marc.hull Posted February 15, 2018 Share Posted February 15, 2018 Is your entire design not through hole ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted February 15, 2018 Author Share Posted February 15, 2018 (edited) Is your entire design not through hole ? I was thinking of using a Micro-USB for power to provide the 5 volts instead of the DC jack and if I did that then I was thinking of using the LM1881M the the Sync Cleaner, which is SMD because it's was cheaper. Everything else is through hole. Of course I have some of these laying around and they are super cheap to buy and I could use these instead of the DC jack. Edited February 16, 2018 by Shift838 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
marc.hull Posted February 16, 2018 Share Posted February 16, 2018 Well how ever you go I'm sure it will work out fine. Are these going to be assembled an cabled up as well ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted February 16, 2018 Author Share Posted February 16, 2018 Well how ever you go I'm sure it will work out fine. Are these going to be assembled an cabled up as well ? My plan is to get it working, order a first run for testing. once I have it nailed down, I plan on taking orders for some and they will be pre-assembled and tested with my Geneve. Will be two options. With cables or without. I want to get the PCB as small as possible so that it's cheaper to make. The thought is to be able to use a straight male to male SCART and a male to male 8 pin DIN. I had really good luck using the 8 pin male to male cable used for Monster Clarity HD Model One sound systems and they are not too expensive. I have found the better the cable, the better the video signal. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 Chris, I have posted a note over on Yahoo, the Geneve group, offering some assistance to John Carver. He's got a down Geneve, but still regularly follows the group. He's in a bad situation and I am hoping to be able to help him out both on the computer front as well as groceries. I've been following this thread. What I am thinking about is your device for the Geneve. I thought if I got one for my setup, I could give him my old monitor. Not sure what kind of timetable you have. If you had an extra board and could build it, and then tell me what other components I would need to get it working with a monitor you are satisfied is good quality and works without interference, etc. I would begin acquiring the other items. That way, I can take everything to John on one trip. Not sure if you remember John or not, but at one time, he was an assistant sysop on Genie. Quite knowledgeable, just never had some of the opportunities we had. He was a Geneve user that really impressed me by his dedication back in the early 90's when he came to one of the Lima Computer Shows. He tried coming the previous year as I recall, but his car broke down mid route and had significant issues getting back home from that ordeal. He then came the next year. Beery 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RickyDean Posted February 19, 2018 Share Posted February 19, 2018 He was a Geneve user that really impressed me by his dedication back in the early 90's when he came to one of the Lima Computer Shows. He tried coming the previous year as I recall, but his car broke down mid route and had significant issues getting back home from that ordeal. He then came the next year. Been there, done that, know the feeling. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted February 19, 2018 Author Share Posted February 19, 2018 Chris, I have posted a note over on Yahoo, the Geneve group, offering some assistance to John Carver. He's got a down Geneve, but still regularly follows the group. He's in a bad situation and I am hoping to be able to help him out both on the computer front as well as groceries. I've been following this thread. What I am thinking about is your device for the Geneve. I thought if I got one for my setup, I could give him my old monitor. Not sure what kind of timetable you have. If you had an extra board and could build it, and then tell me what other components I would need to get it working with a monitor you are satisfied is good quality and works without interference, etc. I would begin acquiring the other items. That way, I can take everything to John on one trip. Not sure if you remember John or not, but at one time, he was an assistant sysop on Genie. Quite knowledgeable, just never had some of the opportunities we had. He was a Geneve user that really impressed me by his dedication back in the early 90's when he came to one of the Lima Computer Shows. He tried coming the previous year as I recall, but his car broke down mid route and had significant issues getting back home from that ordeal. He then came the next year. Beery Berry, I still need to prove this out, it's all in theory. I am getting closer every weekend. a couple of issues I need to work out. As soon as I have a working version I will let everyone know. i'm hoping to get this all proved out over the next couple of weeks then I can order the first boards for testing. