Sourcing a Nintendo multi out socket?

I've been waiting over a week to join the forum that has that board and schematic to see if I can implement it into some other projects or even this one. Anyone have the schematic he used?

 

http://circuit-board.de/forum/viewtopic.php?f=55&t=12763
We over on a german board are in the process of developing a pcb for frontloading NES consoles which replaces the small board which holds the ac jack, video-out and rf module. The new pcb will fit the original metal casing, will hold all components to power the nes and will utilize a switchless mod, that's a pic programmed to make use of the reset switch to change palettes for viletim's nesrgb.

A multiAV port would be the coolest thing for this project.

Please let me know if you see any way to collaborate.

I'll be happy to translate if you need further input.

 

You guys are working with French NES, is that correct? Helder and I are based in U.S. We don't have access to that plug here. Are you guys interested in replicating that socket or are you thinking of incorporating the SNES 12-pin or the Wii 16-pin style socket?

 

There were 2 versions planned from the beginning. One pcb for the french plug to integrate seemlessly into the case of the console, one which utilizes a multiAV port for any other nes system. After the question was where to source suitable donor plugs a member came up with a link to your project.
Generally a complete part with housing and connector to add the port to the system would be just awesome. I like the idea to use wii cables since they have great quality and are easy to get ahold of.

 

If you're interested in the Wii connector BuffaloWing has a prototype as seen in the pictures in the last page but we haven't ordered any to be produced since we wanted to do one type at a time since many members here wanted the SNES Style connector more so than the Wii. Once we sell our stock of SNES style sockets & pcbs we will do the Wii socket. If you have a more immediate need for it then maybe we can collaborate on something and even use our existing pcb with the pin headers if you implement a Female Pin Header in your board then it can be a plug and play setup which will work for your board and for people without it.

 

Oooh, the panel mount SNES connector is perfect for NESRGB on a toaster NES. For NESRGB purposes, the SNES connector is a better match than the WII connector because the NESRGB has the same video outputs as a SNES - svideo, RGB, and composite video. A Wii connector can't accomodate all of those outputs from the NESRGB (without some fancy circuitry) because svideo, RGB, and component share the same pins. I'm glad I found out about this project before I started drilling holes in my NES for weird connectors .

 

The prototypes look really good, what about the production run? how many do you plan to produce?
What material and color will it be?

For the NES we agree that a MultiAV SNES/GC-Style would be the perfect choice.

I tried re-using those ports from junk snes systems like this:


Also, I have built a working prototype for the power circuit that is on the RF-pcb. This is going to be placed on our pcb.
Layout comes from srdwa.

Parts Side:


Solder Side:

With this you can easily replace the RF-pcb so you can fit a MultiAV or any other large connector.


In the final design for our pcb this will all be included, along with a switchless-mod for switching palettes and connections that shall lead to the MultiAV.


Could you think of a solution for non-french nes-frontloaders so that there's a multiAV and AC-jack which should be easy to install.
Drilling and cutting a wide opening into the nes seems to be inevitable - but if the new element elegantly covers that I think people would like that...

Thanks for your input!

 

I don't suppose there's any plan to put this project out into the open source kind of arena at some stage, 3d printer plans, pcb files for oshpark etc? While I understand you guys have put a lot of work into this (and deserve some kind of recompense), it'd be especially cool if joe bloggs could print & fabricate their own items. Overseas shipping costs & takes quite some time, for instance.

With a bit of scaffolding they look like they could print pretty well.

 

I finally got around to checking my Retro Console Accessories SNES and Genesis (Model 2) RGB cables, and they're fully shielded and grounded. Even my older SNES scart cable i got from them was fully grounded (wasn't shielded though) so I dont know if you just happened to get cables from a bad batch or something...

