long since I looked at the back of the machine I can't remember... Mayhem

"MayhemUK" <Mayhemers@hotmail.com> wrote in message news:2deedd32.0401230205.7ad59c79@posting.google.com... > Most TVs here in Europe can now handle an NTSC signal okay... EXCEPT > through RF which is how the MAX would need to be connected! In that case the TV only handles NTSC frequencies, but doesn't do NTSC color signal decoding. In that case you won't get color no matter how you connect a NTSC commodore. If you connect a DVD player to a TV with a RGB SCART cable the TV does not have to do color decoding, because RGB signals are already fully decoded. Unfortunately 8-bit commodores don't have a RGB output, so to see color you would need to have a TV that is capable of decoding NTSC color signals as well (e.g. Multistandard TV), even if you connect it through the video output. > I've been > told you can get around this little "problem" by first routing the RF > through an NTSC compatible VCR, but as my one isn't, I haven't been > able to test this trick. In europe many VCR's support playback of NTSC videotapes, but I doubt those VCR's can handle NTSC video input. -- Peter van Merkerk peter.van.merkerk(at)dse.nl

> In that case the TV only handles NTSC frequencies, but doesn't do NTSC > color signal decoding. In that case you won't get color no matter how you > connect a NTSC commodore. If you connect a DVD player to a TV with a RGB > SCART cable the TV does not have to do color decoding, because RGB signals > are already fully decoded. Unfortunately 8-bit commodores don't have a RGB > output, so to see color you would need to have a TV that is capable of > decoding NTSC color signals as well (e.g. Multistandard TV), even if you > connect it through the video output. Mine is. I can use my US SNES, US N64, Japanese Gamecube perfectly through my TV using either composite or S-video if I need to, and get a clear, sharp colour picture. I have them all RGB running and that's my standard way of connecting them up as the picture quality is the best though. However I can't get a picture out of my MAX through RF. Oh, and one of the reasons for the MAX not working on many US TVs is because the Japanese actually use a slightly different form of NTSC to the Americans, the main difference being about 30 scanlines. I've heard about Aussies being able to play NTSC items on their TVs okay before, why I am still not sure about. I await getting an NTSC C64 at some point so I can test my S-video connection I have (my prediction is I will see a proper signal from it on my TV) and be able to play the NTSC only originals I have (as the machine determines the speed of the disc drive timing etc). > In europe many VCR's support playback of NTSC videotapes, but I doubt those > VCR's can handle NTSC video input. They support playback of NTSC tapes because they leave the picture information alone except for converting the colour frequency from 3.58Mhz to 4.44Mhz (ie. from NTSC to PAL). This gives rise to the term "PAL60" for the signal that is sent to the TV. Friends of mine in Germany have used this trick to properly play NTSC Atari 2600 cartridges on their machines by routing it through the VCR, because quite often the colour information doesn't display correctly. And before you point out the obvious here, the 2600 is different to most other consoles. The console itself is actually pretty universal in its internals, it is the CARTRIDGE itself that has the relevant NTSC or PAL colour information. Hence it is the cartridge that determines the frequency and output you see! Mayhem

Mayhemers@hotmail.com (MayhemUK) writes: >Does the MAX have monitor output? It's been so long since I looked at >the back of the machine I can't remember... My MAX does not have monitor output. I use it with the RF input on my Mac's TV tuner in NTSC mode. Wonder if I can scare up an RF *de*modulator ... I'd hate to modify the unit to get a proper composite output with my horrible soldering skills. :-* -- Cameron Kaiser * ckaiser@floodgap.com * posting with a Commodore 128 personal page: http://www.armory.com/%7Espectre/ ** Computer Workshops: games, productivity software and more for C64/128! ** ** http://www.armory.com/%7Espectre/cwi/ **

