Messages

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Shiryou Sensen/War of the Dead translation]

Thanks so much for this! I just gave it a try and wow is the game hard, but the translation script and hacking are great work indeed! Can't wait to spend some time with this one.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: PC Engine LT-2 Custom Made System]

Yeah, they still make 4:3 LCDs but, boy, are they harder to find than 16:9. I had to make do with an 8" display (really wanted more like 9.6" or so) for this little tiny retropie thing I am making, because I inisted upon 4:3.

On the bright side, I might be able to build a little built-in TATE mechanism!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: The Legend of Xanadu Dub Project - Auditions Wanted]

I have a female friend who's very interested - I can have her send in auditions from her laptop with the promise that she can use my good mic over here if she gets a part. I'm also going to send the link to various people (youtubers, etc) who I think have great voices and would be interested.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu I and II - General Translation Project(s) Thread]

This is so exciting! Great work so far.

Again, feel free to hit me up for audio stuff if it ends up being needed (I know I'm not active in the forums but I'd be glad to submit an example mix or something)! Aside from that, I look forward to auditioning for the dub.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: save backup :s]

This is really cool. I'm going to make a USB/FTDI -> controller port cable and try this out, too!

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu I and II - General Translation Project(s) Thread]

cool distortion effects for some of the boss voices

Yeah, I think I could help here - would be glad to talk it over and/or try some things! All the 90s vocal 'tricks' are pretty easy and fun to do nowadays.

[Localizations, Games, Apps, Docs / Re: Xanadu I and II - General Translation Project(s) Thread]

Whoo! This is so exciting. I forget if I've already commented in this thread before, but I'd like to volunteer for any help with audio/testing. I have a duo-r with an everdrive and also am a recording musician with a good vocal mic and outboard gear/effects and could help out in that capacity, if there's a need. Please feel free to ask me anything in here or via PM if you think I might be able to help!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbografx 16 component mod issues]

Just to reiterate: there are three pots.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbografx 16 component mod issues]

Okay, now that you've said "not enough blue" instead of "no luck getting close to a blue color", I think most people will refer you back to adjusting all three pots. It'd help if you had a way to load the 240p test suite on your console because then you could open the handy test pattern that shows red, green, blue, and white color bars. It'd give you a better idea of what's going on.

Also: both my LCD and my CRT have a way to display only red, green, or blue signal alone. See if yours does, and take a look - it could give you a better idea of the problem.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbografx 16 component mod issues]

Yeah, it takes a bit of work to get all the colors balanced, for sure, but it's definitely possible. I actually just swapped between composite and component inputs on my BVM which made it really fast to nail. If everything looks right except for the blues, you might find that you still have to adjust more than just the blue pot.

I haven't done the jailbar fix yet, but I think 4.7 might be too small to make a difference using Tim W's guide. I got ground from the HuC6260 itself, and 5v right from the voltage regulator, and my jailbars aren't too bad (on a Duo-R) to begin with; so I'm hoping Tim W's guide is all that's needed to remove them totally.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB Turbo Duo (recapped/rgb)]

Ah, here's a (hopefully not too huge) comparison of composite versus component on a 13" Sony BVM:



tumblr_o1gdridizN1qeshaxo1_1280.jpg   <- link to bigger image if you want to inspect

Ignore the color difference in the bar at the bottom; I fixed that later.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: TG-16 RGB booster problem - no red]

I bet there's a bad trace or solder joint somewhere - it might be worth trying to track that down if you have a multimeter with a continuity test setting (the kind that beep if there's continuity between the two probes). If you're really lucky, you might just have to reflow something near the bad pin in question; otherwise you might have to run a small wire from where the red signal is getting lost, to that pin.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: RGB mod question]

I just recently did the component mod for my Duo-R. I think people might stop just short of saying 'identical', but it'd be very, very, VERY close.

I'm sure someone will chime in and correct me if I get anything wrong here (as I'm new to this), but RGB basically carries the red, green, and blue signals directly to the television, as well as a fourth connection for sync. Component carries luma and sync on one connection, then the other two connections are for the difference between blue and luma, and the difference between red and luma. It doesn't send green, as that can be derived from the other signals. So, there's one less 'pin/cable' of data, and there's a bit of processing to figure everything else out, but it should be very close, and WAY better than composite and rf video.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / MOD GUIDE - Universal RGB-to-YPbPr/Component Circuit & Mod (8/24/2014)]

Thanks!

Yep! This is a Samsung LN40C550. About a 5 year old 40" LCD. It supports 240p. Looks pretty blurry, but it does a decent job. I also gave it a shot on a CRT, Sony BVM-1316. Great!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / MOD GUIDE - Universal RGB-to-YPbPr/Component Circuit & Mod (8/24/2014)]

Whee! Just got mine installed, and it's working great. Just wanted to post and say thanks to NightWolve, thesteve, turbokon, and everyone else in this thread.

I've got all the colors coming through loud and clear, though it seems very green, so I'm going to adjust it now.

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Amping Audio for CD-Rs: A Guide]

Cool tutorial! Will definitely try this.

