Examples of some of my mod work

[Osgeld]

Oh I didnt miss it, I was just being a jerk

 

as far as large quantity those flux pens that look and work like markers will last a very long time, actually well beyond their rated shelf life, though they get thicker with age which is a bit of a pain to clean up

 

if your going to buy something get the no clean stuff, cost the same and oddly enough its easier to clean (though you dont HAVE to, you are suppose to with rosen)

Edited May 8, 2016 by Osgeld

[icemanxp300]

I prefer stranded Ethernet cat-5 wire unless I am soldering to pads, then I prefer single stranded ide wire. If you use the thicker wire and are not careful, bending the wire can rip the pad right off, that sucks.

[SwampFox56]

I prefer stranded Ethernet cat-5 wire unless I am soldering to pads, then I prefer single stranded ide wire. If you use the thicker wire and are not careful, bending the wire can rip the pad right off, that sucks.

 

Personally, I just buy spools of wire now. It's incredibly useful, and it makes it so I don't have to rely on getting bulk cabling from Goodwill or garage sales or something. Also, ordering spooled wire is the only way to get certain types of very useful wire (such as Kynar wire). Anyways, now I use stranded 28AWG wire on 100ft spools.

Edited June 8, 2016 by SwampFox56

[icemanxp300]

Kynar would be a good choice over IDE but most stuff I do I prefer using a stranded wire. I actually just got real lucky at Goodwill a week or two ago and got 100' of cat-5 for $5 lol. Now 100' of that is way more than a 100' as there are 4 sets of 2 twisted wires so 8 wires. So it is actually 800' of wire

 

Need to be super careful buying Ethernet wire, I bought some of ebay and it is garbage. CCA "Copper-clad aluminium wire" That wire is complete junk, I had to toss it in the garbage can. Aluminum does not create connectivity, while you may be able to blob solder over the wire it will not work unless you hit the very minute amount of copper, even then I wouldn't trust it.

 

I learned that day there was a difference in cat-5 wire haha. Now I look at the ends before I buy anything. Even Wal-Mart sells shit wire. I checked and the ends are silver not copper.

[Osgeld]

Also some of the really flexible stuff often in patch cords tween computer and whatever isn't even wire its cotton or nylon with copper coating

 

Like a SNES controller cord

Edited June 9, 2016 by Osgeld

[brentonius]

Maybe I haven't seen much, but these mods look excellent! Great work... i hope to someday learn how to do this sort of thing.

[ApolloBoy]

Maybe I haven't seen much, but these mods look excellent!

You haven't seen much then because the work shown here is pretty mediocre at best. I would suggest everyone check out this thread on Neo-Geo.com for some examples of neat mod work; I even posted a few pics of the work I did for both myself and others: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?248165-Clean-Mod-Work-Thread!

[SwampFox56]

You haven't seen much then because the work shown here is pretty mediocre at best. I would suggest everyone check out this thread on Neo-Geo.com for some examples of neat mod work; I even posted a few pics of the work I did for both myself and others: http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?248165-Clean-Mod-Work-Thread!

 

So rather than posting a link to a thread on a different forum - why don't you provide some constructive criticism? Which part is mediocre exactly? Tell me which part.

 

Maybe I haven't seen much, but these mods look excellent! Great work... i hope to someday learn how to do this sort of thing.

 

Despite what the criticism says here, I'd put my mod work against anyone elses any day.

[ApolloBoy]

Uhh I gave you criticism earlier, I'm not sure why you're being so defensive.

[SwampFox56]

Uhh I gave you criticism earlier, I'm not sure why you're being so defensive.

 

Well... mainly because my feelings were hurt I suppose

 

But in all seriousness, I'm probably going to get defensive at any comment criticing my work. I put my heart and soul into everything I do and strive for perfection. And while I'll admit, there are people better than me - I'd hardly call my modwork medicore. I'd call my mod work decent.

 

"Needs improvement" would have been a nicer way of saying you believe my work isn't all that great...

Edited June 14, 2016 by SwampFox56

[correagonzalez]

Swampfox, I pmed you a couple of times regarding the 7800 I sent you last month for a MOD but ran into some issues, please send a message, thanks.

[icemanxp300]

Purely constructive criticism here. Not saying I can do better, just pointing out what needs to be better if I was to be a buyer.

 

I think Shawn said it best about the cosmetics. Your holes need to be perfectly aligned and centered. You need to use a template for those jacks and use pilot holes.

 

Take that heavy sixer and cut those jacked up off centered holes out of there and find a way to put a new plate in there that has nice perfectly aligned holes. I would find a plate that would fit and cut out a nice rectangle and redo it somehow.

