Amiga 600 NTSC/PAL

[tlaskows]

Hey there,

I'm in Canada and bought an Amiga 600 from Europe. Will I be able to use it in NTSC mode without requiring a TV/monitor that supports PAL? Thanks!

-Tom

 

[SkydivinGirl]

Hi Tom,

I also have an A600 that is PAL but I'm in the USA. An NTSC 1084S monitor displays bot PAL and NTSC but the top and bottom are cut off in PAL mode and the screen flickers. Fortunately, you can hold both mouse buttons when turning on the computer and switch over to NTSC mode.

Hope that helps!

Heather

 

[dabone]

NTSC 1084S monitor displays bot PAL and NTSC but the top and bottom are cut off in PAL mode and the screen flickers.

For the top and bottom being cut off, reach around back and change your
vertical height, and for the screen flicker, replace all the fluorescent bulbs
in your area with standard Incandescent bulbs. The flicker is the
interference pattern between the bulbs working @60hz and the monitor working @50hz.


I've got a 1200 that I use in pal mode all the time on a 1084s and it works great after I swapped my light bulbs.


Later,
dabone

 

[SkydivinGirl]

That's great information! Unfortunately, I could still see the flicker even when using incandescent bulbs. It's not super bad, mind you. Just a little annoying.

Heather

*EDIT* I just noticed I didn't actually answer Tom's question. I believe you'll be able to see the screen on an NTSC TV enough to switch from PAL to NTSC mode without any special hardware. I've never actually tried since I use monitors for my Amigas and all the Commodore ones work well enough to switch between PAL and NTSC modes.

 

[tlaskows]

Thanks guys!

I tried to research it and couldn't find any good information anywhere.

I will probably use it with a TV in NTSC mode to start with. I don't have an Amiga specific monitor yet.

Cheers,

-Tom

 

[SkydivinGirl]

Tom,

Here's an image of the "Early Startup" screen that appears when you hold down both mouse buttons when turning on the A600.

Pressing any key on the keyboard will switch between NTSC and PAL. Once you can see the screen, click Display Options then select NTSC from the settings.

Hope it works out for you.

Heather

 

[AndyLandy]

I don't think it's as simple as toggling the early startup menu. Rkauer is the expert on this, I would await his advice.

 

[Firthy2002]

Isn't it something on the mobo (can't remember exactly what!) that selects the default video output?

 

[rkauer]

Also you must move the PAL "monitor" from DEVS:Monitors to Storage/Monitors and do the contrary with the NTSC icon.

---------- Post added at 17:37 ---------- Previous post was at 17:33 ----------

Isn't it something on the mobo (can't remember exactly what!) that selects the default video output?

Yes, a zero Ohm resistor hooked in the Alice pin41 which you must remove/insert to change the machine from PAL to NTSC. But the encoder is setted to PAL, RF modulator will still be PAL, mainboard crystal still will be wrong frequency.

 

[tlaskows]

Also you must move the PAL "monitor" from DEVS:Monitors to Storage/Monitors and do the contrary with the NTSC icon.

---------- Post added at 17:37 ---------- Previous post was at 17:33 ----------

Isn't it something on the mobo (can't remember exactly what!) that selects the default video output?

Yes, a zero Ohm resistor hooked in the Alice pin41 which you must remove/insert to change the machine from PAL to NTSC. But the encoder is setted to PAL, RF modulator will still be PAL, mainboard crystal still will be wrong frequency.

Hmm. I have some experience working with electronics, maybe I could handle it. I do have a PC monitor with composite video input I'm just not sure it accepts PAL. We'll see when I get the machine. Thanks!

-Tom

 

[jvdbossc]

If you like to have easy solutions you can hook this adapter up to the rgb port and have the output you wan't:

http://www.amigamaniac.com/RGB_to_PAL_NTSC_adapter.html

I've tested this with almost every amiga, and it works properly.

 

[tlaskows]

Hmm,

That looks like a good solution. Unfortunately, the website says it's out of stock. I emailed the guy asking when they'll be available again. Thanks for the suggestion.

Cheers,

-Tom

 

[Bootay]

Not sure about the A600 but my A4000 has a jumper for PAL/NTSC and even though I am in the USA and it is a NTSC A4000 I keep the jumper set on PAL. The reason I do this is because most games (which I play a lot) are PAL and the audio is always skippy or out of snyc with the video is in NTSC mode. But I use a monitor...

See if the motherboard has the same jumper settings.

 

[AndyLandy]

The A600 doesn't have those jumpers, I think that's exclusive to the A4000.

As Bootay points out, most games out there are PAL, so having a PAL Amiga is probably no bad thing.

Your path-of-least-resistance is probably going to be to track down an Amiga monitor, they will work with NTSC or PAL inputs. Either that or a scandoubler/VGA monitor.

 

[rkauer]

AS I already stated: too much hassle to modify a PAL Amiga to NTSC (and vice-versa):

- On A500/2000 just need to change the main crystal oscillator (PAL is 28.37516MHz, NTSC is 28.6363MHz) and cut the GND to the pin #41 of Agnus and route it to +5V via a 4k7 resistor (or the contrary);

- On A600 you also need to swap the soldered Agnus chip and swap the RF modulator for suitable ones;

- On A3000 & A4000 just move a motherboard jumper and swap the oscillator;

- On A1200, route the pin #41 of Alice to either GND or +5V (via a pull-up resistor) and swap the main crystal and RF modulator.

Impossible? No. Hard to do? Maybe: you need SMD soldering skills (on the A600/1200 case), technical knowledge and the required components.