PCEngine RGB Mod & Case replacement

[r0jaws]

I do enjoy a good mod, especially one that takes a system and improves it, whilst keeping it looking standard. If during the process of upgrade, it also fixes a problem or two, and improves the standard of the machine, then that is a bonus.
Luckily, this Mod fell into this category.
I had volunteered to do this job for soeter04 a while ago, and his bits and pieces arrived the other day, thus giving me the chance to get cracking.
The original case had already been modded, with a crude composite out hack cut into the side. It looks pretty grim, and the case itself was in pretty ropey condition. Miel had packed an almost mint condition replacement case, and Thgill's PC Engine RGB Amplifier had also arrived not long before.
Time to get cracking.
I tested the machine, and found that the sound from the hack did not work, and nor did the RF out. The picture was fine, so with luck it's probably just a dodgy contact somewhere.



First thing to do was take it apart and remove the old mod.



This didn't take long, just 3 wires to de-solder. Next was slightly tougher, removing the RF.



It wasn't all that bad, starting off at 300 Deg C, and working upto 380 saw it come loose after a few minutes. This gives us plenty of space to fit the the RGB Amp board and the new 8 pin socket.



I decided to take my signals from under the expansion socket as that seemed the simplest and neatest method. You can take them straight from the chip if you like. For reference the pinouts are as follows,

Pin - Signal Wire - Colour
1 - RH Audio - White
47 - LH Audio - Pink
23 - Blue - Blue
46 - Green - Green
69 - Red - Red
68- Composite/sync - Yellow
NA - +5v - Brown
NA - GND - Grey

The +5v and GND I took from directly beneath the regulator.
I then routed the wires to the top, and fitted the Amp.



Next came the 8 pin socket. Looking at the casing, there's quite a bit of room in there, so I decided to mount the socket upside down. I connected this all up in such a way as to be compatible with the Sega Megadrive Mk1 8 pin RGB SCART cable.



I was satisfied that this was all good to go, but did a final sanity check before hooking her up to see what came out.



Flicking the power on, and bingo, we have life. The picture is quite impressive, clear and sharp, and the audio is spot on. Nice one.

 

[r0jaws]

I was quite chuffed TBH. Anyhoo, now I had to fit it into the case. The new socket is bigger than the original RF output, and the opening needs a little modification in order to fit. Two internal struts need removing, and the hole itself needs widening slightly.



A little cutting and grinding and we're all done.



Now all that's left to do is put it all back together again and do a final check.



I really enjoyed doing this mod. A nice little upgrade which dramatically improves the systems usability, with nice subtle modifications which keep it all looking stock, as if it rolled of the factory line this way.

 

[soeter04]

Oh my that new case looks shiny!!

Excellent work Phil, thanks

 

[sir_beaker]

Fantastic job.

Hope they come back on sale soon

Sent from my XT1032 using Tapatalk

 

[protek]

Awesome job!

Did you use soldering station or hot air rework tool to remove the RF modulator?

 

[r0jaws]

Hot air station. As the RF unit is a basically a giant heatsink, it's simpler to use this way. I do remove as much solder as I can first off using the iron then move onto hot air to finish the job.

 

[Jamma]

Nice job.

I had a turbo graphics I modded with one of these last week, I hated doing that as you have to mod the case and various other parts. The output looks good but inside the case is a mess.


I purchased a PC Engine on this board last week so modded over the weekend. It is a pretty easy mod to do as no case modifications are needed once you take the RF unit off.

With my limited selection of cables and an old soldering iron this is my go at the mod. Picture output is soooo good though.

 

[protek]

Just a thought for future modders. A mini DIN 8 pin socket wouldn't necessarily require any modification to the case as it is roughly the same diameter as the RCA connector in the RF modulator.

 

[Jamma]

Good point Protek, should have said that in my post. Used a mini din 8 in the pc engine mod so no case mod needed! Much easier than the turbo graphics mod.

 

[r0jaws]

Its possible, but without measuring up you may still have to remove the struts internally for it to be flush. But I imagine you'd be right about not having to widen the hole. On the plus side, the bigger 8 pin din is easier to weld on and probably more robust. ;-)
Mind you, you could probably use those right angle md2 cables, which would be proper bo.

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk

 

[r0jaws]

For those of you who don't fancy hacking about inside your PC Engine, you can sort it all out externally. I've just done exactly that with my RBG SCART Cable HERE