GUIDE: Cheap replacement AV cable (small easy mod required)

mickcris · 01/06/2016, 07:17 PM

see warning about potential noise caused by a cheap power supply:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=20351.msg443659#msg443659

Found this the other day and had not seen it mentioned anywhere else. There are cables for sale that are DIN5 to 4 RCA jacks. They have a couple different descriptions of pinouts. One being the traditional pinout and the other being counting the pins in order:

"5-pin DIN plug (wired 1 + 4 + 5 + 3) to 4 x RCA plugs"

or similar to this

"Going clockwise on the image the pin connections are:
PIN 1 = BLACK
PIN 2 = RED
PIN 3 = GROUND
PIN 4 = YELLOW
PIN 5 = WHITE"

Here is a cable that I have confirmed work (If you order a different one you may want to verify the pin-out with a multi-meter before using):

http://www.ebay.com/itm/2m-5-Pin-Male-Din-Plug-to-4-x-RCA-Phono-male-Plugs-Audio-Cable-007353-/191525801883 (currently $4.76 & FREE Shipping)
The UK seller has them on Amazon for cheaper (currently $4.27 & FREE Shipping):
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00M0FXP64

The more expensive USA location cable from ebay (removed USA cable as they sent someone a different one) is not better quality. I think the cheaper cable shipping from the UK is actually a little better. Both have wires that are a bit thinner than an oem cable, but i couldn't see any difference in picture quality on my TV.

comparison of the US sold ebay cable (on left) to an OEM PCE AV cable (on right):

note that the UK cable has slightly larger pins in the DIN jack than this USA cable but still not as large as the OEM cable. The UK cable also has shorter grounds on the RCA connectors compared to the USA cable.

Now for the mod part. Cut the Yellow connector off and use the black for video. Probably safest to cover where you cut with heat shrink (preferred) or electrical tape as that wire is connected to 5v on the console. I also put a piece of yellow heat shrink on the black RCA plug. The left audio, right audio, and ground are already on the correct pins. These have a nice molded DIN connector unlike most aftermarket PCE/Duo AV cables that have one that someone soldered on. Here is a pic of the USA sold ebay cable after I "modded" it.

wilykat · 01/06/2016, 07:56 PM

Nice find! Option 3 for that cut end: plastic dip. Cheap electric tape tended to come off and leave sticky mess behind. Heatshrink should work but some cheap ones may not stick on and stay on either.

Keith Courage · 01/06/2016, 08:47 PM

This may sound like a dumb idea but how difficult would it be to just rip the extra pin out of the din 5 end? Thus not needing to worry about electrical tape/heat shrink tubing.

mickcris · 01/06/2016, 09:06 PM

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/06/2016, 08:47 PMThis may sound like a dumb idea but how difficult would it be to just rip the extra pin out of the din 5 end? Thus not needing to worry about electrical tape/heat shrink tubing.

never tried it, but i think it would be easier to do it the other way. you might damage the connector by doing that too. possibly bending the other pins in the process.

destructive cactus · 01/07/2016, 07:04 PM

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

blueraven · 01/08/2016, 12:34 AM

Nice find, Mickcris

wilykat · 01/08/2016, 04:33 AM

Quote from: destructive cactus on 01/07/2016, 07:04 PMThis is great. I wonder what these cables were originally for!

Probably C64 including the older model with 5 pin DIN. It does have ground in the right pin plus yellow (composite) and audio out. On C64 with 8 pin, the black would be luminance. The last plug is for audio-in for voice modulator system with external output.

destructive cactus · 01/11/2016, 02:37 PM

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.

mickcris · 01/11/2016, 04:07 PM

sorry about that. did you order the same one I had linked? the RCA plugs on yours look different than the ones in my pics which came from that USA seller. It should not have been a DIY DIN plug on the end also, it should have been a molded connector. I removed that link from my OP since it looks like they are sending a different cable than what i had previously ordered. The one I was sent looks exactly like the pic they have in the ebay auction.

destructive cactus · 01/11/2016, 07:53 PM

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

mickcris · 01/11/2016, 08:20 PM

Here was the original link.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/261684115257

I don't know why they sent you that cable. Maybe they ran out of the one in the picture and made some. Defiantly is different than what they sent me.

destructive cactus · 01/11/2016, 08:56 PM

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.

mickcris · 01/11/2016, 09:02 PM

thats really weird. they should have at least wired it the same as the other ones they were selling. They need to update their pic and description if thats what they are selling now. you may want to send them a message and asked why its different. i was going to suggest you just send it back, but its too late now.

esadajr · 01/11/2016, 10:40 PM

thanks for the tip. always good to know where to find suitable replacement parts

Keith Courage · 01/12/2016, 05:25 AM

Hmmm, I just ordered a few on amazon a week ago. If I get them and they have those soldered on ends and no longer have molded ones, then I'll just return them since I can make my own with those types of ends for much less.

mickcris · 01/12/2016, 05:59 AM

Quote from: Keith Courage on 01/12/2016, 05:25 AMHmmm, I just ordered a few on amazon a week ago. If I get them and they have those soldered on ends and no longer have molded ones, then I'll just return them since I can make my own with those types of ends for much less.

if you got them from the link I had above from the seller in the UK they should be fine. I ordered about 10 of them and I think they came yesturday. I will open up the package this morning to check. Im not sure why that USA seller sent him that cable. I would have returned it as it was not what was in the ebay listing.

edit:
got home and checked my package from the UK seller on amazon. all are new in bags and are the same one I received before. I took one out to show the DIN

mickcris · 01/15/2016, 09:00 AM

I just had a slight issue with this cable. The DIN is not grounded but I did not really think this would be a problem since each wire in the cable has its own ground and I had not had an issue till now, but apparently in some situations it may.

I was trying to use a cheap universal power supply with a Duo I just recapped and with this cable there was noise in the picture. With the cheap AC power supply, the picture was fine through the scart cable I made and the original AV cable. Also, with an original power supply and a different brand universal power supply, the cable linked in the OP of this thread worked fine. I had not tried it with anything but an original power supply up to this point and I could not tell any difference in the picture quality. I think mostly the issue is with the power supply, but there is that difference of the DIN not being grounded that is the only thing I can think of that would cause one to work fine and not the other. I had also tried previously on a supergrafx and coregrafx using a cheap Chinese supply and the cable worked fine with no noise.

Sorry if anyone has bought this cable and has issues with it. I think in most situations it will work fine, but just wanted to let everyone know there is a potential of noise if using a cheap power supply.

Keith Courage · 01/21/2016, 09:58 PM

These cables are indeed how mickcris describes them. I ordered from the amazon link and got a bunch of 6ft cables.

5v pin problem solved ;) Only took me 1 minute if that. Just bend it down once and back up. Snaps right off.

mickcris · 01/21/2016, 10:01 PM

Nice, that broke off cleaner than I thought it would.