mamejay Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 (edited) Hey longhorn, I have assembled 2 of them and tested one on my PAL light 6 switch. Just got a real ghosted image of the screen. I need to test the mod on my NTSC 4 switch that currently has one installed and working. Just need to confirm that I put the thing together correctly. I have has a lot of strange results on this PAL 6 switch and have found that the only mod that works has been the Benheck basic PAL mod. I will try it on a PAL Jnr that I have here. Have been really busy and not enough time to play with the thing. Edited September 21, 2010 by mamejay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Engineer Posted September 21, 2010 Author Share Posted September 21, 2010 Hey longhorn, I have assembled 2 of them and tested one on my PAL light 6 switch. Just got a real ghosted image of the screen. I need to test the mod on my NTSC 4 switch that currently has one installed and working. Just need to confirm that I put the thing together correctly. I have has a lot of strange results on this PAL 6 switch and have found that the only mod that works has been the Benheck basic PAL mod. I will try it on a PAL Jnr that I have here. Have been really busy and not enough time to play with the thing. I think for the PAL the Chroma line needs adjusting. edit// you are picking the chroma directly from the TIA chip correct? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mamejay Posted September 21, 2010 Share Posted September 21, 2010 (edited) how can I do that Parker? Do I need to try different resistance? I am a hack so try to be kind. Edit:// Correct. I am picking the Chroma from pin 9 of the PAL TIA chip. Edited September 21, 2010 by mamejay Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted September 24, 2010 Share Posted September 24, 2010 YAY! I got shipping confirmation and my 7800 A/V mod is on it's way! Thanks Parker! P.S. Just ordered a Harmony Cart too, so I have lots of goodies to look forward to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted September 25, 2010 Share Posted September 25, 2010 Double Yay!!! Mod kit arrived today. Gonna get to work right away on it! Thanks, Parker. Much appreciated! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 (edited) Ok, I finally found some time to put this bad boy in. Picture is crystal clear and audio is working perfectly. However, I'm having a couple issues and I hope I can get some help here: 1. I popped in Pac-Man and, at first, the colors looked right...but when I turned started a game, it looks like this: In playing with the wires and wiggling the mod-board, I managed to get the correct image, but it doesn't stay that way: My guess is a bad solder somewhere. I'll take a look tomorrow, unless someone has other ideas. 2. With all 7800 games, I get no color at all. Just black and white images: I have no idea how to troubleshoot this one. By the way, the same symptoms happen with both S-Video and Composite outputs. Any thoughts at all would be greatly appreciated. EDIT: I have another 2600-related issue. I popped in Asteroids and the characters seem to jump around...almost like it's a vertical-hold issue, but I've got it hooked up to an HDTV. Thoughts? Edited October 3, 2010 by Deteacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MitchSchaft Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 Lucky bastard. Mine should've arrived 2 weeks ago. I can't wait! I got halo in today and was hoping to have it done by then! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Franzman Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 RE: the Pac-Man color problem, it looks like one or more bad LUMA lines. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lendorien Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 (edited) 2. With all 7800 games, I get no color at all. Just black and white images: I have no idea how to troubleshoot this one. By the way, the same symptoms happen with both S-Video and Composite outputs. Any thoughts at all would be greatly appreciated. EDIT: I have another 2600-related issue. I popped in Asteroids and the characters seem to jump around...almost like it's a vertical-hold issue, but I've got it hooked up to an HDTV. Thoughts? I had the black and white issue when I got mine as well. I ended up having to touch up the soldering on one of the chips per LH's suggestion. It was the really tiny chip. I needed to reflow the solder. With my lousy hand steadiness, it was quite the chore. Edited October 3, 2010 by Lendorien Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deteacher Posted October 3, 2010 Share Posted October 3, 2010 (edited) UPDATE! I went through and cleaned up my solder job. I reflowed all my joints on the mainboard and that cleaned up the 2600 color issue. I've never seen such a clean, non-emulated display. I'm in love with this thing! However, I still have the B&W issue in 7800 mode. I'm waiting to hear from Parker as to what chip(s) on the Mod-Board need to be reflowed. If it's that tiny one you mentioned, Lendorien, then I don't know what I'm going to do. I can barely see the chip, let along the solder traces. I might need to find someone to help me with that chip. BTW, it's a VERY clean display for a B&W screen. Once the color comes through, I'll be a happy camper! The Asteroids (2600 version) issue is still occurring too, but Asteroids is the only game I've come across that's doing this. The asteroids are changing different shades and contrasts of their native colors. The asteroids and ship seem to jump all over the place. The ship gets darker and lighter. I tried 2 different Asteroids carts and it's happening with both of them, so the issue has to be coming from the console. is 2600 Asteroids compatible with the 7800? Edited October 3, 2010 by Deteacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Engineer Posted October 3, 2010 Author Share Posted October 3, 2010 PM sent: That B&W issue has only happened twice now. Seems that little tiny chip doesn't like boards being flexed during shipping. I thought I fixed it by shipping the mods in the stiffer packaging but that seems to not have worked. Reflowing the chip will fix it. If you can't manage to do it Deteacher then I will send a replacement for a swap. Parker Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
