Turbo-Grafx 16 Picture Issues

tbsjordan · 04/27/2011, 12:50 PM

Got my first TG-16 in the mail today. I took a chance a bought one off ebay cheap(seller said he never tested it.) The system works, but I can't get a good picture. The system came with TV Sports Basketball, here's a couple pictures of how it looks.

To make sure it wasn't the game I went ahead and tried a copy of Military Madness that I had already.

The pictures actually adds more color to the pictures, its actually darker in person. I thought it could be the rf but I tried a NES rf and the picture just rolled. And if it makes any difference I'm using a Model 1 Genesis power supply because the system came with some panasonic adapter I didn't trust using.

Anyone have any suggestions?

DragonmasterDan · 04/27/2011, 01:09 PM

Quote from: tbsjordan on 04/27/2011, 12:50 PMGot my first TG-16 in the mail today. I took a chance a bought one off ebay cheap(seller said he never tested it.) The system works, but I can't get a good picture. The system came with TV Sports Basketball, here's a couple pictures of how it looks.

To make sure it wasn't the game I went ahead and tried a copy of Military Madness that I had already.

The pictures actually adds more color to the pictures, its actually darker in person. I thought it could be the rf but I tried a NES rf and the picture just rolled. And if it makes any difference I'm using a Model 1 Genesis power supply because the system came with some panasonic adapter I didn't trust using.

Anyone have any suggestions?

Do you have a different RF switch to test with? if the NES RF wasn't working at all and this one didn't work properly it might be the TV as well. Try a different TV, the panasonic power and a different RF if possible.

NecroPhile · 04/27/2011, 01:16 PM

Did you try jiggling the rf connector on the TG? Its solder connections might need some help.

alexsduo · 04/27/2011, 01:21 PM

You can add RCA out, I am sure there is a schematic somewhere on this site.

I have a turbo grafx, that does not output any picture via RF, but when I plug it in the expansion dock, it works great... So I have to assume the RF is bad...

Good luck!

thesteve · 04/27/2011, 03:11 PM

i just fixed the rf on my third tg16.
it appeared to be a build defect (missing part) in the rf modulator.
it was working withe poor pic on one tv and not at all on another

alexsduo · 04/27/2011, 05:58 PM

Hmmm, thesteve, can you provide me some assistance? Like what part was missing, did you just solder it, I want to get another TG up and running. Any pics would help... Thanks!

thesteve · 04/27/2011, 06:31 PM

i should have taken a pic.
if u look at the board on the rf modulator (jack on top three pins bottom) just below the jack is its solder joint.
there needs to be a small SM capacitor connecting it to the solder joint to its right

tbsjordan · 04/27/2011, 07:18 PM

I tried a bunch of other r/f and ac's and I still got the same result. I hooked up my NES to make sure the tv wasn't the problem and it had a clear picture. I don't have another tv to test it on. Guess either my tv hates it or I got burned

BlueBMW · 04/27/2011, 07:23 PM

You might try and rig one of these up.... ultimately you want to use composite over RF anyways...

http://www.cgquarterly.com/articles/tg16_cable.htm

thesteve · 04/27/2011, 07:40 PM

that cable works well

Bernie · 04/27/2011, 07:57 PM

Nice site Blue! Got some good reading there.

alexsduo · 04/27/2011, 08:11 PM

Great link, Im gonna try that for sure!

thesteve · 04/27/2011, 09:41 PM

composite is better
but for the sake of those who want it to work the way it was designed to (me included), we should pursue this.
i made one weak unit display strong through rf all ready, so it can be done I just need to get pics up.

thesteve · 04/27/2011, 11:01 PM

the one i got was missing the pass cap.
i replaced it with a chip cap from a cd rom board

alexsduo · 04/27/2011, 11:27 PM

Steve, you're the man. I am not sure what to do, I will have to look at it..

I know I saw another schematic where you solder the wires in the inside, for more of a permanent solution... I will try to find it, as I know I will rip those cables while I am having a monster session of Keith Courage.

thesteve · 04/27/2011, 11:41 PM

i just mounted my L R V jacks on the right side of the unit because i had room to. on my composit mod

tbsjordan · 04/28/2011, 08:47 AM

I completey forgot about TurboBoosters, one of them would probably fix the issue right?

alexsduo · 04/28/2011, 09:42 AM

Yeah, the Turbo booster would work, if the problem is the RF, and the video signal is good from the board...

tbsjordan · 05/03/2011, 10:53 AM

Small little update, a collector I know who is scaling back decided to sell me his TG-16 and games so I went ahead a bought it. Here's how the picture is looking on it:

Goes to show the the other Turbo had something wrong internally. I tried the old one with the new one's cables and still got bad picture.

Not sure what I'll do with the other Turbo (if someone wants to buy/trade for it to fix it up let me know) but I'm happy I finally got a working system.

BlueBMW · 05/03/2011, 08:50 PM

And you're using it on a CRT! Good show

tbsjordan · 05/04/2011, 08:59 AM

I don't even own an LCD tv

This tv is starting to have some picture issues though, so I may end up having to upgrade sometime soon though

BlueBMW · 05/04/2011, 10:08 AM

I wsih tv makers would at a retro mode option to make a modern tv look and function like a crt. (Including light gun compatibility etc)

alexsduo · 05/04/2011, 10:16 AM

That would be cool.... EMS makes a lightgun for projectors and lcd...

http://www.hkems.com/product/xbox/LCDTopGun.htm