NEC TurboGrafx 16 Repair / Composite AV & PC Engine Controller to TG16 Adapter 

I've reviewed this video tonight and thought about a comment I mentioned quickly in passing there that could be miss-understood. The point where I was talking about soldering the DIN connector I said "I won't bore you that, there's plenty of videos showing that sort of thing", and I then refered to MissMadLemons videos there - that came out completely the wrong way and will be miss-understood. What I was trying to say is "no one wants to watch ME soldering DIN connectors" - but to be clear, if you've never soldered before and never tinned connections etc - you SHOULD check out her videos because they are excellent!! I do hope I didn't cause offense with the way I said that. Foot in mouth syndrome - I was really upset afterwards with what I had said, and just didn't realise until post upload =/ Links to videos and channels mentioned:- MsMadLemon Basic Electronics & Soldering Guide Part 1 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YM9oUuy5qAQ.html MsMadLemon Basic Electronics & Soldering Guide Part 2 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8GLDhOklsCM.html Jaskwadrata PC Engine Mods & Homebrew HuCard - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--apNvwwyKI0.html Scott's Game Asylum - ru-vid.com/show-UCFNcthXAXwdfi0RNRAK9Z7g

Making one more comment - I actually watched the whole vid again in peace now at home since while watching at work I do not focus as well and tend to miss some important stuff. You mentioned the hardware mod to bypass the region check code - I think I found this info in one of Voultar's videos - it can be done by soldering pin 29 of hu6280 CPU to pin 30 right next to it, so really an easy mod and clean execution. Back in 90's I had no idea that console like PCE or TG16 existed (thats one of disadvantages of living in a country of so called "Eastern Bloc") - I remember when I found out about this console years later I was fascinated by how awesome it was and since then always wanted to have one, and finally got my hands on one after the years. Such a well enginered piece of gaming equipement and a really great "opener" of the 4th generation of consoles. The built in mapper functionality is just awesome, look at NES for example what happened there with all the different mappers, just an catastrophe. About soldering DIN connectors - I hate doing that :) the really nice trick I learned from a much older than me "electronics guy" is that he used to cut a potato in half (so it sits flush on the desk) and stick a din plug into it - then solder - such simple solution and it really works well! Helps to keep contacts in place and also dicipates the heat while soldering. Thanks again for mentioning me in the video! To finish up this comment, at 6:32 the "..So it got this large piece of shi...elding" :D cracked me up, I almost heard something else :P

I like how you talk in great detail about the chips and what they do. Would you ever consider making "How this console works" videos?

Over 1h long, felt like 10min I was glued. Very interesting watch and info.

The turbografx16 is such an interesting machine. And it's good to see that seemingly insignificant features of a chip can make for a massive advantage over the competition. Layers and 64 sprites, that's amazing. But then I compare everything to the commodore64. I could make a list of people's idiosyncrasies on RU-vid as far as the things they say. I hadn't noticed your 'ehms' really Chris.

Somewhat relevant: nearly a year ago I found a PAL modded CoreGrafx in Canada with an RF modulator replacing the DIN socket. Interesting little mod board but I seemed to break it somehow when looking at it, which is what prompted me to remove it. I reinstalled the DIN and the composite capacitor the mod had displaced and it was back to normal (60hz NTSC). The mod board had an NEC chip to introduce delays/waits in order to clock it down to 50hz and I believe the PAL TurboGrafx has that same chip. It also included a Sony CXA-1145P video encoder chip, IIRC (definitely CXA-11-something-P).

I had already chopped off those bits to make a Ten No Koe 2 fit a TurboGrafx-16 earlier in 2017 after picking one up straight from Japan (went there in May 2017). It worked and they are very cheap so I ordered another one for only a few dollars.

Great vid and very informative Till you mentioned it I never realized you say "er" or "um" ,but then again I think it`s just your brain loading the next comment and rather than being silent you fill in with sound don`t matter to most of us we are here for the quality of information which you always provide

I never noticed you say err a lot, now you've mentioned it, it can't be unheard lol. Great video! Hope you do a follow up showing the hard fitting of the audio mod, maybe give it some recap love? :)

Thanks for mentioning me in the video - it really means much to me! No sound through RF? hehe :) I see that little mute icon in top left corner - continue watching the vid... ;) edit: LOL You unmuted it second after I wrote this - missed :)

It is a NTSC version - it has a 1-800 callback number on the back ;). Oddly enough I have one of these in my pile of things to repair ;) in roughly similar condition. The composite mod is definitely helpful. I've found it difficult to find joysticks as well for it.

That was quite informative. I vague memories of the TurboGrafx 16 -- a couple of friends had consoles, but I didn't have much opportunity to play. The graphics/sprite capabilities were and still are quite impressive. Indeed, the gameplay looks very close to arcade quality. Thanks for the video. I learned a lot.

On RF only Systems I generally use a 4-Pin TRRS 3,5mm Jack in Place of the RF Modulator out. Wired to the Raspberry Pi standard. It‘s a really clean way to get AV without drilling holes.

At one point I mentioned the 6 pin mini DIN - it's an 8 pin mini DIN! Can anyone spot what was ACTUALLY wrong with the video output from RF? I spotted it during after reviewing, whilst it was uploading to RU-vid! Curious to see if anyone else works it out =D

Great episode and a fantastic outcome if you ask me. Great system, I think I'd like to have one for the shooters

Hope you have a good Christmas and a Prosperous New Year Chris. All the best, Wayne and Nina.

