e5frog

I have three payments ready for batch #3, I'm awaiting the fourth one to order the last parts, save $25 and make sure you get the fourth discounted cart. Thanks.

I decided to keep the original resistors on the Chroma and Burst signals - and (on my PAL unit) also the third signal (whatever it is) that is connected to the same node, the resistor to +5V in the was left there, I didn't see any difference with or without it when done. After amplifying the now black and white picture i tied the color signal to the amplified signal and "voila" a pretty decent picture. Disconnecting the RF circuitry may help even further, I'll see if it helps. I haven't made any adjustment for the impedance, just a 10k, a 47k resistor and a 2N3904 transistor. Amplified composite signal - no color: Needed circuit on a 5x5 hole continuous stripe kind experiment card, the unused one is for ground. I needed to lift and re-tie these three resistors together to circumvent loosing the color: This is how it could look when attached in the console: Image when connected: I'll check if the signals are S-Video compatible. Now, if someone could send me an American unit I could see what needs to be done there, I have been working with a PAL 100-E motherboard here, which of course differs slightly. The sound can be lifted from the speaker amplifying circuit, easiest way is to disconnect one of the speaker wires and grab it there, a resistor may be needed to lower the level though I had no trouble connecting it directly to the TV. So this way you could get a decent picture and sound on the TV even from an old unit like this. A shielded 75 Ohm cable with a female RCA connector connected to it hanging out where the RF cable previously was should be enough, and one just like it for audio (but 50 Ohm, not that it makes much difference) and your 1976 console may just be ready for a modern TV.

Well, I hooked it up like above, the composite signal going into the 10k resistor and amplification is pretty decent. The 20 Ohm resistor to 5V isn't really needed as far as I could see... I used a 2N3904 instead though, problem for me is - I get no color - it could be a PAL-issue, I'm trying to figure it out, could also be the video levels that are off - I wish again that I had a scope to check it out.

I asked Ben Heckendorn, he suggested an amplifier circuit like the one above, that should be enough, then you can just pull the sound from one of the speaker lines and maybe adjust the level of that with a resistance. I could plug the signal right into my TV without any obvious problems though and get a proper audio level.

Putting 1k parallel with the 1k5 resistor at the Chroma signal boosted the colors a bit brighter, but the overall picture still has the same darkness. White level is still at the same brightness. Messing with the Burst signal resistor only made the color disappear. I don't think there's any idea messing with these, the colors get a little stronger but starts to bleed instead. Actually unhooking the RF circuit from the video signal might help, I think I need to go under the RF sheld then and probably detach the bottom shield from the circuit board to get there. Perhaps this would be enough, taking the composite video signal at the 10k resistor. http://www.r3uk.com/index.php/tech-tips/39-cool-projects/71-atari-2600-composite-video-mods Some adjustements to the components may have to be done to increase or decrease the level. I wish I had a scope to check out the signal...

The PAL board I hooked up isn't marked with any silkscreen or similar, and it differs a bit from the schematic (as that is for an original NTSC unit) so I kind of just poked around in the general area (General Area!) until I got a picture. It would be a very nice hack just to be able to add a resistor or two and get a normal picture. I have a US-version, but since it's untouched and working I'm not going to open it up... Oh, so it's the pulled up buffered Chroma and Burst signals from the '07 circuit in position E3 on the original board... I don't have a single '07 circuit on my board but I guess I can look for the resistors. I guess the 74LS153 located near the RF box is the one that outputs these. BTW there's also GREEN, BLUE and RED input on pins 3-5 of this, it would be really cool with an RGB output... Here's a closeup: I'm pulling the signal from the 2k2 that's connected to the LED, should be R80, so the 470 and 180 Ohm resistors that are soldered into the same node is probably the R65 and R64. Yes, checked the 180 there is connected to pin 10 of the 7445 just below that row of resistors. Checking furter on the 74LS153, where we get Chroma and Burst, it seems they are connected directly to the 1k5 and a 3k3 resistor instead, they're pulled to +5V 2k for Chroma and 3k8 for Burst... I'm guessing they could be different because of PAL video levels and color encoding perhaps. I have checked some things and added text to the image, the FPN 2369 NPN that has it's collector connected to the video signal is not in the schematic. I'll try and adjust the Chroma and Burst resistors then...

