NESRGB board available now

[lettuce]

So what sort of video connection are most of you guys using for this, tried to see if i could find MegaDrive 2 type connection but couldnt find any anywhere

They're on eBay, just search "9 pin DIN" and you'll find them. Anyway, when I get one I'll be installing it in my AV Famicom which already has the Nintendo multiout. I might get a second one for my front loader, which I've already added a Nintendo multiout to.

Nah there not the correct type, i ordered one and the 'blanking' socket is on the middle row and not the top, plus the socket isnt deep enough

[leonk]

I think most people chose one of the following as I/O type for this board:

- stock mini-DIN + audio jack
- 15 pin VGA port + audio jack
- Nintendo MultiAV port ripped from a dead/cheap SNES/N64/GameCube

So, has anyone else had the same reaction I did when first seeing an NES game load up on a PVM using the NESRGB? I had to lift my mouth off the floor after staring at the SMB3 title screen for 5 minutes. The sharp sprites and pronounced scanlines are super sexy!

Tim has a real winner here. Congrats and THANK YOU.

[loopyeddie]

Okay, I finally got my AV Famicom up and running.

It turns out my CPU died. Game-Tech.us sorted it all out for me. A+ for that guy! If you ever need anything worked on, send it to him. I can't say enough good things about him.

I also just wanted to say Thank You to Tim. This is a fantastic piece of hardware that was sorely needed. The it is great, the instructions are completely understandable, and the price is totally fair.

Now, back to playing Bird Week in glorious RGB!

[ApolloBoy]

So what sort of video connection are most of you guys using for this, tried to see if i could find MegaDrive 2 type connection but couldnt find any anywhere

They're on eBay, just search "9 pin DIN" and you'll find them. Anyway, when I get one I'll be installing it in my AV Famicom which already has the Nintendo multiout. I might get a second one for my front loader, which I've already added a Nintendo multiout to.

Nah there not the correct type, i ordered one and the 'blanking' socket is on the middle row and not the top, plus the socket isnt deep enough

You sure? I keep coming across these: http://bit.ly/1baBPXp

I've used these before and they fit Genesis 2/3 cables perfectly.

[lettuce]

So what sort of video connection are most of you guys using for this, tried to see if i could find MegaDrive 2 type connection but couldnt find any anywhere

They're on eBay, just search "9 pin DIN" and you'll find them. Anyway, when I get one I'll be installing it in my AV Famicom which already has the Nintendo multiout. I might get a second one for my front loader, which I've already added a Nintendo multiout to.

Nah there not the correct type, i ordered one and the 'blanking' socket is on the middle row and not the top, plus the socket isnt deep enough
You sure? I keep coming across these: http://bit.ly/1baBPXp

I've used these before and they fit Genesis 2/3 cables perfectly.

Nah i went for this socket type...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290947516468? ... 1439.l2649

and this is what i got.....


I would email him complaining but it only cost me like £3 for 3, so dont see much point.

I did see loads of the mini din sockets you listed above but not sure on a easy and clean way to install that to fit the case without it looking untidy??

[game-tech.us]

You sure? I keep coming across these: http://bit.ly/1baBPXp

I've used these before and they fit Genesis 2/3 cables perfectly.

Uhh... engrish mistranslation of 'panel mount?'

[mickcris]

So what sort of video connection are most of you guys using for this, tried to see if i could find MegaDrive 2 type connection but couldnt find any anywhere

They're on eBay, just search "9 pin DIN" and you'll find them. Anyway, when I get one I'll be installing it in my AV Famicom which already has the Nintendo multiout. I might get a second one for my front loader, which I've already added a Nintendo multiout to.

Nah there not the correct type, i ordered one and the 'blanking' socket is on the middle row and not the top, plus the socket isnt deep enough
You sure? I keep coming across these: http://bit.ly/1baBPXp

I've used these before and they fit Genesis 2/3 cables perfectly.

Nah i went for this socket type...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/290947516468? ... 1439.l2649

and this is what i got.....


I would email him complaining but it only cost me like £3 for 3, so dont see much point.

I did see loads of the mini din sockets you listed above but not sure on a easy and clean way to install that to fit the case without it looking untidy??

You should let them know. They may have mixed up their 8 and 9 pin sockets. Others are probably going to get the wrong ones too.