 

Production run will still be 3D printing and perhaps PCBs from a different fab house. They will be tweaked dimensionally only. They will pretty much look the same as the prototypes. We are using SLS Nylon based plastic that will be polished by the Print house as a post processing. If you are not familiar with SLS, here is a Youtube video on the technology. They will come in white, you can choose to dye it with fabric dye or one of those automotive vinyl aerosol dye. We will leave that to the end-users as most consoles of this age are discolored to varying degree, there's no way we can perfectly match those colors. Even if there is no discoloring, the Nylon inherently look different from ABS plastic, color wise they will not likely to match anyway. We will only assemble a small batch at a time. 3D printing can be very expensive if we have to stockpile a large amount of parts.

As for non French NES front loader, yes the case may need to be cut. Honestly I haven't really look into it that much.

 

I designed the models for printing on SLS printer specifically. I'm not say it will never print on FDM type printers like the RepRap or the Makerbots but I'm fairly certain they will not look the same.

 

BuffaloWing did have plans down the road to have anyone order their own sockets from the 3D print service we use and therefore less hassle for us a bit and will be made to order when someone wants but that is something that is still up in the air atm. I doubt anyone will release their hard work to the public so easily so don't expect us to anytime soon but is definitely a possibility. OSHPark has some oddities in their fabrication that can cause issues with the pcb and it's exact dimensions which is why I use a different fabricator but use OSHPark for their images and small batches to test different designs and configurations.

could you provide me a schematic and not a breadboard layout of your design and some dimensions? I could probably make a design for you and that can be open source, and I will also need a parts list in English and if its through hole or SMD parts preferred.

 

Arcade, do you have the capability to make precise measurements of the French Socket?

 

woah.. much input - thanks guys!
Yeah, the project will most certainly be open source, I dislike the cost of international shiiping as much as you do...
The breadboard layout came up when there was a need to drop the rf-pcb to make space for a multiAV, it works and so things developed from breadboard to the idea of making a real pcb.
I can see what I can do to provide an english parts-list, but there's more to it and this is still in development: the switchless code that has to be burned onto a PIC. There are really capable people working on this, dunno if you heared of the snes or sms-multi-bios+fm-sound switchless mod... the same guy is writing the code for the nes-palette-switcher which will be triggered by holding down the reset button.
I will provide any eagle, cad, gerber or whatever files that will pop up during our project, I'm not the one who will be making those because I'm not a pcb-designer - I'm more like a project manager if you wanna call it like that...
Yes, I can also provide any measurements regarding any console, I have us, pal and french systems here to play around with, along with all the cables. What exactly do you need me to measure? I already desoldered one of the french sockets to that shouldn't be any hassle...
I hope I didn't miss anything - need to get some sleep now, this stuff is really keeping me awake
Drop me a pm if you need my email or anything...

Thanks to y'all!

 

Dimensions I gather would be socket height/width/depth plus the pins and their width/height and pinout and the width/height of the plastic center piece that holds the pins and finally the spacing/pitch of the pins that connect to the PCB I assume to be 2.54mm. PM BuffaloWing the dimensions and see if he can do something with them, once he has the design he will likely pass along the PCB dimensions to me to design something. In the meantime we should keep this in the PMs or perhaps make a new thread so we don't get off track from this current project.

 

roger that

 

I think Bad_Ad84 was talking about Retro Gaming Cables from the UK not Retro Console Acessories from the US.

 

Yeah, pretty much everything Helder said. Everything is dimensionally driven. Some areas are going to be very difficult to measure, so you have to be creative and use some fuzzy logic to derive a dimension. If you can take digital photographs of every side of the connector straight on, I can mark them up to guide you what's critical and what I need to get started. Having the plug side is also important too.

 

I just got some UK cables and they're shielded - all together :-( Audible noise on white Konami intro when all 3 RGB signals are 100%. Still they are cheap and available, do a decent job otherwise but not exactly audiophile or videophile grade... Good excuse to make my own.

 

any plans on making a panel with a toslink out for people with the spdif mod?