Do I need a special AC adapter for PCEngine in the US?

[+-^CrossBow^-]

Even japanese Duo-R/RX sells for 400/450$ yeah.

The older Duo sell for 250$ as they have the issues of the older CD-ROM² units and they are considered ugly by most people

 

I disagree with that last part. I actually prefer the look of the TurboDUO over the R and RX units. I'm not a fan of white colored consoles and I don't much care for the rounded look of those two either. Nope...I wanted a DUO, picked up a JPN DUO at CGE 2010 for $250. Replaced the caps on it about 3 years ago and about 4 months ago I changed out the original 7805 regulators to modern DC-DC switching drop in replacement regulators. About the only thing to worry about on it now would be the laser unit and you can still get replacement NOS.

 

Also if might be worth looking into getting a modded Tennokoe that has component, S-video, Composite, L/R audio RCAs on them as well to give you more options for better video out quality and sound plus the save ability.

[derFunkenstein]

I'd like to know a definitive part that could be used with a Core GrafixII system. I've been batting around the idea of getting one of those because of the RCA jack and then just an everdrive to keep it simple. The market is so wrecked on that hardware due to collectards I don't want to go broke buying a select few HuCards of all things. I miss my Duo but I'm resigned to the fact it's a dead and done and over deal as I can not and won't put up $500 for a nice used one. That and well I'd just be burning games anyway as the titles I used to have, enough of them are in the $100 and up range and I can't justify paying that for any game whatever the system.

Well, I ordered the first one I linked. $10 on Amazon. It should arrive on Sunday and I'll be sure to post back with my results both right away and over time.

 

Direct from Japan :

http://stores.ebay.fr/Used-Video-Game-Yamatoku-Classic

Starting bids are 0.01cents for everything, except consoles (5$ each) and massive (more than 100) game lots.

Usually a Briefcase sell for 25/30$, and is useable withouth the CD-ROM2 (for save and RCA video out).

Cd-ROM² can be a lottery : get one untested for about 40$, and hope that it's a rotten gear and not a dead laser. A new gear is 8$. Replacement is easy even for a beginner, no soldering, jsut be calm and have a place with lots of light.

Note that the Briefcase use the same 9V power suply and polarity, but need a more beefier 1.5 amps power supply.

 

In either case, remember to get a Tennokoe Hu-card :

It's a memory card, that will aloow you to back-up your CD-ROM or Ten no koe 2 memory. Pretty useful as the Tennokoe 2 is backed up by AA batteries and the CD-ROM²/Duo is based on super-caps that last about a month.

well that's totally do able. It's definitely a gamble, but maybe down the road I'll look into it. For now, I just got like 300 new games to play. LOL

[Tanooki]

 

Seems pricey. FWIW, just back in Sept. I bought a boxed, re-capped, etc. Turbo Duo off forum member mickcris for about $390.. and that was after adding $60 for a region mod (which I'll admit I didn't need). Awesome seller btw.

 

For the Turbo, even with an Everdrive you'll still want the CD games as the CD games are where a huge percentage of what the system's library strength is at.

I would have paid that much given it was entirely recapped since NEC used garbage ones. But that's about the top end really. These people wanting $500+ for it nuts, even if they get that much ebay takes a 10% slice including the weight of the shipping being fee hit too. Just seems smarter at this rate to take alternative routes.

 

You have the CoreGrafix2 system modded for region or just using an everdrive.

 

Another choice which some may shun would be emulation via the GBA (PCE Advance) which can run ISOs so you can take that on the go or GB Player. And then there's your usual emulation route that uses cards+isos too with PC/Android based platforms. The CG2 at least would be using real hardware/controller, but the other would work fine too so it's all down to choice and comfort.

[derFunkenstein]

My CoreGrafx is just using an Everdrive. Booted a bunch of both American and Japanese games on it and they all fired up without a hitch.

[darthkur]

I always use a step down converter with all of my Japanese machines. They will run warm without one. Not worth the risk of slowly burning your system up.

[+GoldenWheels]

People wanting a (PC Engine) Duo should hit up Keith Courage at Pcenginefx.com . I got my region modded, S-vid modded, recapped duo for less than $350 shipped a couple of years ago, and the prices do not seem to have increased.

