Pal Saturn 60hz mod made simple

After lurking around here for too long I thought I'd make a contribution myself and post my recent Saturn 60hz mod tutorial "made simple". It involves soldering 2 wires to 2 solder pads onto a switch. The solder pads can be found by simply removing the battery compartment door.

Basically I used the instructions posted on French fansite Segakore to install a 50/60 hz switch on my European (pal) model 2 (round buttoned) Saturn. I know there's lots of tutorials out there explaining how to install a 60hz switch on your Saturn, but the method explained on Segakore is much more simple and nearly risk free (I guess you could still burn your fingers soldering :icon_bigg).

You can perform this mod on the more recent version of a model 1 pal Saturn, depending on the motherboard, but this specific mod is intended for model 2.

To make it troublefree I made a photo tutorial with full instructions. You can find it on the "mod/repair" page of my website. Lemme know what you think.

Mod url: http://www.retrocorner.net/index.php?Mods_%2F_repairs:Saturn_model_2_50%2F60hz_switch_-_page_1

 

Is there a point to a 50/60 switch on US model 2?

 

Nope, not really. You're the lucky ones, US ntsc machines run at 60hz unlike speed crippled European pal ones.

A region mod would be useful though if you want to access the (vast) library of Japanese Saturn games. No easy way of region modding a Saturn though, not yet anyway.

 

50Hz has more benefits from the programmers point of view than you can imagine... more time between frames, much less slowdown because of that, and potentially higher polycount in 3D games.
Thanks for the link to the mod

I tried this on my Model1 Saturn, and I got nothing more than off sync screen and a crash on it when connecting the 2 middle pins of the SW4... I did it at the BIOS screen, but this should not matter (?)

 

What do you mean no easy way of region modding a Saturn? If you're talking 60Hz NTSC, a simple throw switch to the jumpers and you're good to go. One system that will play all JPN and U/C releases. It's probably one of the simplest mods out there.

-hl718

 

So if Im correct this is like the Xbox 1, Pal50 (slower screen, lower bounces in Halo 2) or Pal60 (NTSC Standard)

 

As I've stated clearly, this mod is intended for a Pal model 2 Saturn. This mod can be applied to model 1 Saturns but only the last generation produced with the more recent motherboards. I've had the same result as you when I tried it on one of my early model 1 Saturns (a '95 launch model to be exact). You'll have to use another 50/60hz mod on your Saturn (not too complicated either really).

Well, we're not talking about modding NTSC Saturns here are we :katamari:? This mod concerns Pal model 2 Saturns. And no, there isn't a region mod for pal Saturns which is as easy to do as this simplified 50/60hz mod, not to my knowledge anyway.

Not sure if that's a valid comparison but what this mod does is switch to a pal 60hz signal, removing black borders and speeding things up so your pal Saturn games aren't "crippleware" anymore ;-)

 

my suggestion is to buy a darn cheap pal saturn and an NTSC saturn and then switching the power supply... it takes 5 mins, give you the advantage of having the 60hz videos and allows you to play the USA games (far more and better than the euro ones).

also no soldering is required... i used this method and i'm really pleased with the results

 

Sure, if you find that a practical approach. But why first buy and then gut 2 Saturns if you can achieve the same result ("60hz video" included) with 2 euro worth of parts and a 20 minute solder job?

And why go to the trouble of buying US Saturn games? They're more expensive to import (for a European ofcourse), 95% of them were released in Europe and the artwork is absolutely ghastly.

You're better off region modding you Saturn or using an import cartridge and collecting Jap games if you ask me. But that's a Saturn purist point of view though ;-)

 

just showing the chance since many people here have multiple copies of the same console, and not everybody can solder...

i have a JAP saturn with euro power supply and an import cart plugged in...

i got a jap saturn for 25euros boxed in japan and a PAL one for 18 with 4-5 games included... if i could solder i would have modded it with chip and 50/60hz switch...

