leonk

Up for grab is something very special from my personal collection. Atari XEGS (XE Game System) 8-bit computer (USA/Canada NTSC version) - unit is in excellent working condition - RAM tested, keyboard fully tested - lightgun is included - tested working great - original Atari CO-70042-01 AC adapter The RF connector was removed and in its place (no new holes cut) was installed a miniDIN 8 pin port to give you full RGB output. RGB is generated by a SOPHIA RGB amp specially sourced from Poland for this mod. This RGB amp has now been sold out for a couple of years. Enjoy the most beautiful video output out of any Atari 8-bit system (pictures shown on my Sony PVM monitor). I'm also including SCART RGB cable which you can use with any RGB device (PVM, XRGB mini, OSSC, RetroTink 5X, etc.) NOTE: AVG CART / multicart not included. Just showing the unit fully working. Located: Toronto, Canada but willing to ship anywhere across Canada at additional cost. PRICE: $450 CAD + shipping

Almost forgot. What would happen if someone tries to run RGB and another video port (like composite) on orange peel? (Eg stream + local display) is the amp capable of supporting this use case or is it only 1 display type at a time?

I installed orange peel into an Intellivision 1 that was previously modded with composite video (hence why I went with this solution) and once again, I’m very impressed with the video quality. RGB is breathtaking. Composite looks very clean. I was just surprised by a few things: 1) why is orange peel cheaper than baked potato? 2) orange peel is noticeably bigger than baked potato. Unless I need composite or Svideo, I’ll be sticking to the rgb only solution (for size alone) 3) we need a better solution for audio. The audio output from this Intellivision has a horrible buzz at high volume. I tried to put a 220uF cap inline to reduce the buzz (with +ve lead towards the kit) but unlike on Famicom, it had no impact. congrats on this wonderful kit!!!

I'm always skeptical of any stereo mod done to a mono console. It was popular mod a few years ago on the NES, but people quickly realized that it didn't sound natural (as it wasn't true stereo, but rather forcibly sending some audio to one side and other type of audio to the other; sometimes mixing the 2 channels in the process). No amount of mixing made it feel right across all the games. Even Nintendo, in their Famicom AV (their first 8 bit console that included a stereo capable port) simply tied the L and R channels together effectively making a dual mono console. I haven't had a chance to play around with Intellivision audio, but given its age relative to NES, I suspect the results will be pretty similar. Just my $0.02 on the subject.

I don't see Orange Peel on your eBay store. Is that something that you're waiting for parts? are there any boards ready for sale?

I can confirm that both RetroTink 5X and OSSC in 5X support baked potato using default options. I see no noise, dropped frames, everything just works!

The problem with the 8 pin miniDIN PCB is not the holes for the wires, it's the holes for the port. All these port are made in China and pin position varies port to port. Even when the PCB and port are in front of your eyes, it's almost impossible to make it fit. It's a struggle to keep trying to straighten the pins on the port because the tolerance on the PCB is so tight. As for HD Retrovision cables not working on Potato, I don't think that's accurate. It should. The biggest issue is that there is no revision that's made for 8 pin miniDIN. So people need to create custom pigtails that go from one of the other cables (Like what they officially did for Neo Geo support) CSync from Potato should work as CVideo pin for the cables.

My only gripe is the 8 pin miniDIN PCB. The holes are too small. Luckily I have a bag of >100 ports/PCBs from doing NESRGB installs (I use a Nintendo multiAV port) so I used that instead. Also, I prefer installing the RGB amp above the Intellivision PCB rather than bellow, so the breakout PCB for the video IC was useless for me. Apart from that, worked great and looks sweet on my PVM!

Had a chance to try out baked potato on an Intellivision 2 and I’m impressed. Will be putting it through it paces with RetroTink 5X and OSSC 5X shortly.

People put resistors into cables just when RGB on that console already existed from factory. When RGB didn't exist (3DO, 2600, Coleco, Intellivision) I always advocate for nothing in the SCART cable. But if people insist on using Genesis 2 ports, with Genesis 2 SCART cables, in non-Genesis 2 consoles; then I believe the output from that console (be it Intellivision or ColecoVision) should put out the same electronic characteristics as a Genesis 2. And that's when we get into trouble. In my opinion, it comes down to the modder educating the customer. When people asked me to put a Genesis 2 port into their system, I educated them on the issue. The only time I'm fine with Genesis 2 port is in PC Engine consoles; but for those, I personally modify the RGB amps and remove resistors/caps from the amp.

