Connecting a VIC 20 to a newer TV

[carlsson]

The actual RF modulator is inside the computer

Wrong. The VIC-20 has an external RF modulator. The Commodore 64 and some subsequent computers has an internal ditto. The Amiga 500 also has an external RF modulator (oh, the wisdom of Commodore) and not until the 1200 (or perhaps 600?) they decided to integrate it again...

there's a box with the 9 pin that plugs into the VIC20 on one end

It is only five pins, but it doesn't matter... What you should do is to connect the antenna cable to the RF output from the box, and then to your TV. In Europe, you would use a cable with a RCA male on one end and a 75 ohm coax male on the other. I don't know if you in the USA use RCA connectors for antenna input, but from what I understand this may be the case? All you US people know better.

Are there any devices that would allow a connection to a SVGA monitor?

Not really. There are some boxes that can convert composite video to a VGA signal, but I don't know how well they work and if they support the Commodore computers which output a composite video signal that is not 100% along with the expected timing, or so I've read. That is why some modern LCD monitors may have a difficulty to display the picture from an old computer/video game, if the monitor refuses to sync to a signal that is not perfect.

 

[briman]

Hi, I see that you found a solution for the cartridge port, but for everybody else, I clean the cartridge contacts with rubbing alcohol and q-tips. Good to try that before getting too involved. The cartridge contacts can be cleaned in the same manner. Dip the q-tips in a small cap of alcohol, don't be liberal, use as little as can do the job. I'm no pro but I have done this forever.