Help me decide what kind of Connector to use in my NESp

Seaniccus · Post by **Seaniccus** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 1:21 am

I'm building an NESp out of a Super Joy III, and i'm debating what I should use to replace the 60pin connector so my NES 72 pin games will work on it. I've been looking around for a suitable replacement, but I don't want to rip my old Game Genie apart, and after buying the unit, the screen, and everything else, I don't have an extra $10 to throw at a connector.

This is what I DO have:

1. The bottom half of an origional NES 72pin. (I can shave the edges down with a grinder in the garage to make it fit a cart, see picture below)

2. Old Floppy Connectors.

BATTLE:

VS

I'm a little worried that it will be too hard to solder the hacked off orig 72, because it's really not supposed to be mangled in that fashion, but on the other hand, I don't have a lot of confidence in the floppy connectors - I made a makeshift replacement connector for my NES using the (waiting for a replacement 72) and I never got them to work - I did sort of half ass it though. See the thread "Makeshift Floppy Connector Issues"

What's your professional opinion guys?
As a last option, I can pick up another game genie for around 4.50 if that's the best option, but i'd rather work with what I have without destroying anything else.

(Am I making too many threads recently? I have three now on the front page, they are generally all on different subjects, but I'm worried that i'm breaking a forum ettiqute. Please correct me if I am in the wrong.)

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 9:22 am

floppy connectors FTW

Seaniccus · Post by **Seaniccus** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 10:58 am

In that case, when most people use floppy connectors here, do they hand solder all the wires directly to the connector, or is it more common to just solder them to the board, and split the wires in the ribbon cable they come attached to, relying on the connectors "poke through" connection to the wires?

schmellyfart · Post by **schmellyfart** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:35 pm

I think ben is the only one that has used the floppy connectors..

In bens book it tells you how to use the bottom half of the nes cart slot, so I would say to go with that.

Seaniccus · Post by **Seaniccus** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:57 pm

schmellyfart wrote:I think ben is the only one that has used the floppy connectors..

In bens book it tells you how to use the bottom half of the nes cart slot, so I would say to go with that.

Aw nuts. I've been able to find almost all the other information I need free-range, i've been avoiding buying the book because I'm short on funds. I don't suppose he's made it public, or the page involving the bottom connector is around somewhere? I'm pretty sure I can figure it out on my own, but I'm taking all the pointers I can get.

vomitsaw · Post by **vomitsaw** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 4:58 pm

(Apologies in advance if this double-posts. My first try seems to have failed).

*ahem*

If I were you I'd DEFINITELY use the bottom half of the old 72. If I remember correctly, the NES's 72-pin connector has a different pin spacing than standard floppy connectors (or most other connectors, for that matter). Honest to God, I don't know how Ben got away with that. As picky as the NES is to begin with, trying to jimmy-rig together two floppy connectors with different pin spacings and hoping for the best is going to invite problems.

Of course, the old 72-pin connector isn't easy to work with either. You'll have to chop it up a bit (say, with a Dremel), bend a few pins and CAREFULLY solder some wires to it. Once you've determined that everything is soldered properly and nothing is touching each other, then I suggest spreading a good amount of "plastic welder" epoxy over the pins to make em stay put.

...That's how I'd do it, anyway. Both options suck, but this is probably the lesser of two evils.

Seaniccus · Post by **Seaniccus** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 5:10 pm

CAREFULLY soldering the wires IS what i'm worried about. I don't want any crossed connections. I've already used a grinder to cut it's size down, so it will fit in an nes cart now (or an NES cart will fit on it?) but it has it's problems. FIrst of all, the backside of the pins area AWFULLY close together and hard to manag. I'm not that confident in it secondly - I can't tell how far in it "goes."

I've never seen the guts of a game genie, and as I said before, I might bite the bullet and rip one apart. I don't know for sure, but I can probably deslolder the connector in there and use it.

vomitsaw · Post by **vomitsaw** » Mon Oct 01, 2007 8:57 pm

If you're willing to sacrifice your Game Genie, then yes, that's your best bet. No question. (I've murdered at least 10 so far, myself! I prefer them). The connectors are pretty easy to remove, too. They're just soldered to some pads on the board inside.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 1:52 pm

The pin spacing is 0.098", NOT 0.01".

A game genie would work. I really want to use a card edge connector, but I can't find any with the right spacing and size. So it's a family converter or a game genie.

Just to be sure, the 72-pin one is this:

not this:

Right?

vomitsaw · Post by **vomitsaw** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 4:52 pm

Kurt_ wrote: Just to be sure, the 72-pin one is this:

not this:

Right?

Yep, that's the one! The second one is for SNES, and for the record, I wouldn't use it for SNES projects. (No connectors for the super-fx chips).

Seaniccus · Post by **Seaniccus** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:28 pm

Oh yeah, why would I use the SNES connector? That would be weird. The chips arent even the same size, right?

Anyway, I gave in and picked upt he Game genie today. I tried out the slot - It's a strong connector - it looks beat up, but I don't think this game genie was used very much. I picked up some solder braid, and i'm going to rip it apart today or tommorrow.

Kurt_ · Post by **Kurt_** » Tue Oct 02, 2007 5:38 pm

I think I'm going to spend the $15 for a NEW family converter from superufo.com. It will definitely work 100%.

Beside, I kind of accidentally already made the order. I have yet to pay, however.

Kyo · Post by **Kyo** » Wed Oct 03, 2007 2:20 am

Kurt_ wrote:Beside, I kind of accidentally already made the order.

That's the spirit!