Guntz, you are crazy. Just looking at that many wires and that many small adjacent connections makes me want to drink. My drinking is now your fault! ;)
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Guntz, you are crazy. Just looking at that many wires and that many small adjacent connections makes me want to drink. My drinking is now your fault! ;)
I think I'm more crazy for doing it with 22AWG wiring. It's a real tight fit in there. Surprisingly, from what I can tell, none of the address lines are touching each other. I have some 28AWG wire in the mail, so perhaps I will do re-wiring. Only problem is I only bought 5 colors (the most that was available), not 8 like what would be handy for this job.
I have a bigger problem though. I've been going over the case and switch and I just can't seem to find a decent enough place to drill a hole for the switch where the wires will still let the case close fully. Can anyone recommend a location? I was thinking to the left of the expansion slot, but there's not enough headroom inside the case there. Then I thought to put the switch on the panel right angled to the RCA jacks, though it looks like screw poles are getting in the way. I don't want these wires to run too far for fear of signal degradation.
That's damn impressive. Someone said use an IDE cable for thinner wire, which is an excellent suggestion.
They're far and away much less likely to cam out than torx or phillips, assuming you have square head screwdrivers.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
An excellent suggestion indeed. I've already desoldered the old wiring mod and am currently going through the process of re-wiring it with IDE wire. I faced the fact that switch with 22AWG wire just wasn't going to fit in that case. IDE wire is astonishingly small. It's gonna make this mod WAY easier!
I don't have any square-head screwdrivers, so I'm stuck using other kinds of screw drivers, like philips and hexagon shapes.
Again, I need to figure out a decent place to put a big 8PDT switch. Man I hate the TG16's case and PCB assembly. It feels as if there's not enough room for it near the card slot.
Gah, yeah, that will strip 'em on you. I suppose in an electronics environment, they've got less benefit than in a woodworking environment. Building a deck was a lot easier with square head screws.Quote:
Originally Posted by Guntz
Guntz, try finding a proper location for the switch with the RF shielding removed. You do not need this shielding. The purpose of that large sheet of metal is to help reduce minimal amounts of EMF per US FCC regulations. Japanese PC Engines don't even have it.
Once removed, you should have a little more room, especially with smaller and more flexible wires. Install the switch, and ensure that your switch connectors are not shorting out against the PCB. You'll want to cover your exposed solder joints properly.
When it comes to wiring, a good rule of thumb is that you want to use larger wire for VCC and Ground, and smaller wire for address or signal lines.
Congrats Guntz, well done!! :ok: ....As Rob suggests it, there's plenty of room in there for just about anything... I usually install a pc engine controller port, LED and even reset button while at it :) ...
http://usera.ImageCave.com/capcom2000/HPIM8575.JPG
http://usera.ImageCave.com/capcom2000/TG-16.JPG
..
Nicely done! I think you may be inspiring my next project after I get done modding my Gameboys. I've always been afraid of region modding my Duo R since it already has an RGB mod that I don't want to have to fix AGAIN (I didn't do it originally.) The PC Engine cores are getting a little expensive now, and are cramped. It would be swanky to make region switched RGB Turbografx!
ooXxXoo, where did you get the port for the PCE controller? Is it just a mini DIN connector wired to the regular controller port?
What do you use for a voltage regulator heat sink then? On my TG16, it's attached to one half of the RF shell. I might as well keep as much as possible.Quote:
Originally Posted by Robivy64
I replaced the entire region switch with IDE wiring. Right now I'm doing a diagnostic as to why it's not booting a game. I figure it's because every wire is gray, I might have gotten confused and forgetful along the way. The previous mod went so well because each wire of the 8 per 3 groups was given it's own color.Quote:
Once removed, you should have a little more room, especially with smaller and more flexible wires. Install the switch, and ensure that your switch connectors are not shorting out against the PCB. You'll want to cover your exposed solder joints properly.
