New multi-console system project

[bacteria]

Going to LED mod with LED strips the screen to make it lighter and see how it compares to stock. Bought the LED strips from China so will take a couple of weeks. Will be interesting, as the screen is really good, only downsides are it is thick and heavy, so the LED mod should solve that.

Been thinking about construction of this project, decided to make it layered, bottom layer to house the system switches, cable tidy and power in area; layer 2 the Jaguar, layer 3 N64, etc.

Layer 1



Layer 2



Connection to the two is by pin headers, which is for the A/V and also grounding for the system selection. All the consoles can have the voltage line, the grounding will be the switch to power the system.

Not secured the bank of switches in place yet, might see if can extend it from 5 to 8 if can.

System is modular and easy to take apart.

Going to test this and then do same for N64 section, when working fine i'll make another video to show project progress.

[bacteria]

Progress video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MMr6NFuHDoc

[bacteria]

Done the region mod to an 8PDT switch, installed a back plate for the game cart to go through, and the parallel port for the Master Controller - wired half of that, more to do yet.



Region mod : USA/Europe



Japan

[bacteria]

Had to use 4 grounds thanks to the Jaguar; ok, that's bad enough; turns out I need 6 as the TurboGrafx uses different ones for A and B buttons; fortunately I had 2 spare "just in case" wires for the controller so going to have to use those ones to make for 6 grounds. I'll also have to add these two extra connections for the N64 and Jaguar console sections so they will work ok too. That's the thing with multi systems, always allow contingency as something will happen to bite you in the butt during the project! Fortunately had enough redundancy in the system.

I'll get that done tomorrow and finish off the TurboGrafx, so should be able to get a video done too.

[bacteria]

Video 4 for the project:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nklq5bTopwU

[bacteria]

Not updated this thread for a while, sorry about that.

Basically, my PS2 Slim JoyTech 8" screen works really well and looks lovely on RGB, although muggy with composite.

I got the N64, TurboGrafx and Jaguar working fine with RGB on the screen but discovered the screen wasn't so happy with MegaDrive or SNES boards, in regards to their output resolutions.

Also the thickness of each system was making the concept of having a screen mounted on it look less usable, so instead have changed direction.

I have decided instead to make the system as a console base system, a multi system, as follows:

* Using the design style of a Sky+ HD box as shape looks nice. System however will be too thick to use that casing.

* Case to be painted stone effect, and use EL light strip around the perimeter of the casing to make it look interesting.

* As console system is going to be selected by a push switch and also manually inserting the controller into a parallel port for that console, easy access is needed, which means the game carts and controller port and switches need to be at the front of the system, and the front part detachable.

* Input will be via one transformer, output by RCA jacks to external screen.

* Consoles will be changed - going to remove the Turbografx section to use in a handheld, not many people have HUcards and also the console is expensive to buy these days. I was only using RGB for the N64 as the PS2 Slim screen needed it, for a normal console the output can be S-video or composite, perfectly good quality (and helps to reduce cost of system too as the RGB board isn't cheap).

Basically, the system will now comprise of the following PAL systems:

N64
SNES
MegaDrive
Jaguar (working with Wolfenstein 3D game only)

I will make this into an attractive looking system.

I have decided also to make this multi system available for sale when done. I am looking at offers over £500 plus postage (that will vary depending on if it sells in UK, Europe or elsewhere - UK postage would be £20, outside UK up to £100 depending on location); which I will post in the video when the system is completed. If however someone is interested in buying the system before the final video is made, at a good offer over asking price, i'll complete the project to sell to that person and not auction it. If auctioned, the system could well go for more especially as is might get media attention; or might not even sell and I end up keeping it as a result; who knows, that's the risk.

This price is quite reasonable, when you consider a handheld portable for one system would get £300-£400 plus postage; this multi system takes a lot longer to build, more cost to make and also few modders can make multi systems so the supply sources for a system are very small, and a one-off system that is unique.

[bacteria]

Putting this project on hold for a bit, as going to finish my GBA portable, then do TurboGrafx portable and then an N64 portable.

This multi-console project was originally going to be using RGB output and include a screen, however the system will be too thick for that and also doesn't like some of the consoles i'm using, so will be a base unit. The system will still be made but its taking a backseat.