NES RGB board-10/19 release, 90.00 AU

They're sold out again so you'll have to wait for the third batch. I think Tim plans to incorporate some changes for the next batch but I'm not sure on that.

Actually it's just the top loader that has that issue, the AV Famicom is actually pretty good in terms of video quality and the jailbars are about on par with a front loader NES.

Yes.

 

I might as well crosspost here...
I just installed the nesrgb and although it works great on my crt I get flashing upper+lower parts on the screen when there is light-blue background involved:



c-sync or composite for rgb sync makes no difference... any ideas what to check? it only happens with light-blue backgrounds, everything else seems just fine ... :\

edit:

I am posting pictures of my install in hopes someone can offer me some advice on the flashing problem on lcd...
(when in photobucket site you need to press the magnifying glass twice to get the full resolution picture...)

First a general view, the little switch on the right is to select c-sync or composite on the fly, remember this is still a test setup... I also found that the nesrgb composite signal is so good that it does not create patterns/bars on lcd screens



and a close-up on the video-out pads:



when assembling the adaptors I made sure every pin is straight and has enough solder to be secure:



here are a couple of shots on the video-port, stock composite signal is disconnected, I triple-checked that :lol:



Lastly here is my scart cable: I did order one from Tim but I decided to use the famicom's av port instead. So I just used Tim's scart plug , replacement video cable and harvested the nintendo plug from a gamecube cable. The result is a purple/white cable but it's very flexible and I like it. :mrgreen:
Once again, there is tape holding some plug casing, this is just for testing since I did not finish the project yet... :x

this is the cable used, the 3 extra wires are all used in ground points, infact the audio wire is on the outer side of the cable and is surrounded by the ground cables... all wires are copper on this one, even the shielding.



and here is the nintendo plug (yes, I know the soldering on the ground pin and cable shielding does not look nice but it was the best I could do without destroying the plug, the shielding is copper so heat just travels away...)



and the scart plug, I used Tim's one and just soldered my cables. Since I had extra ground wires I just soldered them as RGB GND ones...



This is a v2 board that I replaced the sram , not updated or anything.
Famicom's electrolytic caps have been replaced with Chemicon ones and currently because I damaged FC1 there is no audio going to the av port at all. It's completely disconnected.

If you see anything you don't like please comment , this is driving me crazy! I am thinking of replacing the color cables between nesrgb/port since they are thin ones but I did grab them from a donor Adaptec UWSCSI3 cable. They are not copper but I don't think they are crappy ones...

Thanks in advance for any info/help/comment!

edit2:
tried a thicker composite wire, no change in behaviour.
I found something by chance though: if you connect both composite+c-sync and feed them to the av port then the flickering stops and is replaced by the screen being darker in the affected areas... :?

 

I've been told by Tim to try the PPU-V from the nesrgb board... doesn't make any difference. What it does make a difference is using the original composite video from the famicom motherboard. It makes Gimmick's flashing very faint and it makes it dissapear completely in other games (look at the upper part of the screen for the flashing)

[video=youtube_share;zkKFgF7k3s8]http://youtu.be/zkKFgF7k3s8[/video]

 

I have a question about the Famicom 2: Does it use the same A/V "multi-out" plug as the SNES, N64 and GameCube, just without S-video or RGB support? I'm curious because if it does, I could attach this mod such that RGB just goes straight to the A/V multi-out's RGB pins rather than try to drill a hole in the case for a custom plug. Then I can just use the European GameCube SCART cable I have, an SCART-to-RGB21 adapter, an XRGB-3, and a DVI+sound-to-HDMI to get it working, which I already have working for my SNES.

Or would extra tricks be required to get a Famicom 2 + this mod to output SCART RGB? Hopefully, it could be done with a 225 Ohm signal so I wouldn't have to continually switch between 75 and 225 on the XRGB-3.

Just asking before I go buy a Famicom 2, NES-to-Famicom adapter, and one of this mod kits =) I just figured out how to use desoldering braid, too.

 

Yes. I'm surprised you didn't know considering it's totally common information at this point.

No, although it's recommended that you remove the 220 uF caps for the RGB signals on the NESRGB end. Those caps are already inside your SCART cable and if you leave the caps on the NESRGB on, it'll reduce the capacitance on the RGB lines from 220 to 110 uF which could cause issues.

 

just to add on my "screen flashing" problem above, apparently it only happens on my lcd screens ... modded a friend's famicom AV and while it flashed on my lcd when he tried it home it was perfect on his. At some point it appears LG was very picky... and it happened I was getting screens from that point lol

 

I wired up nesrgb but I have no audio. nesrgb has audio inputs, but not sure where they are suppose to connect to on US Top loader.

 

It's pretty easy, the "A" pad on the NESRGB goes to pin 1 of the 2A03 while the "B" pad goes to pin 2. The "O" pad is your audio output.

 

I just finished my top loader 101 NES yesterday. Totally missed that you had to 5v power the NESRGB from the motherboard and I did not get any display output (but sound) first. Then I rewired all wires to the SNES style connector I got from Helder and everything clicked. Big thanks to Tim for the RGB board and Helder for the SNES part.

Very nice to have a crisp screen on the NES.

I can recommend this mod 100% but if you decide to do it, get one of those desoldering irons in order to remove the PPU from the motherboard. I got this one. First I tried with a desoldering braid, then with a soldering iron and a separate pump, I scratched my head, how the f*ck would I be able to remove the PPU. I thought about snipping off the legs but decided to buy and try the desoldering iron. It was not easy job with the desoldering iron, but at least it was possible to get the PPU out without destroying it

I think I spent more than 6 hours installing it. Fun times!

 

Are you guys swapping out the 7805 on US Toploader for 1.5A one?

 

I don't, it's totally pointless. According to Game-Tech.us the top loader draws less than 700 mA with both the NESRGB and an Everdrive, so a 1.5 A 7805 would be completely unnecessary. On all my top loader installs, all I've done to the regulator is add some thermal compound and that's it.

 

something like ARCTIC MX-4

 

I just use white ceramic thermal compound, which does the job just fine.

 

I've heard this might be necessary on Duo-R consoles using the equivalent Everdrive.

 

Since you guys are taking about 7805's I thought I would chime in.

My buddy has a famicom that would over heat so instead of throwing a regular 7805 in I installed a 5V 1A switching voltage regulator,it works great plus no heat sink is necessary.

 

I've never had that issue, the Duo-R actually has two 7805s and both already have thermal compound from the factory.

 

hey all, just wondering if anyone on here is offering this mod installed in australia? looking for someone to do it for me as i'm really not confident enough... i'm in sydney, but could ship easily enough... if anyone knows anyone please let me know

 

Need a bit on help guys, I have a av famicom that I want to install the nesrgb in, this will be the first av famicom I have done loads of front loader systems but never a av famicom. I am wanting to use the audio from the nesrgb itself rather than the famicom because of this ill need to mod the system for expansion audio, I understand that you need to solder a wire with resistor to pin 46 on the cart slot but have seen reports that you must cut the trace of pin 46 and 45 of the cart slot as well is this true?

 

Didn't you already create a topic on this? I also posted about this a few months ago on SHMUPS, and yes you have to cut the traces for both pins.

 

Just thought I'd chime in and mention that my NESRGB-modded GPM-02 Famicom is still working awesomely. I made a small modification inside the RF can so that the power switch controls power coming in to the entire system, rather than just power out of the 7805.

When I get around to eBay-listing some of my un-needed stuff, I'm ordering another kit to do my Mattel frontloader NES.

So cheers, viletim, this mod is awesome!