gscartsw: automatic 8:1 SCART-RGB switch

I think I got one too! YAY!

 

Pretty sure I bought it within 30 seconds of the quantity update. Waiting for PayPal to load my payment options so I could pay with a credit card was the longest 10 seconds I've experienced in a while. Thanks superg. Excited for it to arrive in the coming weeks

 

I think my order went through as well.
I can stop hitting refresh on this page for now...

Thanks!

 

Took mine

 

Is this already sold out again???!!!

 

Orders are filled.
Most of the units will be shipped today as well, a few tomorrow, thank you everybody!

 

I have 5 units left, I'll sell them in a few weeks from now. Want to keep a few just in case.

 

I was so glad I managed to get an order in from work off my cellphone. Turns out paypal is case sensitive with the email and because I didn't put the first letter in caps it kept rejecting my login like 5 times. I was freaking out like "THIS IS DEFINITELY MY PASSWORD WORK DAMN YOU"

 

Hi, would it be able to open source the board layout? I would like to build one for my setup in a different shape better fitting to my retro-setup.

 

You mean schematics? Obviously not.

 

Could you then find a better solution to answer to the demand?

 

To be honest, it's not up to superg to 'answer' demand for a niche product for in a niche market. He's put in his own work and time on a quality product, so why should he?

There are alternatives available and there is nothing stopping the market from filling demand if it amounts to anything more than a small handful of individuals complaining on a forum.

 

In the hacker communities I grew up, there was always the attitude of sharing. Sure, if you want to make a business out of something, you don't open source anything and sell your product. But for running a business, you should be able to answer demand. Even if it's using high priced on-demand circuitboard printers. If it's just a niche and it's more to help the community, why not open sourcing it and get some donations for it (or sell the layout for a small price for the people to solder it themselves)?

But obvious this community is not in the state of mind I'm used to - that's fully ok and I will find another solution.

 

You have attitude problems my friend. You just don't come to the forum and start accusing people, that's not what "hacking communities" do. I'm long time software developer and I have a few open source projects of my own and there are my contributions in some GNU/GPL projects out there.
As of this project - I've spend a pretty decent amount of funds to get it going long time before it was even profitable. Yes, I do feel like getting "invested" money back and getting a little extra for my other projects. Yes, you may call it business if you want.
I've explained my stance regarding gscartsw open sourcing here in this topic (including DIY kits), but the guys like you don't read, they just accuse.
Actually you do sound like a guy from RetroRGB's Facebook group, who were accusing me in comments that I'm making a fortune out of the switch and it's very cheap to produce everything (and I should open source it blabla). I find it very entertaining when somebody is doing the math for me because according to my current calculations if you would build 1 unit yourself by ordering a PCB + components + case cutting + all shipment expenses it's gonna cost more than I'm selling it for.

Nothing really prevents you from building your own. If you claim you can reroute PCB to a different shape it implies that you know electronics and PCB design tools very well. The switch design is very straight forward, there is no software involved at this point, no microcontroller IC's. I don't shave labels from the chips I use (some people do that) and it's pretty easy to come up with schematics just by looking what I use and reading the datasheets. A few guys PM'd me and asked a lot of technical questions how does the switch work because they are trying to build a custom solution. If person sounds reasonable I usually explain it in depth including the IC's I used and basic principles.

 

Totally agree with you mate. Most people don't realize how much time, effort, and money go into projects like this.

So many entitled people who think they should just be allowed to have everything and then try to make you look like an asshole because you are making a very small profit off them. Thanks for all your hard work, seriously.

I am trying to save up for one of these eventually, they look amazing!! but i had a couple questions i was hoping you could answer? Appreciated, if so.

1-Until i am able to afford this switch, would plugging and unplugging my current SCART cables into my XRGB Mini's JP21 adapter wear it out over time?

2-I am using JP21, with the stock XRGB mini JP21 adapter it came with and Cysnc or Luma RGB cables for SNES, N64, Genesis, and Dreamcast from Retro Console Accessories on ebay.

Would all of this just be plug and play into your Switch and then just run a Male to Male JP21 from your switch to the XRGB JP21? Or would i have to mess with things like settings? It is the SYNC that really confuses the hell out of me :/ I am not savvy with wiring unfortunately.

Thanks for any help brother

Joe

 

Hey Joe, you shouldn't have to plug/unplug anything with this switch (edit: If you're using SCART! I shouldn't have glossed over the JP21 info. Don't use JP21 with this). Retro Console Accessories actually sells a cable that goes straight from "XRGB-mini plug" to SCART male (which is what you'd need for this switch). I have one in my possession, but haven't been able to test it yet. My switch is literally in the mail, so I can let you know soon!

I believe Retro Console Accessories calls the cable something like "xrgb mini to dreamcast toro box". You'd want to purchase their upgraded cabling for this one.

 

I think you really have to do it thousands of times before it'll wear it, I wouldn't worry about that.

Personally I don't use sync on luma cables but I've gotten the reports that it works just fine.

Now here comes the problem, I don't think I will be able to do JP21 batches anymore, nobody interested in it. There were hardcore JP21 users and each of them will get their JP21 unit soon but last pre-order weeks nobody ordered anything so it doesn't make any sense to produce JP21 units anymore.
Other than what you describe should work as long as somebody will make a JP21 male-to-male cable for you.

 

Quick question...Is it a bad idea to plug/unplug SCART cables when the gscartsw is powered on?

Set up my switch to test it yesterday and it is working flawlessly, seriously happy with the quality and functionality of this thing.

 

I don't know what's the official SCART standard says about hot plugging but I always do this and never get a problem.

 

Ahh okay, thank you very much for all the help. If you ever make JP21 switches again i would definitely be interested, i actually thought they were in stock but i realize it is still preorder, i should have researched better. I already own a few cables (JP21) so to have to rebuy all of these in EURO, plus the cost of the switch would just kill me right now money wise :/

Thanks again