RF Generation Message Board

Episode 5 is out! You can catch it now on Pod-o-matic, and the YouTube version will be up in the morning.

Can't wait! :) Gonna go listen now!

dude this sucker is almost 3 hours

Dang, you're right. I just checked to see how the download was going. Good time-waster; I have nothing better to do right now!

What can I say? We are long winded...

I'm about 30 minutes in but I should stop listening.  I'm gonna have nothing to listen to at work tomorrow.

Oh my gosh, Crabby. Your find was crazy. I'm not spoiling it for the other listeners, but wow. Nice!

3 hours huh? Guess I'll have to delete all my other podcasts from my ipod to get this big boy to fit.

If you guys need a 3DO controller I have one that I don't care about except to laugh at. Its still sealed.

LET THE GAMES BEGIN!

I'd be interested in that as long as the box is in good shape, psycho.

3 hours!??!?!? Holy crap. I thought we'd clock in around 2. We are long winded. Definitely let us know what you guys thought of the length of the episode though.


I'll have some pics and the full story up on here and nintendoage sometime very soon so you can check them out a bit further if you like. I'm pretty curious to see what others have to say about them.

I'm hijacking this thread. This box is not in mint condition, I found it buried in a box at the big thrift store last year. There are some dents and creases in the box, but its not in horrible shape. Without the seal it would probably be all torn up.

[img width=700 height=418]http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/gpro83/074.jpg?t=1345670952[/img]

[img width=700 height=418]http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/gpro83/075.jpg?t=1345671023[/img]

[img width=700 height=418]http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/gpro83/077.jpg?t=1345670978[/img]

[img width=612 height=1023]http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/gpro83/078.jpg[/img]

Eh, decent enough. :)
Also, lulz at the company name - STD Entertainment.

Thats awesome!!

That's what I love to laugh about.

I think that's part of why the government officially changed it to STI as well - too many people were using STD as an abbreviation. Their excuse was that they technically weren't "diseases", but whatever.

Send me a PM psycho. I'm always eager to get boxed hardware, since it means I can sell off or trade my loose ones, which are almost impossible to display (I have 300+ unique loose controllers...)

Any unique NES ones in there you're looking to get rid of? :D

With that kind of name, you know you're in for a surprise.

It makes me worry how they intended you to use that controller.

As a contraceptive obviously. Anyone who had a 3DO at the time surely wasnt getting any action.

Lock the thread, it isn't going to get any better than that.

Mission successful.

[img width=256 height=240]http://i1101.photobucket.com/albums/g436/gpro83/Hijack_ninjas-Duke_Nukem.gif[/img]

So do you smell like cheeseburgers?

It looks like it is up to me to put this back on topic.

I listened to the show today. Good job.

And you're finally up to a real mans length.


PODCAST length! PODCAST length!

And all this time I always though it was about PODCAST width :(

Bacon Cheeseburgers

You're both wrong.  It's girth (and how you use it)

And this one was quite girthy.

We're now on Twitter @Collectorcast

Got about half way through today while making some salsa.
It was nice hearing from Wildbil about how much he loves RFGen, its the comments (and then the mini discussion) like that makes all the hours of work worthwhile. I even teared up a bit, though that may have been the onions I was chopping at the time...

I'm just getting into the cleaning discussion, but since you guys mentioned screws, I must mention the DS Lite is the worst system I've ever taken apart. Not only is everything tiny and packed together unbelievably tight, but there must be a dozen different screws in that thing. I even put each screw on a piece and paper and wrote down where they went, but I ran out of room on the paper because each screw type is only used a couple times.

Glad to hear it, a big goal we have in the show is extolling the virtues of this site and everyone in the community.

I'd have to agree with you on the DS Lite, I wasn't really thrilled with the one I had to tear apart to replace the screen. The original DS was much easier to work with.

I just finished episode 5 for the second time.  I'm putting my cleaning tool kit together right now

Rock and roll!

