A comparison...

I'm trying to solve a little problem I'm having with the encoder. There's some slight tilting going on on the bottom left corner of the screen, shown here:

See how the text on the bottom left is not spaced evenly as the top left? And then there's the screen shift to the left as well.

Been asking around (well, just the NG forums since I frequent there more), about this. Hopefully I can get a fix soon.

Anyways, here's a shot comparison with Composite and S-Video from my TG16 and RGB from the PCE.

I didn't see it on my phone, but looking at it on my computer makes a huge difference. The lines for the Vic Viper (shots taken from Parodius) get sharper and more detailed from top to bottom. Cool! 

...Now, if I can only solve my screen predicament here...

[EDIT]Upon further research, seems like that shift thing might be common. I'm still gonna look for a fix though.

Phase 2 pics...

As promised, pics...

8 pin mini DIN connector. Yeah, it's a little crooked. Wouldn't do that with a commissioned consoles, though. All the wires soldered on before I put the connector in place because it would've been easier that way. 

Connector soldered to the board. Had a heck of a time trying to get that soldered in.

I used a fiberglass pencil to scratch off some of the coating to expose some copper. Mmmonkey site goes over the procedure. After comparing my notes, I realized that I was going off of the site's suggestions and should've gone off of that. Next to the connector is an RGB amplifier I got from Broken from neo-geo.com's forums.

RGB, +5v for the RGB amp, Left and Right Audio connected. I used composite video instead of composite sync for this mod. The multi connector I made I've had wired so I could also have S-video and composite video...for the heck of it.

All hooked up ready to go

I had to change some settings on the TV to get a nice, sharp, picture. At this point, I'm happy with it!

I just had it done to a point that I could get RGB going on it. I still have a luma amp for S-video to build up as well as a S-video adapter built up...I may just do it tonight. 

Phase 2: Complete RGB/multi mod in PCE. Status: Complete!

It was a long time coming, but I finally finished it. I'm OK with how it turned out. Yes, I could've done better, but again, it's my own project.

Just thought I'd put up that I finished it up. Need some mental rest now. Post and pics will be up later on tonight.

Phase 1.5: 8 pin mini DIN to DB9 adapter. Status: Complete...

Ok. I'll admit it; I'm dumb.

The adapter I made a while ago (while shakey) wasn't wired to what I had planned originally on the notes I was looking at.

Unbeknownst to me, I redid those notes to be more clear and concise...on the back of the page of the original notes! So, I wasted most of the night redoing the adapter where I should've been working on wiring the PCE up for everything.

I've also updated my notes to make it easier from here on end. All that's left to do now is opening up the PCE and getting it wired up. Hopefully,  everything will work out on first try... HOPEFULLY *crosses fingers*

Phase one: Modify SCART to Component encoder. Status: Complete...

I'm SOOOOO glad this one wasn't commissioned, because I had FAIL written all over this. First off...

This...I need practice cutting holes in sheet metal. Plastics, OK. I can trim and carve that no problem. Sheet metal? Nope. Again. Thankfully this is my own project, so I don't really care about how it looks now...not yet, anyway. JB Weld might come in to play in the future. I should've just went with a hole and a wire.

The LM1881N for the sync stripper. Following the guide on Mmmonkey's Tutorials, I snipped off the legs that I wasn't using and shortened the legs that were gonna be used. I wasn't up to making a board for this.

Circuit complete. Not bad looking too. Made it small like the tutorial since I'm just gonna stuff it in the SCART to Component encoder anyway.

Wired for installation into the encoder.

Sync Stripper and all the proper connections to the SCART connector done.

And finally, audio jacks. Yes, I know one is blue. I have the parts on order, so I'll change them when I get the parts in. It doesn't show, but because the RCA jack is obnoxiously large, it's blocking that particular side from fully closing. Gonna fix that when I have to go back in.

What stinks is that I have no way to test it yet. I'm gonna be working on the PC Engine within the next couple days (I'm hoping), so with luck, I'll be good to go pretty soon here.

Good thing was that after doing this particular project, I remembered how I made my notes and my connections. Let's hope that they work fine.

Next up is...

I'm probably gonna get the SCART to Component thing doled out before I even attempt modding the PC Engine. Problem is: Do I cut the hole for the DB9 or drill a hole and just shove a wire through and call it good.

...on second though, I may just do the special cables I had planned for my generic multi out cable.

Also, I'm looking at the notes I took...I should've just stayed on the path with this project because now I'm confused.

...and there's also the sync separator that I need to make.

Oh man, I really need to shift my focus to this.

Sega Master System complete...but still a little disappointed...

I was amazed on how well the paint matched the rest of the console's color.

Yeah. I should've sanded more. But look at the color.

