Nesp Almost Complete...NEED HELP!

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 8:52 pm

Hmm...I've cleaned the cartridge slot connector and the cartridge...but still no dice...I just get a blank lit up screen...does that mean the NES is most likely dead? Well here are some pictures of my wiring and whatnot:

Thats all my wiring...basically bens design.

And that is the screen lit up with nothing else

EDIT: And yes, I put in a NES cartridge to see if I got any picture

So yeah, I think the NES is dead...if anyone could think otherwise then that would be helpful

Well I tried my best...does anyone know of good online stores to buy a used NES for cheap...that would be very much appreciated thanks.

mattb419 · Post by **mattb419** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:09 pm

the solder for your video connection isn't touching any of the ground on the nes motherboard, is it? The pic is a little fuzzy, so I can't really tell.

-Matt

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:14 pm

yeah sorry for my crappy pics with my camera phone, the solder is touching a capacitator that is on the trace to the video connection. That seems to be the only way it will stick...unless I need to solder it on better.
And its not touching ground on the motherboard, just the trace.

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:34 pm

Oh yeah Matt, I just looked at the pics of your NESp...you did a fantastic job on it

mattb419 · Post by **mattb419** » Wed Oct 26, 2005 9:54 pm

Ahh camera phone

Yours takes a much better pic than mine does! If I get a chance tomorrow after work, I'll pull mine apart and take a look at my connections, and see if I can think of anything else to try.
Do you have a multimeter? If so, have you checked the video in spot on the video amp circuit? I'll try to get you a voltage tomorrow if I can... if I recall correctly, I think it was around 1.7 volts.

Thanks for the compliment!

It's nice to see someone else tackling the original nes. I'm not knocking on the NOAC - I'd like to do one eventually - I just like the nostalgia factor I guess... plus you get lots of questions when you pull it out on an airplane

As far as finding another nes if necessary, eBay or a friend seem to be the cheapest places... and garage sales, but it can take forever to find one (especially now since the garage sale season seems to be winding down)

If you get to a point where you feel like you're totally stuck, I'd be willing to take a look at the nes board for you. I'd only need the mobo (I can wire up a controller/screen/power/etc... I'd just ask that you pay shipping both ways (I wouldn't charge anything, and if I got it working I could throw a headphone jack on it if you wanted, I've got some spares). Just an offer, won't hurt my feelings if you turn it down.

edit: oh yeah, I really like your case idea!

-Matt

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:16 am

mattb419 wrote:Do you have a multimeter? If so, have you checked the video in spot on the video amp circuit? I'll try to get you a voltage tomorrow if I can... if I recall correctly, I think it was around 1.7 volts.

Yes, the composite output is approximately 1.7V before a video amp.

Minkster, when you were solderring the composite wire onto that capacitor pin, are you sure you didn't create a cold solder joint(solder is sort of balled, and doesn't make the conection between the pad and pin)? Also, does the screen flash at all, or is it just one solid colour all the time?

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 3:40 am

Thanks for the offer, but I want to be able to do this project from start to finish on my own

And thanks about my case idea

And yes the screen stays one solid color all the time....I'll check again for any cold solder joints though.

mattb419 · Post by **mattb419** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 7:38 am

to be honest, that was the reply I was hoping you'd give.

-Matt

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 12:46 pm

mattb419 wrote:to be honest, that was the reply I was hoping you'd give.

-Matt

Yeah, its been my first time ever soldering, or doing anything with electronics really, so if I was able to finish it on my own, it would be a very big accomplishment

Well I'm gonna go check some more wires..and maybe I'll get a multimeter this week to see if I'm getting the correct voltage.
EDIT: I checked the wires again...nothing that I can see has a cold solder joint...but I did notice that I had the wrong transistor on the left video amp...I replaced it with 2N4401 transistor...the one I had from a grabag was a 2N5501 (or something like that) and I resoldered my composite video connection without a cold solder joint in it. But still, no luck

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 6:15 pm

I just placed a new order for a NES at video game connections that comes with a new cartridge connector...I'm hoping that it will work once I hook it all together

(With my old NES I do remember when I first started soldering and never practiced before, I was using a 45 watt soldering iron...and like an idiot I held it down too long on the three pins on the RF box...so yeah I'm like almost positive I overheated the board this way.) <---This was when I didn't know anything about electronics in the beginning...now I think I will learn from my mistakes and take better care of this NES for the portablizing project

mattb419 · Post by **mattb419** » Thu Oct 27, 2005 10:57 pm

sounds good minkster, let us know if we can help you any further... If you're interested in getting rid of your old nes mobo, send me a PM.

-Matt

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Fri Oct 28, 2005 12:20 pm

Thanks, I'll hold onto the NES for a little bit, but if I cant seem to have any use for it I'll gladly give it to ya

minkster · Post by **minkster** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 5:09 pm

I got the new NES today, and hooked it up...and the same thing happened

no picture...just the screen working..so yeah now I feel like a complete idiot. So please, if anyone could possibly tell me some things that could be causing just my screen to work and not the NES please tell me..
Here are some things I may think the problem may lie within:
1) bad 7805 regulator
2) mess up wiring of the pc boards
3) who the hell knows

I am really angry and I can't figure out the problem...I've really wasted a lot of time and money

mattb419 · Post by **mattb419** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 7:49 pm

Hey Minkster, sorry to hear about the troubles. I'll list a few questions that come to mind here. Sorry if some of them are repetitive.

1) Battery is charged completely?

2) Power coming out of the LM317 regulator to the screen is around 7.5 volts?

3) Power coming out of the 7805 to the power in on the NES is 5 volts?

3.5) Everything is grounded? (battery, screen, nes)

4) psone screen is functional? (I know you had checked this with a different system, might do that again just to be sure it's still okay)

5) try hooking up just the video in to the screen, forget the sound until you get a picture working... you could even disconnect your controller wires too (then you could see if something was wrong on the pc boards), and get it down to the bare essentials. I think the best bet would be to get the nes and screen working with video only, then add in audio, then controls, and you're set!

Did you happen to pick up a multimeter yet? if you have access to eBay, you can get a cheap digital one for under $10, and it is a really useful tool for checking power levels, grounds, etc.

-Matt

Turbo Tax 1.0 · Post by **Turbo Tax 1.0** » Mon Oct 31, 2005 8:36 pm

you have to connect the 3 headphone spots together in the back if you want sound