The Greatest ColecoVision Ever

[DoubleDownOn11]

Well it took me about 10 hours of actual work and more time before that with prototyping, but it's done.  My Super ColecoVision with:

Analog Audio Outputs (simulated stereo)
Digitial Coaxial Audio Output
Digital Toslink Audio Output
Composite Video Output
S-Video Output
Component Video Outputs
Internal Power Supply w/Standard Power Cord
Replacement On/Off and Reset Switches
"Intro Skip" BIOS

What do you guys think?

[Aidan]

What did you use to convert the audio from the SN76489 to S/PDIF? The TMS9928A already spits out the Y, R-Y, B-Y signals if I remember correctly (or was it YC?).

[kripp]

Good stuff. Ive got one of these monsters sitting in my closet. Seeing as ive done somthing to each and every other console I own, the Coleco will not be spared!

Im interested in how you internalized the power supply. The power supply I have is a massive brick! You must have built some sort of internal circuit for this...

Any information or insight would be appreciated.

Thanks.

[kendrick]

Isn't there a lot of empty space there underneath the controller bay? As I remember, the most popular mod for the Colecovision is to lop off that half of the casing completely, since the motherboard only inhabits the half with the cartridge slot in it. I haven't opened one up myself, but I'm led to believe that there's enough room in there for a power supply, a fan, a batery pack and perhaps a murphy bed too.

-KKC, who means to do this with a Gamecube, lopping off the top and the bottom to end up with a super-portable Gamecube only three inches high. Of course, no more modem or broadband port, but I haven't used either one yet

[viletim!]

Wow... now all you need is for somebody to create some decent colecovision games Do we get to see its internals?

kripp,
You can probably buy a switchmode power supply off the shelf small enough to fit (puch some holes in the top + bottom for ventilation). As kendrick says, there's loads of room in there, especially up the front where the rf modulator lives.

[Guest]

@ Aidan:

The digital audio is converted with a analog to digital converter.  I removed it's board from it's plastic "retail" housing and stripped it of all of it's connectors, then wired it and stuffed it underneath the ColecoVision main board.  Yes the ColecoVision 9928 video chip does output Component natively, it's just a simple matter of adding a couple of resistors to get the colors right to your preferences.  

@ kripp:

The original power supply is a brick, no doubt, that's partially why I wanted to do this mod, I also needed it due to the fact that the stock power supply can't supply enough current to power the main board, the Composite and S-Video boards, and the Digital audio board.  I found an open frame triple output power supply with +12V, +5V, and -5V that barely, and I do mean barely fit into the console.  

@ kendrick:

While it is true that there is nothing underneath the entire left side of the console, with the depth of the controller bays, there is only about 1/4" - 3/8" of room between the inside of the console halves.  The front of the console that has the vents in front of the controller bays is where the power supply is mounted.  

@ viletim!:

There are a ton of great ColecoVision games.  Not to mention that Eduardo from OpCode Games, Scott Huggins, and Daniel Bienvenu are writing new games and porting some classics to the system.  There really isn't that much room inside the console, like I said, due to the fact that the controller wells are so deep.  The only available room is above the mainboard, or in the front left of the console, in front of the controller wells, and the RF modulator is in the dead-center rear of the console.  

[MaxDestiny]

I Think its amazing that Component Video was available back in 1982, and no Television sets even accepted anything beyond RF. Maybe it was available in professional grade monitors, however I know that all Televisions sets were all RF back then. BTW im thinking of trying this mod as well. ^_^

[Drewman21]

Say a friend of mine is a Colecovision fan and I would love to do a total system mod like you did for a xmas present for him.  Could you or have you posted a how-to with a parts list on what you did?  From reading what you had posted about the power supply and digital audio adapter could you post what you did use so it would be a tad easier to find the parts.  Thanks again and very cool....

Drewman21