 

You're right, switching the power board of an ntsc Saturn with a pal one is the easier method if you don't like to solder. Admittedly, the sw4 solder pads can be tricky if you're not comfortable soldering wires to (relatively) small pads, the coating on the Saturn's pcb can be bothersome as well.

Glad to see that switching powerboards is worry-free, I'll try that out on one of my Jap Saturns in the near-future and do a little tutorial about that as well, thanks for the info :icon_bigg

 

it works flawlessly and was easy even for me that i'm not good and doing such things... i didn't lose a screw even

 

Making this work on a Model1 (at least one I have) is only the matter of doing a small cut and adding a small wire in one location. I hate Saturn's PCB, its as poor as 32X's... one knock with soldering iron and you get traces broken :/

 

If you're lucky, it all depends on the motherboard of your MK1 Saturn, there's about 3 different variations of the first generation motherboard of an MK1 Saturn (to my knowledge). I've used the method that you mention on an MK1 Saturn I bought on launch day, it's certainly very easy.

The second generation of MK1 motherboard (type SD, the same as in the MK2 Saturns) has the SW4 jumper pairs as mentioned in my little tutorial.

The Saturn's PCB isn't that sensitive really, considering the (sometimes annoying!) PCB coating on the MK2 Saturns anyway.

 

Hello everybody.
Sorry for bumping this thread.I have recently got a Model1 PAL Saturn, and i wanted to do the 60hz mod, but all the tutorials out there are for later Model1 Saturns, or for Model2 ones.Mine is an earlier Model1 version, i don't know if it's a launch model...on the motherboard it says:837-11892-01AL.

Now after a lot of googling, i came across this thread, and read that 2 users made this mod on an earlier Model1 Saturn, namely TmEE and Panzer Mike.So i would be very grateful if one of you could give me a few pointers on how to do this switch mod on my Saturn, not necessarily step-by-step (although that would be nice, i'm kind of a noob when it comes to these things), mosty the part about doing the small cut and adding a small wire in one location (which location is it?), and also do i have to solder a wire to the 79th leg of that chip?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you.

 

Err... what?? 240 games in Europe and 245 games in the US. That's 5 more games!! BOTH regions have games that the other doesn't. Half the US ones are crappy sports games. Oh, and there are 3 different PSUs for the Saturn, each incompatible with the other. Your "easy" modification relies on LUCK! You have to buy a US console, have it shipped over if it comes from the US, buy a European console and HOPE that they use the same PSU! I don't call that an easy mod!

A US console outputs in crappy NTSC. PAL is better. Why would you CHOOSE to use NTSC over PAL??

As for this mod - thanks for the info, although this and several techniques have been around for a very long time now, e.g.:

http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/saturn5060.htm

Incidentally, I've said it before and I'll say it again... I wish people would stop referring to "model 1" and "model 2", especially with regard to technical information! The Saturn has models which start with VA. VA0-VA3 had oval buttons, so your suggestion that there were three versions of the "model 1" is incorrect. The round button consoles number up to at least VA9 (10 versions). There are significant differences between certain models, so I don't like using "model 1" and "model 2". Some are compatible, some aren't.

 

There are many well-documented versions of the mod available on the net - see the above link, for example. They should tell you where to cut. Which VA model is your Saturn? It should be printed on the board.

 

Like i said in my post, this is what's printed on my board:837-11892-01AL, and also this:171-7069B MAIN.There is nothing printed with VA.
Yes i know about mmonkey's tutorial, as i have seached a lot on google, but i haven't found a tutorial specifically for my version, or one that would mention a method that works for other versions AND my version.

 

The links will still be there and probably marked the same, just look around.

e.g. : http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/console/sega/saturnregion3.htm (yeah that's for region switching, but you get the point).

What about this?

http://guidesat.free.fr/tutoriaux/switch/switch01.html

 

PAL = 50hz = black borders and slower gameplay.
NTSC = 60hz = perfect gameplay, fullspeed

i never talked about the number of games. also all the saturn i saw had switchable power supplyes...