Great vid dude. Thanks for the mention at the end on the credits , your very welcome. And as for saying er a lot I hadn't noticed. Everyone does it its thinking time, ignore the Nobb who mentioned it.

Links to videos and channels mentioned:- MsMadLemon Basic Electronics & Soldering Guide Part 1 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-YM9oUuy5qAQ.html MsMadLemon Basic Electronics & Soldering Guide Part 2 - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-8GLDhOklsCM.html Jaskwadrata PC Engine Mods & Homebrew HuCard - ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE--apNvwwyKI0.html Scott's Game Asylum - ru-vid.com/show-UCFNcthXAXwdfi0RNRAK9Z7g

Great video! RF seems counterintuitive and everyone is all about RGB mods these days, but I picked up an 80s TV at an estate sale recently, with only RF coax input on it. I've been picking up RF adapters for systems when I see them at thrift stores, and RF really isn't as bad as people make it out, when used on older TVs. Obviously if you're using anything modern with the clarity and precision of our current flatscreens, then absolutely RF should be abandoned as quickly as possible. It can still have a place on older sets though, and I'd rather see the RF modulators left in the systems than ripped out like some people are doing.

Great mod Chris. It's great to have an old TV that still has an analogue tuner built in for situations just like this when all you want to know is, is the system showing signs of life before you composite video mod it. I've noticed and I don't know if you have also but some retro systems like the 48K spectrums and C64's that get sold on eBay as faulty (No Picture) actually do work perfectly fine it's just the person who tested the system before listing it has tried to tune it in using RF on a modern TV that only has a digital tuner built into it. oh, maybe I should have kept that one quiet; you just know others are going to read this and search for those (No Picture) systems now on eBay, me and my big mouth Ha-Ha. I recently picked up a Samsung UE22K5000 to put on the wall just above the desk where I do all my repair and mod videos and was quite surprised to find it has both a digital and analogue tuner built into it as there was no mention anywhere of the analogue tuner before I purchased it. It's a relatively new model TV also (2016), it came as quite a surprise when I went through the initial setup and it asked me if I wanted to do a digital or analogue search or both. You can check out the TV on my channel if you would like as I've made a video of what it can do and what inputs and signals it can take. Oh, and finally. As for the "err" I can't say I've ever noticed it to be honest, I suppose if your prone to doing it likewise you don't tend to notice it when others do it also.

Great effort as always.

Excellent! Was looking for something decent to watch :)

My tip for soldering most connectors is solder them while they are connected that way the heat dissipates better and the pins don't misaligne :)

NOTE: You can work out if your TG16 is PAL or NTSC by looking at the 1-800 number on the underside of the case (I think) - that would indicate NTSC, and on the board the *PAL version has "A" versions of the CPU and GPU - ie. HuC6280A, HuC6270A*

The PC Engine CPU boots up in "slow mode" and usually the first thing games do as part of their hardware initialization routines is put it in fast mode. I don't know why they bothered with a slow mode to begin with, my guess is it's a holdover for Famicom backwards compatibility when Hudson were pitching the system to Nintendo.

Something else I thought after the video was the point where it looked like the brown wire was missing, the obvious solution would have been to desolder what ever coloured wire was going to the ground pin on the mini DIN, then swap that wire for the ground shield (which was exposed enough to solder onto). That would have been another way to get around the problem had the brown not been recoverable.

18:10 "Kind of competes with the Mega Drive" MD could only display 64 on screen at once, from a palette of 256 and SNES was limited to 256 on screen from a palette of 32k

Removing the RF box and replacing it with a DIN conector is definetly the best way to go imo.

That back "expansion port" it's also used to plug the CD device as far as I remember.

Any more information on an audio amp? I know the audio out of the rear connector needs it...

Ever been tempted to 60hz mod the PAL Turbo? Its possible apparently but no where near as simple as 60hz modding an MD or a SNES.

Any ideas where I could get a D-Pad Membrane, I glued the fallen out button back on, but despite working it annoys me.

23:00 ...still needs 9V for one tiny opamp I guess, so try avoiding AC/DC adaptors for less than 9V output.

When the UK turned off the analog TV signal, they opened those frequencies to the mobile phone companies for 4G usage... That's probably the interference source.

I have a turbo graphics 16 and the controllers work when I plug them in directly, but when I put in the turbotap that lets me put in up to 5 controllers it will not work. I bought two turbotaps thinking the problem was with the turbotaps, but still didn't work, so the problem must be with the console. Strange. Or maybe the problem is that I am using the wrong AC adaptor. I don't have the original adapter which I think is supposed to be input 120v 60hz. Mine is input 110v-240v. Could that be the problem?

Just curious, what does the console do when there is no cartridge installed? Does it just have a solid black screen or does it have some sort of intermittent color flashing?

It's a long shot that anyone sees this, but does anyone know what voltages I should be seeing out of the crystal on the TG16? I have a non working unit, and I suspect that the clock isn't working properly. He mentions here that the CPU is basically a Rockwell 65C02. Which states input high and low of 2.4 and 0.4V. I don't think my clock is putting out a signal that swings that wide. Does anyone watching this happen to have a scope to look at the output of the crystal? Thanks.

I do the "er" thing allot too man. Not to worry.

Hudson Soft!

Why is it pronounced "hue card" anyway? Shouldn't that be "Ha card" like Hu in Hudson?