Thanks for clearing up the input impedance of the FM!
I am not trying to resolve a ground loop, I remember reading about the floating shield a long time ago!
For the Belden it looks like cfx found Mouser Norway which is really Mouser Sweden
As for CPS1 I have tried that with my HAS and my FM with FW 2.0 with no issues. If you are using a Sigma supergun I would add the missing ground to pins: 27,28, e & F. In addition I would put a jumper between Frame Ground and 0V on your PSU.
Hi everyone! I've been a long time lurker of these forums, and since your knowledge on all Framemeister-related matters seems infinite, I thought I'd take a shot at finding a solution to my problem here. I apologize beforehand if I'm hopping some loops by doing my first post here!
This thread is an amazing gold mine for Framemeister owners, I've read a lot and feel like I can understand some of the intricacies of this device, all thanks to your expertise. One thing that's been bothering me though is the lack of a good EuroSCART to RGB-In adapter for the Framemeister. The ones I've bought so far have been of subpar quality, with the solder between the copper cables and the pin connectors constantly breaking up.
I thought about using a Sync Strike I have at my place to hook up my SNES and Mega Drive (both PAL machines modded to work at PAL60), but I have no VGA->RGB-In cable and don't know how to make one (never been any good with soldering tools and whatnot). Does anyone know of someone who might be willing to make and sell me such a cable? I know the latest firmwares of the Framemeister don't require a sync stripper for RGB video signals to work properly, but the Sync Strike has such robust connectors that I thought it'd be a good choice for converting EuroSCART to RGB-In...
I've been using the XRGB-Mini for two years now, and I only just recently tried the remote control and it appears dead. Is there a light that is supposed to go on when you press a button on the remote or anything? I've tried several batteries and nothing happens. The device was bought brand new too, so I assume the remote is dead.
austin532 wrote:You have to point the remote directly at the front Frameister and be fairly close. The infrared is not very good.
Yeah I tried various distances away from the unit. Is there a light or anything that happens to go on when you press a button? I'm just curious if the thing is dead, which I'm fairly certain is the case unless there's something magical I don't know about.
Elder wrote:Yeah I tried various distances away from the unit. Is there a light or anything that happens to go on when you press a button? I'm just curious if the thing is dead, which I'm fairly certain is the case unless there's something magical I don't know about.
I have the same problem, it would work after replacing batteries but now I cannot get it to work at all. I have ordered a replacement at Solaris Japan. I did not buy my device at SJ therefore I have not filed a complaint with them.
Lopson wrote:One thing that's been bothering me though is the lack of a good EuroSCART to RGB-In adapter for the Framemeister. The ones I've bought so far have been of subpar quality, with the solder between the copper cables and the pin connectors constantly breaking up.
Elder wrote:Yeah I tried various distances away from the unit. Is there a light or anything that happens to go on when you press a button?
No, there's no indicator of a button press either on the remote itself or the Mini.
The infrared receiver on the Mini is located just right of the "RGB In" input.
Just try to put fresh batteries in the remote, and when the Mini is in standby, hold the Red (power) button on the remote for 3 secs to switch it on.
Make sure OPTIONS > POWER_SET is set to STANDBY.
Logitech's Harmony remotes actually support the XRGB-mini, XRGB-3, and XRGB-2 Plus! Using a different remote will generally improve responsiveness, despite the limited range IR receiver contained in the XRGB-mini. Alternatively, even an inexpensive learning remote, such as the Sony RMVLZ620, is an improvement. However, you have to program each button one at a time, so takes a few minutes to setup.
Elder wrote:Yeah I tried various distances away from the unit. Is there a light or anything that happens to go on when you press a button?
No, there's no indicator of a button press either on the remote itself or the Mini.
The infrared receiver on the Mini is located just right of the "RGB In" input.
Just try to put fresh batteries in the remote, and when the Mini is in standby, hold the Red (power) button on the remote for 3 secs to switch it on.
Make sure OPTIONS > POWER_SET is set to STANDBY.
I had an IR repeater on the front of my framemeister, but it still didn't really function that well. Granted, someone gave me the repeater for free...but I have never had good luck "hitting" the xrgb with IR. Haven't tried a 3rd party remote on it.
