Images

[Console Repair/Mod Center / fix for cdrom broken guide rail plastic thingy]

hi,its been a while since i posted any repair stuff and ive noticed more with this problem so i thought id share.
the cdrom rom laser has a plastic guide/holder for the spiral arm. it breaks alot during shipping or a hard drop. usually it can work with it broken but slowly the laser will droop and you will get read errors,music skipping or full shutdown.



both tabs have been broken in this picture only showing the metal slide which isn't strong enough to hold the laser in place.
i've tried gluing with no success. i guess a 3D printed option could be made but i veiw 3D printers as a waste and have no scientific use in making things. none.

this fix i use is a simple twist tie from my whole wheat loaf. this fix can be done with the laser attached to the mechanism but for this tutorial i will use the slide and laser removed.


unscrew and remove the arm guide


first you take a twist tie and remove its paper covering exposing wire and if you look closely under the laser you will see 2 unused holes under the guide. thread the wire over until you hug the spiral guide.




technically this is all you need. its strong enough to hold the laser in place and with the guide arm reattached it will move. i have many cdroms working with this alone but i took it a step further and added another twist tie

loop the tie over so it only catches one side of the first tie

tighten slowly like so


now you get the idea. tighten that twist tie first until it closes over the spiral groove then tighten the other twist tie. it should look like this when done:

twist tighten with small tweezers. tight but not too tight. adjust the wires where needed with something stiff like a nail.
the finished ties will look like this


all nice and snug and aligned with the slide gear. also technically this is more than enough and you don't need the metal guide arm but i screwd it back on anyway



clip away any excess and tuck so it doesn't scrape against the board


that's it. you get the idea. all this can be done with the laser still attached to the mechanism but the mechanism unscrewed from its mounting and the metal laser cover off. makes it easier to loop the wires.
the fix can be altered in so many ways,2 loops of wire or anything your imagination can come up with that can hold the laser in place and allow it to screw on the screw guide. this is just what i used at the time and thought id share so all can prosper.

i can do this for a small fee if your fingers aren't small enough like necromancers. he has very good hands.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: RAFFLE: Lords of Thunder US Version]

got it yesterday!

thanks a ton



so purty and blue

[Off-Topic / Re: R.I.P. Snowkitty]

i remember when snow first came to these forums,he was still a teenager. we hit it off right away with him being a techy and all. he specialized in ps2 and ps1 hardware. he could do welds smaller than i can to install the modchips and stuff. i use to send him so many ps2's and almost bought him one at the flea market last sunday. when he came into chat i would always say i would pet him till he purred. so much i can say. i will miss him.
 i will meet you on the other side ,goodbye my friend.

[Off-Topic / Re: Turbo Fest (VGS) 2013]

some pics. i didnt take as many as last time because i was super busy and cheap phone ran out of juice.

first gave offering to the local bird god idol for a successful festival:


setting up:



the big moment after,i forgot the camera:


chris booth i was loitering at:

the small area i had my repair station:


the event is at full swing now:




an intense contest of endurance and mental strategy, lode runner:
top left is brandon and his 2 friends,chany in the abercrombie shirt,seated  bardoly,bardolys sister jordan,cap jeff,and blue shirt bmw or josh i dont know. way in the back near the white screen is ash,mathius pearl jam t shirt,majors black tshirt with single white sentence.


another contest that tested the sanity of all,raiden:

i am seated on the floor like a samurai but mainly i was working on this thing:

got that sucker working with a genesis controller mod! those are hizays shoes.

dan helping me at the booth while chris is on break:


at the pizza place for drinking and pizza:


all the men with their women sat a table while us bachelors of the city had manly booths while we arm wrestled for drinks and slapped beer wenches asses.
outside after meal chat:


had a great time,thanks guys. met new friends and bought some games and played many. a summer festival to remember!

[Off-Topic / Re: Midwest Gaming Classic 2013]

i took a ton of pics and vids but alot didn't come out and i forgot  to take a pic of my new bestestbestfriend keranu.

this is the vendors room,im sitting behind cdamms windy city gaming booth. or loitering behind cdamms windy city gaming booth





chany enjoyin a cold one

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jetbue7/media/MOV00496_zpsc5d06afc.mp4.html

there were some patrons walking around with beers and nothings funnier than a buzzed person asking loud dumb questions about video games.

heres a quick semi hidden vid of the woman that everyone was talking about,she freakin knew i was taping as she passes. shes a mystery and is considered an annual nuisance. i noticed she had on a wiccan amulet so she may be a sister witch,who knows. perhaps more have stories to share of her or rumors. thats the back of bluebmw at the end.

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jetbue7/media/MOV00495_zps2072a25b.mp4.html

you can see a cosplay female koopa in the distance in this video. dragonmaster dan has relieved cdamm so he can rest a bit

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jetbue7/media/MOV00459_zpse2fa9210.mp4.html

i choose you pikachu!

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jetbue7/media/MOV00486_zps63900379.mp4.html


later we all gathered and walked like a small gang to the nearby mall where the movie Dawn of the Dead was filmed (evidence pending) to have lunch.
food court pics with non ignited fireplace 





on our return to the event i went to the arcade room:
http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jetbue7/media/MOV00477_zps69f3ba68.mp4.html

http://smg.photobucket.com/user/jetbue7/media/MOV00479_zps38c116a5.mp4.html

back at the museum where turbo systems were set up a massive 8 player bomberman battle royale on saturn was being waged by many forum members and mgc patrons:








went back to help relieve cdamm a bit more and others gathered there:
mathius,ash and tggodfrey

bluebmw, tggodfrey and dragonmaster

mademoiselle ash


So ends my second trip to MGC (makes scrapbook) allah willing i will go again next yahren.
Lookin forward to VGS in july!

[General Gaming / Re: Octurbofest]

had a blast! heres a few pics from my camera with only 10 mb storage cf card

[General Gaming / Re: Turbo Fest (VGS) 2012]

OH hell yeah im down for a fall meetup or even sooner!!!! an equinox meetup at midnight by a huge bonfire would be saweet!









heres a very rough draft of the character im making based on that heron statue from the vgs





i couldnt get the darn beak or eye right,did it a hundred times. originally wanted it to look like a juvenile allosaurus with a bigger jaw so it may change again when its done.

its a short story about a black kid from the ghetto that doesnt understand why he seems to faze in and out of reality. 350 years into the future and 65 million years in the past,inhabiting a body of what may have been his future and former selves. He thinks its the effects of crack from when his mother used when she was pregnant with him. Slowly he realizes hes part of a force that does its best to save the people from both times and learn that planet earth is no stranger to armageddon.

[General Gaming / Re: Turbo Fest (VGS) 2012]

I had tons of fun guys cant wait for another meet up. was like the chatbox come to life!
thanks chany for all your hard work in putting it together. I took a few pictures but my CF card is very small.


part of the setup. you can see a sack of burgers and fries courtesy of tggodfrey,thanks you were a lifesaver.

other side of setup. the gentlemen seated are elseven in the green shirt,roflmao in the white. next to roflmao is tggodfrey talking to his girlfriend jessica. the woman in the white shirt at the vendor table is ash next to mathius in the black shirt and bluebmw on the far right behind the atari pc. behind the vendor in the blue shirt is jeff from wisconsin. has on a red outrun shirt that was cool as hell. thats all i can remember whos in the pic.

a live internet broadcast of sorts with awards handed out by walter. no idea who the recipients are or what they are awarded for. perhaps someone knows?

this heron statue greets you at the door of the convention center. i took a pic and will be adding it to one of my comics about dino's. it will be a dino priest of sorts,an evil character.

friday after a visit to a video game store we went to eat here at superdawg. the whopsiedawg polish sausage was fucking great!

i also guarded arks fliers and hit anyone with a stick that tried to steal one.
i will now poychase a larger cf card. yes i collect vintage cameras and use them. non hipster like.