[Skips]

I finished my NES today and will be starting on Phonedorks AV Famicom some time tonight. I decided to desolder the expansion port seeing as I do not need it and went with connectors instead of hard soldering the ports and switch to the PCB. I also went with a rotary switch for the pallet selection just because I like it more. I connected the expanded audio to the audio circuit like mentioned earlier in the thread and it works and sounds great. The redone audio circuit is nice, loud, and crystal clear. I went with a single video port. The 8 pin din has R, G, B, Sync, Composite Video, and S-Video all connected to it. I will make cables for those at a later time. I removed the heat sink and cleaned all the old thermal compound off of it and replaced it with arctic silver. I am powering the whole thing off of the NES regulator and it is running far cooler than an NES with the old F-Labo kits. I can actually put my hand on the heat sink after an hour of game play and it not be too hot to touch, could not do that before.

[ApolloBoy]

You sure? I keep coming across these: http://bit.ly/1baBPXp

I've used these before and they fit Genesis 2/3 cables perfectly.

Uhh... engrish mistranslation of 'panel mount?'

LOL, I should probably shoot them a message about that. You definitely don't want to mount those Drakon-style...

[cr4zymanz0r]

Ok, I've gotten some helpful advice from others and had a little time to work on mixing Famicom audio into the NESRGB's sound circuit on a front loader NES. With my previous method I did get buzzing on Famicom carts without special audio chips. However, when asking around someone gave me a better idea of how to mix the audio. The previous way i was doing it earlier in this thread (http://shmups.system11.org/viewtopic.ph ... 75#p964375) was mixing the Famicom cart audio with the system audio before the NESRGB sound circuit was amping the signals. When the Famicom cart audio wire was disconnected/floating (such as when using a NES cart, or a Famicom cart without extra audio) it seemingly acted as an antenna to pick up interference and then this interference was being amped by the NESRGB sound circuit since I had it mixing before amping was taking place. Also, I've been told that the actual Famicom system mixes the cart audio with the system audio after the system audio has already been amped.

So, new interference/buzzing free method!:
1.) Mod your Famicom adapter as usual, except don't use any resistors or capacitors. Just solder a wire to connect Famicom pin 46 to NES pin 18 (like this without the resistor and capacitor


2.) Solder a wire to NES expansion pin 40 (like this, but without the resistor http://i.imgur.com/nNixYV3.jpg). On the other end of the wire connect a 1.2k resistor. The next step will show you where to connect it.

3.) On the NESRGB, solder a 1.2k resistor to the "O" (sound output) solder point. Now on the wire you connected in step 2 solder it's resistor to the end of the other resistor then connect to the sound pin of whatever external AV port you're using. Here's a crude picture detailing what it will look like:


With this method I didn't hear any buzzing audio with NES carts, regular Famicom carts, or Famicom carts with extra audio. Similar value resistors should work, but these are what I had on hand. I don't have any fancy tools like an oscilloscope or whatever to measure if this is "correct", but from listening the audio sounds great and the Famicom cart audio is mixed in at the appropriate level as far as my ears can tell. You could also move the mixing resistors to the audio pin our your AV port if that would be more convenient for you.

[leonk]

skips: love how you put the header for the connectors on the NESRGB .. what a brilliant idea! Looks like it came from the factory like that!

[opt2not]

skips: love how you put the header for the connectors on the NESRGB .. what a brilliant idea! Looks like it came from the factory like that!

I agree, that's some beautiful clean work! And your choice of 8-pin din is a good idea, I think I'm going to go that route too. Better than having to connect extra ports and put more holes in the case.

I can't wait for the second batch! I'm salivating to get this done on my NES, and I think I'm going to get 2 and give my brother a wicked Christmas present <fingers crossed>.

[Pasky]

I haven't touched the audio out on the NES RGB board....but is the expansion audio already mixed into it?

[bobrocks95]

I haven't touched the audio out on the NES RGB board....but is the expansion audio already mixed into it?

Look up literally 3 posts and you'll find that no, you have to mix it in yourself.

[bryan_c]

So, new interference/buzzing free method!:
1.) Mod your Famicom adapter as usual, except don't use any resistors or capacitors. Just solder a wire to connect Famicom pin 46 to NES pin 18 (like this without the resistor and capacitor
http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3255/312 ... f33a_b.jpg

2.) Solder a wire to NES expansion pin 40 (like this, but without the resistor http://i.imgur.com/nNixYV3.jpg). On the other end of the wire connect a 1.2k resistor. The next step will show you where to connect it.

3.) On the NESRGB, solder a 1.2k resistor to the "O" (sound output) solder point. Now on the wire you connected in step 2 solder it's resistor to the end of the other resistor then connect to the sound pin of whatever external AV port you're using. Here's a crude picture detailing what it will look like:
http://i.imgur.com/061EOaF.jpg?1

With this method I didn't hear any buzzing audio with NES carts, regular Famicom carts, or Famicom carts with extra audio. Similar value resistors should work, but these are what I had on hand. I don't have any fancy tools like an oscilloscope or whatever to measure if this is "correct", but from listening the audio sounds great and the Famicom cart audio is mixed in at the appropriate level as far as my ears can tell. You could also move the mixing resistors to the audio pin our your AV port if that would be more convenient for you.

