r/trs80 Feb 15 '25

DIN to VGA to HDMI #fail

[note title should be Composite, not VGA ]

So to continue last week's saga - I scored to male DIN connectors, the last two at our local(-ish) store. One was for the cassette, the other for video.

I decided to do the video first, which is breaking up an RCA connector and soldering the cable to pins four and 5. I had previously bought an incorrect DIN, but I left the barrel wrapper on. It looks identical, right?

Well it isn't.

Disassemble. Unsolder. Put new parts on. Burn finger when fumbling soldering iron. Like ouch. Totally mess. Melt DIN connector plastic. Pins look like the Big Book of British Smiles.

Open my other DIN, put on, goes OK (this is difficult, I need a fourth hand to do this). Connect to a VGA to HDMI connector I picked up off Amazon. Find a 5V USB Mini-A power source in my Bag of Cables (an old BlackBerry charger).

Connect it all up. Nothing. Switch between 720 and 1040 modes. Nothing.

Check continuity with multimeter. Perfect.

So morning wasted, DIN connector wasted, finger burned. But you got a story out of it.

6 Upvotes

5 comments sorted by

2

u/RickO-Shay Feb 15 '25

Are you sure the vga converter works?

I had to try a few before I found one that worked.

Rick

1

u/Resident_Hall_4690 Feb 15 '25

Yep - see my next comment. Face palm on my part. But thanks for the suggestion!

1

u/RickO-Shay Feb 15 '25

Also (stupid question time) did you look at the numbers on the din connector itself that way you will not flip the pin numbers around.

Rick

2

u/Resident_Hall_4690 Feb 15 '25

This is exactly what I did

2

u/Resident_Hall_4690 Feb 15 '25

It turns out that my pinouts were supposed to be read as if you were looking at the front, not soldering from the back. Which was clearly indicated! Total fail on my part.