PCE

NEC PC Engine PCB Reproductions

This repository contains a recreation of the main board PCB for NEC's PC Engine console. The recreation is based on the available schematics for the TurboGrafx-16 and reverse engineering using scanned images of an original board's copper layers, so should be a reasonably accurate reproduction.

NOTE: In order to use these PCBs sucessfully you will need to be proficient in:

• Soldering-fine pitched surface mount components.
• In most cases, desoldering said components to obtain these from a donor board.
• Troubleshooting any issues that may arise.

The authors are not obliged to provide support, nor shall they be held responsible for botched attempts at using these boards.

Should you however find a legitimate flaw in the board's design or have suggestions for improvements, please feel free to submit an issue. Please note that the current scope of the project is to provide a working replica; we are not at this moment entertaining feature requests for significant modifications.

PCB Production

Minimum track widths, clearances and via sizes are within the standard offering of modern PCB fabricators. Gerber files are generated with the relevant options for both JLCPCB and PCBWay (where these have been uploaded to this project for easy ordering). Placeholders for the order number are provided so remember to select the "Specify location" option for this when ordering. If using another service you may wish to remove or replace this placeholder.

The design is verified to work as a 2-layer PCB with 1 oz copper. A leaded HASL finish is perfectly adequate and ensures compatibility with the original solder that will ineveitably be left behind on salvaged parts.

Bill of Materials

Most parts are marked on the board and it is expected that these will be reused from a donor board. It is completely possible that your particular board uses different (but compatible) parts so it's advisable to take photos before starting. Below is therefore a partial bill of materials for parts whose values are not marked on the boards and/or look otherwise alike. For a complete BOM, consult the generated Interactive BOM or the KiCad project itself.

Some parts may not be present on revisions other than the particular PWD-623A board this reproduction is based upon. There is at least one revision that is missing some of the higher numbered (R16x) resistors although most of these seem to be present, only numbered differently. Some revisions also feature fewer inductors although it appears that in most cases a simple wire jumper is a reasonable substitute. Some mixing and matching or addition parts may be required in some cases. It is probably not feasible to list the differences between all possible revisions but should you work out a solution for a particular donor board, please let us know so we can include it in this documentation.

Capacitor voltages may exceed those given, within reason. E.g. you may substitute 16V for a 10V part. You may well find that the original 1uF parts are 50V, for example. Do not, however, use a lower voltage than specified. No voltage is specified for the ceramic capacitors; any 0805 or 1206 part is expected to exceed the required voltage anyway. Note that while all the footprints are the same, a mix of 0805 and 1206 capacitors were used in some cases. The footprints below are therefore those of the actual part, not the pads on the PCB. Again, your particular donor board may vary. If in doubt, or for less fiddly soldering, you could use 1206 parts throughout.

The "Possible Markings" column is a (likely incomplete) list of labels we've come across on original boards. Yours may be similar or wildly different.

Thanks

• Rob Taylor (@PeepoUK) for the initial groundwork, layout and footprints on which this project is based.

• Simon "Aergan" Lock (@Aergan), Chrissy (@chris-jh) and Dennis (@PointerFunction) for their insights, support and testing of the prototype boards.

• The rest of the Board Folk for their support and general coolness.

Legal

As the product of this project is a replica of a proprietary product, the the author makes no claim of copyright to the schematics nor PCB layouts and releases these into the public domain, solely for the purposes of study and historical preservation.

You are free to produce PCBs based on this project's designs at your own risk and without limitation, for your own use or for sale and/or repair at a reasonable price. Attribution is appreciated. The authors are not obliged to provide support of any kind.

Under no circumstances will the authors be held responsible or liable in any way for losses, damages or costs resulting from the use of the information and/or resources of this project.

The resources are provided "as-is" without warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, including, but not limited to, the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose.