Can anyone help with Gen Model 1 Mod? I hit a brick wall.

[squall280]

I decided that since I have had alot of time lately to try stuff, I would tackle a Genesis Mod for a model 1. I followed the instructions to the mod via these instructions -http://www-unix.ecs.umass.edu/~dhowland/mod/-

I hit a brick wall with building the amps. I have the bord put together via the picture. i haven't done any soldering yet, but the board is a parallel to what what is in the picture. Truth be told i don't know exactly what gets soldered where. Also he runs wire of the board to the system and i don't know where the cords are placed in relation to the board. Can anyone bail me out here?

[madperry]

i used those same instructions. you need to look very closely at ALL of the pictures to be certain of what gets soldered where. i built mine exactly like his, but had to refer to each picture AND the schematic. the bottom side pictures of the project board are the most telling. you can see he soldered bridges. the locations for signal in and signal out(4 total) on chroma and luminance are easy. look at the schematic, or one of the pictures late in the process.

when you get this thing assembled, please post back on the results. i just finished one and the s-video has vertical lines in the picture.

[lilmul123]

NO NO NO NO NO NO. DON'T USE THIS ONE. I built it, and it didn't work the first time around. It's a waste of time, trust me. It can be done much simpler.

Check out viletem's post on this site: http://www.smspower.org/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11586

All you need is an NPN transistor and a 27 ohm resistor for each signal. My local radioshack didn't have 27 ohm resistors so I bought six 10 ohms for a total of 30 ohms on each signal. The picture is PERFECT and it is much simpler to make than the one in the link above.

edit: You also don't have to worry about making grounds anywhere and it's easy to see what goes to what. If you have any questions about this mod, don't hesitate to ask.

[squall280]

i am VERY confused now. I read that thread and still am confused as to what to do. I already have about 70 dollar into this mod(i would say 30 for parts and the rest for tools, but now i have them for good). now if someone can help me with the soldering work and like circle the bridges in photoshop and post that would be appreciated. that only leads to where he has the wires connected on the board. which i have no idea.

now madpenny you said you have issues with the s-video. do you think you did something wrong or something?

lilmul123- in reference to the easier mod. i woudl liek to attempt this again if you could assist i woudl be greatful. first i want to finish this mod but i hav eanother gen a model i would like to try the easier mod with.

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/squall280/PIC_0559.jpg

[madperry]

if you are going to go with the original mod, like i did, you should spend $3 more at radio shack and get the exact same project board. it already has built-in bridges which save a TON of time. then it would be easier to match as well.

if you do that, i could help you better.

i am going to try this alternate method which is much cheaper and easier and will post back with results when i finish it. i may have to order the parts since i don't think 27ohm resistors are off the shelf items.

[squall280]

the board used in his video wasn't available at radio shack. i could do the solder work i just need to know what gets soldered where and then where the cords go on the board.

[madperry]

the board used in his video wasn't available at radio shack. i could do the solder work i just need to know what gets soldered where and then where the cords go on the board.

he has a video?:confused:

there are no more radio shacks in your area? we must have 12 of them within 15 miles here. i walked into the 1st one and saw 3 of those boards.

take a picture of the back as well(only turn over-do not turn upside down), where the actual soldering takes place. i'll put circles around them. the biggest problem you have, since you are not using the original board, is that the 5v+ and ground will need to be wired differently. so it isn't as simple as just matching the original pictures. i may not respond immediately because of duties i have tomorrow, so please be patient.

[squall280]

we used to have like 10 in our area but only 3 now and none of them had that board. and i meant his link not video, although someone should put a video together. i'll get you that picture tomorrow. there is a radio shack a littl eout of the way from where i am at that i might be near tomorrow so ill check tomorrow for it.

[squall280]

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/squall280/PIC_0584.jpg



http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/squall280/PIC_0581.jpg



i found the same board.

[lilmul123]

i am going to try this alternate method which is much cheaper and easier and will post back with results when i finish it. i may have to order the parts since i don't think 27ohm resistors are off the shelf items.

Like I said, they don't have 27ohm resistors at Radioshack, but they do have 10 ohm resistors. I just put 3 10 ohms in series, and it worked perfectly.

Here's my first one using the guide:

http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/5172/1002431oj9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1002431oj9.jpg/1/w800.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img144/1002431oj9.jpg/1/)

Here's the back of it (notice all the wires): http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/7946/1002432qf9.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img144.imageshack.us/img144/1002432qf9.jpg/1/w800.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img144/1002432qf9.jpg/1/)

And finally, here's the one I have in my Genesis using the simpler one on the forum (notice that I used three resistors instead of one 27 ohm one. If you had a 27 ohm resistor, that would be even less parts to solder):
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1053/1002433th5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1002433th5.jpg/1/w800.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img22/1002433th5.jpg/1/)


Really, to do the first mod, you need to understand how to read the schematics. Like... you need to know why you're soldering something a specific way, or you'll have a hard time. You'll notice that in my first mod, the layout is different, but it's still the same mod.

