Trackball up and running...

 I would've done it sooner, but I had a little more research to do before I decided to dive into it...I also needed more wire...because I was out...

I had to figure out what what connection goes to what on the molex connector. I did some searching on what color wire does what and ended up with this.

Green/Yellow - Hdir/Hclk (X axis)
Blue/Purple - Ydir/Yclk (Y axis)

I also had to pull a +5V connection and a ground connection for the trackball. Searching further, I learned that the COM3 connections on the 60 in 1 was specifically trackball connections, also got the pinout for it.

1 Ground

2 Xclk

3 Xdir

4 Yclk

5 Ydir

6 +5v

That's with the "key" side of the connector on the left.

Again, I ended up just clipping the molex connector off and repinning it to the connectors that I had. 

I had some of these connectors that I used for some of my older projects. I used these connectors and trimmed down the keys to work with the 60 in 1 connector. Crimped on the connectors and put them in the proper spots for what I needed.

 This is it, all set up to the trackball connector. I initially wanted to use P2 controls, but then I'd have to get +5V to the trackball somehow. Going to the COM3 connector was the easier way of doing things. 

Repinned connectors; connector on the right going to the trackball itself, connector on the left goes to the COM3 connector.

And the pic of the trackball...from under the control panel.

I reconnected everything back to the JAMMA connector and set the 60 in 1 to test mode. Everything was fine for the trackball but the Y axis was inverted. Turns out that I had the colors backwards. So I swapped the Y axis wires. Testing it again and the Y axis is working in the correct direction.

I turned on the rest of the games on the 60 in 1 and played Centipede for a while. Happy to say that all is good!

So now that the Galaga cab is fully functional, control wise, all that needs to be done is cosmetic stuff. I'm really wanting to get rid of the light bulb in there and get the marquee back to its former glory, as well as getting the monitor a little more centered in there. I'm still coming up with ideas on how to get that to work.

In the meantime, I have a few other projects that I want to work on. They're all recap projects. One of the main ones I'm hoping will work after an extensive recap is a Sega Saturn that powers on but the disc doesn't spin nor is there video. The others are a Game Gear and my old Turbografx-16.

More work on the Galaga cab...

 I ordered a control panel last week from ArcadeShop.com. I priced it out, and I really would've saved about $20 or so if I pieced everything out (metal control panel, joystick, buttons, etc.), but I opted to just order a fully populated control panel, so there was just a few things that I needed to do to the control panel when I got it...plus I was pricing the parts out on the cheap, so lord knows how bad the buttons or joystick would've really been if I went that route.

Anyway, one week later, it arrived.

It was REALLY tight trying to get it into the cabinet. So tight that after I literally slapped it into the cabinet, it took some finagling to get it out. But it looks very nice in there.

So there was some work that I needed to do to it before I could functionally use it in the cab.

First thing I needed to do was to rewire the harness. It had a 12 pin MOLEX harness already wired in, similar to what was already in the Galaga cab originally. I had to cut this connector off.

Not gonna lie, this kinda hurt. I was more worried about warranty on the control panel, but I figured that I could easily redo...everything...on the control panel if I needed to.

At this point, I just ended up stripping and crimping on new connectors to work with what I already had set up for the JAMMA harness when I cleaned it up.

This is what I rewired it to. The 9 pin is for the main controls, the 3 pin is for the start buttons. There was 3 wires that were the same color, so I had to bust out the multimeter to figure out what red wire went to which switch. This was a 30 minute job (would've been shorter, but I was watching some stuff on YouTube at the same time) to get it all stripped and pinned.

I was too eager to find out if it worked or not to wait for the morning, so I just took it to the garage-cade and hooked it all up. I set the 60 in 1 to test mode and turned the cab on. Happy to say that all switches worked in the test mode! So I switched on more games to play and changed their DIP switch settings (Ms. Pac-man Speed boost!), turned the power off, turned off test mode, and switched it back on.

