NES-101 Nintendo Top Loader - RGB to Component - BA6592F Final

[Game-Tech.US]

It took over a month, but I finally finished this project.

[+wood_jl]

Very nice!

[icemanxp300]

Thats sweet. If you don't mind I'd like to ask a few questions about your soldering.

 

Just teaching myself to solder here. You look like you got it down.

 

When you soldered the board what was that brush thing you keep rubbing across the board? I assume it was a paste of some kind to hold the (chips?) in place. What type of solder do you use and how thick? Are you using a solder w/flux in it or was that paste a flux as well.

 

What wattage is your iron? On the snes chip it looked as if you "sucked" the solder from the tip instead of using the solder on every pin like the rest of the video. I have read mixed views on soldering that way gives weak joints.

[Game-Tech.US]

When you soldered the board what was that brush thing you keep rubbing across the board? I assume it was a paste of some kind to hold the (chips?) in place. What type of solder do you use and how thick? Are you using a solder w/flux in it or was that paste a flux as well.

 

What wattage is your iron? On the snes chip it looked as if you "sucked" the solder from the tip instead of using the solder on every pin like the rest of the video. I have read mixed views on soldering that way gives weak joints.

I think you're talking about the flux pen, I don't talk about it everytime I use it, but all it does is apply more flux to pads or whatever i'm about to solder. I use it a lot for smd work and any oxidized metal I want to solder to like resistor legs in old consoles or the infamous pin 21 of the nes ppu.

My iron is 40W adjustable and is usually set about about 2/3. One big secret is the tip.

The best soldering vids i've seen are from Dave at EEVblog, here is the youtube soldering

.

[icemanxp300]

Awesome. I have found that applying flux paste is a pain. I started taking a q-tip and doing it that way, made it alot easier. I thought that may be a flux pen, just making sure. I need to get one of those. It looks as if it kinda holds the pieces to be soldered in place a bit.

 

I'll give them vids a watch.

 

Thge tip I am using is standard radio shack but I don't think I like it. They have a longer thinner tip available I was thinking of getting that one and trying it.

 

What solder did you use? How thick is it and did it have a flux core?

[Game-Tech.US]

Yes the flux is sticky and helps with placement some. The pen is very convenient.

You'll see in the tutorial vids that the chisel tip is referred, mostly for heat transfer reasons. I use one that is around 3mm wide.

I use .020" mutli core solder, I tried .025 and found it to be too much in smd work. I also had some .015, usually too thin and you have to feed so much onto a normal through hole joint.

[HatefulGravey]

I watched this video this morning while getting ready for work. Good stuff. I wish I knew half as much as you do about this stuff, pretty freaking cool man.

[Protoplasym]

I wish I knew what 'jail bars' are... OP, what are they? Your vid looks awesome for DIYs... wish I was one. I like how you detail everything you're doing, and you talk slowly and concisely. Great work, thank you for your time.

 

The mod looks neat, but I don't think comprimising the Composite ins was worth it, obviously whatever the customer wanted is what went.

 

 

I've seen a few comparison vids before, and I cannot tell the difference between NES Composite and RGB. They both look equally clear to me. I wish someone could make an HD comparison where the minute differences were visible, because I can't tell from what's currently available on youtube.

[Game-Tech.US]

Your best bet to is to checkout screen shots, chris covell has some great ones on his site.

[Protoplasym]

Your best bet to is to checkout screen shots, chris covell has some great ones on his site.

 

Thank you SO much for the link! That is awesome! Love that site with those comparison shots... I need more time to look over it all in depth. I can't believe emulation looks 'that' much better.... my god, I'm seriously wondering why I have all this physical now.

 

Maaaan, how do I get my physical systems to look as good as the emulated pics? Impossible I assume...?...

 

 

I never knew the Emulators looked 'that' much crisper and more vivid. I'm in total shock atm... and I'm kinda speechless.

[Zenimus]

Thank you SO much for the link! That is awesome! Love that site with those comparison shots... I need more time to look over it all in depth. I can't believe emulation looks 'that' much better.... my god, I'm seriously wondering why I have all this physical now.

 

Maaaan, how do I get my physical systems to look as good as the emulated pics? Impossible I assume...?...

 

 

I never knew the Emulators looked 'that' much crisper and more vivid. I'm in total shock atm... and I'm kinda speechless.

 

Those comparisons aren't really valid, since they're showing a direct screenshot from the emulators. For a more accurate comparison, they should be taking a photograph of the computer screen that the emulators are running on. Photographs introduce blur, which is why even the RGB input looks dramatically worse than the emulator.

 

Emulators are completely digital, so they will always have the best video quality. But a RGB Scart connection or Component isn't dramatically worse if you see it in person. Especially if you get an XRGB upscaler.