I wanted to try the 1:1 clone of the RGB mod (NESRGB v2.0) of the authentic Australian kit for the Nintendo NES, this clone differs from the LAVA RGB for a simple reason, this clone is perfectly identical to the original, therefore also compatible with Nintendo NES PAL by Mattel as well as NTSC.

Almost perfect clone if it were not for some obscure reason instead of using the low profile male header strip with good quality round pins they used the square ones, therefore the problems that arise are the following:

• The socket that must be used must be one of the classic ones with slats that as we know very well ‘tear’ if you insert a male header strip with pins that are too thick, therefore it must be pressed very well and hopefully you will never have to remove the modification again.
• The pins of the male header strip on the PCB side are too long, so when you insert it into its socket and try to close everything, IT DOESN’T CLOSE! because the RGB mod hits the case, what to do? cut all the pins to the right height and above all all of the same height to ensure that the male header strip can fit flush into the socket.
• The socket for the PPU seems to be of good quality but it isn’t, they are super cheap rounded precision sockets, if you insert the PPU and then for some reason you have to remove it 99% of the time it will take some of the socket’s bushings with it, so even in this case don’t experiment and go for sure.
• The metal part on the PCB side can no longer be assembled because it hits the video output connector of the NESRGB, the solution would have been to solder the wires directly on the PCB and put away the connector, absolutely no!

I soldered all the signals on an 8-pin MINI DIN and not with the one supplied as standard with the KIT. The mini din is placed with a ring that i printed with the 3D Printer.

Signals available on the MINI DIN:

• R G B
• SYNC Y (LUMINANCE)
• COMPOSITE VIDEO
• AUDIO
• +5V FAST BLANKING SCART
• CHROMINANCE
• GROUND

As i was advised by several sources, the SYNC signal for the RGB was not taken from the COMPOSITE VIDEO which carries more information
than could be needed with a substantial loss of Video quality but directly from the LUMINANCE (Y) signal of the SVIDEO signal.

I soldered the PALETTE switch directly on the modulator, you can change three different palettes (Natural, Improved, Garish) from the RF CHANNEL change slot (looking at the photos you can understand better)

The image quality is absolutely incredible, unfortunately the photos do not do it justice, tested with SONY CRT monitors and with OSSC on HDMI IPS LCD monitors.

Gallery:

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Source:

Authentic Australian kit: https://etim.net.au/shop/shop.php?crn=203
Clone kit: https://it.aliexpress.com/item/1005008691701911.html