 

That toploader needs fixed, take out that white Jack get rid of that glue crap and do it over. If that is not glue and is damaged shell again that section needs cut out and a new piece put in it's place just as that heavy sixer does. That Jaguar having wires hanging out of it is unacceptable, think of something else.

 

Now people can get real anal over stuff, I am more of an outside cosmetic person myself. Some people really care about those wires inside. They should be bundled together and wrapped in heat shrink and be very neatly routed inside the system.

[SwampFox56]

Swampfox, I pmed you a couple of times regarding the 7800 I sent you last month for a MOD but ran into some issues, please send a message, thanks.

I apologies correagonzalez. I've been out of town and dealing with family issues for the past couple of days. PM's replied to.

[ApolloBoy]

Well... mainly because my feelings were hurt I suppose

 

But in all seriousness, I'm probably going to get defensive at any comment criticing my work. I put my heart and soul into everything I do and strive for perfection. And while I'll admit, there are people better than me - I'd hardly call my modwork medicore. I'd call my mod work decent.

"Needs improvement" would have been a nicer way of saying you believe my work isn't all that great...

My post was not a personal attack on you. When you're doing this kinda stuff and posting examples of your work on a publicly available forum, you have to to be able to take criticism on your work and not take it personally, even when said criticism is a little harsh. You also have to consider that potential customers might be reading your posts here, and if they see how you react when people offer criticism, there's a chance they might take their business elsewhere.

[SwampFox56]

That Jaguar having wires hanging out of it is unacceptable, think of something else.

 

 

 

I appriciate the criticism, but I do have to ask. What is so bad about the female jacks hanging out of the Jaguar (keep in mind; the Jaguar shown is my own personal system. I didn't want to drill holes into the shell, and rather went with a Removed RF modulator, and installed A/V cables where it used to be).

 

Anyways, yeah - what's so bad about that? You have to realize that a lot of people request female & male corded ends out of systems where I remove the RF modulator.)

Edited June 16, 2016 by SwampFox56

[ApolloBoy]

One thing I noticed is that there isn't a grommet for the wires, so as they move around against the bare plastic they can become abraded. Most consoles that have hardwired cords typically have a rubber grommet inside the hole for that very reason.

[SwampFox56]

One thing I noticed is that there isn't a grommet for the wires, so as they move around against the bare plastic they can become abraded. Most consoles that have hardwired cords typically have a rubber grommet inside the hole for that very reason.

 

Oh... Haha That picture was simply taken before the wire clips I ordered showed up. No, those are definitely secured down. I used a wallpad wire clip (you know the ones that have adhesive on one side, and a clip on the other?) And a bit of hotglue to keep them from budging.

[icemanxp300]

Well if the wires are secured through a nice snug grommet then it will not be that bad but yeah in that picture they are just hanging out the back and it is not appealing at all. I personally would prefer jacks myself. If some people prefer wires hanging out that's cool, but I'm pretty sure those people would much rather those wires come through a nice secured grommet instead of a big old hole lol. It sounds like you did put them in a grommet just not shown in that picture.

[voultar]

I'll add a few helpful & constructive tips:

 

 

Wire management:

 

Your conductors are a little disorganized and would appear that little thought or emphasis was placed into clean pathways & wire management. Keep the conductors as short as possible, and lay your wires as efficiently as you can. When you're doing any kind of modwork; visualize the shortest, most efficient wire route prior to touching an iron to anything. If you have a pretty good road-map of your wire layout in your head, you'll be less likely to be wiring "on the fly" and end up with a rats-nest at the end. Stranded cable is quite forgiving. 26-28 gauge will suffice for video/audio signals. Always, always consider your wire grouping and the most efficient way of negotiating around other components that share space with your additions.

 

Case tooling:

 

I noticed that the composite jacks on your Heavy 2600 are badly out of alignment. If you're having difficulty with squaring up your holes and working with a drill to get dead center holes, build a template! Create a simple template on your PC that's to scale with whatever parts you're working with, taking into account spacing and dimensions; Print it, tape it, and let it be your guide. When dealing with more brittle plastics, I like to use a 1/16'' drill bit to create a nice pilot hole. I'll then move onto a nice stepper bit that will gently hone out the material without damage/cracking the casings. Also, by using a small diameter drill bit in the beginning, you have much better control of where you plant your bit. This naturally improves with practice. Also, I noticed on the back of the top-loader that you A/V modded. You left a plentiful amount of the 1-800 sticker residue on there. Simply cleaning that off will yield a much more professional result. Something your customers will certainly recognize and appreciate.