RGB32E wrote:Logitech's Harmony remotes actually support the XRGB-mini, XRGB-3, and XRGB-2 Plus! Using a different remote will generally improve responsiveness, despite the limited range IR receiver contained in the XRGB-mini. Alternatively, even an inexpensive learning remote, such as the Sony RMVLZ620, is an improvement. However, you have to program each button one at a time, so takes a few minutes to setup.
I actually owned a Harmony remote once but the buggy Logitech software made me give it away. I see they have upgraded their SW slightly, might be the way to go. Only fly in the ointment is that my HDMI switcher will change channel when I use the right menu button (IIRC) on the FM remote
No sir, will give it a shot! At this point, I'm willing to try anything! I don't even handle my SCART adapters roughly, they're mostly stationary. Maybe the ones I've had so far were shoddily soldered, I dunno.
EDIT: Also, has anyone posted a table containing the appropriate sync values for each retro console? I can't seem to find anything on the Junker HQ wiki.
My biggest problem with the Harmony remote for the FrameMeister was in regards to trying to turn it off. Since you have to hold the power on the included remote for a few seconds to turn off the FM, and my Harmony remote didn't seem to work for this. Maybe there's some setting to allow for it, but I admittedly did not put much effort into researching it.
MMJuno wrote:My biggest problem with the Harmony remote for the FrameMeister was in regards to trying to turn it off. Since you have to hold the power on the included remote for a few seconds to turn off the FM, and my Harmony remote didn't seem to work for this. Maybe there's some setting to allow for it, but I admittedly did not put much effort into researching it.
I noticed that issue with power off as well. I ended up returning the 650 and getting the Sony, but thought I'd mention that it overall had better range with the mini. I like the macros you can set for the Sony that can provide activities like the Harmony remotes, but without turning off devices.
Elite Evil wrote:Well I got the cable you recommended (which looks to be a better quality than the UK one) but the same thing happens. :'(
Must be a broken XRGB. Hope shipping it to Japan is cheap.
Sorry to hear. Do you feel you can rotate the plug in the Mini socket with this new cable as well?
It shouldn't rotate at all. If it does it probably means the socket inside the Mini has been twisted too much and probably some connections got loose. Hard to say.
No the RGA cable doesn't want to move in the socket but the picture isn't there. Remember the picture never displayed properly, but yes I think one or more of the video pins must not be connecting to where they belong inside the machine but I haven't opened it up as I would rather send it back for a replacement.
So I finally got my XRGB-Mini set up today, and then realised that my Dreamcast and PS2 will not display at all without a CSYNC signal. It's a damn good job my RGB to BNC adapter has an LM1881 circuit build into it that I can put into the XRGB-Mini's SCART adapter otherwise I'd be well screwed.
AndehX wrote:So I finally got my XRGB-Mini set up today, and then realised that my Dreamcast and PS2 will not display at all without a CSYNC signal. It's a damn good job my RGB to BNC adapter has an LM1881 circuit build into it that I can put into the XRGB-Mini's SCART adapter otherwise I'd be well screwed.
Sorry to burst your bubble but the LM1881 is a sync-stripper/cleaner not a combiner...
AndehX wrote:So I finally got my XRGB-Mini set up today, and then realised that my Dreamcast and PS2 will not display at all without a CSYNC signal. It's a damn good job my RGB to BNC adapter has an LM1881 circuit build into it that I can put into the XRGB-Mini's SCART adapter otherwise I'd be well screwed.
Sorry to burst your bubble but the LM1881 is a sync-stripper/cleaner not a combiner...
well whatever it is, my Dreamcast and PS2 now work.
AndehX wrote:So I finally got my XRGB-Mini set up today, and then realised that my Dreamcast and PS2 will not display at all without a CSYNC signal. It's a damn good job my RGB to BNC adapter has an LM1881 circuit build into it that I can put into the XRGB-Mini's SCART adapter otherwise I'd be well screwed.
Sorry to burst your bubble but the LM1881 is a sync-stripper/cleaner not a combiner...
The Dreamcast only outputs CSYNC in 15kHz RGB mode. Generally speaking, all you need to do with DC is change the Sync Level setting from it's default value of 9. No LM1811 required.
Perhaps there is some value of resistor you can put on the CSYNC line so that sync level of 9 works. Tim?
