Messages

Yeah, it's pretty obvious when you have this issue, just didn't realize it was a thing until a few years ago, thought it was completely normal, since mine did it from day 1.

It did get louder over the years though so when I saw that post a while back describing the issue I knew that was the problem immediately.

I'm hoping someone experienced with repairs and mods might be able to take on some repairs and mods I'd like to have done to my systems. I have my original TG16 and TGCD that I got for Christmas in 1989 and 1990, and everything has worked well up until about 2 years ago when the CDROM stopped spinning. I knew the gears were going out due to the noises that it would make when accessing the disc when the laser had to move (plastic clicking and grinding noises). I have a good level of skill with electronics repair, I just don't have the time to actually get the repairs done.

Right now I think that the repairs I need (or might be a good idea to do) are:

• TGCD gear replacement (I have the parts to do the replacement)
• TGCD resistor replacement for loading "whirring" noise that comes through the TV speakers. I believe this is a surface mount resistor that was prone to getting cracked during assembly mentioned in posts here a while back. Thought this was normal until a friend bought a TGCD from Craigslist a few years ago and it was silent.
• TGCD cap replacement (for good measure)
• TG Express cap replacement. Currently only getting white screen when turning on. Previously had really low sound as well.

Beyond the repairs, there are some mods I'd like done as well, if anyone is doing these currently:

• TG16 region mod
• TGCD dock component video mod. Basically looking to take advantage of the better RGB signals coming directly from the chip, but would prefer to gave it in the dock rather than the system itself
• TG Express screen replacement with larger screen

If anyone is currently doing these repairs and mods, please let me know. Thanks!

System card 2.0 would be kind of neat to do. Has anyone else also done this, but maybe with a different game, like Keith Courage since that was the original pack-in game for the US?

Has anyone thought about doing the instructions as were mentioned in the original post, just curious to see what that might look like.

Overall it's a pretty neat mod that I wouldn't mind doing, if I can find the time. I've got other repairs that my systems need, and some desired mods I haven't gotten around to.

2015 was a busy year and believe it or not, this is one of the first days I've had to even look at the forums.

Any new status updates on this? Also feel free to user my user name as an NPC if that's still a thing!

I'm missing a couple of manuals for games in my collection and would like to see if anyone has any spares laying around that they could part with.

Everything else is complete, but need the manuals for

Fighting Street
Hit the Ice

PM me and let me know if you have some with prices. Thanks!

Very generous! I'd like to be entered as well, always wanted Klax, just never made its way into my collection.


Good luck to all who entered!

Late to the party here, but I agree, new boob placement looks much better.

I think that if her arms swung a little bit less at the elbow and just a bit more at the shoulder it would be just about right.

Looking forward to seeing more developments of this.

Related to the infamous middle gear, or another gear in the system? Looks like it's shooting a laser, but just not spinning.

Ordered a middle gear replacement from Hong Kong that will hopefully be here before too long. If it's that simple I'll be happy about it.

Just makes me realize that when you've had a device like this for 23 years or so things are bound to happen. I should really find another laser and some other parts to make sure I can keep this running for another 23!

So, my TG CD has been sitting dormant for a while, in it's hard case. I've now got a dedicated retro gaming area, and hooked it up this morning before work and while everything seems normal, powers on, etc. the CD won't spin.

I didn't have time to open it up and take a look, but what types of issues have others run into that cause this behavior? I'd like to see if I can get an idea of what I'm looking for before I go monkeying around.

Last thing I played was to test Mysterious Song and that worked normally. Since that time the system has been sitting in the hard case for about a year or so not really doing anything.

Cool thanks, I figured that was the case, now just need to open up the unit to see if that's the case.

If not, where is it that most of you guys are ordering your parts for these types of repairs?

So, those that have repaired this issue before, is there any reason that you specifically need to use a surface mount resistor? I was planning on doing this soon, but could only find some really small 10k ohm through hole type resistors. any reason the leads couldn't be cut short, laid flat and soldered to the pads?

Yeah louder isn't really a concern, and quicker is nice, though there's something to be said for just slipping a new gear on and not having to do as much work 

Anyone used one of these yet? Messaged seller on ebay as well, but wondering of advantage/disadvantage over the Keith Courage gears.

I've had this issue (though not as horrible sounding as that vid) since day 1 with my CD when I got it in 91. I thought this was just the way they sounded.

Had a buddy buy another CD off of craigslist a couple years ago and it was silent, it was WEIRD to hear that...almost wrong 

I think that I'll probably fix it though since it's not supposed to be like that when I start doing a few more mods to my system.

Yeah those connectors might come in handy at some point. My plan is to take s-vid from the TG16 and sound from the CD dock.

