Ivory Tower Collections

11/04/2026

11/01/2026

Well the time finally came this morning while working on a console, that my 10+ year old Hakko FR-300 finally has given up most of its ghost. It still works but I'm on my last tip I can use on it and can't get replacements. And this morning the valve flap completely came apart. I can get replacement valve flaps for the thing, but as they would take a week to get here and I still can't get replacement tips. I decided to go ahead and replace it with its newer sibling the FR-301. However, that will also take a week to get here. So all console services have to be put on pause for the time being. What is here and what is headed my way, all rely on having a working desoldering gun to get the job done well and as quickly as possible.

My apologies for any delays this will cause some folks but just know I've been keeping my old FR-300 alive on basically life support for the past 2 years and I'm done to keep trying and need to let it go...

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11/01/2026

Happy Halloween from the 'Tower'! Thought I would share a quick test from my current patient here on the bench receiving services. This is direct capture from Lumacode through a RetroTink 6x. Not sure the NES would have been quite what every kid wanted if this had been released back in the day....

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10/27/2026

This Intellivision II console will be home shortly after getting a complete refurbishment with new capacitors and solder points touched up. Video was upgraded with an OGHugo composite video upgrade kit to provide composite video for use with a CRT. The power LED was replaced with one of my slow changing RGB type that will change color hues on its own slowly without being flashy and annoying as some I've seen.

10/27/2026

Another Atari 7800 will be home in the hands of its owner soon. This 7800 received new capacitors, a new power LED to relace the boring standard red with a new Cyan color. Also received a Lumacode upgrade along with the Audio Input option installed. Lumacode is used with an RGB2HD converter or other compatible device to provide a full digital HDMI output with audio. The audio input is to help with easier use of the AtariVox speech adapter when used on these consoles. No repairs needed for this 7800.

10/27/2026

Lumacode Update! -

I've gotten another smaller Lumacode order in and have some digitizers ready for the following systems:

3 MARIAdigitizers - For use with the Atari 7800 console
3 STICdigitizers - For use withe the Intellivision / INTV II model consoles
3 GTIAdigitizers - For use with the Atari 5200 or Atari 8-bit computers
1 PPUdigitizer - For use with the NES
1 VDPdigitizer - For use with the SMS

So if you have been waiting for me to get more in stock, contact me now to reserve a digitizer setup for 1 or more of your consoles. I also have about 7 RGB2HD starter kits on hand and will soon have another 4 made up. But after that, due to price increases & difficulty in getting the stuff needed (Due to shortages). This could very well be the last batch of RGB2HD converters I will make up and have available for new installs.

Now for more updates, there is a new hardware fix that I will be doing going forward for all Intellivision Lumacode installs. This fix is required to get Lumacode working properly on the RetroTink 6x , Retrotink 4k, and OSSC scaler devices. Previously, Intellivision was only working properly through the RGB2HD converters. This will increase the costs for the Intellivision Lumacode installs but I do feel it would be best to add it to make the consoles more compatible with various Lumacode decoding options going forward. Likewise, if you are interested in having your current Intellivision Lumacode upgraded console updated with the new fix, just reach out and I'm happy to provide pricing for that.

Last I want to mention that I can get digitizers for the 2600, NES, and SMS consoles quicker than the other digitizers. So if you are interested in getting one of those 3 consoles done with Lumacode and I don't currently have digitizers on hand for your request, then I should be able to order them on an as needed basis with not much wait time.

The above digitizer count is current and already adjusted for any that are reserved already. I know a few folks were waiting for me to get some more digitizers on hand for these consoles so now is your time!

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10/17/2026

The Intellivision is now working through Lumacode on the RetroTink 6x and assumed the 4k as well. It requires additional hardware to be purchased and added to the Intellivision to work alonside the STICdigitizer. Basically, a Pi Pico is used and programmed with a new set of sync pulses that are injected into the digitizer. This allows the signal output to be much more stable and allow it to work properly with the RetroTink 6x CE and RetroTink 4k scalers.

I also tested this Intellivision with the sync fix in place on my original RGB2HD converter and it still works there as well. So going forward, I'm going to have to increase the cost and labor for Intellivision Lumacode installs since I won't know really if a client will ever intend to use it with a RetroTink or OSSC. And this fix will make sure that the Lumacode output will work with all known current devices that can decode Lumacode to provide HDMI output.

10/06/2026

Another Atari 2600 'Vader' 4-switch console is headed home to be enjoyed for many more years. This one required a replacement 6532 (RIOT), and 01444 (TIA) IC chips. After bringing it back to life at that point, it was then refurbished and received both a UAV upgrade for composite and s-video, and a Lumacode upgrade with the use of a TIAdigitizer. The owner of this 2600 requested most AV jacks to be RCA so the Lumacode on this one is using a black insert RCA to separate it from the rest along the back of the console shell. Also included will be an RGB2HD converter kit to make use of the Lumacode output and provide full digital HDMI with audio for use on modern TVs!

10/02/2026

Got this controller from Atarirepairparts.com yesterday and played for about 3 hours with it. Very impressed with how well the directions respond. As compared to some others I've used in the past. It works slightly better than my other controller from retrogameboyz but to be fair, that retrogameboyz controller is well over 6 or 7 years old now and has a lot of hours on it.

One thing that does need to be mentioned is that the buttons are reversed in their mapping compared to the rest of my controllers. Meaning button 1 is on the right and button 2 is on the left. I might open up my controller and look at reversing them since I'm used to them being mapped the other way. But will have to see since if I do that, then the labeling on the controller won't match anymore.

The turbo buttons work very well and easily. Press the turbo button for whichever button you want it active just once and now turbo is enabled for that button. Press it again to turn it off. There aren't any indicators in the controller to show you that turbo is active. Not sure how big of a deal that might be for folks.

The controller cable is made using ARPs new controller wire harnesses. And these cables are excellent! I've used them on other controllers where I wanted a nice controller wire attached or to repair an original that had worn out and has broken wires within it. So I know the cable on this controller should stand the test of time.

The last thing that I will critize on is the label. It is made very well and I'm sure it will hold up over time. But the purple coloring against the gray background makes the text hard to read for me. I would suggest that atarirepairparts.com think about adding a thin black outline around the text. At least on the text labels for the buttons and turbo buttons to help it stand out better and be easier to read.

Here are pictures of the controller with my much older retrogameboyz controller along with a detail picture of the ARP controller.

09/23/2026

A2600-2026-E:- Another 6 switch Atari 2600 was sent to the ITC to get refurbished, minor repairs, and to have a TIAdigitizer installed to provide Lumacode video output. Lumacode output when decoded with an RGB2HD converter or other compatible scaler, will provide full digital 1080P HDMI video & audio to allow playing this 2600 on a modern display!