Gen/Saturn|Guide:Converting a RF unit into a composite cable

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emwearz
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Gen/Saturn|Guide:Converting a RF unit into a composite cable

Post by emwearz »

After looking around to find out how to create some composite cables for my model 2 Sega Mega Drive and coming up dry, I decided to try it myself by converting my old RF unit into RCA. Well it worked great and looks awesome so I thought I would share how I did it, best of all anyone can do this!

So here is a simple step by step I made on how to make AV cables for your Sega Mega Drive 2, GENESIS 2 & 3, Nomad or CDX console, you can even use these method for your Sega Saturn RF Unit. It could with others, if you use these method and it works for another console, let me know and I will add it on.

Stereo Sound?
Some 3rd party RF units have the right pins to output in stereo sound however the official Sega RF Unit only has the pins to output in mono. Confirmed stereo supported 3rd Party RF units include Pelican. If your TV does not have a auto Mono mode then you need to join the audio wires in order to create dual mono cables.

Things you will need.
. Sega RF Unit for Sega Mega Drive 2, GENESIS 2 & 3, Nomad, CDX or Saturn.
You can use 3rd party RF units, but the colors of the cables may not be the same as this guide.
. Set of composite cables
. Soldering iron
. Electrical tape

Step 1 - Getting it all ready
The first thing you are going to want to do is to cut the cable on your RF unit, just before the RF switch box (Giving us as much room to work with as possible).

Image

You are now going to want to cut the tips off your 3 RCA plugs, only on one side so that you have 3 plugs on one side, and nothing on the other.

Image

Next we want to strip all the wires that on the RCA cables, we first have to cut away at the plastic cover to reveal a wire covered in colored plastic (the color will depend on the color of the plug) , this is our signal wire and a copper wire that is around it, our grounding wire. We want to separate the grounding wire from out signal wire. (it helps to twist the grounding wire.) Do the same for all 3 wires.

Next we want to strip the wires on a RF unit cable, much the same we first want to strip away the outer plastic cover to reveal our red, white and yellow signal wires along with a copper grounding wire. Then strip away the ends of the signal wires so there copper is showing.

That's it for step one, the hard part is over.

Step 2 - Soldering the wires
Next what we want to do is pair the wires off, white to white, red to red, yellow to yellow and copper to copper (We want to join all 3 of the rca copper grounding wires together to make 1 grounding 1) once paired off twist them together and make a solid the 3 signal wires together.

Image
Cut away the excess wire if you like

Use electrical tape around each of the 3 newly soldered joins, finally twisting the two copper grounding wires together. Now use electrical tape to cover up everything we just did, and we now have a working Composite cable for our console.

Step 3 - Adding some SEGA Flair
Now while the cable will work in its current state, it a) doesn't look that good and b) can be damaged easily. Well to fix both of these issues we are going to open up the RF unit we had like so with a screw driver, trying our hardest not to snap to clips on the inside.

Image

Now we just place the taped section inside the RF box, and snap shut. Done, now not only do you have a cable that looks awesome, the connection is safe inside the plastic casing, as well as having a awesome retro look. The finished product should look something like this.

Image

Step 4 - Back to gaming
Plug it in and let the good times roll, the picture quality is a massive boost over the RF unit, the colors have taken a very big leap forward. Hopefully you have everything you need to perform this at your house all ready, you just scored a free visual upgrade for your Genesis.

Image

Hope this helps people.
Last edited by emwearz on Thu Mar 18, 2010 9:18 pm, edited 6 times in total.
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by Hatta »

That's odd, I had always thought that the genesis output RF and the black box was just for switching. I guess the RF modulator is actually in that black box. Weird.
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by d123456 »

Now to mod it to 60 HZ.
And get a RGB (SCART) cable.
c'mon man!
Still, I was not aware this could be done.
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by Ziggy »

I was not aware this could be done either. This is great news, for me. I've been meaning to get composites for my Genesis for a while now, but I'm too cheap. I'll have to give this a try.

Do you think this could be done for the Saturn RF adapter as well?
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by Ziggy »

Well I just converted my Genesis RF into composite cables. Only thing was the wires weren't colored coded correctly. Turns out RED was the video for me, and I'm not sure if WHITE and YELLOW are Left and Right respectively. This was a third party RF adapter, so I think that's why the colors didn't match up. I think I'm gonna be lazy and not bother switching the wires (already soldered and taped).

Thanks for the tip though! I'd much rather convert my old RF adapters than buy new cables. I'm gonna pop open my Saturn RF and see if I can do the same thing.

edit: I just did it to my Sega brand Saturn RF adapter, it is working perfectly. The colors even matched up.
Last edited by Ziggy on Tue Aug 18, 2009 12:59 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by fast »

Tell me if that works Ziggy, Ive got a Saturn one just sitting around.

emwearz excellent work. Do you mind if this gets added to the site?
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by Mod_Man_Extreme »

A repost of my question on your other thread about this, but it's still relevant here:

Hold on is it in stereo or dual mono?

As I remember the RF Adapter for the Genesis 2 only has the pins to take the composite and mono signals from the Genesis 2's AV Multiout.
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by jfrost »

I've seen someone doing that with the Saturn adapter: http://forum.outerspace.com.br/showthread.php?t=231808

It's in Portuguese, but the image he posted is in English, so you guys should be fine.

And here's the picture of the finished cable: http://twitpic.com/bfq16
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by Ziggy »

Mod_Man_Extreme wrote:As I remember the RF Adapter for the Genesis 2 only has the pins to take the composite and mono signals from the Genesis 2's AV Multiout.
My RF adapter has 3 pins, and when I opened the RF box it had a ground a three signal wires soldered to the board.. Like I said, it's a third party adapter so I'm not sure if the Sega RF has only two pins or not, but this is what mine had.
fast wrote:Tell me if that works Ziggy, Ive got a Saturn one just sitting around.
It worked!
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Re: [Genesis v2]Guide:Turing your RF unit into a composite cable

Post by fast »

Awesome
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