NESRGB board available now

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leonk
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by leonk »

bobrocks95 wrote:Wouldn't the large number of similar and recent problems imply that Tim got a bad batch of something on his boards last time he produced them? I've been reading this thread from the start and I don't remember any problems being so widespread/consistent.
I think Tim got a batch of bad 220uF tantalum capacitors.

I will experiment with replacing them (as they are needed for composite video and svideo but can removed and pads jumpered for RGB if you got 220uF capacitors in your rgb cable)
leonk
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by leonk »

removed the 3 220uF capacitors and jumpered the pads (as my scart cables already have the caps)

No change in behavior. Same problem. i will test the second nesrgb board I got from Tim tomorrow.
tzakiel
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by tzakiel »

bobrocks95 wrote:Wouldn't the large number of similar and recent problems imply that Tim got a bad batch of something on his boards last time he produced them? I've been reading this thread from the start and I don't remember any problems being so widespread/consistent.
It would seem like that to me. Is there any way to contact him to ask about it? I know he replied here a while back and he suggested it was the NES caps (which did seem to solve it for one user). I tried PMing him a while back but the board says he doesn't accept PMs. I've never worked directly with him so I'm not sure what's appropriate.
leonk
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by leonk »

I e-mailed him last night; waiting for a reply.

I have another NESRGB board which I'm in the process of installing into another NES. Will see if I notice the same issue. I've done >100 NESRGB installs, and have a standard way of testing consoles. I notice tiny differences and this particular issue instantly stood out. That's when I remembered this thread and came back to see if there was an issue.

Worst case scenario, I'll open my top loader test system, and swap the NESRGB boards. If the issue still persists I will know 100% that it's due to a faulty NESRGB board and not console.
tzakiel
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by tzakiel »

leonk wrote:I e-mailed him last night; waiting for a reply.

Worst case scenario, I'll open my top loader test system, and swap the NESRGB boards. If the issue still persists I will know 100% that it's due to a faulty NESRGB board and not console.
That would be a great test and would certainly put the question to rest. I know it's a pain but it would be super helpful if you find the time! I'd personally love to know the result.
leonk
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by leonk »

I installed the second NESRGB that Tim sent me at the same time into a Front Loader. Works perfectly, super clean image.

I then pulled the NESRGB from my test top loader and put it into the Famicom AV. Super clean image.

At this point, without a doubt, noise is coming from the NESRGB board. There's something defective on it. I'm hoping Tim gets back to be so I can RMA this 1 PCB
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by viletim »

tzakiel wrote:
bobrocks95 wrote:Wouldn't the large number of similar and recent problems imply that Tim got a bad batch of something on his boards last time he produced them? I've been reading this thread from the start and I don't remember any problems being so widespread/consistent.
It would seem like that to me. Is there any way to contact him to ask about it? I know he replied here a while back and he suggested it was the NES caps (which did seem to solve it for one user). I tried PMing him a while back but the board says he doesn't accept PMs. I've never worked directly with him so I'm not sure what's appropriate.
Quantum's NESRGB board is from an older production run. The symptom of Leon and tzakiel's boards is a bit different. I don't know the cause, but I'll try to figure it out from Leon's board. I've sold about 75% of the latest batch and there only seems to be a few people affected (I haven't received reports outside of this thread).
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by viletim »

Link83 wrote:
FBX wrote:So here's my next question: If your new diagram works, why wouldn't Tim use that diagram on his web page? He has position 3 in the middle again on his page for DPDT switches.
I really couldn't tell you :? You would be best asking Tim. I mean its possible to have all four 'mode' combinations with just two pads instead of three, so I can only assume there was perhaps some initial plan to offer more than 3 palette choices? I also dont quite understand why Tim choose that particular mode order, especially the addition of the third 'Off' mode.