[squall280]

do you have a step by step way of doing it and what parts to get together for this method lilmul? i want to finish the one i started and i just need to know where to solder and where to run wires from the board and on to the genesis.

[madperry]

Like I said, they don't have 27ohm resistors at Radioshack, but they do have 10 ohm resistors. I just put 3 10 ohms in series, and it worked perfectly.



And finally, here's the one I have in my Genesis using the simpler one on the forum (notice that I used three resistors instead of one 27 ohm one. If you had a 27 ohm resistor, that would be even less parts to solder):
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1053/1002433th5.jpg (http://imageshack.us)
http://img22.imageshack.us/img22/1002433th5.jpg/1/w800.png (http://g.imageshack.us/img22/1002433th5.jpg/1/)


Really, to do the first mod, you need to understand how to read the schematics. Like... you need to know why you're soldering something a specific way, or you'll have a hard time. You'll notice that in my first mod, the layout is different, but it's still the same mod.

i just finished this simpler one and it works exactly the same as other much more involved methods. unbelievable. i only spent 10 minutes assembling and soldering and under 5 bucks in parts.

unfortunately, i still have faint vertical lines visible on my lcd screen. i even tried it in 2 different model 1's. the vertical lines are much less prominent on a standard crt television.

[madperry]

since you've come this far, you may as well finish it. i just wouldn't bother using this on an hdtv. the black X's are the outputs going to your s-video connector. the blue X's are the inputs, coming directly from encoder(2 wires you solder to that chip underneath the heatsink on pins 15+16). The yellow line is where you solder a wire from point to point.
http://www.frontiernet.net/~madperry/Pictures/PIC_0584revised.jpg

[lilmul123]

@madperry: The lines are really odd... I've done this mod a couple times myself and I haven't seen anything like that.

@squall: You can use the PC board you already have. What you need are two NPN transistors (which you already have on the original board) and six 10 ohm resistors. You want to arrange the transistors like I did with the flat side facing the right. Otherwise, it simply won't work and might even fry your circuit. You'll see the transistors have three pins. Have the middle pin stick out one extra hole to the left. Now, to arrange the resistors, simply place them end-to-end like I do in the picture and solder the two ends of each resistor together except for the end. You also want to solder the first resistor to the bottom pin of the transistor.

Now, grab some wire. You're gonna have to follow the guide a little bit. First, take notice of where you get the voltage from on the Genesis' voltage regulator. You want to take a wire from there, and solder it to the top pin on the transistor. Since you need this voltage for the other circuit as well, you can just make a jumper wire (like in my picture), and take it to the top of the other transistor. For the middle pin, this is where you'll take the wire from your chroma pin on the Genesis' chip. Finally, you'll need to solder a wire to the end of the resistor circuit, and take it to the s-video port's chroma pin. Repeat these steps for the luma circuit. Make sure you ground your s-video port as well.

If anything isn't clear, just post again.

[madperry]

i used all single strand wire on both mods, and ran the 5volt source the same on both. where did you pull your +5v from on the board? i doubt wire type matters but i'm going to change it all to see if the vertical lines disappear.

[lilmul123]

i pulled it from the middle pin on one of the voltage regulators iirc.

[madperry]

i pulled it from the middle pin on one of the voltage regulators iirc.

i too ran from a voltage regulator. i have 4.98 volts. plenty. can't figure out what the problem is so i took it up a notch and got a scart cable and a scart to component converter. if component has any issues, my genny will have a date with a sledgehammer and i'll go back to 720p neogenesis on my xbox!

[squall280]

http://i663.photobucket.com/albums/uu352/squall280/PIC_0596.jpg can someone green light me to continue? i just want to make sure i do this right.

[madperry]

while you haven't done it wrong, it is incomplete. you still need to run 4 wires out from the top and solder those too. you also need to bridge some of those solder points to other points. refer to the red spots i made on your pic on page 1. i don't think there is anything else, short of doing it for you, that will help you.

[squall280]

i don't understand the running of the 4 wires out from the top. goign by the description ther are only two wire coming out of the board.

[madperry]

i don't understand the running of the 4 wires out from the top. goign by the description ther are only two wire coming out of the board.

you have 2 wires coming "in" from the encoder chip underneath the heat sink on the genesis. you then have 2 wires going "out" to the s-video connector. a total of 4 wires.

[squall280]

this is where i get lost. so there are wires i haven't done yet?

[madperry]

i already put x's on the spots you need to put those wires. look at what it shows in the edited picture and what it says.

[squall280]

is anyone around that can help me? i'll post the newest pics. i was being help my someone on this forum but they haven't gotten back to me in a great while.