N64 w/ Borti RGB Advanced board RGBS/CSYNC woes

[alexkinch]

Hi all, new here but have been lurking for a while and reading lots. Currently building an Extron-switched console setup and slowly getting all my consoles out of storage and connected up, which is where the challenges have begun...

I've got a curiosity with an N64 that had Borti's RGB Advanced mod installed (assuming by the eBay seller I bought it from a couple of years back). It came setup to run component, and that's fine - but I'd quite like it to run in RGBS as everything else is connected through my Extron that way.

Currently testing on a little Ikegami CRT with the supplied Multi AV to RCA cable (with adaptors), and that' s fine with component and setting the Ikegami to internal sync. With a Retro Gaming Cables Super Famicom NTSC BNC cable, I can also get component fine. Switching the color space to RGBS/RGsB also fine. However, when I set to RGB and switch the sync to external, i lose sync. Putting a multimeter on the sync BNC I'm getting 0v, and on /CS on the board itself it's 0.05v.

I'm thinking there's a wiring issue between the RGB mod board and the multi AV as I'm not seeing any voltage on the sync BNC, but shouldn't I be seeing more than 0.05V on the /CS pad?

At the end of the day I could probably just live with component, but this is a bit of a mystery that's bugging me. I was hoping someone with more clue about this mod board and sync voltages in general might have some ideas?

Thanks,
Alex

[Kez]

Sync signals are just an intermittent pulse so I'm not sure you can measure them reliably with a multimeter, might need a scope for that.

I doubt there is an issue with the sync, as the mod is obviously handling sync just fine to produce a component signal. Your RGC cable likely has a resistor in the sync line, is your mod wired up to the /CS (75) pad or just the /CS pad? If it's the former, that pad is designed for just a wire with no resistors in series. In that case you'd want to remove or short the resistor in the cable (and not use the cable on a SNES!). Alternatively you could try wiring up sync straight from the /CS pad.

[alexkinch]

Hi Kez, that's all amazingly helpful, thank you for taking the time to reply. The mod is wired up to the /CS (75) pad which I guess where the problem is. I've not got a soldering setup at the moment and not sure where the resistor is in the cable, so will probably have to live with it for a while - or ask RGC very nicely to make me a cable without a resistor in it and remember not to use it on the Super Famicom!

Thanks again
Alex

[Kez]

You could also use a SNES sync on Luma cable (but you'd need to run it through a sync stripper before the Extron probably?)