The mode order table I suggested earlier would make it so that Palette 2 is always in the middle position when wiring a switch with the 'simple' method - it would even work with a SPDT on-off-on switch. I mirrored the 4 'modes' so that Pad 3 is basically a 'modifier' and gives you the same mode choices with entirely the opposite grounded/floating pad combination (e.g. You could select palette 2 by having both pins grounded, or both pins floating, depending on if Pad 3 is grounded or not - hence being a 'modifier') I dont know if Tim would be open to changing the mode order at this stage though?
That large, on-on-on toggle switch was supplied with the kits only briefly. I should remove the details from the website... It was chosen to replace the four position slide switch many customers were having trouble with. I then changed the software to support the SPDT switch that's currently supplied (while still keeping compatibility with the four position sw).
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

viletim wrote:
That large, on-on-on toggle switch was supplied with the kits only briefly. I should remove the details from the website... It was chosen to replace the four position slide switch many customers were having trouble with. I then changed the software to support the SPDT switch that's currently supplied (while still keeping compatibility with the four position sw).
Well the large on-on-on switch allows for 1-2-3 palette toggling. I've installed it in my NES, and I prefer it over the dinky single pole switch (which by the way cannot be hooked up with 2 in the center).
tzakiel
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by tzakiel »

viletim wrote:
Quantum's NESRGB board is from an older production run. The symptom of Leon and tzakiel's boards is a bit different. I don't know the cause, but I'll try to figure it out from Leon's board. I've sold about 75% of the latest batch and there only seems to be a few people affected (I haven't received reports outside of this thread).
It took me a few games before I ever noticed the issue because it takes specific situations to see it. And I am kind of a pixel peeper. It may be that the majority of customers don't notice it even though it's there. Just a thought. Thanks for checking it out.
leonk
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by leonk »

viletim wrote:Quantum's NESRGB board is from an older production run. The symptom of Leon and tzakiel's boards is a bit different. I don't know the cause, but I'll try to figure it out from Leon's board. I've sold about 75% of the latest batch and there only seems to be a few people affected (I haven't received reports outside of this thread).
I have no doubt that you will solve it. I'm very happy with the NESRGB solution. It's been one of the most reliable mods I've been installing for the past 4 years.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

Skips wrote:
lettuce wrote:I need to clarify what the 3 audio solder pads are for on the NESRGB, Audio Output, Audio Input A (CPU Pin 1) and Audio Input B (CPU Pin 2.). I am want to run left and right audio (is the NESRGB even stereo?) to the 2 pins on my mini din socket (pins 1 and 2), which points on the NESRGB do i need to wire up and what are all 3 solder pads for exactly?
The NES does not do stereo and never will. Those "stereo" mods do nothing more than separate the 5 sound channels (pulse wave 1, pulse wave 2, triangle wave, noise, and samples) and mix mono back in to give it a little more thump. CPU pin 1 is Pulse wave 1 and 2 and CPU pin 2 is Triangle wave, noise, and samples. Pretty much Pulse wave 1 and 2 sounds come out one speaker and triangle wave, noise, and samples come out the other. It is not separating the audio into right and left channels. Here is a link that explains the sounds a bit better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la3coK5pq5w. The audio on the NES RGB kit is simply a rebuilt mono circuit (and one that sounds quite good I might add).

CPU Pin 1 goes to pad A on the kit
CPU Pin 2 goes to pad B on the kit
Pad O goes to your A/V port.

To connect expanded audio follow these steps. You will need to click on the images to get them full sized to see it properly, I threw it together in five minutes and don't feel like properly sizing this crap.

1. Connect the two points shown below in your Famicom to NES adapter.

Image

Image

2. Connect pin 9 to a resistor and run it to the point shown in the picture below. It is not pin 40 as stated before, they had it backwards as pin 40 is right above pin 9 (you can even see the numbering since I removed the socket in mine).

NOTE: I used a 22k Ohm resistor as anything higher made expanded audio on the Everdrive N8 too quiet.

