Cleaned and fixed...

Got an outer ear infection (often referred to as "Swimmer's Ear"). Went to urgent care to get diagnosed. ZoomCare. Amazing how quick it was, too!

Anyway. I had a day to myself. I called in because, well, my ear hurt. It's hard to think about procedure while your ear is throbbing in pain.

Digging didn't yield anything exciting. Well, there were some Pokemon games, and I was holding them. But, since I already had flash cards for most, if not all, Nintendo branded consoles (the only 2 left for me, I think, is the Virtual Boy and the 3DS), I felt like I didn't need them.

I got some super glue to fix up that wonky power switch issue I had with the Genesis from last week. Since I got them (the Genesis and the Master System) all disassembled and the insides dusted and cleaned and the shells are degunked a couple of days ago, I figure it was time to put them back together again.

I super glued the switch back properly to the case, then added some hot glue dabs to where the switch backing was heat sealed to the case originally. Let it dry for a bit. Got a strong connection there. Turning on and off like it was stock.

The Master System was just as easy to do, since I was only putting it back in together.

Also added both of them to my "registry". Wow, so many doubles.

I'm not gonna say anything now, but there might be something else I'm adding to the collection, but I'm not mentioning it until I get more info on it.

Oh, and for the record, the Genesis is a VA2 and the Master System, with the leaf switches (not reed, I'm dumb) was one of the first ones out. There's a time stamp on there that says "28 September 1987"...Meaning I was gonna be 11 years old when this one was made...no, September is not my birthday month. It's October.

More digging, best find...(IMHO)

Happened to be kid-less today, so digging went a little better and easier.

Now, I was on the hunt, for no particular reason, for a model 1 Sega Genesis. Maybe because I needed a mate for my model 1 Sega Master System...apparently a 1st revision with it's reed switches and all. Anyway, I wasn't looking for any M1 Genesis; it had to be a specific one. It had to say "High Definition Graphics" and also have a certain FCC ID on the label. I've been able to find the "HDG" versions all over, but not the correct FCC ID. Reason? It'll be the first revision Genesis released to the masses. No licensing screen at boot up. Just straight to the game.

Today, I actually got to find one. I was skeptical at first, but there was another HDG one nearby and it's FCC ID was shorter. So, FINALLY, I got a M1 Genesis that was a R1, or a VA2 or whatever. I'm gonna check the board properly when I have the time.

To be fair, I did have a VA2 that I got from a relative a while ago. That has since been modded for S-Video and will possibly be RGB modded in a future mod. I just wanted to have one that was stock.

Nothing more than that, so pics...

Yay...and it was only $10.

The infamous FCC ID. 

As with everything I find at thrift stores, this one was dirty as f**k!

Quick peek inside. I needed access to the power switch. More on that later.

Since I don't have a proper A/V cable for a M1 Genesis, I had to use RF to test it. This little nibblet was stuck inside the RF connector. Probably why they got rid of it.

So, the power switch on the case itself was bad. Because it was "heat sealed" into position, whoever owned it before may have forcefully hit the switch, causing the seal to break. MAY be an easy fix with either hot or super glue, but that's after I've cleaned this dirty birdie.

Along with this find, I got a couple of Gamecube games: Viewtiful Joe and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. Both complete. With this, I even learned a semi-easier way to remove adhesive labels from the case. After removing the paper cover from case, I just put a moist baby wipe to soak the adhesive for a few minutes. After, I just took the baby wipe off and just rubbed the adhesive off. Came out clean. Wish I new sooner.

*pic placeholder for games*

Master System: Fixed!

Although, I'm having the crappiest time trying to desolder the old 7805 on it, I think I managed to get it installed pretty decently. It's always the solder hole for ground that I can never get clear. I know I should be patient, but damn, that was tedious.

Anyway...

Here it is. This is just after installing the 7805 back, getting thermal grease smeared on, and powered on. It's nekkid, but it'll work fine like this. 

I'm just letting R-Type's demo run. So far, everything looks good for just RF. A/V/SV mod later? Maybe.

The original culprit: A blown 7805. The input leg wasn't producing any voltage, and there was white residue all over the 7805 and the heatsink, so I'm thinking that this was blown by...I dunno, an NES adapter maybe?

Whilst typing this blog out, there were some glitching, but I'm waving that off as being interference from the exposed board. It's lasting longer than it did with the blown 7805 in it, so that's a good sign. 

I'm gonna close it up for now. I'm gonna do a deep cleaning in the near future. I'm just really tired. 

