156 replies to this topic

[horseboy]

5-11under, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:56 PM, said:

Vectorman0, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:41 PM, said:

Is there any possibility of getting S-Video/composite output for Colecovision games on the board as well, for situations where a component ready device is not available?

I'm contemplating reserving one, I'm just not sure I want to commit to buying this yet.

Hi Vectorman0,

There's other circuits out there for composite and I think S-Video, which you should perhaps consider, which don't even really need a PCB. The circuit I've made takes the three outputs directly from the Video Display Processor, and transform them into a YPbPr/Component signal with as little signal degradation or processing as possible.

Thanks,
5-11under

Vectorman0 want to know if he can have component and s-video in the same CV. Would adding one of the other S-video mods out there affect this component mod. I am also interested in this as I would like both on mine as well. Occasionally I want to take my CV in a different room or to a friend's house and component is not always an option.

[5-11under]

classics, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 1:43 PM, said:

Is this based on an existing published mod?

Have you tried it with various monitors?

Steve

Hi Steve,

It's my own design (almost as much as anyone could say that about any design, at least). The ColecoVision outputs Y, B-Y, and R-Y natively, but at different levels than standard YPbPr/component. When you bring the "B" and "R" levels down to where they need to be, the associated "-Y" levels also change. This needs to be compensated for, otherwise the colours, especially the yellows, will be muted. The "Y" compensation on the "B-Y" and "R-Y" lines is the essence of the design, which makes it different than the ones I've seen pictures of.

I've tried it with several monitors/TVs/converters so far, including a 42" Westinghouse, ~20" Panasonic(?), 12" Sony, a component to HDMI converter, and a component to VGA converter. The component to VGA converter requires some potentiometer adjustments, but the others looked fairly similar to each other.

Thanks,
5-11under

Edit: clarification on the design.

Edited by 5-11under, Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:38 PM.

[5-11under]

horseboy, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:08 PM, said:

5-11under, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:56 PM, said:

Vectorman0, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:41 PM, said:

Is there any possibility of getting S-Video/composite output for Colecovision games on the board as well, for situations where a component ready device is not available?

I'm contemplating reserving one, I'm just not sure I want to commit to buying this yet.

Hi Vectorman0,

There's other circuits out there for composite and I think S-Video, which you should perhaps consider, which don't even really need a PCB. The circuit I've made takes the three outputs directly from the Video Display Processor, and transform them into a YPbPr/Component signal with as little signal degradation or processing as possible.

Thanks,
5-11under

Vectorman0 want to know if he can have component and s-video in the same CV. Would adding one of the other S-video mods out there affect this component mod. I am also interested in this as I would like both on mine as well. Occasionally I want to take my CV in a different room or to a friend's house and component is not always an option.

Let me do a bit more investigation on this. I'll post when I've got the answer, hopefully tonight. In the past, I've had difficulty with the quality of the component video when trying this... but that was a while back, and other things have changed in the design in the meantime.

Thanks,
5-11under

[cubelindo]

5-11under, on Mon Nov 23, 2009 6:11 PM, said:

cubelindo, on Mon Nov 23, 2009 4:53 PM, said:

Sounds interesting, but I'm in Pal land.

Are you willing to ship to Europe?

Reading one of you previous post, it should work in a Pal Coleco, at least in theory, right?

Yes, it should work with PAL, as far as I can tell. Your ColecoVision can be the guinea pig. I'll give you a good deal if you get the mod done fairly quickly, and report the results. Any other PAL users who want to reserve one can do so, and we'll do the payment and shipping after cubelindo has reported back.

I'm a bit scared of sending to Spain, but I'll give it another shot; I think your postman has someone's copy of Squares! and JetPack.

Thanks,
5-11under

I'd try my best doing the mod, but I prefer to pay it in full - with my newborn I'm not sure I'll have as much time to do the mod as I'd like. So if there are other volunteers I'd gladly swap my place with him

Regarding shipping, I normaly have no issues with items sent from the US or Canada, but the postman also has a Megadrive's Zero Wing I ordered two years ago so anything's possible. In any case if it does not arrive I won't blame you so it's worth the risk!

So I reserve one

[mimo]

Well I'll do the PAL testing if that is OK,
I would also like to add that if s-video and/or composite could be added that would be a bonus for PAL users as the current mods don't work:(
Despite having a Component enabled LCD TV I also like to play on my CRT tellys in my game room too

And is the shielding really required? I run my 7800 and Atari 8bit computers with no shielding and have had no problems in the last 5 years:cool:

Edited by mimo, Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:18 PM.

