Retro_Console_Accessories ebay cables could cause damage...?

[strygo]

Does anyone know what problems I might expect from an SNES csync cable that lacks the 330ohm resistor?

I have a SNES csync cable that until now has worked flawlessly wherever I have used it, including a Sony consumer CRT, a Sony PVM, and a Framemeister. However, when I use the cable with a Lumagen VisionHDQ, I see a purplish discoloration that is specific to the SNES + csync cable. All other systems work fine. As a test, I used a sync-on-luma cable I normally use with my N64 and the discoloration no longer happens. So the problem is specific to the SNES plus this csync cable.

Any chance the problem is related to the missing resistor?

[strygo]

Well, I have confirmation that my problem was due to the missing resistor. My discoloration issue was resolved when using a cable that contains the resistor. Interestingly, the Lumagen is the only device I have that was affected by wrong level. Everything else (consumer CRT, PVM and Framemeister) all worked fine.

[Seraphic]

Reading this tread makes me think twice, but I was looking to order from retro_console_accessories on ebay since I am on the pre-purchase list for an OSSC. Need a SCART cable for my Playstation 2 and I was looking to order one with the coaxial pro cabling upgrade. But was wondering if I should have them not install 1000uF capacitors in the cable as it will only be used in a Playstation 2. From what I understand, 1000uF capacitors are needed for use with a Playstation 1 only.

[strygo]

She is extremely receptive to feedback and continues to adjust what she does to align with best practices.

I've had nothing but great experiences with her and highly recommend her products.

Will it turn out that you need to pick up a new cable down the road when best practices evolve? Possibly, but I personally don't hold that against her (or RGC).

[Steamflogger Boss]

She is extremely receptive to feedback and continues to adjust what she does to align with best practices.

I've had nothing but great experiences with her and highly recommend her products.

Will it turn out that you need to pick up a new cable down the road when best practices evolve? Possibly, but I personally don't hold that against her (or RGC).

Agree. And to update on my last post they fixed my Genesis cable free of charge. This was 4+ years after my purchase date. They stand behind their work.

[FBX]

She's now got a more comprehensive store separate from ebay:

https://retro-access.com/

All of my cables for my wall of consoles are brand new coaxial-upgraded SCART cables that she made for me. I inspected each of them with my multimeter, and they all pass with the proper components.

-FBX

[RetroSnow]

This was a sobering read, being that 99% of my cables come from her. I went ahead and sent her an email with ID numbers hoping to find out if any of mine could be suspect. *crosses fingers*

I've never had anything but great experiences with retro_console_accessories so I hope all this gets sorted out quickly and quietly.

[strygo]

There's no big scandal here.

- If you bought a csync cable for SNES more than a month ago, it's probably missing a resistor. (If you use the cable for the NESRGB, you're fine.)

- If you bought a csync cable for Genesis more than 12-14 months ago, it's probably missing a resistor and capacitor.

- If you bought a csync cable for Genesis more than a month ago, it may have an unnecessary buffered sync circuit that isn't needed.

- If you bought a csync cable for model 2 Saturn more than a month ago, it may benefit from a resistor/capacitor.

The irony of the issues that have been uncovered is that if you stuck with sync on luma or sync on composite, you're fine.

[Ikaruga11]

Can poorly shielded or grounded cables cause jailbars to appear?

[Wolf_]

Can poorly shielded or grounded cables cause jailbars to appear?

They can cause distortions or interference to appear but it would take improper voltage or wiring to cause a jailbar/colorbanding type issue. Neither is good though.

[FinalBaton]

There's no big scandal here.

- If you bought a csync cable for SNES more than a month ago, it's probably missing a resistor. (If you use the cable for the NESRGB, you're fine.)

- If you bought a csync cable for Genesis more than 12-14 months ago, it's probably missing a resistor and capacitor.

- If you bought a csync cable for Genesis more than a month ago, it may have an unnecessary buffered sync circuit that isn't needed.

- If you bought a csync cable for model 2 Saturn more than a month ago, it may benefit from a resistor/capacitor.

The irony of the issues that have been uncovered is that if you stuck with sync on luma or sync on composite, you're fine.

Thanks for the roundup!

[Ikaruga11]

Can poorly shielded or grounded cables cause jailbars to appear?

They can cause distortions or interference to appear but it would take improper voltage or wiring to cause a jailbar/colorbanding type issue. Neither is good though.

Thanks

[Seraphic]

So if I order a SCART cable for PlayStation 2, and it is only going to be used for that console, should I have 1000uF capacitors in the cable or not?

