Has anybody found a good source for sockets that can mate with the NES expansion port? I know that it has 48 pins and that it uses a 0.10" pin pitch.
I talked with a company that makes card edge sockets and they sent me some 48 pin samples but "standard" .10 pitch card edge sockets don't work. First of all, the NES expansion port is a little thicker than a standard PCB "card" and second, the contacts don't go to the edge so any socket that mates with it needs to be a bit deeper than normal to make contact.
I really want to find a good part that will hook into the expansion port because it is about freaking time somebody put it to good use. Now that we've pretty much mastered making new games for the NES with the CIClone chip and mappers and stuff, we need to start making expansion port accessories.
Help me in my mission by suggesting sources for sockets that will fit the expansion port.
Thanks.
Quick answer is nobody has ever found a part that fits, old floppy/scsi type connectors can (supposedly) work with modifications.
More importantly, what do you want to build that would use the expansion port?
Someone should build a jumper pack for the sound expansion to use with new carts, modded carts, or modded import adapters. :p
My first design is a 10baseT adapter using the enc28j60 chip from microchip.
My second design is based on the first but combines it with a PIC uC for audio work so that not only can games be networked, they can also do better audio.
All I am missing is a good connection to the expansion port.
If that won't work, I'm working on a backup design that will connect via the second controller port, but that will limit throughput considerably and requires that I can find a good source of male controller connectors. I don't want to be cutting them off of old NES controllers.
I've even considered getting an injection molding machine to make my own male controller connectors, but that road sounds like more work than it's worth.
Networked NES games? PIC audio? Sorry but these ideas will never fly unless you are planning to make the games as well.
I'm not trying to get old games to be networked. I want to make new titles using the new networking and sound capabilities of my adapter. I have two fully fleshed out game designs waiting for the hardware.
I have a complete schematic designed out, I just need to find a good way to connect to the port.
I'm now talking to a custom adapter manufacturer to see how much it would be to modify their existing 48-pin card edge connector to fit the NES expansion port.
I was hoping that somebody out there had already figured this out.
BTW, when I go to make my own carts, should I be salvaging 10NES chips from old carts or does the CIClone chip work well enough?
Wookie wrote:
I'm not trying to get old games to be networked. I want to make new titles using the new networking and sound capabilities of my adapter. I have two fully fleshed out game designs waiting for the hardware.
Can we see the prototype for Windows, Mac OS, or Linux?
Quote:
BTW, when I go to make my own carts, should I be salvaging 10NES chips from old carts or does the CIClone chip work well enough?
It depends. If you will be salvaging boards with ASIC mappers from Nintendo carts, salvage the CIC too. Otherwise, if you are making your own boards with discrete mappers, consider the CIClone.
Sorry tepples, I'm going to have to keep the games as vaporware for now because they rely on a working network adapter. The plan is to finish up the EtherNES adapter (as other people have dubbed it when dreaming about one in the past) and either offer up kits or completed units with an SDK. The first titles released that use the SDK will be my own.
If you want more information on my design for the network adapters, I just wrote a small essay on it in this
thread
PLEASE! Help me find a part for interfacing with the expansion port. I have dreamed about having a NES ethernet adapter since 1998 and I now have a good (and CHEAP) design for one that is only missing the expansion port connector. The whole thing even fits under the snap-in expansion port cover!