mjsaville

I would re-cap the drive, even just to rule that out as a possible issue. MJ

Sad times, he will be greatly missed... Still very young to die in this day and modern age... MJ

Very interested in this, great work by the man Mr Fish here - he needs to be commended. Big, Mr Do Fan, Huge !!! Can't wait for this....

MacRorie, you have a PM ! cheers MJ

Hi Bryan, just wondered if you received my PM ? thanks MJ

Hi Bryan, This thread is brilliant - Put me down for 1 x 800xl Kit please - I have sent you a PM. cheers Moray

Hi Retro, No worries totally appreciate you doing this for everyone - I'm sure everyone is happy to wait myself included. thanks again Moray

Just seen the Gadgets Review of this - looks awesome and the detailing on the card is very fancy indeed. Please put me down for: 1 x Cased Version - please!!! I'm happy to do PayPal Gift :-) thanks in advance MJ

Yahoo.... Just ordered... MJ

Hi MickCris, I'm looking for an amp + connector for a Core Grafx 2, shipped to the UK? Do you still have stock?

Bryan, i would be keen on 3 full boards in the future all PAL, 1 x 800xl, 1 x 65xe & 1 x 130xe shipped to the uk- happy to wait though. Thanks in advance... MJ

Put me down for: 1 x XE Rapidus Any idea of costs?? cheers MJ

McWill replacement lcd - http://atariage.com/forums/topic/233632-lynx-lcd-replacementvga-out-by-mcwill/page-5?do=findComment&comment=3179769

Mark me down for 1 of these also, just fitted the lcd screen replacement mod and the Lynx is now my favourite hand held. ?

Hi McWill, just sent you a PM - looking to put my name on a list for 1 when they come back into stock - Just watched Gadgetuk164s youtube install, it looks amazing. Must Have.....

Hi Mr FJC, Apologies I have been away with work so no time to tinker with the Atari, just been on it. Glad you mentioned the PAL/NTSC master clock jumper's being reversed as I only get an image when its on NTSC which mean's it PAL which is what my Atari is. Okay, things I have tried since I last posted, (1) Tried a different CD4050 chip from an 800XL, made no difference. (2) Desoldered the CD4050 and replaced it with a CD47HC4050 chip (Found after googling and reading about an Atari VCS mod) apparently its a faster version of the CD4050, which gives me a more stable image when taking csync off of pin15, however the board is still providing artifacts on the screen. Fine on blue boot screen when I load VBXE game Nightshade there are artifacts on the bottom left of the screen. If I run the output back through gate Pin 9 and take the output from pin 10 it is still a little cleaner but still not great. (3) Do mod number 2 above, then putting a 100nf cap across the connection to gnd doesn't really improve the situation, the picture deteriorates if anything. Still using Nightshade game as a benchmark for image quality - not sure if this is sensible or not. (4) With the CD47HC4050 installed and i take comp video from the monitor port, then use a 100nf cap to clean the image, Yes the grainyness goes but then you load nightshade and the black parts of the screen look like a "Car Crash", 200% more artifacts. I will tinker a bit further over the weekend. MJ

No worries mate... I have 3 other LCD's I can try. I also have a 65XE and an 800XL so may desolder the board and swap it into one of these (Soldering skills are not too bad at the moment (( plenty practice))). I just picked the 130 because of the demoscene would make use of the vbxe and the extra memory. thanks again for all your help and fast turnaround on idea's :) :) . I may also just live with it in stock composite video form - it's still a million miles better than the original screen quality. I'll post back if I come up with anything more info though.

Okay, I'm taking sync from pin 15 rather than pin 10, I can get the image stable (picture quality is superb), every 5 to 6 mins the picture gets a right shift by say 5mm then returns to normal positiion at the same time the sound seems to cut out too. This I think I can live with but here's the thing:- Playing DropZone for the last 20mins or so and the picture shifts from left to right as mentioned above (No problem can live with this), then I decide to play Super Zaxxon and the screen is shifting right then left not every 5-6mins as per DropZone but every 10secs or so. I'm wondered if the XE is using different screen mods for different games, does this then effect the setting / adjustment on the pot? I'm not the type of person to adjust the screen for every game I play. I have also tried using the vga port on the tv rather than scart but the Samsung has sensing electronics and when the atari is turned on the tv turns itself off - so I have abandoned this option. I'm getting the feeling we have just about gone as far as we can with this, but super frustrating nearly thrown the machine down the stairs a couple of times today. Any more idea's Mr Jazzcat? thanks again..... MJ

