SoundGammon Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 Are these still for sale? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted March 4, 2019 Share Posted March 4, 2019 (edited) I believe they are if just send Magic Knight a PM asking to order some. He used to offer them fully populated and PCB only. I went the PCB only route as I had hookup wire and most of the needed components on hand already. In fact I had enough to make up 6 of them. In fact I just did a quick demo video of the Magic Knight v2.3 board in action on a few different games both 2600, 7800, and flash carts to show how the menus look through this board. Keep in mind the following: - My AV equipment isn't what I would call the norm so what I see on my displays may not represent accurately what you will get. - There is some light snow like noise on the 2600 side. But this is mostly seen when looking at my display from the side rather then dead on. I've mentioned this to Magic Knight but not sure what the resolution would be. Again only shows on the 2600 games so obviously related to the TIA colorburst signal - There is a checkerboard like pattern being show in the video. That isn't on the actual screen and is some artifact with how my new camcorder seems to pick up the video when I record pointing it at the LCD like this. So again the odd patterns is a result of my camera being used - Some audio sounds distorted, especially the opening tune for Ms. Pac-Man. This isn't the actual case and is a result of my using the Mic input on the camcorder to capture the audio directly from the 7800 without any other hardware in the mix. The mic input is a powered one and so I'm using it for something it isn't really designed for. With that...a demo of the Magic Knight in action on a 7800 I did over this past weekend for test purposes. The audio resistors on this Magic Knight board I populated with Mil spec 1% resistors and changed the resistor values for the audio section to bring the TIA and external audio more in balance with each other. Edited March 5, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) NM...looks to have been a temp glitch with the forum software.... Edited March 5, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 I still sell these and have re-balanced the sound. PM me for details on how to order. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 I believe they are if just send Magic Knight a PM asking to order some. He used to offer them fully populated and PCB only. I went the PCB only route as I had hookup wire and most of the needed components on hand already. In fact I had enough to make up 6 of them. In fact I just did a quick demo video of the Magic Knight v2.3 board in action on a few different games both 2600, 7800, and flash carts to show how the menus look through this board. Keep in mind the following: - My AV equipment isn't what I would call the norm so what I see on my displays may not represent accurately what you will get. - There is some light snow like noise on the 2600 side. But this is mostly seen when looking at my display from the side rather then dead on. I've mentioned this to Magic Knight but not sure what the resolution would be. Again only shows on the 2600 games so obviously related to the TIA colorburst signal - There is a checkerboard like pattern being show in the video. That isn't on the actual screen and is some artifact with how my new camcorder seems to pick up the video when I record pointing it at the LCD like this. So again the odd patterns is a result of my camera being used - Some audio sounds distorted, especially the opening tune for Ms. Pac-Man. This isn't the actual case and is a result of my using the Mic input on the camcorder to capture the audio directly from the 7800 without any other hardware in the mix. The mic input is a powered one and so I'm using it for something it isn't really designed for. With that...a demo of the Magic Knight in action on a 7800 I did over this past weekend for test purposes. The audio resistors on this Magic Knight board I populated with Mil spec 1% resistors and changed the resistor values for the audio section to bring the TIA and external audio more in balance with each other. Where can i get Riki and Vikki? Looks amazing! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+save2600 Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 Where can i get Riki and Vikki? Looks amazing! http://www.penguinet.net/Games/Rikki_Vikki/ Thread: http://atariage.com/forums/topic/285896-rikki-vikki/ 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted March 5, 2019 Share Posted March 5, 2019 (edited) I still sell these and have re-balanced the sound. PM me for details on how to order. Good to know. What values did you come up with for the external audio and TIA lines? I still put an 18k on the TIA input, and was going to use 6k8 on the pokey/external audio in, but over this weekend, I found out that was still too weak for the pokey and ended up using a 3k3 as shown in this video. But to make it more confusing...I found out this 7800 I was testing with had lower pokey volume to begin with? Lower than I've heard on stock units. I confirmed this as I still have the RF intact and even through RF the pokey audio is noticeably lower in amplitude as compared to the TIA. This is a much later made 7800. I did measure the resistor on the external audio installed on the main board and it is 8k it seems. Anyway, just odd that even among the 7800s the audio isn't even reliable in balance. Guess I shouldn't be surprised... Edited March 5, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^- 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 5, 2019 Author Share Posted March 5, 2019 Im using the 18k and 5k1 at the moment, Im going to acquire an extra 7800 or two and use pot trimmers to see what kind of range this can vary by on at least 3 machines. As NTSC's are hard to come by in UK (or at least a fortune to ship) im keeping an eye on ebay and place to catch a bargain. As i just need the mainboard, im not that fussed how bad the externals look. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted March 6, 2019 Share Posted March 6, 2019 (edited) This has gone through recent approval from Magic Knight so I'm presenting it here as well. I've done a specific NTSC guide for the Magic Knight board installation to assist those that wish to purchase and use one of these in their 7800. Since the installation is nearly the same, it closely mirrors the UAV install guide I did back in 2017. I'm always curious for suggestions or changes that others feel are needed in guides like this so I do welcome comments and suggestions. Thanks! Magic_Knight_NTSC_Installation_A7800.pdf Edited March 6, 2019 by -^Cro§Bow^- 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 6, 2019 Author Share Posted March 6, 2019 Great update! