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Thread: 1988 Vs 2009

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    1988 Vs 2009

    Hello all I am a bit of a retro junkie and found someone selling an Sega Mega Drive (16MB of gaming pleasure!) so I bought it.

    Overjoyed I rushed home to play it, there is only one problem, in 1988 HDTV, and S-Video and Scart wasn't around and my TV seems to be completely devoid of a RF socket (Though it has 3 HDMI sockets wich is overkill to be honest) but it does have AV sockets.

    Here is my question: Can you convert a RF feed to AV cables or Even a scart or am I completely goosed and have to get an old TV for my guilty pleasure?

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Definitely possible. Maplin might be able to help.
    I'm at work so I can't check, but a search on eBay for "megadrive scart" might do it.

    BTW, I love stuff like that. I'm sure there's an old Spectrum, Megadrive and PS1 kicking around somewhere...

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by Clueless View Post
    Hello all I am a bit of a retro junkie and found someone selling an Sega Mega Drive (16MB of gaming pleasure!) so I bought it.

    Overjoyed I rushed home to play it, there is only one problem, in 1988 HDTV, and S-Video and Scart wasn't around and my TV seems to be completely devoid of a RF socket (Though it has 3 HDMI sockets wich is overkill to be honest) but it does have AV sockets.

    Here is my question: Can you convert a RF feed to AV cables or Even a scart or am I completely goosed and have to get an old TV for my guilty pleasure?
    Have you got an old VHS or digital recorder that has TV aral socket? If so you can use scart or video output from that. (and record your feats)

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    I've just thrown out an old telly, you could have had for nothing
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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    I think Sky boxes and I would guess any Cable boxes will have an RF input. Mine does.

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    We did try putting the RF through the skybox but had no idea how to get that onto the TV, any ideas?

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    If your television is capable of receiving analogue TV it will have an RF input, the socket the TV aerial is plugged into...

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    The TV doesn't recieve Anaolgue Tv it has a digibox built in and there is no Aerial going into the back of the tv.

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by jiveclone View Post
    If your television is capable of receiving analogue TV it will have an RF input, the socket the TV aerial is plugged into...
    do pay attention 007... his TV does not have an RF input

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by Dreadful Scathe View Post
    do pay attention 007... his TV does not have an RF input
    I think 007 is pointing out the flaw in my, and similar, suggestions.

    Most old devices with TV arial inputs only send the signal to the TV arial output, not the converted signal to the video or Scart sockets.

    Sorry

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    OTOH there are tv devices that will allow the pictures (and analogue TV) to be displayed on a PC. These may be obtainable cheap as they are going out of style.

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    You can make one yourself. Do you have an old scart lead you can hack up?

    Edit :- Just found a page via google on how to do it, then lost it again. will post the link in a mo.
    Last edited by Lee Bartholomew; 5th-November-2009 at 05:01 PM.

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    cheers guys, google isn't doing much here to be honest.

    I could easily obtain a Scart cable, you can get them two to the donzen now.

    bigdjiver I never thought of that option...I will look into it!

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by bigdjiver View Post
    I think 007 is pointing out the flaw in my, and similar, suggestions.

    Most old devices with TV arial inputs only send the signal to the TV arial output, not the converted signal to the video or Scart sockets.

    Sorry
    I dunno - I'm pretty sure my oldish VCR will take a TV aerial input and output Scart. I think the idea of an old VCR is a good one.

    I think you basically need something with a tuner to make RF into pictures - the signal from an aerial simultaneously has information on several frequencies, so you need a tuner to pick the right one.

    So there's unlikely to be converter gizmo that converts a simple input into a simple output, unless there's a control to select a frequency.
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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by Gav View Post
    Definitely possible. Maplin might be able to help.
    I'm at work so I can't check, but a search on eBay for "megadrive scart" might do it.

    Try here...

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Does the Sega Mega Drive had an RF output (old TV Aerial), or an AV output (yellow single-pin socket), or a round DIN socket?

    AV to SCART is pretty easy - you should be able to get cables from Maplin

    RF to SCART is not possible, as the SCART doesn't have any pins for RF signals. You need a tuner to turn the RF signal into a composite signal. As suggested, an old video should do the trick.

    The DIN plug contains both a composite and RGB output, but you would need a specific cable such as at:
    http://www.consolepassion.co.uk/sega...e-hardware.htm

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    I have been nothing short of a moron!

    I had a good look behind the TV today and realised there is a RF socket but it has a black cable plugged in and couldn't see it in the shade.... sorry guys but thanks for the info and I am considering getting a scart so I dont have to faf about behind the TV every time I want to play it

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by DavidY View Post
    I dunno - I'm pretty sure my oldish VCR will take a TV aerial input and output Scart. I think the idea of an old VCR is a good one.

    I think you basically need something with a tuner to make RF into pictures - the signal from an aerial simultaneously has information on several frequencies, so you need a tuner to pick the right one.

    So there's unlikely to be converter gizmo that converts a simple input into a simple output, unless there's a control to select a frequency.
    The tv games and computers were standardised to use one particular channel so a RF to video converter could be built that did not need a tuner. I don't recall ever seeing one as a product though. There may have been a self-build project.

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by Clueless View Post
    .... there is a RF socket but it has a black cable plugged in and couldn't see it in the shade
    That cable may be the aerial cable.

    Digital TV is still (mostly) transmitted via RF - radio frequency - so will have an RF input, which is typically received by an aerial (a satellite dish is just a big aerial). The question is how the image data is encoded in the RF signal. Old games (and computers) use analogue encoding, effectively same as pre-digital TV signals. Basically, if you can receive non-digital TV, you can tune that set to decode the signal from a game. I'm not sure if new TVs have removed the analogue decoders, but you wouldn't have to go back very far to find a TV with one.

    The best advice I can offer is if you really like retro, then get a retro TV to go with the retro console (and pay to maintain it). Otherwise, get an emulator for a digital platform.

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    Re: 1988 Vs 2009

    Quote Originally Posted by geoff332 View Post
    The best advice I can offer is if you really like retro, then get a retro TV to go with the retro console (and pay to maintain it). Otherwise, get an emulator for a digital platform.
    I use my old combi tv/video player with my sega. (it was one of the first combi tv's of that time )

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