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mspinksosu / NES-Power-Board

A PCB that will fit in place of the stock NES frontloader's RF module.
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Not all connectors plated through #3

Open bikedude880 opened 5 years ago

bikedude880 commented 5 years ago

Not plated: J2 - Motherboard Connector SW1 - Switch Breakout J6 - Retrofixes MultiOut Connector

icestormmusic commented 5 years ago

@bikedude880 - I am looking at doing this upgrade as well. Did you have to modify the board before getting it printed to correct this issue? I'm not much of a circuit guy, but I can solder.

bikedude880 commented 5 years ago

@icestormmusic I only noticed after printing the board, so yes. For J2, I took 24 gauge stranded wire, splayed it out and soldered it one side, pulled it through and soldered the other. SW1 can have patch wire run from the bottom of connector, non-issue. J6 is where things get interesting. All the signal connections are made in the top of the board underneath the physical connector. This needs to be fixed in the Gerber files.

Also note that there is an issue using the stock composite circuit out from J2. The circuit is missing a band-pass filter after R5 which requires a 3.3mH inductor and capacitor. Without this the only thing this board is good for currently is power :(

OOF1337 commented 4 years ago

I know this is an old thread but are there any other issues with it? I'm thinking of hiring someone to fix the issues if there are any.

mspinksosu commented 4 years ago

There are issues with it. It's noisy. When I originally made it, I had designed it in such a way that it could be made at home if desired. That means that I intentionally tried to use a small number of vias. Some of the traces snake around pins on the RGB connector. It's now so cheap to get a board from a fab house that this no longer necessary. I'll have to try again it someday with a 4 layer board when I'm not busy and COVID-19 is over with

OOF1337 commented 4 years ago

Hi! While I have you here this is about the revision 2.0A and B correct? How identical are they from one another? From what I can tell version B doesn't support RGB while A does but other than those differences, as the layout and schematics model currently stand, would there be any other advantages in going with one or the other? Thank you for your previous response by the way, wasn't expecting that!

bigboy061293 commented 4 years ago

Not plated: J2 - Motherboard Connector SW1 - Switch Breakout J6 - Retrofixes MultiOut Connector

I guess the non plated issues were fixed in the lasted revision. We just need to add the BPF, right?

OOF1337 commented 4 years ago

@bigboy061293 Did you check the 2.0 file A or B directly to see if the plated issues were fixed? If so, do you know where to put the Vias or Band-pass filter? can you also tell me what "J6 is where things get interesting. All the signal connections are made in the top of the board underneath the physical connector." means? Sorry for being nosey XD.

mspinksosu commented 4 years ago

2.0 A and B should have fixed the through hole plating, but I'll have to check when I get home. Currently working at night due to covidiots at work. 1.0 was my first time using Altium and I goofed. I've also had some issues syncing Github between home computer and work computer. Next time, I'll just get a portable drive.

mspinksosu commented 4 years ago

I

Hi! While I have you here this is about the revision 2.0A and B correct? How identical are they from one another? From what I can tell version B doesn't support RGB while A does but other than those differences, as the layout and schematics model currently stand, would there be any other advantages in going with one or the other? Thank you for your previous response by the way, wasn't expecting that!

I originally tried to make one board with two connectors. I literally just tried to place the two footprints on top of each other, but they way the holes are I had to push the mini din connector back into the housing and I didn't like that. So on the next revision, I made two different versions. I believe every thing else is the same. But again, I'll have to check

OOF1337 commented 4 years ago

@mspinksosu Once again, thank you for the reply.

mspinksosu commented 4 years ago

Also note that there is an issue using the stock composite circuit out from J2. The circuit is missing a band-pass filter after R5 which requires a 3.3mH inductor and capacitor. Without this the only thing this board is good for currently is power :(

I did find a somewhat crudely drawn, reverse engineered schematic for the RF box and I do remember seeing a filter in there. (I can't remember exactly what values) I did a limited amount of research into the composite output. I mostly looked at mods that were applied to the NES top loader to add composite output. It would appear that most top loader mods just consist of a single transistors and a few resistors and caps. I assumed that the filter was there to limit noise from the RF modulator literally inches away. And since I am removing the RF modulator entirely, I just assume that I don't need it. I have not had a chance to test it

bigboy061293 commented 4 years ago

Also note that there is an issue using the stock composite circuit out from J2. The circuit is missing a band-pass filter after R5 which requires a 3.3mH inductor and capacitor. Without this the only thing this board is good for currently is power :(

I did find a somewhat crudely drawn, reverse engineered schematic for the RF box and I do remember seeing a filter in there. (I can't remember exactly what values) I did a limited amount of research into the composite output. I mostly looked at mods that were applied to the NES top loader to add composite output. It would appear that most top loader mods just consist of a single transistors and a few resistors and caps. I assumed that the filter was there to limit noise from the RF modulator literally inches away. And since I am removing the RF modulator entirely, I just assume that I don't need it. I have not had a chance to test it

I guess we need to look at the frequency characteristic of Video Out (Which I have not researched yet) and could replicated the BPF.

mspinksosu commented 3 years ago

I know this is an old thread but are there any other issues with it? I'm thinking of hiring someone to fix the issues if there are any.

@OOF1337 @bigboy061293

I took a little, much needed time off and did up a version 2-5-0. All plated holes are fixed and I re-routed a majority of the traces to try to improve noise issues. I'm only doing the version with the mini-din connector for now (version A). I'll do the other one after I've tested the first. I don't want to waste money on two PCB's unless I know it's going to work.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure when I'll be able to actually test it out. I've got a lot of mandatory home renovation going on (2020 is literally the worst). But I can order 10 PCB's and if you give me a few bucks, I can ship you one flat rate.

Once everything is done, I'll update Hackaday again.

OOF1337 commented 3 years ago

@mspinksosu While I appreciate the offer there are things I have to wait on first before I could definitively say yes or no. I'll let you know when I can give you an answer. I do appreciate your work on this though! My goal was to contribute towards the goal of making sure that there are open source solutions for the NES ever since the Opentendo was created earlier this year and I thought that aside from a 3d printed case model and controller ports that the RF/power adapter was the last piece in the puzzle for a open source NES.

SteelBattalion commented 3 years ago

I know this is an old thread but are there any other issues with it? I'm thinking of hiring someone to fix the issues if there are any.

@OOF1337 @bigboy061293

I took a little, much needed time off and did up a version 2-5-0. All plated holes are fixed and I re-routed a majority of the traces to try to improve noise issues. I'm only doing the version with the mini-din connector for now (version A). I'll do the other one after I've tested the first. I don't want to waste money on two PCB's unless I know it's going to work.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure when I'll be able to actually test it out. I've got a lot of mandatory home renovation going on (2020 is literally the worst). But I can order 10 PCB's and if you give me a few bucks, I can ship you one flat rate.

Once everything is done, I'll update Hackaday again.

I know this is an old thread but do you still have any of those extra boards?

mspinksosu commented 3 years ago

I know this is an old thread but do you still have any of those extra boards?

Hi. So I actually left my old job and got a new one a few states away. Things have been pretty crazy. I'm still in the process of selling and buying a house, so everything I own is in storage right now. Not sure when I'll be able to get them. My goal is to move into a new house by the end of this summer.

zombie343 commented 2 years ago

Hi @mspinksosu, I hope your move went well. 👍 I've been following this project because I'd like to replace the RF box on my front-loader and mix the stereo output. :)