Can't even tell where the OG color and the spray paint meets. I just painted the back panel and the vents on the top, nothing else.

...I still lamented my planning, though.

Those damn A/V jacks. At least the cables I use doesn't bunch up as much. Plus I got the S-Video jack put nicely inside the case instead of outside.

And still with the poor planning...

Some of the RF shielding needed to be taken out because of the position of the jacks. Not too bad, though.

Everything runs fine after getting things back together. However, the Composite video doesn't look right...too dim. I'm thinking if I should go in and fix that, or do the whole plug up the holes and take out the Composite...really don't wanna go through that repair again, so I may just revisit the Composite mod again...but not now. I'm fine just playing S-Video.

Sega Master System re-revisited...

I felt compelled to redo the holes that were, for the longest time, bugging the crap out of me. It shouldn't have been, but it felt like an all-day project.

Here's the before shot. See how all the RCA's are bunched up? The video RCA sitting higher than the other two? That damn S-video jack sticking out like that?!? Drove me nuts!

Kinda glad I decided to redo this because I didn't know I didn't secure those screws on for the S-Video jack. What was I thinking?

Got smart this time. I clamped down one side of the S-Video jack and used my uni-bit to open up the hole for the screws.

Drilling from the back of the connector left a little protrusion on the front of the jack (right side of the jack). I just clamped it down again with the front side facing up and drilled with the uni-bit to get rid of that (left side of the jack).

And now the fun part. Using JB Weld's PlasticWeld putty epoxy to cover up the RCA holes and also the RF and Channel Select holes (RF? Psh).

After a few minutes kneading the putty to the right color and mashing it in the holes. Used my hobby knife that, now, I think I have to replace because of this, to cut the excess away...yeah, it was my first time using the stuff and yes, I know I could've done better.

After letting it sit for 2½ hours, hardened up pretty good.

The inside of the case...again, I know I could've done better.

After letting it sit for another 4 or so hours, after having dinner with my brother, I came back to tackle the sanding part. It was getting tedious with just sand paper, so I whipped out my Dremel and used a little sanding drum to take down the layers to get it to a point that I can use sand paper. Came in handy, especially for the inside of the case.

Measure twice, drill once...but check where you drill. I was contemplating just plugging up the hole again, but I decided to just modify it from the inside. Embarrassing, yes. But the thing to take away from this is the putty held up through the drilling, so Yay! on a great product. I may have made the audio RCAs close again, but not to a point where it'll bug me.

I honestly have no explanation for this. Why I left it like this, I don't know. I since removed all the black and blue tape from the console, heat shrink tubed the S-video circuit, and rebundled the wires and put them in the same area I put them in the last SMS I tackled. 

I've already got the board back in the bottom case, so that's good to go. I washed the case after getting it drilled and hit it with a coat of black paint. I'm gonna let that dry and hit it again before I go to work tomorrow. 

Oh, an update on the Mrs. car stereo. I have fat fingers, so when I was removing the stock head unit from the car, I dropped several screws. I don't feel like recovering them, but if I have to, I will. Also, the antenna is one of those unique ones, so I need to get an adapter to make it fit the new stereo as well. Nothing but headaches from that.

Quick mod job for the Mrs...(not gaming related)

I finished up some stuff in my wife's car. First off, I changed the dash lights to some semi bright LEDs since 2 of them were burnt out.

So pretty.

Then she wanted my old head unit instead of the crappy stock one in there now. I didn't get around to installing it tonight, but I got the prep work done so I just have to unscrew/re-screw stuff later.

Wires all soldered in and heat shrink tubed...I didn't make it this nice when I had it in my old RAV4.

Behind the scenes chaos.

Ready for the install.

I should be able to get the head unit installed within 15 minutes, give or take, since majority of the work has already been done here.

...I miss doing car stereo installs sometimes...

I dun goofed...too many projects, not enough parts...

...well, at least for one of them.

There's a fire going on in Central Oregon right now, and with the wind shifting from south on to northwest, we're getting a decent amount of the fire's haze here. In turn, that is affecting my allergies and my inability to think good.

I splayed out couple of projects that I wanted to do. Top billing was the PC Engine that's been just waiting there for me to start modding it. I also have the VA7 POS Genesis that I raided parts from that I need to get parts for AND mod AND clean up before trying to sell it. Then, for no good reason, I decided that I need to take my OG Famicom out to to lord-knows-what to it...I think I was either gonna redo the A/V mod in it or socket the PPU on it then redo the A/V mod.

I haven't opened up the Famicom yet, so that's gonna go back to the shelf for the time being.

I have to get some RCA jacks and a few switches (I really don't like bat toggle switches) for the VA7...I may slap on S-video on there, just for the hell of it, too.

