The Ultimate AVGN Tribute Project

Hey everyone,

I've been wanting to build a Nintoaster for a long time, but not just any Nintoaster... An EXACT replica of the AVGN toaster. I've seen a few replica AVGN Nintoasters and they were never accurate. People usually use a different brand toaster that sorta looks like it, but it's not. I wasn't gonna settle for anything other than the real deal. So after months and months of searching for Sunbeam toasters on eBay... One FINALLY showed up... feast your eyes on this beauty



These toasters are actually pretty hard to find and when I saw one I literally almost crapped my pants. I ordered it immediately.

I like to make improvements to things, so I've decided this Nintoaster will have a NESRGB board installed, with RGB along with composite out, and stereo audio. Those are the only things that will be different from the actual AVGN Nintoaster. Thankfully the kind sir by the name of DeChief linked me to a video of the actual AVGN Nintoaster build tutorial that the original builder posted on youtube. I had no idea it existed and this helped me tremendously. If you haven't seen it.. WATCH IT.. it's hilarious!



I must say that desoldering the PPU on the NES motherboard is the biggest PITA thing I've ever had to deal with in the realm of electronics. I already ruined one NES PCB trying to get it out. (The PCB can be salvaged, but the PPU is toast) So to avoid this happening again.. I pulled the trigger on this baby



Makes life so much easier. I didn't get the PPU removed tonight because I didn't want to work on it while being really tired and risk screwing it up again. But here's where I stand on it now



The Nintoaster calls for the expansion port and RF box to be removed. Luckily since I will be adding a NESRGB board I won't have to build a video amplifier circuit, saving me a bit of time.
To do some testing, since there is no more power input, I've built a simple external 5v power supply.


I just made some thick pads for the 5v output where I can alligator clip onto them. I will rebuild this circuit inside the Nintoaster.

OH and one more thing.. I finally got these babies!


All original.. no repro. They're not in the best shape, but these bad boys are super hard to find.

So let me know what you guys think. I hope you're all as excited as I am!

 

I'll be tuning in, love these threads. Good luck man, can't wait for your updates

 

What? No Famicom controller port or expansion audio? Dude, you're missing out. In all seriousness, there should be a schematic online for how to connect a 15 pin d-sub to the NES expansion pins for Famicom controllers and accessories.

 

Well I will add expansion audio with the stereo, but I don't wanna add any famicom stuff. I don't wanna hack up the toaster.

 

Ah I see. I think expansion audio is just mono so you would need to mix it into one or both audio pins on your A/V out.

If you want to, I found a schematic online that lets you use at least the data recorder to save games on certain games (Excitebike, etc.). Any standard cassette recorder will work and even a PC's mic and headphones jacks will work along with an audio player/recording software of your choice. You would just have to add one or two 3.5mm audio connectors. Put them in the same area as your A/V connectors or use a different A/V connector with enough pins for A/V out and Data in/out.

Another option could be to just make a Famicom version of the Nintoaster... I wanna try that now! A Hi Def NES board (NESHD) would be awesome in that!

 

Yeah, I have to look into how I'm gonna do stereo with expansion audio still.
I think the Everdrive N8 can save the games like you are describing, so the extra work is not really needed, atleast on this project.
I'm a fan of improving things, but I'm also a purist. I personally don't believe 8-bit games belong on an HDTV. CRT for life

 

are you going to fit orange and red leds?

 

Yup. I want to try to find someone who can laser cut the acrylic mount for the controller ports and reset button too. Want this thing to be perfect.

 

They made CRTs and cards for PVMs that accept HDMI

But yeah, RGB is still amazing. HDMI is really only for people like me who want the best quality without emulating parts or all of a system. Plus, the NESRGB is smaller than the NESHD. If I could I would install both.

 

Well, HDMI input on a CRT is still a CRT.. so that would be cool. I just don't wanna be in the mood for some Duck Hunt one day and be like.. ah crap, I'm on a HDTV. Plus I always feel a slight input lag whenever I play on a LCD/PLASMA TV.

Maybe you need to just get one of these Joey. Supposedly after this batch they will be discontinued.
http://www.analogueinteractive.com/products/analogue-nt

 

I'm thinking of getting one of the PVMs with an HDMI input or just sticking to analog on a PVM if it is too hard to find. I really wanna play Duck Hunt with high quality video.

I've been following the Nt for a while. They recently offered Kevtris's HDMI board but for $600, I rather just stick with my Famicom, mod it for HDMI or RGB, mod a Four Score to work on it, and then mod it for stereo audio.

 

I don't see the point in a HDMI input on the CRT, because your resolution isn't gonna be any better. I think they just have it to add extra compatibility with newer devices for video editors, etc.

 

Yeah. I really only want HDMI for image clarity reasons. As the signal is pure digital with no Analog to Digital conversion, the quality would be better than RGB. I can settle for RGB on a CRT and use my HDTV for HDMI. It would still be neat to see a comparison between NESRGB and NESHD on a PVM or any other CRT display with RGBS and HDMI inputs.

 

What a shitload of fuck

 

I hope this thing doesn't turn your games into goddamn English muffins.

 

You'd also need the toastcart to finish this off nicely

 

Make sure to update us with the progress!
The video was funny as hell

Isn't this the right toaster? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sunbeam-Aut...v-Stainless-/191543580555?hash=item2c98e3178b

 

no thats a 4 slice, you need 2 slice..

4 slice is overkill !!1

 

I will definitely update you guys with my progress. This was a bad week for me, as I came down with a really gnarly cold and have been in a lazy mood and not feeling up to working on anything. I will probably get back on it tonight or Monday.

Yes, Leham is right! While that toaster is the same style, it is the 4 slice model.

 

Sorry I haven't posted any updates.. Rest assured I'm still working on this
So, I finally got the NESRGB board installed and tested it through the improved composite output and it is working. I had a bit of a hard time getting the PPU desoldered (I realized I was using the widest 1.8mm nozzle on my desoldering iron, and when I finally switched it to the 1mm nozzle it sucked the solder out much better). A few of the pins on the PPU got broken off a bit, so I soldered on some leads from some bread board jumpers I had and fixed the broken PPU legs. Here are some pics.


This is the improved composite output, through the natural palette.


The next step was to remove the connector from a game genie


I desoldered every pin, but there was still little bits of solder holding the pins. So as a little trick I used some 'Chip Quik' low melt solder and ran a long bead of it on each side of the connector and it pulled right off. Made a bit of a mess though.

Always remember to store the game genie PCB in a safe place


Unfortunately, this brought me to my next hold up.. I was attempting to fan out the pins of the game genie connector to fit inside a piece of protoboard. The connector will not fit all the way flat against the protoboard unless you fan them out so I tried to do that, but the brittle nature of these pins caused them to just snap off while I was fanning them out, destroying my connector. So I had to order up a new game genie to try again. This time, I think I will leave the pins alone to avoid breaking them, and just fill the gap with some strong adhesive to strengthen it. The pins are very brittle.
This time around I got a black variant of the game genie. Check out the difference on the PCB.



I ordered up 2 more NESRGB kits. This one I'm currently working on will be my own personal daily use Nintoaster, which is a newer sunbeam variant of the model above that came in copper color.

I'm gonna get it sandblasted and powder coated to have a finish similar to the NES Classic GBA SP with a custom Nintoaster logo.
Then afterwards when I go through the learning experience on this one, I will open up my beloved AVGN model toaster. I just would rather make mistakes on this other one first so I don't screw up the nice one.

Then my 3rd RGB kit will go into a stock NES front loader with a Blinking Light Win (if those guys ever send it to me!)