Vector
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Posts posted by Vector
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Hot Glue!? is that really a thing?
Yes it unfortunately is, it must be a thing in YouTube or a forum. I can't explain the phenomenon any other way. The glue basically makes the machine unrepairable. I have seen it mostly in Genesis model 2's.
It's usually a sound mod, so you can't tell by looking at it from the outside. I wonder if it's one guy in Brooklyn that's trading them in, which may give the appearance of a widespread epidemic.
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Console5 has already done that in their online store:
You are correct, I see them just for the Nomad and Turbo Express. I bought a ton of kits a while back, and those 2 did not exist at that time. I should have re-checked. The rest are all still through hole though. 2 down a few more to go. Thanks rayik!
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Hello All! Before I do all the leg work does any one have capacitor shopping lists with either Jameco or Digikey for SMD cap replacements. If no one has any, I will add them over the coming months (and years) as I buy them for various board versions that I happen to be repairing. I know console 5 has through hole components all packed up and ready to go. However I am skilled with SMD soldering, and it is much quicker for me to replace SMD components then modifying through-hole components.
That being said - I feel the need to forewarn people that SMD soldering is a different skill, please do not attempt using a hot air blower with out learning the skills first. While I am in the midst of an Archie Bunker rant - I should also mention Hot Glue is not an except able replacement for soldering either. For the few of you guilty of this seemingly new hot glue trend. It would be very considerate (after you are unsatisfied with your barely working hack job) that you don't trade in your heaping mess of glue, wires, that is one small jolt away from ripping a trace off the board. I don't like telling small business owners they were ripped off!
I will add the shopping lists for the following as they come in for shopping lists that include replacing SMD caps with same size SMD caps, and will also include through hole components for through hole components. For the following known Cap Replacement culprits:
- Sega Nomad
-Board Version
- Game Gear
-Board Version
- Turbo Express
-Board Version
- Turbo CD & CD Dock
-Board Version
- Turbo Duo
-Board Version
I do not own a Turbo Duo, and have more then enough Game Gears to fix to keep me from seeking any out side work. If someone else out there plans on repairing one using SMD components please post your shopping list.
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did you see the psych ones too? just wanted to make sure you didn't also want one before i start getting this order together. Thanks for your order~!
I am probably going to get a second batch later on. I want play through some of my Vectrex games first before I decide which psych overlays will fit the bill. - Thanks!
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hi there- I can do any of the original releases.
- Armor Attack
- Bedlam
- Berzerk
- Blitz!
- Clean Sweep
- Cosmic Chasm
- Fortress of Narzod
- Heads Up
- Hyperchase
- MineStorm
- Polar Rescue
- Pole Position[
- Rip-Off
- Scramble
- Solar Quest
- Space Wars
- Spike
- Spinball
- Star Castle
- Star Trek
- Starhawk
- Web Wars
I sent you $60 for Star Trek, Web Wars, Pole Position, and Berzerk. Looking forward to trying them out!
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I know one other person with a Dreamcast, so I'll have to run it over to her place sometime.
Trick is, her BF is a die-hard fighting game junkie, so if it works on theirs I might not get it back!
Well if your game is commandeered you may need to visit another thread to resolve that problem
If it still doesn't work bring it somewhere to get resurfaced. It maybe worth the gamble.
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i've made close to around 700 overlays since june and most people have been really happy with their orders. with a few here and there that are wildly picky about a homemade project.
Have you seen my psychedelic overlays?
I must admit I have not, I just started looking around for some overlays this week. I had been playing most of my games without overlays for years, I am now looking to "enhance" my Vectrex experience.
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I should clarify...AtariAge members didn't get nasty with me. It was the eBay purchasers and those who bought directly from the web site I had (which could have been some of you...I can't say). Long story short, it was a great ride and I enjoyed most of it. The proceeds even covered my expenses to exhibit at the 2012 CGE in Vegas where I auctioned off my entire Vectrex collection (all games, light pen, 3D imager and system). I then sold the plotter and remaining overlays and went back to wasting money on restoring cars :-)
I understand that funknflow5200 is fighting the good fight with a method very similar to mine but with a more durable output. If I were them, I'd charge twice as much to avoid the financial frustration I hit for just breaking even.
I didn't know anyone got nasty about them. I do recall them getting messed up in the mail, and people wanting them for almost free. That's part of the catch 22 with Atari ere collecting. NES collectors are used to getting screwed but Atari collectors are used to the buddy system. Newbies then expect stuff for free as if it's just the norm. Off topic a bit but I sold an AV modded 2600 cheap on the forum here because I didn't need it and wanted to help a newbie get started. they never even posted feedback and probably just flipped it on ebay.
