Zez Retro / Cathode Ray Podcast Louis Zezeran

The Cathode Ray Podcast with Steve Nutter from RetroTechUSA and Louis Zezeran from Zez Retro.



We talk about the future of digital HDMI-like mods and what we did in the last week.



0:00 Start

1:00 Reflecting back on the last episode with John Linnemann

6:00 PicoCart64 discussion with Konrad Beckmann

14:00 Are cheap HDMI mods the future?

19:55 Steve's trip to Florida

29:55 Everyone in the Florida condo is a bananas

34:00 70 year old New York man does not take any sh*t in Florida condo

45:00 Louis' story about Ukrainians arguing at a comedy show

55:00 In Estonia you can go meet the "founding fathers"

1:00:00 Steve & Louis ramble for the rest of the episode







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Follow us on Twitter!



https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro



We encourage your questions however please keep in mind that very technical CRT problems are really hard to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA



Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com



You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro



For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

In this episode Steve and I are joined by John Linneman from Digital Foundry to discuss CRTs. A few weeks ago John posted a picture of his project to apply tinting (like a car window) to the screen of his BVM to reduce glare. John tells us the story behind this mission and we find out this latest successful effort has only come after years of trial and error. We talk about issues involving European CRTs: just what is an 100hz CRT anyway and how living in the East or West back in the day very much determined what TV you were watching. 





0:00 Start

1:30 John's journey to get into CRTs - did he ever leave?

10:01 Applying tint to a BVM

24:55 Visiting the German CRT wizard for maintenance

29:30 CRTs back in the day in West Germany vs East Germany

38:30 John explains what 100hz sets in Europe

47:00 What is scan velocity modulation (SVM) in a CRT?

57:00 Whats that PCMCIA looking card slot on some BVMs?

1:00:30 John explains his process for recording a CRT screen



Follow John on Twitter: https://twitter.com/dark1x

Follow his work on Digital Foundry: https://youtu.be/bEw2szyHZNQ

--------------------------------

Follow us on Twitter!

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro

We encourage your questions however please keep in mind that very technical CRT problems are really hard to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA

Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com

You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro

For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

Live stream with Steve & Roger taken from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VUZ36IA3Ug

Big news this week that the S-Video MiSTer FPGA framework from Mike Simone has been integrated into the main MiSTer core. This means you can access EXCELLENT S-Video and Composite analog output using a fairly inexpensive adapter.



In this video I talk with Lu from Lu's Retro Source and I have a long form discussion about the framework and explain the ins and outs. Lu is also producing his own short, sharp, only-the-facts video coming very soon if you need to understand quickly.



Topics include



* Background on the S-Video MiSTer project

* Do you NEED an adapter at all?

* Explanation of the new vga_mode setting in the mister.ini

* Difference between Active and Passive YC adapters

* Whats up PAL / NTSC?

* Vendors selling adapters (full list below)



Follow Lu's weekly MiSTer updates on his channel: https://www.youtube.com/@LusRetroSource

Lu on Twitter: https://twitter.com/lu_source



Note: In this video and text we use the terms "YC" and "S-Video" interchangeably.

Also note: This YC topic is VERY new. If we got something wrong or could explain a topic better, please let us know in the comments



0:00 Start

2:30 Summary of the S-Video & Composite updates to MiSTer

3:30 Background of the YC project by Mike Simone

8:00 Getting good YC without any adapter is possible

10:30 Explanation of the new video framework and the vga_mode=svideo ini setting

18:30 What about cores/systems which never originally output 15khz?

21:40 vga_mode=cvbs is a beta of composite output without needing an adapter

23:00 Buy an adapter or make your own with cables?

25:30 Active and Passive YC adapters, what is the difference?

31:00 Neither of us have done testing on direct video yet

33:00 Why do some adapters have a PAL / NTSC switch?

41:00 Why are vendors selling their own slightly different versions of the adapter?

44:00 Just how good is the YC & composite? Pretty f**ken good!

50:00 Overview of YC adapter vendors





Vendor list

(that we know of, pls contact me if you find another)



Antonio Vilena

Active YC Adapter

https://antoniovillena.es/store/product/mikes1-vga-composite-adapter/

Direct Video switch: No

PAL / NTSC switch: Yes

USB-C power: No (draws power only from 5v on pin 9)

Location: EU



Mister Addons

Active YC Adapter - $35

https://misteraddons.com/collections/parts/products/yc-active-encoder-board

Direct Video switch: Yes

PAL / NTSC switch: No

USB-C power option: Yes

Location: US



Ultimate Mister

Passive YC Adapter - 16,90€

https://ultimatemister.com/product/mikes1-yc-passive-board/

Direct Video switch: Yes

PAL / NTSC switch: Yes

USB-C power option: No (Not required for passive)

Location: EU





eBay seller 7407chrisl

Passive YC Adapter - $19.99 https://www.ebay.com/itm/325263425946

Active YC Adapter - $29.99 https://www.ebay.com/itm/325527354295

Direct Video switch: Yes

PAL / NTSC switch: Yes

USB-C power option: Yes

Location: US







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Along with my friend Steve from RetroTech we maintain a blog about our projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com



You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro



Catch us on Twitter

https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro



For all your CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

In this episode the boys talk through the ups and downs of selling retro items online. eBay and it's buyer protections are good but the fees and legal requirements for that platform are starting to add up. Is another platform the answer or should we look to our retro community instead?





0:00 Start

3:00 Thoughts on the new YC framework for MiSTer

5:25 What console do you use to test the best composite signal?

12:20 PLEASE SOMEONE MAKE A SECAM CORE. PLEASE.

18:00 A HDMI BVM input card could be huge for pro monitor owners

21:00 What is the most common kind of PVM/BVM input card?

25:00 Steve is done with selling on eBay

34:00 The sellers fees are getting stupid

40:00 Comparison to how tickets for live events are sold

43:00 The new $600 US tax threshold is a huge setback

53:00 Part of the eBay fees is buying TRUST between buyer and seller

1:00:05 Buyer protection is something which is needed

1:07:10 Will Steve start selling on AliExpres???

1:09:00 Building a community is another way to build TRUST

1:12:00 Steve helps his patreons find pro monitor deals





--------------------------------

Follow us on Twitter!



https://twitter.com/zez

https://twitter.com/usa_retro



We encourage your questions however please keep in mind that very technical CRT problems are really hard to diagnose online. If you are interested in Steve's professional CRT repair services please head over to his patreon page 

https://www.patreon.com/retrotechUSA



Steve and Louis maintain a blog about their projects "The Cathode Ray Blog"

https://www.cathoderayblog.com



You can find the audio on the web or your favourite podcast app

https://anchor.fm/zezretro



For all your own CRT repair needs, check out Steve's channel

https://www.youtube.com/c/RetroTechUSA

Trial and Error - Live Episode 1

Taken from the RetroTechUSA YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xyfTrd0m5E