Nice! To an audio layman like myself, it seems like by mixing at point O, you get less buzz because the buzz doesn't get amplified.

How well would you say this approach compares to just using the stock NES audio circuit? Does adding a passive mixer after the NESRGB active mixer defeat some of the purpose? (Sorry if this is a dumb question; I won't pretend to understand audio circuits.)

[zillion.ika]

I decided to desolder the expansion port seeing as I do not need it and went with connectors instead of hard soldering the ports and switch to the PCB.

Skips, that looks great! What are those connectors called that you're hooking to the right-angle pin headers?

[shadowkn55]

I decided to desolder the expansion port seeing as I do not need it and went with connectors instead of hard soldering the ports and switch to the PCB.

Skips, that looks great! What are those connectors called that you're hooking to the right-angle pin headers?

They are .100" non-polarized connector housings. You can get them at Jameco.

10 pin
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... llDownView

4 pin
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... llDownView

Crimps
http://www.jameco.com/webapp/wcs/stores ... llDownView

[Skips]

I decided to desolder the expansion port seeing as I do not need it and went with connectors instead of hard soldering the ports and switch to the PCB.

Skips, that looks great! What are those connectors called that you're hooking to the right-angle pin headers?

You can get them at Jameco like Shadow said above or eBay. Just search Dupont connector and Dupont Crimper. I really suggest getting the proper crimping tool for it as it makes the job much cleaner and a lot faster. I think the crimping tool can also be used for crimping pins for the larger molex connectors as well. I got about 400 connector housings for about $10 on eBay. I needed to buy a lot since I plan to use them in projects from now on. Soldering things to PCB's is easy and all but its a massive pain in the ass when you need to take the console apart to repair or change things.

[alamone]

I also went with a rotary switch for the pallet selection just because I like it more.

Have a link for the rotary switch? Seems like a good idea. Would also be nice to have one that's numbered from 1-4.

[opt2not]

Is it ok to switch palettes while powered up? or do you need to power down to do so?

[ApolloBoy]

Just bought an AV Fami adapter board! I'll probably solder the adapter board in and then have the NESRGB end socketed. To those of you who've modded their AV Famis, would the whole shebang fit if both the NESRGB and PPU are socketed?

[Skips]

I also went with a rotary switch for the pallet selection just because I like it more.

Have a link for the rotary switch? Seems like a good idea. Would also be nice to have one that's numbered from 1-4.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330985058348

They cost a good deal more than the switch that comes with the kit. The knob comes off. I bought a better one at the local Radio shack. I'm sure you can find one that fits your needs online.

[shadowkn55]

Just bought an AV Fami adapter board! I'll probably solder the adapter board in and then have the NESRGB end socketed. To those of you who've modded their AV Famis, would the whole shebang fit if both the NESRGB and PPU are socketed?

Yes. If you socket both the ppu and the nesrgb board, there is still enough room in the av famicom and the nes top loader.

[lettuce]

The redone audio circuit is nice, loud, and crystal clear. I went with a single video port. The 8 pin din has R, G, B, Sync, Composite Video, and S-Video all connected to it. I will make cables for those at a later time. I removed the heat sink and cleaned all the old thermal compound off of it and replaced it with arctic silver. I am powering the whole thing off of the NES regulator and it is running far cooler than an NES with the old F-Labo kits. I can actually put my hand on the heat sink after an hour of game play and it not be too hot to touch, could not do that before.

So why do people use the phono socket to get the audio, can you not wire the audio to the Din socket?, just thought it would make for a clearer install. I guess people are just making up their own scart cables then or is the supplied din socket compatible with a MegaDrive 1 scart (they look similar)?

Also regarding mixing in the extra famicom audio, if I'm using a Everdrive NES cart do I just need to:

Solder a wire to NES expansion pin 40 with a 1.2k resistor at the end
Solder a wire to the "O" (sound output) solder point on the NESRGB with a 1.2k resistor at the end.
Now solder these 2 resistors (NES expansion pin 40 & NESRBB "O") together and solder a wire to these 2 connected resistors to the external audio port to create a 'Y' connection.

Is that right?

[leonk]

Just bought an AV Fami adapter board! I'll probably solder the adapter board in and then have the NESRGB end socketed. To those of you who've modded their AV Famis, would the whole shebang fit if both the NESRGB and PPU are socketed?