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mimo Posted March 11, 2019 Share Posted March 11, 2019 Im using the 18k and 5k1 at the moment, Im going to acquire an extra 7800 or two and use pot trimmers to see what kind of range this can vary by on at least 3 machines. As NTSC's are hard to come by in UK (or at least a fortune to ship) im keeping an eye on ebay and place to catch a bargain. As i just need the mainboard, im not that fussed how bad the externals look. shame you aren't closer, you could have borrowed my NTSC 7800 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 shame you aren't closer, you could have borrowed my NTSC 7800 Thanks Mimo, appreciate the thought, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 11, 2019 Author Share Posted March 11, 2019 Ive managed to order a reasonable priced one from the states. I should know at the end of the month the typical response from Pro systems after i do the testing. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juansolo Posted March 14, 2019 Share Posted March 14, 2019 I picked up another 7800 this week that was nice, cheap and looked promising. As the UAV has gotten properly expensive for us in the UK I thought I'd see what else was available, which is when I stumbled across this thread and got in touch with MK about his board. Couple of days later both the 7800 and PCB were in my mitts and I got to work giving the console a good old fettle. I'm really pleased with the MK board. Lovely picture. Will back to back it against my UAV equipped 7800 tomorrow, but from a quick run today, I'm REALLY pleased with the results. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 14, 2019 Author Share Posted March 14, 2019 Wow, that was quick! Love the caps and glad it went well with the install. I hope it enhances your gaming :0) MK 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juansolo Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 So a quick compare/contrast of both my 7800's, both running s-vid, one with the MK mod, one with the UAV. Back-to-back there's very little in it. Both machines still have a little crosstalk interference when playing 7800 games which is particularly evident on Ballblazer and games with large blocks of colour (there's not many like that to be fair). It's slightly less on visible on the MK mod, but we're talking analogue electronics here so that could come down to something in the machine rather than the mods. I say that because neither machine has it when playing 2600 games. Also bear in mind I'm testing this on a Sony PVM which is pretty revealing, on a normal TV I'd be surprised if you could see it. The brightness pot is a welcome addition, and I think if I end up fitting another one of these at some point I'd probably substitute in a multi-turn trimmer to make setting the level a little easier. A big thumbs up all-round from me! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 16, 2019 Author Share Posted March 16, 2019 The trimmer is something that can easily be changed, something I'm looking at by finding the value it is good on screen at and then finding a trimmer in this resistance window. It will be interesting to see if NTSC is much different from pal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juansolo Posted March 16, 2019 Share Posted March 16, 2019 I realised I didn't have a pic of the jacks I fitted. I took the minimal drillage option 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gambler172 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 How much are the single boards? I would like to get one of each colour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 Ok, as to save pm'ing a lot for prices here I'm posting the costs below. There are 3 options - Bare boards- no parts included -£5 each Bare boards, components and parts - £15 per kit. Fully assembled and tested board with parts. £25 per assembled kit. All above has appropriate instructions included. Postage costs are follows: UK - First Class - £2 UK - Recorded - £3 EUR - Airmail - £4.50 UKP EUR - Airmail recorded - £9.50 Outside Europe - Airmail - £6 UKP Outside Europe - Recorded - £11 UKP Postage is for any quantity (little or as many as you like) If folk can PM me if interested, I can go from there. If a specific color is required there's a 2 day lead time for me to assemble that color. I generally have blue pcbs assembled if your in a hurry and not worried about the color. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+-^CrossBow^- Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 The trimmer is something that can easily be changed, something I'm looking at by finding the value it is good on screen at and then finding a trimmer in this resistance window. It will be interesting to see if NTSC is much different from pal. I spoke to you about this in a PM sometime back but the 10k is really too large a value especially on the NTSC. There is literally only about a 20degree motion that can be used on the NTSC until the signal is gone in either direction. I was able to dial it in at about 1k of resistance so if possible, a 5k trimmer is likely a better option. Do they make a 5k trimmer? Never looked... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Magic Knight Posted March 24, 2019 Author Share Posted March 24, 2019 I spoke to you about this in a PM sometime back but the 10k is really too large a value especially on the NTSC. There is literally only about a 20degree motion that can be used on the NTSC until the signal is gone in either direction. I was able to dial it in at about 1k of resistance so if possible, a 5k trimmer is likely a better option. Do they make a 5k trimmer? Never looked... Yeah 5k1 is available. I'll look and see what other types there are. For further testing in ntsc. I'm awaiting a pro system I ordered from the states to do some testing. My original one is giving me issues on the cart recognition thing. (Can only get the logo). I should soon have a more suitable luma trimmer as well as a more balance audio. PAL adjusts ok, but I'll be reducing this also and hopefully reflects the same improvement with NTSC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+eebuckeye Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Could I please get the directions to install? Need to see if I could handle. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trebor Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Could I please get the directions to install? Need to see if I could handle. Thanks! Just a few posts earlier - See #84. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
juansolo Posted March 27, 2019 Share Posted March 27, 2019 A mini update on my 7800 MK video install. I’ve swapped out the 10k trimmer for a 1k. It makes setting it much easier. FWIW, I have it set at around 780R, which comes out at around 700mv luma on a predominantly white screen. I’ve also swapped the two 68R resistors for 75R resistors. All on a PAL 7800. It’s all just a little bit better for it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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