What's new
By:
Filters

DreamPSU / SaturnPSU at retropsu.com

This DC power jack support is much better.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:3208337

Sits flush, hex nut of DC barrel is inset, can use original screws to mount with no other hardware necessary.

Don't mind the rough print. Low settings for quick test print and my printer is crap.
70281738_10218145112232328_4639733859972284416_n.jpg
 
Agreed, that one looks much better! We printed the files from the saturnpsu github, must be a bad file rather than wrong print..
 
yeah looks like the design posted with the PCB files is not 100% accurate, but looks like you found a good alternative :)
 
So... I can't get this working.

Yes, it powers on the console but it won't load a game, seems as if it's short on power / current.

Power on console, run through splash screen etc fine.

Open CD door, fine.

Close CD door, console freezes. Do this with a game disc inserted and it spins the disc but freezes. I can see the green power LED dim when trying to read a disc, stock PSU doesn't exhibit this behaviour.

Return stock PSU and all is well.

All voltages check out both out of circuit and installed into the console / under load. A bit lower than a stock PSU but nothing worth noting. Under load the 9V line does dip to 8.9V when the CD door switch is triggered.

I initially tried a 12V / 2 Amp power pack, from an external hard drive. No dice. This same PSU successfully runs a Pico ATX and arcade boards so I thought it would be fine.

Beefed it up by rigging it up to an arcade PSU that outputs 12V / 2.5 Amp, still no dice.

Tried with all 3 x PCBs that I assembled.

Japanese grey model 1 Saturn.

Anyone here actually have a SaturnPSU working? Trying to determine where the issue is. Have I done something wrong, missed an installation step, or is his latest design which differs from the working prototypes I've seen flawed?
 
Tried a 3 amp / 12V mean-well PSU, no dice. Also tried using a stock composite AV cable as opposed to scart, in case the scart cable power draw was causing some form of conflict, no dice.

I'm calling it a day. I can't get this retro PSU to run a mechanical CD drive, it just doesn't seem to have enough power for it. I'm confident it would work fine with an ODE device though.

Stock PSU is going back in and never coming out again.

Sorry @PascalP and @Sp33dFr34k, I tried my best. Will post your units out today.

At this stage it would appear that the 9V power delivery of this device isn't adequate for a real CD drive.
 
Frank I very much appreciate the time and effort you put into this!

And if the device only works with an ODE and not an actual drive it is obviously a design flaw...
Strangely I haven’t seen nor heard anyone running this since the files have been released, someone must have assembled these?
 
PascalP said:
Strangely I haven’t seen nor heard anyone running this since the files have been released, someone must have assembled these?
Click to expand...
Me neither. Have been asking around but am yet to find someone who has built and using it with a Saturn console and original CD drive.

Thanks by the way, my pleasure. I feel so bad that it didn't work out as expected. :(

I still want to determine if it was a case of user error (not assembled / soldered correctly, incorrect or faulty component, installation error etc) or if his design is lacking. If the latter, we kind of need to warn people.
 
200% agree!

Still strange though, all the hype and money raised for this and when it went south lots of duped folks.
I would say people would be all over this to assemble now?

Perhaps @RetroRGB knows more as he also announced this release on his website and all and might have heard more feedback?
 
Well I’m not gonna maintain the github for that project :P

+ I think a 3D print that does not sit flush with the Saturn enclosure 100% is the least of our problems now...
Have you tested your PSU yet?
 
PascalP said:
Well I’m not gonna maintain the github for that project :P

+ I think a 3D print that does not sit flush with the Saturn enclosure 100% is the least of our problems now...
Have you tested your PSU yet?
Click to expand...
i will tell you what i've done ... i assemble the unit , but then i've changed my mind and desolder that 14tsop (texas instruments) part , and when i want to solder back ,he solder with some bridges on 5v line (i didn;t understand what he tell me ... under solder mask pads in the circuit ... something like that) . after that i went with the board on a friend with experience and he measure the current he tell me cause we must try it because these bridges are normal due to schematic he verified... my thought is cause i broke the board , but he tell me cause is fine what i did. i will go with console to him to try it (but now i think he goes in France ... on the boat like electronic engeneer for 1 month. He tell me that Saturday night , when he visit me on the club where i'm working) . I don't have the psu yet . I have the DreamPSU who i think is fine after i've placed that capacitor (73.2kohm) i've lost when i've solder parts on the board (now is done - 3 weeks ago i finished)
 

Attachments

  • IMG_20190819_204123_resized_20190911_095241991.jpg
    IMG_20190819_204123_resized_20190911_095241991.jpg
    772.7 KB · Views: 233
Ok, let us know how it turns out and if something is incorrect in the design!

