gscartsw / gscartsw_lite / gcompsw switches support thread

[superg]

I updated the first post and store pages with latest photos and information.
Also gscartsw store page have detail information on DIP switch settings, sorry for not doing it earlier.

[honeyconsistency]

Hello, is it too late to pre-order the 8-port Gconp or will there still be an opportunity to? I can’t find anything related to it on your website SuperG. Also, are you available for commission on a similar device that would S-Video instead of component?

For S-Video you can just use a gcompsw and some adapter cables:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-S-Video-Brea ... :rk:1:pf:0
plug the Y into the green or yellow jack for auto detection and then match the cables on the output

With these adapters, I can use s-video consoles on the gcomp? Am I understanding this correctly? Would it need to be s-video only? Or could I mix it with the composite and component consoles as well?

[DirkSwizzler]

For S-Video you can just use a gcompsw and some adapter cables:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/6-S-Video-Brea ... :rk:1:pf:0
plug the Y into the green or yellow jack for auto detection and then match the cables on the output

With these adapters, I can use s-video consoles on the gcomp? Am I understanding this correctly? Would it need to be s-video only? Or could I mix it with the composite and component consoles as well?

You can mix and match a bit. The gcompsw is going to forward all 6 ports when sync is detected on the green (luma/Y) plug or yellow (composite) plug.

For a while I used a gcompsw to unify my composite and s-video chains by using s-video adapters in the component jacks and composite into the composite jack.

If you try to mix component, composite, and s-video all at once. Then I'm not quite sure how you'd discern the outputs as cleanly. But they would be cleanly replicated from the active input.

[the Goat]

superg,

The purchase link at http://www.gretrostuff.com/store/gscartsw/ is not working for me. I think you broke it when you updated the store page. Please fix the link. I need to order another.

[superg]

superg,

The purchase link at http://www.gretrostuff.com/store/gscartsw/ is not working for me. I think you broke it when you updated the store page. Please fix the link. I need to order another.

Works for me, I updated the pages two days ago. Try Ctrl+F5 or a different browser.

[Lux]

I updated the first post and store pages with latest photos and information.
Also gscartsw store page have detail information on DIP switch settings, sorry for not doing it earlier.

Those pictures are beautiful. Can't wait !

[the Goat]

superg,

The purchase link at http://www.gretrostuff.com/store/gscartsw/ is not working for me. I think you broke it when you updated the store page. Please fix the link. I need to order another.

Works for me, I updated the pages two days ago. Try Ctrl+F5 or a different browser.

Defiantly not working for me. I've tried both chrome and firefox on two different computers as well as on my (android) phone. Clicking the "Pay Now" image does nothing.

[slerch666]

I just checked. I tried Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on my Win 10 machine and it doesn't work here either.

I don't need it since I already bought mine, but figured I would check as well

[Sammickk]

yea... it definitely doesn't work, I just tried to buy a Scart one.

[superg]

Defiantly not working for me. I've tried both chrome and firefox on two different computers as well as on my (android) phone. Clicking the "Pay Now" image does nothing.

I just checked. I tried Chrome, Edge, and Firefox on my Win 10 machine and it doesn't work here either.

I don't need it since I already bought mine, but figured I would check as well

Guys, thanks! Indeed there was a problem with paypal button. I didn't realize it until now, I thought the page is not available because it happened in the past, but it was the button.
Anyways it's fixed now.

[Sammickk]

cool thanks, just ordered one

[the Goat]

Guys, thanks! Indeed there was a problem with paypal button. I didn't realize it until now, I thought the page is not available because it happened in the past, but it was the button.
Anyways it's fixed now.

Thanks. I got my (second) order in.

[Kadrik0]

Can’t wait for the gcomp and gscart

[TorgoPSN]

Was away for a month, so I was happy to see this waiting for me when I got home last night

Any suggestions for a male-to-male SCART cable to go from this to the OSSC?

Spoiler

[nmalinoski]

Was away for a month, so I was happy to see this waiting for me when I got home last night

Any suggestions for a male-to-male SCART cable to go from this to the OSSC?

Might want to put that image in a spoiler tag.

If you're in the US, these KabelDirekt ones are relatively cheap and readily available, but some people have had complaints about imperfect shielding (I've personally not noticed any issues with the two 10-footers that I purchased some time ago). If you want something more pro-level, you can get male-to-male SCART cables from Retro-Access.