 

Making your job easier:

 

I notice that you're using strip-board for some of your modifications. If you find yourself doing those kinds of mods in any sort of volume, it would be beneficial, both fiscally and time-wise to put those circuits onto a production PCB. There are plenty of simple, entry level & beginner friendly CAD software packages out there that can help you turn those out quite quickly. Consider taking a couple of weeks and learning Eagle Lite. It's free, and all board houses love it.

 

Top Loader NES A/V Mods, for example, build up a little circuit and send it off to OSH-Park or another cheap fab-house. It's very inexpensive, it saves you considerable time, and it yields a much more professional look. Hell, just take the composite circuit off of the AV Famicom and throw it on a board.

 

 

 

Not dogging you. You're off to a really good start and your mod-work isn't terrible. Everyone is a beginner and improves their craft by good practice. Though, if you're striving to improve your craft and give your work a more professional look. I'd with 100% certainty take the advice from others in this thread into consideration.

Edited June 20, 2016 by voultar

[7800fan]

OSH Park is fine for really small parts and also they are faster somehow than other places but when you need to make larger batch, other places like iTead is cheaper, $9.90 for 5cm x 5cm 2 layer green board plus shipping. The only drawback is 3 weeks typical from when they process the job until the board arrives.

 

I'd start with OSHPark for prototyping and when you're satisfied there's no error in your design, send it off to iTead for larger runs.

[icemanxp300]

I found elecrow to be the cheapest on most levels.

[SwampFox56]

I'll add a few helpful & constructive tips:

Wire management:

Case tooling:

Making your job easier:

 

I notice that you're using strip-board for some of your modifications. If you find yourself doing those kinds of mods in any sort of volume, it would be beneficial, both fiscally and time-wise to put those circuits onto a production PCB. There are plenty of simple, entry level & beginner friendly CAD software packages out there that can help you turn those out quite quickly. Consider taking a couple of weeks and learning Eagle Lite. It's free, and all board houses love it. Top Loader NES A/V Mods, for example, build up a little circuit and send it off to OSH-Park or another cheap fab-house. It's very inexpensive, it saves you considerable time, and it yields a much more professional look. Hell, just take the composite circuit off of the AV Famicom and throw it on a board.

 

 

 

Not dogging you. You're off to a really good start and your mod-work isn't terrible. Everyone is a beginner and improves their craft by good practice. Though, if you're striving to improve your craft and give your work a more professional look. I'd with 100% certainty take the advice from others in this thread into consideration.

 

Great to hear from another professional modder. Every piece of information is greatly appreciated Voultar . The only thing I do have to say is that I really don't use strip-board :/ I use prototype board for certain things, but never copper strip board. Anyways, I did exactly what you suggest... several months ago haha

 

You probably don't remember talking to me, but you told me to try designing PCB's in Eagle... so I did. Below are some prototype versions of a dropin version of Longhorn Engineer's mod board I drew up the cad designs for.

 

 

 

(Tvalues, Bvalues are missing on the silkscreen due to manufacturing error).

 

OSH Park is fine for really small parts and also they are faster somehow than other places but when you need to make larger batch, other places like iTead is cheaper, $9.90 for 5cm x 5cm 2 layer green board plus shipping. The only drawback is 3 weeks typical from when they process the job until the board arrives.

 

I'd start with OSHPark for prototyping and when you're satisfied there's no error in your design, send it off to iTead for larger runs.

 

I only OSHPark for PCB's that I can get for only a couple of bucks. For everything else, I use DirtyPCB. They're not fast. They have no method of tracking your order. But they're cheap as hell and they're PCB's have always been of good quaility to me. I highly recommend DirtyPCB for projects of a higher volume (both in size, and the amount of boards needed).

Edited June 20, 2016 by SwampFox56

[Osgeld]

I have used just about every board house in the land, including mass production ones ... I kind of design pcb's for a living, for my personal or even one off boards I use

 

http://smart-prototyping.com/

 

price is on par, with a lot of makers but if you want to pay them a little extra they do things like V scores, large boards, different thickness core material etc which is what I am accustom to from the big boys, but with still hobby shop prices. Timing is also about average as compared to any other china based shop, but they do things like DHL shipping. I did a board at work for a user interface for some demo's going to a trade show, with a 2 day turn and DHL shipping it took ~5 days ... course you pay for it, but having the option is nice.

[icemanxp300]

Can you get a better deal than $352.50 for 500 of these?

 

 

 

...

[SwampFox56]

Can you get a better deal than $352.50 for 500 of these?

 

 

100_4469.JPG

100_1030.JPG

 

...

...yes. DirtyPCB is only $295 for 500 of those boards. I don't know the size of the board (or the amount of layers). But I'd imagine that board is only 2 layers, and I can't imagine it exceeds 5x5Cm

Edited July 1, 2016 by SwampFox56