Setting up the Famicom for PAL TVs (and 220V)

Started by Steev, October 29, 2008, 09:05:30 am

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Steev

Hi all,

since my Famicom collection is growing this months i have a couple of questions for you because I am having some problems. First of all, I am from the Netherlands. Here in the Netherlands (and in whole Europe) all the televisions are Pal made. Because of this, I am having some problems with playing my Super Famicom. I have tried to play it on 2 different televisions here in my house but on one there is no screend and no sound, on the other one only screen and no sound. I want to buy a Famicom but i wait with this untill my problem is fixed.

What is the best way to fix this? I have read the manuals of the tv's but nothing is writtin about switching the tv from pal to NTSC. Mayby buy a cheap tv in the US / Japan?

My second question is about the electricity. I have 3 machines running on 110v. Thats not the biggest problem because I have a transformator but the plug of the machines are also different than the normal plug here in holland. So if I want to start these three machines at one time, I have to buy 3 transformators with a special plug!

Well, I already have one of these, but I don't want to buy 2 more, they are not very cheap. So I was thinking, does a plugbox (rude translation) exist? The problem is I don't know the right word for it so I can't search. So I am looking for this, but than Japanese.



I hope you can help me out! :)

Steven

133MHz

Quote from: Steev on October 29, 2008, 09:05:30 am
What is the best way to fix this? I have read the manuals of the tv's but nothing is writtin about switching the tv from pal to NTSC. Mayby buy a cheap tv in the US / Japan?


I think it's really weird that none of your TVs support NTSC, unless they're very old or very cheap, the vast majority of European TVs support NTSC.

Importing a TV set from Japan or the US is really out of the question. The weight of the TV would make shipping unbearably expensive.

If you get a black and white but steady picture, you can get a transcoder box to convert NTSC to PAL.
If you get a black and white but rolling picture, or no picture at all, start thinking about buying a new TV.

Quote from: Steev on October 29, 2008, 09:05:30 am
My second question is about the electricity. I have 3 machines running on 110v. Thats not the biggest problem because I have a transformator but the plug of the machines are also different than the normal plug here in holland. So if I want to start these three machines at one time, I have to buy 3 transformators with a special plug!

Well, I already have one of these, but I don't want to buy 2 more, they are not very cheap. So I was thinking, does a plugbox (rude translation) exist? The problem is I don't know the right word for it so I can't search. So I am looking for this, but than Japanese.


Basically you're looking for a power strip (that's the proper translation) with US-type plugs. I also live in a 220V country, and altough not common, they're not impossible to find (some specialty electronics stores around here import and sell US-type electric plugs for those who need them). If you can't find them anywhere where you live, consider importing one from the US.

Steev

Thanks alot for your comment 133mhz!

The problem is, we don't have a cheap old tv, instead, in fact we have a Sharp LC-52XL2E. Mayby I did something wrong, I am going to figure this out. I will compare the screen result with your answer but I don't hope that I have to buy a new tv! hahaha :p

So a powerstrip, ah! Thanks alot, now I will find one definately :D


133MHz

Wow, nice HDTV! :D

Unless you're connecting your Super Famicom through the RF connection you shouldn't have any problems displaying it on such a nice TV. Most European TVs only support NTSC through their AV inputs, no antenna. I overlooked that since it's a Super Famicom I assumed that you were using the AV hookup. If you're still using the RF switch, then getting a Nintendo compatible AV cable should solve your problem.

And if that's the case, then either get an AV Famicom or an AV modded Famicom, since the original Famicom has no AV output.

Steev

Hehe, thanks! We have much pleasure of this tv! :D

Hmm, I didn't think of that before! The problem is, I only tried to connect my SFC with the tv via the analog antenna. It just coulnd't find the right frequentie for the good screen / sound. I will try it with my RF cable tomorrow! Thanks for this brilliant idea! hehe  ;D I don't know if my AV cable is compatible, i just hope it does so my problems are gone!

Though i wanted to buy an original famicom, I will think of buying a av modded or av famicom. Thanks for your reply :)

Steven

133MHz

AV Famicom, SNES/SFC, N64 and the GameCube, they all use the same AV cable.

drwily

Hi,

I have the same problem as Steev (The original author of this thread).
But I have the original HVC-001 Famicom with RF only. There is NO A/V output.

I get an "almost steady" black and white picture. The sound is a loud hum, but you can hear the game sound "in the distance".

I live in Denmark, Northern Europe. We use PAL. I have tried it on two televison sets with the same results.

Any ideas for a solution? RF modulation? A converter? I would rather not start soldering and drill holes in my famicom. It's in really good condition and still has its box, so I think it would be a shame to mod it.

Hope to hear from you!

133MHz

You'd have to get a Japanese VCR to tune into the Famicom's channel and get composite video output out of it if you don't want to mod your Famicom. European multi system TVs only support NTSC through their AV jacks,

133MHz

Quote from: MasterDisk on September 03, 2009, 08:24:16 am
@133MHz, not sure, my European TV doesn't support my Modded Famicom (RCA out).


Your TV is not multisystem then.

Quote from: 133MHz on September 03, 2009, 08:16:33 am
European multi system TVs only support NTSC through their AV jacks,

drwily

Thanks for replying.
The more I research, and the more answers I get, the more it seems likely that an AV mod is the only way to go.
Every other solution is either expensive, impractical - or both!