Newbie needs troubleshooting NESp connections, screen, video

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Tue Nov 15, 2005 9:31 pm

First of all I am a complete newbie at electronics modifications and also at this forum

I've been reading it for a bit and it seems like there's a lot of helpful people and knowledge floating around, so hopefully someone can help. With that said on to my problems:

First of all I'm building the NES portable by-hand from Ben's book. Everything is wired and connected and when I turn the switch on the only thing that happens is the white LED's light up. It appears that I don't get any kind of signal to the LCD screen, it doesn't blink or anything, and I do NOT get any green bars when I adjust the violume and brightness. The speaker makes a really low clicking noise repeatedly as well. I'm really not even sure where to begin and what to look for. So any advice and tips would be GREATLY appreciated!

Thanks in advance!

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 12:29 am

Have you tested the NES for a video signal? The problem may just be your screen.

BTW, this thread would've been better off in either the NES or Screens forum.

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Wed Nov 16, 2005 8:55 am

No I have not tested the NES for a video signal. How do I test that?

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:27 pm

Attach a composite video cable so you can plug it into a TV.

mattb419 · Post by **mattb419** » Thu Nov 17, 2005 2:30 pm

If you're not getting any green bars, it sounds like the screen isn't even powering up correctly. What kind of battery are you using? Did you check your voltage coming from the regulator on the right pc board (should be near 7.5 volts going into the psone screen)?

-Matt

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 9:32 am

How can I attach a composite video cable? I removed the RF box as per the instructions in Ben's book.

I think you may be right about the screen. I'm using the 9.6V RC battery that was on the parts list in Ben's book. I haven't tested the voltage yet where you said to check, but I will. I will post an answer very soon. Thanks!

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 11:59 am

mattb419 wrote:If you're not getting any green bars, it sounds like the screen isn't even powering up correctly. What kind of battery are you using? Did you check your voltage coming from the regulator on the right pc board (should be near 7.5 volts going into the psone screen)?

-Matt

I tested the voltage coming from the regulator on the right PC board to the screen and it is 7.5 volts, so it seems like the psone screen is getting the power it needs. If I had a bad connection (or a "cold solder joint") between these two, then it obviously wouldn't get the 7.5 volts, correct? Sorry about the stupid question I just want to make sure I understand it right.

So if the screen is getting the power it needs, then what else could be preventing it from displaying the green bars? I checked the brown ribbon cable in the back of the board and made sure it was fully inserted into the clamp, so unless somehow that ribbon cable got damaged (which I would have no way of telling) I can't think of what else could be wrong...

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:14 pm

The PSone screen can't handle more than 9V, so you will need a regulator to drop the power to something between 7.2V-8.5V.

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:16 pm

I have a regulator in place. There is 7.5v coming out of the regulator going to the screen. I just tested it with a multimeter.

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:25 pm

Sorry, I miss-read the post. Attach the composite cable to the output of your video amp.

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 1:30 pm

I'm sorry I don't quite follow. Composite cable would be the video (yellow) plug of an A/V cable (red/yellow) used to plug the NES into a tv?

Do you mean cut the other end and solder to the video amp output? Or am I way off? Sorry again for my inexperience.

nos_slived · Post by **nos_slived** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:38 pm

Yes, splice off 1 end of the cable, and connect the wires to your NES.

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Fri Nov 18, 2005 2:48 pm

I'll try that tomorrow (Friday) and post my results. Thanks.

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:14 am

Ok I spliced off the end of a composite cable and soldered that to the video out port of the NES motherboard and plugged it into a tv to see if that worked and I got NOTHING. absolutely nothing. I was hoping to get some kind of signal so i could narrow down the problem to be the psone screen in some form but since im not getting any video signal out of the NES board something else is wrong, but I have no idea what. I still do not get those green bars on my LCD screen either so Im still not sure if the screen is NOT receiving power somehow (and its just the LEDs that are lighting up) or if it IS getting power and something got messed upw tih the circuits that display the green bars.

Could I have fried my NES board and/or psone screen? Ben mentions something about jumping a fuse on the psone screen, would that make a difference? Even if it did that doesnt explain why I'm not getting any signal out of the NES motherboard....I'm so confused....

jeff19 · Post by **jeff19** » Sat Nov 19, 2005 7:28 am

OK I just realized what I did. So instead of connecting the composite cable tot he video out of the NES, I connected it to the video out of the video amp circuit on the left PC board. I still got nothing. My TV just displayed the NO SIGNAL indicator the entire time so its still not even getting any signal at all.