PAL Famicom on NTSC TV?

[mikeman400]

Is is possible to use a pal Famicom on a NTSC tv? I am looking at buying a hong kong version of the famicom with the disk system, but I don't know if I will be able to use the famicom on my tv. Is there some way to mod it or to get a RF PAL to NTSC converter?

[NFG]

There is no such thing as a "hong kong version" of the famicom.  What you describe is almost certainly a pirated famicom.  Hong Kong is PAL, it probably won't work on an NTSC TV without extensive modifications.

Japanese Famicoms are NTSC, but only output RF (unless you get an AV Famicom..) and will work fine.

[hippy dave]

link
is that a pirate?

[phreak97]

looks like it might be, the photo actually looks like a picture of a model, but i dunno.. i'd probably stay away from that auction.. 40 pounds for shipping.. plus you dont know if it's reliable.

it is possible the seller doesnt know it's a pirate, many people dont even realize pirate consoles exist. meaning they assume its legit.

ask the seller if it has AV outputs, most famiclones (famicom pirates) have AV rather than RF. no real famicom has AV.

[Guest]

also what you have to remember is there is also a large collecters market for counterfeit goods

[phreak97]

there is, that's true. but they dont sell for nearly the price which the official consoles do, unless youre looking at the top guy or game axe or something.. regular everyday famiclones usually dont go for more than the real thing.

[Midori]

I don't know anything about Hongkong Famicom version but I do know about hongkong NES version, there's one for sale here(sorry swedish auction site but I bet you'll understand the picture at the bottom anyway =) ): http://www.tradera.com/auction/Nintendo/aid_18873836 or is it  a similar item in the ebay auction? I can't see the pics in that one...

[hippy dave]

the pictures from the ebay auction have gone now, but no it looked different to the nes you linked. the nes looks like a nes, and the famicom looks like a famicom  

[Guest_Kyuusaku]

There is a Hong Kong Famicom (50hz) that appears to be 100% official or at least distributed by a Mani-like outfit because it genuine Nintendo parts and cases. You can identify this model by the colors of the "Family Computer" plaque, IIRC they are reversed, that and the blurb like "Hong Kong edition"

[ido8bit]

I couldn't see any pics, but if it was a pirate it may be possible to convert it to NTSC.  Many of the pirate famicons I have seen are based on a NES-on-chip that can do PAL or NTSC.  To convert it to NTSC you need to change a soldered jumper and crystal.  On some boards the jumper is marked, but usually it isn't.  

If it isn't marked it's usually a case of trial and error.  The other jumpers on the board usually select or disable the built in ROMs that are present in many of these machines.  

If you change the jumper, but not the crystal they will output PAL60.