NES controller on PC Engine / TurboGrafx 16

My brother needed a second controller for his PCEngine so we could co-op some shmups but original controllers are wildly expensive! And even if you find a cheaper option from another region, you'll need to buy yourself an adapter...ugh. So what I was design a circuit board to implant into an NES controller shell!

Easy as pie. This board supports either the cord for a PCengine or a turbografx and has broken out headers in case you want to install it into a different (larger) controller shell. This version does not support turbo buttons right now though.

Top Side:

Back Side:

Once I print some, I'll update with another post. 

SwinSID SE - reworked by Me

Been toying with the SwinSID which is a decent DIY version of the SID chip. My version takes up no more space than the original and would be a drop-in-replacement with no extra wiring. Programming the atmega would be a little difficult though since there is no room for an ICSP.

min64 - The bare minimum rom cart for commodore 64 - part 2

The boards arrived but I have yet to test them out.

min64 - The bare minimum rom cart for commodore 64

The idea was to design a cart that would fit entirely in the commodore without sticking out. Surprisingly, it could even be made small enough to fit a shell, if I make one in the future.

The board has has one ROM and thats it.








The board is a meer 1.05 inches deep and has notches for easy removal or mounting (granted a shell is designed). Measuring my own commodore, a board of 1.1875 inches would be flush with the chassis. Also has optional reset switch as suggested by catskull.

My main concern was supporting as many proms, eproms and eeproms as I could since too many are no longer made, but easy to find.

Those supported include:

28F010, 28F020, 28F040,
29F010, 29F020, 29F040,
49F010, 49F020, 49F040
2764, 27128, 27256, 27512
27c64, 27c128, 27c256, 27c512

As well as SF's, GL's, EE's, etc.

Also working on support for 2704, 2708, 2716, and 2732. These will fit, but would require a few rerouted pins.

In any case, I can't wait for these to arrive from OSHpark.

Intec PS2 LCD screen Mod

I found a controller at a junk shop for $5, and figured I would mod it onto a console. For the longest time I couldn't figure out how to add it to a console because I didn't know which cable was which. Now I figured it out: Orange: +12v (connects to a 7808 regulator so the voltage range should be greater and lesser than 12.) Black: Ground Brown: Ground Red: Right Audio input White: Left Audio input yellow: Composite video input Now I can finally build it into something. Maybe my new Sega Genesis 3, since it will fit right on the face of it and hopefully can share the same +10v power supply!

Repairing an LCD Monitor

I am damn cheap, and this isn't the first time I have gotten a broken monitor to use as my own. By broken, I do not mean that the LCD is cracked, but that it comes on and goes off immediately. Some even went black and had a buzzing noise. More often than not, this means some capacitors on the power board are swollen or popped. This is just a detailing of one monitor in particular, but the method is nearly identical to other modern screens. The other problem that could occur seems less common, so I will not cover it here. The less common problem is the wires connecting to the CCLF tubes coming loose.

Step 1. Open the screen.
Unplug the monitor and press the power button a few times to (mostly) discharge any good capacitors.
Find all of the screws that are visible including VGA/DVI mounting screws and remove them, keeping a good idea of which holes they came from.

Now pry apart the plastic shell carefully. I use an expansion slot cover found on the back of a PC because they are wider than a screwdriver and leave less cosmetic damage (if any at all). Once you have the plastic bevel popped all around the edges, place the screen on your surface area, or lap, face down and lift the plastic off the back. This may not be the exact way for all monitors, but it has been for the last four I repaired.

Step 2. Take note of the orientation of the wires leading from the metal shielding. THese connecto to the high voltage CCFL tubes and may or may not be polarized. Don't screw this up! Take a photo if it helps.



Remove the metal shielding from the power and logic boards. Be very careful of any ribbon cables.
You should find the power board which is suspect.



Step 3. Inspect the power board. If you find swollen capacitors, you probably found the culprit. In our case, there are two swollen capacitors. From my experience, they normally go out in pairs, but I cannot prove that. Can you see the two fatties?




Step 4. Replace the capacitors with a "good" brand. Nichicon is my favorite. Make sure that the Farads are matched exactly and that the voltage is either the same or higher. Higher is better in this case, but normally the caps become larger with a higher voltage tolerance.



Step 5. Put it back together and power it up. ta-da! Although this is not 100% to work for you, it is a common problem and an easy fix. Good luck and good modding.

-Jordan

 ps. The monitor in this example was the Westinghouse L1975NW. I replaced two 220uF 25v capacitors with two 220uF 35v capacitors.
I also repaired an Acer x193w+ with new caps and some other Acer I no longer have.
One time I found that a Dell E2K-SE198WFPF(B) by reconnecting the CCFL tube with its wire which was difficult and apparently dangerous. To do so I had to disassemble the screen itself, LCD, polarizing film, and other layers just to get at the tubes...which were well encased in rubber. It was very difficult and I don't think that I would attempt it again.