hex65000 Posted February 4, 2004 Share Posted February 4, 2004 I've finally got my switchbox project up and running 100% ! The original msg I posted about it... http://www.atariage.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=36384 The next problem is a board enclosure. I _was_ going to use an EA Genesis cart, bit it's not tall enough. What had to be overcome... - I botched the SMD pad sizes for all of my reisistors. I wound up just getting some smaller resistors and I'll fix the board for the final revision. - Oops! forgot to run power to the relay... duh! - some of the through-holes were too small. I wanted to use heavier wires than what would fit. - The board house neglected to mill out a few spots... Dremel -- I choose you! - The relay would trip to the 5200 at power on, but never toggle back to the antenna; It looks like the Omron relay I selected doesn't need as much voltage as its predecessor. I wound up adding a pot to the circuit and just tweeked until everything worked right. If I add about 180 ohms to the circuit, it works fairly well. A smaller resistance works (~150 ohms) but the time delay for the relay to toggle from game to antenna is notably long. If I go too high, the relay won't toggle to the game mode and the picture is crummy. This gave me the biggest fits of all. What's next: - An enclosure. - I would like someone here who is clueful to evaluate my second prototype board. - If all goes well, I'll place an order for at least 24 more boards and attempt to sell them off. Comments? Hex. [ "Rabbits aren't cool!" --Rintaro; Medabots ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hex65000 Posted February 5, 2004 Author Share Posted February 5, 2004 Pictures of the board. I lack a digital camera. Anyway, if you want to test the second one out and report on it w/ pictures PM me. Admittedly, I have a certain batch of folks in mind for this one. Hex. [ You have no IDEA how happy I am about this project working... ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahsMyBro Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Comments? Hell Yeah I've got a comment! I LIKE it! I've got countless RF Adapters- probably over a dozen traditional switchboxes, and 2 or 3 functional 5200 switchboxes. With the possible exception of the Genesis/Nintendo and newer units (I'm not sure about them), every single one I've tried, even brand-new, does horrible things to the picture when I try to watch TV (using the RF input with cable TV). I've assumed that the boxes will always add some interference, and even brand-new RF-switchboxes have probably been sitting on a shelf in a warehouse for 20-30 years, so they probably aren't performing as well as they would have when manufactured, but that might be wishful thinking on my part. After all, I don't know what part would deteriorate to cause a worse picture over time. To get to the point, IF your switchbox causes less degradation of the antenna/cable signal than the original boxes, I'd love to get one from you once you get them produced. Sign me up! -- Steve Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hex65000 Posted February 6, 2004 Author Share Posted February 6, 2004 That's pretty odd. Unless you have a bunch of those auto-switchboxes chained up you shouldn't have video problems. Perhaps you should describe your setup. Also realize that this project is good _only_ for the 4 port 5200 machines. Since they are 'special' and have DC power and RF running on the same chunk of cable. I'm saying this because It sounds like you want to replace ALL of your RF switchboxes with this thing -- and that won't work. I mean I could design a manual switchbox to replace the autoswitchboxes, but it would not be pretty. (the design) And much more expensive -- a power supply would be needed to drive the relay(s). Although... It does give me another good idea... muhaha! Hex. [ Why yes... I am a supervillian. ] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NoahsMyBro Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 No, I understand the switchbox is only for 4-port 5200s. I didn't expect to use your switchbox with other systems - I was just venting. But to describe my setup - I have cable TV. No converter box. I run it into the antenna input of an RF box. I run the output of the switchbox to the coax input on the TV. I run the rf signal from the console to the game input on the switchbox. It doesn't really matter which console, or what adapters are used at the various connections. With a switchbox, my TV signal looks snowy and lousy. I always thought this was normal, and since my late teens, when the loss of picture quality began to matter to me, I haven't kept a switchbox on the TV. I only put it on when I want to use it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
+Mitch Posted February 6, 2004 Share Posted February 6, 2004 Have you tried using the F-Jack to RCA convertor with a coax switchbox as decribed here? Mitch Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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