Atari 2600 / 2800 Pause Mod Kit

Installation Instructions

Thank you for your purchase of the Atari 2600 Pause Kit.  Once installed in your Atari 2600 / 2800, youʼll be able to pause your favorite games at  any time. Flip the toggle, leave the Atari on and walk away to get your favorite beverage, snack  or whatever. 

While paused, the Atari 2600 / 2800 will display either a blank screen, random lines, or  an invalid television / monitor signal. Unfortunately the Atari was never meant to be paused so this is a harmless side effect. 

Installation Instructions:  

You can install the 2600 Pause Kit in a variety of Atari 2600 consoles produced by Atari  (Heavy Sixer, 4-switch, Vader, Junior, 2800). The installation procedure is basically the same,  regardless of the specific Atari brand console. I have not tested this Pause Kit in third party Atari  2600 consoles such as the Coleco Gemini or the Atari 5200 VCS Adapter.…ect 

Warning: You will need some basic electrical and soldering skills to perform this this mod.  They’re are a ton of videos and tutorials out there to teach you the skills needed and to help you  with the mod.  

See Pictures at bottom of post

Step 1: 

Open your Atari 2600 console, remove the circuit board from the case, and remove the RF  shielding if present. Youʼll need to use a pair of needle-nose pliers (or something similar) to  straighten the metal tabs holding the two halves of the RF shield together. Try to straighten the  tabs as much as possible, as this will make it easier to put the two halves back together when you  are finished.  

Step 2: 

You must desolder / remove a resistor on the Atari 2600 circuit board. The location varies  depending on which console you are modifying. Please refer to the images at the end of this  document that show the resistor you need to remove. We suggest desoldering the resistor (so you  can “undo” this modification if need be), but you can also cut the resistor out if youʼd prefer. 

Step 3: 

Now you must cut a single trace on the circuit board. Please refer to the images at the  bottom of this document to see which trace you need to cut. An X-Acto knife works well for this  purpose. It canʼt be stressed enough that you must be extremely careful when cutting the trace on  the board so you do not damage any other nearby traces! You do not want to do permanent  damage to your 2600!  

** (You will be cutting the trace connected to the TIA pin on the chip. If the chip is socketed and  you feel comfortable removing it, I recommend cutting the trace under the chip because the  traces are further apart and there’s less chance of mistakingly cutting another trace by mistake.)  

Step 4: 

You need to solder four wires from the 2600 Pause Kit to four locations on the 2600  circuit board. Depending on which console you modify (Heavy Sixer, 4-Switch, Junior, or 2800),  the board will be laid out differently. You will be soldering the VCC, GND, 6507, and TIA  connections on the Pause Kit to the appropriate locations on the Atari 2600 board. 

Use suggest using the Red wire for VCC, Black for GND, Blue for 6507 and Green for  TIA. You donʼt have to use these particular colors, but make sure you save the two connected  long wires for the toggle switch. 

 Be very careful when soldering the wires to the Atari 2600 chips. These integrated circuits are  sensitive to heat, so take care to not leave your soldering iron in contact with individual pins for  more time than is necessary.

Step 5: 

Now you can connect the 2600 Pause Kit circuit board (SW1 & SW2) to the Toggle  Switch using the provided wires. 

Step 6: 

Your 2600 Pause Kit is now electrically complete! Before going further, itʼs a good idea  to test out the Pause Kit to make sure it is working properly. Place your 2600 circuit board on a  non-conductive surface, plug in your favorite Atari 2600 game and power it up! If you donʼt see a picture, try switching the toggle switch. If you still donʼt see the game, verify  that you removed the correct resistor, that you cut the correct trace on the board, and carefully  check your solder connections. 

Step 7: 

Use the included piece of double-sided tape to affix the 2600 Pause Kit circuit board to one of  the chips or on an opening on the circuit board. Take care not to put any stress on the connections  you made to the 6507 and TIA chips.

Step 8: 

Reattach the RF shield, routing the two wires for the toggle switch under the shield or through an  opening (if available). The edges of the RF shield may be sharp (and perhaps rusty), so be careful  not to damage the wires or yourself! 

Step 9: 

Using a drill with a 1/4” drill bit, drill a hole in the top half of your Atari 2600 case where you  want to place the toggle switch. When selecting a location, make sure that the switch will not  interfere with assembling the two halves of the case together after the switch is installed. The  picture below is where I placed mine. 

Step 10: 

Now itʼs time to reassemble your Atari. Place the 2600 circuit board in the bottom half of  its case and then fit the top half of the case on the lower half. Be aware of the position of the  wires for the switch, so that they do not get pinched by the case, switches, screw posts, or  anything else in the case. Use the screws you removed earlier to fasten the two halves of the case back together. 

Youʼre finished. Now revel in your awesomeness! 

Need Help? If you need help or have any questions, please contact me at  CK@Commodorekazz.com