CZroe Posted March 21, 2019 Share Posted March 21, 2019 CZ - I thought that was the case on stuff I read up on the UGX updates but it's hard to get info as they aren't so easy to come by to read up on. I still think the price is steep for it though so I've avoided it and also because of the glaring clunkiness and lack of good instructions around it as you pointed out. Also I have to factor in when TIZ imploded it has been very hard to find reliable ISOs as it once was, and even then the TG/PCE is a hot mess of varying formats and then you get into hoping the one you have is in good shape and will handle a conversion or working right off. There's a big wall of annoyance to get it to do what you need and my time is limited enough and the HuCard (vs turbo chip) library is so much larger and of notably higher quality I kind of gave up caring as the PCEverdrive does all I need. Yeah. Website is always months behind the latest news as reported on their Twitter account... exclusively in Japanese. I guess it kinda works as a limited beta before each major FW gets committed to the website even though they are publicly sharing the info/FW. People are sharing prefabbed libraries for the SSDSys3 around and I’m sure I can find a way to convert the interesting ones to install on UGX-02... if I ever get one. I was seriously tempted to get one with my tax refund last week but ultimately opted for much needed service on my vehicle. Gotta maintain it better after my brother’s car got disabled by lightning a month ago. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knud Posted March 23, 2019 Share Posted March 23, 2019 In the near future i will add a Pc-engine/turbografx console to my collection. Since Krikzz Sd cart does not support CD games it would be practical to have a CD version. From what i have seen a PC engine DUO seems to be a good solution to that. There are just so many variants and many choices to be made, anybody got some good points to add? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tanooki Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I think it's the DuoRX that doesn't have all the failings of the normal US/JP duo that need all the recapping and added TLC for other parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 In the near future i will add a Pc-engine/turbografx console to my collection. Since Krikzz Sd cart does not support CD games it would be practical to have a CD version. From what i have seen a PC engine DUO seems to be a good solution to that. There are just so many variants and many choices to be made, anybody got some good points to add? Get this and save yourself a lot of money https://shop.terraonion.com/en/pc-engine/12-super_sd_system_3-pc_engine.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knud Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Get this and save yourself a lot of money https://shop.terraonion.com/en/pc-engine/12-super_sd_system_3-pc_engine.html Did not know about this! It does still cost a bit, but ok so recommended would be getting a core grafx with the super sd system? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punisher5.0 Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Did not know about this! It does still cost a bit, but ok so recommended would be getting a core grafx with the super sd system? Yep. Its pretty much an all in one. You wouldnt need a Turbo Everdrive or System cards. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 (edited) There are posts about the Super SD System 3 in this thread. There are things that it does do well. The main intent is to give you access to the CD library and allow you to play them from an SD card. So, you don't have load times, moving parts that need to be replaced, snd it also emulates the arcade card as well. It uses a Genesis 2 connection for video out for composite or RGB. However, it had many problems out the gate. There were some serious flaws in the audio out which results in an audio hum every time the SD card is accessed. Also, the original release had a key capacitor soldered in the wrong direction, so people where experiencing broken up audio. Those two problems were mostly resolved after three board revisions, but there were still two remaining issues... overblown CD sound audio and the sound quality itself was lacking. Their solution to the first problem was to add an option to lower the volume for the CD audio. That didn't fix the underlying problem though. All of these issues lead to someone in the community to design an audio bypass board to fix the problem. There are RGB out video issues as well. Again, this required someone to make a bypass board. The latest revision of the board (revision B) includes both fixes in the PCB design. I can tell you the audio is much better, and a lot of the noise was removed from the RGB signal. I still get some noise, but I don't know if that is from the Super SD System 3, or the fact that my system needs to be recapped and have the jail bar fix. BTW... if you do get one, make sure it is revision B. Don't get one from an eBay. Funny thing is, as far as I can tell from reading on the net, the people that made these bypass boards warned terra onion about the flaws in the