Those tiny ass ribbons are the worst.

I know, I had the tiniest one come disconnected from its holder and spent 20 minutes trying to get it back in. Until finally, I realized the whole clasp popped up and you slid the cable in and popped it back down. Probably ruined the cable in the process trying to push it in, but I don't know because the larger cable that goes from the bottom half to the top half ripped like crepe paper when I tried to get it back inside the hinge.

Nice to know that I'm not the only one who listens to each episode several times.  Glad that your cleaning kit is coming together!

In case I didn't say it enough on the cast, big thanks to Duke and Crabby for having me on.  I hope I didn't ramble too much. 

Great job on the podcast. I'd like to hear how you clean your Famicom carts Duke.

Unfortunately, you can't easily take them apart. The only method for that is with grips, and I'm not willing to risk breaking a tab. For those I typically use the old Q-tips and alcohol on the contacts, and if I need to be more aggressive a lint free cloth with alcohol gets rubbed in there a bit. It isn't nearly as big a problem as with NES carts, since all the Famicom systems are slot loading the natural friction usually keeps the carts working well.

The outside shell gets the usual alcohol cleaning, the label a lightly damp alcohol cleaning, and I don't usually touch the back warning label, since they often are not laminated.

Nice to know you are using almost the same method as I am. On a couple of the carts I've had to use Weinman's followed by a light damp alcohol cleaning to remove the excess dirt.

What I would like to find would be a good way to restore the plastic FDS game boxes that everything came in. These seem to get grungy and still don't look fantastic after cleaning.

You did great. I listen to tons of different podcasts all the time. It's true some people just don't get how to carry a conversation or a monolog on "radio" but you three all did really good.

I think Duke should get most of the credit for that. He is a conversation master!

Okay.

Duke I give you all the credit. Those other guys, pfft, who do they think they are?

I think that is a nice way of saying "He just won't shut up." ;)

Don't give me all the credit, that just means I will end up with all the blame.

Seriously though, Crabby makes a fantastic co-host. Very knowledgable, and loves the hobby. As for Bil, he was great to have on the show. I enjoy putting this together a lot, even though it is a little bit of work.

I thought you fit in well and naturally.  Again!  Again!

Listening now and heard you guys talking about Wavebirds.  I bought 4 when they came out and they still are working just like the day I bought them.  Nintendo can really make some stuff that lasts. 

Yeah, they are pretty solid.  The buttons don't seem to lose their responsiveness like the standard controllers do.

The control sticks on my GameCube controllers have become loose, but I suppose hundreds of hours of Smash Bros is to blame.  :D

I loved how Melee kept track of all your data. I put in nearly 5,000 matches on one memory card alone before I switched mem cards and played about 2,000 matches on another. I wanted the 5,000th match on that one card to be me and my friends I started gaming with back home . I had moved to Florida and wanted to play that special match with my original crew :)

One of the most commonly asked questions is what AC adapter should I use for a given system. It would make a great podcast episode/subject.

IE:

http://www.gametrog.com/GAMETROG/How_which_do_i_need_SEGA_AC_Power_Supply_Information_Specs_Model_mk-3025_mk-1602_mk-2103_mk-1479_mk-4122_aa-s95j.html

I've had this page bookmarked for a while now.  It's a great reference.  There are several adapters that will fit into a given system but almost certainly cause damage to it.  It would be a good topic.

Like the NES AC adapter on anything but an NES. Why on earth did they make it AC out when it runs perfectly fine on DC? I wouldn't think it could be costs since they have to convert the AC to DC internally. Good topic.

The NES AC adapter has fried many a Famicom. Usually the 7805 inside.

I forgot to add in http://www.retrogamecave.com/ac-adapters.html

Yeah, thankfully not a tough fix. I just relegate NES adapters to their own area so I can't mix it up.

While listening to the Podcast I managed to finish cleaning/sorting my NES games:

Thanks again for taking the time to make the podcast.

