Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

The place for all discussion on gaming hardware
User avatar
awe444
Posts: 156
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:58 am
Location: New York

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by awe444 »

retrorgb wrote:Correct, we chose that resistor specifically because it should drop all TTL-level signals to safe levels for SCART, but also because it still might work if your dsub cable feeds it lower voltage sync. There are very few (homebrew) scenarios that you'd find a dsub connector outputting RGBs, with video-level sync, but this is a happy medium. Absolute worse case scenario: You don't get a sync signal, with no chance of harming your equipment.

...and, of course, RGBHV is combined with a circuit that drops the voltage and converts it to RGBs.
Thanks— I’m interpreting this answer to mean the resistor is always applied regardless of the switch position, which is highly reassuring and desirable
User avatar
Odolwa
Posts: 165
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:54 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by Odolwa »

Isn't this thing kind of useless, since one end is female? You can make a male Scart to male DSub-15 + Audio connector (phoenix, 3.5mm, or RCA) cable from Retro Access. What purpose does this serve?
fernan1234
Posts: 2175
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:34 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by fernan1234 »

Odolwa wrote:Isn't this thing kind of useless, since one end is female? You can make a male Scart to male DSub-15 + Audio connector (phoenix, 3.5mm, or RCA) cable from Retro Access. What purpose does this serve?
A SCART to male Dsub-15 cable would be different first of all, as you need to remember that SCART cables are directional, i.e. SCART to DSub =/= DSub to SCART.

And then, a DSub to SCART cable from RA won't combine sync for you when needed. Plus this will be cheaper as it's just the cost of the adapter plus a regular coax VGA cable that you probably already have lying around. Combined with a VGA cable and audio line fed onto it, think of this as the tip of a Dsub15 to SCART cable that provides attenuation for SCART gear along with optional sync combining.
User avatar
Guspaz
Posts: 3136
Joined: Tue Oct 06, 2015 7:37 pm
Location: Montréal, Canada

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by Guspaz »

Even if SCART wasn't directional (or if you rewired an adapter to reverse the direction), you now need to split the sync. VGA devices are going to expect separate sync, while the SCART carries combined sync. This would mean replacing the adapter's sync combining circuitry, but you can't just slap a sync stripper in there either, the common LM1881 that everybody uses doesn't output separate H/V sync, it outputs csync and vsync, and you'll need to do additional work to get a clean hsync signal. Or just feed the device csync/vsync instead of hsync/vsync, maybe most devices wouldn't care.
User avatar
Odolwa
Posts: 165
Joined: Thu Apr 29, 2021 6:54 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by Odolwa »

What about the Retro Access cable that I set up in my thread about DSub15? Will that cable work? Why or why not?
mario64
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2015 5:00 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by mario64 »

Has anyone actually received theirs from CM games? They told me on Aug 16th it would ship that week but then their pre-order page showed Aug 30th. I emailed them back but got no response.
jjh_2882
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:55 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by jjh_2882 »

Nope, I haven't heard anything about my order.
fernan1234
Posts: 2175
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:34 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by fernan1234 »

Has anyone here received this yet? Status update page on Castlemania says:

HD15-2-SCART
*September 10th UPDATE
All pre-ordered cables are in process and shipping out daily; in the order received.

So they've been shipping for 11 days now, but I don't know of anyone who has it yet (I haven't received any shipping notice, and I pre-ordered probably the next day after it was posted).
User avatar
kitty666cats
Posts: 1270
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:03 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by kitty666cats »

I am a gentleman and a scholar and I use one of those (w/ a F to M BNC cable with an inline 470ohm resistor attached to sync when needed)

https://www.ebay.com/p/1906248497


Image

Image

(No, I didn’t pay the crazy prices people try to sell these for on eBay, lol)

…although I know this M.I.A SCART one is moreso for the RT5X I guess… but I have ways to get RGBS into one (spoiler: I’ll probably never have one u_u; )
gambit
Posts: 1
Joined: Mon Oct 04, 2021 2:30 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by gambit »

VEGETA wrote:
kitty666cats wrote:https://hackaday.io/project/165634-the- ... rt-adapter

The one I posted is a design that’s been around a few years, this link is where it originated.


http://vga-scart-converter-f-15.mozello ... m/1443803/

^ there’s a less-known alternative design
Thanks for these links.