initial design. If you go this route, a high quality RGB cable is a must if you plan on using that output. That said, high quality RGB cables are a must for any of the older systems. I'd also get one from Stoneagegamer rather than terra onion directly. Stoneage went the extra mile to help me resolve the issue. The other option is to go find some sort of Duo system that has the CD unit built in. Be sure to look for one where it has been recapped, and the jail bar fix, and where the CD unit has been refurbished. You might as well look for one that has an RGB mod and a region free switch installed too. To play the CD games, you will need to get the system card as well. Version 3 is needed to play Super CD games. Yes... this is expensive too. Do you really need access to the CD games? There are a lot of high quality HuCard games too. In that case, all you need is a PC engine with the jail bar fix, a Turbo Everdrive, and something like this (https://stoneagegamer.com/engine-block-av-turbobooster.html?afmc=retrorgb) for video out (downside is that unit does not include a save function for games that have it). One thing you might want to do is to grab emulator, locate a view games, and try them. Do you happen to have a Wii U. TG16 and CD games are still available for sale, and there is enough there to give you an idea of how the games are. In my opinion, this system has many hidden gems that are fun to play, but they are not to everyone tastes easier. No matter which route you go with real hardware, one thing in common... expensive. Now all that said, is an FPGA PC Engine clone from Analogue in the works? Who knows..... Edited March 24, 2019 by cybercylon Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZroe Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 ...The other option is to go find some sort of Duo system that has the CD unit built in. Be sure to look for one where it has been recapped, and the jail bar fix, and where the CD unit has been refurbished. You might as well look for one that has an RGB mod and a region free switch installed too. To play the CD games, you will need to get the system card as well. Version 3 is needed to play Super CD games. Yes... this is expensive too.All Duos have a built-in Super System Card 3.0 so that’s only a requirement if you go with the stand-alone systems and certain CD attachments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 All Duos have a built-in Super System Card 3.0 so that’s only a requirement if you go with the stand-alone systems and certain CD attachments. Ah... I forgot about that! I assume an arcade card is still needed for the CD games that need it though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knud Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 I had a feeling i would get answers by scrolling through the 50 something pages. But you guys really summerised it most in detailed way. Thanks for that, i really am a fanatic about not running emulators. Unless it is like an sd card on the original machinery. We collectors are a wierd bunch and this is just my stubborn idea. But i do my research by checking youtube and seeing some gameplay, i have seen some games i want to try out. Good question if i need access to the CD library, it is really good to have the option. If it is used, that is another story Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZroe Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 Ah... I forgot about that! I assume an arcade card is still needed for the CD games that need it though. Yep. Luckily the Arcade Card Duo is a little cheaper than the Arcade Card Pro (Pro is for systems without a built-in Super System Card 3.0). Of course, neither are cheap and the few extra games they enable are almost all Majong or games that exist on better platforms. Darn impressive to see Neo Geo games looking that good on a TurboGrafx-16 though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BettyHordeClinic Posted March 24, 2019 Share Posted March 24, 2019 (edited) Hello all Did not spot this thread as am normally on the Neo Geo thread LOL Anyway I got given my TG16 from my friend in Canada I paid the shipping to the UK and I love this machine Edited March 24, 2019 by BettyHordeClinic 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZroe Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 Well, I’d hoped to post all about my new toy but it doesn’t seem to work with any of my TG16 systems. To be fair, they never said it works with TG16 so I have to try it with a real PCE. I’ve actually got five TG16 systems... 6 counting the TurboExpress. I should probably trade one for a PCE before I concluding that it doesn’t work. Any of you guys have a PCE but rather have a Turbo? 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DragonGrafx-16 Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 Wait, whats this about the base PC-Engine and jailbars? Mine has no jailbars. Though I'm using a cable connected directly to the expansion port on the back. