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So some of you may remember I made a post about a year ago trying to get an external monitor working on my Motorola R2600 service monitor. I had hacked up a VGA cable and soldered it to a DB9 connector and managed to find an Acer monitor model that just plugged and played with the video output of the service monitor. Well, I was never happy with it and it was always fuzzy and RF would get into it occasionally. So I attempted to make a new cable using CAT6 and a DB15 connector. Well, that didn't work at all and my once working monitor said cable not connected. I was stupid and threw away the old cable and now it's gone so I can't go back to a known working cable.
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After this didn't work, I bought one of those Chinese GBS8200 video converter boards and ran the RGB, ground, and sync lines to it and the board still said no input signal. So now I'm scratching my head, did I do something wrong or did the video output on my 2600 up and die. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions on what to do? This is the service monitor I use on my bench and I liked having the big external display to work on things.
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Ok update, the service monitor video output is fine. Out of frustration I searched on eBay for a CGA monitor and came across a RGB CGA DB 9-Pin Male To VGA HD 15-Pin Female Adapter Cable.?It's only $10 but after spending almost $25 on the CGA coverter board, I was hesitant to buy it. However, they did post the schematic/pinout of the cable on the listing as seen below. I made up a cable using a DB9 and DB15 connector and some scrap wire, however I did disregard the pin 6 & 7 connections on the diagram and left them out. After some angry troubleshooting when it still didn't work and finding I accidentally reversed the H & V sync lines, fixing that resulted in a working cable. The image is much better from the hacked up mess I made last time. I did try to pass it through the CGA converter board to see if I could get a bigger monitor working but the board still didn't work. Don't know if I got a bad board or it just doesn't like the output from the service monitor. But success! I may end up buying the cable so I can have RF shielding to keep RF and other noise out.
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thanks for the commitment to the plan!
I have a 2600 with a woofed horizontal amplifier section
and have a nice Samsung multisync monitor and have messed with the CGA game converter board to no avail
when i can get to the shack will give it some more thought!?
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From what I read those Chinese CGA video converter chips apparently don’t care what signal is inputted and will spit out a useable VGA signal. Apparently it’s not the case with the service monitor.
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I tried a pile of monitors I had laying around the house but the one model I did have is an Acer V196WL. Those monitors will happily run all day with the output from these service monitors. There’s plenty of them on eBay cheap enough if you want to go that route.
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On Sat, Feb 15, 2025 at 08:00 PM, Jared Smudde wrote:
Acer V196WL
$50? ?new in box
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sold!
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Did you ever get the monitor and did it work??
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Jared??
I got the monitor, but have not had time to wire up a cable??
had a repeater to build and then got mired in a bunch of other stuff??
hope to have a go at it this week
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de k9wkj
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shes a runner!
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just have to make up a ham proof cable!
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On 2025-03-07 5:30 p.m., k9wkj via
groups.io wrote:
shes a runner!
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just have to make up a ham proof cable!
<-- Please do share details :).
Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV
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Ramesh??
its just the mentioned monitor? Acer V196WL
wired per Jareds diagram??
I tried several other VGA input monitors I had sitting around??
and the ACER was the only monitor that worked??
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de k9wkj
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On 2025-03-07 6:51 p.m., k9wkj via groups.io wrote: Ramesh
its just the mentioned monitor? Acer V196WL
wired per Jareds diagram
I tried several other VGA input monitors I had sitting around
and the ACER was the only monitor that worked <-- Great! - I located Jared's diagram and made up a cable this morning.? One correction to the diagram (at least for my R2660A Test Set), the DB9 on the test set is a Female, so the DB9 on the cable should be a Male.? I can draw up a nicer diagram and post it to the files section. So once I made the cable, I tried it with the VGA input on my old 19" DELL monitor.? The encouraging news is that the monitor does detect a video signal (since the DELL RGB screen saver disappears), but I get a message "cannot display this video mode".? So now the hunt is on for an Acer V196WL. Thanks for the info, and nice work Jared! Cheers, Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV
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Here are the timing settings on that monitor.?? I bet there are other monitors that might work.
On Sat, Mar 8, 2025 at 8:08?AM Ramesh Dhami \(VA3UV\) via <Ramesh= [email protected]> wrote:
On 2025-03-07 6:51 p.m., k9wkj via wrote:
> Ramesh
> its just the mentioned monitor? Acer V196WL
> wired per Jareds diagram
> I tried several other VGA input monitors I had sitting around
> and the ACER was the only monitor that worked
<-- Great! - I located Jared's diagram and made up a cable this
morning.? One correction to the diagram (at least for my R2660A Test
Set), the DB9 on the test set is a Female, so the DB9 on the cable
should be a Male.? I can draw up a nicer diagram and post it to the
files section.
So once I made the cable, I tried it with the VGA input on my old 19"
DELL monitor.? The encouraging news is that the monitor does detect a
video signal (since the DELL RGB screen saver disappears), but I get a
message "cannot display this video mode".? So now the hunt is on for an
Acer V196WL.
Thanks for the info, and nice work Jared!
Cheers,
Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV
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For anyone wanting to take the easy path, I bought this cable as a test and it works. This is where that diagram I shared came from. I 100% agree that there are probably other monitors that would work but I tested about 10+ monitors I had laying around but that Acer V196WL is the only one that actually worked.
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Wonder if it's the only one supporting that 66.6Hz MAC speed.
Andy
On Sat, Mar 8, 2025 at 9:48?AM Jared Smudde via <computerwhiz02= [email protected]> wrote: For anyone wanting to take the easy path, I bought this cable as a test and it works. This is where that diagram I shared came from. I 100% agree that there are probably other monitors that would work but I tested about 10+ monitors I had laying around but that Acer V196WL is the only one that actually worked.
