How to hook up your Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)
This page will show you the various ways to get your Nintendo Entertainment System up and running!
Nintendo Entertainment System
Ports and Connections
RCA A/V OUT:
This port is used for the Composite RCA AV Cable (red & Yellow)
NOTE: The NES does not output sound in Stereo. So RCA cables will only have 1 audio plug (Red, or White) not both. In this case you should plug the audio cable (regardless of color) into the White port on your TV, as most TVs will recognize you only have 1 sound cable plugged in (mono) and still output the sound from both Left and Right speakers, which is better than having it only come out of one side of the TV.
AC ADAPTOR:
This is the power supply port for the NES-002 Power Supply AC unit.
CH3-CH4:
This switch is used in conjunction with the RF OUT port to pick which channel will display the game.
When you use an RF box to connect your game system, the game will display on either Channel 3 or 4. You should try and use a channel that does not have a local TV station on it for minimum interference, but really either should work just fine.
RF OUT:
This port is used with the RF Converter box to hook the unit up via your cable/coaxial connection on the TV. One end of the cable has a standard 1/4″ plug (to the NES) and the other end is a coaxial cable that screws on the TV CABLE IN connection.
The Nintendo Entertainment System has two different ways to connect to your television.
RF: the cable that was packed with all the units, but provides the worst picture quality. You should only use this method if your television does not have RCA available.
COMPOSITE RCA: this provides the best picture quality available from the NES and is what Gametrog recommends.
RF Switch/Box
Standard Quality
RCA Composite Cable
Good Quality
METHOD #1 – RF Connection
What you will need:
Nintendo Entertainment System
Model NES-001
Nintendo AC Power Supply
Model NES-002
NES RF Box
Model NES-003
This is the method that most of you will remember if you were born before the 80’s. It was the staple method of hooking game systems up to a TV starting with PONG and still used for the XBOX and Playstation 2 (never do this). It is by far the worst way to go for picture quality. The reason being is that all the video and audio signals are compressed into one coaxial cable and jammed in to the TV, letting the television split it apart on its end. This causes a fuzzy picture, often accompanied by rolling lines! But if you only have a coaxial input on your TV, what else can you do? Let’s begin.
STEP #1 
Plug the NES-003 RF Box cable into your game Nintendo Entertainmanet System. You use the cable with the end that just plugs in, not the end with the screw on it.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the NES-003 RF box to your television cable port. (see diagram) If you are currently using this port for your Antenna, Cable or Satellite TV, and you only have one port (unlike the diagram), unscrew the cord, screw in the RF box, and then screw the TV Cord to the port supplied on the RF box (shown on bottom of illustration). This way your TV source will continue to work.
STEP #3 
Change the CH3-CH4 switch to desired channel. The channel shouldn’t matter. This channel would be your TV’s tuner channels or local channel. (Not a cable or satellite providers channel). On your TV’s INPUTS this is normally referred to as AIR.
STEP #4 
Plug the Nintendo NES-002 Power Supply into the game system.
STEP #5
Plug the Nintendo NES-002 Power Supply into the wall.
STEP #6
Plug in a game and turn on the Nintendo Entertainment System, even if you don’t see it on the TV yet. You should see the power light on the NES light up (a good sign) and doing this first will help in finding the right TV settings. When you’re searching for the right channel or input and you see the game, you got it right!
STEP #7
Turn the TV to the channel you picked on the back of the game system. If you have a newer model TV, you probably have several INPUT SOURCES available from COMPONENT, VIDEO 1 2 & 3 and so on. If this is the case you will most likely need to change it to AIR, which you may also have more than one option (AIR 1 or 2 or A and B, as shown on the above diagram). To change to these different video signal options, you usually have an INPUT or SOURCE button on your remote or television. If everything went right (and your game works…) you should be in business!
STEP #8
See how far you can get in Tetris!
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METHOD #2 – RCA Connection
What you will need:
Nintendo Entertainment System
Model NES-001
Nintendo AC Power Supply
Model NES-002
Standard RCA Cable
This method will give you the best picture quality you can get from the Nintendo Entertainment System. It is the method you should use whenever possible as the image quality of RF is very noticeable.
STEP #2
Attach the other end of the Nintendo RCA cable to your TV. You could have multiple options available like on the diagram. You can place it in any one that is not in use. YELLOW is the VIDEO and should be plugged into the YELLOW port. RED is the sound and can be plugged into either the red or white port.
In the case of the Nintendo Entertainment System you will only have 1 audio cable. If you plug it into the WHITE port (even if the cable is red) your TV will most likely play the sound out of both speakers. If you plug it into the red port the sound may only come from the RIGHT speaker of your TV or sound system (lame). Some TV’s will not do this. Test each port to see which one if any will play sound out of both speakers.
STEP #3
Plug the Nintendo NES-002 Power Supply into the NES game system.
STEP #4
Plug the Nintendo NES-002 Power Supply into the wall.
STEP #5
Plug in a game and turn on the Nintendo Entertainment System on even if you don’t see it on the TV yet. You should see the power light on the NES light up (a good sign) and doing this first will help in finding the right TV settings, when you’re searching for the right channel and you see the game, you got it right!
STEP #6
Turn your TV to the appropriate VIDEO SOURCE. You probably have several INPUTS available from COMPONENT, VIDEO 1 2 & 3 and so on. In the diagram above you would need to change your TV to VIDEO 1. To change to these different video signal options, you usually have an INPUT or SOURCE button on your remote or television.
STEP #7
Save the Princess, She’s in another castle!
Well, those are the basics. If you have any additional questions, feel free to send us an email. The Trog is always happy to help!
Need these cables? Save money with our combo packs!
Check out all of our NES products in the store!
-
SNES, NES, Genesis 1 – Power Supply
$9.99 -
Cadet – Premium Controller for NES (Black)
$12.99 -
Nintendo Entertainment System NES – RCA AV Cable
$4.99 -
3-in-1 Universal RF Unit for Super Nintendo SNES / Genesis/ NES
$6.99 -
Nintendo NES: Cable Pack – RF & AC Power Supply
$14.95 -
Nintendo NES: Cable Pack – RCA & AC Power Supply
$13.95 -
Classic Dogbone Controller for NES
$10.99 -
Famicom Adapter compatible with NES – 60 to 72 Pin
$12.99
Check out all of our NES Games in the store!
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