galax Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 The board's very odd shape is weird, too. Dunno what it's from, but it ain't no proto and is not even related to FPGAs, devboards, or videogames by the looks of it. Oh yeah don't rule out that pieces of the PCB edges might be covered with electrical tape, like fingers for PCI/AGP/etc ports. The two mounting holes on the end and the board being quite long and narrow reminds me of a PC card. I don't see any other mounting holes which is highly suspicious. With a board this long you need them to prevent it flexing too much due to the length. Those holes would be used to attach one of those metal brackets you find on the ends of PC cards. Measuring my clear Jaguar shell, the board is a little over 9cm (3.5" wide), which is the width of a PCI card. Those two smaller QFPs are very very interesting to me- there's two of them and they appear to be identical. They both appear to have a similar complement of components around them, and there's waaay too many parts around them for them to be purely digital (i.e. RAM chips, etc) so that smells like some kind of ADC, DAC, or similar type thing. The SOICs above them just adds fuel to that fire. I was looking at those smaller Quad Flat Packages earlier too. The one on the right seems to have some centered writing, and no logo. I had a look for manufacturers who brand(ed) their ICs like this, and came up with Techwell, a fabless semiconductor company who made mostly video decoding ICs between 1997 and 2010 when they were acquired by Intersil. Some of the printing on their packages looks really similar to those two smaller QFPs. The 3 images on the left are the original and then enhanced versions from the latest Chameleon 'prototype', on the right is a resized Techwell IC. The Techwell chip I resized, and an example video capture/DVR card with similar components to the 'prototype'. I couldn't find an exact match, in fact I had some mich better examples earlier when I looked, but it seems that the 10 to 15 year old cards are pretty similar to the mystery board. 33 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 This is why I offered my cores for a set price. I will be damned if I was going to put anything into someone else's project without getting paid first. Just hope that "Li" (if he exists) didn't get suckered into the "work now, pay later" thing. The Kevtris Core Store definitely only accepts cash on the barrelhead and doesn't take credit. I'm glad you stuck to your guns and didn't get ripped off. Besides I don't think they would know what to do with your cores. A core is useless without the FPGA properly wired to a cart bus/SD card, HDMI port, controller/USB, etc... Besides, what if Mike got your cores, and then his chameleon Kickstart failed, and you sold your Zimba 3000, and Mike accused you of stealing his cores that you licensed? That would suck donkey and I wouldn't put it past them at this point... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andromeda Stardust Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Measuring my clear Jaguar shell, the board is 9cm (3.5" wide), which is exactly the width of a PCI card. image.jpegimage.png I was looking at those smaller Quad Flat Packages earlier too. The one on the right seems to have some centered writing, and no logo. I had a look for manufacturers who brand(ed) their ICs like this, and came up with Techwell, a fabless semiconductor company who made mostly video decoding ICs between 1997 and 2010 when they were acquired by Intersil. Some of the printing on their packages looks really similar to those two smaller QFPs. The 3 images on the left are from the latest Chameleon 'prototype', on the right is a resized Techwell IC. qfp-original.pngqfp-darker.pngqfp-sharpen.pngTechwell TW9066-small.jpg The Techwell chip I resized, and an example video capture/DVR card with similar components to the 'prototype'. I couldn't find an exact match, in fact I had some mich better examples earlier when I looked, but it seems that the 10 to 15 year old cards are pretty similar to the mystery board. 923665_20061212BenQFP241WZ_91.jpgsoftware-font-b-dvr-b-font-font-b-card-b-font-font-b-techwell-b-font1.jpg Nice! I knew a sleuth would come along to crack this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
galax Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Nice! I knew a sleuth would come along to crack this. It's a smoking gun only, but it looks scarily similar to old off the shelf PCI video capture cards. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triverse Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 He awakes from his slumber. Silent no more. His day is coming, that journey begins now... 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Jobs you don't want... Drummer for Spinal Tap, Hardware Guy for RetroVGS/Chameleon. 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SwampFox56 Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Measuring my clear Jaguar shell, the board is a little over 9cm (3.5" wide), which is the width of a PCI card. image.jpegimage.pngimage.png I was looking at those smaller Quad Flat Packages earlier too. The one on the right seems to have some centered writing, and no logo. I had a look for manufacturers who brand(ed) their ICs like this, and came up with Techwell, a fabless semiconductor company who made mostly video decoding ICs between 1997 and 2010 when they were acquired by Intersil. Some of the printing on their packages looks really similar to those two smaller QFPs. The 3 images on the left are the original and then enhanced versions from the latest Chameleon 'prototype', on the right is a resized Techwell IC. qfp-original.pngqfp-darker.pngqfp-sharpen.pngTechwell TW9066-small.jpg The Techwell chip I resized, and an example video capture/DVR card with similar components to the 'prototype'. I couldn't find an exact match, in fact I had some mich better examples earlier when I looked, but it seems that the 10 to 15 year old cards are pretty similar to the mystery board. 