Help troubleshooting dead PC Engine (basic old white one)

[jasonbar]

Howdy-

First time poster, long-time Turbo etc. fan.

I spent the last 2.5 weeks in Korea & Japan.

I spent as much time as possible of my Tokyo leg of my trip in Akihabara.  I hit a bunch of stores & bought oodles of PC Engine Hu Cards & CD-ROMs.  I have a black US Turbo Duo already, so I also picked up a cheap white PC Engine to play my stash of Japanese Hu Cards.


I'm having trouble getting it to work, though...

I'm using an AC adapter that claims to put out 9V & 450mA.  It actually puts out ~12V DC unloaded, and it puts out ~10V DC when loaded (as measured by opening the console case & measuring voltage on the power jack tabs that connect it to the PCB).  So, I know that the console's getting power, and hopefully it's not too much voltage or too little current.  What are the acceptable VDC & mA ranges on this system?

For AV, I'm using 1 RCA-style cord with an RCA cable to a coax adapter, direct into my TV (a 1993 JVC TV).  I checked continuity on the cable & it's good on both the inside & outside lines.

I tried playing 2 Japanese Hu Cards & got no video or audio indication of anything happening when I power up the system--no flicker, no flash, no audio crackle, no nuthin'.  I tried tuning my TV to channels 2, 3, & 4, and I tried flipping the console's antenna switch from CH I to II.  What American TV channels are supposed to correspond to I & II on the console?

Got any ideas of what to try?


Thank you very much!
-Jason

[Tatsujin]

did you check the internal fuse, when you opened it? lol..no, the fuse it can't be, since you have 2 volts of drop when pluged in.

so the voltage should be ok as well.

did you clean the hueys connector as well the pces slot at max possible?

[jasonbar]

Thanks, Tatsujin.

I've made a *little* bit of progress.

1 - I found the fuse you mentioned.  It's OK.

2 - I cleaned the card port with ethyl alcohol.

3 - I turned off my TV's "noise filter" (the function that makes the TV screen go blue & the audio go silent if it doesn't think it's getting a good signal).


Now, when I power up the PC Engine, with the TV on ch 3 or ch 4 (which seem to be the 2 channels that correspond to the 2 channel switches on the PC Engine), the black & white static changes to a different, rolling black & white static pattern, with the occaaaasional ghost of a hint of a suggestion of a little bit of color or geometric forms.  Sometimes, I also think that the TV audio/video noise pattern alters when I push buttons on the controller, but that might just be wishful thinking...

So, perhaps the problem lies in the AV output section of the system?


Thanks,
-Jason

[Turbo D]

Hey Jason, welcome to the forums! If you live in America(which your post implies you do), your console is not dead(yay!). Instead of tuning to channels 1-4, you need to tune into something more on the lines of 95 & up. I had the same problem when I first got a jdm rf console(I think it was a famicom). As far as the power thing goes, I have a few guidelines for you to follow to avoid frying anything(with this or future consoles). Generally, +1 or 2 volts will not harm anything. Amperage just has to meet the minimum that your system requires, as the console will only draw out as many amps as it desires; so it's okay to have a psu with a high amperage rating. The most important thing that I cannot stress enough is the polarity of the psu and the console: they have to match! This is how many dudes fry their famicoms with nes psus(not me, I swear). Below is a polarity pic for you to ogle. Hope this helps.

[Necromancer]

Welcome aboard.  As Turbo D noted, you need to tune in higher; Japanese channel I is closest to US channel 95 and Japaneses channel II is closest to US channel 96, but they're not exact matches, so you may not get the best results with your particular TV.

[jasonbar]

Thanks for your replies, Turbo D & Necromancer.

I'd already cobbled together an AC adapter & gotten the polarity correct--that was fine--I'm AC adapter savvy!

The trick was the high channel numbers--I had no idea that I had to go that high.

Plugging directly into my 1993 JVC TV, channel I/95 is rather fuzzy, but Channel II/96 is pretty decent--just a small amount of static.

Next, I'll tried piping the PC Engine into my new Samsung analog/digital tuner DVD/VCR & CATV channel 95 picks up both I & II pretty well, albeit with a little video fuzz.  My DVD/VCR lets me fine-tune the channel with a function called "MTF" (remember the ring around the knobs on your oooold TVs to do fine tuning after you've used the coarse knob to pick your channel?), & I got the picture to be a bit better, though still not perfect.

Then I switched from the very skinny RCA cable that I was using to a thicker one, figuring that it had better shielding.  That improved the picture further, but it's still not quiiiite there.

Any other recommendations for getting the picture crisp?  Add a ferrite EMI suppression doohickey to the cable?  (like this: http://store.solar-electric.com/emisucofor1r.html)  Coil or route my cable in a certain manner to reduce noise?  I think I'm getting to the "black art" portion of tuning now...


Hmmm...so I'm thinking that the best all-around solution here might be to mod my Turbo duo with the appropriate swapped pins or to make an adapter, to have a plays-all-in-1 box...


Thanks!
-Jason

[Necromancer]

To get away from RF altogether, you can upgrade your PCE with an AV Booster, make your own adapter by tapping AV off the expansion connector, get a briefcase interface unit, or go the easy route by buying a CoreGrafx.

[jasonbar]

Yah, I originally intended to get a Core Grafx, but, when I was in Japan, the prices on a Core Grafx vs. a white PC Engine were different enough to turn me off, what with the limited budget that I had at the time...

Thanks,
-Jason

[kattare]

You could run it through an interface unit... It's the equivalent of the TG-CD base unit, and works as a "booster", giving you RCA composite video and stereo audio out.

$34, no ac adapter (shipped w/ their cheapest 4 week shipping) from these guys: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=250631007189

I have a spare one I wouldn't mind parting with. it has no cover or ac adapter.  You're welcome to it, (shipped priority 2-3 day anywhere in the US) for $27.

[jasonbar]

Thanks for the info & offer, kattare.  I might go that way, but don't hold that item just for me--if anybody else wants to take you up on your offer, please feel free.

My most attractive option is to put a region mod switch in my US Turbo Duo & have just 1 box to deal with, but it will be some time before I get around to that.  In the meantime, my little white quirky PC Engine will suffice.

Thanks,
-Jason

[rag-time4]

To get away from RF altogether, you can upgrade your PCE with an AV Booster, make your own adapter by tapping AV off the expansion connector, get a briefcase interface unit, or go the easy route by buying a CoreGrafx.

He could also go with a Ten-no Koe 2, right?

[kattare]

Thanks for the info & offer, kattare.  I might go that way, but don't hold that item just for me--if anybody else wants to take you up on your offer, please feel free.

Coolio... it's just in my pile of "random console parts" for now.  Eventually I'll acquire and repair a rom2 and white pce to go with it, but that's a ways down the road.  ;-)

[RR1980]

To get away from RF altogether, you can upgrade your PCE with an AV Booster, make your own adapter by tapping AV off the expansion connector, get a briefcase interface unit, or go the easy route by buying a CoreGrafx.

He could also go with a Ten-no Koe 2, right?

no Tennokoe 2 doesn't have any av output it only provides the extra ram for saving purposes.