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZroe Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 Wait, whats this about the base PC-Engine and jailbars? Mine has no jailbars. Though I'm using a cable connected directly to the expansion port on the back. https://console5.com/wiki/Hu6260 Jailbar / Vertical Bar Fix Original credit for this modification: Tim Worthington Under certain circumstances, vertical bars may be visible on PC Engine / TurboGrafx consoles. This is due to insufficient capacitance on the analog and digital 5V supply for the 6260 chip. The solution is to increase the capacitance on each 5v supply rail. This is easily accomplished using modern surface mount capacitors. To simplify the location process, our notes below list one set of visible caps are are farthest from other parts. On many PCBs there are actually 3 per 5v rail to choose from [1]. As of February, 2017, all of our cap kits and RGB kits come with 2 surface mount ceramic caps to perform this simple modification! We also supply these caps in bulk quantity. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted April 13, 2019 Share Posted April 13, 2019 (edited) In the near future i will add a Pc-engine/turbografx console to my collection. Since Krikzz Sd cart does not support CD games it would be practical to have a CD version. From what i have seen a PC engine DUO seems to be a good solution to that. There are just so many variants and many choices to be made, anybody got some good points to add? The cheapest option is a basic PC-Engine and a IFU-30 unit : This modular unit come with it's own RCA composite video out, so you can buy a very cheap white PC-Engine (can be found as low as 10$ if you keep looking). The IFU-30 unit itself cost around 30/40$. The touchy part is the CD-ROM² unit itself. If you take a gamble and buy one "not working", there is 80% chance that you simply have a case of "rotten gear" which can be fixed yourself of with the help of a friend. The replacement gear costs 8$. A "not working" CD-ROM² unit can be found for 40/50$. Add to this a Super System card (10$) and you have a PC-Engine CD setup for 110$, shipping not included. One advantage is that none of those parts suffer from capacitor issues like the later units. One disadvantage is that you might not like the clunky aspect of the whole affair. Also, the CD-Rom unit might also have laser issues. getting a fixed one from relaible people might save you the extra worry and would still cost less than a fixed Duo. Edited April 13, 2019 by CatPix 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 Here is a video on how to fix the CD-Rom : it doesn't even require special tools, just patience and care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZroe Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 The cheapest option is a basic PC-Engine and a IFU-30 unit : This modular unit come with it's own RCA composite video out, so you can buy a very cheap white PC-Engine (can be found as low as 10$ if you keep looking). The IFU-30 unit itself cost around 30/40$. The touchy part is the CD-ROM² unit itself. If you take a gamble and buy one "not working", there is 80% chance that you simply have a case of "rotten gear" which can be fixed yourself of with the help of a friend. The replacement gear costs 8$. A "not working" CD-ROM² unit can be found for 40/50$. Add to this a Super System card (10$) and you have a PC-Engine CD setup for 110$, shipping not included. One advantage is that none of those parts suffer from capacitor issues like the later units. One disadvantage is that you might not like the clunky aspect of the whole affair. Also, the CD-Rom unit might also have laser issues. getting a fixed one from relaible people might save you the extra worry and would still cost less than a fixed Duo. I think your post today prompted someone to buy the $20 + $20 shipping IFU I put in my eBay watch list yesterday. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Knud Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 The cheapest option is a basic PC-Engine and a IFU-30 unit : This modular unit come with it's own RCA composite video out, so you can buy a very cheap white PC-Engine (can be found as low as 10$ if you keep looking). The IFU-30 unit itself cost around 30/40$. The touchy part is the CD-ROM² unit itself. If you take a gamble and buy one "not working", there is 80% chance that you simply have a case of "rotten gear" which can be fixed yourself of with the help of a friend. The replacement gear costs 8$. A "not working" CD-ROM² unit can be found for 40/50$. Add to this a Super System card (10$) and you have a PC-Engine CD setup for 110$, shipping not included. One advantage is that none of those parts suffer from capacitor issues like the later units. One disadvantage is that you might not like the clunky aspect of the whole affair. Also, the CD-Rom unit might also have laser issues. getting a fixed one from relaible people might save you the extra worry and would still cost less than a fixed Duo. Thank you for that input. I had no idea this was a thing, we can say it sure is clunky but it is a good option to have in mind When surfing through ebay, those prices you estimate are probably the best case prices, nothing near that available now Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 It's best to look for prices directly from Japan, yes. Prices for stuff already in