Do you know there was an Atari 2600 Jr. console in 1986? Me either. But it does not matter. What matters is, it was a significant video game console because, there was a rare variant that packs a single chip design.
The single chip combines 6507, 6532 and the Atari TIA and it was code named “JAN”. Anywho, Ben Heck embarked on a journey to make a custom PCB out of this rare console he acquired back in 2000, but with no success.
It was junked, until the fall of 2018 when he uncovered the ditched project and decided to give it another go, but this time, with the help of a friend who also has a still good single chip from an Atari 2600 Jr. for cross referencing.
Long story short, Ben spent the one year to turn the single chip into this handsome Atari 2600 Junior Single Chip Portable that, IMHO, a device which the chip should feel more at home.
Ben’s Atari 2600 Junior Single Chip Portable uses original Atari cartridges and we pumped that it works as intended. If you are into the technical aspect of the build, you may want to check out the an hour-ish video embedded below.
Images: Ben Heck.
