NES Cart PCB Dimensions

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hyarion
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Post by hyarion »

here it is you might want to double check if it's correct as i'm not sure if it's the final version (couldn't find any other though) :S

and if you do find something please tell me :)

(edit: apparently it is a bit off, will try to find some time to fix it soon-ish)
Last edited by hyarion on Sun Dec 05, 2010 4:34 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Bregalad
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Post by Bregalad »

I'm just reviving this thread because I found the sheet where I wrote down the dimentions of a NES board, including the position of the two holes.

I just don't know how to "publish" it, should I scan the sheet, or specify the coordinates of every PCB corner ?

In all cases I compared my dimensions with the eagle file hyarion submitted, and they almost maches - but there is some mismaches arround the left "inner-corner", maybe at most 10 mil, but it could do a difference. I'm pretty sure my dimentions were approximately correct so that they fit the case, the only reason the PCBs I made doesn't fit the case and are unusable is their thickness (1.5mm instead of 1.2mm).

Too bad I haven't written down the dimention of the connector's pin (only the PCB), but I remember they were an evil 2.5mm spaced (instead of 2.54mm = 100 mil as you could expect).
So I can't confirm that the pins on this eagle template are correct. However I'm pretty sure Nintendo always had "too long" pins for no particular reason (the pins are MUCH longer than the connector, and goes way past the soldermask), apparently the eagle file reproduce this. This isn't a major problem, but wastes PCB space that could otherwise be used for something more useful.
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hyarion
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Post by hyarion »

Bregalad wrote:I'm just reviving this thread because I found the sheet where I wrote down the dimentions of a NES board, including the position of the two holes.

I just don't know how to "publish" it, should I scan the sheet, or specify the coordinates of every PCB corner ?

In all cases I compared my dimensions with the eagle file hyarion submitted, and they almost maches - but there is some mismaches arround the left "inner-corner", maybe at most 10 mil, but it could do a difference. I'm pretty sure my dimentions were approximately correct so that they fit the case, the only reason the PCBs I made doesn't fit the case and are unusable is their thickness (1.5mm instead of 1.2mm).
what do you mean by "inner-corner"? could you point out which one you mean in this image?
Image
Bregalad wrote:Too bad I haven't written down the dimention of the connector's pin (only the PCB), but I remember they were an evil 2.5mm spaced (instead of 2.54mm = 100 mil as you could expect).
So I can't confirm that the pins on this eagle template are correct. However I'm pretty sure Nintendo always had "too long" pins for no particular reason (the pins are MUCH longer than the connector, and goes way past the soldermask), apparently the eagle file reproduce this. This isn't a major problem, but wastes PCB space that could otherwise be used for something more useful.
the pins on the edge connector is correctly spaced in the eagle file (2.5mm)

it's only "way past" the solder mask on the component side (could be reduced to around 1/2 of the hight) on the solder side only ~1/3 could be removed, this due to how the nes connector works.

btw, the PCB i "copied" was a NES-NROM-256-03 (think it was slalom). which is the reason why the fingers is looks like it does.

could add another more optimized version, but that after i correct those measurements you hopefully point out for me :)
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Bregalad
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Post by Bregalad »

OK, I'll post the corner's position that I've measured in mil. I've put the origin on the bottom-left of the board :

There is "corners" at (going counter-clockwise) :
(126,0), (3811, 0), (3811, 563), (3937, 563), (3937, 1331), (3874, 1341), (3874, 1537), (3740, 1537), (3740, 1635), (3937, 1635), (3937, X), (0, X), (0, 1562), (197, 1562), (197, 1464), (63, 1464), (63, 1228), (0, 1228), (0, 563), (126, 563)

X can be changed arbirtary for a variale size board. If X < 1635, then less corners can be made for a smaller board (such as NROM).

Holes coordinates :
(1972, 2665), diameter = 5.2mm = 205 mil
(2183, 3041), diameter = 3.1mm = 122 mil

There is also two "pins" in the plastic case that would prevent componant into going at some position on the board, but too bad I didn't measure their positions. I also haven't measured the plastic case's lenght for the maximum value of X.

