Atari Junk Assembly Instructions

Welcome to the Atari Junk Console Assembly Instructions.   Hopefully, you have received your kit in the mail and are ready to build your circuit.  Let’s get started!

BOM Layout

The first step in any successful electronics project is to make sure that you have all of the parts necessary to complete the circuit.

Check your kit against the BOM.  If you are missing a part, we’ll send it to you free of charge.

Circuit Construction

On-Board Components

The Atari Junk PCB has a few issues that will have to be solved with jumper wires. oops!

First we will need to cut the bad traces. Look closely at the picture above for more information.

Now solder a jumper wire across the points on the trace where the surface has been exposed. Look closely at the picture! This is a very important step. It helps to put a little solder on the exposed areas before setting the wire. Remember to leave room for the other components. The other jumper is a little easier. It jumps the solder terminal inside D1 to the solder terminal labeled C (connect).

First solder all of the IC sockets to the board.

Make sure the little notch on top off the socket matches the lines on the circuit board.

 Locate the component identifiers for R1 – R9.  Insert the resistors and solder all components onto the PCB.

 Our next step will be to add all of the capacitors to our circuit.  C6 – C10 identify the placement of the ceramic capacitors.

C1, C2, C3, C5, C11, C12, C13 identify the placement of the electrolytic capacitors.

The longer lead on the electrolytic capacitors is positive. Make sure to match it up with the plus sign on the PCB.

The black band on the schottky diode represents the negative lead.

Match up the black band with the white stripe on the board.

Insert the transistor with the flat side facing the flat white line on the board.

Wired Components

The next major step in our project assembly will be the wired components.  Attach wires to all of the potentiometers, switches, and jacks beforehand.  This will save time and the construction of the circuit will be much simpler.

When you insert the LED align the flat (negative) side with the flat white line on the board.

Insert the pots exactly as they are shown in the picture.

Now wire up the mono jacks. T is for tip and S is for sleeve (ground)

C=Connect

Wire the switches as shown. There are two SPST switches and one SPDT switch.

To supply our circuit with power, our next step is to attach the 9V battery jack and the DC jack.  The red wire from 9V battery jack goes to the square hole labeled ‘+’ and the black wire goes to the circular hole labeled ‘-’.

Put the wires through the extra holes before they are soldered to the board. This will add extra stability and relieve tension on the power jacks.

Use this picture to wire up the DC jack in the correct location. P=pin S=Sleeve C=Connect

Extra jumpers will have to be placed in Mod_A and Mod_B for your circuit to work.

Use the picture above to make the connections.

Almost Done!

Place the IC chips into the circuit. Bend the pins on the chips inward slightly to fit the socket.

Match the half-moon notches on the chips with the notches on the IC sockets.

Congratulations, your Atari Junk Console is complete!  Plug in a 9V battery and connect your circuit to an amplifier to see if your circuit is operational.  If not, go back through the steps in these instructions and look for any mistakes.