Is this a better solution than XNOR circuit? I keep seeing people whining about XNORed Csync.
Yes, it is better. The XNOR will only work if the vertical and horizontal sync signals have the same polarity. The circuit with the PIC automatically detects the polarity of the input VGA sync signals and configures its configurable logic cells (CLC) dynamically to generate the SCART composite sync signal correctly. It is explained here with a different PIC: Yet another VGA to SCART adapter
User avatar
hyp36rmax
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:07 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by hyp36rmax »

Has anyone recieved their HD15-2-SCART from CastleMania yet? Apparently the first delay was an issue of no cases. This current is because the factory forgot to solder on the SCART connector.... Supposed to be shipping now.
SavagePencil
Posts: 628
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by SavagePencil »

Anybodyyyyyy gottttt theiiirrrrrssss yeeettttt
User avatar
kitty666cats
Posts: 1270
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:03 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by kitty666cats »

JFC these things still haven’t shipped? Normally I would assume ‘global parts shortage’… but male SCART connectors, female VGA connectors, 3D printing, resistors & ICs that combine sync are all abundant.

Though I just remembered PCBs are a thing, lol… that’d be my guess!
mario64
Posts: 188
Joined: Sun Dec 13, 2015 5:00 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by mario64 »

Castlemania status page says they’re shipping but I don’t believe it. My order was early and I haven’t heard a thing from them.
SavagePencil
Posts: 628
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by SavagePencil »

I wasn't trying to imply a vast conspiracy. I did have an order a year back that didn't ship because it got lost in the cracks; once I pinged them they rectified it quickly. I was checking this wasn't also an honest mistake.
jjh_2882
Posts: 7
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2020 8:55 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by jjh_2882 »

SavagePencil wrote:Anybodyyyyyy gottttt theiiirrrrrssss yeeettttt
Nothing yet.
strayan
Posts: 671
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:33 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by strayan »

kitty666cats wrote:JFC these things still haven’t shipped? Normally I would assume ‘global parts shortage’… but male SCART connectors, female VGA connectors, 3D printing, resistors & ICs that combine sync are all abundant.

Though I just remembered PCBs are a thing, lol… that’d be my guess!
https://twitter.com/castlemaniaryan/sta ... 86403?s=21
fernan1234
Posts: 2175
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:34 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by fernan1234 »

strayan wrote:
kitty666cats wrote:JFC these things still haven’t shipped? Normally I would assume ‘global parts shortage’… but male SCART connectors, female VGA connectors, 3D printing, resistors & ICs that combine sync are all abundant.

Though I just remembered PCBs are a thing, lol… that’d be my guess!
https://twitter.com/castlemaniaryan/sta ... 86403?s=21
That says they begun shipping them on 9/27, but I haven't heard of anyone who has even received a shipping confirmation. I know that I placed my order for it the day it was posted, or the next day at most. Still nothing.
SavagePencil
Posts: 628
Joined: Mon Nov 11, 2013 4:06 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by SavagePencil »

27th was only a week ago. I’ll give them benefit of the doubt, as I’m sure they’re well aware of people wanting to know where their stuff is.
strayan
Posts: 671
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:33 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by strayan »

We should all thank our lucky stars that Lethal didn’t have an order in on this.
fernan1234
Posts: 2175
Joined: Mon Aug 14, 2017 8:34 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by fernan1234 »

fernan1234 wrote:That says they begun shipping them on 9/27, but I haven't heard of anyone who has even received a shipping confirmation. I know that I placed my order for it the day it was posted, or the next day at most. Still nothing.
A bit more than a week but yeah I'm sure it'll be fine, they've just been overconfident on the multiple times they've announced shipping date estimates.
User avatar
Josh128
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:01 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by Josh128 »