the US or Europe will certainly be higher. There are japanese sellers on eBay that start bidding at 1 or 5$ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZroe Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 (edited) Thank you for that input. I had no idea this was a thing, we can say it sure is clunky but it is a good option to have in mind When surfing through ebay, those prices you estimate are probably the best case prices, nothing near that available now Looking at completed items, it’s possible. People are getting those prices. Use the eBay app to set up a saved search that notifies you when one goes live for the price you want. Last night I snatched an untested PCE for $45 and it was already in the USA. No controller but it does come with a random HuCard to test with. Sure, it wasn’t $10 and the sale history doesn’t show any for $10, but I think that’s the effect Super SD System 3 has had on the market. All PCE/CG/CGII systems used to be under $50 and suddenly in the last year $50 became a good deal. Edited April 14, 2019 by CZroe Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CatPix Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-TESTED-LOW-SERIAL-ORIGINAL-RARE/264234249167?hash=item3d8596abcf:g:Z~MAAOSw4OhchhSB One sold for 11$. Sure, shipping is killing it, but you can grap several items from the same seller, or try to ask him for a cheaper option (that shipping price is inflated, I recently got a larger lot of stuff from Japan shipped for 50$) Yamatoku-Classics start bidding at 0.01$ : https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-PC-Engine-JP-GAME-9000011642306/333153110822?hash=item4d91790b26:g:3t8AAOSwtpFcr4jy https://www.ebay.com/itm/Interface-Unit-PC-Engine-PC-Engine-JP-GAME-9000011670651/401747186066?hash=item5d89ff9192:g:5hIAAOSwl2xcrjaA Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CZroe Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-TESTED-LOW-SERIAL-ORIGINAL-RARE/264234249167?hash=item3d8596abcf:g:Z~MAAOSw4OhchhSB One sold for 11$. Sure, shipping is killing it, but you can grap several items from the same seller, or try to ask him for a cheaper option (that shipping price is inflated, I recently got a larger lot of stuff from Japan shipped for 50$) Yamatoku-Classics start bidding at 0.01$ : https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-PC-Engine-JP-GAME-9000011642306/333153110822?hash=item4d91790b26:g:3t8AAOSwtpFcr4jy https://www.ebay.com/itm/Interface-Unit-PC-Engine-PC-Engine-JP-GAME-9000011670651/401747186066?hash=item5d89ff9192:g:5hIAAOSwl2xcrjaA Yeah, I saw that but I’ve ordered a lot from Yamatoku and seem to know what they are doing with shipping. Side note: I first signed up for eBay in early 2000 so that I could order a bunch of stuff from Yamatoku. Anyway, while Yamatoku does combine shipping and reduce the cost a small amount, many people are frustrated because they will still split large orders into multiple shipments and the discount is never very much. Eventually, I figured out why. It all makes sense but Yamatoku can’t confirm for legal reasons. Many people in the USA think that we don’t pay import dues/duty on stuff like this, but we do... if it crosses a certain value/threshold. Yamatoku splits up the packages and offloads much of the cost into the shipping to avoid that threshold. When 60-90% of the value was paid as shipping and doesn’t end up on the invoice and customs form, you don’t get hit with an unexpected bill from US Customs and the USPS. They get endless flack from people complaining about their “rip-off” shipping, but they can’t publicly admit that they are trying to depress the stated value with inflated shipping. Ya know: Legal reasons. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 One of these days, I'd like to get a PC engine or Core grafx system with a jail bar fix and a region free mod for flexibility for HuCard games. RGB out would be nice, but not vital. Yes, I know a Super SD System 3 covers a lot of that but nice to have options. I saw this listing: https://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-RGB-Region-Free-Jailbar-fix-compatible-SEGA-SATURN-Csync-RGB-cable/192888585896?hash=item2ce90e3ea8:g:oyUAAOSwg5FcRo1M Not so stellar comments about this guy's modding work though. This is not a immediate want though.... I think an OSSC might be next. I have a second screen I'd like to set up (current one has a framemeister on it). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cybercylon Posted April 14, 2019 Share Posted April 14, 2019 I was at Tekko con yesterday with my daughter, btw. This started off as an anime convention in the Pittsburgh area several years ago. That is still the main focus, but it as also become an overall celebration of Japanese culture. So they have a hall with a gaming room with rows of modern and classic consoles where you a check out a game and play. (Also... lots of versus arcade fighter set ups). Anyway, when I looked around the classic console section... I think a couple of PC engine and Saturn setups would have made it more complete. Maybe that is just too niche though... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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