[Buy/Sell/Trade / TG/PCE CDROM repair and more]

My email if you wish to do buisness thru that than on this site: jetblue7@gmail.com
Our european friends can contact member Fidde_se  or at   fidde_se@hotmail.com
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=14630.0




Hi,before I start I have no paypal. Cash for any of these items is thru concealed letter in envelope,dvd case in bubble mailer or trade goods. For console repair cash hidden in the cd lid or slot door or where ever you think no one would look. I know its risky but I was sending/receiving cash all over in letters for years and never lost a one. Some were returned to sender because the address got worn off.
Also I do not do mods,just repairs. For mods seek others on this site. They will give you a good combo deal on a cap change and region/av mod combined
Disclaimer:
Many have these devices in their machines for over a year and are happy. Many months have been used in researching these and the science is sound. But as always I am not responsible for misuse,wrong installation or your console dying from these. But if something does go wrong I'm sure we can fix it.
Prices can change at any time. But probably wont,mainly if I dry up the supplier and have to get slightly more expensive stuff.
This thread will be updated as supply is replenished or new services added.
Locals in the chicagoland area drop off service available. Save some cash in shipping. Bus and L-train directions at request.
International orders welcomed. Shantytech is a world wide industry!
This is the Shantytech electronics repair division.


Im selling my cdrom gears and duo plugs for any that need it.


TG/PCE Cdrom gear fix $7 a set,because of the slow resupply I must limit 1 set per customer for 30 days.
They are soft brass and are loud when running. Some compare it to a dreamcast. There is no grinding as the gears are curved and polished so no sharp areas. Cannot find them in plastic. This is the difference between a dead paper weight of a cdrom or a working one.

Free install if you cant do it yourself but pay shipping back.
Here's a crude install sheet:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/phatgeartut.jpg

I will do a tutorial here on this thread later. And of course I can be contacted to help in the installation or questions at all hours either here,on msn or on the temporary pcfx shoutbox chat here:
http://pcengine.freeforums.org/

Genesis to Duo ac adapter plugs $10:

Use a model 1 or model 2 genesis ac adapter on your duo,safely tested.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/segaduo.jpg
I also sell the duo male plug if you have a bad one on your ac adapter for $4.00



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TG/PCE CDROM GEARS OF PEACE CHANGE TUTORIAL:
Tools needed,small screwdriver,pen,silicon lube,needle or small piece of thin metal. Please forgive the bad pictures. I only had one hand free so some scenes have unnatural positions. Use your imagination to how it would look properly please. If you are a robot access imagination file now.


First open your system like in the picture.

Use laser change tutorial to open your cdrom:
https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=7193.0
Unscrew the back case,the screw on the motherboard,unclip the two laser ribbons and unscrew the 3 screws holding the lasers mechanism in place. Just leave the mechanism partially out of the unit like in the picture. No need to completely have it free from the cd.


First you have to carefully remove the O-ring that holds the middle gear in place. I use a needle but you can use anything,small screwdriver,fingernail,etc,that can get between the split that's on the O-ring so it can be removed.

In this picture you can see the tiny split that allows you to remove it intact. Its made of metal and be careful of shooting it across the room. Sometimes I do it inside of a sandwich bag.

Here the needle pressed against the gear and it split,started to dissolved. Its like butter.


Here it is successfully removed. If you have lost it in the rug get a magnet and it will stick to it. If its completely lost don't worry its a common part and I have replacements I can send you for free.


Here is the whole unit apart for easy convenience and screw holding and parts.


Now take a small screwdriver or popsicle stick or finger and push the motor gear off its axle. Its not glued on but pushed in place. Slides right off.


Now clean the middle gear axle with an alcohol swap as there will be residue. Use a needle to get in the crevice if you have to. No need to clean the motor axle.


Now get your lube,I'm using silicon grease,you can use white lithium. This silicon cost me a couple of dollars off ebay for a tiny tube. Tiny tube is all you will need has lasted me years and lubed many a units. I apply the lube on the end of a toothpick. A little bit is all that's needed.


Lube only the middle axle from base to tip.


Now lube all areas of the middle gear,sides,inside,even the teeth.



Now carefully push the middle gear on the middle axle.

The way the axle is designed is its a little fatter on the tip like a mushroom and feels like the gear wont go through. You need to apply some pressure but BE CAREFUL not to push too hard and accidentally knick the teeth of the big laser gear. The knicking occurs when the teeth of the middle gear are not aligned with the big gear. I've seen some units where some have done this,caused a skipping problem.
You can use a twisting motion. Use a pen like in the next few pictures but on this unit it went right in with almost no effort.

When it slides down turn the big gear until its aligned and locks into place like clockwork.

Once its in add the plastic spacer and lock it all with the O-ring you removed earlier. If the plastic spacer I sent you is too big let me know and i will send another. These are new spacers so if a former customer has an old spacer and it rubs against the motor gear let me know and I'll send you one of the new spacers.


How it all looks put together.


Now push in the motor gear with the groove first. Do not use lube,its made to be tight so it stays on like the original motor gear was. If you look at this picture of the gear you can see the groove in the center of the gear clearly. Pushing in groove first makes it go in easier.

Push in as far as you can with your finger,it is tight.

Then use a pen to push it in the rest of the way.

If it feels too loose you can use a tiny drop of krazy glue on the tip of a toothpick to the gear where it meets the axel to hold it in place. RC car owners do this all the time and it holds. If your not comfy with the motor gear send back for a replacement.
Now align with the middle gear

Middle gear in place,no need to have it completely level with the middle gear.


Now lube all the gears lightly.

Now you are done. You can use that toothpick to move the gears. It should move fluid and easy with no effort. If when turning you get a stuck part you can move the gear away from that area like bending a tight shoelace,only way i can describe this motion,until you get fluid motion.
Now reassemble.

Sometimes,not always,when testing the new geared cdrom with a music cd you will get tracks missing,skips and other stuff. When this happens you need to adjust the pots while its playing. Turning the pot counter clockwise increases power I think. Use this chart as a starting point:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/pots.jpg
Most of the cdroms I've used have this configuration. Also take note of your original pot settings and the older the laser the more adjustment it will need.

The first 3 pots from the left I adjust the most. I think the first pot to the left is laser intensity and the second pot from the left is focus. Adjust one at a time until you get a sweet spot. Also if the cd has scratches and the laser is old it will skip not matter what. Find a near scratchless cd for adjustments. If it plays your whole cd with no skipping then it is done.

some findings:
if the old gear is stuck completely i found it is not swollen gear syndrome as i had thought,as a matter of fact swollen gear syndrome doesn't exist. what i thought was the plastic swelling from friction to a point it can no longer move on its axle is in reality the old lubrication used that has completely hardened and turned the same color as the gear. if the gear is not crumbly but looks solid i recommend a drill bit of 1.60mm or less run thru the hole to loosen and remove the dried lube. you will not remove gear material but the lube. it may look like your removing gear material but it will be powdery. do not force the drill bit,if it is too small use a smaller one. it will remove the lubes and leave behind a smooth hole that will fit perfectly and loosely on the axle.
 learned this from reading kieth courage's advice on another thread. thanks to him for this.

sometimes a axle is too big and the gear i sent is tight,if you get this send back and i will run it thru my drill a few times. symptoms are its not fluid on the axle or the gear motor keeps getting jammed.

if the gear is still getting jammed and the gear moves fluidly and loose on its axle then the  gear motor needs replacing. sometimes the cd is turned on with the damaged gear and since its stuck starts to over heat and get damaged loosing its power. consult with me for a replacement.

Enjoy your now resurrected cdrom.
If you completely loose your mind during this procedure throw all the parts in a box and mail it to me and I will install the gears for free. Hopefully saving your sanity.



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I also do this thing:

Thats 8 duos,8 cdroms,4 supercdrom2,6 turboexpress/gt,5 game gears and 1 duo's sound caps,turbo tap,hitachi saturn, from an epic 4 month work sprint I finished last february. Most of the caps are leaking and smell of vinegar.

Turbo Duo $30 cap change. I have no lasers for these but if you get one I will change it free of charge.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/opeduoafter.jpg

PCE Supercdrom2 $30-I have lasers for these,$8 for just the sound board.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/newcapsoundboardsupercdrom2.jpg

TGExpress/GT $15-Picture has a few regular caps in it because pads were lifted by another so a regular cap had to be used to span the large gap. But sometimes pads do get lifted and will be repaired.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/mysteryrepair2.jpg

PC engine LT $30,its tight in there and the motherboard is fragile.

Sega Game Gear $15
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/soundandpowerboards.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/moboggafter.jpg

Virtual Boy $10-lines on eye fix.

