Famicom Repair - Microphone

Started by fami125, March 25, 2020, 10:44:03 am

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fami125

Hello everyone!

I am completely new to this website/forum as well as collecting Famicom hardware/games, so I might have difficulty understanding technical details or descriptions of the hardware itself. Anyways, I just picked up my first Famicom yesterday, and I have been having issues with it. Mainly, there was interference with the built-in microphone that was affecting the console's audio output. There was only loud buzzing. I looked at several videos online, and decided to remove the second controller (in which the microphone was embedded into). Now, the game no longer has any buzzing. However, I was wondering if the microphone is exactly necessary to play/beat any games? Also, where could I find a replacement, or should I attempt to repair it myself? Thank you everyone for reading this post,

Matt

xIceMan

Welcome to the forums, Matt.

The microphone is not neccessarily needed and was only used by a handful of games, mainly:
Apple Town Monogatari - Little Computer People (FDS)
Atlantis no Nazo
Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou
Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou 2
Doraemon
Hikari Shinwa - Palthena no Kagami (FDS)
Kaiketsu Yancha Maru
Kamen Rider Club
Raid on Bungeling Bay
Star Luster
Star Soldier
Super Chinese 2 - Dragon Kid
Takeshi no Chousenjou
Zelda no Densetsu - The Hyrule Fantasy

The buzz noise comes from dirt on the slide connector. Also needs to put back the pressure it lost over the years to keep contact steady to the PCB. Just did that with mine to reduce noise. Still present though.
Maybe this helps: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-S_iHHZKIec

fami125

Hello xlceMan,

Thank you very much! Unfortunately, I have been having some trouble with screwing the controller back together after cleaning the microphone. If I cannot put it back together or fix it completely, is there any source that sells replacements of famicom controllers? Thank you,

Matt

P

Famicom controllers shows up on ebay, but Famicoms are old, chances are that other controllers have the same problem or other common problems. If you do get another controller, remember that Twin Famicom controllers are not compatible. They use another connector.

For reassembling it, there shouldn't be that many parts, although it can be tricky but I think you should be able to put it back together if you spend some more time with it (look up pictures or videos of it on the internet). Screws are commonly stripped, so that you are unable to tighten or loosen them. If it's only one or maybe two you can probably just skip it.

Quote from: fami125 on March 25, 2020, 10:44:03 amI was wondering if the microphone is exactly necessary to play/beat any games?
To answer your question strictly: Yes there are games that requires the microphone to beat them. Supposedly the Bakushou!! Jinsei Gekijou games and Super Chinese 2 do require it to proceed in the game at some point. They are all games that requires Japanese literacy though.

xIceMan

If you can't reassemble it back together you probably put the wire in the wrong place.
They're stuck around the tabs before it leaves the controller shell. There's also holders you need to put the PCB on.

fami125

I think I got it now, with everything screwed in place. I'll see if I can reattach it to the console and test it out. Thanks for your help!

BibbieMok

April 02, 2020, 10:07:35 am #6 Last Edit: April 24, 2020, 12:01:33 pm by BibbieMok
Hi....Given that the BU3270 inside the NES2/Famicom AV connects to CPU D2, you've got a substantially more annoying project here.You'll either need to completely remove the BU3270, or completely replace how it handles D2.
I'm not certain what the differences are between the BU3266 and the BU3270, if any.

prototype pcb assembly