Vellain
Offline
Tacoma, WA

Okay, so I recently purchased an old Japanese Family Computer (HVC-001) that had already been modified with RCA switches while I was in Japan. Unfortunately, it did not come with the original AC adapter, but I am fairly sure that the Logitech AC Adapter (Model: ADP-18LB B     LPS, Input: AC 100-120V ~0.4A     50-60Hz, Output: 24V --- 0.75A     - --- C --- +) I have should work. The problem that I am having right now is that I am unsure of how to get it to work on my television. I have plugged everything in, put in a Dig-Dug cartridge, and then turn it on... but I only hear a kind of high pitched whine from the system. I checked the channels in the upper 90s like some folks said they had success on it working in, but nothin'. I opened the system up and everything seemed fine with it---no blown out parts. So, my question right now is "Is my Famicom system broken, or am I just stupid and have configured the video settings wrong or have done something else wrong?"

I can post up pictures if necessary, but I would need to charge up my camera...

Lazerbeat
Offline
Tokyo, Japan

Hey, I am almost 100 pecent sure the old red and white famicoms only output RF. The RF plug looks like a standard RCA plug which isnt. I dont know if you were connecting with the RF modulator or not. Your best bet is to do an AV mod on it. It apparently isnt too hard. There is almost certainly information on NESDev

Saskrotch
Offline
Chicago IL

I dunno if this helps, but on my japanese SMS the outputs are weird. Red is video and black is audio.

Vellain
Offline
Tacoma, WA

Here are some pics of it.

Last edited by Vellain (Mar 4, 2013 6:18 am)

Teh D3th St4r
Offline
Santa Cruz, California

That mod has been done horribly wrong. I'm confident that your FC still works (they're really hard to kill) but it's a little more complicated than just wiring it on.

The output of the video amp is high impedance, which means if you take video from the labeled video solder pad, video gets pulled to 0v the moment you connect the tv's 75R input. Also; nothing should be coming off the the smaller board, that's the R/F modulator, and it has a crap signal. Everything needs to come from the motherboard.
Audio comes from a pin marked "SOU"
This is how your video should be wired up; The resistor on the left should be 1k ohm and the one on the right should be a 75 ohm.

Last edited by Teh D3th St4r (Mar 4, 2013 7:52 pm)

Vellain
Offline
Tacoma, WA
Teh D3th St4r wrote:

That mod has been done horribly wrong. I'm confident that your FC still works (they're really hard to kill) but it's a little more complicated than just wiring it on.

The output of the video amp is high impedance, which means if you take video from the labeled video solder pad, video gets pulled to 0v the moment you connect the tv's 75R input. Also; nothing should be coming off the the smaller board, that's the R/F modulator, and it has a crap signal. Everything needs to come from the motherboard.
Audio comes from a pin marked "SOU"
This is how your video should be wired up; The resistor on the left should be 1k ohm and the one on the right should be a 75 ohm.

Alright, I understand that (and have the ability to do such a fix), but what do I do about the audio? I am sure the audio is likewise hooked up wrong. Most of the threads and sites I have tried to look up this information on are too old, 404, or in Japanese.

(I apologize if I seem a bit noob-ish... It's just that I don't do a lot of modding and I don't want to screw up my system.)

Teh D3th St4r
Offline
Santa Cruz, California

Fear not, mortal, for I am here to help.

I really don't have the step-by-step at this time (in the middle of filming it, and it will be posted to youtube) but there's a wonderful resource called famicomworld.com. There's a mega thread with TONS of information on the composite video mod, and is where I learned how to do mine (the pic I posted was not my personal machine, and was taken from the forum in question.

So go here and read everything you can. If you get stuck, let me know, and I'll try to talk you through it.

wedanced
Offline
San Francisco

I am assuming this thing is outputting the japanese ntsc video standard. that would be my guess. it probably isnt outputting the right frequency  for US tvs.

Teh D3th St4r
Offline
Santa Cruz, California
wedanced wrote:

I am assuming this thing is outputting the japanese ntsc video standard. that would be my guess. it probably isnt outputting the right frequency  for US tvs.

You're referring to RF output which, yes, is different in Japan.
Japanese television signals for channels 1 and 2 (the two frequencies available on the Famicom) are approximately 95.75 mhz and 101.75 mhz respectively, and are channels 95 and 96 on cable ready televisions in North America. The easiest and least involved way to play the Famicom in the US is by using an American NES RF switch, tuning in to channel 95 or 96, and setting the Famicom to "game".

In the case of composite out, it's simply a matter of pulling the signals straight from the motherboard, and sending them to your TV. The mod for the composite out is the same, regardless of format. I highly recommend this mod to anyone with a Famicom. The image and sound quality is vastly improved, it allows you to just plug into an ext on your TV and play, and increases the value to other console wielding Japanophiles that are afraid of cracking open their freshly imported Famicom.

Another option is getting a composite board from tea4two. It plugs in right where the old RF board was, and gives you clean looking results.

Last edited by Teh D3th St4r (Mar 6, 2013 8:53 pm)