You can also connect expanded audio with the two 1.2k resistors (and connecting it directly to audio out instead of directly to the kit) as shown earlier in the thread however this does not eliminate the buzzing like said previously, all this manages to do is make expanded audio too quiet when using the everdrive since its not being amplified. Once I turned up the stereo receiver to a level I liked the buzzing was still there with the dual 1.2k Ohm non amplified setup so I personally prefer the method shown here.

Image

And a close up of where pin 9 needs to go.

Image

I also don't mean to sound like a dick but Tim has how to hookup audio (without expanded audio) right on the NES RGB page. Everyone should really take a look at this and read through this entire thread before doing this mod if they have questions about it as all this stuff was answered before already.

http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/NESRGB-Pinout.pdf
The missing images here is a classic example of what RetroRGB was talking about with his new 2.0 compendium web site. Far too often useful information like the above guide gets lost because of temp image hosting, and this especially messes with me right now as I'm trying to figure out how to properly mix the Everdrive's emulated Akumajou Densetsu extra audio channels into the NESRGB so that it outputs properly into my SCART cable.

Now previously I had worked out I could at least get decent expansion audio from the Everdrive N8 by soldering a 56k resistor from pin #3 to pin #9 on the expansion port. However, this only worked to port the expansion audio to the RCA jack on the side of the NES. Then Krikzz in his infinite wisdom decided to completely remove the option to set the amp level of expansion audio on his latest Everdrive N8 firmware. I figure since he did this, anyone that based their resistor mod on his "Low" audio setting now gets effectively screwed and must remove the resistor and start all over. I figured this was the perfect time to scrap my own resistor mod and figure out how to mix the Everdrive N8's currently forced "Hi" audio level into the NESRGB. Queue the Google research...

So I come to find in my Googling that damn near every reference to what I specifically want to do leads back to the above guide and all its missing images glory. S...M...H. At any rate, I've been experimenting with using a wire from pin #9 that goes into a resistor, which in turn goes to the two audio resistors on the NES and bridges them together. In this setup up, I'm finding I have to go all the way down to a 470 or 440 ohm resistor to get what appears to be generally balanced audio from both the expansion and on-board channels going into the NESRGB board.

If anyone can give me some advice and/or knows the secret to the missing guide images, I'd appreciate the help. I'm probably doing it completely wrong, but it's sort of working anyway. Also keep in mind I'm basing this off the current Everdrive N8 firmware and emulation of the expansion audio of Akumajou Densetsu. I expect the real Akumajou Densetsu would require a different resistor value.

-FBX
Last edited by FBX on Sun Aug 27, 2017 1:19 pm, edited 2 times in total.
ChrisFritz
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by ChrisFritz »

I read through the topic and saw the discussion about Jumper J8, but I am still confused.

I'm going to use RCA's SNES multiout cable which has a 330ohm resistor on the csync line. Regardless of whether the jumper is open or closed, am I safe from damaging anything?
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

ChrisFritz wrote:I read through the topic and saw the discussion about Jumper J8, but I am still confused.

I'm going to use RCA's SNES multiout cable which has a 330ohm resistor on the csync line. Regardless of whether the jumper is open or closed, am I safe from damaging anything?
You'll be fine. What was eventually revealed is the NESRGB board does not put out TTL sync whether J8 is open or not, so technically a cable with no resistor will work.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by ChrisFritz »

Skips wrote:
lettuce wrote:I need to clarify what the 3 audio solder pads are for on the NESRGB, Audio Output, Audio Input A (CPU Pin 1) and Audio Input B (CPU Pin 2.). I am want to run left and right audio (is the NESRGB even stereo?) to the 2 pins on my mini din socket (pins 1 and 2), which points on the NESRGB do i need to wire up and what are all 3 solder pads for exactly?
The NES does not do stereo and never will. Those "stereo" mods do nothing more than separate the 5 sound channels (pulse wave 1, pulse wave 2, triangle wave, noise, and samples) and mix mono back in to give it a little more thump. CPU pin 1 is Pulse wave 1 and 2 and CPU pin 2 is Triangle wave, noise, and samples. Pretty much Pulse wave 1 and 2 sounds come out one speaker and triangle wave, noise, and samples come out the other. It is not separating the audio into right and left channels. Here is a link that explains the sounds a bit better http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=la3coK5pq5w. The audio on the NES RGB kit is simply a rebuilt mono circuit (and one that sounds quite good I might add).

