Project GenCom [resumed]

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 7:46 pm

Good luck! soldering to the rom on the radica is about as easy as picking a nose hair from a pissed off rhino. It's not that the wiring is that hard... It's getting the rom off without ripping apart the board. Hopefully you'll have better luck than some of us have.

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Sun Jan 06, 2008 8:14 pm

G-force wrote:Good luck! soldering to the rom on the radica is about as easy as picking a nose hair from a pissed off rhino. It's not that the wiring is that hard... It's getting the rom off without ripping apart the board. Hopefully you'll have better luck than some of us have.

wont be an issue. im good at soldering. ive actually impressed a soldering tech from Rockwell Automation.
ive got a good iron and good braid.

by the way, i ordered the screen.

also, how true is the radica controller to the original?

and am i the only one who doesnt like tact switches for buttons? i plan to use mouse switches instead.

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Mon Jan 07, 2008 8:14 pm

CRAP! lost the auction!
well ill keep looking.

that was really disappointing too

Negative_Creep · Post by **Negative_Creep** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:22 am

dragonhead wrote:
G-force wrote:Good luck! soldering to the rom on the radica is about as easy as picking a nose hair from a pissed off rhino. It's not that the wiring is that hard... It's getting the rom off without ripping apart the board. Hopefully you'll have better luck than some of us have.
wont be an issue. im good at soldering. ive actually impressed a soldering tech from Rockwell Automation.
ive got a good iron and good braid.

by the way, i ordered the screen.

also, how true is the radica controller to the original?

and am i the only one who doesnt like tact switches for buttons? i plan to use mouse switches instead.

Radica controllers are awesome, I don't know if the buttons either feel more clicky, or that my genesis controller buttons aren't at their finest because of use over the past.. erm... 13 years? lol.

I'm pretty sure there is hardly any difference between the SFII Radica and normal ones, and no, it can't play S3+S&K, i'll hold off on a genesis portable until it can play that

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Tue Jan 08, 2008 5:14 pm

Negative_Creep wrote:I'm pretty sure there is hardly any difference between the SFII Radica and normal ones, and no, it can't play S3+S&K, i'll hold off on a genesis portable until it can play that

i bought the sonic 2 radica. i thought there was a mod for the radica that let it play those games. maybe ill buy a flashcart and write the combo rom to it (legal since ill own the real games anyway)

any im just waiting for stuff to arrive now.

i found some crazy NiMH AA batteries i might get

YES THATS RIGHT! 2900MAH!! nearly 3Ah for one AA battery!

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 3:18 pm

ok got the radica just now. played with it for a few. the sound was aweful! sounded static-y and overly loud. is this always the case? is there a fix? sounds like i can fix it with a resistor on the audio line.

tom61 · Post by **tom61** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 5:15 pm

dragonhead wrote:ok got the radica just now. played with it for a few. the sound was aweful! sounded static-y and overly loud. is this always the case? is there a fix? sounds like i can fix it with a resistor on the audio line.

Having static is new, but sounding like crap is standard. The mix both stereo channels into one mono channel on the Radica, I guess to save on cabling. There's audio mods to separate stereo out and improve sound in this sticky: http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?t=17720

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Wed Jan 09, 2008 7:41 pm

so i got the radica pulled apart.

trimmed it a bit and....

perfect fit!

im gonna try the audio mod. but cant i just take the audio signal straight off the chip and feed it into an audio amp?

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:33 pm

CRAP!

i think i toasted my radica. it wont even turn on anymore! crap.....

even if it was fried, shouldnt the LED turn on anyway?

kylechu · Post by **kylechu** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 9:44 pm

not if you fried something between the led and battery. Is the chip somewhere there? Did you scratch off a trace or snap the battery wires? Post a pic of it now, and maybe someone more knowledgeable then me can figure it out. Once I thought I fried my superjoy, only to find that I didn't put the battery pack in. I found this out 1 month later. Maybe that just means you shouldn't listen to me though.

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Thu Jan 10, 2008 10:14 pm

yes i know about the messiness around the audio resistors. i had cut the trace between them then decided not to do the mod so i bridged them back. that part tests good

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Fri Jan 11, 2008 12:17 am

ok so i just ended up ordering a new radica for 11$ shipped. i wont goof this one up.

oh and can i run the radica off of 7.2v?

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Mon Jan 14, 2008 6:01 pm

so i got the 2nd radica today. havnt torn it apart yet.

ive been rethinking my battery situation here. it seems that getting 6 nimh batteries and charger will cost more that buying a 7.2v LiION pack with protection chip and charger.

http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?P ... rodID=1209

think 2000mah will be enough?

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Fri Jan 18, 2008 1:39 am

well since its been rather slow here lately and im still waiting for my screen to arrive from china, i decided to start on the controls.

earlier i pulled apart an old answering machine, and what i found was about 2 dozen tact switches. so i decided to try to use those in the controls.

the result:

perfectly executed. mechanically and functionally sound.

the conclusion? Complete Failure. it feels AWFUL. i have determined that i HATE tact switches. no feedback and no button travel whatsoever. only that very subtle stiff click.
looks like its rubber dome for me!

oh by the way, anyone want to donate 3 NES controller buttons to a good cause? aka ME? all the buttons i have were in contoured controllers and therefore are not uniform in shape for a flat surface. i say NES because the DPAD im using (as you can see) is red.

dragonhead · Post by **dragonhead** » Sun Jan 20, 2008 3:26 pm

holy christ this forum is slow. no love for the genesis?

i got bored, still waiting for my screen from china (should be here this week)
so i colored this