Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

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Jubatian
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Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by Jubatian »

So the dilemma is here.

I wish to do stuff on this nifty little game console, but lets face it: I am no electrical engineer, and that's only part of a bigger problem. In short: Could somebody spare some time to solder an Uzebox for me, and send it me in a manner I can receive it safe and sound? (Of course I am not asking it "for free", my dilemma was in part that: to set aside the money which could cover the cost of the kit and accessories and whatever we can agree on for the hassle of this)

For the soldering part I have some experience, for example building an LPT DAC for old DOS stuff, and re-capping things successfully, but I feel it a bit steep to get Uzebox assembled proper with the only tool I have. And even that not at home, that is, the cramped lodging where I live due to my job, without even any suitable corner for delicate electronic repairs. That lodging is the other problem: I simply have no means to receive packages in a safe manner. Hungarian post has a "poste restante" service for such cases (where the mail or package is delivered to the office for later pick up), but this is something specific to this country, so it is tedious to get it understood (including the proper way to address such mail) by foreign webshops.

So with all this, I am in a situation. I could order the thing, and it may simply never even arrive, and even if it does, I would face the problem of soldering it which would involve a trip to my parents (where that solder gun is), and a night locking up in the basement, praying for success. I hope nobody will jump on this to pocket a small bunch of money just to run away with it, anyway, here it is, worth a try, my chances of getting a functional Uzebox if I attempted it all myself aren't much bigger.
CunningFellow
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by CunningFellow »

If you are not in a hurry I can throw you a free prototype of the UzeDTV.

I really can't guarantee the speed of that though. It would be at least a few weeks for parts to arrive to me, and then if I am not feeling great when the bits arrive it might take me a few more weeks to put together.
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uze6666
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by uze6666 »

I can certainly send you an assembled version based on the latest v1.3 revision (incl. esp-12 :) ). Do you have means to receive by couriers like Fedex or UPS? Would you like the joypads too? All you'd need is a 7-12V PSU.

Send me a PM with the shipping details and I'll make you the best price.
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Jubatian
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by Jubatian »

No need to hurry :)

Living in a PAL region with no modern television (which might accept NTSC signal) I need a complete solution including some (not too large !!!) display, like I mentioned in the other thread. If you also have to order the board and stuff from Adafruit, the 7" mini TV from there would be nice, the price is OK for me. I might be able to hunt down an SNES controller locally, although it doesn't seem to be a very common item on sale either (of course that wouldn't be necessary for the UzeDTV :) ).

I would prefer to use postal service, the "poste restante" solution is the most reliable given the conditions (I can't think of any address which would be reliable enough for receiving it, although I think I will ask the landlord if she could... But as I remember we don't even have a working doorbell here, and the layout is such that the delivery man could stand at the gate for a day without being noticed. Guests ring us by mobile phone when they arrive, I dunno how these delivery services work in this regard).

EDIT: I looked around a bit in the local variation of ebay, not trivial, but it is possible to find (advertised as) NTSC capable mini televisions here. However apparently they are in great demand, with prices sometimes passing 50 dollars for reliable sources, so it doesn't really matter (I think I would rather opt for the definitely NTSC capable solution if possible).
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Jubatian
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by Jubatian »

This is messy. I found out that we indeed have no doorbell since some retards kept wrecking it for the few dollars worth of batteries, and the landlord got tired of replacing it long ago (not the first place with this problem). Looking at UPS's page I can't find anything on how they actually try to deliver the package. Those of you who know, do they take a phone number of the receiver? I see they have a service to deliver on an exact date, if they called me upon arrival then, I could receive the package myself.

I was a bit shocked when I checked out prices for (new) mini-televisions here in a shop. More than eighty dollars in local currency! And I though that on Adafruit was expensive.
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Artcfox
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by Artcfox »

I only have experience how UPS works in the USA, but I have had things shipped in the past that needed me to be there for delivery (or pickup) and I knew I wouldn't be there, so what I did was as soon as I had the tracking number, I called UPS and told them to hold that package at the UPS receiving location, since it wasn't too far away. Check first, because it can be a long drive away.

This will only work if it is possible for UPS to deliver the package all the way. Sometimes they contract out from other companies for the final legs of the jourmey, and sometimes international deliveries go through different postal services/companies.
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uze6666
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by uze6666 »

Delivery at work can also be an option. You can check also for FedEx and DHL if you have an office near. As Artcfox said pickup is sometimes the easiest way.
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Jubatian
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by Jubatian »

I discussed over the thing at work, and there were people who did likewise with online shopping there for the convenience. So it indeed will work out!

Uze: How are you with Adafruit? Is that OK if you fetch the extra components (as in the complete kit with SNES controller and a 7" mini television) from them? If not, maybe I will rather go with CunningFellow's offer (if it still stands, and UPS is fine - I know they deliver to where I live all fine), so I save the hassle of hunting down an SNES controller with that, but I would rather like to have a nifty little PCB with the big DIP centipede sitting in the middle :) (The mini TV part actually is not that critical, I see I can round up one with some looking after)
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by CunningFellow »

An idea for you.

I actually plug my Uzebox into my computer via a BT848 card.

They can be had for between $1 and $5 on ebay/craigs_list/gumtree.

Works a treat and I can run the emulator and the real hardware side by side on the same monitor.

Don't bother trying the cheap $10 USB video capture cards off ebay. They just don't lock onto the non-interlace video.
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Jubatian
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Re: Could anyone help me acquiring an Uzebox?

Post by Jubatian »

Thought about that, but right now I have nothing to blug a BT848 into! I only have a laptop, and a very crammed space... And if I bought a desktop instead, I still would have trouble with internet connectivity (I can at least pick up the laptop, and find signal in some corner if things really don't want to cooperate). Sure it would be easier to capture videos from real hardware that way, though, but still, I would rather go by the mini TV solution for now.
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