CPU Pin 1 goes to pad A on the kit
CPU Pin 2 goes to pad B on the kit
Pad O goes to your A/V port.

To connect expanded audio follow these steps. You will need to click on the images to get them full sized to see it properly, I threw it together in five minutes and don't feel like properly sizing this crap.

1. Connect the two points shown below in your Famicom to NES adapter.

Image

Image

2. Connect pin 9 to a resistor and run it to the point shown in the picture below. It is not pin 40 as stated before, they had it backwards as pin 40 is right above pin 9 (you can even see the numbering since I removed the socket in mine).

NOTE: I used a 22k Ohm resistor as anything higher made expanded audio on the Everdrive N8 too quiet.

You can also connect expanded audio with the two 1.2k resistors (and connecting it directly to audio out instead of directly to the kit) as shown earlier in the thread however this does not eliminate the buzzing like said previously, all this manages to do is make expanded audio too quiet when using the everdrive since its not being amplified. Once I turned up the stereo receiver to a level I liked the buzzing was still there with the dual 1.2k Ohm non amplified setup so I personally prefer the method shown here.

Image

And a close up of where pin 9 needs to go.

Image

I also don't mean to sound like a dick but Tim has how to hookup audio (without expanded audio) right on the NES RGB page. Everyone should really take a look at this and read through this entire thread before doing this mod if they have questions about it as all this stuff was answered before already.

http://etim.net.au/nesrgb/NESRGB-Pinout.pdf
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by ChrisFritz »

Has anyone here ever seen brightness issues with the NESRGB? I've talked to a few people who have the NESRGB board and they have this problem:

Image

This happens when there are bright objects on a black background. It creates a weird bloom effect, washing out anything that is black. I don't have this issue on any other RGB system I have.

It's as bad as it looks in the picture, the black on the left side is totally washed out. You can also see a bit of a rainbow effect on the left side as well. I'm not even sure where to start with this one.

I have a 1.4 board on an NES frontloader. This is with my BVM-D20F1U.

It does look terrible and I'd like to figure out how to fix it. I'm also worried that the NESRGB could be damaging my BVM.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

Chris, I don't know how you got those images back as when I click on them, the link is broken. Thanks though!

Edit: My method seems to randomly crash the NESRGB, so I'm going to try isolating the output wire going to the multi-AV port and then mixing into that.
Last edited by FBX on Mon Aug 28, 2017 4:45 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

ChrisFritz wrote:Has anyone here ever seen brightness issues with the NESRGB? I've talked to a few people who have the NESRGB board and they have this problem:

Image

This happens when there are bright objects on a black background. It creates a weird bloom effect, washing out anything that is black. I don't have this issue on any other RGB system I have.

It's as bad as it looks in the picture, the black on the left side is totally washed out. You can also see a bit of a rainbow effect on the left side as well. I'm not even sure where to start with this one.

I have a 1.4 board on an NES frontloader. This is with my BVM-D20F1U.

It does look terrible and I'd like to figure out how to fix it. I'm also worried that the NESRGB could be damaging my BVM.
Another guy complained about this as well. I believe it's more to do with the bright overscan edges used in that game (and some other NES games as well) It goes beyond the edge of the screen, and the electron beam is picking it up in the porch area. When the beam returns to the other side of the screen, it's leaving a ghostly smear of that porch area. If you go into your service menu, I bet it will vanish as you shrink the H-Width. Only problem with that is of course you get a squished screen.

Then again, I don't know about the bloom issue in the middle of the screen.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Konsolkongen »

I just did an install into an original Famicom. This must be my tenth NESRGB-install but the first time installing it in a Famicom. I've got picture and sound. But I'm missing the red color entirely.

