Conference rusure::nintendo

    I've had my Nintendo system for a little over a year and use it on my
    Yamaha 25" stereo TV and haven't had any problems so far.

    re: 422
      I have had my 13" color tv since August 28, of 89.  So far it
    has given me no trouble.  But before I got my tv I played nintendo
    on a 25" magnavox tv.  After I got my tv I hooked my nintendo up
    to it.  This happened to the Magnavox.  It developed a problem with
    the rotery tuner. When you turn it clock'wise it works until you
    get past channal 12 then you can't pick up anything else to the right,
    but if you turn it back past 0 to the channels 13-83 you pick up
    the channels just fine.  I do not know if it is related to the use
    of my nintendo on it or not.  I hope it is not.
                            
    			Ben Montgomery 
    
    

    I really doubt if having your Nintendo hooked up could cause either
    of the problems previously mentioned. Sounds like normal aging/wear
    & tear. Everyone looks for a scape-goat. The ringing sound could
    be a squealing transformein the power supply. They should take
    their TV in to have it checked. Besides, if the Nintendo were the
    problem, I think there would be lots more complaints and people
    down Nintendo's back.
    
    Just my $0.02		Mel

    The Nintendo won't hurt a TV.  What does happen is that your TV
    gets used a lot more because of much more use, so it will wear
    out sooner.  Usually, the TV's picture will become less sharp.
    I've often wondered how great it would be using the Nintendo on
    a "large" big screen.  But, who wants to wear out a $3,000 set?
    

    I have read in the owners manuals of much of my electronic equipment -
    including  my nintendo game system that the unit may transmit emissions
    of some frequency that depending upon where you have the system in
    relationship to your TV it could cause some interference - wether it be
    visible on your screen or a buzzing noise.
    Just a thought - don't know  if a Nintendo system has enough power to
    do cause such a thing.

    RE: .4
    
    I have owned a 40" Mitsubishi T.V. for about 4 years. I have also owned
    and played Nintendo on it since my girlfriend bought me the control
    deck the first Christmas it was available. I enjoy it quite a bit, and
    the T.V. doesn't demonstrate any adverse effects from my moderate to 
    heavy use of the games. It does, however, make Duck Hunt fairly easy.
    
    I recently had a different problem (detailed in the Silent_Service
    note .41 I think) concerning that particular game. It appears that it
    there may be a compatability problem with the game Silent Service when
    played on an older deck. I'll post Ultra's resolution in that note when
    they make it known to me if anyone's interested. 
    
    John D.
    

    
    I got the chance to play Nintendo on a 1990 52" screen Zenith.  I
    thought it was rather impressive and there seemed to be no adverse
    effects on the TV.  Certain games will leave a larger blank border
    though.  This was the case with Zelda II.  But The Guardian Legend
    was really impressive when seen on a 52" screen.
    
    					-Andy
    

    re. #1.
    	The whine you hear is most probably the power supply switching
    transformer in the Nintendo causing the unit to vibrate slightly.  If
    you have it in a wood cabinet on a hardwood floor, try placing small
    felt stick-on feet on the bottom of the Nintendo deck.  This should be
    enough to isolate the unit audio noise from the cabinet.  The cabinet
    can act as an amplifier for the small vibrations, thereby making them
    audible.

    re. #2.
    	You have a DIRTY TUNER.  The OLD click type tuners tend to oxidize
    with time.  There are cleaners out there that leave a small residue of
    semi-sticky oil or grease on the contacts inside the tuner.  Then, each
    time you turn the tuner, the oil picks up a little dust which acts as a
    buffing compound on the switch contacts.  What you are seeing is the
    different direction of rotation of the tuner switch causes the contacts
    to create force in different areas of the switch rotor, thereby making
    contact sometimes.  You can get the same effect by just jiggling the
    knob up and down and watching the picture jump in and out.  You WILL
    have to take the tuner apart to clean it and deoxidize the contacts,
    however.

    (EX T.V. repairman on this end.)

    The worst problem that you might encounter with EXTENDED use (I'm
    talking multi-hundreds of hours) of ONE GAME ONLY on the T.V. would be
    an etching of the phosphor of the picture tube which would leave the
    basic screen of the game (if it were not to move or change) on the
    tube.  However, the chances of this are almost NIL and NONE.  Besides,
    if the picture tube has been used enough to etch the game into the
    phosphor, it's trashed anyway.

    
    RE .8...
    
    	The whine occurs when the Nintendo unit is not attached to the
    television as well as when it is. I was just wondering if the Nintendo
    unit could have caused the problem. The set is only about two or three
    months old. 
    
    Steve 
    

    I still believe that the problem was not caused by the
    use of the Nintendo. A television that new should have
    some kind of a warranty in effect. I'd get in in to the
    service department A.S.A.P.
    
    				Mel

    I had a problem with a couple of channels on my TV getting ghosts from
    other channels. I complained to my cable company and they sent a
    service guy out (for free) and he checked it out. When he disconnected
    my Nintendo the problem goes away. It seems the Nintendo deck weakens
    the signal. He offered no solution to the problem.
    