It might be worth it to look into using 'Compressor' to SLIGHTLY (don't use a very high ratio at all) squash those drum hit peaks before amplifying (i.e. make-up gain). Then, there'll be no clipping at all.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: WTB Turbo Duo (recapped/rgb)]

Nice BVM! I just got a little 13" the other day and am going to add a Component (yes, not RGB yet; want compatibility with my LCD TV as well...) out to my Duo-R. Until then, I'm at least enjoying the 0 frames of lag over composite...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: GUIDE: Cheap replacement AV cable (small easy mod required)]

Yep, that's where I ordered it. Yeah, they must have run out of the other ones. Anyhow, I just resoldered the pins, removing the black RCA jack/wire, and everything's great now. Just a note to anyone else who may find themselves with a cable like mine: you can still use it without soldering, but the colors might not match. That's all! I'm kind of surprised that touching the +5v RCA jack to the tv caused the PCE to flip out, but I don't think it would cause any permanent damage or anything like that.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: GUIDE: Cheap replacement AV cable (small easy mod required)]

Edit: whoops, I'm not sure if this came from the seller you linked or not. Their eBay username is marvac_2001. I'll post some more descriptive pics of the cable so that people can avoid confusion.

Here's a pic of both ends of the cable - I'm going to modify it right now (and remove the 5v pin/wire).

NOTE TO ANYONE JUST SCROLLING THROUGH - IF YOUR CABLE LOOKS LIKE THE ABOVE, DOUBLE CHECK THE PINS

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: GUIDE: Cheap replacement AV cable (small easy mod required)]

Okay, this is kind of nuts:

I received the cable (the USA one) this weekend and just got to testing it now. My pinouts are DEFINITELY different. White is video, black is left audio, and yellow is right audio. Unfortunately, I found out the hard way when using the 240p test suite to figure out which audio channel was which - attaching the red RCA jack to anything on the tv would cause the PC Engine to either glitch out, go to a black screen, or otherwise crash.

Just a little cautionary tale/warning - might be a good idea to check the pins with a multimeter with continuity test before plugging everything in. The DIN connecter looks like the easy DIY sort that you can just open up, so I may redo the soldering inside.

[NEC Console Resource / Hi!]

I've been a member for (I think) a few months but just recently started posting, so I figured I should say hello. Having wanted a TG16 ever since it existed, I've somehow now acquired a (broken) CoreGrafx, PC Engine, and PC Engine Duo-R. I've only got 2 CD games and one HuCard game so far.

I'm really interested in the hardware and I like soldering stuff, so hope to take part in the community with regards to that sort of thing and also to talk about the consoles and their games! Thanks!

p.s. I opened up the one controller I have to clean it - the original non-turbo PC Engine controller - and was surprised to see that the circuit board and even the front plastic have accommodations for the turbo selectors! Anyone know what that's about?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: New Duo-R Owner - cheapest way to get a composite AV cable (for now)]

Yep! I definitely had the pins reversed. Everything's working now, but the cable is pretty ugly, so the extra AV cables I ordered from the suggestions really should help out. Thanks again.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: GUIDE: Cheap replacement AV cable (small easy mod required)]

This is great. I wonder what these cables were originally for!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: New Duo-R Owner - cheapest way to get a composite AV cable (for now)]

I was looking at that very pinout link - I definitely didn't account for the fact that it was 'reversed', though. I did connect all grounds together. I might give it another go while I wait for the cables to arrive. Thanks!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: New Duo-R Owner - cheapest way to get a composite AV cable (for now)]

Thanks for the welcome! And thanks for the other cable recommendation, too - that's a good find. I'll probably grab that one as well since it'll show up faster.

For clarification: I didn't have a cable for the CoreGrafx either - I just tested it by using my homemade 'expansion port' connector. I'm really not sure why my homemade DIN cable didn't work. All I know is that I hooked the duo up to power, put my Cosmic Fantasy II disc in, pressed 'run', and heard the drive spin up and saw the red 'access' LED light up ... but couldn't play it! Hehe.

Of course, the first thing I did when I got the Duo was to open it up (since I couldn't yet play it), so here are some pictures:

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: New Duo-R Owner - cheapest way to get a composite AV cable (for now)]

Thanks! Seems a lot cheaper than I was seeing elsewhere.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / New Duo-R Owner - cheapest way to get a composite AV cable (for now)]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum - I had a quick question about the easiest/cheapest way to get a DIN5 AV cable for the PC Engine Duo-R that I just acquired -just for now, as I plan to upgrade to a better video output shortly. I also have an original PC Engine and CoreGrafx and use a homemade cable that attaches to the expansion port, but that's not an option with the Duo, and for some reason my DIY cable (attaching to the DIN5 AV port) does not work, regardless of what combination of pins I try.

On ebay, the prices are crazy, and I hear that the sega genesis/megadrive cables are not wired the exact same, so stereo audio is not possible. Does anyone have some suggestions for fixing my RCA to DIN5 cable or finding a cheapo one for now?

Thanks!!