I've checked continuity from the NESRGB to the end of the RGB-cable, and that's not the problem. I also tried swapping the red and blue colors, but Mega Man did not turn red, so the problem lies with the NESRGB.

My soldering is good, and I've checked every trace on the motherboard. They all seem good.

Is this a widespread problem? Would swapping the PPU help? Any help would be appreciated :)

EDIT: I found the thread about the capacitors being bad. But I desoldered the one for red, and shorted the pads. That didn't work :(
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by austin532 »

Alright so after flashing the board with the latest palettes from FBX, my NES is now displaying garbled graphics. Did I do something wrong? I did it before and it was fine. I even tried it again thinking maybe there was a bad connection during installation but that only seemed to make it worse.

It acts like there is a bad connection because every time I turn the power on I get different results and the games lock up. I tried different pin connectors and different games so it's not that. Is it possible one the chips or capacitors finally went bad?
Framemeister 240p scanline settings: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... start=9600
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by austin532 »

*UPDATE*
Alright so it appears that the RGB board it self was apparently loose. I carefully took it out and placed it back in. Seems to work fine now. Not sure what would cause that as it's in there pretty snug.
Framemeister 240p scanline settings: http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... start=9600
Ward1986
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Multiout Pinout/Wiring Diagram

Post by Ward1986 »

Hi Tim,

I recently purchased a NESRGB board which I am yet to install. I'm a bit of a novice when it comes to modding consoles but I am confident I can do it. I plan to use a Nintendo multiout outputting to a PAL Super Nintendo cable purchased from retrogamingcables.co.uk, rather than the supplied 8 pin DIN.
I was hoping you could provide me with 1) a wiring diagram to a multiout compatiable with a PAL cable, and 2) recommendations regarding sync, jumper settings.

The cable in question I'll be using is this one: https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/nin ... SYNC-CSYNC
Sync still confuses me and I unsure about the components required. I believe this cable already has resistors and capacitors in the scart head, can it cause issues if the board already has these?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

So I've been working on a project to mix Everdrive N8 audio in along with the audio output of the NESRGB board as some of you know. I wanted to do this so I could ignore the rca audio jack and just use the multi-AV port mixed audio of Akumajou Densetsu (Japanese Castlevania III). I found in my research that 'Slamy' made a FAR superior VRC6 mapper for the Everdrive N8, so I went with one of his 100% volume level versions of the mapper. After testing various resistance levels, I came up with a final value that works pretty well, and doesn't interfere with the NESRGB board as far as I can tell. In this case, bridging pin 9 with pin 3 on the expansion interface is not required (and should be removed if you want to try this method). Below is my schematic for getting this to work with Slamy's 100% volume VRC6 mapper:

Image

Now of course, this is a very specific mod, so using a pot instead of the two resistors should allow for other expansion audio options to work. Also since I'm a bit of a noob, I'm not really sure if the cap actually works in this case to isolate the NESRGB board. I'd appreciate some advice on cap rating (or if even caps work in this case). In any event, for this particular application, my mod seems to work just fine.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by m.Balmed »

Howdy folks,

I picked up an AV Famicom for the purpose of modding it for RGB. I've done a bit of scrolling through this thread, however the pictures of ripped out pads made me cut things short. I apologize if I bring up anything that has been discussed ad nauseam.

I noticed in Tim's instructions that he cuts the trace for the composite signal and then feeds it from the board. Is that the desired method at this time for the multi-out, or is that a compromise to allow the use of a composite cable in the event it is set to bypass?

I suppose the phrasing of my next question depends on the answer to my last. Is it preferable to get a snes cable and strip out the resistors, or is the GC scart cable more desirable?