Cameron Kaiser wrote: >Mayhemers@hotmail.com (MayhemUK) writes: > > > >>Does the MAX have monitor output? It's been so long since I looked at >>the back of the machine I can't remember... >> >> > >My MAX does not have monitor output. I use it with the RF input on my Mac's >TV tuner in NTSC mode. > >Wonder if I can scare up an RF *de*modulator ... I'd hate to modify the unit >to get a proper composite output with my horrible soldering skills. :-* > >-- > Cameron Kaiser * ckaiser@floodgap.com * posting with a Commodore 128 > personal page: http://www.armory.com/%7Espectre/ > ** Computer Workshops: games, productivity software and more for C64/128! ** > ** http://www.armory.com/%7Espectre/cwi/ ** > > Japan's channel 1 and 2 are at 91.25Mhz and 97.25 MHz respectively, the corresponding US equivalent is between ch 6 and 7. Use and FM radio :p Tv frequency tables can be found here http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/directx9_c/directX/htm/japan.asp

Hey Dimitri, > yep...indeed....long time no see/speak...I've been rather calm with my > collection the last months, although I guess that's normal as I am now well > over 500 (540 I think) different home-computers and new items are getting > harder to find! .... well, I have a lot less than that. I have a way more diverse Commodore collection, tho. As for the long time, no see, we can change that next time I spend my vacation back home in Germany. I then pack Ruud into my car and then we will haunt your place. ;-) > I once in a while sell some things to get some money to buy other stuff > with, that's the only reason I sell, too much hassle for me to do it on a > regular basis, although, if I hadn't had the kart track I am sure I could > make a living out of it! .... I for one might have to sell one or the other thing in the future for space reasons. Unlike you, I don't have a cart track or other such huge space to store the machines. It's all in my three-room flat, stacked up to the ceiling... > Thanks for the answer by the way. .... you're welcome. > Have a great 2004, .... same to you and everyone else here except Rick, that is. :)=) -- cul8er, Paul paul.foerster@gmx.net

"Paul Foerster" <paul.foerster@gmx.net> wrote in message news:buuof4$lfl3k$1@ID-3726.news.uni-berlin.de... > ... same to you and everyone else here except Rick, that is. :)=) Despite this uneducated hint at me, I still am benevolent enough to concede you to suck my dog's popsicle, anyway. I do it on the dog's behalf, of course, because nobody since you've started being so discontinuous in the group has ever filled your shoes in that "job" and also because nobody blows just as you do. ;-) Happy new year sweet little Paulie - and don't forget to swallow :-) Rick

Hey Bastard, > Despite this uneducated hint at me, I still am benevolent enough to concede > you to suck my dog's popsicle, anyway. .... you seem to be a little paranoid not noticing that I did even include you in my happy new year greetings by addressing that Balkins asshole, a mistake I will not make again: So happy new year everybody here except Rick Balkins, Rick "rubber duck" Rubini and mad Matt Montchalin. -- cul8er, Paul paul.foerster@gmx.net

"Paul Foerster" <paul.foerster@gmx.net> wrote in message news:bv0o79$mqpti$1@ID-3726.news.uni-berlin.de... > ... you seem to be a little paranoid not noticing that I did even > include you in my happy new year greetings by addressing that Balkins > asshole, a mistake I will not make again: Poor Richard Balkins, what did he do to you personally to hate the guy so much to call him "asshole" ? Did he break the rumour out you're a cum drinking cross dressing homo or what? I guess more than few people were already suspicious something was wrong with you, but leave the judgement to others, instead of convalidating hypothesis :-) I have news for you, Fester : I couldn't care less about you including me or not in your seasonal greetings, or wether you stick or not into this group. It's nothing I hold my breath for, don't live in denial. I am accustomed to your usual puerile name calling vice, and I thought of having some easy fun bashing you :-) > So happy new year everybody here except Rick Balkins, Rick "rubber duck" > Rubini and mad Matt Montchalin. See, this careless and unattended name calling, just out of the blue, is a vice you couldn't live without, just as sodomites can't live without a dick stick in their butt cheeks ( I make an example easy for you to understand :-)) You know what, Fester ? The more time passes, the more I am convinced you're the German answer to Joey Yale, with a grotesque touch of comedy :-) Riccardo