[strygo]

Where would you place the capacitor and for what purpose?

Speaking for NTSC PlayStations, they are pretty straightforward in their AV output. They don't expose csync and therefore you would typically use the luma signal for sync.

[bobrocks95]

She's now got a more comprehensive store separate from ebay:

https://retro-access.com/

All of my cables for my wall of consoles are brand new coaxial-upgraded SCART cables that she made for me. I inspected each of them with my multimeter, and they all pass with the proper components.

-FBX

That's great, wouldn't have known about her new site if you hadn't posted it FBX.

For those who haven't looked, she mentions on her site what components are in the sync line for csync cables. She may have also updated her ebay listings with that info, I'm not sure.

Only problem I saw was the Sega Saturn page mentioning a 470uF cap, which doesn't match either of the two values on retrorgb. Both pages seem to have typos, and I don't know which is correct.

[Seraphic]

Where would you place the capacitor and for what purpose?

Speaking for NTSC PlayStations, they are pretty straightforward in their AV output. They don't expose csync and therefore you would typically use the luma signal for sync.

https://www.retrogamingcables.co.uk/son ... nc-on-luma

Unlike our PS1 Luma cable this PS2 cable does not require capacitors inside the SCART cable as these are located inside the PlayStation 2 console itself, therefore, we offer this separate cable to correct match the output of your PS2 console.

So is it better to get a cable with or without capacitors if you are only using the cable with PS2 (or does it not make a difference)?

[RGB0b]

Only problem I saw was the Sega Saturn page mentioning a 470uF cap, which doesn't match either of the two values on retrorgb. Both pages seem to have typos, and I don't know which is correct.

My page is correct. Either the cap on the retro-access page has a typo (seems like an easy mistake, as it's a 470 ohm resistor), or she tested with a 470uF cap and it still falls within the tolerance. I'd guess it's just a typo, as she probably uses 220uF caps since that's what's in so many other cables.

That's also why I listed both values on my page; Both 100uF and 220uF are confirmed via scope to work perfect and since most people who tinker with these things will probably have 220uF caps anyway, I recommend just using those.

[bobrocks95]

Only problem I saw was the Sega Saturn page mentioning a 470uF cap, which doesn't match either of the two values on retrorgb. Both pages seem to have typos, and I don't know which is correct.

My page is correct. Either the cap on the retro-access page has a typo (seems like an easy mistake, as it's a 470 ohm resistor), or she tested with a 470uF cap and it still falls within the tolerance. I'd guess it's just a typo, as she probably uses 220uF caps since that's what's in so many other cables.

That's also why I listed both values on my page; Both 100uF and 220uF are confirmed via scope to work perfect and since most people who tinker with these things will probably have 220uF caps anyway, I recommend just using those.

You should make it clear on your page that both work then. The way it reads now, you say 100uF in one sentence then say 220 in the summary, without explaining that either works fine. Hence why I figured there was a typo on your page too.

[Seraphic]

Only problem I saw was the Sega Saturn page mentioning a 470uF cap, which doesn't match either of the two values on retrorgb. Both pages seem to have typos, and I don't know which is correct.

My page is correct. Either the cap on the retro-access page has a typo (seems like an easy mistake, as it's a 470 ohm resistor), or she tested with a 470uF cap and it still falls within the tolerance. I'd guess it's just a typo, as she probably uses 220uF caps since that's what's in so many other cables.

That's also why I listed both values on my page; Both 100uF and 220uF are confirmed via scope to work perfect and since most people who tinker with these things will probably have 220uF caps anyway, I recommend just using those.

Would you recommend capacitors be installed into a SCART cable for use with a NTSC PlayStation 2?
Or is that that only need with PlayStation 1? Or doesn't it not matter either way?

[FBX]

Only problem I saw was the Sega Saturn page mentioning a 470uF cap, which doesn't match either of the two values on retrorgb. Both pages seem to have typos, and I don't know which is correct.

My page is correct. Either the cap on the retro-access page has a typo (seems like an easy mistake, as it's a 470 ohm resistor), or she tested with a 470uF cap and it still falls within the tolerance. I'd guess it's just a typo, as she probably uses 220uF caps since that's what's in so many other cables.

That's also why I listed both values on my page; Both 100uF and 220uF are confirmed via scope to work perfect and since most people who tinker with these things will probably have 220uF caps anyway, I recommend just using those.

Multimeter to the rescue once again! I just got a csync Saturn cable from her this past week. According to my Fluke 117, I'm reading 230uF off that cap. I would just read the value labeled on the cap, but she's got it heat-shrink wrapped so you can't see it, and I don't want to hassle with re-soldering and re-wrapping it.

