Project TG-16 - Modding

The final step with this project is to mod the system, to make it better than it was originally.  I decided on 3 mods for this system; 1) audio/video mod, 2) power LED mod, and 3) reset switch mod.  For the audio/video mod, the TG-16 natively spits out composite video and stereo audio.  The problem is it's from a proprietary connector which means you can't just connect it to your TV.  But if you add standard audio and video connectors you can easily connect to your TV.  Here's a pinout of the TG-16 rear connector.

From column 1 we want "SNDR" and "SNDL" for right and left audio.  And from column 22 we want "Vid" for the composite video.  Here's a picture with the wires attached.  I soldered onto the bottom side of the board then fed them through the holes to the top side.  The orange and orange/white stripe are for audio, and the green is for the video.  Ignore the other wires for now.

The last thing we need is a place to mount the video and audio connectors.  I've seen a lot of similar mods on the Internet and they usually drill holes in the side or rear of the case.  I decided to go a different route.  Since I'm no longer using the RF output, I'll remove the RF box and mount the connectors there.  Here's a picture with the RF box desoldered.

Next I took a video connector (digikey part number CP-1403-ND).  I bent the center pin aft, and I bent one side pin out flat.  Lastly I bent the video pin straight back.  When I was done the connector looked like this.

On the TG-16 motherboard, I scraped some of the solder mask off where I removed the RF unit from.

Now I can place the connector onto the motherboard and solder it up.  One leg of the connector goes through the existing hole, plus the two bent pins can be soldered onto where I removed the solder mask on the circuit board.  This gives me 3 solid solder points so I doubt this connector will ever break off.

To mount the audio connector, I first needed to raise the connector up.  If I mounted it flush on the board it did not line up with the existing hole in the side of the case.  I found a hex nut that was just the perfect thickness.  I used epoxy to attach the nut to the board.

Next I used epoxy to attach the stereo audio connector (CP1-3513-ND).  I soldered up the audio and video cables.  For the video cable I soldered a 220uF/16V bi-polar cap inline, and for the audio I soldered a 10uF/16V bi-polar cap inline.  Lastly, I soldered the ground connector onto the motherboard.

When the system is put back together, this is what it looks like from the outside.  I think it has a very clean and professional appearance.

But more importantly, what does the video quality look like?  It's pretty darn sharp, especially compared to the RF (before I removed it).  This picture doesn't do it justice, I was having a hard time getting good pictures of the TV screen.  But the image is sharp and crisp.

In the final post I'll cover the additional mods to the system.