The Blog

Super Famicom and PAL Super Nintendo Power Connector Sizes

Nix McRetro // 31st January 2018 // Guides, Nintendo, YouTube

Using the power of digital callipers and third-party power supplies… too bad I didn’t have the first-party supplies on hand. That’s probably why my PAL inner-barrel measurement wandered by about 0.1mm. Super Nintendo (PAL unit measured here) Inner barrel: approximately 2.5mm Outer barrel: 5.5mm Standard PAL supply: AC, so polarity... Continue reading

Bifenthrin Insecticide Poisoning in Lizards

Nix McRetro // 31st January 2018 // News

I found this footage from April 2016 and wanted to get the word out about how bad this insecticide was for the lizards around my house. The trees had been sprayed with bifenthrin to stop a bug from killing them, and afterwards I started finding lizards twitching and stumbling around.... Continue reading

XO 7-in-1 GameShark for Sega Saturn

Nix McRetro // 29th January 2018 // Sega

Back in 2016 I sent across a funky GameShark cartridge for the Sega Saturn that came bundled with something or other. I didn’t have much use for it so I sent it on to Skyway1985 over in the US in exchange for some goodies of my own! He has since... Continue reading

Sega TeraDrive 240V PSU Upgrade

Nix McRetro // 27th January 2018 // Hacks, Repairs, Sega

Previously, way back in August 2016, I posted about having power supply problems on my Sega TeraDrives. I had considered falling back onto a PSU replacement if replacing parts blindly failed. As it turned out, this was the plan I ended up following. Instead of the PicoPSU, I went with... Continue reading

The Amstrad Mega PC Plus Overview

Nix McRetro // 23rd January 2018 // IBM PC, Sega, YouTube

Here we have some video of the Amstrad Mega PC, upgraded into what is effectively Mega PC Plus territory by replacing the PC7386SX 386SX motherboard with a PC7486SLC 486SLC motherboard. That’s right, one of those wonderfully awkward chips sitting somewhere between the 386 and 486 worlds. Maybe that isn’t quite... Continue reading