SCART craziness

[Elusive]

My TV has one SCART socket. I have four devices that I use SCART leads for: my DVD player, my Mega Drive & Mega-CD, my Saturn, and just recently my Dreamcast. Hence, I use a SCART splitter, arranged in the following order:

(cable to TV SCART socket)
DVD player
Mega Drive
Saturn
Dreamcast
(spare socket)

I turn on my DVD player, no problem. The same goes for the Mega Drive and the Saturn. As for the Dreamcast, however - I turn it on, and the Mega Drive and Mega-CD turn on as well, showing the MEGA-CD logo 'dancing'.

This also happens when I totally unplug the Mega Drive from the power supply. This does not happen with anything else plugged into that particular socket, nor when I use a different socket. I am using an official Dreamcast SEGA-branded SCART lead.

The end result of all this is that I can only properly play my Dreamcast through the SCART setup if I unplug the Mega Drive SCART plug. This is because as both the Dreamcast and the Mega Drive/Mega-CD turn on, both signals get sent to the TV, sending a wierd mix of both consoles' splash screens. How the hell can the Mega Drive and Mega-CD be powered through the A/V socket?

[Joe Redifer]

Ha ha I have seen this happen. It is because you have a passive SCART splitter. I can unplug and remove the AC adaptor completely from my Super Nintendo, yet when I turn on the Genesis it powers up as well. It is because of the +5v line which sends a current out of the AV socket for other peripherals that were never designed (why the 32X needs its own power supply when it is connected to the Genesis via that socket is beyond me. Same goes with the Sega CD, it can power the Genesis through the side connector). If you were to disconnect the 5v pin, it would stop doing that. If you re-arrange the order your systems are plugged in the strip, it might help (try having the Dreamcast closest to the wire going to your TV, then the Mega Drive, then everything else). Of course then your Mega Drive may power up your Dreamcast. If this doesn't work (which it probably won't since either the Dreamcast or the Mega Drive will most likely power the other one up), try it the other way (Dreamcast furthest away from the wire that goes to your TV). Other than that, the only way is to find out which pin is the +5v on the SCART connector and rip out that pin (I'd rip it out for each cable).

On another note, I have noticed that my SCART splitter slightly degrades video and color quality somewhat versus a direct connection.

[Joe Redifer]

Out of curiosity, I found two ways to defeat the evil agenda of the SCART designers. Here they are:

#1 - Go to: http://www.diyha.co.uk/electronics/scart.html and remove pin # 8 with some needlenose pliers (I assume they have those in the UK) from each and every one of your SCART connectors that plug into the switcher (removing the pin from the switcher is not necessary).

#2 - Open up your SCART switcher. You probably have the same super-crappy one I do. Take an exacto knife or sharp blade and cut pin #8's trace between each and every input similar to the picture shown below. Be careful not to cut other traces and be EXTRA careful not to disconnect any of the wires soldered at the top. If any wires become disconected, re-solder them. You can complete Rocket Knight Adventures on super-mania-inpossible-hard mode, so I bet you can solder.

http://pixelcraze.film-tech.net/crap/scart.jpg

I happily sacrificed my SCART switcher to experiment. I didn't like the video quality, anyway. A pure connection is much better. Make your cut better than I made mine.