(http://nintendoagemedia.com/users/5363/photobucket/76BE90B6-ED97-D716-A6B76B61D14792B0.jpg)

That's a really nice set of shelves. I like how every cubby has one cart for a manager/overseer ;)

Never seen that sign before, custom?

Mmmm..... loose NES games....

That Yoshi looks familiar, somehow...
(https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-LYdrCobVIH8/UD-KZK2P46I/AAAAAAAAAmg/ai2WdaOC2hg/s640/WP_000231.jpg)

OOOH I didn't realize they were stuffed animals on a generic Game Room sign.

I took that picture near Christmas last year, and I've had it as my phone lock screen ever since. However, I just now realized that the angle I took that picture from makes his eyes look he was caught playing the Neo-Geo cabinet. Heheh.

LOL.

I also spy the Drew Karpyshyn Mass Effect books back there.  Good choices.

That was from the old apartment. There's also Starcraft, Full Metal Alchemist, and Ghost in the Shell there too. ;D
I need to fix the second joystick on my Neo-Geo cabinet so that I can start playing fighters on it again. Something came loose during the move, and I haven't fixed it yet.

Nice Neo-Geo cab! Speaking of Neo-Geo just found this in the stuff from storage..

(http://nintendoagemedia.com/users/5363/photobucket/B6164B42-0B46-ABD7-4788EE45DAEE2D24.jpg)

wildbil52:

Thanks. Its a generic Game Room sign that I purchased for $20, and then added in some stuffed Mario characters. The shelves are Benno shelves from Ikea.

Finally listened to this and I wanted to say thanks for the shoutout :)

I'm still around, but since I got the new place I've spent most weekends working on the place and not having time for collecting.

That said, I should have my basement retro gaming setup sorted out soon for pictures of!

Since I didn't see anyone else mention it, I feel I must now that I've gotten around to finishing this episode. Regarding watering down alcohol, make sure you use distilled water. Using tap water is really bad for things like cleaning cart pins. Tap water is full of chemicals and minerals that will eventually corrode any metals parts that you're cleaning.

Quote of the day, folks.

i've finally gotten to listening to this, and just recently passed the part where you brought up the sandpaper being used as a contact cleaner, and cringing at someone overcleaning to the point of the contacts being silver instead of gold. now my method of cleaning will never involve sandpaper for obvious reasons O_O, but what i do use is a tube of metal polish. a dab of that on a cloth, then a few quick scrubs along the contacts, and unless it's really bad it comes out perfectly clean every time and works perfectly on the first time putting it in a system. i use this on any cartridge based system that can be opened easily enough to clean with more than q-tips. the only thing is it does make them come out silver, which i would guess is it's removing some sort of protective layer.

now my question is, is there any permanent damage i'm doing with this cleaning method? after a while i noticed that some of the contacts did start looking a little gunky after the games sat unused after this method. i realised that i think even with a dry wipe after cleaning, there was a residue of the polish left, so now i've added that after the metal polish i do a lighter cleaning with the alcohol and q-tip just to remove the residue, and it seems to work (some games i've done with this method don't have any sort of residue months after being cleaned).

there are some games i've cleaned with this method early on in my collecting, maybe as much as 2 years ago, and they still work. i've never heard anyone using this method before so i've always been a little paranoid that i'm doing something i shouldn't be, though i have yet to see any actual problems because of it.

My understanding is that the gold plating is protecting the contact from the elements. So removing it would't cause any immediate damage and the game should play fine, but it will significantly increase the chance of corrosion in the future. Once the contacts have been exposed to the corrosion the cart will be unplayable. So while it might work well in the short run I really doubt the games are going to last in the long run.

Keep in mind that polishes are there to make metal look pretty, and not necessarily provide the best electrical connection. If you want to go down this path I would recommend contact cleaner instead.

ya, that's what i always thought might be an issue, but we'll see how they hold up...like i said the ones i did quite a while ago still work fine,  but maybe i'll look into some contact cleaner :P