Generation NEX NES/FC clone, cleaner composite video fix mod

I'm sure many of you have heard about the Generation NEX (NES/FC clone system) with all of its capabilities...And according to several sources and other reviews, it is great due to the fact that you can play NES or Famicom games and be able to use most of the original NES accessories with it as well. It also has built-in 2.4Hz wireless technology + the sleek ergonomic compact design of its shell, compared to a NES console, makes it look even cooler......
But to me is just another low quality manufactured clone, even though, I'm a clone enthusiast.....
As soon as I hooked up and started to played it, I noticed that the picture and colors were totally off.
The image colors were very hot and saturated, I mean, Super Mario Bros 3 main screen background was some sort of crazy hot yellow color, and during game play,it was almost impossible to distinguish many things...This wrong color palette issue, happened with basically all the games, specially, if you are used to the actual colors that the original NES video output provides...
The idea behind this mod, was to give the Generation NEX a closer to the original, softer composite video output at a very low cost...Also, there is something else to take into consideration, my Generation NEX system motherboard is a "REVISION 3".....Earlier revisions may or may not have this problem.

Parts:
1.-Soldering Iron (30W)
2.-Rosin-Core Solder 0.32 dia.
3.- 1K potentiometer (UPDATE: a 33 ohm 1/2 5% is better)
4.-small size wire(ribbon cable works)
5.-Generation NEX console




Very carefully, opened the NEX case (4 small screws in the bottom side and the "POWER" and "RESET" buttons have a springboard mechanism that can easily jump anywhere.




Note: These pictures show the after, with the 1k potentiometer installed.
The "REVISION 3" print, found near the A/V jacks




First, the native composite video line needs to be located in the NEX motherboard...This can be found right behind the Famicom cartridge connector




There is a set of very small jumpers and transistors on this area....The ones to look for were marked R2 and R3, each have a "272" small jumpers..

Gently, removed these jumpers with the soldering iron, again being very carefully to not break the board jumper connecting solder points.
Once removed, I linked together R2 (any short piece of small size gauge wire works fine)...Later, soldered a piece of wire to each solder point of R3, one of these wire sides going to one of the potentiometer legs( where there are 2 legs) and the other wire side coming from the removed jumper solder point to the single leg of the pot.




Plugged back and turned on the NEX for the testing (while the top side of the system case was still removed).....By slowly manually turning and adjusting the pot you can achieve a very decent composite video signal through its native Video connector.
Placed the pot in a safe spot inside(away from other electronic parts and you can either user electrical tape, glue or epoxi to hold it in place....
Adjusted to my liking and put it back together again.
I did check the resistance in the end, a 33 ohm 1/2 5% will be better instead the potentiometer...If you go with a higher value, the picture will be brighter....

Things to keep in mind:
1.-Static, always press the on/off power button a few times after it has been unplugged from the power source to make sure that there isn't any current charge left in the board before working on it.
2.-There is not need to touch any other parts of the motherboard unless it is necessary , like in my case, to replace the caps...
3,-Don't burn you or your home if attempting to do this lame mod.

 

And they ask 30$+ for that, sorry for saying this, shit? Is just another single chip Famiclone, I rather get a random clone for a teener.

 

I unfortunately bough NEX while it was hyped up on slashdot and such, before the info of it's tremendous crappines got out. I'd love to sell it, but if all else fails, I may eventually try to reuse case and build a new PCB with original Nintendo PPU and CPU, so it's actually usable.

Even the NEX joypads suck. They are all creaky and just not anywhere as tight as Nintendo bone controllers...

 

Nice mod, dude!

 

i was excited at firs because they touted it as a NES/FC compatble 8bit console. they acted like it was a new console that just happened to actually play NES/Fc also

 

Nice mod. It is one of the cooler looking clone systems out there, for all it's faults. If it was cheaper i'd own one.