2022 inaugural post...

I was supposed to make an end of the year post on Friday (Dec 31st), but there was a lot going on. 

Last year (2021) was pretty much meh in terms of modding or repair work. I wasn't feeling it after failing that Game Gear mod, so I really didn't feel like doing any more repairs or modification work. I think the last few things I did finalizing some of the arcade cabs, N64 controller refurb, putting in a new hard drive in my Xbox One, and the OG Famicom. There was an attempt to repair one of my phat PS3s, but that didn't fair out so well. I will attempt them again, but not anytime soon.

We went to Orlando, FL in October as well. We had some fun at Universal Studios and Disney World! Other than all the walking and the tantrums thrown, it was a great trip. There was a hiccup with ticketing for Universal, but that was (kinda) solved (semi) easily.

I also got some new EverDrives as well. I updated my Famicom one to the new Pro version, and also got a new Gameboy x7 as well. I will be selling off the old ones soon. However, I'm not sure that we'll be doing PRGE again. We've (my friend and I) have both been reluctant on getting the OG Xboxes finalized and done with. There's really minimal things left to do on them, but neither of us have the time or energy to do it. Add to that, our usual workspace (the garage) is now temporarily storage for a friend of his, not to mention that it's also winter time and the temps have been really low as of late.

Another flashcart that I was able to pick up last year was a NeoSD. I did mess around with it on my CMVS and it's awesome! My CMVS has been acting up, mainly video issues. I've checked the wiring and nothing seems to be wrong. But after taking the top off and on, it miraculously works again. It works for now. I'll also have to source a new adapter for it. The one I initially bought for it is too loose for the jack that I installed.

I think the main takeaway from last year is that I finally decided to try and apply for another job. My friend persuaded me to apply for the place he works at. Well, the whole month of December has yielded me several interviews for the position. I'm just waiting until after the holidays to follow up. I'll update when I find out.

Other than the possible new job, I'm not sure what I'm looking forward to in 2022. There are several things that I still need to finish off. The main one is the PC Engine Duo R that I got several years ago. I really just need to get rid of the mod currently in there and redo the RGB amp and region mod. It also needs to recapped. I have my PC Engine duo that I need to recap as well as clean up, similar to my TG16. I'd also like to add an RGB option to it, and maybe add a Nintendo multi-out as well. Lastly, an old, white PC Engine that I had modified several years ago, but I since removed the RGB mod from it and gave it to the TG16, that's another thing that is needed to be ordered... Seems like an NEC kind of year!

So yeah, that's it. We'll have to see how 2022 treats us.

You can't progress without failure...

And man, have I failed on my last 2 mods.

First off, I worked on getting my Gameboy Pocket modified with a back light and also a bi-vert mod.

Let's get to the fails (sorry, no pics)

• Broke the ribbon cable on the LCD which later I was able to repair
• Broke a capacitor that the bi-vert mod board needed to connect to because...
• I kept bridging the connections trying to get the solder to flow through the points. 
• I had a hard time getting the polarized filter off of the LCD, which made it worse for tearing in the ribbon cable.
• Got super frustrated and broke the main board in half.

I ended up using another Gameboy Pocket that the case was worse for wear and got everything *sorta* working.

...See, I didn't want to mess with getting bridging solder points again, so I ended up just lifting the pins that I needed to connector to the bi-vert mod board to the Gameboy. Doing so somehow messed the LCD ribbon connector on the main board, so the ribbon cable will seat in there, but the clip for the connector won't fully lock the ribbon in place. I got it so it locks just right, but now that I think about it, it might be causing a slight screen issue, but I still need to test my theory.

Next fail, an Atari 2600 A/V mod.

Not really a super fail, but I decided that I was gonna make a simple A/V board with parts that I already had. I'm not sure if I built it wrong, but 2 of my test monitors were really static-y. One of the monitors gave a decent overall image, but when when there was sound involved, there was static on the screen. The other monitor would show an image for a brief moment, then blank out.

At this point, I'm gonna just get an A/V/S-Video mod board and go that route...because I'm out of parts and I'm now lazy to build one up.

Yeah, Just a few fails, but I won't get any better without failing a few.