American Duo video problems and other questions.

[Zeon]

Hey all, I'm hoping someone here can help me out. I'm having a problem with my Duo, I've already fixed the common sound issues by replacing the usual caps, however there is another problem I didn't notice until about 2 or 3 months ago. You see, I didn't really notice it until I sat down to play an old favorite, Dungeon Explorer. Now I know the colors in that game are darker than a lot of other turbo games (which is probably why I didn't notice when playing games like bonk, tricky kick, or bomberman), but they were so dark that I can barely make out what is going on during gameplay unless I set the brightness and contrast to max on my TV. Just to make sure I wasn't hallucinating, I hooked up my tg-16 and the colors were at the normal levels that I remember them being. Since my duo already had the issues with sound I am guessing it is highly likely that some other caps controlling the video output need to also be replaced. I really don't want to have to replace every cap in the system, so if anyone knows which caps could be responsible for this, I would really appreciate you enlightening me. Oh and if it helps I am using the original A/V cable that came with the system.

Also I've been reading that Jrok encoder's aren't exactly compatible with any Pc-Engine/Turbo system for component output. I saw the post where D-Lite was able to get it to sync by taking the composite signal and striping it with a LM1881. However he and another member reported too high of a level of red despite any adjustments of the pots controlling red green and blue. Now I recently wired my tg-16 to my Jrok RGB to component encoder, taping the signals from the expansion bus. I could not manage to get it to sync. So my question is, will building amps for the RGB and sync lines solve this issue? Has anyone even tried? Or must I use a sync separator as D-Lite and others have done? Also, has anyone solved the issue of too much red in the output?

I would really appreciate any insight on either matter as I am going out this Friday to buy the parts necessary for the repairs and mod. Thanks in advance.

[Mobius]

Hate to state the obvious, but are you sure you have a solid connection?  My A/V port is crapping out on me and whenever it's messing up, I can tell because the screen gets unusually dark.  I give the plug a jiggle at the Duo end and things go back to normal.  Here's the thread where I asked about it: http://www.pcenginefx.com/forums/index.php?topic=4743.0

[SignOfZeta]

Are you using one of those after market AV cables that TZD was selling? I was actually going to start a thread about those things and them being junk and all. Your problem is similar to a crappy/damaged wire. Try wiggling stuff.

Does anyone know where to get a AV cable like the Duo one that has a better DIN end on it?

[Zeon]

Well I did a little more troubleshooting, and I think that the problem is the solder joints on the AV port. I am using an original cable and for the heck of it, I tried an aftermarket one. It seems that upon reinserting the original duo a/v cable gives different results in color saturation and brightness, while the aftermarket one proved time and time again that it is a piece of crap. Wiggling the a/v cable only changed the picture on the aftermarket one but the duo one produced different results only upon reinsertion.

I'm actually surprised that TZD sells them given their poor quality and TZD's longterm commitment to quality. There has to be some better alternative product, but then again these cables may be the only alternative for a new duo a/v cable. Those things are worthless, I'm just glad I got one during the half off of everything sale as wasting $6 isn't as bad as wasting $12 on a piece of junk.

Thanks for your help guys, I'm going to try and reflow the solder and will post the results when I do. Now if only someone had the answers to my encoder questions...