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G7400 Power Supply Swap


rhcocker

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I hope someone out there can help me with a question about general electronics and, in particular, the Videopac G7400 power supply.

 

I live in the US and I recently imported a G7400 Videopac from Europe. I originally was going to get a voltage converter, but I was reading the import guide at this website and on step 3 there is mention of swapping the original power supply with a regulated 12V/5V US power supply. I am perfectly comfortable with the actual replacement, but I don't have the technical knowledge about electronics to ensure that I won't do anything really stupid and install an incompatible PSU.

 

So my question is: Can someone give me some info or a link to a regulated 12V/5V US power supply that would be safe to use?

 

Thanks!

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This should provide ample power to your system, but I would need the electric specs to say for sure if it should do.

 

Videopac G74000= Odyssey 3!! Also, why did the videopac G74000 fail even in Europe and Australia? The crash hit hardest in North America, not PAL regions.

It failed simply because it was "too little, too late".

When the G7400 came out in Europe, the computer market was booming.

The ZX Spectrum has been released the previous year, the Commodore 64 was out, Amstrad announced the CPC to come.

And Philips themselves released the VG 5000 (which was vastly unsuccessfull) and the MSX range as well. And I can add also the countless of less successful machiens like the Oric 1, the Hector/Vector, the V-Tech Laser, etc... and you have to add "local" machines, like the Thomson computers in France, the Olivetti in Italy, the BBC Micros in the UK, etc...

While the krash had little impact on the health of gaming market in Europe, it still steered the market off from consoles to computer. Early gaming magazines were commenting "the console time is over, it's now time for real gameplay" or "the consoles served their role as an inexpensive introduction to computers, they can now retire".

Plus, if you look at the games, there is about 10 games on the Videopac+ that got added hi-res background, and only two late releases that fully utilise the Videopac+ enhanged graphisms capabilities.

Even if the market at the time in Europe had been fair to consoles, I doubt that people would have chosen a Videopac+ to a Colecovision.

Had the Videopac+ been released in 1980... had it received more Videopac+ exclusive games.. Then maybe it would have stood the chance.

But as it happened? "too little, too late".

 

 

Plus... Maybe you don't have access to local ads.

 

To me, Videopac+ consoles and games are often more common than Atari 7800, or Colecovision in local ads, far more common that Intellivisions, and sometime depending on the times, I find more Videopac (as in O2 and O3 range) than Atari 2600 consoles and games.

I wouldn't call it successfull, but a Videopac+ in Europe is not the rarest of machines; they are fairly easy to find for a reasonable price.

Edited by CatPix
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As long as you match the voltage, and current you will be fine. Look on the bottom of the odyssey and look for the voltage and current required to make a decision.

 

I would recommend for non electrically inclined people to just get the converter or to send it to someone who knows what they are doing.

Edited by SSG
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The G7400 works from 100v to 240v.

You don't need a step-up converter or a special power supply.

 

Hey VPB, are you the same person who was selling G7400 modded AV cables a while ago? If so, you seem to know as much about the G7400 as anybody. I'm confused on the power issue. A while ago I worked with Rene van den Enden to put together a G7400 Import Guide. We were somewhat in the dark while doing it... I was in the U.S. without ready access to a G7400 and he was in the Netherlands which has the Euro electrical standard. We knew the standards were different so we thought a step-up converter would be necessary.

 

Since then I've imported two G7400s. The first I ran through a step-up converter and it blew after about 15 minutes of playing (the internal fuse blew, and it won't power on even after replacing it). The other I ran with just a plug adapter, and it seems to run OK, but honestly I've been afraid to run it for more than a few minutes. Somaybe I should take out the part about needing a step-up converter from the import guide, but at this point I'm not sure which way is safer. I've talked to at least one person in the U.S. who ran his with a step-up converter without issues.

 

How confident are you that running the G7400 at U.S. voltage is safe for long-term use?

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VPB--- is VideoPacBelgium on the videopac.nl forum... I'm Marc.

This is the pics about the G7400/Jopac is working from 110v to 240v.

René said "It only mentions 50Hz, but I suppose 60Hz won't be a problem?

It should then be possible to connect a G7400 console directly to 110V too."

You can also read this link

http://videopac.nl/forum/index.php?topic=2362.0

post-45774-0-88764800-1457863572_thumb.jpg

post-45774-0-43622500-1457863582_thumb.jpg

Edited by VPB---
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In the 70's that's for sure... In the 80's I don't know, but that might be possible. Tho, large enough that manufacturers bothered to make expensive (at the time) auto-selectable multipower appliance?

 

I was told that parts of Belgium in the early 80's were still in 110V, including towns. Being that Jopac was sold by Brandt and the Videopac+ was sold by Schneider, based in Northen France, that might explain why.

I have the original Videopac Philips machine with notice, and the 110V compatibility, if it exist on the standard Videopac, isn't advertised at all, which would make more sense to exist on an earlier machine.

Edited by CatPix
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VPB--- is VideoPacBelgium on the videopac.nl forum... I'm Marc.

This is the pics about the G7400/Jopac is working from 110v to 240v.

René said "It only mentions 50Hz, but I suppose 60Hz won't be a problem?

It should then be possible to connect a G7400 console directly to 110V too."

You can also read this link

http://videopac.nl/forum/index.php?topic=2362.0

 

Great news, that is one less thing to worry about. Thanks!

Edited by rhcocker
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I have the RGB out version, and there is no comparison between the original RF out and the RGB out.

Of course, I have access to all kind of SCART able TVs so it's less comparable, but if you have RGB able monitors or a RGB to HDMI converter, you'll like the ease of use. especially considering that the video out of your machine is going to be PAL or SECAM, which in both cases certainly won't display in color on your TVs And you'll need modding because your TV might accept PAL via composite, but there is so few chances that it accept it through RF that you'll need to A/V mod it anyway. So you can step up to RGB if you need adapters and enjoy the best quality possible.

Edited by CatPix
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  • 2 weeks later...

Interesting discussion going on here.

Question: Did all Jopac and G7400 use the same power supply or are there different revisions, versions etc.. , as we know that from many of those old devices?

The Service Manual (GB, D, I, NL, F), I downloaded somewhere, specifies only 220 VAC. The stickers on my G7400 also.

 

The schematics of the switched power supply is quite tricky and unfortunately I understand only half of it. Could work over a wide range, but could have problems, too. Is the mains-derived, nominal 20VDC input of the 27kHz oscillator still sufficient at 110VAC? What about the thermal load on the switching transistor, when higher currents/lower voltages have to be switched? The primary coil is nominally driven with switched 310 Volts. On 110 VAC mains, only with 155 Volts. Is the control loop via opto-coupler and transistor duty cycle capable of neutralizing this?

Without measuring the results and temperatures on a scalable transformer, I would not dare to make any prophecies out of the schematics. Maybe there is a power supply designer in the forum, who can estimate this?

 

Maybe you have to just try and hope for the best. If it burns up, you still can replace it with a cheap, compact and modern 12VDC/5VDC-supply.

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