The UAV Rev. D Video Upgrade Thread

[chilidog]

luma

[chilidog]

gtia color

[chilidog]

chroma,

(all 3 scope pics are with keyboard self test on screen)

[Bryan]

I take it that's with the chroma unloaded since the amplitude is 2X what it would normally be.

 

That all looks correct. I have an unmodded (and untested... hope it works!) 1200XL here I can hook up in the next day or two and if we can't figure out what's different about your setup, I'll send another UAV to try.

[chilidog]

chroma pic was taken at .1v/div just to fit a larger waveform on the screen and was indeed loaded using

Svideo to monitor. so the signal(waveform) at green block is actually measuring about .375 Vpp riding about about .5 vdc

 

attached is my wiring with the USB cable. I hope someone can spot something I am missing. I hope I didn't

hurt the board. I did initially have the rev C jumpers in place for a while but was always careful about ESD.

[+DrVenkman]

Closer views of the UAV board and the connections for Composite and Luma might help. And how are you connecting Chroma to the jack? For instance, I ran a wire through that little hole to the right of the RF modulator and soldered directly to pin 5 on the bottom of the board. It’s hard to see how you’re making that connection.

[chilidog]

1200XL closeups of wiring from UAV to DIN monitor out using USB cable. Its hard to see but yes the UAV ground pad is cut so the UAV is getting grounded from the main ground plane at the DIN through the USB cable shield.

Edited June 6, 2017 by chilidog

[chilidog]

ok i added a ground wire mod from RF can pin 1 near "A3" to the large ground plane area where the RF can was located and the luma output is much improved on the screen with "digital" vertical lines gone but I still have "jail bars" where there is supposed to be color. See pic. in the gray status bar of river raid it is solid like I would expect.

Edited June 6, 2017 by chilidog

[Bryan]

If you pull the red GTIA color wire out of the block, does the Luma become clean?

 

If you pull out Composite and Chroma from the block (but leave GTIA color in) and only display Luma, is it clean?

[Bryan]

Update on the Audio board. I'm going to be ordering prototypes in the next couple days but I don't expect any changes to the board itself, just value tweaks.

 

I named the UAV "Ultimate Atari Video" and then referenced the Predator drone UAV with the logo. I don't have a name for the audio board so let me know if you think of anything clever.

 

Okay, the audio board is primarily for the following machines which lack an audio port: 400,2600,5200,7800. It can also be used to mix several sound sources into a single output.

 

It has the following advantages:

1. Very small and easy to install. It's designed to pull power by 'piggy-backing' on a decoupling cap and then only needs leads to the points where audio is generated (Pokey, TIA, or the SIO port).

2. Eliminates the need to cut anything on the board. I'm a big fan of upgrades that don't require you to hack up your board. Does not affect normal RF sound.

3. Provides a consistent low-impedance line level output. Just tapping into points on the board often leads to a sound output that performs differently depending on what it's connected to.

4. Different gain taps for the mixing needs of different machines.

[chilidog]

re: post 259

i have tried removing composite from UAV output and it is cleaner but not right.

and I tried rerouting luma out of UAV with its own wire so USB cable was only used

for ground to see if bypassing USB cable would help, still looks like attached pic.

 

I removed color in from GTIA and it is cleaner per pic but still not right where color would be.

its only good where the gray status bar is on riverraid but not where colors would be (darker luma)

 

i just tried the only thing left and I lifted 1 end of the USB ground shield and used a single wire

from ground plane to supply UAV with ground and still jail bars.

Edited June 6, 2017 by chilidog

[+orpheuswaking]

Bryan - You need to call it the AUA (Atari Universal Audio) and use the Reaper as the logo (I'll take a free board or two for the idea)

 

Kidding, but I am interested in the Audio Board for sure.

[Bryan]

I just installed a Rev D in my 1200XL. It looks very clean, with little perceptible noise on my CRT. Unfortunately I don't have an LCD TV handy yet but I realize they expose a little more because they quantize everything (plus, I believe their DACs are sensitive to high frequency leakage that a CRT would simply ignore). I haven't run any games on it yet, because I'll need to unpack them. I'll try to test River Raid on it.

[+DrVenkman]

I get some narrow, evenly-spaced, vertical jailbars across the entire width of the screen on my 1200XL, Bryan, but I think perhaps its because this machine had previously had a simplified version of the ClearPic mod done on it, and perhaps the signals coming into the UAV board from the 4050 socket are too strong. I might see about undoing that mod if I can find a schematic and determine the original values of the components I removed. The bars are only really visible if I have saturation turned up on my monitor, and in certain color combos. They are also visible in S-video, but do not photograph well.

[Bryan]

I get some narrow, evenly-spaced, vertical jailbars across the entire width of the screen on my 1200XL, Bryan, but I think perhaps its because this machine had previously had a simplified version of the ClearPic mod done on it, and perhaps the signals coming into the UAV board from the 4050 socket are too strong. I might see about undoing that mod if I can find a schematic and determine the original values of the components I removed. The bars are only really visible if I have saturation turned up on my monitor, and in certain color combos. They are also visible in S-video, but do not photograph well.

It really shouldn't matter because UAV picks off the signals before that. The machine that I've had the most visible noise issue on is the 5200 so I'm going to concentrate on taming that machine and then apply that to the others. It's interesting how noisy some of these machines are and how little adding additional power leads seems to do in those cases.

 

Notes about the 1200XL-

This was the first real revision of the A8 line, and it shows a valiant attempt to control system noise. All those caps in the back right corner (inside the shield area) are to filter several different 5V legs going to different parts of the board. Video gets its own branch as well.

[+DrVenkman]

Hmm, interesting. Well, do keep us posted! In the meantime, I’m silly-happy with how good the UAV looks in my 1200XL compared to pre-installation (even with the ClearPic mod beforehand). On an 800XL, it’s like night and day. Your earlier Quick and Easy 800XL mod looks good on one board, UAV looks better still and stock ... is a fuzzy, blurry, artifact-tastic mess through composite, even with the plain, blue READY prompt in BASIC. Just terrible. Even the older Rev C UAV looks great on a 2600, and I’m planning on putting my second Rev C board into a 7800 in a couple weeks.

[thgill]

Hey guys, thought I would share with you my install and review video of the UAV rev D.

 

[GadgetUK]

Could I buy a couple of the kits? Are they still sold? Where do I order?

Edited June 9, 2017 by GadgetUK

[Bryan]

Could I buy a couple of the kits? Are they still sold? Where do I order?

PM sent

[Ute]

Hi Bryan,

 

Could you put me down for two of the plug-in boards please?

 

Thanks.

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Bryan, I know you are likely getting swamped, but I also sent a PM requesting 2 of the basic solder in boards?

 

Can pay immediately. Thanks!

[SirOakley]

Brian, have sent a pm for 2 UAV boards

[Bryan]

My boards and parts are in and I will begin shipping this week. I also have the first audio boards to play with!

[+DrVenkman]

I also have the first audio boards to play with!

 

When you're happy enough with it to sell 'em, I have a 7800 I would love to put one in at some point.

[irich2]

Bryan,

 

I have sent you a PM for the following:

 

Two (2) UAV Rev. D Plug-In Boards for NTSC Atari 800XLs

Two (2) UAV Rev. D Kits (Basic Boards with parts to make them Plug-In Boards) for NTSC Atari 800s

 

Thank You!