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted February 20, 2018 Share Posted February 20, 2018 (edited) Thanks for the update/information. Beery Edited February 20, 2018 by BeeryMiller Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 To help prove this out I made a new Sync Board and received the first 3 to test today. I did this before I drop the hammer on the SCART-Genie board and order it. Attached are pictures of it assembled. I did take the voltage divider circuit from JediMatt's sync cleaner board. I also added a 470 ohm resistor to drop the output of the Sync line to the monitor to the required 15kHz for the Geneve. My Samsung I have needs repair (I think) so I cannot test this on a real monitor. well I did, but the colors are off, it looks good via my SCART to HDMI upscaler. So I'm sending a cable to Insane Multitasker to test on his Samsung 910mp to make sure his colors look right, on my 510mp the colors are off, way too much Red in the lines and makes the text appear yellow. If the Insane one says his colors look fine then I can design this circuit into the SCART-Genie board. If not, then we may be back to using trimmers to adjust the signals. Still up in the air on the design until I can get this cable tested. As you can see the board is very small and fits perfectly in the SCART connector assembly and is powered by a Mini-USB Type B connector (not a micro-usb), the Mini-USB Type B seems to be more sturdy. At least with my experience. I have seen the Micro USB's break off. I also opted to go with a through hole design for the Mini-USB connector. I purchased a hot air rework soldering station for the surface mount components and this thing works like a charm. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+9640News Posted March 4, 2018 Share Posted March 4, 2018 I will say those mini USB connectors are getting harder to find. Going to Walmart, of the hundreds of connectors they have, there is only one they have and it is on a retractable lanyard with multiple adapters. Just saying, they are getting to be more difficult to find. Beery Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 4, 2018 Author Share Posted March 4, 2018 I find these all the time, of course I go to Fry's. I hate Walmart... Most the time I order my cables from Amazon and get them in 5 packs for mini-usb, micro-usb for cheap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 17, 2018 Author Share Posted March 17, 2018 I was notified that oshpark has shipped my breakout boards for the SCART Connector, Audio and 8 Pin DIN. I should have them next week. This will allow me to further troubleshoot my design and try to work out a final design. I'm hoping I have some time next weekend to work on it. I need to order some other caps and resistors to test with. I now have w working Samsung 910MP to be able to test with both an upscaler to HDMI and a real monitor. I was getting some signal interference on some of the colors on both the upscaler and the Samsung. Not real sure if it's the cable I used to make it with or something else. But these breakout boards will help me troubleshoot a lot easier. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99user Posted March 19, 2018 Share Posted March 19, 2018 All, After my needless failures of trying to solder a DIN connector for my Geneve to work on testing a SCART to HDMI converted, I decided since I have seen it work as well as using a LCD like the Samsung 910mp or 510mp maybe a small board would be nice to have. I have designed one in Eagle and it measures about 2.8" x 3.2". Do you provide the Eagle project, too? Thnx. ti99user Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 Do you provide the Eagle project, too? Thnx. ti99user Are you talking about my breakout boards or the actual SCART-Genie board ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ti99user Posted March 20, 2018 Share Posted March 20, 2018 Are you talking about my breakout boards or the actual SCART-Genie board ? About the SCART-Genie board but also the breakout boards would be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 20, 2018 Author Share Posted March 20, 2018 the breakout boards will be published on Oshpark. I'll post when they are. As far as the SCART-Genie, it all depends on testing and what i must do to get it all working. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 21, 2018 Author Share Posted March 21, 2018 i made some progress starting to prove out the circuit last night with my breakout boards. I did run into a problem with the SCART male to male cable i purchased. It was described to be a straight through cable pin 1 to 1, 2 to 2, etc... When i built the first part of the circuit and went to test it i noticed no video but I had sound. i opened the cable and it was not a straight through cable at all, not even close!. I had to rewire everything but the audio output pins. It may be easier just to make the SCART cable from scratch. No work further work will happen until at least Friday. Stay tuned... 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted March 24, 2018 Share Posted March 24, 2018 Eagerly watching this effort! I need to get a Geneve monitor solution of some kind. I ordered a Samsung Syncmaster 910MP for my Geneve. I am comfortable assembling surface mount, if you reach a kit stage. (is this 0803 discrete components?