Nintendo Famicom - AV Modding, "for a more civilised age"...
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25-07-2022 5:40pm#1
Next up for me to work on was my Nintendo Famicom. Obviously when stock, they output native signal over RF in 60Hz, and are essentially unusable here unless modded. I've done AV mods on these in the past, with varying degrees of success (you are prone to the jailbar effect with the mod)...and it usually involves drilling holes in the shell or leaving unsightly dangling wires out for AV connection. These days, having gotten back into repairs/restorations, I'm flat out against cutting/drilling console shells in any way, and I stick to internally (ideally reversible) modifications if absolutely necessary. The goal being, to keep the console looking as minty and aesthetically original as possible.
Enter the Famicom VAMP mod:
This PCB is designed to be a direct replacement for the video & power board within the Famicom. It's a straight swap, is fully reversible if needed, outputs native composite signal, and is polarity agnostic, meaning no more hassle trying to find center negative 9v PSU's. Seems a perfect fit for my needs, keeps the console looking completely original, can be returned to stock if needed, and greatly simplifies power supply considerations. So, on with the job!
^^ The boxed Famicom. Grubby to boot, and greatly in need of some TLC.
^^ I agree with all of this, without a doubt.
^^ Onto the desk, and stripped down.
^^ This is the original power/video board. You need to desolder the two power switch wires, and the seven ribbon wires. Once done, it comes out, gets cleaned with some IPA, and popped into storage likely never to be needed again.
^^ Here's the VAMP, the Mother Brain indeed. It's compatible with both types of Famicom (one where the video board is connected by ribbon, and one that has a hard-connection.) My ONLY gripe with it, is why...when you go to the trouble of designing a board that preserves the aesthetics of a Famicom so perfectly, would you go and put a multi-coloured unicorn vomit led on it (one that shines so brightly it shines THROUGH the shell of the console)?? Mercifully, it isn't needed for the board to work, so I desoldered it and put it aside.
^^ Lovely little touch here, it comes with a colour accurate 3D printed gubbin that perfectly seals off the now defunct holes for the original board which is gone.
^^ Power switch wires inserted, x7 ribbon wires inserted, and all soldered up.
^^ LED removed, board cleaned down with IPA, and a glimpse of the spacer doing its job nicely.
That's really all that's needed for the main AV mod. I wanted to strip the console right down though and give it a thorough cleaning. It's very very grubby, and the controllers need to life put back into them too.
^^ Filth
^^ After a warm bath is some soapy water, and a mild scrub with some of that Pink Stuff paste...it came up looking a lot fresher.
^^ I knew that CeX membership card would come in handy some day....cart slot cleaning with paper towel and IPA (aka, the credit card trick.)
^^ Controllers disassembled and given a warm bath also.
^^ Some new silicone pads for the controllers, always a nice touch. The originals seems functional, just a bit tired, so I'll keep them as spares.
^^ Time for reassembly.
^^ A lovely idea for a nice modern/efficient PSU...a Famicom and Famicom Disk System PSU all-in-one (also a not so subtle clue as to my next thread).
^^ It works! Composite Famicom in all its glory. Ok it's not RGB, but compromises had to be made. To fit the NESRGB board into an original Famicom, you've to lose the slider mech...and I REALLY wanted to keep this as original as possible, so I went with composite instead. I'm also still getting some jailbarring effects, but I'm hopeful it's just the really **** job the TV's scaler is doing here. I'll test it with my CRT at some stage to be sure. If they're still there on that TV, there's measures you can take to reduce/eliminate them.
^^ Beauty shot to close off!
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