Yes. If you socket both the ppu and the nesrgb board, there is still enough room in the av famicom and the nes top loader.

Is this statement based on reading this forum or personal experience (with USA top loader)? Based on my install, I didn't feel there was enough space to socket both. The top lid has a metal screw that pertruids right into the NESRGB. When I had it all socketed (without soldering) it felt like it was touching the pcb.

[sammargh]

Just bought an AV Fami adapter board! I'll probably solder the adapter board in and then have the NESRGB end socketed. To those of you who've modded their AV Famis, would the whole shebang fit if both the NESRGB and PPU are socketed?

Yes. If you socket both the ppu and the nesrgb board, there is still enough room in the av famicom and the nes top loader.

Is this statement based on reading this forum or personal experience (with USA top loader)? Based on my install, I didn't feel there was enough space to socket both. The top lid has a metal screw that pertruids right into the NESRGB. When I had it all socketed (without soldering) it felt like it was touching the pcb.

I socketed both the PPU and NESRGB with no issues inside an AV Famicom.

[Skips]

The redone audio circuit is nice, loud, and crystal clear. I went with a single video port. The 8 pin din has R, G, B, Sync, Composite Video, and S-Video all connected to it. I will make cables for those at a later time. I removed the heat sink and cleaned all the old thermal compound off of it and replaced it with arctic silver. I am powering the whole thing off of the NES regulator and it is running far cooler than an NES with the old F-Labo kits. I can actually put my hand on the heat sink after an hour of game play and it not be too hot to touch, could not do that before.

So why do people use the phono socket to get the audio, can you not wire the audio to the Din socket?, just thought it would make for a clearer install. I guess people are just making up their own scart cables then or is the supplied din socket compatible with a MegaDrive 1 scart (they look similar)?

Also regarding mixing in the extra famicom audio, if I'm using a Everdrive NES cart do I just need to:

Solder a wire to NES expansion pin 40 with a 1.2k resistor at the end
Solder a wire to the "O" (sound output) solder point on the NESRGB with a 1.2k resistor at the end.
Now solder these 2 resistors (NES expansion pin 40 & NESRBB "O") together and solder a wire to these 2 connected resistors to the external audio port to create a 'Y' connection.

Is that right?

The reason for the separate Audio on mine is that with my BVM-20F1U running audio through the din side of the cable causes a very slight ghosting effect on the picture like you would see with the one chip and mini SNES systems (albeit not nearly as bad). That monitor is super sensitive to noise so I run audio separately on all my systems. Most people probably wouldn't notice it however I am super picky about how clean the video is on my display and once I notice a flaw like that it bothers me to no end. I also have S-Video, encoded composite, RGB, and C-Sync running through the Din port. I opted to go with a single video port and have audio separate since it was a super tiny port. I rather have it setup like this than have a few different video ports (and I did not want to bother with a 9 pin mini din).

[shadowkn55]

Just bought an AV Fami adapter board! I'll probably solder the adapter board in and then have the NESRGB end socketed. To those of you who've modded their AV Famis, would the whole shebang fit if both the NESRGB and PPU are socketed?

Yes. If you socket both the ppu and the nesrgb board, there is still enough room in the av famicom and the nes top loader.

Is this statement based on reading this forum or personal experience (with USA top loader)? Based on my install, I didn't feel there was enough space to socket both. The top lid has a metal screw that pertruids right into the NESRGB. When I had it all socketed (without soldering) it felt like it was touching the pcb.

This is from personal experience. I have modded both an nes top loader and av famicom with the nesrgb board and they both close with no problems. I used the supplied SIP sockets for the PPU socket on the nesrgb board and I provided my own socket to solder onto the motherboard.

[parodius]

Another very satisfied customer !
A few pages ago I was mentioning I had an issue with the SIP socket in my AV Fami and could not get a picture.
So today I replaced it with a 40 pin DIP socket, and now it works like a charm !
I was honestly thinking there would be some other issues, even though I tried to do a clean job in the first place...

I did the same modifications to the NESRGB board that sammargh did (thanks for the helpful pics), i.e. for the moment hardwired to use the default palette, and I removed the 220uF caps as I'm using an official PAL NGC SCART cable.

I can also confirm than on the AV Fami there is definitely enough space to socket both the NESRGB and the PPU on it (even though I soldered the PPU myself).

[leonk]

Is anyone looking for a Nintendo MultiAV port for their project???

A local video game store has a Nintendo GameCube for only 20$! Let me know if you're interested .. I can pick it up, remove the AV port and get it shipped to anywhere in the world for a total cost of 25$.