CD-I time keeper battery clip mod $25. this is a very difficult mod so i must charge more. dremel is involved. CD-I cd drive rubber belt change $10.
It will look like this pic from cdi blog:
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_60EdE-4xjw...-5k/s400/2.jpg

psp slim screen change or fuse for backlight work $10-i have no screens. if you have a replacement case,change free with order. case changed any order or poychase if you dont need psp work done.

gamecube laser change,cd switch change or spindle motor replacement $10-i have no lasers.

dreamcast laser change or spindle motor change $10. i have no lasers for these,a sac unit from ebay must be provided.

saturn laser change-$10,will provide link where to get laser.

neo geo bios-$10,provide socket and bios chip or will be straight thru solder. old bios will be preserved and returned.

Just about any console not listed is $30 cap change,handheld $15.

This is for a full cap replacement with ceramic and tantalum caps. This should fix any problems that are cap related.
Shipping back to be paid by customer.
I do not do mods.
The Turbo Duo is a finicky beast so 50% of the time what seems like a simple sound issue gets more complicated and more parts are needed so costs will go up. Security screws changed to regular philips screws done free with every order. Also take note it takes me time to return them depending if I can get a ride to the post office.

The virtual boy fix is different than the common method. Its chop's own technique which requires soldering.  Discount of course if you can open the unit yourself and remove the offending eye or eye's and mail it to me in one of those small priority boxes so I can service it. Many already have this fix for well over a year with no recurrence including my own unit.
This is covered by a special chop warranty if the scan lines return.

I also do work on other consoles. Sega cd work,fuse work,various other consoles laser procurement and change,etc.  Advice on DIY home fix and other stuff is always free to friends

and of course I have my little chopsados for a trade if any need them.


If you need references I have some on neo geo and digitalpress under the nickname jetblue and I'm in good standing here just ask anyone. No repair is late or order unfulfilled.  

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo CD / PCE CDROM2 Broken Gear / Warmup Issue - Solutions in Development!]

if the data is weak and wont read it can be 2 things. bad laser or you need to adjust the pots. if its the unit you have pictured there sometimes after a belt or gear change you need to adjust the pots. i don't really have a general way to change the pots just turn the first 3 pots on the left until you get results. also before you adjust them take note where they originally where and work from there turning ne at a time.

this is how i take note and find is the best combination:

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Re: Pictures of your turbo/pc engine collection]

my humble collection you all helped me built:



the binder has almost 100 cards and a bunch of manuals and odd paper stuff. when i reach 100 hucards i will have a party. there is also some weird home made cases like that order of griffon one you can see. thanks guys 

[High Score Records / Re: "Image Fight" High Scores]

rags gave me a rare treasure,a new copy of image flight. finally opened this 21 year old bottle of wine or aged scotch and savored it,the smell of a new hucard was intoxicating! this must have been how it was for japanese kids back in the day. So for the last 2 days this was the best i could do:



I cant get past that damn mothership!   

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo CD / PCE CDROM2 Broken Gear / Warmup Issue - Solutions in Development!]

chris the gears are 1.99 each at hobby stores and easily available,only problem is they do need to be worked on first. any fix i do must meet criteria where its cheap as possible,from easy to obtain materials,and easy enough a small chipmunk can do it. I will pm you later with deets and post them on here when i make my for sale thread.

zeta they are curved and polished at the teeth to prevent any friction whatsoever or biting into the plastic. The main reason i used soft copper gears because they are easier to work with than with plastic. heres a pic of plastic proto:




cons of using plastic gears are they are not found easily in the teeth,dimension and pitch of the hole. i had to make those 2 gears there. Ideally if 2 gears made this way professionally would be nice but i dont have the money to make any. but if they are plastic the third gear may shatter all over again after time. Alot of pressure is put on that tiny middle gear.
pros of using soft copper is i can drill each hole myself and all it needs is good lubricant and will last for years on end if not forever. the copper is a little more stronger than a hard plastic gear anyway. Ive ruined many a copper gear with just the brute force of my hands getting them to fit 
these are remote control car gears so they have to be able to survive much punishment. Its not unheard of mixing plastic with metal gears with the cars and other remote control devices. Thats what this basically is like a remote control car but it plays pce!
more info soon 

update:
gears on sale in the sale thread  https://www.pcengine-fx.com/forums/index.php?topic=11677.0

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo CD / PCE CDROM2 Broken Gear / Warmup Issue - Solutions in Development!]

ive been keeping this under my hat for a while. but now with all the generosity being shown on here and sharing i feel like its ok for me to show it.
like bmw said these are new developments to fix a common problem. i had developed a 2 gear solution or zombie gear last year and only offered the repair to a couple of people here. i gave up on developing the second gear further as it gave me problems and was just difficult in general for me. if its difficult for me in the slightest i cannot offer it to clients. So i abandoned it and developed this,gentlemen behold......THE PHAT GEAR!



its already been tested for months on multiple cd/pce systems and for a handful of customers. this fix is ready to go.
this is a drop in solution requiring no modification at all and is not an improvement like the pully and belt drive or a second gear. its exactly the same as the old middle gear. This will solve stuck gears,fear of moving a stuck gear,broken gear and other problems. does not cure laser death. does make it sound a bit loud but it does no harm to the machine and is the price to pay for resurrection.


kits will be provided as well as the actual change service soon but i doubt anyone will be interested in this.


this may be my last project here as there's no more pce related problems to conquer. and of course as the universal law goes,the one who develops it will never benefit from it. almost kinda pointless because it costed me a small fortune and more important vast amounts of time to develop and get right but its done because i wish it so.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: REPAIR GUIDE - TurboDuo: Sound Fix]

A sound issue duo me and steve fixed over the last few weeks over chat.

symptoms:
Almost zero sound but if tv is volume on maximum can hear it softly,same for headphones. Some volt meter reads showed it was this op amp chip:



Replaced with near identical op amp chips I got from ebay and sound was restored but static developed and slowly sound will fade in and out depending on the duos mood or me touching the board or touch with toothpick in sensitive area. Much meter and sound probe testing found the trace and some via's going to the new chip were bad. You can see a blackened via in the first picture near pin 5 of ic503. The second bad trace and via was to chip leg 3 of the ic503. bypass was made:



The other wire on chip leg 4 was for ground when we thought the ground trace was bad.
The other side of the board:



The damaged via near pin 5 was fixed with wire and solder to both sides after a bit of scraping with a tiny star screwdriver till shiny copper was seen.
the trace and via of pin 3 was just bypassed shown in second pic. The trace for pin 3 lead to those 2 resistors r321 and r322,it forked into both of them so  used a small drop of solder connecting them to the wire like in a T formation.
Static is all gone full sound restored. thank you steve

[Console Repair/Mod Center / need help,damaged duo trace]

I have this duo that was worked on before and they seemed to have lifted the right pad to cap C323
and took the surrounding traces. This gives it zero sound. like a switch was pressed. never encountered this before.
I have wires soldered on the spots with nowhere to go:


the best picture i could take.

using duor's picture:



i need to know where pin 3 goes to what resistor or point.
any help would be most appreciated and will result in a prize 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Grafx CD drive motor]

sure but all I have are my older pics,that gear in that first pic is 13 mm in diameter so its gave me tons of problems so found a 12mm gear in another device. mini cassette player.



the hole is still too big so I added a filler of another gear with a long shaft,a servo gear. they snap on like legos. The snap on gear is just as strong as a regular single molded gear. wont shuffle in the unit.

here it is in a unit with the older gear to help hold it in place. Ive long since removed the old gear and just have it like that:



thats pretty much how the final product looks without the old gear in there. that white lip over the gear was to prevent skipping but found out it didn't need it so it was removed,just a bare gear.

As you can see the metal axle has to be removed and the long guide bar. they cant be in the same place or the screw holding it will cause friction on the new gear. if you can find a screw with a flatter head you can use it but its best just leave it off. The plug end of the smaller motors wire are clip ons so all you need to change them is a small screwdriver and push up the clips and change the wires. you will get what I mean when you see the wire clips.
thats it you have a zombie revived unit. its not simple to do but not $75 simple. no way in hell,might as well buy another working unit.

its also key to the warm up issue if you read my other findings in other threads. so in one swoop I conquered warm up and middle gear. I am victorious.

i will be offering this service for a few dollars soon just pay shipping back and forth.
Now that I know it can be used by others for profit no reason why I cant go forward. Testing phase is complete!
there is still the slight concern of some skipping. no way around this not even the ebay dude can get around it. but so far it hasn't surfaced from my end and the member that has the unit. but 20 or 30 % skipping on some music is to be expected but way better than having a dead unit.
this method is not perfect.
and ebay dude should state that.

more pictures soon when I make my premier thread

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Turbo Grafx CD drive motor]

OMG does no one here read my zombie gear statements in other threads? i give detailed information how to use a 2 gear system and rewiring the plug end of the small motor and removal of some parts. Its still very experimental as i couldn't figure out a skipping issue but it may be solved, was just me using scratched discs all this time. Right now only 1 member here has one of my zombie gear units and he says it works fine. I am currently making a small batch of zombie gears to give to the desperate. the process isn't easy but is completely reversible when a real 3rd gear is made. The main problem is again finding a 12mm in diameter that will fit so I've been making my own. seems 12 mm gears aren't as common as i had hoped.

looks like that ebay guy followed what i wrote about the zombie gear. shame hes charging so much.


the original zombie gear bitches!



