Wireless RF remote add ons

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whiskthecat
8-bit
Posts: 16
Joined: Sat Nov 08, 2014 7:37 pm

Re: Wireless RF remote add ons

Post by whiskthecat »

I've put a fair amount of work into the code, so at first I would like to just sell boards to get back some money for time spent; but I also learned most of what I know from open source so I will eventually release the source code as well. There really isn't much to the schematics as can be seen from the PCB image I posted, just an MCU and the 2 capacitors it requires. I've tried to keep everything very minimal.

Quick range test in my house with the receiver laying in the worst position possible, face down on the carpet. Works from one side of the house to the other through 4 walls, about 50ft. Looks like the high gain version will likely be quite pointless. The aftermarket controller is decent enough but the diagonals are a lot more sensitive than the original, might be good for some games but it makes crouch sliding in mario a precision operation, luckily it looks like you can swap the D-pad in from the original controller if it bothers you.

Making a board that fits the original controller might be a bit more difficult than originally imagined as I've just discovered there are different revisions with different pin placement. :shock: Now that you mention Blissbox again Anapan perhaps it is not worth my time adding USB support when likely the receiver I already have can be plugged into a number of affordable NES to USB adapters.
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Anapan
Next-Gen
Posts: 3904
Joined: Mon Nov 17, 2008 11:15 am
Location: BC, Canada

Re: Wireless RF remote add ons

Post by Anapan »

Agreed on the adapters. They can be easily purchased, and if you verify that they work, it would only complicate the receiving board to have that ability (despite how simple it might be for your chip to support USB as well). It would be nice to have a small micro-usb port to plug into a computer with a phone charging cable, but it's not necessary IMO as the original function is paramount.

For NES adapters, this is just off the top of my head:
Tomee - I heard these are the most compatible, some others have problems in Linux
Raphnet - I have one of these - it's great!
Blissbox - not worth the $ for only NES (this was before the 4P), but for other consoles the compatibility with many 3rd party controllers was not available elsewhere.
Retro-bit, RetroUSB/Retroport (All the same?) - I have one and it works great too, tho I read some people had problems.
bidouille/V-USB - plans freely available & premade small boards were slick looking!
There's a handful of others I read about not readily producing boards but plans and files are available to flash onto atmega etc.

Maybe you could offer a bundle with markup pricing on 3rd party hardware and combine shipping? I don't know what the demand might be, but I think you might make back some development costs doing it this way if you bought in bulk or offered a supplier consignment? Just a side-thought...
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