I've been itching to bust out the soldering iron for a while now. It's been a while since I've done any serious work, so this seemed fun.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by FBX »

m.Balmed wrote: Is it preferable to get a snes cable and strip out the resistors
From what I understand of Tim's explanations, NESRGB boards already attenuate the csync signal, so you can use a cable without resistors on that line. However, it isn't really necessary to strip them out as the SNES RGB cable works fine as is. I've got a 2nd SNES RGB cable that I use in my own NESRGB NES, and it has never given me any problems.
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Syntax
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Syntax »

m.Balmed wrote:Howdy folks,

I picked up an AV Famicom for the purpose of modding it for RGB. I've done a bit of scrolling through this thread, however the pictures of ripped out pads made me cut things short. I apologize if I bring up anything that has been discussed ad nauseam.

I noticed in Tim's instructions that he cuts the trace for the composite signal and then feeds it from the board. Is that the desired method at this time for the multi-out, or is that a compromise to allow the use of a composite cable in the event it is set to bypass?

I suppose the phrasing of my next question depends on the answer to my last. Is it preferable to get a snes cable and strip out the resistors, or is the GC scart cable more desirable?

I've been itching to bust out the soldering iron for a while now. It's been a while since I've done any serious work, so this seemed fun.
Anyone ripping out pads is a hack.
Just get a solder sucker, tin the ppu pins then suck them one by one.
There's a technique to It, you have to press the iron against the pin till it's "floating" in the via then suck.
If the pin is touching a via wall when you suck it will not come free.
If you do it correctly the ppu literally falls out.

Installed my first 2 weeks ago. Works flawlessly, just one thing I didn't realise when installing.
The modified comp signal has awful colors, if I wire the NESRGB to off does it pass thru unmodified comp or do I need to switch the cut trace?
Many developers created colors by putting 2 side by side knowing there was comp blend.
Last edited by Syntax on Wed Sep 06, 2017 7:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
jwo825
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by jwo825 »

Syntax wrote:
m.Balmed wrote:Howdy folks,

I picked up an AV Famicom for the purpose of modding it for RGB. I've done a bit of scrolling through this thread, however the pictures of ripped out pads made me cut things short. I apologize if I bring up anything that has been discussed ad nauseam.

I noticed in Tim's instructions that he cuts the trace for the composite signal and then feeds it from the board. Is that the desired method at this time for the multi-out, or is that a compromise to allow the use of a composite cable in the event it is set to bypass?

I suppose the phrasing of my next question depends on the answer to my last. Is it preferable to get a snes cable and strip out the resistors, or is the GC scart cable more desirable?

I've been itching to bust out the soldering iron for a while now. It's been a while since I've done any serious work, so this seemed fun.
Anyone ripping out pads is a hack.
Just get a solder sucker, tin the ppu pins then suck them one by one.
There's a technique to It, you have to press the iron against the pin till it's "floating" in the via then suck.
If the pin is touching a via wall when you suck it will not come free.

Installed my first 2 weeks ago. Works flawlessly, just one thing I didn't realise when installing.
The modified comp signal has awful colors, if I wire the NESRGB to off does it pass thru unmodified comp or do I need to switch the cut trace?
Many developers created colors by putting 2 side by side knowing there was comp blend.
It's that easy on all except the 4 PPU pins that are on that thick ground plane. Not exactly the easiest for inexperienced solderers and not a cakewalk for those of us with a good bit either. Patience is the key.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by citrus3000psi »

jwo825 wrote: It's that easy on all except the 4 PPU pins that are on that thick ground plane. Not exactly the easiest for inexperienced solderers and not a cakewalk for those of us with a good bit either. Patience is the key.
I put a bit of low melt solder like Cerrobend or quick chip on those spots. To help pull the chip without pulling pads. Then its a matter of cleaning those gnd holes up with some solderwick.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Einzelherz »

The only reason I was able to do those pins was by double fisting soldering irons. Would not recommend.
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Re: NESRGB board available now

Post by Syntax »

I think i really packed on the solder for those ones.
I only use a 25w iron so I do remember them lol.

I never used wick and did not desolder the top of the ppu.
Just a cheap iron and cheaper sucker.

It's unfortunate that this level of modding deters people from having a go at it, such a worth while upgrade.
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