Again, happy to say that everything works! I got to play a few rounds of Ms. Pac-man and Xevious before powering it down for the night...I gotta remember to take my phone with me to take pics...

The only control panel thing left to do is get the wire the trackball to the harness. There's 2 ways of doing it: Wire it to player 2 controls on the JAMMA harness or get another harness that plugs directly into the 60 in 1 board...I think this time, I'll save and wire it up to player 2 on the JAMMA harness. 

Atari 5200 DONE!

 ...well, it was supposed to be completed over the weekend, but a part I was waiting for wasn't delivered on time. So, I ended up getting the following work day (Monday).

First off, before the part came in, I finalized the design for the expansion port with the holes for the jacks I planned on using. This is the final result. It doesn't snap in like I wanted, but a little bit of super glue (and epoxy, just on standby, not used in this installation) was used to make a secure fit. Before securing the jacks to the panel, I soldered all the ground wires to the RCA jack rings and to the S-Video jack grounds; I had a feeling that the heat from my soldering iron was gonna warp my print. 

I was too excited to receive the package today, so I just went straight in without snapping pics of the device or any of the assembly of it. The little white board where all the wires are converging to is called the Ultimate Atari Video (UAV). I got this from TheBrewingAcademy.com. It's a slightly cheaper and better video mod board that was available for the Atari 5200. 

What you see in the pic above is all the wires from the jacks that I had prepared on the expansion panel going to the UAV (little white PCB in the middle of the pic). There is some prep work that needed to be done to the UAV, mainly getting jumpers soldered into place and a few components soldered onto the board. There was a DIP socket that I soldered in place of a component that I had to desolder off of the Atari 5200's main board. Everything was just connected for testing to make sure my connections to the jacks. 

...Oh, speaking of connections...

I designed this little part to take the power jacks that I ordered specifically for this project...5 or so years ago. I designed it so it installs from inside the case. The larger area is super glued (or epoxied) to the case from behind leaving...

A clean(ish) look in the back. Not gonna lie, I rushed this part. The part isn't properly angled to follow the dimensions of the hole, and I didn't take some of the material down to make a flush look, but if it works, it works. I may redo it, but I'm OK with it...I need to make one for that one hole as well now...

Anyway, after getting power to the 5200...

Oh man, am I happy! Very clean picture...well, clearer than RF would've done. I have this running off of a VCR/DVD that has HDMI out, so it looks decent enough.

Shut down the machine and I started cleaning up my work. Shortened wires, bundled them up, resoldered the ground wire to somewhere closer. After testing it one last time, I closed up the console for (possibly) the last time. 

As it goes for controllers, I have 3 of them, but they all don't work. Mainly, the 2 that I tested, controls and the 10 key pad works, but the fire buttons don't. I'm not sure if it's the controllers or there's something going on with the board. I may mock up a button to the pins that control the triggers, just to rule out a connector issue.

Anyway, another project finished. On to the next one!

Trying my hand at 3D design...

I'm trying to print some parts for my Atari 5200 and get stuff ready for the A/V/S mod. I've been using Tinkercad online to make these pieces. I will eventually make use of Fusion 360 in the near future.

First, the expansion port cover.

That long piece is the test print. I was testing the measurements I took for the expansion port. It fit, shape wise, for the hole, but it didn't quite cover the port properly. Those smaller pieces were for the adapter...those were the rejects.

To make that expansion port fit, I needed to add a little bevel to the inner part.

Original on the left, remade one with the bevel on the right. No exact measurements on the angle of the bevel, but I took a chance.

This is the result. Flush to the port, perfect friction fit!...but, because I'm using this cover for the A/V/S mod, I need it to be a little more secure. I'm kinda happy with this for now, but I will be adding tabs for it to lock into place.

I also figured I'd tackle making the cover for the adapter hole.

This is probably the best fit I got so far from the 4 test prints I've done. It took a bit to get the hole for the adapter jack just right, but I think I may have to increase the hole size just a smidge. I may also increase the height on it and add a bevel to get it just right. I may also make a cover just to plug up that hole where the channel switch was.

