external RF tuner? I want to use NTSC RF consoles on my tv.

[phreak97]

hey all,
I've just got myself a famicom and i want to play it on my tv, which is multi region, but it doesnt support international sound carrier offsets.. I can tune in the video OR the audio..
any solution?

[Midori]

Try to AV mod it? This place has a guide: http://www.famicomworld.com/Workshop/AV_Mod.htm I have no famicom and therefore has not tested it, but it seems like it works just fine.

[phreak97]

yeah I know I can do that, but heres where my collecting has a head on collision with my modding.
I dont really want to modify all my 20+ year old collectible consoles.. I'd MUCH rather put a bit of extra effort in and make something external. I've wanted a famicom the whole time I've been collecting, now I have one, I'm sure not attacking it with a soldering iron.

[Midori]

So you would rather sit and squint your eyes and try to behold the marvelous picture the RF signal from 1983 produces? Be my guest ;-)

Ok, so you want an external RF demodulator... Get an old japanese VCR or a set-top box? Will be bothersome because of the size but they should be able to tune in the signal and give you a composite NTSC signal and line level sound. That's one idea. Not very optimal though.

[l_oliveira]

If you can get hold of a Sharp television, from my experience they aways use their own tuners and their NTSC-M tuner aways tune NTSC-J broadcast  signal. (I mean a Brazilian Sharp TV worked fine with an never tampered Super Famicom set to channel 2 (funny enough the Brazilian Sharp TV can't tune channel 1 like Japanese TVs do. Maybe Channel 1 does not exist in it because there's no channel 1 on the M broadcast standard)

Edit:

Aditional info: Brazil use PAL-M which is a modified version of NTSC-M (USA) standard. While it uses the same broadcast frequencies and video format (60hz) it uses PAL encoding for color information at a frequency of 3.575611Mhz(so it's still compatible with NTSC-M transmission and receiver circuits with minimal modifications) .

[phreak97]

Midori, that is correct, I will do that:P
shipping from japan is incredibly expensive.. and something like that would look nasty in my setup.. I'd much rather build a little box up.

l_oliveira, australia uses PAL-B which has a different sound carrier frequency, this is where I've hit my problem. my tv is already capable of tuning and displaying ntsc correctly, but it has to have the aussie sound carrier offset, which it obviously wont.

[Alc]

yeah I know I can do that, but heres where my collecting has a head on collision with my modding.
I dont really want to modify all my 20+ year old collectible consoles..

With all due respect, is a famicom really that collectable? I understand (but don't particularly sympathise with) people who collect rarer special editions and so forth, and why they don't want to mod them, but there's one Famicom for every man, woman and child in Japan.

My guess is that you're set on keeping it stock, but I wouldn't worry about it too much personally.

[l_oliveira]

l_oliveira, australia uses PAL-B which has a different sound carrier frequency, this is where I've hit my problem. my tv is already capable of tuning and displaying ntsc correctly, but it has to have the aussie sound carrier offset, which it obviously wont.

Sadly NTSC-J and NTSC-M are different beasts broadcasting wise. That's why yout TV can understand US RF signals but not the Japanese ones from your Famicom.
I was just mentioning that some lucky equipment might support NTSC-J.  But you can aways resort to butchering the console by either fitting an NTSC-M transmitter (RF modulator) or doing an A/V mod (which in my humble opinion is the way to go for you).

[phreak97]

in japan that may be the case, but getting one out of japan to me in australia for anything under $100 is wishful thinking.
Also the fact that something is obtainable doesnt count toward anything, a collection of hacked up consoles is devalued even if you say "but its ok because i could buy everything again if i wanted".

My tv treats american and japanese rf the same, they both tune video with no audio. I understand why, thats not the issue, i pretty much just need help building a demodulator.
Cheers.

[Alc]

>a collection of hacked up consoles is devalued even if you say "but its ok because i could buy everything again if i wanted".
That's certainly not the case with most mods that provide a higher standard of video/audio than that of which the stock console is capable, but I'll bow out of this conversation since I can't answer your main question. Good luck anyway.

[l_oliveira]

If  you change the CPU and PPU for the PAL version, fit the correct 26mhz-ish crystal and put a PAL-B RF modulator you will end with a 60 pin PAL system like the ones used in western Asia...

But oh well ... I suppose I'll follow Alc as I can't give any good sugestions.  The VCR one was quite good btw.

[phreak97]

if you were selling to another collector a modification would lower the value, I passed up a modded one to buy this one.
regardless, I'm not doing it.

