HYDRA - automatic scart switch

[lotharek]

Hello all,

i`m rather new to this foum, but i wanted to share with with You with sth we have spent almost 2 years.
Basicaly, i run http://www.lotharek.pl and i produce many old/retro hardware. beofore postages i test ny devices with amiga, atari xe, atari st, amstrad, spectrum... etc.

i was fed up with unpluging / plugging scart sockets to my lg lcd - so, i made my effort towards HYDRA.

What is it ?


http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=171 - more detail here...

and movie showing final prototype in action :

https://youtu.be/InG5aHKfrbo


aim / idea was simple :
- no interference between inputs
- automatic switch bewten inputs
- geek KNIGHT RIDER EFFECT - i loved that movie 20 or sth years ago
- if Your tv accepts signal present on SCART PLUG , Hydra will detect it and route it to TV
- 8 inputs ( esxpendable bu daughter board with possible 24 next ones) , 1 output
- inputs are prioriterized ( 1 has higher prioritait, 8 - lowest)


ps. sorry for my english and errors, i`m not native speaker. Prize is not established yet, product will be avilable soon in transparent plexi case, powerd by micro usb mobile phone charger 500mA min.

some details : 512 smd elements, 255 tht points


and here some tests :

https://youtu.be/Nzrc-JRBVXM

[Fudoh]

Welcome to the board! I have a Spectrum CF solution by you. Unfortunately never found the time to give it a try....

Good luck with your scart switch project. Looks very promising!

[sky-13]

Always good to have more SCART switching options. Definitely excited to see the final product with the daughter board!

[lotharek]

Welcome to the board! I have a Spectrum CF solution by you. Unfortunately never found the time to give it a try....

Good luck with your scart switch project. Looks very promising!

Fudoh, would You be so kind and test one of the prototypes ?

please mail me to [email protected]

[BuckoA51]

Daughterboard idea is very neat I have to say. Never imagined GScart would get competition so quickly.

[The_Atomik_Punk!]

Wow, I'm excited about this project; a more sensibly-priced alternative to the GScart is something I'm highly interested in- good job!

[lechu]

ps. sorry for my english and errors, i`m not native speaker. Prize is not established yet, product will be avilable soon in transparent plexi case, powerd by micro usb mobile phone charger 500mA min.

Do you have any idea how much you think it will cost? More or less than $100 US?

[lotharek]

more or less

[Mantrox]

As long as the performance is there, anywhere near 100$ would be great.
Lovin' the surge of custom tailored projects in recent years.

Keep it up!

Whats your next goal?
Finish the prototype?
Gauge interest?
Produce a first batch?

[nio]

Why scart? Why not Framemeister mini Din connector as output?
Please make it without the need of external power supply, nice black pcb, plexi case and sync striker and i am all in.

[bobrocks95]

Why scart? Why not Framemeister mini Din connector as output?
Please make it without the need of external power supply, nice black pcb, plexi case and sync striker and i am all in.

Not everyone has a Framemeister and if you do, don't you already have some kind of SCART to MiniDIN adapter?

[fafangus]

Got an sd card emulator for my atari/amiga from you : great piece of hardware
Real seller here !!
Welcome aboard

Off topic : just see that you have an image loader for atari st (?)
When I use the sdcard emulator I switch manually the disk and then reboot the computer, is there an another way to use it ?

edit : oh it's an atari xe ^^
I found the manager for the st I'll test it tomorow

[ZellSF]

How does the auto scart switching work? I think you can do either what gets video sync or voltage sent on specific scart pin?

No audio breakout (not that it's a huge deal)?

[BuckoA51]

Please make it without the need of external power supply, nice black pcb, plexi case and sync striker and i am all in.

Moon on a stick too? PSU free isn't really going to be possible especially if you want a "sync striker" in there too.

[NormalFish]

Not huge on automatic switches, but good that there are more options for good scart switches, regardless. Goodluck

[D]

Interesting! Keep us posted

[lotharek]

here are smoe photos of final version :





already avilable in preorder, postages due to high interest - middel of NOVEMBER

http://lotharek.pl/product.php?pid=171


ps. transparent casing made by me with my laser cutting machine

https://www.facebook.com/lothareksLair/ ... 343560827/

[juji82]

awesome!

[PascalP]

Looks good!

What exactly are the functions of the 3 buttons on the side?

[BuckoA51]

Manual override.. yesss

[blizzz]

Looks nice, but I wish these new switches weren't in the same price range as a used PS4.

[NJRoadfan]

How does this unit detect active video sources? Does it use pin 16, or does it actively detect signal via the sync/RGB lines? Only reason I'm asking is some of us have cables that don't have the switching line on pin 16 connected.

[Shining]

Any reviews or user impressions of this switch out there?

[Guspaz]

While I haven't seen any, the launch models had a manufacturing and design defect causing audio issues. There were instructions posted on assemblergames, I think it was, to fix them. The designer of the switch offered to repair any that already went out, and says currently produced ones don't have the issue.

[rtw]

While I haven't seen any, the launch models had a manufacturing and design defect causing audio issues. There were instructions posted on assemblergames, I think it was, to fix them. The designer of the switch offered to repair any that already went out, and says currently produced ones don't have the issue.

Could you share a link to the post on assembler please ?

[Guspaz]

IIRC it was mentioned on Bob's podcast, I don't have the link handy.

[mickcris]

While I haven't seen any, the launch models had a manufacturing and design defect causing audio issues. There were instructions posted on assemblergames, I think it was, to fix them. The designer of the switch offered to repair any that already went out, and says currently produced ones don't have the issue.

Could you share a link to the post on assembler please ?

not sure if its on assembler, but here it is on a German site (i linked to a google translated version in English)

https://translate.google.com/translate? ... D%3D611386


edit:
the spoilers dont work in the translated version. here is the original link
https://circuit-board.de/forum/index.ph ... tID=611386

[rtw]

Thank you @mickcris

I also found this: http://lotharek.pl/zasoby/produkty/171/ ... io_fix.pdf

[nam9]

So.. any comparison vs the GScartsw?
What are the 3 switches for (I assume 'Next' and 'Previous'...but the 3rd?)

[BuckoA51]

Any reviews or user impressions of this switch out there?

I've actually had one weeks now but because of OSSC I've been too busy to really look at it, I'll get to it soon though (sorry Lotharek!)