Pac-Man Collection (ColecoVision) completed. Going beta test

[Pac-Man Collection (ColecoVision) completed. Going beta test]

Alternate power and I/O ports doesn't sound too insurmountable. I'm almost positive that Doubledown has already accepted this challenge in his mind, and is waiting, as patiently as possible, to get his hands on one.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Pixelboy]

Bought some CV cases... all went well.

5-11under

[YPbPr for CV - was Mystery Project]

Hi Ikanankra,

 

So far, I'm getting variable results on a couple of TVs/monitors. For instance, my Westinghouse looks great, although in the upper part of the screen there are some flickering (Colecovision sized) pixels (for example, in the game Squares!, the squares' corners rotate between rounded and sharp. Large blocks of colour, like in the Smurf's game also have some minor banding issues. It's fine for me, but I need to do more work on it to make this a wider-reaching solution.

 

Unfortunately, I haven't had too much time to spend on this lately. I still think about it, so I'll get back to it sometime.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[My new DoubleDown baby]

Very fun!

5-11under

[Nice Ideas - The ColecoVision game company]

See this thread in the Prototype forum:

 

http://www.atariage.com/forums/index.php?showtopic=138835

 

There were four items that coleconut found: Frenzy, Popeye, Fireman, and Mr. Robot. Unfortunately, Mr. Robot is only a case. We dumped the Frenzy and Popeye EPROMs, but they didn't take - we'll try again next time we meet, to see if they're any different from the commercial releases. The thread linked above explains the Fireman game. All three prototype boards were Coleco boards.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Repair Schematics]

Hi CV Gus,

 

If I recall correctly, the 2600 uses a charge circuit to figure out the paddle location. There should be a resistor and capacitor near the DB9 jack that might be at issue.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[From Hi-Tech C to SDCC]

Thanks for all of your work on this, Daniel. This will bring C programming for the CV out of the 80's, which in this case, will be a good thing.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Nice Ideas - The ColecoVision game company]

Hello all,

 

Does anyone have any information on the company "Nice Ideas", who created ColecoVision games? There's a blurb on Big Sky Rangers, but that's about all I can find.

 

I know they made the game Illusions, but are there any other cartridges or ROMs floating around that people are aware of?

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Colecovision Problem]

Most likely at least one of the 74LS541 chips are blown, and needs replacing.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[PsychedelicShaman]

I sold him a gb programmer a while back. All went well!

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Interest check in new ColecoVision cart casings]

Hi Pixelboy,

 

Probably 100 black cases for me... time to get programming, I guess.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Interest check in new ColecoVision cart casings]

Hi Pixelboy,

 

I'm interested in obtaining some cases.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[is there still the video game trade show in mississauga]

There was one a month or so ago... organized by someone else at a different location. Check out the forums at http://www.cgcc.ca for updates. There's typically one or possibly two a year.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Just upgraded one of my Coleco Vision boards to 4164 memory chips.]

That sounds like a good way to get the job done.

5-11under

[VecFlash serial cable]

Thanks!

5-11under

 

Tip - pin 3 (TXD)

Middle - pin 2 (RXD)

Base - pin 5 (GND)

 

It's a shame you didn't ask earlier. A few weeks back I had a big clear out and binned at least 50 of them

[Slik Stik-induced depression. . .]

The fire button on mine needs some TLC, but the directions are fine.

5-11under

[VecFlash serial cable]

Hello all,

 

I recently sold a VecFlash, an older unit that runs from a serial port. It originally had a DB-9 to a stereo 3.5mm headphone jack, however, I seem to have misplaced it.

 

Does someone know the pin-out for this? If not, I could ask Richard H., I guess... but I thought I'd try here, first.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[UNIX/sdcc vs. CPM/Hi-Tech, Libraries?]

Is there an easy-to-use download kit for setting up sdcc for CV programming? I've seen some loose instructions, but they looked pretty complicated, IMHO. This was the beauty of the Hi-Tech solution, thanks to Daniel/Marcel.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[looking for info on early 90's electronic instrument.]

Yamaha WX*? Probably not the Lyricon, it sounds like.

 

http://www.patchmanmusic.com/WindControllerFAQ.html

 

Good luck,

5-11under

[Is a conversion of Microvision games on 2600 possible?]