I'm sure if you check my dates in other threads no way the ebay dude was selling his service before. but i don't put it passed another developing it at the same time completely separated from this forum.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: The Search for the turbo cd gear]

I'm so close its ridiculous!
The middle gear has those small metal donuts holding it in place,once lifted with a small needle the gear came right off and its axel popped off with a gentle pull with pliers. The gear motor's gear just lifted off with a push up with a screwdriver. The gear in the long worm gear could not be removed so i tried to work around it.



Only problem with that gear is its hole is too wide. I need one just right so I'm searching all over. (busts open alarm clock)


I originally wanted to use a belt drive like this unit:



but need more parts.

I have a original broken gear removed but no way to measure it. If someone has the equipment i can send it there way.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: REPAIR GUIDE - TurboDuo/PC Engine Duo/R/RX: Laser Swap & Adjustment Guide]

Excellent thread. I made some crude pictures about taking off the connectors from the laser if they are any help to anyone:

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: REPAIR GUIDE - TurboExpress/PC Engine GT: Video Fix]

this has poyplexed me. it looks like the right cap prong goes into the middle pin of that tiny voltage regulator on the far right but the left pin i cant figure out. i think it goes into the bottom of the board into that blue thingy. i need to see how the circuit flows.

but yeah this is a common problem with me. the smaller a cap is the greater chance of the whole pad either coming off or solder lifting up. The cap fluid eats away at it making it very brittle. the 4.7 and the 33 uf caps are huge problems. of course the 100uf caps are biger and have more solder so no problem.

The best way for me to remove one of these caps is to use a small screwdriver and gently rock the cap back and forth where it gives way till it frictions off.  if it leaves behind its old cap legs thats gold,easier to solder onto. flipping the motherboard to rest on the case makes it easier and wont harm it.



its takes about 15 to 20 minutes to rock it back and forth. it can move real fast like a blur but it gets boring but if you close your eyes and say the buddahist sutras the time will go fast.

i shape my caps legs for soldering first:



but apollo if the soldering welds are too tiny for you to do il do it for you for free. Solder paste or flux is like gold,makes tiny welds possible

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: REPAIR GUIDE - TG16 CD/PCE CD laser swap guide (pictorial)]

was working on the turbo cd and thought should add my notes on here:

have a turbo cd with working laser and assembly but bad mother board. Would power on but game would not spin. Checked everything possible even changed the pot settings. After changing all the caps all the 4.7 uf caps were dead,like 5 of them bunched up near the pot settings. 5 is enough to cause laser failure. There are 2 more 4.7uf caps that are really tiny back to back on the board but they were functional so i put them back. I have a capacitance meter to check the caps as i remove them.
Powered on the unit with no change. Another member on here Bluebmw had a similar problem with his turbo cd. Changed the laser,adjusted pots etc but would not spin the game only a quarter turn. He also changed the caps i mentioned and no change. Changed more caps and had a laser trouble where the ribbon got torn on the lens side,the smaller ribbon. Sent unit to me where i tried a working laser and it worked.
I messed more with the laser with torn ribbon and did a transfer of lens from a old laser with a dead diode:


_{https://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/turbocdparts.jpg}

and it worked. 90% of the time the diode burns out like a lightbulb. The lens may last longer before the wires start popping on it or the lens gets scratched.
Used a very tiny screwdriver 2 mm flathead to unscrew these tiny security torx bits that were in there. If you attempt this do your best not to undo the bed of glue that holds the lens part. Its needed to balance it out. So small i cant take a pic but you can see it on the laser holding the 2 parts together after you remove the screws. Hopes this is useful info to some

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

what i scored last week except for the snes carts came in the mail saturday:



all from a thrift store,i feel like i went to a hardoff 
All together except the snes carts was $38 and all working fine,a few bolts missing on the twin stick case but i can find a replacement when i go to menards.

That dreamcast stick is a oddity. used for flight sims but it has programmable buttons so i think i can use it for fighters.
The saturn was region modded by its previous owner.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Rag-time4's Duo repair project]

took me a while but i got it working. Its out of the duo hospitals icu and getting ready for release.
Redid that whole trouble area before i ran out of 22uf and 100uf caps.


The rest of rags work was crude but acceptable so i plugged it in for test run. Everything works hucard and cd.
Did some longevity tests with multiple games,hu and cd buns and real for 2 hours with no difference. Wasn't hot to the touch and laser noises searchings and busy were normal. Compared it to my duo and no difference. Sound is crisp and regular and fmv runs smoothly. Did notice slight whistling on laser showing signs of early laser wear,but wont need to replace for a long time still.
Don't know what else i can do with it. Will do a few more days of hard play then pack it up for return

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: MOD - Homemade converters]

requires vertical cuts on the ribbon down its seams and then sandwiched in place with double sided tape.
I no longer make them this way as the cuts are very hard to make. Made my eyes hurt. I know just cut the 3 ribbons on the top and solder them.

New instruction use sheet:

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: complete DUO S-Video mod]

i took a gander at this mod following the revised schematic to the T. worked great and thanks kspiff,graf,duor,nat and everyone else for all the helpful info.

Making the pcb was quick and easy,just a few hours but what took a heck of alot of time was locating and ordering the parts. between digikey,maouser and ebay months had passed. this is what i made for a client(named withheld for anonymity)

i was gonna make 3 test boards each with different chips and components bought from multiple sources so the chance of failure would be slim but time was running out so made 2.

board 1:





chip harvested from a dead ps1,cxa1645 chip surface mount. snowkitty helped in the harvest.
the chip was wired to make it easy to handle. Both boards were done with common telephone wire braided and solid core chosen for its durability.

board 2:




done with a DIP cxa1645 chip,larger for easy soldering.

this was a prototype so i can just drop in a chip of my choice and solder. pre wired board but was to big so it was scrapped.





i had to use my own breadboard cause the one suggested was way to small for me to use. to make more wire and connections i drilled some of the breadboard holes larger.

The boards were sent untested to my client cause they were meant for a duor or rx. i didnt want to test them on my american duo cause the chips are on the bottom and will be difficult. So i prayed to the various gods and goddesses that at least 1 will work.

client plugged in board 2 first and it didnt work. found out from my pics i soldered on some wrong pins 
he fixed the wrong pins but still a mess of a picture. I figured cause of my mistake the chip fried as soon as it was plugged in. mmm fried chips 

client plugged in the first board and it worked great after some ground tweaking.
So i can be witness that the schematic here works great and the mod. will be making a few more boards and do more testing. hopefully smaller boards than the monstrous ones i made



a rough drawing of the layout used for them:

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

those of you who saw a crazed bakka gaigin stay up all night to bid on a broken fm towns marty a last month. Thanks for rooting for me and all the goodluck wishes,especilly rofldog.
But yeah i fixed that b****!!!!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Home made converters]

Gentlemen behold.......the solderless chopado!   





Now even more easier to make with just a piece of ribbon,double sided tape and safety scissors.

First you get a piece of ribbon about 5 inches. Scrape the edges either all the way as in this picture or short of the end so the pins are held down with some of the insulation like in the top picture. Cut out 9 pins from the rest of the excess ribbon,better to scrape first then cut it away from the rest.


scrape opposite sides

Now take a razor blade and gently cut the center about 1 and a half inches along the separations not cutting into the metal:

I left the 2 pins next to the ground pin in a single piece of 2 on the top picture,you can also do this for the others and cut them in twos instead of single pieces. Up to you.

Before you twist and bend it you have to cut the middle 3 pins of the back side only all the way to middle part.
The ground pin is cut by itself and the 2 pins next to it are a cut together in one piece.


