Modifying GBA TV-tuner?

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Hallvard Tangeraas - 18 Nov 2003 06:04 GMT

I'm currently in Hong Kong and have come across all sorts of cool
gadgetry for the Gameboy Advance (so far I don't have one myself
though).

One of those things is a TV-tuner which attaches to the Gameboy
Advance (or was it just the Gameboy? I forget) which allows you to
watch TV on the screen. It also allows you to input a cable from a DVD
player, your video camera or whatever so you can use the screen for
that as well.

I'm wondering if it's somehow possible to modify the tuner so that it
can be used on its own to output a "video" and "audio" signal? I'm
having a hard time finding a self-contained TV tuner for this sort of
thing, so seeing that the Gameboy TV tuner is cheap (around HK$ 300 I
think) I'm curious about this (I want to record TV programs with the
aid of my camcorder which has analog input for recording any video
signal).

Hallvard

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Impmon - 18 Nov 2003 12:56 GMT

>I'm wondering if it's somehow possible to modify the tuner so that it
>can be used on its own to output a "video" and "audio" signal? I'm
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>aid of my camcorder which has analog input for recording any video
>signal).

It's not possible to reverse the signals. It would take a completely
different circuitry to make the GBA output the signal.

What you want is TV de Advance, which can output the video from GBA to
TV. Or get a Gameboy Player for Gamecube and save yourself the trouble
of modding and hacking any GBA system.

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kiz - 18 Nov 2003 14:48 GMT

>>I'm wondering if it's somehow possible to modify the tuner so that it
>>can be used on its own to output a "video" and "audio" signal? I'm
[quoted text clipped - 3 lines]
>>aid of my camcorder which has analog input for recording any video
>>signal).

> It's not possible to reverse the signals. It would take a completely
> different circuitry to make the GBA output the signal.

> What you want is TV de Advance, which can output the video from GBA to
> TV. Or get a Gameboy Player for Gamecube and save yourself the trouble
> of modding and hacking any GBA system.

i believe he's asking if the unit has a coaxial output, not if the
signal can be reversed. he wants to use the gba as a tuner for
another device.

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kiz

' The standard is not perfection; the standard is the alternative. '

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Hallvard Tangeraas - 18 Nov 2003 19:06 GMT

>
> >>I'm wondering if it's somehow possible to modify the tuner so that it
[quoted text clipped - 15 lines]
> signal can be reversed. he wants to use the gba as a tuner for
> another device.

Well, a normal "video out" connector (and of course "audio out" for
sound as well) as you get from the rear of a VCR for example.
With a signal like this available I can connect it to my camcorder's
"AV-in" input and actually record a TV show! Would be great to show my
friends back home what TV in foreign countries I'm visiting it like!

In regards to Ipmon's reply.... I'm not sure what you mean by
reversing the signal, but as far as I understand from the Gamboy
TV-tuner, it's basically a small pocket-TV, but without the screen.
Instead it uses the Gameboy LCD screen. The TV tuner simply receives
the TV signal with the aid of an antenna.

In short: I want to be able to use the TV-tuner as a stand-alone unit,
and get access to the "audio out" and "video out" connectors which my
camcorder needs (alternatively "S-video" for even better quality).

How do you change channels or tune the TV-tuner with the Gameboy? Is
there a physical knob/switches on the tuner, or does it rely on the
Gameboy for this somehow? If that's the case it's probably too
complicated to modify, but if it's really a stand-alone unit but uses
the proprietary connector to the Gameboy to feed it the video and
audio signals I was thinking that I could get a cable that plugs into
it and gives me those signals.
Anyone know?

Hallvard

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Impmon - 18 Nov 2003 23:21 GMT

Sorry I may have misunderstood the question.

>How do you change channels or tune the TV-tuner with the Gameboy? Is
>there a physical knob/switches on the tuner, or does it rely on the
>Gameboy for this somehow?

GBA controls are used to change channel. I do know you can get sound out
from GBA TV tuner. I can't remember if there are video out from the
tuner but I don't think there is any video out, only audio out.

