How to Mod a PAL VOGATEK MK 5 to NTSC - Done and functional

Mrfardoche

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Dec 29, 2011
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23
********EDIT**************

I was sucessful at modifying the device, see the bottom part for quick tutorial

**************************


Hello,

I just bought a Vogatek supergun, the only problem is i am in an NTSC region, and the Vogatek is Made for PAL regions.

It seems a lot of people are actually not buying these devices because they are PAL only - Or they resort to buying the RGB scart models, which is what i did also.

But there is a cure to all this PAL evil...

After reading much, it seems the device CAN be converted to another region, by switching the Oscillator, putting in a 14.318180 MHz Quartz oscillator and applying a logic HIGH (5V) to Pin 1 of the AD725 chip.

Thing is, I need to have a really good image to make sure I am doing the thing right. IDCHAPPY, famous seller of these units actually told me that NTSC and PAL unit differ from a point in soldering and a different crystal, and according to my findings, this is dead on true.

So be cool, someone and help me out with getting a HIGH resolution closeup of a Vogatek MK5 NTSC Unit. If my results prove successful, I will post a tutorial on how to convert the device.

:D

Thanks in advance to anyone helping me out
 
Last edited:

wyndcrosser

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if no one does it, I have one I just bought, it's been sitting on my shelf for awhile. PM me tomorrow to remind me.
 

mikey

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The difference is pretty straight forward like you said. Just somehow disconnect pin 1 of the AD725 or cut the trace leading to it and tie the pin to +5v (instead of ground) and swap out the oscillator for the NTSC value like you said and you should be good to go. If there is a luma trap implemented in it you might have to change some of the values of the parts in there too though. If you're not sure, take a picture of the board in your supergun and myself or someone else here can show you what to do.
 

HeavyMachineGoob

My poontang misses Lenn Yang's wang
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The best way to do it is to find the AD725 schematic and look up its NTSC and PAL application circuits. That will give you all the information you need for a conversion.
 

wyndcrosser

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as we discussed in PM, the MK5 board are black, so there's no way to scan them or take a picture that would show any traces.
 

Mrfardoche

n00b
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Posts
23
I am doing a lot of research and it seems that all that is necessary to do is switching oscillators, removing the resistor marked "Link 1".

I have two pictures here comparing both models:

Pleas notice the resistor LINK 1 which is not present on NTSC models, and present on PAL models.

Noticed the dashed lines at LINK 1, where the resistor is actually missing, and the oscillator clocked at something like 14.xxxxxxx (too blurry cannot read it)
(the actual value is supposed to be 14.313380 Mhz, as mentioned in the technical sheet for the AD725 IC)

IMG_0593.jpg
(This seems to be an NTSC model)

Notice the Resistor at LINK 1 and the oscillator clocked at 17.73447 Mhz on this one:

20121227_120618.jpg
(This seems to be a PAL model)

This seems to corroborate with what IDCHAPPY has been telling me about the extra link and the different clock... which are supposedly the only differences in the two models. I was not told about any Luma trap. The conversion seems very straight forward on this device.

I am ready to test this, I'll remove the resistor on link 1 on my PAL and replace the oscillator. I will let you know of the results, hoping not to fry the device, but i am pretty confident this will work.

Also, i ordered my Oscillator form Germany, and since I am in Canada it might take a week, so until then... i can't do anything.

In the mean time, i am buying my jamma board.. Just bought a nice IGS PGM with demon fron and KOV, very eager to play those in my home made cab. but that is another story...

It would be sweet if anyone could confirm what I am proposing here and i'd need a confirmation that a NTSC board is like the one picture above.

Thank in advance for the help, i appreciate it!
 
Last edited:

Mrfardoche

n00b
Joined
Dec 29, 2011
Posts
23
Okay everybody, I was right, the mod does work!

For anyone interested:

Quick tutorial:

To make the Vogatek MKV an NTSC (from PAL):
Remove link 1 (which is the resistor right on top of the PSU connector, look on the images above for reference) and change the clock to a 14.313380 Mhz (make sure you have the same component format, a two prong will not work: you need the same kind of package) and you get a NTSC.
 
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