Now twist them and bend it till the exposed pins are back to back


Now hold them together with scotch brand double sided tape in the middle and when you connect the 3 middle pins you reverse them. You can see the arrangement better in this picture as you can see where the number pattern on the ribbon is different:

Only put the tape above the exposed pin line for maximum thinness in that area.

You are done,works as good or better than any other model i have made. Almost zero chance of failure.



Cant get any better than this even if it were to be made commercially by a factory with the sticker that i first envisioned,the ribbon wouldn't get any thinner or the contacts.
So that ends it for me,8 months of working on this and Ive reached the limits on improving it.

If anyone wants one pm me and il make you one for a trade of any single loose cart game(atari thru n64,even handheld carts) or pc engine loosey common i don't have.


 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Home made converters]

good to know PC-ENGINE HELL that one of my babies is doing ok.


I have completed what i thought would be a reverse chopsado to work on a pc engine or japanese console. Found out that the pins on the chopsado are symmetrical and will work without any wires being repositioned or turning it backwards.
So the chopsado will work on both consoles as long as you have that 1 wire soldered inside the japanese console as described here:
archive.gamesx.com/importmod/necjapmod.htm

dual use chopsado 


And for those that have one of my babies a new instruction sheet has been made:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/chopsadoinstr1copy.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/chopsadoinstr2copy.jpg

older instruction sheet



the instruction sheet is for the new models that have the piece of scotch brand double stick tape on the back to better hold on the hucard and prevent tape jams when inserting.
If you have an older chopsado model follow the instructions on the back page of the instructions to add a piece of double stick tape to the back if you want.
The new instructions also address the tarnish issue thats happening to many models and how to prevent and fix.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: CD-ROM2, Ripped ribbon T.T]

eeeek!
can you do more detailed pictures? im curious.

i am soon to do a repair on a ribbon as thin as that. it will take all my skill and cunning.
this is what im up against:

its for those newer screen gameboy SP's

first i will cut some of the ribbon sticking out then will scrape away some of the material and expose the metal. either with sandpaper or sharp razor. then bridge it with some strong tape then use the tip of a needle dipped in that conductive ink and make new traces. This what ive heard other desperate people do to repair ribbons on lcd tvs and stuff. i wish i knew of a better way

[Off-Topic / The “What-Did-You-Buy-Today?” Thread]

got an odyssey2 and a few games last week. gave it a good cleaning inside and out:



i like how the controllers and cords nestle in the keyboard groove for easy storage in an old 1980's entertainment center or under your bed 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Home made converters]

PCEngineHell wanted a region converter for his son and had these materials laying around. A busted hucard and slot from a busted pc engine.
I always wondered what i would do if i ever got my hands on a hucard slot.

Gentlemen behold.......the WH-1 ultimate converter!

protoMH1pic1


in action on a duo:


this project took many weeks to finish. And at first was to look similar to one of my other converters using the thin ribbon on a card and wires soldered on the pins.
But all that changed when i noticed the ribbon was out of pitch and Michael showed me a pic of this other members creation:


The pins are better aligned and would mean less solder points and less chances for something to go wrong with it.

So first i started with the hucard. I was shocked to learn that the chips are on the little black thing. i thought they went all through the card on some ultra thin like membrane:



Started to hollow out the hucard with a dremel so it can make room for the wires. Decided on using pc floppy cable for the nice order there in. Was gonna do smaller wires:

but it looked terrible.

dremeled the rest of the chip area to about half way through:



set that aside then cut a floppy ribbon to about 6 inches. removed 2 wires to make 38 then used a wire stripper on the ends.
Then removed the traces and chips:


now the hard part,soldering to the pins: mproto8.jpg, mproto9.jpg

the ribbon was painted black.

then to solder on the hucard slot: almostdone2.jpg
and glue it all together.
The gluing was a major obstacle. i tried may epoxies and glues and the ribbon would just rise up off the hucard. A different way had to be found to hold it in place and stop it from wiggling.
Drilling small holes near the top of the hucard seemed best and then weaving wires inside and out to hold the ribbon firm.
*i did not take a picture of this but you can see the wire in the top finished picture*
Does anyone have an idea how i could of held down the ribbon better?

the glue on the chip portion held good. followed the same groves that held the chip on the card with nec's original greenish glue. Pic where glue was placed and not: protoMH1pic3.jpg

Everything held strong and worked on the first try on all 3 consoles. Should last a hundred years.

if i get another slot i will mount it the floppy cable connector like this: itfits.jpg

its a perfect fit and conducts easy.

So many more ideas can be made. I think i may even be possible to alter region inside of the hucards nice and neat.

I am known in some regions as the full turbo alchemist 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo duo repair]

i did a few side projects with the duo.

First i harvested the laser cover from that NEC cd drive (look above post) to replace the missing one in my duo:

perfect fit. Might paint it brown or black but i think it looks ok.

next i recycled the NEC cd drives power supply by changing its tip to a duo's sized tip i got from a electronics supply:


works great,tested it for over an hour of play no overheating on the unit or adapter.

when i ordered that turbo duo sized plug i decided to order some other plugs for a ac adapta plug side project.
Plugs were ordered from http://www.electronicplus.com/. they don't seem to have a minimum order.
This place also has plugs but they have a $20 minimum   http://minute-man.com/

I wanted to be able to use the ac adapters of the 3 main common systems on my turbo duo. The SNES,Sega genesis 1 and 2.
I was able to get the plugs for the genny 1 and genny 2. The snes plug is harder to find and i found it at the $20 minimum order place but all i want is 1 plug.(is a cheapo)

/duoplugs.jpg


just has the turbo duo male and genny 1 and 2 female. The genny 2 was straight through wires the genny 1 has the wires reversed.
Behold as i bend sega hardware to do turbo duo's bidding!:

If i can get that really small sega ac adapter that was with the genesis 3 i can have a really tiny adapter for my duo


The specs are:

TurboDuo
Input: 120V AC 60HZ 16W 
Output: 10V DC 1000Ma
positive tip
plug Outer Diameter 6.3mm. Inner Diameter 3.0mm
radio shack adaptaplug type Q

Super Nintendo Entertainment System SNS-002
Input AC 120V 60Hz 17W 
Output 10V DC 850Ma
Negative Tip
INLINE POWER PLUG WITH CENTER PIN
O.D. 7.5mm  I.D. 4.5  with a pin 1mm
No radioshack plug

Genesis MK-1602
Input: 120V 60Hz 17W     
Output: 9V DC 1.2A
Negative Tip
plug O.D. 5.5mm I.D. 2.1mm
radioshack adaptaplug type M

nomad,32x,genesis 2,pico MK-2103                                   
Input: 120V AV 60Hz 15W                                             
Output: 10V DC 0.85A                                               
positive tip                                                       
plug O.D. 4.75mm. I.D. 1.7mm                                       
radio shack adaptaplug type C   

there technical names are coaxial plug type or coaxial power plugs and pcb mount power female or pcb mounted coaxial jacks.

I tested the genny 2 plug for over an hour with my duo with no problem. No over heating on either the duo or ac adapter but genny 2 ac's do get hot even when plugged in a genesis. I haven't been able to find my genny 1 ac adapter. Gave it away or its in this maze of a house. It is untested but will be soon.
The SNES one will have to wait till i can find a cheaper female plug.

Odd things i noticed when putting the original ac adapters to a multimeter is that all of them have higher voltages than whats printed on the label. snes 13v,genny 2 12.5v,genny 1 ?(cant find) I don't have a original turbo duo ac but if its like the one i recycled it has a reading of 12 v.

The Universal ac adapter ive been using is at 9v 900 ma and has an accurate reading on the meter.

As soon as i started using the nec recycled and the genny 2 ac adapter cd games seemed to go faster. faster loading times especially with Dracula x. Could just be my eyes playing tricks on me but i never seen the konami logo show up so fast before. I think my old ac adapter was way underpowered and effected everything. I don't even hear that much searching noises from the lens and stuff. I cant say anything for sure till i do more testing like have my 2 duos run with my old ac and the new ac and connect them to 2 tv's. But il do that later.

If you guys make anything like this be very careful and make sure the wires are rightly set to negative and positive and stuff. Don't explode your system 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Home made converters]

yeah the pin in the pc engine still has to be grounded before a reverse chopsado can be used.