Anyone else assemble one yet?
 
PascalP said:
Ok, let us know how it turns out and if something is incorrect in the design!

Anyone else assemble one yet?
Click to expand...
Also , my intention is to use with Phoebe ODE. I have also a jap cd - 1945 strikers for this purpose. But he doesn't work with Phoebe ?
 
AlxUnderBase said:
PascalP said:
Ok, let us know how it turns out and if something is incorrect in the design!

Anyone else assemble one yet?
Click to expand...
Also , my intention is to use with Phoebe ODE. I have also a jap cd - 1945 strikers for this purpose. But he doesn't work with Phoebe ?
Click to expand...
It doesn't currently seem to work with the cd drive for some reason. I've email Chris Moon to check if he knows what's going on.
 
I've been researching this and here are my thoughts. Just a hunch so don't take this as Gospel however at this stage I'm rather confident there's some serious design flaws with the Saturn retro PSU.

There's variations between Saturn models / stock PSUs, which I won't delve into here as I want to keep it relevant and simple:

Saturn (my version at least) has 5 power pins.

GND
GND
3.3V
5V
9V

The switch on the retro PSU toggles power on that third pin (3.3V in my list above) between either 3.3V or 5V. Some Saturn's have no 3.3V and two 5V rails, my particular Saturn console has one 3.3V and one 5V rail. So the switch ensures compatibility between hardware variations. It's wired as the middle pin as output, left pin 3.3V supply, right pin 5V supply, so pending on switch position one of those voltages gets sent through.

PROBLEM 1: The switch is only rated for 0.1 amps.

9V is used by the CD drive on my revision of Saturn. Later models ditched the 9V and just use 5V.

Not to complicate things, but some Saturn's do use 9V for scart but that doesn't apply here.

My hunch is the retro PSU designer neglected to account for Saturn's that utilise 9V for the CD drive, thus not enough current is available. Plenty on the 5V line, which is what the later rev Saturn's use, but this doesn't help people with earlier Saturn's that require more amps on the 9V line to drive the CD.

PROBLEM 2: The 9V regulator of the retro Saturn PSU is only rated for 0.15 amps maximim (with heat sinking).

Another thing worth noting, both the switch and the voltage regulator of the prototype version, shown working in promotional videos, differ greatly to the final released design. They definitely look more robust on the prototype. Coincidence or meaningful?

I'm thinking along the lines of him changing the design at the final stages for whatever reason (parts cost / availability / compactness etc) and never fully testing it due to the nature of what happened with things going south.

It may still work with ODE devices or later model Saturn's that don't use the 9V at all or as heavily, but as it stands if my assumptions are correct it's not going to work with earlier hardware revisions.
 
That might be correct Frank, and for those PAL Saturn that do use the 9V for the Scart connector (to force a Scart TV to auto-switch), the rated 0.1A of the installed components should be sufficient.

But I guess we can confirm if it works on different revisions or not when we get them back and can test on our Saturns with ODE's or later revision that use 5V for the drive...
 
If you read through the indigogo updates, Chris mentions problems with a particular chip and the boards not passing testing / having intermittent issues etc. Working fine sometimes but perhaps failing 2 or 3 times out of 10.

He also writes:
IMG_20190911_233737.jpg

Yet on the released design that resistor, R10, is still listed as 124K and not 121K which he says is the correct value.

I don't think these ever worked properly. Not rubbishing Chris, I'm sure he's a great guy and I wish him the best, it's not personal but I'd be weary of building these or installing them into a console. At least not until he responds with some clarification or information.
 
Did you measure the 5v, I think you mentioned it was outputting the correct voltage?
 
Not good the wrong BOM was uploaded...
But as you measured the 5V to be correct, you think an anomaly like this can cause the issues you are having under load?

Or should we focus on the 9v drive drive you have?
 
The 9V is the issue, but I think what @Frank_fjs is getting at is if he stuffed up the resistor on that line there are potential other flaws in the BOM and design.

I still think it's worth trying them since the +5 from what he saw was working well and other Saturns don't need +9

But these are definitely more for those people with ODE devices rather than original disc drives. The ODE require far less power
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top