What's new
By:

WTB Cosam the great bare Neptune genesis 32x board.

Want To Buy
F

ForestOfDreams

Professional
Joined
Oct 27, 2023
Messages
520
Reaction score
387
Location
Utah
Now that the project is released.
Is there anyone planning to place an order?

I am thinking ENIG because the sega CD add on slot.
Minimum is more than one board. So...
 
Don't order yet. Simon discovered a silkscreen and diode placement issue that affected 32x reset. Pretty sure Cosam will update the board, along with the BOM to add Voltages to the THT Capacitors to make it somewhat easier to identify and buy.
 
raynex said:
Don't order yet. Simon discovered a silkscreen and diode placement issue that affected 32x reset. Pretty sure Cosam will update the board, along with the BOM to add Voltages to the THT Capacitors to make it somewhat easier to identify and buy.
Click to expand...
Thank you for this info. I will wait then.
I feel like this project will really bump up the display and audio quality of 32x games being completely integrated.
 
Got you covered once the issue is fixed. Will have 3 more available at cost since MOQ is 5 if anyone else is interested as well.
 
Is it just the bare PCB, or will the majority of the SMD components be included as well? I really want to try building one, but I am not at all excited about having to solder 8500 tiny SMD components.

I was also just thinking it might be worth waiting since I am sure more gotchas will pop up once more people have the ability to build and play games on it... not at all a knock of Cosam & team's work, just saying that this is a really ambitious and complex project and it wouldn't surprise me at all if more uh-ohs end up cropping up over time.
 
kazuo said:
Is it just the bare PCB, or will the majority of the SMD components be included as well? I really want to try building one, but I am not at all excited about having to solder 8500 tiny SMD components.

I was also just thinking it might be worth waiting since I am sure more gotchas will pop up once more people have the ability to build and play games on it... not at all a knock of Cosam & team's work, just saying that this is a really ambitious and complex project and it wouldn't surprise me at all if more uh-ohs end up cropping up over time.
Click to expand...

Just the bare board. Thing would definitely be a long term do some here do some there soldering project.
I believe most components could be salvaged from the donors with hot tweezers.

If there's already a big bug found I am content to wait until the teething issues are sorted.
 
I am thinking of ordering 10 in Europe.
Someone is planning a version with all the off-the-shelf SMD components populated, but you'll still need to move all the large chips over.
 
Fluffy said:
I am thinking of ordering 10 in Europe.
Someone is planning a version with all the off-the-shelf SMD components populated, but you'll still need to move all the large chips over.
Click to expand...
That would really make this a viable project.
I would be A-Ok with that.
 
Fluffy said:
Someone is planning a version with all the off-the-shelf SMD components populated, but you'll still need to move all the large chips over.
Click to expand...
I'm not sure why you would need to plan a version. It wouldn't be hard to just provide the BOM and have JLCPCB or anyone else do this when you place your order. Just more costly is all! And I'm sure if someone is selling it as a middleman, even more costly again.

ForestOfDreams said:
That would really make this a viable project.
Click to expand...
Since for now it's just you and I, if you want, I'll see what they run populated vs unpopulated when the issue gets fixed!
 
ForestOfDreams said:
Just the bare board. Thing would definitely be a long term do some here do some there soldering project.
I believe most components could be salvaged from the donors with hot tweezers.
Click to expand...

I don't have hot tweezers. :) And unfortunately I don't think my little KSGER can facilitate the use of one. I don't have space right now for more large-ish tools.

Places like JLCPCB etc. can do pick & place of SMD components if you provide a BOM, thus my question...

ShootTheCore said:
I'd definitely be interested in a SMD-populated board once the bugs are squashed.
Click to expand...

Same here, if Rewrite ends up getting one with the SMDs populated I will definitely take one! Totally aware the larger ICs etc are on us (me) to install.
 
Looks like that only leaves one left.

Me
@ForestOfDreams
@kazuo
@ShootTheCore

I'll try to keep an eye out, but if someone sees before me that the bugs are squashed, let me know and I'll hit up JLCPCB and get a quote for populated boards!

So on the same topic, is there another approach to the case other than this here?

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/PROJECT_NEPTUNE_8295fd26.html

PCBWay's 3D printing service price is a tad harsh. Just the top was $54 shipped or so I think it was. Nevermind all the rest, and I don't *think* you are allowed to do it yourself?
 
rewrite said:
Looks like that only leaves one left.

Me
@ForestOfDreams
@kazuo
@ShootTheCore

I'll try to keep an eye out, but if someone sees before me that the bugs are squashed, let me know and I'll hit up JLCPCB and get a quote for populated boards!

So on the same topic, is there another approach to the case other than this here?

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/PROJECT_NEPTUNE_8295fd26.html

PCBWay's 3D printing service price is a tad harsh. Just the top was $54 shipped or so I think it was. Nevermind all the rest, and I don't *think* you are allowed to do it yourself?
Click to expand...
Another 3rd party is making a Neptune shell to be completely free to the market. Problem is, I don't know when he'll finish. He was very close last time he posted. There's also that brazillian company that may be using an injection molded shell for their own system. Probably should look into them to see if they've provided any udpates. It's been a hot minute.
 
The pcb itself will fit in a genesis 2 case.
I think last time I checked it was fairly expensive to print the case thru pcbway but that's the only option for it.
I think its pry worth it considering how niche of a cool project it is but I would sure prefer to get the cost down.
I plan to do it in two parts. Build the board and put it into the donor genesis 2 shell and order the case later.
 
I think printing the complete case with resin/paint is something like on the order of several hundred dollars. At that price, I'm good, lol.

I wonder if RgR would be willing to do a small run of shells for this thing. Might be expensive but I'd pay considering the quality they generally churn out.
 
raynex said:
I got an update and looks like the release Did fix the diode issue. The discovery Simon posted on his write up was actually before the release. We have green light to proceed now. https://bsky.app/profile/aergan.com/post/3lfypepmjrk25
Click to expand...
Gave it a go for about 30 minutes just now to try and get a JLCPCB compatible BOM out of KiCAD, but didn't make any headway. Tried two different plugins, including the one JLCPCB suggests using, and it just isn't working.

Will cycle back to this tomorrow when I have more time unless someone already has a quick and easy workflow for this already setup (or can point me to one).
 
@ForestOfDreams
@kazuo
@ShootTheCore

Turns out that there's a REVISED how-to for JLCPCB compatible BOM generation and that works just great. It just isn't the one that pops up first in Google.

A few capacitors were too low of stock to fulfill our order. But the vast majority of everything has worked out nicely. ENIG, and everything else per the github's instructions.

Looking like $102 a piece to me, and I'd guess roughly $10 to ship across the states from me to you guys.

Hopefully we can find a fifth person too, ha.

Let me know what you guys think!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top