Well I think most of us here are glad that someone is at least making a conservative effort to reproduce overlays. Its a needed and commendable service you are providing. I wonder if a poll should be run to see if people would be accepting of altered versions of the overlays. I know I would be perfectly fine with an overlay that uses a different font as long as the overlay is clear, sturdy and close to the original.
I also learned last year know how much of a pain some of the new wave of retro collectors are. I made the mistake of mentioning I learned SMD soldering in college. I had someone bring me a Game Gear they wanted recapped. Not only did this twenty something think that $10 was a good offer (I believe the parts were $7 alone), he couldn't understand how I couldn't guarantee that it would work either. I gave up while trying to explain how electrolytic fluid is corrosive and can possibly ruin components and traces. If I was dealing a few people like that at a very small level, I can't imagine all the crap that must have been flung at you guys. Hang in there and keep up the work!
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you missed today's shipment deadline by an hour, I'll send this wednesday (doctors thing tomorrow won't be able to do it)
No problem at all, I have gone a few years without them. I can wait a few extra days.
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This is exactly what I have needed for a very long time. I can now resurrect my graveyard of Vectrex controllers! Ordered 2 packs, payment has been sent.
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I've been curious about this myself- I've got a copy of Mark of the Wolves on DC that doesn't run. Thing is, it looks great- I imagine some sort of heat damage. I've read boiling the discs can help, but I'm really torn on that. On the one hand, I'd hate to screw up a rare disc with a weird technique. On the other, it doesn't bloody work now, so it's hardly valuable, is it?
Do not boil discs. It will warp the disc (or warp it more), and can damage it further in a variety of ways. The wafer that contains all those 1's and 0's that is only protected by a thin sticker/label from the top (thick plastic layer on the bottom). Water will damage the label and possibly your pan as well.
If you don't see pin holes through the disc (which is good, no information is missing). Then look from the center of the disc very closely for any damage. Discs are read by the optical laser from the center first (for almost all applications and disc formats) if the disc does not load start looking closely from the center of the disc to the outer edge. Use a magnify glass if you have one.
Sometimes a disc will look perfect and not load, about 15% of the time I get them to work after buffing in my ZDAG 101 buffer. That's not a good percentage, but if the disc is valuable then it may be worth the gamble. There can be small fractures not seen by the human eye that are causing the laser to fragment when reading the disc. Other possible issues could be disc rot (sometimes only seen on the microscopic level), its unlikely in your case. In even rarer circumstances I have had discs ever so slightly warped (or other undetermined damage), that would work in some Dreamcasts/GameCubes/Wii's and not others. For a multitude of reasons that are too many to delve into. Trying in another Dreamcast maybe another option. Let us know if you have any luck.
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TAKE IT TO A PROFESSIONAL.
I'm sorry, that might have been too forward. Let me re-phrase that.
TAKE IT TO A PROFESSIONAL.
... No, that's probably too vague. I'll try again.
TAKE IT TO A PROFESSIONAL.
If you need to have an optical disc repaired, then it's worth getting in the car and driving to a place that has a machine that can actually do the job, and do it right, for under $5. Their machines are way better than anything you'll ever own, and for a reason. The Disc Doctors you're getting for $19.99 are more likely to do more damage, and it's ultimately more money out of your pocket.
TAKE IT TO A PROFESSIONAL.
Want a second opinion?
Yes your point may hold more water when referring to a damaged disc here and there, however what we are discussing is having a machine handy for cheap Wii games, and handling a lot of discs. At $4-6 a pop that doesn't make sense for our situations, especially when about 20% of the time damaged discs are not repairable. That's wasted money when you handle a lot of damaged discs and can buy a machine for that replicates the same process for $200.
What I can say regarding my experience with my machine (The $150 ZDAG 101 described above - which I wouldn't recommend unless you do a lot of resurfacing at all), is that it has given me the latitude to purchase damaged discs. Also and this is the big one; I can resurface Gamecube games, since my machine allows me to remove one buffering spindle. I can buff down smaller discs. None of the commercial machines over $500 we could find can do that (we stopped looking in 2014, so maybe it exists now). My local game shop would even send me Gamecube games to resurface, and still does to this day. On a side note lets not forget about portions of the population that are not with in driving distance to a business that offers a service that is starting disappear more and more.
If you only need to resurface a few discs that are valuable then your suggestion is the way to go, you are 100% correct. However our discussion is the difference between needing a truck and a compact car. A compact car is great for all around daily use and is cheaper to own / operate - makes sense for most urban dwellers. However some people own a boat, and take it out every weekend in the Summer. So rather then renting a truck 20 times a year every time we want to take out the boat, its easier and cheaper to just buy a truck. Every one's situation has different needs, and our needs don't represent most of the gamer's out there. Just like most people in my neighbor hood drive sedans, because they don't have to tow a boat like I do.