HD Retrovision needs 75 ohm terminated (0.3Vpp) sync. It uses CVideo for sync on "tested consoles" because csync is such a mess across RGB amp and cable makers and Y doesn't exist on some consoles (e.g. Genesis). The only guaranteed sync signal to always be correct across multiple consoles is CVideo. HDR doesn't use the composite video or luma components of those signals, it just needs the sync info. So, HDR will work with Y and C-sync as long as they follow the CVideo electrical standard.

I wonder what you used for sync with baked potato when running HD Retrovision cables. Did you run the csync pin to the cvideo pin on the 9 pin miniDIN? That's the only way I can see it working.

Thanks for the comparison. It seems that Baked Potato is more baked than Orange Peel. So if you want just RGB, you can't go wrong with Baked Potato.

I really like the RGB color palette you're using. Here's a comparison of the colors for those wondering: TOP: the same screen on my LCD (XRGB mini running Fred Kono's RGB board) MIDDLE: Fred Kono on a PVM BOTTOM: RF to my test monitor I think the best way to compare the colors is to look at the colors sample bar at the top of the attract screen. You got the most accurate "beige" (left of red).

When you look straight at the opening it looks stock. If you have high quality, professional stepper drill bits, it's no big deal to drill it out without breaking the vents. The Intellivision 2 plastic can handle it. I've done it a few times with no problem.

@the_crayon_king Is it fair to say that "Baked potato" and "Orange Peel" will use the same color palettes and the RGB output will be identical? As far as you know, there won't be new firmware updates to Baked potato?

I always cringe when I see the Nintendo multiAV port installed in a non-Nintendo console. When I used to install Kono's RGB amp a few years ago, here's how I did the RGB install into the Intellivision 1 and 2 with 8 pin miniDIN.

I really like how SVideo came out! The colors are not that much off from what composite picture looks like. As for csync, as long as at the end of the SCART cable you're close to 0.3Vpp it should work. I know that devices like XRGB are very finicky about the sync voltage. But other devices (like PVM) can sync to a shoe string. If you look at the Sony spec of a late 90's PVM, you'll see that CSYNC can support pretty much anything!

When you say YUV, do you mean YPbPr? Traditional component in North America is YPbPr with: Y is the luminance or "brightness" (greyscale) component (or the picture in black and white) Pb is the difference between blue and Y (B - Y) Pr is the difference between red and Y (R - Y) YUV is encoded differently: Y is the luminance or "brightness" (greyscale) component (or the picture in black and white) U is the blue luminance value (how much blue should be in the picture) with a scaling factor applied. V is the red luminance value (how much red should be in the picture) with a scaling factor applied. PVM, HDRV, consumer TVs use YPbPr.

It's Tim's way of eliminating any noise in the SCART RGB cable. I have Retro-Access and Retro Gaming Cables UK SCART RGB cables here. I can pause the game on a bright screen and turn up the volume to 60% or more and hear hum in the audio on my PVM. It's the nature of analog signal. You can install something like a TOSLINK port on an SNES (done that a few times) to eliminate the hum, or run independent audio/video cables like Tim does (which is not very practical) That being said, I don't use his cable as intended; little known fact is if you don't plug the audio cable, audio still passes through the video cable as long as you connect R/L signals to the back of the port inside the console. I've installed hundreds of NESRGB kits since they first came out. For a vast majority of them I used a Nintendo multiAV port I've salvaged from a dead SNES, N64 or GameCube. This allowed me to enable all pins on the port and support all video formats (composite, svideo, RGB and HD Retrovision) As a result, I have a bag with a few hundred 8 pin miniDIN ports with the breakout PCB which I reused for all the consoles I mentioned above. The only missing pins on the PCB is R/L audio, but that's an easy fix given the pins on the port are right there. Surprisingly I haven't had as many customers telling me they use HD Retrovision cables. Maybe because component video has pretty much been phased out of modern displays? Or after cost of shipping and USD conversion rate, with the cost of 2 cables you can buy a proper scalar. Those that still use a CRT here tend to use a PVM/BVM with RGB and those that use modern LCD now buy a RetroTink product. For either, composite video isn't as important. Taking it back to the current kit (which doesn't have composite out) it too doesn't support HD Retrovision as-is. I haven't tried it, but you should be able to enable HDRV support by adding a 470 ohm resistor between pin 4 and 5 of the 9 pin miniDIN; HDRV uses cvideo for sync because csync has been a hot mess due to so much confusion.