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 24, 2018 Author Share Posted March 24, 2018 Eagerly watching this effort! I need to get a Geneve monitor solution of some kind. I ordered a Samsung Syncmaster 910MP for my Geneve. I am comfortable assembling surface mount, if you reach a kit stage. (is this 0803 discrete components?) 805 components. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 (edited) I made some progress tonight on the board proof. I have been trying to find a video signal interference and today I found it. I just needed to sit down and go through it. The circuit for the Video was fine, but a signal from the Audio input was causing video interference. I have added a variable resistor to adjust the audio if need be for the SCART-Genie board to clear up the video signal Added the dipswitch to be able to switch from Internal Audio speakers to external PC Type speakers My next todo's are to add the dip switch to select from internal or external power selection. I want to be able to allow a user to choose internal and use the 12v power from the Geneve cable to power the LM1881 and to step it down to the appropriate voltage or a user can use an external power supply such as a Mini-USB Type B cable. i'm hoping to have a breadboard assembled with it all this week and will post pictures. Here is a pre-render of the board. I still need to wire up the above. I need to test the voltage divider for the 12v to 5v as well. Edited March 25, 2018 by Shift838 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 25, 2018 Author Share Posted March 25, 2018 I have been thinking of ways to reduce the cost of the board and make smaller. I think I have decided to offer 2 power options so I can remove the MiniUSB Type B connector. Instead of having the options for internal or external power since most of the Geneve users can use the internal 12v power line and I can step the voltage down to the required voltage for the RGB monitors. So that allowed me to remove the USB connector and replace the PWR 2 position dip switch with a 1 position. The one position when turned on will provide the necessary 2 to 3v to the RGB Select pin to enable the RGB mode on the monitor if the switch is turned 'ON', if it's off then no power will be provided to the RGB Select pin. I did this because most of us will either use the Geneve power line or some of us like Insane Multitasker has modified his Samsung910MP to provide the voltage already internally from the monitor. Attached is an updated image of the board. I have cut some off of it as I said to reduce the cost. It kinda looks like an Atari Cartridge board now! 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Ksarul Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Nice! A lot of us can use these. I really need to take the time to connect one of my Samsung monitors up to the TI. . . 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 26, 2018 Author Share Posted March 26, 2018 (edited) I also purchased a new Elephas SCART to HDMI converter as my generic one died, I think I accidentally hooked a 12v charge up to the RGBS line. It was late and well I should have just put it down until the next day. Oh well, a new one is on the way and the SCART-Genie should work with it as well. Edited March 26, 2018 by Shift838 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+FarmerPotato Posted March 26, 2018 Share Posted March 26, 2018 I learned that Apple //gs users are in the same situation. Here is a circuit with LM1881 to connect an Apple //gs to a Samsung 710. (Borrowed from MSX!) http://www.apple2faq.com/knowledgebase/15khz-compatible-monitors/ I'm going to try out an Apple //gs monitor on my Geneve! I still want to get a modern LCD solution though. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shift838 Posted March 27, 2018 Author Share Posted March 27, 2018 I made some good progress last couple of days and have completed the breadboard design and it's running on my Geneve now. The below will be the options of the board: Tested with Samsung910MP and SCART To HDMI Upscaler (Elephas)Should work on other upscalers and RGB devices LM1881 surface mount Sync Cleaner Circuit Circuit will output for the standard 15kHz required by the Geneve. PC Audio / Internal Speakers selectable Power to RGB Select line now with dip switch to enable/disable Trimmer for Audio Signal to eliminate video interference 8 pin DIN connectorcan use a straight through cable for connecting Geneve to SCART-Genie. SCART Female ConnectorCan use a straight through SCART cable (male to male) to connect from SCART Genie to Monitor or HDMI Upscaler I am going to change a couple of things on the board, one is the DIN connector the one I purchased is a SwitchCraft. pretty expensive, to go to a more readily available and cost effective solution I will need to move the mounting holes for it. I am waiting for these to come in so I can measure exact for the PCB. Also, I can reduce the board even more if I don't have to print the details about the dip switch settings. I would like some opinions on that, probably will not reduce the board footprint that much or decrease the price too much if I take that out. Attached is the picture of the breadboard design and a photo of it working on my 910MP. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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