I have to recheck my notes on the RGB mod for the PC Engine. I did an all-in-one cable that would take care of majority of the connections that I would like (RGB, S-Video, and composite), but it's been a while since I looked at it that I feel I need to reacquaint myself with it, starting by checking my AIO cable for proper connections.

I'm hoping to get all three of these done before my birthday.,..or at most, my son's birthday on Halloween.

Quick and dirty GBC mod...

Like, seriously dirty.

That green GBC that I tried to replace the speaker? Decided to show it some love tonight.

First, I found this while digging:

A GBA SP AG-001.

This one has a front light on it. So, like how most tutorials online mention, I raided this one for parts.

I figured since this SP is gonna be dust anyway, I decided to transplant some parts. Starting with...

That pesky speaker. I took the one that I raided from my old cell phone and put the GBA's speaker in there. Put it together for a quick test; much, much better.

Now for the good stuff.

The freshly harvested front light from the GBA. 

I was in "Get It Done, Now!" mode tonight. Followed a tutorial (sorry, no pics, but pretty much following most tuts), got everything wired (used a 68Ω resistor since I didn't have a 47Ω one), everything ready to go...then I went and effed things up. I put too much heat on the pad on the front light ribbon and the pad separated.

...F**K!

I was about to throw in the towel, but my curiosities and my stubbornness got the best of me. I scraped the coating around the now broken pad area...and kept scraping until I had a decent amount of metal to solder to.

The result?

...Yeah, that should do...

Now, I was in I.D.G.A.F mode at this point. If it worked, fine; If it didn't, fine. I just put in the mainboard screws and put the cover on, put some batteries and my Everdrive GB in to test.

...

Yay!

I didn't bother cleaning it up, but I think I'll do that in the near future. In the meantime, I'll just relish in my recovery and quick completion.

Probably the cleanest mod/first commission I've done.

Got the Master System sold. To entice a sale, I offered to add S-video to the console, along with RCA jacks for composite video and audio.

I have to say: This for me, personally, was the best and maybe the cleanest mod I've done in a long time.

I'll let the pictures show it.

Chroma, Luma, Composite, +5V and ground. Some hot glue to keep the wires tacked down (all I have, ATM). Not show is the connection to audio, which was tapped from the 8 pin DIN connector. I since did away with the hot glue where all the wires meet up at the top of the board. You'll see in the fourth pic what I ended up doing instead.

Luma amp and Chroma connections. It's about the same as any Model 1 Genesis S-Video mod that has the CXA1145 video processor in it. I haven't built the one for the Composite at this point yet.

This is my pride and joy. The RCA's aren't screwed in yet, but having the spacing between them and all level was one feat. The second was getting that S-video panel mount jack mounted behind the case instead of in front. I didn't want that silly silver oval showing outside.

While boring out the S-video screw holders a little wider (gives better play to make the jack fit square), the part slipped and ripped my nail. Yes, it still hurts at this point at night while typing this.

Seeing that the new owner may not be diving in this thing for a while, I made it without using disconnects. I just made the wires to a manageable length and went from there. Just to get wiring through for the RCA jacks and not worry about getting wires pinched, I drilled 2 small holes in the ribbing of the screw mount of the case. To hold the wires coming from the bottom of the board together, I drilled a hole in the edge of the board (just a ground plane). The components for the Luma, Chroma, and Composite amp are tucked nicely below the bottom shielding right at the edge of the case. There was a lot of room there.

The jacks, all soldered in and ready to go. I made sure that none of the exposed parts on the jacks were touching bare metal. I modified the top and bottom RF shields for that. I rolled some of the edges in so there were no sharp edges. A quick dab of hot glue on the nuts of the jacks just secures them so they don't loosen over time. I did turn those nuts on all of the jack really, really tight.

So this project turned commission used whatever parts I could get in a rush. I used the RCA jacks from the VA7 Genesis that I was planning on overclocking, and some wire ties. It does look a bit jankey, but I'm happy with how it turned out, nonetheless.

Revisiting a Model 1 Genesis...

While getting in a cleaning mode this past weekend (Yay, Labor Day!), I found (yet again) a Sega Genesis Model 1. This one came with the Sega CD I found digging, I don't know, 3 years ago? Anyway, this one was known to be the crappiest Model 1 known (the VA7).

I have no idea why I still have this thing...

Soooo, I went online to check out information about overclocking it and whatnot. Got a small handful of info, so if I was gonna do it, I may have to follow a Genesis Model 2 style overclock. Same manner, different chip.

This one looks like it's gonna be a tight fit, since most overclock lead wires should be short...like 3", short.

I THINK I may have decent tutorial for the Model 2 that I can work off of. If it doesn't work, really no loss for me. Just slight disappointment.

I may attempt to do an S-Video mod to it too. Perhaps it might entice a sale...