If you're in the UK or Europe, you can get one of the PACKAPUNCH! cables from Retro Gaming Cables.

[TorgoPSN]

Thanks much!

[slerch666]

If you are in North America, the absolute best cables you can get are from Retro Access. They custom build whatever cable you ask for and use the highest quality bulk cable available with proper shielding throughout. You pay more for it, but you're paying for the highest quality.

Ordering can be wonky because they only sell so many cables a day and only sell Mon-Fri. If you want to buy a cable and it says sold out, check back the next day around 10 AM EST. It can be a pain, but 100% worth it too.

https://retro-access.com

And if you are wondering "why the heck would I pay that much!?", They did a great write up on just why you would choose them over others.

https://retro-access.com/blogs/news/why ... eo-signals

[TorgoPSN]

If you are in North America, the absolute best cables you can get are from Retro Access. They custom build whatever cable you ask for and use the highest quality bulk cable available with proper shielding throughout. You pay more for it, but you're paying for the highest quality.

Ordering can be wonky because they only sell so many cables a day and only sell Mon-Fri. If you want to buy a cable and it says sold out, check back the next day around 10 AM EST. It can be a pain, but 100% worth it too.

https://retro-access.com

And if you are wondering "why the heck would I pay that much!?", They did a great write up on just why you would choose them over others.

https://retro-access.com/blogs/news/why ... eo-signals

I actually checked there before I posted, but everything is shown as "out of stock." So I figured that I'd ask around before ordering a custom cable.

[slerch666]

I actually checked there before I posted, but everything is shown as "out of stock." So I figured that I'd ask around before ordering a custom cable.

Ah. Sorry. If you mentioned you tried them, I missed it.

The store is odd. Since they are sold out of most cable today, log in as close to 10 AM tomorrow and buy then.

When I bought from them, I set an alarm on my phone and headed to the page for the cables I wanted in different tabs. The stock updated early, about 9:50, so I hit into each tab, refreshed, added to my cart and checked out as quickly as possible.

It took a day or 2 to ship but came USPS priority so I had it on Saturday, ordering on Tuesday.


No kidding, if you want the best cable you can buy, Retro Access is the way to go. It is entirely possible cheaper cable will work in your setup but for me, spending money on OSSC, NES RGB mods, etc, I figured I could spend 1.5-2x more on calling to ensure proper signal delivery and travel.

[Taiyaki]

Do the newer versions no longer horizontally shift the picture depending on the source? I had the very first or second revision of the gscartsw (was still passively powered at the time) and loved it but my only issue was that different consoles had different horizontal positions, this was ok on pro monitors or BVM's with easy to access adjustments but on consumer tv's it was too inconvenient for me to use.

Has this changed on later models? Do all consoles now retain their true H pos similarly to how they would when going straight to the monitor/tv?

[superg]

Do the newer versions no longer horizontally shift the picture depending on the source? I had the very first or second revision of the gscartsw (was still passively powered at the time) and loved it but my only issue was that different consoles had different horizontal positions, this was ok on pro monitors or BVM's with easy to access adjustments but on consumer tv's it was too inconvenient for me to use.

Has this changed on later models? Do all consoles now retain their true H pos similarly to how they would when going straight to the monitor/tv?

Something else is shifting your position. gscartsw doesn't shift your position unless you enable clear sync / sync regeneration. And even in that case it's just a couple of pixels and should be constant across all consoles. Sync regeneration is even faster implementation so shift is even smaller.

[Taiyaki]

Something else is shifting your position. gscartsw doesn't shift your position unless you enable clear sync / sync regeneration. And even in that case it's just a couple of pixels and should be constant across all consoles. Sync regeneration is even faster implementation so shift is even smaller.

Was clear sync / sync regeneration enabled by default on the very early models? I didn't touch any of the knobs at the time so whatever it launched with was what I had used.

It wasn't an overly large shift but it was enough to create minor black bars on the left or right of the picture and required adjustment to get the other side back into picture, and this varied per console. It was a weird phenomena to say the least.

[superg]

Something else is shifting your position. gscartsw doesn't shift your position unless you enable clear sync / sync regeneration. And even in that case it's just a couple of pixels and should be constant across all consoles. Sync regeneration is even faster implementation so shift is even smaller.