(with a crappy screen, of course)

A little perspective helps - when it was released in 79 it was the first portable to use cartridges. While the screen is crappy compared to a the DS and PSP, it was state of the art for the time. I had a lot of fun with mine, wonder whatever happened to it.

True enough. By "crappy" I was referring to the darkened status of most of the pixels of the one I had about 5 years ago.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[Is a conversion of Microvision games on 2600 possible?]

I've only played a couple of MV games (with a crappy screen, of course), and they seemed fairly simple. It doesn't seem too far-fetched to be able to simulate the games within 99% accuracy.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[YPbPr for CV - was Mystery Project]

Hi doubledown,

 

Two so far: A Westinghouse 42" LCD and a Panasonic 7" LCD. I've also got access to a 42" Samsung LCD and a couple of different 12-20" Sony CRT studio monitors, which I'll be testing soon.

 

Thanks,

5-11under

 

Out of curosity, what type(s) of display(s) did you test this circuit with (ie, CRT, LCD, Plasma)?

[YPbPr for CV - was Mystery Project]

Schematic created!:

 

 

Thanks,

5-11under

[YPbPr for CV - was Mystery Project]

I don't have a schematic...

 

Take the outputs from the CV video chip (pins 35, 36, 38?). Each of those will go through the same type of circuit: put a ~3.3K resistor to ground at that point. At the same point, connect one end of a ~500 ohm potentiometer. On the other end of the potentiometer, put a ~100 ohm resistor to ground. I'm using the "~" symbol because I should probably review these values, although the listed ones work fine. At the same point (other end of the potentiometer), connect to one end of a ~22 uF capacitor. The other end of the capacitor connects to three items: a ~4.7K resistor to ground, a ~4.7K resistor to +5V, and to the input of an LMH6734 IC (pins 2, 5, 8?). Leave the other input pins open. You'll need +5V and ground on the appropriate pins of the chip, of course. Send the output pins of the IC to R, G, and B RCA jacks. I think that's it.

 

The most difficult part is probably dealing with the pitch of the IC leads. Options include using an adapter board to convert to a DIP package, which could then easily be hardwired in a variety of fashions, or sourcing another amplifier. Perhaps three of part number LM318 would work, although the surrounding circuit would have to change a bit.

 

Your costs will vary, of course, depending on how you build it. The way I'm planning, the costs for one unit is about $28 for parts, not including PCB, shipping parts, tax. Here's a list of what my costs would be for one unit, to see where you could save money if sourcing other components or using items you already have. I'll be building at least 10 for my own consoles, which will save me money by economics of scale.

 

$7.07 Buffer amplifier

$8.46 RCA connectors (6 various) (I already have some of these)

$0.43 SMT Transistor (for composite)

$1.17 SMT Resistors (13 various)

$4.00 Potentiometer (3)

$2.21 Wires

$2.25 Mounting brackets (3)

$1.32 SMT Capacitors (4)

$0.03 SMT Capacitor

$1.00 Header

$0.46 Connector

$0.30 Bolts (3)

 

Will schematics be avaialble for people who want to make it themselves?

[YPbPr for CV - was Mystery Project]

Hi doubledown,

 

It has YPbPr output, plus red/white RCA connectors for analog audio output. It also has composite output (Ben Heckendorn style) for Atari compatibility. It does not have digital audio output.

 

This modification is for people (like me ) who don't have megabucks. This would retail in the range of $50 to $55 as a kit, including shipping, and is designed to be a good bang-for-the-buck A/V solution for the ColecoVision, and a natural progression from the ColecoVision's internal capabilities.

 

The "kit" mentioned above would be fully assembled, but would of course require installation to solder connecting wires onto the CV's PCB, drill holes in the outer case, and do some cutting to the shielding to make some space for the modification.

 

By "natural progression from the ColecoVision's internal capabilities", I mean this: The video chip in the CV naturally outputs the required colour difference signals (essentially YPbPr), just at a higher voltage level than normal, and without enough power to drive a TV. Therefore it's a relatively small step of attenuating and buffering to output YPbPr from a CV. Same goes for the analog audio output. The sound chip in the CV has an analog output, which is easy to tap into. Providing digital audio output, or VGA/HDMI video output may be beneficial, but the costs would increase out of the range of some consumers, and would require a greater transformation of the signals well beyond the CV's internal capabilities.

 

Feel free to discuss!

 

Thanks,

5-11under