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I found my old atari 130XE, full of dust. I have the power supply but I don't have connection cables and controls.

I've searched in eBay, Amazon and such for controls and there are plenty of them. My problem is about connection cables.

Could someone tell me what kind of cables do I need. For console-Monitor and console-Tv ?

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The 130XE has two display outputs, as you've probably already seen.

The easiest one to use is a VHF/UHF TV output, which should go to a TV that supports analogue TV standards. It should be relatively easy to find a TV antenna cable; you can combine it with the output of a set-top box, if needed, with a UHF Y adapter. You'll need to tune the TV to whichever frequency the Atari puts its signal on - probably channels 4 or 36, depending on which PAL region it was sold for.

There is also an output compatible with composite-video, but it appears on a non-standard port based around a 5-pin DIN plug. Many TVs will accept composite video on a yellow RCA jack, even if they don't support analogue RF input. The trouble is obtaining a cable between Atari 5-pin and RCA. The plugs themselves are easy to obtain, so you could make one yourself, by cutting one end off an RCA-RCA composite video cable.

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You might have more luck searching for Atari XL-series cables; they're essentially the same as on the Atari XE series, but the XL series is better known. The 800XL might be the most popular model to use as a search term.

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  • The RF output is an RCA jack? And it was really UHF, not the much more common VHF on channels 2 and 3 or 3 and 4? – cjs Mar 21 '20 at 2:16
  • Also, just to be clear, that DIN diagram is probably looking in to the female jack on the system unit. – cjs Mar 21 '20 at 2:18
  • @cjs At least on UK-market micros of the time, the TV output tended to be UHF. Quote from an Atari FAQ, though: - TV output: RF channel 4 (PAL version) or 36 (UK version). It should be the same cable either way. – Chromatix Mar 21 '20 at 2:50
  • How about updating the answer, and I'll delete my comments? – cjs Mar 21 '20 at 5:21
  • @cjs Done. Incidentally, the antenna cable is coaxial type as is its plug, but the plug is not RCA type. The latter is characterised by a protruding centre pin with a rounded end. Antenna cables I've seen tend to have a recessed pin that is hollow. – Chromatix Mar 21 '20 at 6:36
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The Atari XL/XE machines (“all but 400, NTSC 600XL, SECAM 800XL/130XE/XEgs”, according to the FAQ) have a video port broadly compatible with the Commodore 64. The connector (180° 5-pin DIN) and important pins are the same: 2 — Ground; 3 — Audio Output; 4 — Composite Video.

So unless you have a SECAM 130XE, a cable described on ebay something like “Commodore 64 / Vic 20 / Atari XE / XL 6ft. 5 Pin DIN AV Composite Mono RCA Cable” should work. The 5 pin is the important bit here: you don't want to accidentally buy a C64 LCA cable which has the wrong type of connector.

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