Was this Famicom modded properly?

[Manhattan Sports Club]

http://i273.photobucket.com/albums/jj228/manhattansportsclub/IMG_0056.jpg

I bought this on eBay from a Malayasian seller a few years ago and the seller sold it as 'working', however, when I got it I couldn't get it to show anything on the screen. The modification seems odd (because the A/V comes out of the CH switch and not the RF) but since it also came with a clunky adaptor that didn't even match the voltage, I don't know if its one of the other or both that causes it not to work. Any ideas?

[gokugohandave]

That certainly is an unusual way to mod it. You may have, or he may have shorted it out with that adapter. oxxxo would tell you that the regulator may have blown inside when you used that adapter. How much you want or willing to trade for it?

[Manhattan Sports Club]

I thought of that as being a possibility too. All it shows on the TV is a line with a buzzing sound when I turn it on using that adaptor but if I recall correctly that changed slightly when I used another one with a lower voltage. A friend suggests that maybe the RF port is for the video only, and the cable coming out of the CH switch is for the audio, so in that sense you supposedly have all three, but we're not sure. I'm hoping someone here can shed some light on this situation. If I end up selling it, though, I'll be sure to let you know.

[gokugohandave]

try a cable on that rf port right away, if you get some buzzing that means some life must be in there, unless its just your tv being stupid.

[ooXxXoo]

I personally like to install AV jacks instead, to make it a little bit more convenient:

http://usera.imagecave.com/capcom2000/hpim8689.jpg
There are a few things that you should definitely check...For once, there seems to be an issue with the PSU rating almost for sure...If you have a Sega Genesis model 1 or a SMS power supply test it with that one instead.
,it should be just fine....DON'T TRY a NES Psu!!!...It will fry your FC for sure too....Is it a NTSC Famicom Japanese system or a PAL Malaysian Famicom system?....Most likely is the first...A good way to tell if is not on the actual system is: The screen rolls black/white or by looking at the rating of the internal master clock crystal if not getting any image....
....

[mobiusclimber]

I'd suggest using a universal AC adapter on it.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

I found the original adapter that it came with. Some clunky "SECA" adapter which is about 9 volts (the Fami is only 4!) and I think I did try an NES PSu actually, or maybe just a Yobo PSu because the voltage was similar. That being said, I still think there's a possibility it could've been fried, but the buzz that came on the screen may promise some life. I'll try and find my universal adaptor and see if I can get this thing running.

[ProgrammingAce]

I think I did try an NES PSu actually

That's bad. You should find that power plug and give us the rating off of it.

The NES power supply outputs AC current, the Famicom needs DC.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

My technical knowledge is preliminary: If it was indeed fried, can it still be saved in any way?

[gokugohandave]

Depends on what was fried, if it was a regulator, and its a common 7805, a 10 minute soldering job and the correct ac adapter will fix it. If its a capacitor or fuse (if if has one), same thing. If it overheated a chip or something else, its pretty much done.

[JohnnyBlaze]

I'm shocked that no one has noticed this yet, but the way this Malaysian dude modded it, he put an AUDIO AV cable in it. You can tell because an Audio AV is usually Black and Red or White and Red, but no yellow cord. I have something like that for my old computer speakers. You cannot use an Audio AV cable when you need a video output. When you do, you get a buzzing sound and a quick, dark black and white image on it. Anyone that's ever hooked up AV cables by feeling around and plugged the wrong thing in would experience that at some point.

[gokugohandave]

I saw that, but figured he was using an rf cord along with it.

[JohnnyBlaze]

I thought that too, but how he describes what's wrong, it sounds like something that would happen when you put an Audio AV into a Video AV.

To Manhattan Sports Club, are you just using those jacks, or a video RF as well. Here's the thing: you cannot really use the video RF because he took the channel select switch off. There's no way of knowing what channel it needs to be at because there is no indicator. I think the guy just grabbed whatever he had, saw that it was an AV without noting what it was and put it in. No matter what you get, whether it's a black or white AV plug, the other two are ALWAYS Red and Yellow. Usually when doing an AV mod, you have to solder the new connection where you would connect the RF to(in other words the connection for the jacks has to go where the RF signal comes from on the motherboard, rendering the RF useless). So, the only way to hook it up is AV.

But, since it looks like the connection is screwed, to me, you have one of two options:

-Junk it

-Send it to someone who KNOWS how to do AV mods and have it done correctly, for example ooXxXoo. I'm sure you'd be able to help him, won't ya?

But, that's my official opinion.

[gokugohandave]

Did they ever have a famicom release in malaysia? It may be outputting pal instead of ntsc-j.

[JohnnyBlaze]

Did they ever have a famicom release in malaysia? It may be outputting pal instead of ntsc-j.

Not that I'm aware of. I looked and I cannot find a reference of that. If it was it would've been an NES instead of a Famicom. Nintendo just officially started supporting Malaysia in 2006 and looking at pics of the game counters, the games are in NTSC US format. I saw the ESRB ratings on the packaging and the US is the only one that uses those ratings.

The NES was only released as the Famicom in Japan, the Philippines, China, Vietnam, and Singapore.

But, you're right on a possibility. Maybe he modded it for PAL. But, if so, you would get a COMPLETE image, it would just either roll or be in Black and white.

[gokugohandave]

Well my thoughts were what I just said, the pal or ntsc thing but you proved that wrong, the rf cord with the dual audio problem, or it could be a mono audio w/video. Who knows? It obviously wasnt done right or was messed up. Im still wondering if it may be that power supply, either it caused it, or it just wont work with it.

[Manhattan Sports Club]

I don't have the right adapter to play it because I can't find my universal adapter at the moment, if I even still have it. Someone suggested that the RF output is for the video, and the black and red cable is for the audio, but since I can't find the proper AC, I can't test it yet.