gscartsw: automatic 8:1 SCART-RGB switch

Received mine yesterday (Australia). Had it shipped to mum and dad's house and they actually thought it was really cool once I explained what it was for.

Works perfectly with my PAL SNES, Megadrive 1+CD2+Mastermega and PSX1. The time has come to RGB mod my NES and N64.

Spoiler

Apologies to the OCD for right side speaker

 

I got my SCART switch a little while back, and I wanted to register here just to say how awesome it is. Everything works flawlessly, and having the sync stripper built in completely resolved the issues I was having with the RGB modded PC Engine I had just received.

I currently have the following systems hooked up:
NES toploader (NESRGB)
SNES (1CHIP-03)
PC Engine/CD-ROM2
Saturn
PlayStation
Dreamcast

I'm planning on getting a Genesis and doing an RGB mod for N64 next

 

My switch arrived early this week here in Germany and I must say ... WOW. The look & feel... all perfect. It just works! Simple as that
I was able to get rid of 3 manual switchers and a load of cabling. Now everything is neat and tidy.

My congratz to this really cool device and many thanks for the amount of work and love you put into it.

My current setup:
Sega Master System Model 1
Sega Mega Drive and MegaCD (both) Model 2
CoreGrafX with Tennakoe 2 (+RGB Mod)
Atari Jaguar
Panasonic 3DO FZ-1 (+RGB Mod)
Super Nintendo (2Chip-Design) (Sync-On-Luma)
PlayStation 1

The switch is then hooked up with a VGA breakout cable to my DVO-Edge (RGB + Sync, because RGB/HV did not work .. maybe because of unsupported VGA resolutions).

All systems work flawlessly and I get a nice, clean picture and a crisp sound.

 

Good News: My JP21 switch arrived today and I was able to get it setup.
Bad News: I get no display with any of my systems.

The switch has power (the green light is on) and I can hear a slight hum. I don't think that the switch is the issue. I think that the more likely culprit is the JP21 to 8 pin mini din cable for the XRGB Mini that I'm using. Unfortunately, I don't know how to build/wire cables, so I'm in the dark and I don't have any extra cables to test.

I do know that my SFC, Genesis, Saturn, and Dreamcast RGB cables are good as they all worked without issue on the Selecty21. Unsure of my NES, SNES, and N64 cables. I recently received them and haven't tested them; was waiting for this switch to arrive.

 

Could you connect the switch directly to your display with the VGA out?
Thus eliminating the Framemeister?

 

Actually, yes I could. I'd have to drag out the old VGA to HDMI converter that I have. It's terrible for picture quality, but it'd at least prove that the switch is good. Unless the issue was with the switch's JP21 output.

 

Is it possible to use this switch on a Commodore 2002 monitor or an Amiga 1080 monitor?

 

Just got in my JP21 unit here, and it works perfectly on SNES (1CHIP-01), Super Famicom, Sega Genesis Model 1, and Playstation 1 (JP).
EDIT: in case anyone cares, the cables I was using are:
SNES and SFC: official Nintendo JP21 cables
Genesis: "Packapunch" cable from Retro Gaming Cables
Playstation: Cable made by retro_console_accessories

Hoping to get my PC Engine modded for RGB next :|
My only complaint is that the lowpass capacitor discharge is pretty jarring XD But I can deal with it.

Thanks superg for making this happen, I realize that this JP21 batch in particular was a lot of trouble, but it's very much appreciated

 

Thanks superg, just got most of my consoles hooked up. I have saved so much cable clutter!

I can confirm it works with PS2, N64, Super Famicom, Saturn, Gamecube, Wii, Mega Drive. A nice variety of sync types

What would happen if I turned on two consoles at once? I've accidentally left my Wii on before (I apologise if it's in this thread somewhere)

 

Great recommendation. I connected the JP21 switch to the Monoprice VGA to HDMI adapter, and still cannot get a picture on the TV with my Genesis or Saturn. The XRGB Mini is completely bypassed.

Looks like the issue may be with the switch. Any ideas superg? I know that the RGB cables are good (verified with the Selecty21), and the VGA to HDMI adapter was working a few weeks ago when I had it connected to my Dreamcast. The 8x1 switch has power (the green light is on).

 

Follow up:

Tested with the Dreamcast after doing the family thing. Definitely should've used the Dreamcast instead of the Genesis and Saturn for the VGA test. I get picture now if the VGA HSync/CSync mode is turned on. It's a jumbled, jumpy mess, but it proves that the switch works. At least via VGA. Back to my initial hunch of a bad JP21 to mini din cable.

FYI - the Monoprice VGA to HDMI converter doesn't accept 240p as an input resolution.

Second FYI - even with this initial stumbling block, I have to say that the switch is very well built and just looks beautiful.

 

All I can say is WOW.

We received our two switchers and couldn't be happier

Our AES and RGB modded NES now work perfectly. The other dozen consoles connected are all smiling too

Thank you SuperG!!!

 

Thanks SuperG!

I received my switch a couple days ago, but have yet to give it a test (busy busy). I just want to take the time express my gratitude for your efforts. It was a pleasant surprise to see in the mail.

Now this means I play the waiting game for some cable sellers to have the male JP21 to male JP21 (and male JP21 to male 8-pin mini-DIN) available. Then get my butt in gear finding someone to mod my TurboDuo. I'm so glad I got a solution for JP21 switching now (aside from the Selecty21s).

 

Sorry for the late replies, I've had some other things to do.
Thank you everybody for the kind words, I'm happy that it works for you all.

You'll have to ask somebody to build the male-to-male JP21 cable for you or to buy it from that lady (I've had troubles with her but there is no other option at the moment).
You're right, not many output devices support low resolution modes. VGA was added mainly for VGA->BNC connector to easily support BVM/PVM monitors (the cable is available and very inexpensive)

High chances are that it'll work but I've never tried.

That's no problem, you can turn on all 8 at the same time, you'll just see only one output.

 

Just out of curiosity what happens if the switch is connected to a VGA monitor, since the VGA connector on a switch is meant to go to a BNC connector. Will anything display?

 

It's a standard VGA port, switch just forwards the signal (and splits CSYNC to HVSYNC). The problem here is that most consoles output low-res signal which isn't supported by a lot of VGA monitors. Simply - if VGA monitor accepts given console output (with separate HV sync) - it'll accept it through the switch.

 

Thanks for the reply superg. I know that you have (valid) issues with her, but she's always done right by me and provides good customer service. Instead of going with another JP21 to 8 pin mini cable, I've asked her to just build a standard male-to-male JP21 cable. I'll then connected it using the stock XRGB Mini adapter. Hopefully, I'll be fully up and running by the middle of the week.

 

Any idea of when more stock might be available? I'm waiting to re-wire my entire setup until I can get my second for some good future-proofing.

 

I am having trouble figuring out how to pre-order? It says pre-order, but then the option doesn't work. Are you not taking pre-orders currently? i'm sorry if this is thick, I looked back, but I didn't see anything about it.

I really don't mind the wait, i'm just trying to get in line. Thanks!

 

I think I remember someone saying that you can use the PSP charger to power the gscartsw, is that true? I'm using an OEM Genesis power supply but I'm running out of outlets on my power strip and this would help free up another outlet since this one is huge as hell and blocking another