Your version of the connector have slightly different version than mine.
I took a screenshot with yours (grey) over mine (yellow) so that the differences appears on the screen : (exernal link so it doesn't "enlarge" the thread)

http://jonathan.microclub.ch/dummy/connector.png
Now, my dimentions are probably not "exact". I just measured them with a caliper or a ruler (for the longer ones) and converted the result into mils.
There is probably a range of values that will work, a range that will work pretty much but that will make you have to apply some force for the board to fit, and then some values when it won't work any longer. I have no idea if the error between both of ours versions is significant or not in this regard.

PS : It would be great if other people who sucessfully made PCBs (Memblers, bunnyboy ?) would compare their measurements to mine, so we could confirm their exactitude (however it might be possible that those people are hiding their info on purpose so that people buys their PCBs instead of making their own).
Last edited by Bregalad on Tue Dec 07, 2010 11:17 am, edited 2 times in total.
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hyarion
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Post by hyarion »

double checked it and... you are right, mine is off after all... thanks for pointing it out :oops:

guess i'll have to go back to the drawing board and fix it then... i'll keep you posted (will try to find time for it later this week)
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Memblers
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Post by Memblers »

Here are my measurements.. I tried to set the board origin to the bottom-left corner (actually an area that gets cut off), I have no idea why this is different from yours, but they're pretty close. I actually had my board edge measured/drawn in metric (most of the values are more even-looking in metric - maybe that's what it was originally?). But I'll post it in imperial for easier comparison to yours.

(126,0) (3811,0) (3811,551) (3937,551) (3937,1338) (3866,1338) (3866,1574) (3740,1574) (3740,1692) (3937,1692) (3937,x) (0,x) (0,1574) (196,1574) (196,1476) (70,1476) (70,1239) (0,1239) (0,550) (126,550)

I can't guarantee it's really accurate. I've had problems with some boards fitting a little too tightly. And the way for me to extact these coordinates is kinda prone to human error.

BTW the full board dimensions is 100mm wide by roughly 110mm long. It can be a little longer I think, but part of it will overlap the finger-grip recessed area (so no component placement there).
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Bregalad
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Post by Bregalad »

Well, some of our measurements differs from about 20 mil which is definitely significant. I'll have to double check that they are correct.

PS : And yeah I measure everything in mm too, I just converted to mil because it's what CAD programs uses.
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kevtris
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Post by kevtris »

Memblers wrote:One more bit of vital info, the thickness of the board. Specify as .45" (1.2mm). This is a little unusual, some board places only do .62" (particularly discount ones).
You need to add a 0 in there. The PCB thickness should be 0.045 (standard is 0.062 inches).
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Bregalad
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Post by Bregalad »

OK I definitely oversized the board's total length, I now replaced the total length 3945 = 100.2mm by 3937 = 100 mm, which is more realistic because it makes the connector symetric (before it was slightly dissimetric, which doesn't appear to be the case).
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qbradq
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Re: NES Cart PCB Dimensions

Post by qbradq »

Nero-bump for great justice!

I notice that the boards I got from INL seem to use this outline. When I built my own board outline using these dimensions I noted that the left-hand notch is lower than the right-hand notch. Is this intentional and correct?

Also, can anyone confirm my assumption that the outer, wider tracks on the edge connector are 3mm wide?
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tokumaru
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Re: NES Cart PCB Dimensions

Post by tokumaru »

qbradq wrote:I noted that the left-hand notch is lower than the right-hand notch.
That's probably so the board won't fit backwards in the case.
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infiniteneslives
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Re: NES Cart PCB Dimensions

Post by infiniteneslives »

qbradq wrote:Is this intentional and correct?
Yeah that's the standard NES PCB outline.
Also, can anyone confirm my assumption that the outer, wider tracks on the edge connector are 3mm wide?
Yes that's what I measured, and it's the size I made my boards.
If you're gonna play the Game Boy, you gotta learn to play it right. -Kenny Rogers
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qbradq
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Re: NES Cart PCB Dimensions

Post by qbradq »

INL, would you be willing to share the positions and sizes of the other drill hits for the mechanical holes you have in your boards? I'm working on a set of open hardware files for prototyping.
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Re: NES Cart PCB Dimensions

Post by infiniteneslives »

Would you accept a designspark PCB file?
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qbradq
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Re: NES Cart PCB Dimensions

Post by qbradq »

Sure, anything you're willing to share would be awesome.
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