Euzebox build

r0jaws

Mondeo Man
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Strong hints, and the leaving out of strategic printouts on the run up to Christmas saw Santa drop a Euzebox in my stocking. ;)

A Euzebox is the European variant of the American Uzebox project.
"The Uzebox is a retro-minimalist 8-bit open source game console." and when I chanced upon it I thought I would love to have a go at building my own Games Console from scratch.

I finally got an evening when I set aside a bit of time to put it together. It only took a couple of hours over one evening.

Opening the pack gives a couple of detailed spec sheets, one PCB and 3 bags if components.

Euzebox01.jpg


There are a lot of nice easy through hole parts to solder in, and the board is really well spaced out and easy to work on.

Euzebox02.jpg


I built it in stages, first all the resistors and Power supply..

Euzebox03.jpg


Next was the IC socket, caps and oscillator...

Euzebox04.jpg


SCART socket, reset switch and ISP Header next...

Euzebox05.jpg


Next was the only bit of surface mount soldering for the SD Card socket, which is much more straightforward than it would appear...

Euzebox06.jpg


Finally, the SNES sockets at the front. Plenty of solder here to ensure a good strong bond able to resist the pull and push of regular use...

Euzebox07.jpg


A shot of the base once all the components were welded in. Looks good to me, lets test her out...

Euzebox08.jpg


A power on test utilising a SNES psu (9v 1a), unconnected to the TV and left for a few minutes to check for unexpected behaviour. The LED is lit, as it should be, and there is no evidence of any shorts, heat or smoke. (y)

Euzebox09.jpg


Plugging it in to the TV and she immediately came up with the startup splash screen for the built in Tetris clone. :)

Euzebox10.jpg


It's a fun version actually, and graphically much better in real life than I was expecting TBH.

Euzebox11.jpg

Euzebox12.jpg


I really enjoyed building this, and I'm looking forward to putting a few more of the games available for it on an SD card and putting it through it's paces.
I'll be finding a nice clear perspex casing for this, so expect to see it at future Amibay events. :)
 
nice one!!!!!
I would get one to build too just for the fun of it IF it had some other video-output method... I'm not gonna lie: hdmi is the way to go, scart is just poorly implemented in most lcd tv's sadly :(
 
Now that looks like a lot of fun indeed!
 
I have to agree, seeing the nightmare that zetr0 has to put up with with his TV.
I've been very lucky with the LCDs in my house so far, but definitely HMDI is the way forward.
The American one has SVideo and composite NTSC outputs though, just a thought.
 
EUzebox V01-05

EUzebox V01-05

Hi,

a new version 01-05 of the EUzebox is available now. Thats new:

- integrated prototyping area
- extension socket (UART, ports for Uzetherm, GND, 3.3V, 5V)
- 6 pole pin header for ISP connector
- rated break point and connector for external power switch
- pre programmed with game loader 0.4.2
- BUGFIX: connection between left and right audio channel at SCART connector
- BUGFIX: integrated sync patch
- BUGFIX: +5V at pin 6 (VCC) of PC900
- BUGFIX: additional holes for scart connector
- BUGFIX: GND connection at pin 31 of ATMEGA
- BUGFIX: +5V at pin GND connection at pins 30 and 32 of ATMEGA
- BUGFIX: bigger space between solder pads and ground planes

Here are some pictures of this new version:



Cheers

-Harty
 

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Thanks Harty, love the case, very nice.
Welcome to Amibay. :)
 
That looks like a fun build i'm looking at getting one thanks phil..(y)

:coffee:
 
Very nice job on the assembly. :) It looks like a fun bit of kit. I really wish we had SCART in the US. It seems like it's almost universal on electronics overseas.

Heather
 
Very nice job on the assembly. :) It looks like a fun bit of kit. I really wish we had SCART in the US. It seems like it's almost universal on electronics overseas.

Heather

Heather you can get a NTSC version with s-video and composite output (y)

:coffee:
 
Thanks Chris! I've actually got too many projects waiting in the wings already. I have to try to get to those first. :LOL: Too many toys, not enough time.

Heather
 
I think I'll try the Uzebox/Euzebox, myself. But that's a future project.


Currently I have too many projects on the go, plus four A600 boards to repair (just one is mine).
 
It looks well done (y) I am a bit thinking about it, looking at the project website. I'll try not to buy this.. Nice soldering!
 
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