I have found out something testing the new ribbon. The new ribbon passed all the stress tests and can probably last 100 years. But all this time Ive never used it on a tg-16 because my duo's and express are my primary consoles. So i dragged out my typerwriter like case that has my tg-16 and cd attachment and was surprised that my chopsado wouldn't fit. You can see the tape jammed up in the razor thin insertion canal or whatever its called:

The duo and express have a very generous opening and can allow one or two layers of tape easy and more but the tg-16 will only allow the ribbon and no tape.

So the chopsado has to be built a little different for tg-16 owners.
First no tape can be in the insertion zone. The 2 pieces of ribbon have to be held together by glue. For this proto i used rubber cement but i think elmers glue can do. Only tape is by the solders and the tape that holds it in place. You can barely see the tape cause of the picture but look closely by momo's boot and hair, The tape on the other one is on the black area:

Not glue to hold it in place but the 2 pieces of ribbon after you soldered on the wires. Like in my sig.
And the anchoring piece of tape is no longer on the black part of the hucard but on the art. I'm afraid of the tape lifting off the paint so dull the tape a bit like run it on your shirt. Make it a bit weak but not too weak so it wont hold the chopsado in place. The small piece of tape holding down the ribbon on the pins is unaffected by the thin slot and wont get caught.
And still when you insert all of this in the hucard slot its still tight. As tight as a **** on a *** with a pickle.
So be careful not to shear off the pins on the chopsado.


I should probably use glue on all my chopsados instead of tape. I kinda like tape cause of i can always take it apart easy if i need to. But i don't think i will need to. And yes i need a manicure.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo duo repair]

found this little bit of salvage:




nice hop-m3 laser and mechanism



just something for me to harvest parts from if i need. But i wonder if i connect it to my pc

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Home made converters]

I found a scanner at the thrift with what i think is perfect ribbon. Its the same pitch and i think even thinner than what ive been using.





its a nice long piece of ribbon in it over a foot long:

you can see the model numbers and stuff if it helps any.

it was hard to get it to stand still on the scanner with a hucard to show the pitch of the pins:


But i was able to make the chopsado out of 2 pieces of ribbon instead of 4. I also did some other different things to it like solder the 8th wire without scraping both sides of the 8th pin and soldered directly to scraped off ribbon instead of exposing it. also soldered all the wires on one piece first instead of one at a time. Since its extra thin it would need more testing to see how it holds up. The length of it is for if the contacts get worn out or bent you can scrape off a little more of the insulation and cut off the frayed end with scissors. Giving the chopsado some longevity. I dont think i mentioned that before in other threads.
 


left side is usa pinout right side is jap pinout

But if it passes all the tests this model is suitable to be given to others.

to me its perfect enough to be my new sig 

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Home made converters]

When i finished this tutorial i realized im terrible at explaining things. basically repeating what i said in the rest of the thread. Im sorry but i think this will be of little help. The only way i can do better is if someone films me making one.
From now on chopsado3 will be just chopsado.

heres the best i can do.

First you need some ribbon. The best source is old scanners and old cd players that you put in entertainment centers. The pins on the end of the ribbon have to be as close as possible to the width of the pins on a hucard.

There are numbers and serials on the ribbons but i found them to be useless as a ribbon with the same serial can still have a different pitch. The long white ribbon you see the pic was from a old samsung dsl box and is the perfect pitch and spacing but the ribbon is a bit to thick possiblly for higher volatge. Need to use as thin as possible.

The ribbon i have chosen is from a cd player. Once the pins get passed 5 it starts to overlap over another pin on a hucard so i cut it at 5 and 4 pins. Finding a perfect spaced pitch or pins to a hucard means that the ribbon only needs to be cut in 2 pieces,front and back. I wish i had some "perfect" ribbon.

a little over 2 inches in length. I'm sure you can cut the length shorter and to your liking but im happy with 2 inches

On the end of the ribbon is a hard plastic connector that was used to hold it firmly in its device. this will be removed later. Again this is my choice you can cut the ribbon pieces from the middle and not use the ends with the plastic connectors but then you will have to scrape both ends. This is just a time saving measure for me. Yup im lazy.

The 4 pieces have a natural curve to them and you want to make sure that the curve is up against the hucard when its all completed. like a curve of a hill on a flat plain. This is hard for me to explain but you will understand when cutting. This helps so that the ribbon will stay flat against the pins and not stick out. But even if the curve was reversed it wont matter with the tape on the bottom holding the pins. This is just my preference.

Now start scraping the insulation from the 4 pieces of the ends on one side only. I scraped about half a centimeter.

Don't scrape between the pins. Ive made many mistakes here.

Now that thats done remove the plastic ends carefully:

and cut the exposed ribbon about 3 mm or to a comfortable length that you can solder on to.

Now cut 8 or 9 wires a little over an inch long. I used kynar wire from radio shack 30 awg. Its very thin. Again its my preference you can use other gauges of wire and length.


Now the pin layout is a difficult one to explain. Ive done it so many times its burned in my soul. I can wire the chopsado or a region switch in my sleep. I just remember it as numbers. the hucard slot or the hucard is from right to left,looking straight at it is 1 thru 38. you want to change pins 15 thru 17 and 19 thru 23. leave pin 18 alone. Im sure you can find the diagram that all modders use either on this site or the web. if not heres a crude pic:

For the chopsado you have the set of 4 and 5 piece of ribbon on the hucard for a total of 9 and you have the other pieces of 4 and 5 that will be reversed on top of it. It will be crystal clear when you have the pieces in front of you.

Lets start soldering the wires. I placed the 5 count ribbon with the scraped off parts facing up and soldered to the cut ends:

solder the wire to its opposite end to the 4 count ribbon.
front pic:

back pic:

you can see where i scraped away some insulation for the 18th pin. Again this is my preference. You can solder the 18th pin wire just like all the rest or have it exposed with no insulation like on here so it makes full contact with the other one or completely cut it off leaving a small gap. Do what you like.

Soldering can be difficult. I used a small piece of foil to protect the other ends when i was soldering:

My method of soldering is probably different from yours. I would place the ribbon flat and put the foil seperator and use a toothpick to apply a tiny amount of this soldering paste to the ribbon and wire:

It helps make the solder flow to exactly where i want it to. All i have to do is melt a tiny bit of solder on the iron and place over the wire and the ribbon and like magic it forms a weld thats super strong.

Once all the wires have been soldered it should look like this:


again you can solder the 18th wire of not.
the top part is the jap side and the bottom part is the usa side.

here you can see that curve a bit i mentioned earlier:


Now bend that mother! right in the middle so it reaches the other end. Make sure the scraped pins are outwards. Only the insulated ends will be back to back. Add a bit of electrical tape in between the soldering:

And use scotch tape to make the cut ribbon merge nice and together and your done.


I did this one today as some of you on the shout box heard me complaining. Total hours to make was 2. I was distracted by escape from new york and other shows on TV

I hope this explained a bit. let me know if you have any questions.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Home made converters]

Thanks guys for the kind words 

Il give a rundown on materials for the chopsado 3.

The cable has many names,foil ribbon,flat cable,flex cable or just plain ribbon cable. But i think the technical name for it is ffc (flat flexible cable) or fcc (flat conductor cable)cable. I got mines from a old cd lens.

Theres also fpc ribbon cable (flexible printed circuit) but its made of different material and i suspect even thinner. Probably what the finished chopsado 3 will be made of.
www.avx.com/docs/Catalogs/ffchist.pdf

They go by pitch,the space between the pins. The one i use was slightly off pitch to the hucards pins but when cut up in pieces of 5 it was barely noticeable.
The pitch is so small i can barely measure it. I think the hucard pins are like 0.40 mm and the ribbon i used was maybe 0.35mm. I don't have accurate measuring equipment. If someone can measure the pitch of the hucard pins that would be great.

I took 4 pieces of the ribbon i had,two pieces of 5 and two of 4.
Taped them back to back with the contacts out. This particular ribbon had plastic mountings on its ends so it can slide off easy from its cd lens and its motherboard. I used that part to connect to the piece of pci connector. The other end of was cut off so it would be just thin bare cable and i scraped off its insulation with a razor blade. I could of done that with the other end but it saved some time.


Theres only 8 pins that need redirecting on a hucard. I redirected 9 so there wouldn't be a space between them,make it even.

In this pic they look a bit raised but there not that protruding from the card. They get flatter if you press down with your finger. Like the thickness of 2 pieces of paper. I don't think it will effect the card slot at all. But i would like thinner ribbon if i can find it.
Held down with a piece of tape at the end:

Can barely even see the ribbon.