Im actually looking for one of these because my PC VGA card > direct connection to PC VGA or Hitachi 27MM20B works fine, but try to use a scaler such as GBS-C and you get digitally garbled looking "portion" of what you are sending and when going to the RT5X I get no sync at all, whether I enable composite sync or keep separate sync. Suspecting the GBS-C doesnt like the TTL sync output by the VGA card, even though Im feeding the VGA port. Theres no way to reduce the sync level via CRTEmudriver, so one of these looks like the best option. Or Tims unit-- but Tims only says it works with 15KHz sources, doesnt say it will work with 24 or 31KHz, which is what Im looking for.

Are these shipping yet?
strayan
Posts: 671
Joined: Sun Mar 19, 2017 8:33 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by strayan »

Josh128 wrote:Im actually looking for one of these because my PC VGA card > direct connection to PC VGA or Hitachi 27MM20B works fine, but try to use a scaler such as GBS-C and you get digitally garbled looking "portion" of what you are sending and when going to the RT5X I get no sync at all, whether I enable composite sync or keep separate sync. Suspecting the GBS-C doesnt like the TTL sync output by the VGA card, even though Im feeding the VGA port. Theres no way to reduce the sync level via CRTEmudriver, so one of these looks like the best option. Or Tims unit-- but Tims only says it works with 15KHz sources, doesnt say it will work with 24 or 31KHz, which is what Im looking for.

Are these shipping yet?
The GBS-C should work with TTL sync but usually needs composite rather than seperate H and V sync.

The retrotink is only compatible with attenuated CSYNC or sync on composite video. It’s a real shame it doesn’t accept RGsB because devices that do RGBHV to RGsB are cheap and abundant.

The signal range blocker feature can be disabled on Tim’s product buy closing jumper J1.
User avatar
Josh128
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:01 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by Josh128 »

strayan wrote:
The GBS-C should work with TTL sync but usually needs composite rather than seperate H and V sync.
I dont know, mine doesnt. It gives a picture that updates at something like 5-10 fps and is partially garbled, like you'd see with weak terrestrial digital HDTV reception. Whether I enable composite sync or separate sync, or change sync polarity, makes no difference. I can unplug from the GBS-C and plug it right to my Hitachi and its fine.

I tried 15, 24, and 31kHz to see if the GBS just didnt like the input res, but they all do similar, so its not that.
User avatar
maxtherabbit
Posts: 1763
Joined: Mon Mar 05, 2018 4:03 pm

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by maxtherabbit »

Josh128 wrote:
strayan wrote:
The GBS-C should work with TTL sync but usually needs composite rather than seperate H and V sync.
I dont know, mine doesnt. It gives a picture that updates at something like 5-10 fps and is partially garbled, like you'd see with weak terrestrial digital HDTV reception. Whether I enable composite sync or separate sync, or change sync polarity, makes no difference. I can unplug from the GBS-C and plug it right to my Hitachi and its fine.

I tried 15, 24, and 31kHz to see if the GBS just didnt like the input res, but they all do similar, so its not that.
did you do the 100ohm resistor mod? that breaks TTL sync
User avatar
Josh128
Posts: 2123
Joined: Thu Jan 16, 2014 9:01 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by Josh128 »

I did not.
User avatar
awe444
Posts: 156
Joined: Mon Apr 27, 2015 5:58 am
Location: New York

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by awe444 »

From my own experience I can confirm that the GBS-C will accept TTL CSync as output by the SCART2VGA (https://www.retroupgrades.co.uk/product ... ga-adapter), where the SCART2VGA has its sync stripping (and thus sync voltage elevating) switch enabled. It could be that “TTL” refers to some range in voltage, and the levels you’re feeding it happen to be outside of what the GBS can take
User avatar
kitty666cats
Posts: 1270
Joined: Tue Nov 05, 2019 2:03 am
Location: Massachusetts, USA

