PEXHDCAP2 and SyncStrike 240p Signal

[goop.Q]

Hi everyone,

after googling and searching through forums and blogs i want to give it a shot and tell you my problem in hope someone on this board can help me.

What am i trying to do?
Capture a SNES jr. for streaming.

What hardware?
a RGB modded SNES jr. (csync can be enabled)
a SyncStrike
PEXHDCAP2 (note the 2! This is a younger and cheaper model) Startech PEXHDCAP2
a generic Scart to hdmi upscaler (also reviewd by retrogaminghazard)
a Sony Trinitron CRT (functioning for gameplay as well as switch)

What problem?
I can't seem to get a signal with the SyncStrike setup. But i neither get a "no signal" in AmarecTV. Which is odd.
Even when connecting the SNES directly to the SyncStrike (to rule out an output problem of the CRT)
However with the upscaler it works just fine. But the deinterlacing done by this little box is "ugly".
I am aware that the problem might be the 240p signal. Since the PEXHDCAP2 doesn't OFFICIALLY support 240p signals.
But neither do the other versions of the PEXHDCAP's (usb or pcie) according to their datasheets.
Though i can select 720x240 for example in Amarec. Using the latest driver from Startech.com and also the only driver that was accepted by the card without issues.
I tried older drivers as well as the ones from Micomsoft.
The chip on the PEXHDCAP2 can differ of course from the eg. PEXHDCAP60L

I couldn't find any confirmation about 240p capabillity of this certain cap card. Can someone here shed some light on it?

Assuming this setup wont work. Is there a nice 240p to 480p upscaler (lag doesn't matter)?
I really don't need more than that and upscalers like the framemeister are simply out of my price range.
Again, no need to upscale to 720/1080p.
But obviously i would like to not have to take that road.

Hopefully you can help me on this task.
Thanks in advance,

goop.Q

[blizzz]

How are you powering the SyncStrike? Does the LED light up?

[goop.Q]

How are you powering the SyncStrike? Does the LED light up?

I bought the SyncStrike with a PSU from arcadeforge.net
There is no LED on it.

edit// wait, there is a LED on it
didn't see that little thing!
Well, let me check that a sec.

edit2// so the LED is not light up.
Guess that means the SyncStrike is faulty?!

[blizzz]

There should be a switch on it, unless the PCB was changed. One setting of the switch takes power from the SCART cable, the other from the screw terminal. On my version of the SyncStrike the labels on the switch are switched. Powering the SyncStrike through SCART has shown better results for me, with a seperate PSU it added video noise.

Edit: You also have to pay attention to the polarity when you use the screw terminal.

[goop.Q]

There should be a switch on it, unless the PCB was changed. One setting of the switch takes power from the SCART cable, the other from the screw terminal. On my version of the SyncStrike the labels on the switch are switched. Powering the SyncStrike through SCART has shown better results for me, with a seperate PSU it added video noise.

Edit: You also have to pay attention to the polarity when you use the screw terminal.

That switch is still there. Makes no difference though. Neither with scart nor psu (or both) the LED lights up. I wouldn't mind video noise, since this would mean i actually get a signal.
Yeah i was confused which lead goes into 5v and ground. I hope i didn't break it that way.
The striped lead is ground, right?

[blizzz]

Yes, the striped wire goes into the GND terminal. The LED lights up even if no scart or vga cable is connected. If it doesn't on your device you should contact Jochen.

I'm pretty sure that I connected the PSU with wrong polarity at least once, and it didn't break anything. However I would not recommend doing that since I don't see any protection.

[goop.Q]

Yeah, seems like i gotta contact him.
Thanks for your help. This might be the problem afterall.

And greetings from Germany

[goop.Q]

Hi,

it's been a while. I finally got the SyncStrike back and so far the thing itself seems to work.
The LED is lighting up.
BUT, i still don't get a picture in Amarec310.

With one setting i get a signal though (according to the cap card setting window). Just not an image.
I wonder if i HAVE to have csync enabled on the SNES jr. ?
Theoretically the SyncStrike should split whatever sync signal into h/v sync, right?

Now a few thoughts:
1. The driver i'm using for the PEXHDCAP2 is the only one that has worked. I tried a few.
2. Could the Amarec version be an issue?
3. Do i need to enable csync in the SNES jr.? (wire is already soldered. Would only need to solder it to the multiout pin)
4. Has anyone experience with the PEXHDCAP2 and 240p signals? Seems like so far noone has done any kind of review on that newer card, including retro consoles.
5. I'm not 100% sure, that my Sony Trinitron CRT will output csync correctly. In that case i would probably have to get a SCART splitter.
6. Regardless of the CRT output. When connecting the SNES directly to the SyncStrike i "should" get an image in Amarec...

I have really no more ideas what the issue could be.
Hope you guys have some new thoughts on this matter.

Regards,
goop.Q

[unmaker]

Hi,

it's been a while. I finally got the SyncStrike back and so far the thing itself seems to work.
The LED is lighting up.
BUT, i still don't get a picture in Amarec310.

With one setting i get a signal though (according to the cap card setting window). Just not an image.
I wonder if i HAVE to have csync enabled on the SNES jr. ?
Theoretically the SyncStrike should split whatever sync signal into h/v sync, right?

Now a few thoughts:
1. The driver i'm using for the PEXHDCAP2 is the only one that has worked. I tried a few.
2. Could the Amarec version be an issue?
3. Do i need to enable csync in the SNES jr.? (wire is already soldered. Would only need to solder it to the multiout pin)
4. Has anyone experience with the PEXHDCAP2 and 240p signals? Seems like so far noone has done any kind of review on that newer card, including retro consoles.
5. I'm not 100% sure, that my Sony Trinitron CRT will output csync correctly. In that case i would probably have to get a SCART splitter.
6. Regardless of the CRT output. When connecting the SNES directly to the SyncStrike i "should" get an image in Amarec...

I have really no more ideas what the issue could be.
Hope you guys have some new thoughts on this matter.

Regards,
goop.Q

I had issues with amarec 310 where I wasn't getting a signal. I switched to 231 and the problem was solved.

[goop.Q]

Ok, i will try that.

(Nice Super Metroid time btw ;D)

[unmaker]

Ok, i will try that.

(Nice Super Metroid time btw ;D)

Hopefully that works for you. And thank you! Put in a lot of time for it

[goop.Q]

Sadly, the "downgrade" to Amarec 2.31 didn't help. Allthough i was able to get a glimpse of a picture, when fiddling around with the aspect ratios in the capture device settings.
But only with the SNES jr. directly plugged into the SyncStrike.

Does really noone has an idea what might be wrong (or rather what i'm doing wrong)?
I still haven't soldered the csync back.
Gonna try that now and see if it helps.

I really hope someone on this forum can help me.
Regards,
goop.Q

[goop.Q]

This is the farthest i've gotten:
http://imgur.com/a/pGhUm