That's enough tinkering around for now. I didn't get much rest last night, so I'm going to bed earlier tonight. Plans include increasing the size of the adapter plate, adding tabs and holes for the RCA and S-video jacks I have to the expansion port cover.

Atari 5200 prepping...

 I've just been in a mood lately. 

I figured I'd just prep the Atari 5200 for an A/V/S mod that I've been meaning to do since 2015...yeah, it's been a minute.

To bring things up to speed, I already removed the old power jack to make way for a new power jack. I did manage to find an adapter that worked just right for the 5200, but I've since misplaced it. It did show an image on the TV when I tested it, but, as you can see in the last pic, the jacks that I bought didn't fit in the old adapter hole properly. This is pretty much where I left it. 

I've been thinking, since I've been trying my hand at 3D design, I was gonna design a something that I can print to plug up the hole and provide a clean look for it...but I may forgo that and just get a washer or something to act as a baffle for mounting the jack...I guess I could combine the two and print a washer to work.

I found a A/V/S solution that works and has a relativity easy installation. A lot of Atari fans recommended it, so I went ahead and ordered one. I'll have more info when I do the install.

In the meantime, I went ahead and did some prep work.

I got my desoldering station out to desolder the CD4050 off of the 5200 main board. This is where the mod will plug in to where this is and output the video from it. The CD4050 is needed for the RF to work, from what I understand. So, since I don't use the RF anymore...

I removed it. I also removed the channel selector switch from the board, which opens up more opportunity to wire the A/V/S jacks there. 

So, as I wait for more the board to come in, I put the main board back in the case and sidelined it. Don't worry, this is my focus right now.

I'm also looking at getting an aftermarket controller, since the ones I got with this don't work really well. I may look at fixing them to work, but it might be more trouble than it's worth.

An attempt was done on the PSOne...

 Well, I looked at the backlog post I posted the other day and attempted to do one of the mods: The PSOne modchip cleanup.

Opened it up and was greeted to this:

Now, in my defense, I was a rookie modder at the time. I had a really worn soldering iron (not a station, like I do now) and soldering to small points were murder for me. This was "I soldered it in, it works" style of modding I did, so after testing it, I closed it up and called it good.

My OCD (now) got the better of me. So I opened it up, desoldered the wires, and redid my wire work. 15 minutes or so of work yielded this:

Routed the wires for a cleaner look than before. Secured the chip down with double sided foam tape. I'm OK with this.

My original power supply for the PSOne died, so I tried using something comparable to it. It got power, but the amperage was low, so it wouldn't spin a disc. I tried cobbling another adapter up... Ended up making some components literally smoking on the main board. 

...

I'm gonna sideline this for now. I don't think the modchip is causing it, but I'm not taking it up to chance. I will eventually order another power supply for it, as well as ask around for what are the parts that started smoking and start seeking parts for that.

In the meantime, I took a look at my 1001 PSX that I was planning on using to install an ODE mod to it (similar to the GC Loader). I wanted to open it up to clean up before I get the ODE. I was opened it up and was greeted with this:

I've had this 1001 for who know how long, never knew it was modded. I got it from a friend a long time ago when I still lived on Maui. It was a dead laser issue and even after tweaking the potentiometers, I sidelined it (back on Maui) up until maybe 2012 or so? Bringing it back with me, I planned on ordering a new laser for it until learning that you could potentially use a laser assembly from another PSX or even a PSOne (which was said to be the better one to look for). I did find one at a GW, so I bought it and used that one to swap out in this PSX. After some un-tweaking of the potentiometers, I got it back to a usable point.

Never tried using a backup or import game on it because I didn't think it was modded...oh well. I removed this old mod and prepared it for a possible future of ODE goodness.

Backtracking...looking at some old post...