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by kitty666cats »

^ Can also confirm that
User avatar
hyp36rmax
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:07 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by hyp36rmax »

awe444 wrote:From my own experience I can confirm that the GBS-C will accept TTL CSync as output by the SCART2VGA (https://www.retroupgrades.co.uk/product ... ga-adapter), where the SCART2VGA has its sync stripping (and thus sync voltage elevating) switch enabled. It could be that “TTL” refers to some range in voltage, and the levels you’re feeding it happen to be outside of what the GBS can take
Has anyone tried that VGA2SCART Adapter on a RetroTink5X? I'm planning to order that wihle I continue to wait on HD15-2-Scart adapter. I 100% feel this will arrive sooner. Castlemania is a joke.
User avatar
hyp36rmax
Posts: 39
Joined: Tue Oct 05, 2021 3:07 am

Re: Rondo Products HD15-2-SCART

Post by hyp36rmax »

I went ahead and ordered the VGA2SCART Sync Converter from RetroUpgrades (https://www.retroupgrades.co.uk/product/vga2scart/) and Male SCART Coupler (https://www.retroupgrades.co.uk/product ... t-coupler/)

Here are the details:
This converter is used to convert RGBHV (VGA) to RGBs (SCART), so that you can use VGA consoles/devices with a monitor/TV that only accepts SCART.

20/09/2021: V1.2 released! Added new features marked with (*).

Features:

Converts RGBHV (VGA) to RGBs (SCART).
Designed primarily for use with retro games.
Works with 15 khz & 31 khz.
Supports 240p, 480i & 480p (320×240, 640×480 interlaced and progressive) as long as your SCART output device is able to display/handle the resolution!
High quality 3D printed enclosure optional via drop-down menu.
*Optional 3V SCART blanking voltage via micro-USB (now compatible with all European RGB SCART consumer TV’s!)
*Jumper for power via micro-USB or VGA pin 9.

Description
Specifications:

Approx. Dimensions = 81 mm x 63 mm.
Connector A = VGA D-SUB 15 + x 3.5mm audio jack input, Connector B = Female EuroSCART output.
Examples of use:

Connect a MiSTer FPGA device to your consumer TV which only accepts SCART.
Connect Dreamcast 480p VGA to compatible SCART equipment.
Connect your PC to a SCART only TV (provided your SCART TV can display the resolution being output from your TV).
Converting HDMI “super-resolution” 240p from HDMI to VGA. CPSHDMI & Raspberry Pi can be set to 240p, then along with a cheap DAC and this converter, you can get the signal on your SCART monitor/TV.
Please note:

The VGA2SCART not a downscaler, but a sync converter. It will NOT downscale 480p to 480i/240p. The device is used to convert RGBHV to RGBs.

The board gets power from VGA pin 9 by default, please ensure your input device outputs +5V on pin 9. If pin 9 is N/C, you may power the VGA2SCART by bridging +5V source jumper pads 1 & 3 and using micro USB instead.

If you are using a consumer CRT TV (B&O, Sony Trinitron etc.) which requires blanking/switching voltage to use RGB, you will get a black screen/very dim picture. If this is the case, connect a micro USB cable to a +5V power source which will supply +3V to SCART pin 16. This is not needed for professional video monitors, consumer TVs with “force RGB” in menu/service menu or TVs modded for RGB SCART which should already have blanking pulled to 5V to force RGB.

The SCART connector is EuroSCART and not JP21.

Assembly & case design by Retro Upgrades, shout out to RetroTINK for the board!
Figured this should be as good if not better considering it's based on Mike Chi's PCB? My main use case is with Arcade PCB's to RetroTink5X into a Vewlix and PC Monitor to play and capture content.
Post Reply