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the monitor is reporting??
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hence the slight horizontal stretch
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On 2025-03-08 9:48 a.m., Jared Smudde
via groups.io wrote:
For anyone wanting to take the easy path, I bought this cable
as a test and it works.
This is where that diagram I shared came from. I 100% agree that
there are probably other monitors that would work but I tested
about 10+ monitors I had laying around but that Acer V196WL is the only one that actually worked.
<-- Thanks, Jared.? I have drawn up the cable wiring and found
an Acer monitor (V196WL)... hopefully, I'll be picking up the
monitor tomorrow.
Here's a cleaner version of the cable; I'll post to the files
section once I confirm this works with the monitor!
Cheers,
Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV
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Hello? From Don KA9QJG A 78 Yr old Disabled Vet Living on a Small Va Disability? He Gave me the R-2600? I like using it as a Spect Anz? find the so-called secret? Freqs Lol
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My Old Eyesite is not that good, so with This, Would I Be Able to see the Screen Better, and in Color? Is it Full Screen? I have checked on Line and Will get this Cable. Where is a good place to find the Monitor?
?
Thanks For? Your Time Stay Safe and Helthy? ??
?
Don KA9QJG
?
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On 03/08/2025 8:50 PM CST Ramesh Dhami \(VA3UV\) <ramesh@...> wrote:
?
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On 2025-03-08 9:48 a.m., Jared Smudde via groups.io wrote:
For anyone wanting to take the easy path, I bought this cable as a test and it works. This is where that diagram I shared came from. I 100% agree that there are probably other monitors that would work but I tested about 10+ monitors I had laying around but that Acer V196WL is the only one that actually worked.
<-- Thanks, Jared.? I have drawn up the cable wiring and found an Acer monitor (V196WL)... hopefully, I'll be picking up the monitor tomorrow.
Here's a cleaner version of the cable; I'll post to the files section once I confirm this works with the monitor!
?
?
Cheers,
Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV
?
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Why am I not understanding.... Sony Made Great Monitors at this Time ...Why is This So much better than other Brands??
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Thanks, Laymon? Terms Appreciated??
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73 Don KA9QJG
On 03/08/2025 9:42 PM CST KA9QJG via groups.io <ka9qjg@...> wrote:
?
?
Hello? From Don KA9QJG A 78 Yr old Disabled Vet Living on a Small Va Disability? He Gave me the R-2600? I like using it as a Spect Anz? find the so-called secret? Freqs Lol
?
My Old Eyesite is not that good, so with This, Would I Be Able to see the Screen Better, and in Color? Is it Full Screen? I have checked on Line and Will get this Cable. Where is a good place to find the Monitor?
?
Thanks For? Your Time Stay Safe and Helthy? ??
?
Don KA9QJG
?
?
On 03/08/2025 8:50 PM CST Ramesh Dhami \(VA3UV\) <ramesh@...> wrote:
?
?
On 2025-03-08 9:48 a.m., Jared Smudde via groups.io wrote:
For anyone wanting to take the easy path, I bought this cable as a test and it works. This is where that diagram I shared came from. I 100% agree that there are probably other monitors that would work but I tested about 10+ monitors I had laying around but that Acer V196WL is the only one that actually worked.
<-- Thanks, Jared.? I have drawn up the cable wiring and found an Acer monitor (V196WL)... hopefully, I'll be picking up the monitor tomorrow.
Here's a cleaner version of the cable; I'll post to the files section once I confirm this works with the monitor!
?
?
Cheers,
Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV
?
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On 2025-03-08 11:00 p.m., KA9QJG via
groups.io wrote:
Why
am I not understanding.... Sony Made Great Monitors at this
Time ...Why is This So much better than other Brands??
?
Thanks,
Laymon? Terms Appreciated??
?
73
Don KA9QJG
<-- Hi Don:? I'll answer both of your questions in one reply.?
First, yes, per the photo from K9WKJ, you can display the R2600
screen onto an external monitor, and in color.? Here's the photo
from K9WKJ:
Whether it is full screen or not, I do not know ... but
hopefully, once I get a hold of the Acer monitor, I'll report back
(with a photo!).
So why the Acer monitor and not Sony (HP, Samsung, LG, etc....).?
No one is saying that these other brands will not work.? Jared
mentioned that he tried more than 10 monitors, and only the Acer
V196WL monitor worked for him.? I tried a DELL (not Adele!), an
LG, and (really wishful thinking) a newer HP, none of them work.
So the easiest path seems to be the monitor that is known to work
- i.e., that can support the 720 x 240 resolution.
As for your question where to obtain one of these, try local swap
/ buy and sell sites (Craigslist, eBay, etc...).
Ramesh, VA3UV, WA3UV
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There's the hint to monitor compatibility: The horizontal sync frequency is 16KHz!
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This is below range for most modern monitors -- it's a moderately rare feature to sync down this low, but it's desirable for those who need to connect to older devices.
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It *may* or may not be interlaced video (you could check sync VSync vs HSync timing on a scope to find out), but it might not matter in the end either (unless you're seeing interlacing artifacts, and it doesn't sound like you're complaining of any).
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Choose a monitor that will work down to these low horizontal sync rates (often found in "retro" or NTSC-related outputs -- there are lists online from retro computing enthusiasts as far as known good monitors), and you should be fine. You may be able to find a cheap scan converter/scan doubler if you have your heart set on connecting to a particular monitor that doesn't sync this low.
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Michael
AJ6E
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Jared Smudde