I have a Model 2 Asia Saturn (MK-80230-07) with a NTSC-U 120V PSU. I get dark horizontal sections in the video in RGB only. When I run SCART RGB to my PVM I get this:
But when I attach a composite cable, it's fine, like this:
The power supply is good, as is the SCART. Tested both in a junk US Model 2. It's frustrating as hell. It was working fine until this weekend, when it did this randomly. Now it does it every time. I've had the unit for only a few weeks. Any ideas on what might be causing this?
If I remember correctly, it is related to sync in the Model 2 units. I own a North American Model 2, and it does the same via RGB on my XM2960. I have to set sync on the BNC inputs to high to eliminate it. Leaving sync termination at 75Ohm resulted in the signal going nuts on screen flashes (X-Men: Children of the Atom as an example).
I am not certain if a fix was ever found for the buggy csync signal in the Model 2 units. Just to ask, does your Asian unit follow the NTSC or PAL pinouts for the A/V socket?
NightSprinter wrote:If I remember correctly, it is related to sync in the Model 2 units. I own a North American Model 2, and it does the same via RGB on my XM2960. I have to set sync on the BNC inputs to high to eliminate it. Leaving sync termination at 75Ohm resulted in the signal going nuts on screen flashes (X-Men: Children of the Atom as an example).
I am not certain if a fix was ever found for the buggy csync signal in the Model 2 units. Just to ask, does your Asian unit follow the NTSC or PAL pinouts for the A/V socket?
That's interesting. My PVM model has "automatic 75-ohm termination" for all BNCs, so I thought this should have been handled, well, automatically. I'll have to dig through the menu to see if I can turn it off since there's no physical switch on the back.
The AV port is the US/Japan pinout. The Asia Saturns are Japan Model 2's with PAL PSU's (I guess for Hong Kong AC). I replaced the stock PSU since it failed, and I'm in the US.
Does the PVM have audio? If so is the saturn audio connected to it? I ask because your SCART cable may be using the audio ground for the video ground as well.
antron wrote:Does the PVM have audio? If so is the saturn audio connected to it? I ask because your SCART cable may be using the audio ground for the video ground as well.
Yes it does, and it is connected. I'm not sure that matters, though.
antron wrote:Does the PVM have audio? If so is the saturn audio connected to it? I ask because your SCART cable may be using the audio ground for the video ground as well.
Yes it does, and it is connected. I'm not sure that matters, though.
OK, that basically rules out an issue of a missing ground.
Or maybe not, there is a thread here somewhere pointing out that some SCART to BCN adapters (off ebay) only used one of the many grounds available from the SCART connector, and if that's not the one your SCART cable uses, then you get no direct ground. Are you using one of these?
One thing I never tried was to pull RGBs directly off the chip. I think my Saturn had a CXA1645, but it's been a long time since I've had it open. I can try to test that this weekend and see if it makes a difference. If you're comfortable opening the system and making your own cable, maybe give that a try?
The Genesis 2 systems can have the same problem and "fix" since the CSYNC line is tied to the RGB encoder sync input, and then directly wired to the output connector. In the case of the Saturn, it flows through a ferrite bead filter like all of the other signals going to the 10MDIN and link connector. A 100uF cap can be used as well and would take up less space in a cable connector hood!