I was able to get a weak picture off a System I unit, if you check the schematic at the VESwiki you'll see that there's a VIDEO INPUT SHT. 2 signal in the RF circuit: http://classicdev.org/images/3/31/FVE100_schematic_sheet_1of3.gif Looking at sheet 2 you see that it's close to the LED: http://classicdev.org/images/5/55/FVE100_schematic_sheet_2of3.png (lower right corner) http://classicdev.org/VES_Schematic With help from the SABA Videoplay 2 schematic it should be possible to find a point to pic the composite video also, I'm guessing somewhere after the "chroma" and "burst" signals are put together from the video circuit... I lifted the signal on my Luxor version, and was able to get a composite picture on a Commodore 1084S-II monitor, on a real TV it was very weak. So I think it's simply a matter of amplifying it and perhaps disconnect the RF circuitry. Someone with a scope and knowledge of how a video signal is supposed to look is probably able to make a proper adjustment. You could tap into the speaker to get an audio output, just adjust the level with a adjustable resistance. Here's where I picked up the signal The original machine has a different layout, but you should be able to find the right place. It could be hidden under the shield as well though. Very sharp picture but weak, I tested it on a unit I thought was broken, but I later noticed that a leg on one of the Video RAM circuits was bent. I also found out that the then current version of Pac-Man had too little delay in the graphics plotting routine, hence the blurry graphics here: I had to set the brightness knob to max. To even get a picture on my TV I had to run it through the VHS-machine: I tried making a small amplifier circuit but had no luck with it (it's a little out of my area, I should brush up on video electronics I guess).

Jag håller väl mest mina internationella Fairchild-kontakter levande här.

Nope, your $125 are also welcome.

Yours is shipped Jason, it seems shipping is currently quite slow though, but I'm sure it'll get there - have fun!

Joe Cracker has got man-boobs. Hilarious.

Fina grejor det!!

Yes.

Det har jag missat, men då vet du var du ska fråga nästa gång det är tävling. Jag hänger väl mest på vintagegames.se annars, försöker att inte missa Fairchild System relaterade inlägg här.

Yes, see post 42 above: http://www.atariage.com/forums/topic/149932-fs-fairchild-system-channel-f-multi-cart-pre-order-now/page__view__findpost__p__1929625 Current discounted price is $125, you pay via my PayPal-account: [email protected] Be sure to use "Personal Payment" and use the option "I'll pay the fee" so that I'll get the full amount. Thanks for your support.

The yellow-flashing now also works, same problem, the connector.

I was thinking it could have something to do with capacitors and/or resistor values. Different tolerances sometimes make it not appear grey. My blue one was dark blue, not the light kind. The purple one is up and running, TLC on the connector helped, I cleaned everything else as well of course. Only the yellow-flashing left.

The blue-flashing unit works fine, only needed to fix the connector, cleaned everything off also, there was a lot of dust in it, a little moisture on that and you'd have some nice short circuits there. NES TEST ran fine, everything seems to be OK. On to the next one, only two left...

The hum was apparently from too little voltage, I'm guessing the ripple from the 9VDC power supply (that I have successfully used with other NES consoles) induced some nice 50Hz hum. This unit however required a little more voltage. The original supply of about 9VAC has a top voltage of about 12V so it worked just fine with a 12VDC supply instead (I should perhaps look for one of the original supplies instead). The flashing is the CIC (or Nes10) setting in yes, I just wondered if the colors meant anything. I'm going to fix the connectors on all three and see what happens. I've had a blue-flashing Spanish unit once, it seemed to work just fine. Someone else mentioned having a yellow-flashing unit once, and that one was dead, he wasn't able to fix it. It seems to me there should be a reason for the colors - why would they otherwise be there?

I bought five used NTSC NES from a Swedish company, one of them worked out of the box, one worked but has a constant hum on the sound and sometimes I get a red screen there the other three just flashes. One flashes with yellow screen, one with purple screen and one with blue - same if there's a game in it or not. Is there a guide somewhere to what these colors usually mean? I had plans to take them apart anyway for a clean-up, one needs to get the cartridge chute fixed (I have a spare somewhere in worst case). Thanks for your help.

I'm looking for a cheap working USA NES console, only need the console, working, a good exterior is not extremely important. Please reply with your price with shipping to Sweden included. Thanks.

You can still order these, with shipping outside Europe it's a little more than $85 so I'm setting a fixed price, shipping included: $85 outside Europe and $70 plus shipping elsewhere. Some components are currently out of stock so I need your pre-paid orders to be able to make more of these. Currently 36 sold cartridges and I'm only going to make 50 of them. Get yours now.

Yes, you'd be number 2. Thanks for your support.

The third batch is starting it's cycle. As usual I need your funds to buy materials. The one who books the first cartridge in this batch via a payment to my PayPal account ([email protected]) gets it for $100, shipping included. We are now on Multi-Cart #21. Other pre-paying buyers will pay $125, shipping included. If you'd like to wait until all parts are delivered and production starts the price is $150 plus shipping. I have saved up some money and I need another four orders to make this happen, when this batch is sold out I can probably start making BOXES! To get things started I'll offer a picture of your choice (scaled to the limitations of the Channel F) to be displayed at startup for the first four buyers - if you like - instead of name or other 15 character information (it has been mostly names). Anyone interested?

Yes all carts for the Fairchild System works for all brands (SABA, Luxor, ITT etc) and also this cart. The current batch is sold out but you can make a pre-payment to reserve the next number in line, in that case the price is $125, shipping included. If you'd like to wait the price will be $150 plus shipping when all new materials are in and manufacturing begins.