 

I shill so much for the dude I should get a commission but seriously, don't make my mistake...which was buying a standard Turbo and spending money on AV hookups, only to determine afterwards that I really DID want to play those CD games....IMO, go all out the FIRST time. The system/library is totally worth it.

[CatPix]

It's why I went the Briefcase way. cost me about 50$ (plus games, shipping not accounted fo as I got other stuff from the seller) White PC-engine, and the Briefcase for A/V out.

Later, I got a CD-ROM² unit for 40$+ 8 $ for the gear, turned out I got lucky and got an unit with a solid CD lens.

Add 30$ for a Super System Card and 100$ for an Arcade Card (not needed but heh) and it total, it's a rather cheap 230$ system I got. And if you remove the Arcade Card, that's 130$ for a system that will read 99%of the PC-Engine library.

In my case tho, I don't have to worry about TurboChip compatibility. I don't own any so far and since my system isn't modded for that, I don't plan to get one as US prices are ridiculous, won't even get one for the collector's aspect.

[+save2600]

Pretty much what I did... saved money and went the PC Engine/CD2 briefcase route. Amazing how robust they are compared to the Duo's, etc. which are plagued with bad caps and more, of the era. Even the plastic feels cheap and brittle on the TurboDuo.

[Tanooki]

I noticed that back in the 90s, the plastic is so thin and flimsy it would bend just doing much of anything with it. I always treated it, especially the card door and disc door with kid gloves afraid it would crack off.

[+GoldenWheels]

It's why I went the Briefcase way. cost me about 50$ (plus games, shipping not accounted fo as I got other stuff from the seller) White PC-engine, and the Briefcase for A/V out.

Later, I got a CD-ROM² unit for 40$+ 8 $ for the gear, turned out I got lucky and got an unit with a solid CD lens.

Add 30$ for a Super System Card and 100$ for an Arcade Card (not needed but heh) and it total, it's a rather cheap 230$ system I got. And if you remove the Arcade Card, that's 130$ for a system that will read 99%of the PC-Engine library.

In my case tho, I don't have to worry about TurboChip compatibility. I don't own any so far and since my system isn't modded for that, I don't plan to get one as US prices are ridiculous, won't even get one for the collector's aspect.

 

I got in when I thought pricing was "reasonable" several years ago and people told me the same thing then. And the prices just keep going up and up. It's crazy. PC-E can be pricey too.

 

I'll likely never own any of the more expensive US releases like Cadash or Air Zonk. Maybe I'll get lucky and cop a trade somewhere or something but I just won't pay that much $$$ for games.

[CatPix]

Yeah, some PC-Engines games can fetch high prices, like Good luck getting an original Castlevania

But outside of that, even all three PC-Kids/Bonks games gat be gotten for under 10$ with a little patience, Street Fighter II as well, etc.

Some games, many shooters, are more in the 30/40$ mark, but compared to NES games it remains reasonnable.

[+GoldenWheels]

Yeah, some PC-Engines games can fetch high prices, like Good luck getting an original Castlevania

But outside of that, even all three PC-Kids/Bonks games gat be gotten for under 10$ with a little patience, Street Fighter II as well, etc.

Some games, many shooters, are more in the 30/40$ mark, but compared to NES games it remains reasonnable.

 

Yeah mine is a boot and that's just fine because it works! That's all that matters!

[CatPix]

Same same, got a PCEworks one from PC-Enginefx forums

Great great game.

[derFunkenstein]

So the power supply I ordered came today. Polarity is reversed from the Amazon listing - negative on the outside. Held my breath and plugged it in anyway - no power. Swapped the original back, powered right up. Sonofabeyoch. The label doesn't match what's in the ad at all. (this is the listing, for posterity: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IHU0C84)

Edited August 19, 2017 by derFunkenstein

[Andromeda Stardust]

Any power supply with the right barrel tip delivering 9 volts and at least 650mA will do. you only need to care about polarity :

 

 

The plus must be in the center.

 

I used the power supply from an US Robotics modem for quite a long time for mine, until I upgraded to the briefcase setup

 

I hope you got some games with your system, because 100$ for a Coregrafx is a bit on the expensive side. Usually one from Japan (on ebay) are more in the 40$ mark +25$ shipping.

Odd. My AV Famicom and US Turbografx both had negative tips. Also my US Robotics modem had a 9VAC adapter brick. Great for NES, will fry most anything else...