AndehX wrote:So I finally got my XRGB-Mini set up today, and then realised that my Dreamcast and PS2 will not display at all without a CSYNC signal. It's a damn good job my RGB to BNC adapter has an LM1881 circuit build into it that I can put into the XRGB-Mini's SCART adapter otherwise I'd be well screwed.
Sorry to burst your bubble but the LM1881 is a sync-stripper/cleaner not a combiner...
The Dreamcast only outputs CSYNC in 15kHz RGB mode. Generally speaking, all you need to do with DC is change the Sync Level setting from it's default value of 9. No LM1811 required.
Perhaps there is some value of resistor you can put on the CSYNC line so that sync level of 9 works. Tim?
I did fiddle with the sync values, but I wasn't able to get a picture. Like I say though, putting the LM1881 circuit into the XRGB's SCART-RGB adapter has fixed the issue. The image on my PVM look exactly the same without the LM1881 too, so im happy.
Has anyone ever considered removing the XRGB port from the framemeister altogether and soldering one of the SCART - XRGB cables directly into the unit? I appreciate it would be ugly and I don't know how small the circuits are inside but would be 1 fewer connections and points of signal loss.
Elite Evil wrote:Has anyone ever considered removing the XRGB port from the framemeister altogether and soldering one of the SCART - XRGB cables directly into the unit? I appreciate it would be ugly and I don't know how small the circuits are inside but would be 1 fewer connections and points of signal loss.
RGB32E wrote:
What is insufficient about removing the subcarrier connection from the VDP to the CXA? It's a much simpler and effective approach. Blaming the CXA1145M for the jail-bars is misguided as it's possible to get really clean RGB output from this IC. CXA1145 pin 11 can be utilized for 75 ohm CSYNC output, which is handy for displays and the XRGB-mini that are 75 ohm terminated. The 2.2k pull up resistor through 220uF and 75 ohm resistor is an interesting sync circuit idea. Wonder what Tim has to say about that design?
Well I was lucky that my MD didn't suffer from the Jailbar issue a great deal anyway, but on my unit this mod simply shifted the jail-bar type pattern from blue colours to grey. I prefer it this way, but the amp should cure it once and for all. This is the Shmups hardware forum, nothing wrong with a bit of overkill with us lot
BuckoA51 wrote:This is the Shmups hardware forum, nothing wrong with a bit of overkill with us lot
Not so much overkill as it is roundabout, dubious, or just doing it the wrong way. You could still have some sort of cabling issue as well that can cause that artifact. I'm reminded of the poor saps that performed RGB bypass mods on Neo Geo AES consoles when all that was needed was this. Sure, you could lift resistors from the R2R on an AES and run it through a 3 channel amp, or you could just cut a few traces!
RGB32E wrote:
What is insufficient about removing the subcarrier connection from the VDP to the CXA? It's a much simpler and effective approach. Blaming the CXA1145M for the jail-bars is misguided as it's possible to get really clean RGB output from this IC. CXA1145 pin 11 can be utilized for 75 ohm CSYNC output, which is handy for displays and the XRGB-mini that are 75 ohm terminated. The 2.2k pull up resistor through 220uF and 75 ohm resistor is an interesting sync circuit idea. Wonder what Tim has to say about that design?
Well I was lucky that my MD didn't suffer from the Jailbar issue a great deal anyway, but on my unit this mod simply shifted the jail-bar type pattern from blue colours to grey. I prefer it this way, but the amp should cure it once and for all. This is the Shmups hardware forum, nothing wrong with a bit of overkill with us lot
On my NTSC Model 1, severing the VDP-to-CXA trace completely eliminated the jail bars from the blue signal (which were actually quite severe). The graphic output was flawless after that, so eventually I rigged a toggle switch and wired it to the severed points on the trace. Flicking the switch 'on' restores color composite video, while flicking the switch 'off' removes the jail bars on the blue signal.
Hello, I've encountered an issue with my Framemeister + Super Famicom Jr.
There is a buzzing background noise on the sound signal. It might have been there all along but I started hearing it now when I turned the volume up. Is this normal? I.E the Snes sound simply isn't that good?
You could still have some sort of cabling issue as well that can cause that artifact. I'm reminded of the poor saps that performed RGB bypass mods on Neo Geo AES consoles when all that was needed was this. Sure, you could lift resistors from the R2R on an AES and run it through a 3 channel amp, or you could just cut a few traces!
