Turbo Tap repair assist

[exile]

Does anyone on this board know how to repair a Tap? I tried it they other day and the tap didn't work for co-op play not extensions plugged either. Thanks

[exile]

Does anyone here know how to fix one ?

[BlueBMW]

I dont see them fail too often.....  if you want to send it to me I'll send you a working one in exchange.

[thesteve]

i fixed mine.
the pads where the connectors connect to the board had lifted and broke loose.
I just jumpered in my connectors

[Bonknuts]

I recently opened up a TAP to steal a port out of it, only to find the port wasn't even soldered in. Heh. Anyway, even if the port was soldered in - the input pins were dirty/poor contact inside (was checking what wires went to what pins with a controller cord and a logic probe). I don't think there's anyway to really clean these, other than bending the pins on the controller plug so they have more 'angle' to them and scrape/put more pressure on the connector inside. Else, just replace the DIN itself (if you can find them). The only other thing I saw in there, was a massive NEC 65005 series gate array. They custom by order, so good luck find a the massive chip replacement - if that's the problem.

[thesteve]

mine used standard multiplexer chips

[Bonknuts]

mine used standard multiplexer chips

For a 5 port tap? I've only ever heard and scene of the single custom gate array chip. Can you take some pics when you get a chance?

[thesteve]

not a prob.
mine is the original turbo tap that was made for the TG16, not a later unit.
it is a 5 player,using descreets, but i didnt look to see how it worked when i had it apart, because the prob was obvious.

[Bonknuts]

not a prob.
mine is the original turbo tap that was made for the TG16, not a later unit.
it is a 5 player,using descreets, but i didnt look to see how it worked when i had it apart, because the prob was obvious.

 Well, there are some characteristic I'd like to confirm if it is made out of discrete logic chips. One is D1 (reset) output bit. It's used to clock the '163 in the turbopad and also puts the '157 in all low output mode (instead of tristate, which means it can be used for device ID). But traditional TAP reading code doesn't output D1 as 1 then 0 for each pad read, (it does it once at the beginning which I assume resets the TAP port counter). I'm assuming the TAP itself, which is clocked after two 'select' (D0) switches, asserts reset (D1) to the gamepad itself. Otherwise you wouldn't get any turbo buttons on controllers after #1. It appears to be why there might be some delay code before reading a port (it's something like 1000ns), which should not be the problem for a normal gamepad. They're using HC chips. Even if the used slower LS chips, the propagation delay is nothing even near that close (less than a single NOP which is 280ns). The other, if I remember correctly, is that if you plugged in a single gamepad into any other port than port 1, it would still register as port 1. In side the gamepad, there are 2 pins; 9 and 8. 9 IIRC is the sheild part of the plug (the circle outside metal). But it itself isn't ground. When the pad is plugged into a device, shield becomes ground via the gamepad PCB - thus you can detect when a pad is plugged in. Maybe this is a feature only in later model TAPs, I dunno.

 Anyway, if you can provide pics - that would be fantastic

[MasonSushi]

i want a 5 port TG tap that works on a Duo-RX. I have a spare 3 port PCE tap, and was wondering if it is a easy mod to convert a 5 port TG tap?

I heard that they made a Duo Tap that took the TG controllers and converted them to a PCe pinnout. I have heard they are rare

[BlueBMW]

My understanding was that one could simply swap the cables from one tap to another.  So by taking a cable from a Duo cap and installing it in a Turbo tap, one could use the turbo tap on a duo/pce.

[MasonSushi]

^^  I tried that Blue with a controller. No dice.

mason

[BlueBMW]

Hmm, I'll mess with my taps and see what I can come up with.

[Bonknuts]

^^  I tried that Blue with a controller. No dice.

mason

 That's right. Some Japanese controllers have a different pinout at the PCB plug in side. I also ran into that problem. Some don't. But it's been so long, I don't remember the specific models. A real way would be to use a logic problem to identify the pin to plug end configuration, and change it if needed (you can remove the pins from the plastic holder tab if you're careful).

[exile]

Wow Finally got some of you guys to discuss the thread. I bought mine for TZD and rarely used the thing. I don't mind mailing it to you Blue, I have a reverse Turbo Tap would that be a problem?