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How to Hook up an Atari 5200 With a Switch Box

The Atari 5200 is a video game console that was introduced in 1982. The 5200 works with game cartridges sized slightly smaller than a deck of cards. Models were sold with ports for two to four joysticks, as well as a socket for connecting the Atari to a switch box. This device hooks up to the RF or VHF terminals on the back of older televisions. Today, you will almost always connect the switch box to a TV with the attached coaxial cable, not the Y-shaped VHS wire clips, unless you are hooking it up to a TV as old as the Atari itself.

Things You'll Need

Coaxial cable
Television source signal such a cable box or antenna

Instructions

- 1
  Attach the cable supplied with the Atari console to the round socket on the back of the unit.
- 2
  Plug the other end of the cable into the socket on the switch box labeled "Game/Computer."
- 3
  Connect a coaxial cable from the antenna, cable box or other programming source signal to the jack on the switch box labeled "Antenna or Cable."
- 4
  Hook up the coaxial cable attached to the switch box to the "RF IN" or "ANT IN" jack on the back of the television.
- 5
  Slide the switch on the top of the switch box to the left or the right to select between the Atari and your television programming signal.

Classic Console Games