I'm after an rf demodulator schematic, not an alternative idea..

I'm sorry if I come across rude, I just dont think it was necessary to tell me what I should do with my consoles when I asked a specific question with an explaination of why. A console is worth more if it's as it came straight out of the box rather than after someones fucked with the insides and drilled holes in it.

I feel like the argument here has made this an unfriendly thread and I have slim hopes of getting a decent reply now.


the vcr idea is probably the best one so far, but a vcr is a very heavy thing to put on a plane, and i KNOW the demodulation part can be isolated. any chance of someone knowing enough to modify a pal vcr?

l_oliveira thats even more molestation than an av mod..

I need people to think outside the famicom:P

I also have an american atari 2600 and intellivision..

I wonder if my tv might have a sound carrier adjustment in the service menu..

[NeWmAn]

in japan that may be the case, but getting one out of japan to me in australia for anything under $100 is wishful thinking.

Really?
http://cgi.ebay.com.au/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220495945140&ru=http%3A%2F%2Fshop.ebay.com.au%3A80%2F%3F_from%3DR40%26_trksid%3Dm38%26_nkw%3D220495945140%26_sacat%3DSee-All-Categories%26_fvi%3D1&_rdc=1

You could probably buy a dozen junk famicoms from YJ and have them surface shipped to Australia for the same money.

But to stay in topic; if you can get the video from your RF connection you could pick up the audio from the famicom cartridge connector. You could hack a 60<>72 cartridge adapter for that.

Or you can use an analog TV tuner card with your PC or Micomsoft's DISPL TV or anything with an analog tuner, like an HDD recorder.

[RGB32E]

if you were selling to another collector a modification would lower the value, I passed up a modded one to buy this one.
regardless, I'm not doing it.

Sounds like you need to add an AV Famicom to your collection to mitigate the issue.

-----OR-------
http://www.ehow.com/how_2292167_hook-up-first-famicom.html#

Step 1 Make sure you have all the parts from the Famicom that you will need. This includes the main console and its own power adapter (as well as its controllers and games). The one thing you won't need is its RF switch.

Step 2 Take an RF switch from an American-made Nintendo game console, like the original NES, Super NES, N64 or GameCube. This is what connects the console to the television. The Famicom switch does not appear to work with American televisions.

Step 3 Connect the Famicom to the TV with the American-made RF switch. The parts are interchangeable, and it should fit. Use the Famicom's power adapter to plug in the console, not one from an American Nintendo console.

Step 4 Set the Famicom's channel switch to Channel 1. Tune your TV to channel 95 (although channels 96, 43 or 83 may work, too). Once you insert a Famicom cartridge and turn it on, the game screen should appear on one of these channels.

-----AND/OR------

Purchase an NTSC VHS VCR with composite video and audio line level outputs... route the RF from the famicom through that...

===================

...Just buy an AV Famicom - it involves the least amount of shenanigans!

[phreak97]

what I'm trying to do now is connect the famicom to both my tv and an fm radio..

it works, but I cant get both of them to be good at the same time, if I connect straight to the radio I get perfect clear audio, and if I connect straight to the tv I get a perfect clear image, but if I connect them both at the same time I get a fair bit of static on both..

how should I go about making a little splitter? preferably to split the cable before the switch box, as the radio tunes best without the box.

also, I'm just connecting to the radio with an alligator clip on the antenna, what should I do about terminating the cable? I have nowhere to connect ground.

[Glutexo]

Hey, phreak97!

I've found this old thread of yours because I've been looking for a solution to the exactly same problem. I've got a vanilla Famicom and realized that even though my TV support many believing it many NTSC dialects, the System J is not among them. When using System M, I naturally encounter the same problem as you do. I even got the idea of hooking up the Famicom to TV and a radio at once.

Even though I decided to get another AV-modded Famicom, keeping the untouched one as a collectible, I'd still like to have it as usable as possible. There was a tip in this thread to get a Japanese VCR. I believe that it might be well substituted by a Japanese external TV tuner. That thing you use to watch TV using a computer monitor. However, I haven't found a good one to get yet. How did you cope with the problem? Have you found a solution?

[phreak97]

Hi!
Yes I am using one of these: https://www.ebay.com.au/ulk/itm/141971115723
It's buggy and cheap but once it's tuned in it works great.

Another thought too, if you are getting a constant buzz you need to clean the volume control on the p2 controller. M audio should work