Found my '83 console, AV Mod hassles

Started by Ghur, July 26, 2014, 06:42:00 am

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Ghur

Hi all,
new to the board thanks to this thread.

I've just found my old Famicom with 30 games in a storage box at my parents' place. I got it for Christmas in '83 when we used to live as expats in Japan. I now live in Australia with my wife and kids.

Unfortunately we do not have any way to connect via RF so I followed the tutorial on http://jpx72.detailne.sk/modd_files/fc/avmod.htm to add a couple RCA sockets to the famicom.

The result is ... interesting, to say the least. Note, I'm don't know much about electronics, and although I can solder components the soldering is probably not super but seems to hold ;-)

Here's the results:
- sounds works perfectly well. quality is good, no humming or buzzing, just a bit of saturations on the higher notes but otherwise very nice.
- image is completely pixellated/blurry. I tried Mario Bros and I can see the mario 'square' move and jump but that's about it.
- gameplay is impeccable, the controls and everything works as it did 30 years ago.



A video can be found here: http://tonicturtle.com/random/mario-vidcap.mp4 (44MB)

Due to the poor video signal I can't play the games obviously, and I'm looking for suggestions on how to fix it.

I'm testing using a PAL tv. Is this still a problem when using the AV connector? Do I need to test on a NTSC TV or try with a NTSC>PAL converter?

Sorry I posted this in another thread but didn't get any feedback, hence the new thread.

Any suggestions welcome.
Thanks!

P

Quote from: Ghur on July 26, 2014, 06:42:00 am
I'm testing using a PAL tv. Is this still a problem when using the AV connector? Do I need to test on a NTSC TV or try with a NTSC>PAL converter?

Yes you need a TV that supports NTSC or a converter. Modern PAL TVs often supports NTSC but not always.

zmaster18

I think your console is in working condition, but there must be some dirt in the cartridge connector. Try cleaning your games' connectors and the cartridge slot in the console. Then it should work like new!!!

Ghur

Thanks for the replies. Will try cleaning it.

At some point I got the attached type of video so I'm hopeful :-)

P

Good, try to clean it more. There's the credit card t-shirt trick to clean the cart slot. Dip a piece of cloth (like a t-shirt) in 95%~ isopropyl alcohol, wrap it around a credit card or similar and use it to clean the slot. For the cartridge you can use a cottown swab dippen in isopropyl. For better effect you can open the cartridge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgCiAOmgeFc carefully) and sand away on the edge pins with fine sand paper, sand eraser or fibreglass pen.

zmaster18

Quote from: P on July 27, 2014, 01:26:17 am
Good, try to clean it more. There's the credit card t-shirt trick to clean the cart slot. Dip a piece of cloth (like a t-shirt) in 95%~ isopropyl alcohol, wrap it around a credit card or similar and use it to clean the slot. For the cartridge you can use a cottown swab dippen in isopropyl. For better effect you can open the cartridge (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LgCiAOmgeFc carefully) and sand away on the edge pins with fine sand paper, sand eraser or fibreglass pen.

This.

I swear by this trick all the time. This method really should be more popular! Also, if you have a metal file, try lightly filing the inside of the cartridge slot. It will take off any corrosion and make the pins shiny again.

iStreet

I always downshift near a hybrid, so they can hear me hurt the environment...

Ghur

I have modded it, the images you see are from the RCA video output.
Unfortunately the better image above only lasted a few seconds and then went back to the original screenshot.
I tried cleaning card and reader but with no success.

I think my issue is related to my modding, so I started playing with the soldering and components .. until I broke a pin on the 2SA937 transistor... sigh, back to square one..