Developer Cosam has just released an open source reproduction of the PC Engine motherboard. There are no plans to sell these in any form, this was just a reverse-engineering project meant to help people in the scene. If you’d like to build your own, you’ll need to transfer the proprietary chips from a donor PCE, however you should be able to use all new off-the-shelf parts. More info below the link:
GitHub: https://github.com/Board-Folk/PC-Engine
As you can expect, I’m really excited for what this could lead to. Imagine a version of this, with a modern RGB / S-Video circuit integrated…that lets you keep original composite video colors? Also, the ribbon cable connecting the top board is a component that often fails – A new top board and a much better way to affix the two could be integrated! Maybe a modern flex cable? Or even just a push-down connector?
Also, while the PCE and TG-16 consoles have been fairly reliable, the Duo’s and Express are plagued with leaky capacitors. While doing a chip swap is pretty hard, expert modders might be able to do it in less time than a full cleanup and recap might take. Plus, leaky caps have already claimed the lives of many Duo’s out there.
I love seeing projects like that and am very appreciative that developers like Cosam would release them to the public!
Reproduction #PCEngine main board repo is now public, including the KiCad project, schematics (specific to the PCE, adapted from TG-16) and Gerbers for producing your own boards https://t.co/dWA0DfyYOQ
— cosam (@cosam_the_great) September 18, 2023
