[Coco] Using a NTSC Coco in the UK - my findings

[Fedor Steeman]

Hi Steve!

Welcome to the club of rare and endangered European CoCo users! As far as I
know, there is only me i Denmark, Torsten Dittel in Germany, and Thierry
Mella in Belgium.

Since the 80s I have also been struggling with the problem of voltage and
video display. Being just a kid back then I unwittingly ordered a CoCo3 from
my paper route savings only to discover it cannot work just like that.
Someone got me a transformator and my parents were so kind to buy me a CM-8.


A few years ago I was so lucky to snatch an Australian Coco 3 from eBay that
readily could be connected in Europe to both 240V power and PAL televisions
(though I still have the CM-8 from back then).

I also inherited a lot of stuff from a former CoCo club prominent in the
Netherlands that enabled me to upgrade my Aussie CoCo3 to 512K and then went
problemlessly.

Recently however, when I fired it up again it now only get garbage on the
screen to my great dismay. I know not yet how to solve this problem, but it
is pretty tragic really... :-(

Cheers,
Fedor




On 22/02/07, Steve.Lancaster at moorestephens.com <
Steve.Lancaster at moorestephens.com> wrote:

>

> Hello all

>

> I have just taken delivery of my first Coco 3.

>

> Since I live in the UK and have read all the excellent advice from fellow

> users here - my own findings are as follows.

>

> 1) I have a 45 watt 240v to 110v step down transformer and this appears to

> work absolutely fine. Nevertheless I have taken on board (and will heed)

> the advice regarding possible overheating.

>

> 2) Using the RF output to an (ordinary) TV - you get a fuzzy picture, then

> it rolls (a bit like using an NTSC Atari 2600 on a PAL TV).

>

> However, my main TV is NTSC compatible and I discovered the following.

>

> 1) A/V from Coco to TV - does not work

>

> 2) A/V from Coco to SCART on TV - works absolutely fine.

>

> I have tried my Dragon 32 joysticks on the Coco (on Shanghai and Downland)

> - work absolutely fine.

>

> The next thing I will try is to load some Dragon 32 .WAV files (using the

> cassette lead connected to my laptop) into the Coco to see if any work. As

> per previous advice from Phill it will be a case of "suck it and see" but

> I will let you know which games work.

>

>

> Steve

>

>

> MOORE STEPHENS

> Accountants and Business Advisors

> 6 Ridge House, Ridgehouse Drive, Festival Park, Stoke-on-Trent, ST1 5TL

> Tel: 01782 201120, Fax: 01782 201599

> Web: http://www.moorestephens.co.uk

> A member firm of Moore Stephens International Limited - members in

> principal cities throughout the world.

> Registered to carry on audit work and regulated for a range of investment

> business activities by

> the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.

>

> ____________________________________________________________________________

> This email and any files transmitted with it are confidential and intended

> solely for the use of the individual or entity to whom they are addressed.

> They may contain legally privileged information, and may not be disclosed

> to anyone else. If you have received this email in error please notify

> postmaster at moorestephens.com and delete all copies from your system.

>

>

> ________________________________________________________________________

> This email has been scanned for all viruses by the MessageLabs SkyScan

> service.

> ________________________________________________________________________

>

> --

> Coco mailing list

> Coco at maltedmedia.com

> http://five.pairlist.net/mailman/listinfo/coco

>