valrys
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Post by valrys on Apr 25, 2012 12:16:11 GMT
So yeah, I recently came into possession of a Japanese Saturn with switchless mod, purchased from our good friend eBay. However, as scientists would say "shit's broke." Or apparently.
PAL RF lead into a CRT - no picture (although when I first tried it, I got a black and white picture that seemed to be working fine. Cannot get it to work again though)
Composite leads into Flat Screen - no picture, unless you jiggle the cable, then you get an all purple start up screen, before it goes back to black and refuses to do anything.
So, I purchased a NTSC scart cable recommended to me by a forum member. That arrived this morning.
Scart cable into CRT - plain black screen, no sound
Scart cable into flat screen - plain black screen until you jiggle the cable, then you get the start up screen, and the "oops you have no disc let's fly through space!" screen. However, they're all distorted with mixed up colours, and then quickly fade back to black. Sound still works, as you get the beep when you open the CD drive.
Does this sound like there is something genuinely wrong with the internals (it wasn't packaged very well when shipped) or are my TVs not as NTSC compatible as I thought they were?
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Post by prabmire on Apr 25, 2012 12:18:45 GMT
Hmmn could be a loose connection inside, i had a similar problem with my new grey saturn but its working fine after a jiggle!
As for ntsc compatibility, you won't get anything in colour from an RF lead, composite you will if its a fairly modern set (made within the last 17 years), with RGB SCART you will defo get a colour picture
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valrys
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Post by valrys on Apr 25, 2012 12:20:55 GMT
Hmmn could be a loose connection inside, i had a similar problem with my new grey saturn but its working fine after a jiggle! As for ntsc compatibility, you won't get anything in colour from an RF lead, composite you will if its a fairly modern set (made within the last 17 years), with RGB SCART you will defo get a colour picture Darn. I don't have a screwdriver long enough to fit into the holes! More money down the drain getting this thing working..... And yeah, my flat screen is only a couple of years old, and I never really expected it to work properly on my old CRT. |
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Post by prabmire on Apr 25, 2012 12:24:10 GMT
My jap saturns work fine on all my old CRT's over RGB scart, and even on my flatscreen, its defo a loose connection, I think the RGB supplied with my saturn is for pal as it constantly changes between rgb and composite mode automatically on the TV i think its not got raw sync
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valrys
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Post by valrys on Apr 25, 2012 12:27:24 GMT
Thanks for the replies. Looks like it's another trip out to the shops for a screwdriver unless anyone else has any bright ideas.
Annoyingly, I have a suitable screwdriver and a soldering iron....at my parent's house, which is an hour and a half away. Curses!
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metalhead
Saturn Player
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Post by metalhead on Apr 25, 2012 15:29:52 GMT
When you do get the screwdriver, first thing to do if there are no obvious solder breaks is to remove the motherboard, turn the case upside down and give it a shake. There may be a loose screw or piece of metal rolling around inside causing a short.
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Post by zyrobs on Apr 25, 2012 15:40:50 GMT
Just clean the board with alcohol.
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Post by buckoa51 on Apr 25, 2012 16:14:46 GMT
If you got it from e-bay and the seller described it as working, then you can file a claim and get your money back.
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valrys
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Post by valrys on Apr 25, 2012 19:38:52 GMT
If you got it from e-bay and the seller described it as working, then you can file a claim and get your money back. If I can get it working without too much fuss, I'm willing to let it slide with just negative feedback left, but I'll do this otherwise. |
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Post by buckoa51 on Apr 25, 2012 20:17:19 GMT
Well I'd at least contact them before you go poking around inside it, they might give you a refund no quibble.
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valrys
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Post by valrys on Apr 25, 2012 21:37:04 GMT
I doubt it, I already contacted the seller back when I originally thought it was just a dodgy cable he'd sent me, and his reaction was basically that it worked when he sent it, and it was probably my tv.
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Post by prabmire on Apr 25, 2012 21:41:02 GMT
Just send it back to him and get a refund via paypal, i mean you could tell him you tried another cable same issue, but the cable worked fine on another saturn?
Prab
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valrys
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Post by valrys on Apr 26, 2012 9:16:00 GMT
Turns out the seller is much nicer than I first thought - he'll get me a refund no quibbles if it's not a simple fix, and if it is a simple fix he'll go yell at Parcelforce and get us compensation from them for the damage in transit.
Everything_went_better_than_expected.jpg
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valrys
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Post by valrys on Apr 26, 2012 15:11:18 GMT
The poor Saturn is now sitting in pieces in my bedroom waiting for the cleaning alcohol to dry  Probably not going to work, although opening it up, giving everything a jiggle and then putting it back together restored the ability to output through an RF cable in black and white..... |
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Post by ajmetz on Apr 26, 2012 16:14:19 GMT
I had my Jap Saturn going through my VCR, and never saw much difference between 50hz and 60hz....XD finally found out my VCR was set to PAL, so it was converting the NTSC/60hz output, =P...no wonder 60hz still had borders, >_<.
So yeah, when you've made sure it's not the Saturn or the wires, have a good check of your TV's menus, =P.
I'm using RGB Scart for mine, via a VCR, to a flatscreen - as only one of the TV's scart sockets support RGB, =P.
Judging by Prabmire's post, black and white via RF is normal for NTSC/60hz. Maybe if you try it with another lead, you'll get colour? =D
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