I don't think I saw one (but maybe I missed it buried in other posts), but is there a parts list for the various components needed for the mod? Like a preferred s-vid jack, transistor, etc.? How do people that do the mod typically prefer to mount the s-vid jack to the system?

Great entertaining and informative reviews as always.

That being said it appears that the easiest way to do the s-vid mod would be to remove the RF box and mount the jack in that hole.

What is the preferred method that people use to mound it to the PCB or case?


Does anyone have a preferred parts list/model numbers for the various items required for the mod?

Yeah I've come across a few things on the net that made mention of things like replacing resistors with different values, etc. to produce more accurate sound and such. I'm sure there's not a ton that can be done, but certainly curious.

So, not sure this topic will make sense, but I trust that the modders in the PCEFX forums are some of the most knowledgeable out there.

I recently got a Retron 3. I chose this one over the Retron 5 mainly because I wanted to use it, along with my TG16 with a sweet Commodore 1701 monitor that I have. The screen is small, but I have a good space now in my guest room to put my retro stuff and it just seems fitting to play these games on a CRT type screen.

What I'm wondering however is if there are mods that can be done to the Retron 3 that can make it better. I know that clone hardware will never be better than original (and I'll probably get original consoles eventually, but my primary concern is collecting TG16 stuff, not the others).

Basically what I've heard is that there are issues with some sound reproduction for the SNES and Genesis, and some incompatibility issues with some games for all 3 slots. I'm just curious if anyone has taken the time to mod one of these and what can be done to get the best quality possible out of them.

PC Engine/Turbo hands down!

Quick question, I see a lot of people talking about retaining composite when doing the s-vid mod. Are there any worries about not being able to get composite vid from the expansion port once the mod is done? I'd like to retain the capability of my CD dock, just adding s-vid to the Turbo.

Also I see that what appears to be the easiest way to mount the s-vid jack is to remove the RF box. For arguments sake, would it be easy (though with case mods) to mound the s-vid on the back of the system?

Haha, very true!

At least the last post before me was this year and not something from 2008 I suppose 

I think that I may try this soon. It looks relatively simple and should be able to get all the parts I need at the Fry's Electronics near where I work.

I plan on hooking this up to a Commodore 1702 monitor, which allows for separate Chroma/Luma inputs. I figure the S-Video Mod plus one of the below cables will really make things look nice on that monitor (which looks amazing even with composite).

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hosa-6Ft-S-Video-Breakout-Cable-S-Video-Male-Male-RCA-VSA356-/390929793225?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item5b053b40c9

I also recently got a RetroN 3 system, which allows for S-Vid out, so using that cable and monitor I think that the NES/SNES/Genny games I'll be playing will look great too.

Any suggestions or advice on potential pitfalls with this mod? I'm a bit rusty with the ol' soldering iron, but overall this looks very simple.

Do it as a back piece!!!!

Here's something that might help you out layout wise. Paul Robertson is pretty bad ass

Yeah something similar with different systems and characters mashed up is likely what I'd be going for.

Guys, guys.  It's going to be OK.

But where's the clip!? 

The case looks great actually.

I've been thinking about getting a half sleeve on my right arm (gotta have a way to cover it when needed, so no full sleeves for me) that is all gaming related. I'd like to have a mish mash of Nintendo, Sega, Arcade and TG16 stuff in there from the golden era of gaming, but TG16 stuff will probably outweigh most everything else.

Just gotta find a good artist in the Seattle area that can do the work. I'm by no means and artist, so I'll have to explain the concept and have someone not only do the tat, but design the layout and do the artwork too.

Sounds pretty awesome. It's going to be several sittings with many hours, but awesome no less. 

To help the artist out, you could search and find the characters/images you want, print them out and do a collage. Scissors and a stick of glue would be all you need. That will help them out big time and maybe bring down the cost of your piece.

Yeah the collage idea would probably be great, and then the artist could potentially rearrange stuff as it makes sense.

The biggest downside is the time and money investment (I already have quite a few tattoos and my left arms is not sleeved, but most of the upper half is already taken up by a tattoo). Also making sure I capture the idea that gaming is a huge part of my life and my favorite era honestly is 16bit, all while having it mesh into a coherent design that "flows" well.

Combining elements of Nintendo characters, Sega, Arcade and TG16 could be hard to do in a cohesive manner. I'd also like to get some hardware pics in there too (maybe a turbo pad or turbo stick).

It's all in my head, but I've never been good at getting that kind of stuff onto paper.

So for component are you getting the same colors as composite, just clearer, which RGB provides more color and clarity?

So overall what is the end result of this component mod/board vs RGB?

I'm going to test my Bravia for 240P happiness. I don't think that my Denon receiver will pass the signal properly, so may have to send video to the TV directly and sound to the receiver. Only downside is more remotes/button presses to deal with I suppose.