 

 

If you use a Japanese power supply in America, you may or will end up frying your unit (only a matter of time) and things like Everdrives, whose sensitive circuitry is designed to run at only 3.3v. After blowing through two Turbo Everdrives (Krikzz just replaced, no questions asked), finally decided to take a look at my supply. Sure enough, I was using the one that came with my PC Engine, which is designed for 100vac. North America uses 120vac of course, so I then measured the output of the Japanese supply and naturally, was way out of spec. +5-7vdc IIRC under no load, but still... way too high for such electronics. You're stressing the regulator as it tries to "burn" off the difference too. Ever since I replaced the Japanese supply with an appropriate one designed to properly step down *our* voltage, haven't had a single problem with any of my gear. And I know they run cooler too, which is always a good thing.

This is not true that using Japanese adapters is dangerous, however you should measure the voltage of any vintage supply and compare it to the nameplate. All consoles have internal regulators inside them which limit the internal voltage to +5V, or 3.3V in the case of more modern consoles such as N64. The 20% increase in voltage output on US mains (120V US vs 100V Japan) will result in about a 2V increase at the console input. For instance a 9V adapter in Japan might output 10.8V in the US. Most unregulated bricks output a bit more than the nameplate anyway. My "9V" NEC powerbrick that came with my Turbografx outputs around 13V which causes the regulator to run a bit warm. I've stopped using it but a slight increase or decrease in the voltage at the unregulated input will not affect performance of the unit. If your console is frying Everdrives you may want to check your VCC output. My Turbografx puts out 5.65V so I'm thinking about replacing the regulator in mine, just haven't had time to do it yet. No issues running my everdrive on it either.

 

So while plugging a US or Japanese console unregulated power brick into say European mains (100-120 vs 220-240V) will definitely fry something, you have little to worry about with Japanese supplies. When in doubt, check the output with a multimeter. A bunch of old power bricks tend to output a lot more than the nameplate suggests. If I find a power brick in my stash where the nameplate says "9V" and it outputs more than 12V unloaded, it's going in the trash. Get a 9V switching power supply and forget about vintage unregulated bricks. I'd rather use an aftermarket brick that outputs what it says on the nameplate than a vintage name brand one that puts out too much. The extra voltage gets dumped as waste heat from the regulator.

[Andromeda Stardust]

Another choice which some may shun would be emulation via the GBA (PCE Advance) which can run ISOs so you can take that on the go or GB Player. And then there's your usual emulation route that uses cards+isos too with PC/Android based platforms. The CG2 at least would be using real hardware/controller, but the other would work fine too so it's all down to choice and comfort.

Any way to run this on the GBA Everdrive? I would imagine ISOs are way to big to load from the SD.

 

 

 

So the power supply I ordered came today. Polarity is reversed from the Amazon listing - negative on the outside. Held my breath and plugged it in anyway - no power. Swapped the original back, powered right up. Sonofabeyoch. The label doesn't match what's in the ad at all. (this is the listing, for posterity: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IHU0C84)

Link does not work.

[carlsson]

Kosmic, it was already observed in this thread that the picture CatPix posted belongs to a much later Duo unit than the original Engine or Core Grafx units the topic first was about so never mind about that particular picture.

 

Generally if you know the polarity doesn't match what the system is built for, don't try it anyway. At best nothing happens or you blow perhaps a fuse or a voltage regulator. At worst you could suffer further damage to the system. It is so easy to break things anyway (e.g. by short circuiting something that is not meant to be) so a bad move to gamble just in case.

[carlsson]

Polarity is reversed from the Amazon listing - negative on the outside.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IHU0C84

My eyesight is telling me to see an optician soonest possible (not a joke), but nowhere in that listing I can see anything about polarity in either way. All four images seem to depict devices with centre positive polarity, so unless they have replaced the item pictures after you purchased it, something else went wrong. If you're into soldering though, you could snip off the cable a few inches from the barrel connector, twist it a half turn and then solder back the two ends. It might not look pretty and will reverse what the label says but it will work. I did something similar on a power adapter of my own a month ago. Remember to insulate well with electrical tape so you don't short circuit the two lines and also so the solder joints don't break apart.

Edited August 19, 2017 by carlsson

[Tanooki]

Any way to run this on the GBA Everdrive? I would imagine ISOs are way to big to load from the SD.