923665_20061212BenQFP241WZ_91.jpgsoftware-font-b-dvr-b-font-font-b-card-b-font-font-b-techwell-b-font1.jpg Excellent work! I knew the board looked all too familiar. I believe I still have a card that's near identical to the one shown in the clear case. I'll have to look through my garage, but I'm ready to debunk the entire console. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 You may be right that its a Techwell Video Decorder This looks very similar except for the battery and analong inputs on the side and is used for a security system analog to digital Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenixdownita Posted March 1, 2016 Author Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Excellent work! I knew the board looked all too familiar. I believe I still have a card that's near identical to the one shown in the clear case. I'll have to look through my garage, but I'm ready to debunk the entire console. Again??? If you do then Pipercub has to make another proto-repro-type or was repro-proto-type? Edited March 1, 2016 by phoenixdownita 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I said I wouldn't investigate further, but after some recent discussion, I had to look for a few minutes. Searching "DVR capture card" yields some very similar results. I'm sure someone will find it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Do I win something? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-5-HICAP50B-CCTV-DVR-Capture-Card-60FPS-DVR-Card-2060-Card-/111173646576 28 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I found what looks to be a match: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HICAP50B-CCTV-DVR-Capture-Card-60FPS-DVR-Card-2060-Card-w-Cords-/281856333450?hash=item419ff2568a:g:T5QAAOSwsFpWRhgz HICAP50B CCTV DVR Capture Card 45 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+5-11under Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I found what looks to be a match: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HICAP50B-CCTV-DVR-Capture-Card-60FPS-DVR-Card-2060-Card-w-Cords-/281856333450?hash=item419ff2568a:g:T5QAAOSwsFpWRhgz HICAP50B CCTV DVR Capture Card Slowpoke. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 So SNES Jr becomes Video Capture Card in the body of Atari Jaguar to create Coleco Chameleon Do I win something? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-5-HICAP50B-CCTV-DVR-Capture-Card-60FPS-DVR-Card-2060-Card-/111173646576 LoL it even has that same red wire 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mickcris Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) Do I win something? http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lot-of-5-HICAP50B-CCTV-DVR-Capture-Card-60FPS-DVR-Card-2060-Card-/111173646576 LOL. Nice one. Took a lot less longer than I thought for someone to find the board. I bet he thought no one would be able to find the exact board to debuff this one. Edited March 1, 2016 by mickcris 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PlaysWithWolves Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Oh, for Pete's sake. 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
toiletunes Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 How long before he pulls the pics off Facebook? 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Random Terrain Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 What kind of games can you play on a DVR capture card? 8 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipercub Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 The reason the SD2SNES was resetting was probably because of the 3-in-1 power supply. They seem to be a crap shoot when used in conjunction with the SD2SNES sometimes. We have had issues with SD2SNES and the 3-in-1s before, in fact often the first question we ask a customer who is having trouble with the SD2SNES is if they are using an official or 3rd party power supply. Also, I am pretty sure we (Stone Age Gamer) were the ones that sent RetroGaming RoundUp a SD2SNES for review back in 2012. So Mike should know what an SD2SNES is. Yes, I ordered it from you (pretty much your entire line of multicarts) aka car payment for ya and have given them all high marks. We reviewed it on our show and he was certainly aware of it. I will 100% back up your claim about the resetting, that cart is ALLOT more power hungry than a normal cart hence if you try to use it in the hyperkin portable on just batt power it is flakey or no-go, plug in the power and it works. Not a design defect, just the nature of the beast for what ICs it has running. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnphase Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 wow, when i said i bet its a sb live or a video card i was joking but i guess i should have known better... 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaybird3rd Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 I found what looks to be a match: http://www.ebay.com/itm/HICAP50B-CCTV-DVR-Capture-Card-60FPS-DVR-Card-2060-Card-w-Cords-/281856333450?hash=item419ff2568a:g:T5QAAOSwsFpWRhgz HICAP50B CCTV DVR Capture Card HICAP50B-CCTV-DVR-Capture-Card.jpg WOW. So now we have THREE indisputably fake "prototypes"! I wouldn't be surprised if the gold PCI card edge is covered over with electrical tape, as Kevtris says; we all know how much Mike loves his electrical tape! I wonder how he's going to blame "Mr. Lee the Hardware Guy" for this one ... 13 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
enoofu Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 What kind of games can you play on a DVR capture card? They did said their was something else besides a SNES JR in there 9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StoneAgeGamer Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 Wow...not that I should be shocked, but wow... 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shawnphase Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 aaaaaaaaand he pulled the pics 16 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheRedEye Posted March 1, 2016 Share Posted March 1, 2016 (edited) That specific picture where you can see the board is no longer on Facebook. Edit: Darn, beaten. Edited March 1, 2016 by TheRedEye 6 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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