Mod a Color TV Game 15 with composite video?

[Stan64]

Hi!

I bought a CTG15 and don't know how to get it running here in europe. So I thought of buying a 300ohm to 75ohm converter and a japanese VHS with RGB output and put it through there.

But then I thought maybe there are some schematics to add composite video?

I searched around a bit and only found this thread on gamesx.com but they didn't seem to get anywhere...
http://nfggames.com/forum2/index.php?topic=4331.0

I can solder stuff and follow instructions, that's what I work with actually, but I have no knowledge in how to read schematics and calculate stuff about signals... =/ Any help?

[133MHz]

It seems there's no complete composite video signal anywhere to be tapped and amplified separately, the RF modulator chip apparently does most of the job internally.

Even if some analog video expert takes a crack at it, it might require a decoder board to get usable baseband video to drive a TV.

[Stan64]

How about my other solution? Would that work?

Are there any other solutions? I've seen converters that plug directly in to the TV but I dunno if I can get that channel on my TV. I couldn't tune in the Famicom anyway.

[2A03]

Couldn't you just tune a VCR to channel 95 or 96 and have it output composite that way?

[Stan64]

Isn't that what I promoted from the very beginning in this post? Except that it is a Japanese VHS with RGB-output, or composite if they are easier to come by. The japanese VCR have a F-Connector so I need to convert the signal to a 75ohm F-connector signal first. And those adapters are a buck on ebay.

[RegalSin]

I have one of those, ( and tried to sell it ), why are you going to destroy such a beautiful machine? If it is going threw RF, then let it go threw an RF. In fact that is what I think I am using for mine.

Just go to your radio shack ( or equvilnt ) and ask for a NTSC-PAL conversion box, or something like that. You can't tell me in future world, you can't just waltz down to a television shop, computer hardware store, or something else and just checkout the damn television. I am sure they should have these all over the place.

I play it just fine on, my 20incher ntsc, Luckly it picks ups, and with all the idiots using Digital, the picture is extra clear.

[Stan64]

Destroy? I'm not sure what you are on about.

FYI all NTSC to PAL conversion boxes will get you a nice delay, I have a couple already but they are all for composite video. I never seen one for RF-signals. And those good converters go for about $300 and bad ones go for $50. And my old CRT TV have no problem showing NTSC at all, so that's not even an issue. So I don't see at all why you are suggesting it. Making a Japanese RF signal go on a PAL TV would be a nice adapter, but they just don't exist. Ever heard of a device that make your Famicom easier to tune in?  

You have two options with the CTG;

1. Plug the RCA into an adapter and then into the RF-contact on the TV. It works perfectly for some and not so well for others.
2. Plug the twin contacts from the RF-adapter that came with CTG into an adapter (that also need to convert 300ohm to 75ohm) and then into the TV. That would be the best option.

Now, the problem with my TV is that it's preset to scan the channels that are available in Europe. I can't scan the channel that CTG broadcasts on. So I'm just buying myself a japanese VHS player. It's like 10 bucks plus shipping. And then it will find the channels without problems and outputs through a composite output, maybe S-Video or RGB if I pick up a nice model.

[133MHz]

FYI all NTSC to PAL conversion boxes will get you a nice delay

Even those that don't touch the frame rate at all? I've seen some cheap ones which only seem to convert the color encoding, yielding non-standard formats like PAL60 or NTSC50. I've been tempted to get one of those since I assumed they'd have no frame-store delay unlike the fancier ones (and I've got a TV which happily displays NTSC @ 50 Hz). If they do have a significant delay for gaming I think I'll pass up.

[Stan64]

Even those that don't touch the frame rate at all? I've seen some cheap ones which only seem to convert the color encoding, yielding non-standard formats like PAL60 or NTSC50. I've been tempted to get one of those since I assumed they'd have no frame-store delay unlike the fancier ones (and I've got a TV which happily displays NTSC @ 50 Hz). If they do have a significant delay for gaming I think I'll pass up.

No you are right, I was referring to the cheap strange ones. Some of the more hefty ones shouldn't delay the picture much or at all depending on the inner workings. Videophiles with Barco projectors know everything about this almost. =D They want upscalers that don't delay video and there are some options in that range, but it isn't cheap. But it's much better now than five years ago.