I never done a rgb mod before so I can't tell you how they compare with the component video mod. From what I've read, raw rgb is almost unusable without some sort of amplification circuit.

Yeah I like the board you've created and it seems easy enough for me to tap the expansion port (I'd put this in my CD Dock). I'm just wondering if RGB is significantly better picture wise than component. Like if composite is worst, then Svideo, then Component and then RGB. Unfortunately pictures on the internet usually don't do what everyone is seeing on screen in person justice.

I know that you can't answer the question personally not having done an RGB mod, but would be interesting to get someone's take that have seen both.

So overall what is the end result of this component mod/board vs RGB?

I'm going to test my Bravia for 240P happiness. I don't think that my Denon receiver will pass the signal properly, so may have to send video to the TV directly and sound to the receiver. Only downside is more remotes/button presses to deal with I suppose.

Any updates on the translation project?

I've been thinking about getting a half sleeve on my right arm (gotta have a way to cover it when needed, so no full sleeves for me) that is all gaming related. I'd like to have a mish mash of Nintendo, Sega, Arcade and TG16 stuff in there from the golden era of gaming, but TG16 stuff will probably outweigh most everything else.

Just gotta find a good artist in the Seattle area that can do the work. I'm by no means and artist, so I'll have to explain the concept and have someone not only do the tat, but design the layout and do the artwork too.

I'm interested in this. I've been toying with the idea of an RGB conversion for my TG16/TGCD for a while, but don't have much spare time, so anything that comes pre-fabed and is basically ready to solder in would be great.

My plan would be to modify the CD dock, would just have to carefully plan where to put the component jacks on that. Previously I was highly considering a DIN8 to SCART setup and then use a converter to change that to compontent or HDMI.

I've downloaded PCE for PSP, but not really sure how it's supposed to work. I can get it on my memory stick, and the icon appears and such, but there doesn't seem to be a way to load anything without it crashing. I went looking for a manual or instructions of any kind but can't find any online.

Any help if you've got experience with this one would be great.

It's not so much screen transitions as it is how unbearably slow your character walks. Getting from one side of the screen to the other in an outdoor area takes forever. If I played at this speed it would take days just to walk anywhere.

What other PSP TurboGrafx emulators are available?

Sign me up!

So I've been using HuGo on the PSP to play some games in the car when I'm carpooling. I've played a few and generally they run well, but Neutopia 2 is basically unplayable. You walk soooooooooo slow that it takes forever just to transition from one screen to another.

I don't think that this is normal, but I don't have the HuCard to compare on actual hardware. Has anyone else seen this type of behavior?

Having just ordered Strider Arcade CD, I've been playing a lot of Strider on PS2. ;)

I'd love to hear your thoughts on Strider ACD...it's not as good as it should be. Still...maybe you'll find something good in it? I'm not finding much! Ahhh...

Strider should have been awesome but is generally just OK in my opinion.

You should make sure to keep everyone updated with pictures of progress toward the end result, I for one find this cab very interesting 

Any time I go to e-Bay just makes me wish I'd had more income years ago when I first started using it to buy Turbo stuff....now most of the stuff that I don't have yet is priced way to high, or never seen on e-Bay...or of course when it does show up it's priced for $100s.

I'd totally play me some Bubble Bobble on the TG.

This would be an interesting project to see tackled.

Yeah, the dumbass on the box shouldn't have been there.

They needed something cool, like tits and robots.

Yes. This.

This was never really on my radar and then today I saw the review:

wayback://thebrothersduomazov.com/seiya-monogatari-anearth-fantasy-stories.html

I'll certainly be watching development of this.

I'll have to really think about some of the swaps since the only one I can think of right now is swapping Victory Run for Outrun since that had an arcade presence in the US so would be recognized.

I think that one of the HUGE failings of NEC early on was changing the box art of the games. They should have taken the EXACT same art of the Japanese release in 99% of cases and just translated the text. In the store sitting next to Genesis games at the time the box art looked WAY too goofy for your average uninformed consumer, and they gravitated towards the cooler box art of the Genesis. If it weren't for that I think that the novelty of HuCards and CDs would have turned more heads because let's face it, those chips and CDs were some fucking high tech looking shit at the time.

Got my TG16 in 1989, which is all I wanted for xmas that year. Screw that Genesis nonsense, I KNEW the Turbo was THE system 

My parents skrimped and saved and I got a TG-CD the next xmas, which was one of the best xmas mornings ever. I never owned any of the other systems of that time because to me they were all inferior, and why waste the money?

Sign me up for sure!

Enter me into this raffle!

I cried a bit internally when I saw the damage pics!

This is great, I'm always looking for chip tune and other TG music, so I'll surely be downloading quite a bit from this site.