Uzebox UK

Topics regarding the Uzebox hardware/AVCore/BaseBoard (i.e: PCB, resistors, connectors, part list, schematics, hardware issues, etc.) should go here.
lightfoot256
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Uzebox UK

Post by lightfoot256 »

I only did a little googling but couldnt' find any obvious place in the UK that sells uzebox kits or complete systems? I realise the use of NTSC signal might put a lot of the UK off who think their TV's only support PAL but I just can't believe there's nothing - nada. Considering we have SCART over here, I was interested in a scart version to save having to buy the NTSC decoder and the even more expensive socket that it sits in.

I priced up the parts on digi key and in UK sterling it was coming it at around £40 (including 2 644s just in case one can't be over clocked (btw - can you return them if not?:-p)) - They also wanted £12 shipping but if I bought a programmer I'd go over the £50 marker that gives me free shipping anyway. I think £40 is quite expensive for such a console considering you have to build it yourself and considering ladyada sell's it for ~$70; this used to convert to maybe £40/50 but nowerdays more like £70/80 !!

Removing the NTSC chip and it's holder saves about £10, and I'm sure I could buy the caps and resistors in bulk to save money overall; My main question is to the UK folk who dabble with the uzebox and where they get their bits and bats from.

Cheers,
Chris
lightfoot256
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by lightfoot256 »

Okay; by "quite expensive" I mean in comparison to a pre-build DS, or PSX or Megadrive or SNES.

I realise that the other homewbrew kits are into the $100s but from a purely hardware point of view; The components are quite expensive - from digi key at least anyway.
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uze6666
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by uze6666 »

There's already a couple thread on PAL & SCART: viewtopic.php?f=4&t=16 viewtopic.php?f=4&t=113&p=956

The real problem is timing. NTSC and PAL have not the same timing, number of scanlines & color burst frequency. Nothing prevents a PAL Uzebox, it will just not run existing NTSC roms. Maybe it's not a big deal to recompile for both, but I don't know. As I previously said, if anybody want to work on SCART version, be my guest (as you'd guess I don't have any PAL TV). I heard SCART can support 60hz refresh so there might be a way to make another version of the kernel that could play NTSC roms without modifications.

As for the price, if we could produce it in china in 10000 qty, I guess it would cost less than $20. But it's hobby stuff in low qty for a small group of geeks...call it the price of exclusivity. ;)

-uze
ladyada
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by ladyada »

dunno how you turned $70 USD into any thing more than 45 GBP
the exchange rate is 1.63
lightfoot256
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by lightfoot256 »

Hah; when did that happen :-D

Last time I checked it was almost 1:1 :-p. Looks like it's returned to "normal"; Might buy some dollars while they're hot...
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by lightfoot256 »

Looks like it's been slowly rising since march; I should pay more attention to these things :-D.
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uze6666
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by uze6666 »

Interestingly in fact, it's more the US Dollar that loses value against most other currencies. Canadian dollar also rose significantly since feb/march so did the Pound, the Australian Dollar, Euro and many others...

-uze
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TonyD
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by TonyD »

lightfoot256 wrote: My main question is to the UK folk who dabble with the uzebox and where they get their bits and bats from.
In general I get most of my electronic components from Rapid Electronics who are UK based, but they don't stock the 644 or AD725, which you can get from Farnell. I'll sometimes use Digikey but £12 shipping to the UK is quite expensive unless like Chris said you're buying over £50 worth of components.

With GBP v Dollar creeping up in favor of GBP it might be cheaper buying a kit from Ladyada or Clays/Havok1919 AVCore at Sparkfun. But checking both sites it looks like both are out of stock at the moment.
ladyada
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by ladyada »

yah i have to make some more. we'll have them by the weekend!
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Re: Uzebox UK

Post by PlayerOne »

I got a handful of parts from Farnell, including the programmer and a couple of 644s, but then I gave up on the idea of making my own and bought a kit from ladyada. :) (I do seem to have killed an AVR, so having the two spares proved handy.)

I got the barebones version without the case and SNES controller. Grabbed a dirt-cheap SNES controller from ebay a bit later which appears to be pretty horrible, but you get what you pay for.

It did work out fairly expensive, really. It's probably a lot cheaper if you're already an electronics hobbyist and have generic bits lying around.
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