Its better to position the contacts on the pins instead of over the pins and around the card like i did at first:

The way the tg-16 slot pins are made the ribbon cant get caught between them or raised out of place.
They would get raised up on the plastic part of the connector first but the would have to really be protruding.
But just in case a small piece of tape on the end keeps then down.


The pci connector has 2 rows of pins. To redirect the ribbons contacts from the side touching the card from jap to the side touching the slot usa. Lots of kynar wire to do this.
I could have soldered directly to the ribbon cable but wanted it this way in case i changed something.

The pci connector is really unnecessary.
I will probably make one with the pieces of ribbon cable i have left with the wires soldered on the ribbon cable making it even smaller. Probably a inch high with smaller wires connecting them. Not solder on the side of the ribbon with the plastic mountings. I would cut that off and scrape off the insulation then solder onto it. Then cover the wires with a smiley face sticker or just a piece of black electrical tape.

I think thats it. Just common stuff i had laying around the house. I'm cheap. If i had to order special stuff this project would of taken forever and be costly.
I just wanna play










update,june 18

a more compact without the pc1 connection:



tried to glue it in place but glue wont hold for some reason so had to use tape again. also i need to get a thinner gauge of wire:




still not the way i want it. il scrap this one and try again. works good though

[Console Repair/Mod Center / MOD - Homemade converters]

         Howdy. As some of you know ive been working on a easy and cheap way to play japanese hucards on american systems without the need for a commercial converter or cutting our precious systems. And having as many systems as i have modding them would be expensive and no way in hades im spending $150 plus on some kisado or old worn out converter.
So i introduce to you the chopsado 2:

I took my old slot tester that i made from the older thread and cut another PCI connector from an old pc motherboard one side the pins are to american and the other to japanese. They were to connect to a bridgeboard made from a butchered thin ribbon cable taped on a credit card here:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v238/jetbue7/jetsado3.jpg
and then slid into the machine. The wires are curved so it can be fit easily on the back of a tg express.
I only got it working 1 time with fuzziness. No pictures of it in action cause soon after i pulled it out of the tg express a few wires popped off the connector so i had to touch it up.
When i was fixing it and trying to get the fuzziness out it dawned on me.

Why not make a sticker region mod that fits on the hucard itself. Thin and has adhesive so that you can remove it easy and place on another hucard or just leave it on forever without damaging it. Similar to a sim card on mobile phones.
So i started to make a rough proto and sacrificed the materials used on the chopsado2 for it.

Just some folding here and there and make it nice and compact. The ribbon is double sided just have to scrape away the insulation for contacts on each side for 1 piece to redirect and rest another over it. The force of the hu connector will make them have contact when slid in.
chopsado3 is born:


I was gonna solder the wires to the ribbon at first so it would be flat against the hucard cause you can solder onto those thin metal film:

but since this is a proto and i might have to change something and short on materials i went with a tiny cut of the pci connector




as as you can see reusable:


peachboy!!!!!

Having the contacts go all the way to the edge of the card i think is a mistake and will adjust it so it barely covers the pins.

But you all get the idea. Someone should design a even thinner and smaller design and make them in china for like 25 cents a sticker.

Post your designs of home made converters here. Be creative maybe something better and easier can be made.
It can be designs on paper or a rough proto.
And remember always be careful with soldering and placing of pins. Don't want to short out your console. Triple check everything.



ps#  chopsado 1 is still being made but i ran out of materials
update june 5:
heres a pic of a chopsado#1 proto:

just a ribbon from a floppy drive. thats was the plan but with longer ribbon but i ran out of ribbon. This proto i never got to get working. the cuts on the ribbon end are too curved to make proper contact on the hucard slot and need to be cut or filed flat.  but you all get the idea

others have used the PCI connector's as you can see in this mirai converter so it can be used on an express:

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo grafx 16 repair]

My days of camping at the mailbox are over,it has arrived!
Played it for over an hour on the cd attachment. Heres a pic:


And a pic of the motherboard. download it and enlarge if you cant see it that well:

you can see the repaired trace but i wont unsolder the tiny shield over the work ram in the middle of the board but its an exact replacement and fantastic soldering work over it legs. No way i could of done it on my own without destroying it. Many Thanks CM (channelmaniac). Was told the work ram chip was pulled from an old arcade board that was used for parts. I couldn't find that work ram chip being sold anywhere online and might be a rare chip. il keep looking for a source either single chips or junk boards that use them that can be harvested.

And when i asked CM what caused all these failures cause i thought it was a power surge or a bad ac adapter or feedback from a controller CM said it was just age. Time is the enemy of the TG-16!!!!
more info on the chips and stuff here from CM:
http://www.neo-geo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=181703

And so my friends ends this thread and my quest. Im sure a new tg-16/pc engine repair related adventure awaits around the corner...

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo grafx 16 repair]

Ready for a good chuckle? Gentlemen behold.....my hucard test slot!






Used a slot from a dummy board and cut it to size took many hours of soldering. 
i couldnt figure out a easier way to do it.

 The only thing that bothered me is i had no way to test it on another tg-16 cause the other unit i have is hard modded to japanese and doesn't even have the spokes to solder on anymore like this one. I checked all the wires with a meter,but one sure way to make sure its working was to put in the system card. When i put the system card in the actual slot i get a kaleidescope of colors and sound.

All the games i tried had the same result if i was using the actual card slot. Different color screen every time i turn it on and sometimes a ping of sound. Then i put in the system card and got the many colors and sound. So it seems it works but that means its not a slot issue and il go on to the next phase and change the work and video ram chips.

Anyone have any ideas how else i can test the slot than this abomination i have made?

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: Hucard Pin Info Requested]

theres 2 odd devices on this site that look like some sort of hucard slot pc access thingy. just throwing it around. never seen them before,the Super twin Disk system PC-Engine set and PC-Eagle +PC-Engine Eagle data us:



http://www.ntscco.com.hk/pcn.htm

[Buy/Sell/Trade / Re: UPDATED 12/8 - The COLOSSAL Sale: 529 games for sale]

wooo hooo,mine arrived safely the other day and now i have all the peachboy games! Thanks dean

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo grafx 16 repair]

Thanks keranu 

Some progress. Added some more info to the first post about the screen color and stuff.

The 2 chips are common and in many devices. Many substitutes out there.
With some help from channelmaniac over at neo geo forums hes located substitutes.
This is his quote:
They are both appear to be JEDEC compliant SRAMs.
Here's a replacement for the 256k one:
http://www.arcadecomponents.com/cata...46/4758714.htm
I don't have one for the 64k SRAM yet. I'm still trying to source one. A 6164 or 6264 SRAM IC in SOIC packaging should fit.

I will begin with changing the two HSRM20256 LM12 with the chips on that link and see if any change.
If no change and after my hulk like rampage il change the HSRM2264 LM10
NEC Gods help me.




heres some tech info on both chips:
For the HSRM20256 LM12. Still haven't found the official pdf or document for it:


For the HSRM2264 LM10:

Pdf can be found here:
http://www.datasheets.org.uk/search.php?t=0&q=SRM2264+LM10&manystr=&sub.x=34&sub.y=14

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: My turbo grafx original cd player doesn't spin.]

cool thanks kid rondeau. I should of searched the forum better cause i found this pic of a pc engine cd opened. I can see the complete gear in it.



i looked through my parts box and couldnt find a gear close to it. Il gut some old sony players later during the month.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / TurboGrafx-16 Repair]

Howdy again,this is another one of my boring threads. This time for this non-working tg-16 ive had for years.
And like my other thread this one may take years to finish.

Every time I switch it on all i get is a solid blue or green color screen with no game in it.
With a game in it i get a different color solid screen like white or red,etc and sometimes a ping of sound depending on the game.
With a system card 2.0 in it i get a flashing screen with lines and beeps of sound.

When i plug in my working tg-16 without a game in it i get a solid orange screen.

Ive cleaned the cart slot like you wouldn't believe then checked every pin with the tester to see if there was contact. Plugged it in with a regular rf and ac adapter then with a cd unit with same results.
I'm not the original owner but im the first to open it. No other history is known.
Ive checked all of the components with a multi tester finding nothing wrong with them. No sign of melt or burnt smell.


