PAL Amiga usage in the USA

[thgill]

I am jealous as hell of all y'all PAL territory folks.

Ok, so I am thinking about picking up another A1200, but its always frustrated me trying to get PAL software and demos to work correctly on my NTSC Amiga's. So, I am thinking of picking up a PAL A1200.


What should I expect from this? Since I am in the USA, what are my choices as far as monitors go? Can I use a NTSC monitor and just adjust it? Scandoubler and VGA monitor the only solution?


Also, how much should I expect to pay for a nice condition (not all yellow) A1200 shipped from the UK? PSU not needed since it wouldn't do me any good.

[rkauer]

Why you simply don't hack a NTSC unit to work in PAL mode?

Just take out a "fake resistor" (a SMD bridge) from pin41 of Alice, change the main crystal oscillator to a PAL one and that's it (just don't use the NTSC TV modulator).

Oh, you really need a proper 1084/multisync monitor or VGA monitor+scandoubler to see colours.

[thgill]

Any other thoughts on this?

I am really leaning towards picking up a PAL A1200 and one of the indivision scandoublers.

Any ideas on what I can expect to pay for a PAL 1200?

[klx300r]

my advice would be to buy a PAL 1200 & install an Indivison AGA card and enjoy on any monitor you want (though some LCD's are giving people problems so you should research that if you go that route)

[amigakit.com]

Hello,

We stock many high quality A1200 packages (and other Amiga items) in our webstore.

Amiga 1200 with warranty here:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=305

Indivision 1200 AGA is here:
http://amigakit.leamancomputing.com/...roducts_id=821

We can charge you FedEx Priority shipping of around US $40.

Hope this helps.

[thgill]

Thanks Amigakit. Good chance I will order an A1200 from you.


I have another stoopid question for y'all:

What about using an NTSC 1084 monitor with a PAL Amiga?



I have read a couple posts stating that ALL 1084 monitor would accept NTSC or PAL video signals with no problems. Certainly would be a lot cheaper for me to pick up a NTSC 1084 and use that than go the expensive scan doubler route.

[TheCorfiot]

@thgill

I agree there's nothing like keeping it retro by using a 1084, but these monitors are old, the CRT's will have limited life left esp if they have been well used, you may even struggle to replace them in the future due to availability.

The IndivisionAGA is the sensible & future proof way to go coupled with a cheap TFT / VGA monitor the output & display quality is also stunning.
A good match for your new to be A1200 with peace of mind for the future.

Whatever you decide I wish you the best.

TC

[coze]

Being a PAL user in NTSC land myself (Japan), the PAL is the way to go. I've had too many problems with NTSC amigas I just gave up on them. I don't think you'll be happy with a NTSC 1084 (never had one) but it's bound to create problems. Either get a PAL capable TV set (better if it has RGB component input) or a scandoubler.

rkauer, the hack you describe only forces the Amiga to start in PAL mode. It doesn't make it PAL fully, there are a lot of programs/demos sensitive to the true PAL/NTSC orientation of the Amiga that you PAL guys are not aware of.

[rkauer]

I know, you must to swap the crystal and crystal's peripheral circuit to start to transform the unit into a real PAL unit .

After that, it's just a matter of changing the RF modulator (if you want).

[demoniac]

As far as I know, all 1084 monitors are both PAL & NTSC.

[Damion]

Originally Posted by demoniac

As far as I know, all 1084 monitors are both PAL & NTSC.

That's right, NTSC 1084's handle PAL just fine.

[Charlie]

I'd suggest you get a PAL Amiga (or convert an NTSC one -> PAL) then PM DJBase on the subject of getting one of his very nice S-Video adapters.
I think I'm right in believing S-Video is universal.

Near as damn-it RGB quality & cheap. A little soldering will be required.

The only down-side I can see is you won't get Ratte's HiGFX to work (I can't) for that I suspect you'll need an Indivision.

[thgill]

Originally Posted by Charlie

I think I'm right in believing S-Video is universal.

Sadly its not.


I am certainly going to purchase a PAL 1200, and then save up the funds towards probably an Indivision. Perhaps use a 1084 for the mean time.


Any of our UK friends have a nice condition A1200 for sale? No need for the PSU as it won't do me any good here in the US. Just the Amiga and mouse. Accelerator/Ram addon is negotiable. Keep in mind i could always purchase a refurbished one from Amigakit for about $132 plus shipping (currently). Just looking for a better deal.

[Charlie]

@thgill:
My bad - bang goes another idea...
...assumption based on the Sega Megadrive / Genesis having the same video-encoder chip as the A1200 & having seen a fair few sites from around the world doing the S-Video mod to them.

Best of luck with your project.

[TheCorfiot]

Originally Posted by Charlie

@thgill:
My bad - bang goes another idea...
...assumption based on the Sega Megadrive / Genesis having the same video-encoder chip as the A1200 & having seen a fair few sites from around the world doing the S-Video mod to them.

Best of luck with your project.

Charlie, I think that chip can encode in 2 modes NTSC & PAL but you would need to use the right colour subcarrier frequency XTAL 4.43MHz PAL or 3.58MHz NTSC.
Although S-Video keeps the Luma (Black & White) & Chroma (Colour) signals separate, The Chroma is still in either NTSC or PAL format.

Main reasons for introduction of this "std" was to improve the resolution by increasing the Luma Bandwidth & to avoid awful cross-colour effects for example when old farts used to wear those awful herringbone jackets on TV or stars used to wear fishnet stockings.....oops I'm drifting now.

So S-Video is better than composite video but RGB wins hands down any day as it is not colour decoder dependent.

Boring Fact alert..... Did you know The Chroma component in PAL & NTSC systems only carries RED & BLUE information, The Green is generated by the display device by a process of summation.


TC

[thgill]

Well, went ahead and ordered me a PAL A1200 from Amigakit.

Gonna toss in a 4 gig CF card and use a 1084 in the meantime while I squirrel away money for an Indivision.


Probably post a thread up about the power supply as I am either going to modify an ATX one for use (have Amiga power connectors ordered) or modify a desktop PSU brick I found a company in the US selling for a rather nice price. Haven't decided yet.


Feast your eyes on this bad boy:
https://www.mpja.com/category/Power_...P_17507_PS.asp

Triple Output:
Output #1: +5V @ 6A #2: +12V @ 2.125A #3: -12V @ .325A

Wack off the din connector on the end and solder in an Amiga psu connector and I would imagine it would power about anything that you could reasonably stuff into an A1200 desktop wedge case.

Its quite friendly on the input voltage too!

[amigakit.com]

Thanks for the order :-)

[klx300r]

Originally Posted by thgill

I have another stoopid question for y'all:

What about using an NTSC 1084 monitor with a PAL Amiga?



I have read a couple posts stating that ALL 1084 monitor would accept NTSC or PAL video signals with no problems. Certainly would be a lot cheaper for me to pick up a NTSC 1084 and use that than go the expensive scan doubler route.

I did that before buying my Indivision AGA with almost no problems..though a few games had a bit of the screen cut off but the majority worked great

[Hewitson]

My 1084 (SCART model) definitely didn't accept NTSC. It synced to the 60hz vertical refresh rate, but it was in black and white.

[r.cade]

I always thought the only difference between NTSC and PAL Amiga's was a jumper setting, or the "hold both mouse buttons" and choose PAL.

Is there a difference between doing the software switch and a real PAL Amiga? Seems like all the games ran fine for me back in the old days on a 1084, just with the unusual flickering and cut-off bottom of the screen.