seeing if my Turbo Grafx 16 works, but I have no HU card yet

[Anayo]

Hey everyone. I bought a Turbo Grafx 16 off ebay and a Turbo Drive from retrogate.com. The TG16 arrived first, but it didn't include any games or even that composite video thing that mounts on the rear of the system.

To check if it worked I plugged it into the coax port on my TV and changed the TV to channel 3 and 4, expecting my TV to show a silent black picture like if I did the same thing with a Sega Genesis. But there's still just white snow on the screen. I suspect there may not even be a signal coming from the system at all. I did notice the end of the RF adapter that goes into the TG16 itself is veeeerrry loose, popping out with almost no provocation. Not sure if that's normal or not.

Could this mean something's the matter with the TG16 I bought? I can't test it with an actual HU card until my Turbo Drive arrives in the mail, which might be another week. Thanks to any TG16 owners who can share what they know.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I just tested my TG-16, which has an RF connector.

With no game I get a solid purple-ish screen. You can definitely tell if it's hooked up properly even with no game. I don't think your looseness is normal.

Hopefully, if you do have an issue, it's a minor thing. Good luck. Sounds like once you switch from RF to composite you'll be okay (you're getting a Turbo Booster I assume???).

[Ziggy587]

I don't own a TG16, so I'm just going off memory of stuff I've read...

You can use a straightened paper clip (or better, a piece of solid conductor wire if you have some) and shove it into the composite video pin on the rear connector. Then use an alligator clip or whatever to connect it to an RCA cable. This is a quick and dirty way to test the composite video output.

[Thierry Henry]

I've had a few TG16's where the RF port developed issues to the point where I'd get no signal at all out of it. It's not uncommon with these consoles.

If you're going for an "affordable" ($23) Turbo Booster:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/PC-Engine-AV-Bo ... ~#shpCntId




Keep in mind though that:

This AV/RGBS booster should work with US Turbografx 16 since the expansion port pinout are same as PC Engine. However, the shape of the TG-16 expansion port is in shape trapezoid ( PC Engine is rectangle ), you may need to cut the plastic of the connector to fit it.

[Anayo]

Thanks BoneSnapDeez, Thierry Henry, and Ziggy587.

Here's the outcome: the seller described the item as "tested", and it clearly wasn't, so instead of returning it I asked for a partial refund. The seller obliged and I used the proceeds to buy an RCA output fabricated by someone else on eBay. Lord willing I should have a playable Turbo Grafx 16 soon.

[Anayo]

It's finally working. I sprung for a slightly more high quality $50 composite output sold by an eBayer who fabricates them on demand, then $96 got me a Turbo Everdrive from Ukraine. With all this, I was playing Devil's Crush in no time.

I did notice that while my controller worked fine, it felt far from new and springy, so I considered picking up an extra. New- ish TG16 controller = $50. Broken TG16 controller = $25 buy it now. Geez, I know this system sold under 3 million units in the US, but it'd be nice if it didn't cost so much.

[BoneSnapDeez]

Yeah when I got my TG16 years ago it came sans controller. Thought I could simply snag a cheap one on eBay. I was wrong.

[Anayo]

Yeah when I got my TG16 years ago it came sans controller. Thought I could simply snag a cheap one on eBay. I was wrong.

The crazy thing to me is that $96 for a Turbo Everdrive was the same price as just 2 of the games I was most interested in playing, namely Legendary Axe II (average $35 on eBay) and Devil's Crush (average $60 on eBay). 0_0

[marurun]

That's one big advantage to a PC-Engine or Duo (any region). They use the Japanese controller connector, and so controllers are a lot easier to find and much cheaper.