Was clear sync / sync regeneration enabled by default on the very early models? I didn't touch any of the knobs at the time so whatever it launched with was what I had used.

It wasn't an overly large shift but it was enough to create minor black bars on the left or right of the picture and required adjustment to get the other side back into picture, and this varied per console. It was a weird phenomena to say the least.

There were several early models, I recall some didn't even have any sync cleaner. If your unit has on / off toggle, it's that. The default value varied, right now it's mostly off. You could just switch that off.
If different consoles had different shifts it could be that you already have sync cleaner in your SCART cables or somewhere down the line or incorrectly modded consoles.

[Taiyaki]

There were several early models, I recall some didn't even have any sync cleaner. If your unit has on / off toggle, it's that. The default value varied, right now it's mostly off. You could just switch that off.
If different consoles had different shifts it could be that you already have sync cleaner in your SCART cables or somewhere down the line or incorrectly modded consoles.

I bought it in July 2014 so I think it was the first or second revision, it might have been called 1.2 or 1.4 something like that. I think I was within or close to being one of your first 100 customers (second or third batch of orders you took).

Do you have a recommended seller to buy proper scart cables that don't include sync cleaner? I guess it was in the scart cables I used as un-modded systems had variations in H positioning too.

Also would you consider it a bad setup to have a gscartsw go into a RGB to YUV converter and then into a gcomposw? If I go back to RGB this is what my setup going to my consumer crt would look like, your opinion would be appreciated.

[Stendal]

Question about gcompsw ordering:

Do you have any estimation for how long orders will be open? I'd like to put aside a little money each check to nab one but I really don't want to miss the boat on them. Be nice if they'd be open till at least mid April.

[superg]

Question about gcompsw ordering:

Do you have any estimation for how long orders will be open? I'd like to put aside a little money each check to nab one but I really don't want to miss the boat on them. Be nice if they'd be open till at least mid April.

I might keep it open like I'm currently doing with gscartsw.

[superg]

I bought it in July 2014 so I think it was the first or second revision, it might have been called 1.2 or 1.4 something like that. I think I was within or close to being one of your first 100 customers (second or third batch of orders you took).

I'm too lazy to dig out the exact specs of the first versions. Yeah I remember your nickname from back then . The easiest check is whether you have on / off switch, if you do, it's that option.

Do you have a recommended seller to buy proper scart cables that don't include sync cleaner? I guess it was in the scart cables I used as un-modded systems had variations in H positioning too.

Right now both manufacturers (RGC and retro-access) clearly state whether sync cleaner is included in a cable. I don't know whether it's true for other manufacturers.

Also would you consider it a bad setup to have a gscartsw go into a RGB to YUV converter and then into a gcomposw? If I go back to RGB this is what my setup going to my consumer crt would look like, your opinion would be appreciated.

Personally I wouldn't do that. RGB is native output for the majority of consoles and you want to have less devices / processing before signal reaches your TV.
Of course if your TV accepts only component signal this is your only option.

[Taiyaki]

Thank you for all that information. I'll take a look at what cables I bought and try it again.

Personally I wouldn't do that. RGB is native output for the majority of consoles and you want to have less devices / processing before signal reaches your TV.
Of course if your TV accepts only component signal this is your only option.

Yes that's my only option for all non component compatible consoles (short of sticking with s-video). Would there be a noticeable improvement if I drop the component switch and just went from the gscartsw to the encoder to the tv?

[OopsAllBerrys]

Personally I wouldn't do that. RGB is native output for the majority of consoles and you want to have less devices / processing before signal reaches your TV.
Of course if your TV accepts only component signal this is your only option.

Yes that's my only option for all non component compatible consoles (short of sticking with s-video). Would there be a noticeable improvement if I drop the component switch and just went from the gscartsw to the encoder to the tv?

For what it's worth, I have my gscartsw feeding a shinybow sb-2840 converter into a gcompsw and then out to my consumer TV. I do not see any difference in quality.

[superg]

Yes that's my only option for all non component compatible consoles (short of sticking with s-video). Would there be a noticeable improvement if I drop the component switch and just went from the gscartsw to the encoder to the tv?

Depends on a RGB2YUV converter you currently use. For some the color space conversion is imprecise and requires manual adjustment and I'd say it's impossible to adjust it right without using additional equipment.