 

 

 

Link does not work.

 

Are you asking me if you can toss a TG16 ISO on an Everdrive itself, not the MicroSD card? I have no idea. But, why should you even try? I've owned two of the slower/crappier EZ-Flash IV devices and it ran fine on there using the ISOs right off the microsd card. I had at the very least put Dracula X, Ys Book 1+2, and Gate of Thunder in ISO format on those devices years ago. Gate of Thunder is over 300MB in ISO format and I know the everdrive doesn't have that kind of space inside it without the card.

[NE146]

You have the CoreGrafix2 system modded for region or just using an everdrive.

I had my Turbo Duo region modded because I wanted the option to play all my old TG16 hucards. However that was mostly a mistake since once I put in the Everdrive it gives me zero reason to dig out the single Hucards. But whatever.. I'll still never get rid of my old collection.

 

Another choice which some may shun would be emulation via the GBA (PCE Advance) which can run ISOs so you can take that on the go or GB Player. And then there's your usual emulation route that uses cards+isos too with PC/Android based platforms. The CG2 at least would be using real hardware/controller, but the other would work fine too so it's all down to choice and comfort.

 

 

Eww.. last I tried that it was horrible.. is it any better now? I think the GBA is excellent for 8-bit libraries, but once you start moving up it got a little dicier. Maybe it's changed? The Turbo CD games to me are mostly a TV affair, but I'll check out the handheld emulation options if they've gotten good.

Edited August 20, 2017 by NE146

[Andromeda Stardust]

 

Are you asking me if you can toss a TG16 ISO on an Everdrive itself, not the MicroSD card? I have no idea. But, why should you even try? I've owned two of the slower/crappier EZ-Flash IV devices and it ran fine on there using the ISOs right off the microsd card. I had at the very least put Dracula X, Ys Book 1+2, and Gate of Thunder in ISO format on those devices years ago. Gate of Thunder is over 300MB in ISO format and I know the everdrive doesn't have that kind of space inside it without the card.

Yeah, that contraption needed users to run a PC utility to convert GBA ROMs to a usable format before uploading to the card? Thanks but no thanks. I was aware of running Game Boy and SMS and NES ROMs on the GBA Everdrive X5. IMO 240p games look bad on the tiny screen anyway since the emulator squishes 8x8 sprites to an 8x6 aspect. Games look wrong although the NES Classic Edition ROMs modified the CHR data to display correctly in this compressed format.

[Tanooki]

I haven't touched PCE Advance in years, and Kosmic is right, it's squished slightly because of TV vs GBA view area, but it's not so bad it causes a problem from what I recall. It's not something I touched in years, but I don't recall if PCE Advance needed some tool to get the games into a file, but it probably does and still does as it's made by the same guy as PocketNES and Goomba Color ...flubba/loopy.

 

I probably should go and try and dig up that old tool that made those bootable GBA files and check it out again. The thing is, the Everdrive you can toss the emuator in a directory and then files just fire up on their own, but I'm not sure if PCEA works or if it would just at a click load up an ISO either.

[derFunkenstein]

My eyesight is telling me to see an optician soonest possible (not a joke), but nowhere in that listing I can see anything about polarity in either way. All four images seem to depict devices with centre positive polarity, so unless they have replaced the item pictures after you purchased it, something else went wrong. If you're into soldering though, you could snip off the cable a few inches from the barrel connector, twist it a half turn and then solder back the two ends. It might not look pretty and will reverse what the label says but it will work. I did something similar on a power adapter of my own a month ago. Remember to insulate well with electrical tape so you don't short circuit the two lines and also so the solder joints don't break apart.

There's a real good chance it was always like that, but I could have sworn the polarity had negative in the middle when I ordered it.

 

Can't edit the post with the broken link but it was this https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01IHU0C84and apparently I'm just blind because I should never have ordered that as depicted in the listing.

Edited August 20, 2017 by derFunkenstein

[+GoldenWheels]

Same same, got a PCEworks one from PC-Enginefx forums

Great great game.

Haha me too! I really enjoyed Dynastic Hero too...Never got into Beyond Shadowgate.

[CatPix]

I got those too. I guess Beyond Shadowgate would play better on PC. Or maybe with the PC-Engine mouse if it support it.

Edited August 21, 2017 by CatPix