So i went on a search for consoles with a similar problems.
If it was the crystal there would be sound and weird colors even black and white picture but game will load,
If any of the main processor chips were faulty there would still be video but all kinds of weird pixels and stuff,same if it was faulty voltage regulators.
What about cut traces or corroded traces? All traces were checked with a strong light and no sign of cutting or corrosion was found. The ram chips were checked for continuity to see if there was a bad trace. They were fine.
What about cracked or loose solder joints? All were inspected and are fine.
Might be a fuse somewhere inside that may have blown like the psx many fuse affliction. Theres only 1 fuse in the tg-16 and it checked out fine.
If the fuse is fine then how could a power surge or something not trip it saving the ram chips? I suspect energy feedback from a faulty controller and I found controller pins stuck in the controller port.
What are ram chips? Seems that consoles need the video and work ram chips to function properly
Idiot baka,why don't you trash it and just get another tg-16? Good question...

All i found with a similar problem was the neo geo aes. Its cause was bad video ram chips. Replacing them is the only cure.
So im gonna go this route and change the video ram chips on the tg-16. Only problem is finding the exact same chips or a possible substitute.

the 2 small chips side to side i think are the video ram,IC114 and IC110 printed with HSRM20256 LM12.
The chip under the shield thingy i think is the work ram,IC102 printed with HSRM2264 LM10
Both by seiko/epson with the two little triangle logo. surface mount 28 pin
I'm going by a specs faq i found for a super grafx that has similar chips and calls them video ram.

Does anyone know where i can find these chips? Or anyone have any info or pointers to add? Something
I may of missed to check?
(sacrifices a bull to summon dlite and other tg-16 guru's)
If i find and replace the video or work ram chips and nothing changes il change the voltage regulator chips next and go down the line replacing every chip till i fix it.

there are 5 more chips on a turbo grafx 16:
HUC6260-Video Priority Controller
HUC6280-the cpu
HUC6270-Video Display Controller
C358C-low-noise dual op amp
7805- 5v voltage regulator

some more board pics

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Post Your PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 Collection Here!!!]

I have a small collection. It's still growing:



The 2 duos that use to cause me so much headaches:



One TG-16 hard modded the other untouched.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo duo repair]

Ok this is the last thread But im stoked about my newest find.

I found this cd player at another salvation army for $7: Hitachi DA-C501










And it has identical laser and mechanism as a turbo duo. Same dimensions and everything. And when i look on the sides it has the same cog,sled motor,screw holes,etc and serial numbers on the base of the mechanism like the duo's. I can remove this and place it in a duo easily.
Now my saga is truly over now that i have a spare mechanism without shelling lots of money to china and other places.


Heres some pointers for those of you seeking old cd players at thrift shops:

Check the back for the year first that it was made. Between 1989 and 1995 HOP-M3 lasers were used in many cd players. Don't bother with looking at Sony and jvc cd players from that time period cause they manufacture there own lasers.
Try and plug in the unit at the store and open the cd tray. Take a small flashlight or look in the store for a small table lamp and look inside to see the familiar box shape of the HOP-M3 laser. It is visable in most players and the cd tray has a huge gap in the middle of it to accommodate it so that is also a sign there might be a HOP-M3 in it.
Not all cd players have a manufacturing date or the label came off with age so if it looks old and not recent technology then peek inside through the open cd tray with flashlight.
And if you can take a cd and play it. Even if all the player has are plugs it will display tracks and indicate its playing on the display. If it does its a keeper.



I also discovered something disturbing. I was at one thrift store as it was closing and they were going through aisle's dumping stuff on the floor that they couldn't sell. I heard workers saying it was all going to the back. That store had an exposed dock area like a old post office and there was a some dumpsters back there. A smaller one and a larger one. The smaller one was one of those grinder ones that destroys and compacts stuff. I thought thrift stores keep stuff till it sells but they destroy it and send it to the dump after a while. So who knows how many good cd players they've disposed of over the years and games and possibly turbo grafx16's and turbo duo's!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo duo repair]

My turbo duo repair saga is over.

I finally had some time yesterday to transfer the laser i got from the cd unit to my duo. Heres a pic of the cd players mechanism,bottom view:

(The spindle motor is the same size as the duo's but the length of the shaft is longer so its useless. And the connectors are wider on the other end connecting to the cd players mother board so they wont connect to a duo but I'm sure a transplant can be made in the future if needed.)

First before putting the new laser in my duo i put in the duo's old laser in the cd player. The laser would move,light up but wouldn't read cd's. I cleaned the lens and nothing.

So i installed the cd units laser in my duo and powered it up with dracula X. I heard a rubbing sound and turned it off immediately. I was afraid it was the laser but it was the top half of the spindle connector. So i powered it on and ignored the noise and the game started right away. I played for an hour.

All this time i thought it was the gear motor or sled motor and it was just acting against a faulty laser. No wonder the cog started rubbing at it. Looking around the net for info i learned that the sled motor in cd players almost never gives out. That the spindle motor will go out before a sled motor.

Then i realized why didn't i put the laser i had bought from electronix.com in it in the first place before putting it in my other duo. I could of saved me months of searching and stuff. I'm an idiot.

So i took a swab and put a tiny bit of 4 in 1 oil on it then swabbed in one area on the side of the top spindle connector. Just dabbed in one spot very fast with a minuscule amount of oil. The rubbing noise was gone.

Now i decided to see if i can fix the plastic cd laser cover. Man that took a while to adjust just right. I noticed it would rub against the spindle. So i put one finger on the spindle and another on the sled motor and moved the laser around adjusting the laser cover till there was absolutely no rubbing.
I played an hour with the cd laser cover on with no problems.

So my friends its the end of this thread. Thanks for your help. Both duo's are functioning and one with its laser cover. The other duo didn't have a laser cover but i would like one just to see it complete.
I still would like 2 more hop-m3's and mechanisms just in case for future breakdowns so il still search thrift stores for old cd players. IL update the cd player list as i find them. Maybe even give away any extra lasers i find down the way cause cd players are cheap and plentiful in the chicago area.

Now i can post in other threads now that i have free time yay and play many duo games to talk about.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Re: turbo duo repair]

I was at my local salvation army last night eying an old stack-on-style cd player made by Scott,1989 and wondered if it might have a hop-m3 and mechanism so i can use it to rebuild my turbo duo's mechanism. It was the same age as my duo and it only costed 6 bucks so i thought what the hell,if its useless il just leave it at the donation bin on my next trip.
When i got home and opened it up i struck paydirt. A nice hop-m3 laser inside:

Sorry for the crappy pictures my camera takes,i took many and this was the best one where you can see the letters HOP-M3 on the laser. I plugged it in and it plays cd's so the laser eye is functional.
The sled motor,not pictured but i can see it on the side,that i mainly need is square and not round and the main cog is slightly smaller than the duo's. But thats ok I still have many usefull parts here. The fragile connectors and the laser eye.
 
But now im gonna hit as many thrift stores as i can and look for old stand alone and stack-on-style cd players of the same time period as the duo and see if i can get more parts. I know its butchering old cd players but its for a good cause.
Il tells ya,my search for a hop-m3 with mechanism aint yielding fruit. The chinese company's i emailed say they will only sell in 100 pieces or more. And this one place in ireland: www.donberg.ie/search/search.pl?query=hop-m3&maxlines=100&wordflag=and&group=&page=0
wants almost 50 bucks for a mechanism and im not even sure they will ship overseas. But man thats pricey and its not an exact match.

If you guys find other cd players with the same laser or mechanism post them here,maybe we can make a database  or something. Cause theres way more cd players than duos. Even after all these years theres still enough of them around to build walls and dams with. This sucker was heavy,thick gauged steel casing and i had to walk 4 miles home with it in a trash bag cause they didnt have a bag big enough for it.

Heres other pics of the unit:






----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Cd players with hop-m3 lasers and stuff:
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
CD player/model:                compatible mechanism:              Useful parts:                        has been opened                                                                                                                                       and confirmed:

Scott DA970-manu.1989                    no                          connectors,                                  yes
                                                                                      laser.

Denon UCD60,UCD70,
UCD100,UCD110,UCD250                unknown                        laser                                unconfirmed,only pics   
dates unknown                                                                                                     of the units laser online

Linn Karik models from                    unknown                        laser                               unconfirmed,only notes
01/1992 to 11/1996 to                                                                                                 online.
serial number 12999

Hitachi DA-C501                           yes,identical               mechanism,spindlemotor,                 yes
                                                                                    laser and connectors.
                                                                                       everything.