Hi Mr JazzCat - I have news, discovered variable resistors are called Potentiometer's on maplin's website, bought 3 of them today to test 100ohm, 500ohm, 1K ohm This is the 500ohm, http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/500-andohm-cermet-horizontal-preset-potentiometer-wr39n The 1K ohm seems to make the picture more stable but only slightly, I notice when I turn the dial to the far right (clockwise) it seems to stablise "ish" just before the signal is lost. I have wired it as follows, Pin 15 going into pin9, sync from pin 10 goes - 10uf cap, + end to left terminal of potentiometer, middle pin goes to monitor jack, right pin is ground. I'm wondering as these resistors are not giving me a fine enough control, what do you think? thanks again...

Wow you must have the forum on speed dial, lightening response here...... Okay, great info here - I have a 10uf cap in the house but need to source a variable resistor. it appears Maplin don't sell them so will double check again then off to ebay. Might take a couple of days to get parts and rig something up, but very much appreciated. You are the man... I'll be back in touch shortly

Great Stuff, just done the mod - fitted the socket pins - bent up pins 9 + 10 as discussed. Existing Composite Video purple wire disconnected from new monitor port. New board layout is as follows - Using the pink wire from pin 15 to 9, then pulling cleaned sync from pin 10 to new monitor port (white wire). Grainyness now gone but the picture is not stable, screen does a flicker every 6 - 10 secs, I've taken a quick video - see below (I'm guessing its a timing issue), what do you think? Having difficulty linking the video file, try this url - http://vid87.photobucket.com/albums/k123/mjsaville/CD4050%20mod%20with%20unused%20gate%20-%20Picture%20unstable_zpsb4h3rv8m.mp4 Very nearly there though, I have also tried just using the output from pin15 directly as sync, picture quality still better than I had before (not as good as when I use the spare gate), but the 6-10 second screen flicker remains. Very weird - what do you think?

Okay, sounds fine - I think I'll unsolder the chip and fit a socket (gives me more flexibility). The only issue is I'm using the scart port rather than vga connector (DB9) - I thought csync (pin 15) was only for monitor port. Can I use this instead of Composite Video then?

Flashjazzcat thanks for the super quick reply. Forgot to say its 130xe, not a 65xe (that's another of my atari's). Okay I will go and modify the gnd wire going to the new monitor connection (remove it from Pin1 of J4 on VBXE board and pick it from somewhere clean on the main pcb. As for the gated sync, sounds interesting although you need to bare with me as I'm a techy guy but not an electronics guru. I've pulled a web page showing the stock 130xe video circuit (see below) you can see the gates used 2, 4, 6, 12 & 15. Also the datasheet for the CD4050BCN chip (below 2) and you are right there is a gate free (pin 10). Looking at the atari board pin 10 has no connection pin 9 has a feed coming from some resistors. Is it correct to - issolate / cut the track going to pin 9, then feed the comp video signal from the original monitor jack into pin 9, then take the cleaned comp video / sync output from pin 10 straight to pin 20 on the scart cable ? thanks again for your help, very much appreciated. MJ

Just fitted my vbxe board yesterday to my unmolested 65xe, working great - colours are very intense. Slight issue though, the image background is slightly grainy. Reading through this thread, I think it's similar to the problem flashjazzcat had. My setup is a Samsung Syncmaster T260HD TV Monitor and I've done the scart lead hookup to an atari st port, which I have mounted just above the existing monitor port on the back of the xe case. I'm taking Composite Video (Purple Wire) and Audio (Brown Wire) from the bottom of the circuit board where the monitor pins are soldered on. These connections have been double checked. I tried disconnecting the Comp Video but loose the picture entirely due to loss of sync. I'm looking for a bit of assistance to resolve the grainyness, I thinking I should look for a different location for the Comp Video signal and did try the CSync signal from pin15 of the CD4050 chip but nothing. Any advice would be appreciated. thanks MJ