Other than the fact that I didn't relink any of the pics from the Photobucket BS, there's a lot of projects that I've sidelined for a long while. To name a few:

Atari 5200: Needed to get the adapter jack installed and seek out an A/V/S board to get it up and running...and also working controllers.

Vectrex: Working, but still in shambles from shipping. I do know what needs to be done, finding what I need since...geez, has it been 5+ years? 

Coleco Gemini: Need to get this A/V/S Modded as well. I have all the notes already taken for what I need, just need to get the A/V/S board.

PSOne: I just need to clean up the mod like I did with my wife's PSX...OK, this one wasn't on my backlog, but since I'm tons more confident with my soldering techniques, I'm gonna tackle it.

 Dell notebook: After an impromptu garage cleaning sesh, I found an old notebook that I just need to reflow the GPU. Should be simple enough....SHOULD...

PS3: The PS3 that I bought when my wife and I got married. It's been reflowed once already, just need to redo it again...hopefully for the last time.

I'm sure there's more, but I'm sure that I'll figure it out as I check on my consoles.

Gamecube mod done!

 Just when I thought I posted something about it, I get sidetracked and don't do it...anyway

I finally got the parts to finish up the Gamecube mod in the mail from Laserbear.net.

The package came with with a sticker and some gummy bears.In the little white box was the SD card extender and some mounting screws to mount the SD card reader and the base of the GC Loader.

Here is the SD card extender and the mount base screwed together. Fairly easy step.

I didn't want to remove the disc drive cage to install the GC Loader mount if I didn't have to, but that was wishful thinking. I removed all 18 screws, mounted the...mount...to the disc drive cage, then got the cage put back together again. I double checked to make sure that I had the extender inserted properly into the GC Loader board.

Here it is all reassembled. I already put some games on the SD card, as well as got the updated boot file. 

While I was waiting for the parts to come in, there was an update to the GC Loader firmware. I put that on the SD card as well, and proceeded to update it per the maker's instructions. The on-screen instructions had me power cycle the Gamecube to finish the update.

I was greeted with this screen.

...

I kinda freaked out a little, thinking that I screwed up and it's now unrecoverable. I searched for an answer and it lead me to Twitter. Apparently, it has been reported that it causes this error and there was a simple fix for it. 

What needed to be done was an older version of the boot file needs to be used (Swiss r785) and the firmware file prior to this one (1.1.0). I got those on a "recovery" SD card, I got the files on it and loaded it up in the Gamecube. 

It did manage to boot to the main Swiss screen, so I did the "update" to the older firmware. When it came time to power cycle the Gamecube, I changed out the SD card to the one I had all the games on. I was relieved that the Swiss screen came up and all the games popped up. 

So, yeah. Gamecube mod completed. I'm thinking about installing an internal HDMI mod, but I think the Carby that I have is working fine.

Tools, 3D prints, and wire management...

 First things first, I needed better wire crimpers and connectors to finish up the Galaga wiring harness.

Got these ratcheting wire connector crimper and connectors. I would rather have a selection of Molex connectors, but these connectors worked for what I needed. I'm probably gonna use these for the RPi cab to fix up the speaker wiring.

So, when I last left the JAMMA harness for the Galaga cab, it looked like this:

...yikes...

Now after getting connectors and wire ties on it:

Much nicer. I had some connectors put onto the control panel end of the harness, so I'm able to swap between the original control panel and the new control panel that I plan on either making or buying soon.

I reached out to the maker of the GC loader SD Card mount. I asked if I could get the .STL files to print my own in a color that wasn't available through the site (Laserbear.net). He sent me the link to download the files. Tonight, I had time to finally print up the mount.

 I usually don't print on a raft. My prints on the Ender 3 Pro, when I print without a raft, end up having some white residue on it. Since the part that's gonna be touching the bed is gonna be the part that is shown, I decided to try printing it with a raft. I test printed a calibration cube on a raft, and it turned out OK. I hope that this comes out the same.

I did order the screw set and SD card extender from Laserbear.net. I just have to wait until that comes in before I start to take the Gamecube apart again.