EDIT: You were reffering to the cheap strange ones as well.. XD Well, it's often hard to tell, but more often than not they will get a delay. I've seen adapters that scale 480i to 480p for $100 that don't have ANY delay. Spooky. No one tests these out for gaming as well so hard to find information on them. =/

[RegalSin]

What you are saying sounds impossible. All televisions are able to pick up the worlds channels, that is closest to them. The only problem is the
information from devices like a VCR, DVD, or PSX. Even the SNES gives problems on some televisions. The only ones that are unable to pick up, is the ones with pre-programmed channels, even some dail televisions have an extra dail hidden to pick up other non-region channels ( if you have a big dish ).

Have you tried to plug it into your television already. Mine works great, with pretty much no interfearance at all. Maybe I got lucky. Just dail to channel 95-98, or 2 and 3. Try running the system and letting your television scan for available channels. In the USA since we have no more television, it is the only thing that pick up, asides FM, and AM radio.

You could also do what I did in the past and use a tv_tuner card, that picks up on pal, and run the game system threw the computer screen to your Flatscreen.

Have you tried walking into an electronic store, that sells such products, with the machine. I know you might feel a bit silly, but at least you might be able to test the product first hand.
Like in an Apple Store.

[Stan64]

I have a working Famicom, and trust me, I scanned for hours on my TV, it didn't show up, even though I tested to switch the channel switch.

What part of what I said sounds impossible, I said a lot of stuff and most of the stuff were facts...

And maybe you didn't understand what I tried to tell you. And if you have a CTG I'm not sure how you not know this:

My TV, and any other TV in my country: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/a/ac/Bellingleeconnectorjack.jpg
Color TV Game 15: http://i.imgur.com/VRRGD.png

And yeah, I tried, one problem is that the signal from CTG is 300ohm, and have to be converted. The other problem is like I said earlier, it won't scan the right channels.

And yeah, I tried calling around, you know, there are VERY few people who care about getting your old 1979 equipment from japan working with standards we never had here. I even tried calling TV-shops that been around since 1960 with old employes, they don't even know about this.

And I already told you how to fix it without modding it, I wrote in the first post. And I'm kinda sure it will work. Or am I explaining it bad because people just don't seem to understand me. Man I'm aggravated.

A TV Tuner card would definitely get you a nice delay so that's not an option.

CTG-15 300 ohm RF cable > converter that makes it 75 ohm F-connector > Japanese VHS > composite output into my TV.

And btw, don't bother answering. Please.

[133MHz]

Don't even bother with RegalSin. A Japanese VCR is ideal, but even a US VCR with a Cable tuner would solve your problem. A direct RCA to F adapter should yield the highest signal quality.

[Lum]

Well I'd have a direct opposite problem to yours, assuming my console works. I'm in America and own a PAL RF only Master System...

[133MHz]

Fortunately the RF-only Sega Master System II can be converted to NTSC as easy as soldering a simple jumper.
As for the RF modulator transmitting on European channel frequencies, better ditch it and do an AV mod, it's really dark and fuzzy through RF anyway.

[RegalSin]

A TV Tuner card would definitely get you a nice delay so that's not an option.

Which is a lie, because I actually own a tv tuner card. A regular RF, old skool,
radio card. No delay, at all, RF + Composite and or S-video = nice image.
The only problem is, that if your computer is too slow, the image might crash the computer. I was using a computer monitor for a while back when my previous television, decided to break on me. You need a good tuner, which is most non-usb tuners.

About delay, YOUR THINKING ABOUT DIGITAL. Analog signals beat digital
everytime. All digital ( electronic waves mimicing analog ) is delayed. Which means a channel can edit, something on television minutes before it hits your set. Past = won while future = fail.

CTG-15 300 ohm RF cable > converter that makes it 75 ohm F-connector > Japanese VHS > composite output into my TV.

So your going to have one of those VCR combo's
that you don't need. I thought about the same thing when I had a PAL machine. Apparently you have to make sure the Recording unit ( vcr ) can actually do what you need from it.

Don't even bother with RegalSin

And btw, don't bother answering. Please.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cWaBs8u-VGM