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Hallvard Tangeraas - 20 Nov 2003 21:14 GMT

> Sorry I may have misunderstood the question.
>
[quoted text clipped - 5 lines]
> from GBA TV tuner. I can't remember if there are video out from the
> tuner but I don't think there is any video out, only audio out.

I did some searching on the net, and it does indeed seem like the unit
can OUTPUT a video/audio signal!
Maybe there are several different tuners around for the GBA, but the
sites on the net that show information for it, such as this one:
http://www.gameboy-advance.net/accessories/gba_tv_tuner.htm

... says that the input/output is switchable. So that's great news for
me.
Has anyone tried this TV tuner? Will it receive the TV signals
properly? I know this depends on the area of course, but I mean if the
area has good recetion, does the tuner actually work well enough?

Seeing that stand-alone TV-tuners are near impossible to find here and
pocket-TVs are as well (the few that I've found only work with the
Hong Kong/China PAL system -"PAL I" I think, while I need "PAL B/G",
or was it "H"?)..... maybe this is the best solution available for me.
Depends on how much I have to pay for the GBA and the tuner (I don't
have a GBA).

Hallvard

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Hallvard Tangeraas - 25 Nov 2003 17:11 GMT

Well, I looked all around for stand-alone TV-tuners here in Hong Kong
and could actually (eventually!) find several such units in the
"Golden shopping centre" in Sham Shui Po area. The only problem was
that they only supported PAL-I which in other words means it's only
suitable for Hong Kong and mainland China.
Not much use for me when going back to Europe....

But the Gameboy advance with the tuner works great! I brought the
camcorder with me to the store to try it out, and when I saw that it
actually worked, sending *out* a video signal the solution was there
in front of me!

So I bought a Gameboy Advance SP, the tuner and a game cartridge.

Hallvard

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kiz - 25 Nov 2003 22:33 GMT

> Well, I looked all around for stand-alone TV-tuners here in Hong Kong
> and could actually (eventually!) find several such units in the
> "Golden shopping centre" in Sham Shui Po area. The only problem was
> that they only supported PAL-I which in other words means it's only
> suitable for Hong Kong and mainland China.
> Not much use for me when going back to Europe....

> But the Gameboy advance with the tuner works great! I brought the
> camcorder with me to the store to try it out, and when I saw that it
> actually worked, sending *out* a video signal the solution was there
> in front of me!

> So I bought a Gameboy Advance SP, the tuner and a game cartridge.

awesome, glad it worked out for you :)

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Hallvard Tangeraas - 27 Nov 2003 14:23 GMT

> > So I bought a Gameboy Advance SP, the tuner and a game cartridge.
>
> awesome, glad it worked out for you :)

So am I :-)
There's only one "problem" left: how do I switch between playing games
and using the TV tuner without having to unplug the tuner, removing
the cartridge, then inserting it into the GBA?

Hallvard

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Angry Red Herring - 27 Nov 2003 18:01 GMT

> There's only one "problem" left: how do I switch between playing games
> and using the TV tuner without having to unplug the tuner, removing
> the cartridge, then inserting it into the GBA?

Uhhhhhhh...

You can't. Sorry :(

I use the GBA TV as my kitchen TV; I ran a coax to the kitchen, so
whatever's on TV-- shows, VHS or DVD-- gets piped to the kitchen so I
can keep up while I'm cooking. I leave the whole TV setup on top of the
fridge, and when I want to play GBA I pop it and the cartridge out of
the TV setup.

The TV unit is on its little stand, hooked up to the cable and its AC
adapter. When the GBA is hooked in, it is also hooked to its AC
adapter; when I unhook it, I go back to rechargeable batteries.

But, no way to play to play GBA while its hooked into the TV unit.
Well, you could get another GBA, get the adapter that sends the signal
out to a TV, hook that up to the GBA-TV's AV ins, and play the second
GBA through the GBA TV.

But I doubt that's the solution you're looking for. ;)

ARH

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