[5-11under]

5-11under, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:36 PM, said:

horseboy, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 2:08 PM, said:

5-11under, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:56 PM, said:

Vectorman0, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 12:41 PM, said:

Is there any possibility of getting S-Video/composite output for Colecovision games on the board as well, for situations where a component ready device is not available?

I'm contemplating reserving one, I'm just not sure I want to commit to buying this yet.

Hi Vectorman0,

There's other circuits out there for composite and I think S-Video, which you should perhaps consider, which don't even really need a PCB. The circuit I've made takes the three outputs directly from the Video Display Processor, and transform them into a YPbPr/Component signal with as little signal degradation or processing as possible.

Thanks,
5-11under

Vectorman0 want to know if he can have component and s-video in the same CV. Would adding one of the other S-video mods out there affect this component mod. I am also interested in this as I would like both on mine as well. Occasionally I want to take my CV in a different room or to a friend's house and component is not always an option.

Let me do a bit more investigation on this. I'll post when I've got the answer, hopefully tonight. In the past, I've had difficulty with the quality of the component video when trying this... but that was a while back, and other things have changed in the design in the meantime.

Thanks,
5-11under

I've tried this again, and there is a definite loss in quality when keeping the original circuitry.

Thanks,
5-11under

[5-11under]

mimo, on Tue Nov 24, 2009 5:13 PM, said:

Well I'll do the PAL testing if that is OK,
I would also like to add that if s-video and/or composite could be added that would be a bonus for PAL users as the current mods don't work:(
Despite having a Component enabled LCD TV I also like to play on my CRT tellys in my game room too

And is the shielding really required? I run my 7800 and Atari 8bit computers with no shielding and have had no problems in the last 5 years:cool:

Hi Mimo,

I've got you lined up for some PAL testing.

I thought everyone had at least two ColecoVisions. Maybe it's just me. Sorry, as mentioned, S-Video and composite is not suggested at the same time.

My ColecoVision typically runs fine without any shielding or case, so I'm guessing it'd be fine. That's definitely an option you can try.

Thanks,
5-11under

[mimo]

Not going to be able to afford this mod due to some hefty unforeseen bills:x
Sorry

[coleconut]

5-11under, on Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:14 PM, said:

By the way, I've only been advertising these on AA so far...

Are there other places I should advertise?

What other consoles use the TMS9928A or TMS9929A, as opposed to the TMS9918A?

Thanks,
5-11under

Hmm, my PAL Creativision uses the TMS9929A, my Spectravideo the 9918, what else do I have here in the obscurity closet...?
Why not reach out to MADrigal, he's not real active here all the time but I'd consider him more or less the Creativision guru.

Edited by coleconut, Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:45 AM.

[5-11under]

coleconut, on Thu Nov 26, 2009 11:40 AM, said:

5-11under, on Mon Nov 23, 2009 3:14 PM, said:

By the way, I've only been advertising these on AA so far...

Are there other places I should advertise?

What other consoles use the TMS9928A or TMS9929A, as opposed to the TMS9918A?

Thanks,
5-11under

Hmm, my PAL Creativision uses the TMS9929A, my Spectravideo the 9918, what else do I have here in the obscurity closet...?
Why not reach out to MADrigal, he's not real active here all the time but I'd consider him more or less the Creativision guru.

Interesting, although I'm guessing you don't want holes drilled in the back of your Creativision.
5-11under

[5-11under]

Status update:

I was busy a couple more evenings this week than I had intended, so I still need to verify the PCB layout, and do a bit of clean-up to the silkscreen layer. The pre-orders will likely close first thing Monday morning. The December 18 ship date on pre-orders will still stand if the PCBs are delivered to me by Dec. 11.

Thanks,
5-11under

[evg2000]

Hello,
I would like to be added to the pre-order list. I am interested in order 1. Also for those who want s-vdieo, would this work?
ebay component to s-video cable

thanks,
charles

5-11under, on Thu Nov 26, 2009 12:53 PM, said:

Status update:

I was busy a couple more evenings this week than I had intended, so I still need to verify the PCB layout, and do a bit of clean-up to the silkscreen layer. The pre-orders will likely close first thing Monday morning. The December 18 ship date on pre-orders will still stand if the PCBs are delivered to me by Dec. 11.

Thanks,
5-11under

Edited by evg2000, Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:27 PM.

[5-11under]

evg2000, on Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:25 PM, said:

Hello,
I would like to be added to the pre-order list. I am interested in order 1. Also for those who want s-vdieo, would this work?
ebay component to s-video cable

thanks,
charles

Charles, thanks for the pre-order.