[Thomas83lin]

Multimeter to the rescue once again! I just got a csync Saturn cable from her this past week. According to my Fluke 117, I'm reading 230uF off that cap. I would just read the value labeled on the cap, but she's got it heat-shrink wrapped so you can't see it, and I don't want to hassle with re-soldering and re-wrapping it.

Did you happen to check the resistance on the csync also?

edit: My meter is showing 370ohm but I just tested my meter on some new resistors and its not correct.

[FBX]

Multimeter to the rescue once again! I just got a csync Saturn cable from her this past week. According to my Fluke 117, I'm reading 230uF off that cap. I would just read the value labeled on the cap, but she's got it heat-shrink wrapped so you can't see it, and I don't want to hassle with re-soldering and re-wrapping it.

Did you happen to check the resistance on the csync also? Just got my saturn csync cable today and it's reading around 370ohm. My multi meter could be off, either way 370 should be acceptable right?

It's a 470 on mine, but 370 should be good enough from my limited understanding. RetroRGB or somebody else could let us know otherwise.

[chomel]

I have a question here.

I have a PAL megadrive 2 swichted with this mod: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/mega-drive-2- ... ns-switch/
To get rid of jailbars, I connected CSYNC signal to video multiout to get CSYNC instead of composite video. As the image was weird (very dark with colours missing), I naively put a 75 ohm resitors (same as the R, G and signals) with a 220µF capacitor and everyhing worked fine.

Today I tried to install the 470 ohm resistor as well as the 10 µF capacitor. I works fine when the console outputs 50 Hz but the image isn't stable with 60 Hz. It's the same with resitors from 150 ohm to 470.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ru2wzHLJ1Bw
I tried again with the 75 ohm resistor and also with a 100 and a 47 ohm resitor. Both gave stable image with 60 Hz.

Any idea why?

Also, I don't have any upscaler, the console is directly connected to the TV. If I keep the 100 ohm resitor, is there a risk to damage my TV? Or the console?

[Lawfer]

So if I order a SCART cable for PlayStation 2, and it is only going to be used for that console, should I have 1000uF capacitors in the cable or not?

So is it better to get a cable with or without capacitors if you are only using the cable with PS2 (or does it not make a difference)?

I have been using the official Sony PS1 JP21 RGB cable (which has capacitors in it) for years solely on my NTSC US PS2, no problem at all, so I can say that it won't hurt anything.

However if you are going to get an RGB cable for the PS2, might as well just get one with no capacitors in it (since they are already present in the console anyways.)

Short answer: RGB cables for the PS1 needs capacitors in them, the ones for the PS2 don't.

[FBX]

I have been using the official Sony PS1 JP21 RGB cable (which has capacitors in it) for years solely on my NTSC US PS2, no problem at all, so I can say that it won't hurt anything.

It technically does mess with the picture. Try4ce sent me comparison pics of when using cables with caps and a clean cable with no caps, and there was visible distortion in the picture. Even the 1000uF caps cable had slight distortion in the picture. It's just one of those things where you wouldn't really notice unless you looked at a side-by-side comparison shot with a clean no-caps cable. But of course my OCD couldn't let it got, so I opened my PS2 RGB cable and removed the caps to make it clean. I just know to not use it on the PS1 and vice versa.

[lechu]

So are RGC's cables safe to buy going into 2018?

I'm not a video engineer so some of the posts here almost read like a different language, but is it safe to say their regular cables are in-spec and properly/fully-shielded?

Yes. Since this hubbub of "dangerous cables" popped up, the two major scart cable makers (RGC and Retro-Access) have made their cables to spec. There should be no issue.

[Lawfer]

I have been using the official Sony PS1 JP21 RGB cable (which has capacitors in it) for years solely on my NTSC US PS2, no problem at all, so I can say that it won't hurt anything.

It technically does mess with the picture. Try4ce sent me comparison pics of when using cables with caps and a clean cable with no caps, and there was visible distortion in the picture. Even the 1000uF caps cable had slight distortion in the picture. It's just one of those things where you wouldn't really notice unless you looked at a side-by-side comparison shot with a clean no-caps cable. But of course my OCD couldn't let it got, so I opened my PS2 RGB cable and removed the caps to make it clean. I just know to not use it on the PS1 and vice versa.

I see, I did notice a part of the picture was kinda wavy on some part of the screen, but I just thought it was normal for the CRT. But it shouldn't damage anytjing right?

Thanks for mentioning this.