    Paul
    

    The solution which I use to sort out 2 VCRs, Antenna (no cable), and
    the Nintendo is an RF distribution box.  I can select signal for the
    Main TV, Remote TV, and the VCR.  The box has a long row of push
    buttons grouped like:
    
              Main TV         |         Remote TV       |        VCR
    | Ant |  Pay  | VCR | Aux | Ant |  Pay  | VCR | Aux | Ant |  Pay  | Aux |
    
    (My configuration replaces "Pay" with the extra VCR)
    
    The nice part is that you can tape TV shows, the Nintendo (not all that
    crazy), watch what you want, check the TV *WITHOUT TURNING OF THE GAME*
    and in general it makes lots of people happy.  Radio Shack used to sell
    a plain switcher, an amplephied version, and an audio/video switcher if
    you have a monitor and don't use RF.
    
    That might take care of your ghost/shadow/signal loss/channel merge
    problems.

    Just thought I'd write what I think. It's hard to troubleshoot a TV via
    a note file but...... Sure sounds like a flyback transformer to me. The
    fact that the whine is heard with the mute on means it's not an audio 
    problem. You can test if for sure by turning the mute on, adjusting 
    the contrast, or brightness, or sharpness, or all three. If the whine
    changes pitch, it's the flyback transformer. It may just need to be 
    re-insulated, because they usually leak high voltage, thus the sound.
    Sometimes it's time for a new one. Probably a quality control problem
    if the set is less than a year old. Never Never EVER try to get close
    to a FLYBACK Transformer with the power on or off. You could end up in
    the land of the big Nintendo game in the sky. This is one time when
    qualified technican only is really true.
    
    Good luck and power on..........................
    
    CONALLEN

    	Having a few years of TV service and RF design, the problem with
    the TV can be MULTIPLE.  However, the porblem sounds like it is a
    mechanical parts isolation problem or voltage trippler problem (99% of
    the sets no longer use fly-backs).  An AUDIO sound with no other
    apparent problem is a mechanical vibration isolation device failure in
    all probability.  HOWEVER, if the set is still under warranty, GET IT
    TO THE SHOP!!!!!
    	
    	As for the reason of the Nintendo causing ghosting, etc. there is a
    very good explanation.  Although there are isolation diodes (FUNNY
    PARTS FOR NON-TECHNICAL PEOPKLE OUT THERE) inside the little plastic
    piece that the coax comes out of, these are NOT adequate isolation
    devices for Radio Frequencies.  So, if you have a regular TV channel
    and a Cable cannel on the same selector number, the transmission from
    the TV station will be picked up like an antenna by the cable from the
    Nintendo deck to the coax switch device.  Then, it will couple AROUND
    the isolation parts in the plastic case and be brought right into your
    TV.  The net effect is that the TV is trying to watch 2 stations at the
    same time.  A GOOD coaxial switch or distribution switch will cure this
    problem.  The other way to cure it is to remove the Nintendo from the
    antenna circuit AFTER every usage.  (BARF!!!!)
    
    Hope this helps explain the problems.

    Be on the lookout for games that are single screen with limited
    movement such as Tetris when used on a projection screen TV. The frame
    around the blocks in Tetris have no movement at all and will burn the
    image in the screen forever!!! We have discotinued using this game for
    any lenght of time. The burn only shows up on certain colors such as
    blue and is quite obvious when looking at an outdoor show with alot of
    sky...
    
    Did notice in the last game that I bought that Nintendo has put a
    warning notice in the package that warns of this happening.

    
    	The problem described in .15 is the one I came in here to ask a-
    	bout, so I will ... the "burning of images" into the TV screen
    	forever.
    
    	I just bought a $250 stereo TV, and am thinking about getting a
    	Nintendo deck.  I know that $250 isn't a huge chunk of money,
    	but it's enough that I don't want to ruin the TV.
    
    	Does that problem apply to projection TV's, or any TV?
    
    							GTI

    re: -.1
    
    	Applies to pretty much any tv, though some take a longer time to
    get an image burned on. 
    
    	While playing most games, this is rarely a problem.  It would only
    be a problem if you paused a game and left the tv on for extended 
    periods of time.  When I had a game that I had to leave on, (Link after
    to building up 30+ lifes after many hours of play), I've left the
    control deck on, and turned off the tube.
    
    	I believe that cures the problem of screen burn, but doesn't work
    wonders for the control deck.  Moral of the story, if you play normally
    it shouldn't be a problem.  Extended pausing can cause problems.
    
    t

    Most of the newer TV's are harder to "burn in" anyway.  Newer
    technologies and the way the tubes are made have really helped this
    problem.  -.1 is right that you really only have to worry about this if
    you have it on for long extended periods.  I have also used the trick
    of leaving the deck on, and turning the TV off when I need to pause the
    game for a long time.

    Later...
        Mike

    
    I used the NES for 3 years on my Emerson color 19 inch TV ( and I
    played alot ).  I never had any problems, or noticed any "burn in".  
    
    I remember the original problem was with big screen TV's, and/or 
    projection TV's.
    
    Ron.