Topics

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / Repurpose your original TG-16 PSU]

The Turbo-CD dock replaces your original AC adapter for powering the console and repurposes it as the drive's AC adapter for use as a stand-alone portable CD player. I doubt anyone these days is using it as a portable CD player. Heck, it strains the definition of "portable" simply by not having a battery power option.

So, what are you using your old TG-16 adapter for? It's actually surprisingly versatile... like the Sega Genesis/Megadrive MK-1602.

Yeah, it's rated 10.5v but most ~9v systems will tolerate it just fine and the voltage regulator will just put out a little extra heat. Simple AC adapters were generally linear/unregulated back then so the voltage was variable depending on load (higher when unloaded) and the systems were designed to take it. Japan was notorious for not including AC adapters with consumer electronics that require them so they were usually designed to tolerate each other's PSUs. Super Famicom expected you to use the Famicom PSU but you could also use Sega Master System, PC Engine, Megadrive Model 1, Sega CD (both models), etc. EU/AU got a taste of this when Nintendo left the charger out of the DSi XL and the rest of us encountered this with the NN3DSXL worldwide.

Even early Turbo-CD drives and CD-ROM² drives can be identical inside, though one is marked as "9v" and the other as "10.5v" simply because of the different PSUs used between North America and Japan. Clearly, it can take both.

Most old Japanese consoles were center negative polarity where most electronics today with the same 5.5x2.1mm barrel connector are center positive. That makes the TG-16 adapter useful for Master System/Mark III, Genesis/Megadrive, Famicom, NES-001/101 (OEM is AC-AC so reverse isn't true), some Neo Geo AES, Super Famicom, Atari Jaguar, and more.

I'm using mine with a Neo Geo AES that SNK originally sold with NEO-POW3 10v or 11v adapter. 10.5v lands right in the middle but if you need one for your AES make sure yours is not one of the ones that requires regulated 5v. Those will also fit your TG-16 plug or 10/11v SNK NEO-POW3 but they will fry! Stupid SNK. Supposedly you can't trust the label on the bottom so you have to either open it up or try a 5v center negative supply first. Dim, blocky patterns with 5v usually indicate a that you have a system that needs more voltage. Easiest source of a regulated 5v is to adapt a 1A USB charger.

Just figured I'd throw this out there in case your original is hanging around as dead weight while you have another console that could use it.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Anyone made their own DIY multi tap? 6-button controller?]

I've got one TurboGrafx controller (well, two if you count the Turbo Express) and I definitely want to expand my options. The expense of adding a second controller is just too much to justify since I don't have a multi tap or two-player adapter and I have to factor that cost in too. I'd rather do the NES to PCE/TG16 controller mod and build my own multi tap. I'm sure I could clone it if I had one to analyze, but I don't. Does anyone have the info on building DIY multi taps?

Actually, if I build my own controllers, I'd like to build a couple six-button arcade control panels... or more. I was already planning on building a 5-player control panel that I can adapt to various consoles. I stumbled on a PCB from Ptchnk on OSHPark that seems to incorporate the 2P adapter for your own arcade control panels but it is for standard two-button pads and doesn't really tell me how to scale to 5-players. If it's a matter of daisy-chaining shift registers then I can probably figure it out from there, but I have no idea if it's that simple without having found the info online.

PC-Engine 2-Players Control Board V1.1

https://oshpark.com/shared_projects/5BpBrxA5
wayback://oshpark.com/shared_projects/5BpBrxA5

I'd appreciate any info on this!

[Console Repair/Mod Center / Looks like replacement FFCs for KSS-220a are available now...]

http://gamedoctorhk.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=72_21_123&products_id=2230

At $10 each, you'll probably be better off using a hot air station to salvage from a broken Discman, but newly manufactured ones are available.

Just an FYI, since I don't see these mentioned yet. ...and, no, I didn't tear my ribbon.

[Console Repair/Mod Center / “Junk” PC Engine CD-ROM^2]

Just received and tested with an audio disc before work. The laser bobs when I trip the lid sensor but the disc does not spin. I didn't want to force the carriage back without checking out the gear first so I don't know yet if it returns to the center (ran out of time before work).

Three silver screws and one brass-colored screw on the outside. PCB screw is silver colored. Did someone mix this up or it one of the external screws supposed to be different?

Other than a loose dust ball it was pretty clean inside. It looks like the gear has already been replaced and all three spin easily with no skipping. The rails and corkscrew gears seem to have fresh grease (nothing dried or caked). The replacement middle/center gear is clear, unlike the ones I see from Console5 or eBay.

Despite the clean internals, the bottom side of the lid has a layer of dust on it, so perhaps it's just a dirty laser? If a laser were so dirty that it couldn't see the disc, would the disc still spin?

A sticker on the laser assembly says "KSS-220A." Isn't that the compatible replacement and not the original? Perhaps it just needs to be tweaked.

I haven't dug all the way in to check out the rest of the Mylar flexible flat cables but they are intact everywhere I can see. The adhesive piece holding one of them to the laser motor seems to have slipped a bit over the years but that doesn't seem to be a problem.

I'll see if the laser homes when I get back, but what would you check next? Thanks!

[PCE/TG-16|CD/SGX Discussion / UpperGrafx/UperGrafx vs. Super SD System 3]

A couple months ago I traded my Turbo EverDrive for a TurboGrafx-CD dock. It was WAY past time for me to get a CD drive for my TG16. The thing is, I'm the type who prefers to buy broken crap and fix it, like I recently did for a "junk" Neo Geo AES a few months back (trace repair; adapt a PSU, rewire Neo-Geo X USB sticks, and a new voltage regulator). I've been playing the waiting game, looking for a good deal on a junk drive.

I neglected to pick up a CD-ROM^2 unit when I was in Japan several months ago purely because I didn't have the luggage space, so I recently ordered a "junk" PC Engine CD-ROM^2 drive and a new TurboED (need it as a System Card). I'd like to reduce wear and tear, so I've also had my ear to the ground for any optical drive emulator options. I know that the guy who makes the Rhea and Phoebe ODEs for Sega Saturn mentioned his interest in making one back in 2015 but he hadn't really said anything since.

Out of the blue, we get Terra Onion's Super SD System 2 adapter that runs HuCard/TurboChip, CD, Super CD, and Arcade CD games from SD card. I kinda wish it had a USB port and could play or dump original CDs from a USB disc drive, but Open PS2 Loader (OPL) never even got that functionality despite all the malfunctioning DRE PS2s out there.

Knowing that this would preclude the use of UperGrafx/UpperGrafx for digital video, I went back to the English section of the UperGrafx site to see if they had ever made an internal or Duo version (I've installed a ton of UltraHDMI and Hi-Def NES, so I'd be up for it). While I didn't find that, I did find a note saying that it has all the hardware needed to run CD games... and it's already built in even though they aren't sure if they will release the functionality. Well, I couldn't help but notice a section about "CD-ROM2" in the Japanese part. Sure enough, it was about adapting CD images for a "memory card." I wasn't even aware of the UpperGrafx having a card slot!

Obviously, their English-language section is lacking, so I thought I'd come here to see if I could learn anything else about this device. No, I'm not looking at it as an alternative to real games (I LOVES me some real games). I'm looking at it as a way to preserve the original hardware and add digital video. Being in the USA with no good way to use RGB, the UpperGrafx's DVI/HDMI is a bit more important to me than the SSDSys3's RGB.

I did try searching for an existing topic about this but Tapatalk search isn't working and all I get from my PC are SuperGrafx threads.