That connector won't work for this application... An S-Video connector typically has 4 pins. This one has 7. Maybe it's for a Dell laptop, but I thought they only outputted composite and S-Video. Unfortunately, there's no "close-to-free" way to convert S-video to/from YPbPr Component video.

Thanks,
5-11under

Edit: It looks like the 7 pin connector is used in some video cards: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S-Video

Edited by 5-11under, Thu Nov 26, 2009 4:55 PM.

[5-11under]

Well, the PCB layout has been cleaned up and verified. I'll be ordering the PCBs first thing Monday morning. Any pre-orders before then will be accepted.

As mentioned, the price will be $45 US each, including mailing to US and Canadian addresses. Shipping prices overseas to be determined (but will be approximately the actual cost). Payment won't be due until the units are ready to ship, which should be around Dec. 18, 2009.

Anyone who pre-orders will receive a free video output test cart (without case), which I guess I'll be programming over the next week or so.

I'll be ordering at least a few extra PCBs, so I'll be able to accept orders beyond the pre-order deadline. These will be subject to availability of course, and won't come with a free cart. Price and/or lead-time is also subject to change, for instance if I need to order additional parts.

Thanks,
5-11under

[Murph74]

You should put Squares on the test cart, too. lol

[5-11under]

Update: PCBs have been ordered. Delivery is set at 6 days, but I can't remember if that is when they ship it out, or when I receive it. Worst case, they should be here in a week and a half or so. I'm still on schedule to mail these out by December 18, or possibly a few days earlier. I'll keep posting updates as the PCBs come in, and get populated/tested.

I've ordered some extra PCBs, so if you'd like to order one in the future, feel free to send me a PM, and I'll see what I can do. Maybe more people will be interested once they see results from more than just me.

When the items are ready to ship, I'll PM those who have pre-ordered.

Thanks,
5-11under

[Ransom]

I'm really looking forward to getting this. It's going to be great to see the CV games in all their glory!

[horseboy]

I am confused. Were we supposed to pay for our preorders yet?

[5-11under]

horseboy, on Tue Dec 1, 2009 8:56 PM, said:

I am confused. Were we supposed to pay for our preorders yet?

Nope, not yet. You won't need to pay until the PCBs are assembled and tested, and are ready to be mailed. I'm aiming for Dec. 18, but hoping for a few days before that.

When they're ready to go, I'll send everyone a PM with my PayPal information. I'll also reply here, to make sure I haven't missed anyone.

Thanks,
5-11under

Edit: clarification

Edited by 5-11under, Wed Dec 2, 2009 7:29 AM.

[StarshipUK]

I would be interested in one if someone confirms it works on UK PAL Colecos.

My Coleco is currently unwell and being repaired by a friend, and Colecos have recently been fetching ridiculously high amounts on EBay UK, as most are listed with large collections of games and the modules - but still interested to get one of these ready for the future if they work OK on PAL models

[5-11under]

StarshipUK, on Sat Dec 5, 2009 3:21 PM, said:

I would be interested in one if someone confirms it works on UK PAL Colecos.

My Coleco is currently unwell and being repaired by a friend, and Colecos have recently been fetching ridiculously high amounts on EBay UK, as most are listed with large collections of games and the modules - but still interested to get one of these ready for the future if they work OK on PAL models

A couple in the first round of shipments are going to be put in PAL ColecoVisions. The owners or I will be sure to report back, hopefully with successful results.

Thanks,
5-11under

[5-11under]

The PCBs have shipped, and I should have them Wednesday or Thursday, just in time for may day off on Friday. If all goes well, the finished units might be ready to ship in a week.

Thanks,
5-11under

[Ikrananka]

5-11under, on Mon Dec 7, 2009 7:16 AM, said:

The PCBs have shipped, and I should have them Wednesday or Thursday, just in time for may day off on Friday. If all goes well, the finished units might be ready to ship in a week.

Thanks,
5-11under

Great news - very excited.

[5-11under]

Update: I've ordered the components for the pre-orders. Unfortunately, a key part is back-ordered, set to arrive approximately December 15. The original ship date of December 18 is still do-able, but for most of the orders, it's not likely to be any earlier than that.

Thanks,
5-11under

[Yurkie]

Very cool looking and useful, if not for Christmas being right around the corner I would want to buy 1 or 2 of these. Hope you have enough extras for me to buy one in the future. Awesome job. I bet you have a lot of R&D hours in this.