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I bought a 10 disc lot of Wii discs that were listed as untested which naturally means none worked except for one of the crappy games.
Anyway the price was cheap for them. I bought one of the Monoprice disc cleaning/repair units, and it brought 3 of the discs back to life. 7 still don't work even after running them through the machine 3 times.Is it pretty common for nothing to be able to bring a scratched disc back to life? Could a professional quality machine do the trick? Some of these discs look like they were used as a cat scratching post -- sheesh.
This is the one I bought for $18 plus $7 for s/h.
For resurfacing I have used since 2010 a ZDAG 101 I imported. They sell a newer model, currently. The machine is about $150, for my purposes it has paid for itself. Since it's basically is a smaller version of a commercial machine, which is what I wanted (I was using a commercial machine at work until it broke, and it was not replaced). It also uses the same products to "remove" the layer of plastic that has the scratch. Which is what a commercial machine does, and with either machine you can actually take too much plastic off and ruin the disc. The ZDAG is my work horse, I have over the years developed techniques with run time, and work flow with the resurfacing products that has enabled me to fix hundreds of discs. If you have a lot of disc's to resurface, I couldn't recommend it enough. I will say that the instructions were not all that great, but over time I learned run times for specific damage through trial and error. If you do decide to purchase this machine, since it is not a consumer product - the instructions assume you have some prior knowledge of resurfacing. The instructions may have changed, but these are my tips for the machine:
- The instructions (in 2010) failed to mention what the green and clear discs are for. They are needed to raise the disc by a mm to assist with deep scratches. Do not throw them out.
- Do not use the same pads for different creams. Certain creams (have sand in them) are for stripping plastic, others are for polishing. If you mix and match, or don't wipe off enough of cream 1 when you polish. It will leave swirls on the surface. Though the disc will still work.
- Look at the disc through a light, to see if there is any top damage to the disc. If there is missing disc material, then resurfacing won't fix the disc. The top of the disc protect the wafer with only a label or sticker.
- Blu Ray may not be fixed with this machine, you may need to look into that. It will fix the Wii disc's you mentioned. I have also been able using only one pad to fix Gamecube games with this machine.
Car polishes, and consumer products may only fix superficial scratches. Essentially the end result will make it so that the laser doesn't become displaced by fragmenting once it hits a scratch. Which is why Skip Doctors make the disc look like crap, but can often make some discs work again.
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I was thinking it might be a good idea for people to recommend video settings per core to maximize screen space while keeping correct aspect ratios, etc..
720p recommended core settings:
- NES/Famicom -
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Please add suggestions for cores and logic for the recommendations would be ideal.
This thread would not be for hardware issues or video cable issues which are handled in the NT Mini hardware thread. Thanks!
After spending some more time experimenting - 720P for playing NES games - 3X Vertical, 4X Horizontal. Without sitting in front of my Analogue NT Mini, I believe that is the the default setting. That will still show some of the "overscan" that you were not supposed so see on a standard CRT. Some additional shifting will likely need to be done to the users preference. Please let me know if anyone else has some recommended settings for 720P.
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Thanks for all the hard work on the cores for the Analogue NT Mini. I can honestly say that the accuracy and attention to detail that the Analogue NT Mini delivers, has me enjoying the NES like I had years ago on my 27 inch CRT. For people like myself in cramped quarters in NYC having a system (without dragging out a tiny CRT) that I can play "Mike Tyson's Punchout" with no noticeable lag is truly amazing. I am looking forward to playing SMS as well!
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How do I edit the first post? It would be nice to list each core with settings for 1080p and 720p as recommendations occur. I do not see the edit option anymore.
If we can't edit I could start a new topic for 720P. That maybe best, I am sure at some point soon someone will also need settings for 4K as well.
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I have a 720P TV, that I run my Analogue NT Mini on. I know I am in the minority with the 720P TV, has any one had any luck finding a better setting for 720P. The My Life in Gaming video only touch base regarding the horizontal issue, they did not have a recommendation.
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Shopping Cart Lists for Cap Kits (SMD Components) - Handhelds / NEC
in Classic Console Discussion
Posted
Hot glue shouldn't be used because it can "string out" and land on the board. which can pull traces from the PCB. Having gone to school in the 90's for electronic repair, we did not have one hot glue gun in our drawers or in the tool kit closet. We only used heat shrinking tubing, zip ties, and on some occasions epoxy. Hot glue often deteriorates over time, and can have issues sticking long term to smooth surfaces like most common polymers of plastic. Not to mention that it is a pain to remove when you need to fix something. Hot glue is great for crafting, not so much for electronics.