NES Zapper issue with CRT TV & original NES

KhromakKhromak
in Help Wanted!
Hello everyone,



I'm having some troubles getting zapper games to work and was hoping someone has had this problem in the past and has a good solution. I have both a top loader and original toaster NES, and 2 zappers. I've tried both zappers on both NES and neither of them sends a signal to the NES when I pull the trigger. I checked the controller ports on the inside of the NES and everything is connected fine, both zappers have all the hardware and no disconnected wires from what I can tell. When I pull the trigger it doesn't register a miss or a shot, and the screen doesn't flash at all. I've got the NES plugged into a Sony Trinitron KV-40BR700 CRT TV if it's relevant.



Let me know what you think and if you have any advice. If you have other questions or troubleshooting suggestions I'll check back in periodically. Thanks in advance!

Sean

Comments

  • TulpaTulpa
    Stupid question, but is the Zapper hooked into controller port 2?
  • gunpeigunpei
    That's a hi-def TV, right?
  • KhromakKhromak
    Wow. What a great way to start off. It is actually plugged into port 1...I guess that's the problem then? It's been probably 20 years since I played a zapper game, do they all use port 2?



    Guess I didn't think about it because I saw a video of someone playing Chiller with a zapper in both ports and I figured it was the same for all games.



    I tried them both in port 2 (duck hunt) and one works now, at least it is making the flash and expending a shot. But it's missing. Guess this TV doesn't work for light gun games, that's disappointing.
  • TulpaTulpa
    Chiller was specifically programmed for two Zappers. Most games use port 2 so port 1 could use a controller for select/start (and to control the duck in Duck Hunt.)



    But yeah, I think that the TV being HD is the main issue. Wrong refresh (?) rate. Zappers work with standard definition CRTs and their specific tech.
  • teh lurvteh lurv
    Yeah, CRT HDTVs convert the NES 15khz signal to 31khz. The delay that is created means zapper games won't work on that TV.
  • Bort License PlateBort License Plate
    Welcome to the site  
  • KhromakKhromak
    Thanks for the welcome Bert, and thanks for your help everyone.



    It's weird because I actually can hit ducks with the zapper that is working. It's very rare, maybe 5% of the time, but I have hit some. I'm going to try messing around with more of the settings in the service menu to see if I can change anything to help with this. I really like the quality (and obviously the size) of this set so I'd rather not have to get a second one for light gun games. I've spent a lot of time looking at manuals and other reference materials online for this set, I'll let you guys know if I find anything good.



    I figured out the problem with the second gun, a wire had gotten pinched and ripped on the inside. Might try to zombie that back to life.
  • IchinisanIchinisan
    I also have a few Sony HD CRTs. They have an image processor, which causes delays and breaks zapper compatibility. Like yours, I can sometimes get it to kill a duck, but that's just chance luck with timing.
  • KhromakKhromak
    Interesting input Ichinisan thanks for sharing, good to know someone else is experiencing something similar. It's funny because everything I read or watch (YouTube) online seems to indicate that any signal delay causes a 100% miss rate because the white is already gone by the time the gun checks for it.



    I was actually hopefully because it was able to register any hits. Can you get a hit on any TV, including true LCD/plasma TVs, just by getting lucky with the timing?
  • TulpaTulpa
    LCDs and plasmas are worse. They register every shot as off screen. No way to make it work, short of Frankensteining a sensor bar type of setup.
  • Bort License PlateBort License Plate
    http://nintendoage.com/forum/messageview.cfm?catid=22&threadid=177285



    Some more discussion on the matter in that thread
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