I found a decent enough place to mount the switch, unfortunately though as always, the hole isn't perfectly square. The switch still stays in there though. I had to mount it in between both halves of the plastic shell because of how the switch is designed. It wouldn't have fit through a hole. Maybe if I'm feeling saucy, I'll glue it in there.
Well that's pretty much a given, yes, but do you mention this because VCC and GND are among the 8 region switch signals? Which ones by number? That could certainly help me.Quote:
When it comes to wiring, a good rule of thumb is that you want to use larger wire for VCC and Ground, and smaller wire for address or signal lines.
It's not well done until the console can be closed and screwed back together and everything works. :D I will post pictures if the revised region switch after I get it working. At least this time around the console shell can be closed fully. :ok:Quote:
Originally Posted by ooXxXoo
Is just a mini din connector, I can't quite remember where I got a couple of them from, I recycle a lot of parts :D ...Quote:
Originally Posted by GohanX
Mine is wired to an IC so nothing bad happens if two controllers (PCE/TG-16) are plugged at the same time by accident (because of my kids when I'm not home :p )..But you can wire it to the original controller port and it'll be ok...
Very interesting. I think I'm going to hop over to ebay and buy a system, and try one of BlueBMW's new region chips. I will RGB mod it later, as it looks like BlueBMW has something he's cooking up for an RGB amp as well. Not sure if I'll attempt the dual controller port thing, as I have brand new TG16 pads with both PCE and TG connectors on them.
I've been wanting to A/V mod mine for a while now, the RF just plain sucks. The TG16 actually puts out some amazingly good composite video. Is there a link available with a walkthrough how to A/V mod it? I would like to go out the side on mine, in case for some reason one day I get a CD player for it. Also, I don't feel like paying $50 for a booster.
Huzzah! The franken-Grafx is now complete! Pictures below!
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/3064/im004404.jpg
http://img812.imageshack.us/img812/7586/im004405.jpg
http://img714.imageshack.us/img714/7558/im004406.jpg
http://img833.imageshack.us/img833/7149/im004407.jpg
http://img846.imageshack.us/img846/808/im004408.jpg
http://img33.imageshack.us/img33/3465/im004409.jpg
http://img508.imageshack.us/img508/6794/im004410.jpg
http://img803.imageshack.us/img803/2807/im004411.jpg
But does it still work?
YES!
http://img215.imageshack.us/img215/6518/im004413.jpg
Some notes on the overall procedure:
1) I have no LEDs on hand, I wish I did though.
2) When I was putting the console back together, I forgot to screw on these metal clips that hold the 2 RF shells and the expansion port together. After several minutes of trying to screw em on, I just said "fuck it" and pitched that piece of garbage, so this TG16 has only one RF shield.
3) I said earlier that the IDE-wired region switch wasn't detecting a game. Here's what I did to fix it:
- Card Pins 15, 16 and 17 appeared to be bridged. I cleaned em up anyway.
- A US+JP signal on the mobo side wasn't soldered at all.
- Card wires 17 and 19 on the switch were soldered on backwards. Switched em around.
Then the system detected Bonk once again! :ok:
4) Is there no way to fix the RF output on a TG16? I always found it handy at least...
5) How do you implement a reset switch? By connecting voltage and ground to a momentary pushbutton switch?
EDIT:
6) When I switch the unit over to PC-Engine mode with a US game inserted, the console just displays a gray screen (no game detected). Is the Turbo supposed to do this? Or does it display some text onscreen alerting the player of an out-of-region card being played?
Look at this picture, on the bottom right side:Quote:
Originally Posted by oldskool
http://img580.imageshack.us/img580/3064/im004404.jpg
Yellow = composite video
White = left stereo
Red = right stereo
gray = ground
It's about as stupid easy as an RCA mod can get. The hard part is finding a place on the case where the jacks won't be touching or become obstructed by the mobo. On my TG16, the solder points on the jacks are resting on the PCB. Probably not the best situation...