I'm located in Canada and have been doing mod work for retro consoles since about 2002. I've installed practically every known RGB, HDMI, ODE and LCD kit and am listed as the recommended installer for Canada for many of the currently available kits. So I'm pretty familiar with all these standards and common issues. In no particular order: Good SCART cables are hard to find no matter where you are in North America because it was never a standard here. Even Retro-Access (in Florida) initially was based in the UK. Location has never been a gating factor for me when it comes to purchasing quality retro kits and cables. For example, the best 8 pin miniDIN SCART RGB cable is actually sold by Tim Worthington (maker of NESRGB, 2600RGB, ...) from Australia. For PCE what DBElectronics (DB Booster) and Terraonion (SSDS3) have done is make sure their 9 pin miniDIN connector puts out the exact same electrical characteristics as a real Sega Genesis 2. Terraonion's first SSDS3 did not, requiring original owners to install the FU-RGB kit and Terraonion do a recall and then a revB PCB. So just because you use the same port, doesn't make it right. You need to take into account the electrical characteristics of the signal. They probably chose this port over 8 pin because they wanted to also give customers the option of composite video output. There is nothing wrong with using the Genesis 2 9 pin miniDIN with any kit; as long as the kit puts out the same signal as a real Sega Genesis 2. The currently sold kit does not. This explains why so many people complain about dim image and try to fix it by choosing the brighter palette; that's not the correct fix. Well, back in 2013 ALL my customers were using XRGB mini, and that device is very finicky when it comes to csync levels. If you're just a hair off the 0.3Vpp, you loose sync. So I've learned years ago to make sure everything runs within spec. Moving forward with the new kit, the 9 pin mini-DIN might be the best option; allowing customers to have RGB, CVideo and HD Retrovision support. (Sounding like a broken record) What I've been trying to emphasize all along is that if you use an existing standard, you should follow the electrical characteristics of that standard. No resistors, no capacitors on the RGBS lines. A 75 ohm resistor and 220uF tantalum or electrolytic cap should exist on the CVideo output pin on the kit.

Is it fair to say that "Baked potato" and "Orange Peel" will use the same color palettes and the RGB output will be identical? If so, I'm fine with purchasing "Baked Potato". I only need the RGB output; I've installed many 2600RGB kits and in most cases people only cared about RGB out and requested that I don't connect the SVideo or composite video output. As for Orange Peel and the bypass resistors, whilst it's a nice gesture for those using Sega Genesis 2 (miniDIN 9-pin SCART cables) I think you can't fix bad cable choice. The SCART cable also has capacitors in there for DC coupling. By connecting more capacitance in series a user now in effect has reduced the overall DC coupling, potentially introducing noise (shadows, jail bars) in the video output. In my opinion, when choosing a multiAV port for a console that doesn't have one (2600, ColecoVision, 3DO, Intellivision, Atari 8 bit computer, etc) that requires a straight cable, I advocate for using an existing standard (the 8 pin miniDIN used by the XRGB mini) This standard has been around for over a decade and what's been shipping with NESRGB and 2600RGB. SCART cable makers sell SCART RGB cables for it as well (they call it the NESRGB SCART cable) Sega set the standard for how the 9 pin miniDIN electrically should behave. Unless the RGB kit generates the exact same TTL levels with no DC coupling caps, it only confuses people. I find many installers (and some cable makers) get confused by the entire TTL vs 75 ohm termination, csync levels vs vsync, etc. and end up choosing the wrong output port (either out of lack of knowledge or some sort of cost savings that tends to backfire).

When do you expect restock on your eBay store of the RGB amp? I'd be interested in trying it out.

Thanks for the feedback. I'm surprised that you found Fred's RGB to not be as clean; I find it to be on par with NESRGB, 2600RGB, etc. on my PVM and XRGB Mini. Maybe it wasn't installed correctly? (e.g. using Genesis 2 SCART cables with the caps/resistors inside that need to be removed) I'd love to see screen shot comparisons between all 3. (Put on your conspiracy theory hat on for the next part; this is all wild speculation on my behalf): Crayola King has been around for a long time. He's been doing installs and mods for many different consoles. That being said, I do recall watching YT videos that criticize his workmanship and overall install quality (Google "Voultar Crayola King" to see what I mean) The only recent discussion I saw (on the OSSC forum) talking about what the issue with OSSC and Intellivision is and how to fix it was between Marqs (OSSC developer) and Fred. They seem to understand the issue and how to fix it. I find it interesting Crayola's RGB amp looks like an updated version of Fred's RGB amp. It uses the same CPLD and now includes extra glue logic to recreate the missing hsync pulses before/during/after vsync blanking. Hence fixing OSSC support. TLTR; based on visual inspection, I believe the Crayola King RGB kit to be of high quality and should work great. If you don't care about OSSC support (because you use XRGB, RetroTink 5X or waiting for OSSC Pro) than Fred's original RGB amp should give similar results. Thoughts?

For those wondering, Fred Kono’s Intellivision RGB amp looks like this. It uses the Xilinx XC9536XL CPLD at its core.