devnull73 Posted October 4, 2010 Share Posted October 4, 2010 Hey Parker I sent you an email regarding the 2600 mod and PAL, but i just came across my 7800 in the garage so Ill be chasing a 7800 mod as well Have you got a PAL 2600? Do you want a loaner?..... Im happy to cover post both ways and cover the mod also if you can leave it in it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseboy Posted November 9, 2010 Share Posted November 9, 2010 I put in a couple of 2600 mods this weekend and everything worked perfectly. Top quality stuff from Parker. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Engineer Posted November 9, 2010 Author Share Posted November 9, 2010 I put in a couple of 2600 mods this weekend and everything worked perfectly. Top quality stuff from Parker. Thanks! Orders are still shipping! I know some people have been waiting but they are shipping! 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
atarian1 Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Great! I hope my assembled 7800 mod is one of them as I ordered it in September (I think - it's been a while). I want to install it on Thanksgiving while everyone else is getting drunk (adults) or destroying the house (kids). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurge Posted November 10, 2010 Share Posted November 10, 2010 Anyone know how much different an AV mod would be for a PAL-I 7800? I would have thought there might not be too much a difference from the NTSC version, but i'm no electronic wizard. I was hoping to grab a 7800 mod for my PAL-i 7800, but can't see one available Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Engineer Posted November 10, 2010 Author Share Posted November 10, 2010 The PAL stuff is tricky. Sometimes it works great and other times you only get a B/W image. Seems to depend on the display. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.J. Franzman Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 AFAIK, the main difference between PAL-I (used mostly in the British Isles, Hong Kong, and parts of Africa) and PAL-B/G (used mostly in Australia, New Zealand, and much of Europe) is the audio carrier frequency. The PAL TIA IC should be the same everywhere, and board layouts the same with respect to the various revision numbers. The audio carrier difference of only 0.5 MHz can be compensated for if moving a console from one of these two format areas to the other by a small change to an adjustable choke. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Engineer Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 No it seems that the same console with the same mod will display a perfect signal on one TV and on another only a B/W signal. This happens on PAL areas. Seems to happen only on TVs that are both PAL and NTSC compatible. PAL only TVs seem to not have this issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spurge Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Hmm.. damn.. seems to be much harder than I thought then. Thanks though for your input guys. Just wondering now what other option I have other than an expensive rf to composite converter. Probably just easier to get myself an NTSC 7800 and buy one of your kits. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
horseboy Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Hmm.. damn.. seems to be much harder than I thought then. Thanks though for your input guys. Just wondering now what other option I have other than an expensive rf to composite converter. Probably just easier to get myself an NTSC 7800 and buy one of your kits. Get a French 7800 with SCART. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Game-Tech.US Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 LHE, Tried to reach you via email a couple times in the last week or so, but I wanted to place an order. My issue is the lack of fms6400 availability from Mouser or Digikey, do you have a stash of them? Also sent a huge email about other mouser parts on your web page that are no longer available or are cheaper options, but never heard back about any of that either... Please reply soon! I need to mod, can't mod without parts, need your help for parts! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Engineer Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 LHE, Tried to reach you via email a couple times in the last week or so, but I wanted to place an order. My issue is the lack of fms6400 availability from Mouser or Digikey, do you have a stash of them? Also sent a huge email about other mouser parts on your web page that are no longer available or are cheaper options, but never heard back about any of that either... Please reply soon! I need to mod, can't mod without parts, need your help for parts! Yah I just got an email from mouser about it. The FMS6410 is a suitable substitute but I won't update the parts list till I know for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Game-Tech.US Posted November 11, 2010 Share Posted November 11, 2010 Yah I just got an email from mouser about it. The FMS6410 is a suitable substitute but I won't update the parts list till I know for sure. Thats crap, I looked for a substitute through their "find alternative" and came up empty. Just looked for fms6410, no stock on hand of those either, unless you want to order 1790 at $1.23 a pop from the factory. Now what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Longhorn Engineer Posted November 11, 2010 Author Share Posted November 11, 2010 http://www.onlinecomponents.com/buy/FAIRCHILD/FMS6410CS/?ref=fc For a stand by. Make sure pin 2 (the NC) is lifted. I don't know what will happen if thats connected to the +5V that is on that pin on the board. Looks like I need to change the design due to obsolete parts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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