Numbers, numbers, numbers...

I just sat down and recorded just about all my console's serial numbers for that QR code/protection thing I talked about before...wait, I never mentioned it before.

I'm sure everyone is familiar with QR codes. My plan to safeguard my stuff was to print out some QR codes that have my basic info just in case someone steals it and sells it for meth money or some shit like that, and put them inside the console. That way, to prove that it's mine, I just have to tell them to open the console up and scan the QR code in there. Brilliant, no?

Anyway, part of the plan was to get the console's serial number included in the QR code's information. Gathering all those serial numbers was a not so daunting task, but I think I fared well. I just have to log 2 other consoles, but they're out of reach at this time.

Did a total count of how many consoles I have, including doubles.

51

...wow...

A new GET! came in today, also. It's not a game, but it's kinda gaming related. I got, after much patience, a pair of Gunnar Optiks! Yes, they're labeled as "Gamer Glasses", but it works well for staring at a computer screen...kinda like how I do all day at work. I'm using it right now as I type this. It works pretty damn well. What's more is that I got these at a pretty deep discount. Normally, they cost $70 online, not including shipping. I got these for $30 shipped! And new too!

New finds...

Well, I think I did decently this time around.

I found a Sega Master System M1 and a Chumby One, as well as a couple of PS3 games.

I don't have a power adapter suitable for the Chumby, but I know that it at least powers on (tested it with an adapter that kinda fit. I got a blue screen with googly eyes then a white screen...yeah, it might be an error, but it also might have been because I over volted it by 1.5 volts.

I just got around to testing the SMS and got greeted to a weak power LED then nothing.

I opened it up and took a look around. I noticed off the bat that the screw holding the heatsink to the 7805 power regulator was put back in backwards and the shielding by the card slot was bent. I tested the 7805 and got proper voltage on one side and nothing on the other.

After putting the screw back in properly to the heatsink, I powered it on again (thinking it was some kind of thermal break), it powered on again, but before I could reconnect it to the TV, it died.

...

Well, seems like I'm gonna need a 7805 now. As much as I hate going to Radio Shack, I may have to go there either tomorrow or the next.

How I (kinda) fixed and broke my GBC...

Watching Game of Thrones with my wife tonight. During one of the long winded speeches by Tyrion, I happened to eyeball something within the mess our kids made in the living room. It was my old cell phone (a Sanyo SCP-8100), now retired to my kids play basket. On the back of the phone, I remember a decent sized speaker that I experimented trying to make a hands free call once, but ended up being too much echo.

Then it hit me.

I grabbed my bit set and opened it up. I took the speaker from the rear out.

"This should work OK." I thought to myself.

I grabbed that GBC that I got a while ago that had a bad speaker in it, warmed up my soldering iron, opened the GBC up, removed the old one, installed the new pilfered speaker, and tried it out.

Old, decrepit speaker from the GBC. Rusted and sounding blown out.

Speaker from my old cell phone. Smaller than stock.

Side by side comparison of old and new.

After powering it on, the sound was working great...just a little too...tinny...or on the high side...for my taste. At least that's how it sounded with Pokemon's title screen. 

So, I tried to make a little baffle for it, to try and cut the highs down a bit.

I cut a little piece of fleece that my wife had scraps of. I used some thin cotton fabric scraps, but that didn't help much. The fleece worked a little better.

So I got it to a point where it works fine. Sound is coming out ok (Castlevania Adventure actually sounded awesome with this new speaker), and all was good. I went to put everything back together again. When I put the battery cover back on, I noticed that it was a little loose. So, I tried pulling the tab out in hopes to make it catch better to the case...

...F**K!...

Since I still had the soldering iron out, I warmed it back up again in an attempt to meld the two pieces together.

...Don't laugh. It held together quite fine.

Well, that was my adventure for tonight. I'm already on the search for battery covers, but I'm really not anal about it. 

[UPDATE]: On second though, the speaker does sound way better than the stock one. I think the baffle does make a difference. The Poke Center music sounds crisp on this new one. 

Modding (not so) much...

Been waiting for prices to go down for my annual trip back home to HI. Finally got around to getting a decent deal on it with one layover.

Haven't done anything in the modding/cleaning/hacking realm recently; my tendinitis keeps flaring up here and there that I can't really concentrate on the work I'm doing.

...That PC Engine is getting mad at me...

All I've picked up recently was Tomb Raider for PS3 and an E-Reader thing for the GBA.

I need to motivate myself to finish up the PC Engine, at least. This is ridiculous.