Why is the TurboBooster as big as the console itself?

[Black Tiger]

I've discovered that the Xbox makes a great Turbografx-16 + TurboBooster shelf in your entertainment center since it has pretty much the same footprint. 

The Xbox would make a good shelf for most consoles, except that the top isn't flat. Mine has a permanent spot near my projector and usually when I hook up a different console, they sit on top of the Xbox. The problem is that they often slide around, even something heavy like the 360.

[Tatsujin]

[Joe Redifer]

....

[ceti alpha]

haha. I wonder what it tastes like.

[Tatsujin]

i guess it tastes of big failure.

[Keranu]

Tat I think you need to see a TG16 in person, it really isn't as big as you think! Pretty much like two PCEs sitting next to each other from what I can recall and smaller in comparison to a Master System (or Super Grafx).

[hoobs88]

I've never actually seen one of those. I use a homemade A/V wire that a friend made for me.

That's the way to do it. I've made a ton of those over the years. FWIW, I've never seen a Booster in 'real life' either for this precise reason.

Nat, could you share the procedure for making these homemade AV cables?

[ceti alpha]

Tat I think you need to see a TG16 in person, it really isn't as big as you think! Pretty much like two PCEs sitting next to each other from what I can recall and smaller in comparison to a Master System (or Super Grafx).

Yeah, though I do prefer the look of the PCE, the TG16 is not a monstrosity. At least NEC/TTI knew better than to mess around with the look of the Duo when they brought it over from Japan.

[Duo_R]

I imagine Nat wired up a cable to the expansion port using this pinout:

Diagram from the back of the PC Engine/TurboGrafx, right side up:

AR GG 01 VM 32 30 27 GG 17 20 22 23 13 11 10 08 GG 05 03 GG VV VN VR
02 CD 35 34 VU 29 26 15 19 21 VJ 14 12 VG 09 07 06 04 24 VT 37 36 VP
AL VV VS 33 31 28 25 16 VL VK QQ VI VH QQ VF VE VD VC VB VA GG VZ VQ

The signals that are important for tapping the stereo audio, NTSC video,
and NTSC RGB signals from the unit are:

AR -- Audio Right
AL -- Audio Left
VZ -- External composite video, connected to R145. Note -- this may need
to be externally bypassed to ground with a capacitor to use directly
as a video feed. Also used as a vertical sync signal for RGB
connections.

GG -- Ground

Credit to the original author goes to: Joseph LoCicero, IV

Basically you hack some AV cables, wire the inner wire for the given channel (L or R audio, and Video) to the exp pin, and the outer shield wiring to ground. The best way to wire up to the exp port is using a connector you can remove, in the event that you get a CD-Rom unit. I heard that old computer ribbon cable makes a nice connector if you can cut to single pins using sharp scissors.

The alternative, build AV ports to your console:

I've never actually seen one of those. I use a homemade A/V wire that a friend made for me.

That's the way to do it. I've made a ton of those over the years. FWIW, I've never seen a Booster in 'real life' either for this precise reason.

Nat, could you share the procedure for making these homemade AV cables?

[Joe Redifer]

Yeesh.  That poor Turbo.

[ceti alpha]

Yeesh.  That poor Turbo.

hehe. Just shows how hit and miss plastic surgery can be.

[quoth09]

Tat I think you need to see a TG16 in person, it really isn't as big as you think! Pretty much like two PCEs sitting next to each other from what I can recall and smaller in comparison to a Master System (or Super Grafx).

Don't let them fool you Tatsujin - the damn thing is oversized for what it is. I mean the TurboBooster could have easily been smaller, and overall it's a known fact that the system itself was large due to FCC shielding and other tech issues. Glad I don't have either anymore; I have a modded CoreGrafx for playing US TurboChips, and that's the way it is going to stay.