Muff's Modules & More

wcfields · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:36 am Post subject: Extron Super Emotia GX

YES!

I finally got this fucker to work.

Anyway, the Extron Super Emotia GX is probably going to be the cheapest Gen-lockable scan converter that you can find (I got mine off of Ebay for $38+free shipping). It's coveted by arcade console nerds running emulators because they need to convert VGA->RGBs for older RGB Arcade Monitors. They don't really care about the Genlock features, so they don't seem to go for too much.

This sticker is on the bottom of the unit, you can only use up to 1024x768 at low refresh rates:

The thing that makes these such a deal is that they have the worlds wonkiest power supply. They need +5v, +12v, and -12v with a crazy amount of amps behind them (vs any typical power brick / wall wart). I'm fortunate enough to live in Portland with access to Free Geek and found a brick that supplied +12 and +5 at 1.5a (I had read that you don't really need the -12v and this was before I found out the true amps needed, I figured 1.5a on each rail should be sufficient), but it only lighted up the LEDs but didn't produce a picture. Some guy on a Christian AV forum said that

wcfields · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 1:40 am Post subject:

Oh and also, the input VGA port is THE WRONG GENDER too.

I got a Mini-Display Port->VGA off of Monoprice and it's a Male, so I'll have to spend another $2 on a F-F VGA.

Normally this wouldn't be an issue, since you can just take any VGA Extension cable that's F->M and plug it in.

Matos · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:06 am Post subject:

Congrats brother! That's some super sleuthing you did to rig hat bad bwoy up. My extron is still stuck at 640 low rez sadness as my adaptor was ordered, hen found to be out of stock. I can see your rast spray can in the background. Now that you have you scan converter converting, it's party time.

wcfields · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 2:12 am Post subject:

lizlarsen · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 9:55 am Post subject:

Amazing! Another thing for us to all fight over when they pop up on eBay. smile

Thanks for all the research. You should archive this post on the wiki if you have the time.
Does it fill the frame on the output right now? That's the issue I'm having with my Extron Scan Converter. I have a pretty wide underscan border around the image, but the overscan setting sooms WAY in, rather than just filling the screen.

wcfields · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:09 pm Post subject:

wcfields · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject:

Also, I had to open the unit up to tighten the composite BNC connector and saw that about half of the chips on the board had their markings sanded off.

I wonder if Extron was super paranoid of a competitor

lizlarsen · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:22 pm Post subject:

A few video mixers from around this area that I've peeked inside had their chip numbers sanded off too!

daverj · Posted: Tue Mar 06, 2012 12:32 pm Post subject:

I did that once a couple of decades ago when a company in Taiwan bought one of my products. I was paranoid they were going to try to clone it and manufacture them.

Then I discovered that most chips have their numbers on the chip die, so with careful grinding, somebody can still get the chip number. (though they destroy the chip in the process)

wcfields · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:09 pm Post subject:

There's an Extron Emotia Xtreme MX High Resolution Scan Converter on eBay right now (6 days left though)

Luckily enough this uses a standard cheap computer power plug: IEC 60320 C3

XTREME!!!!!!!!!!!!

*POUNDS MOUNTAIN DEW*
nanners

lizlarsen · Posted: Thu Mar 08, 2012 2:10 pm Post subject:

Damn, somebody hop on that quick!

wcfields · Posted: Thu Mar 15, 2012 3:35 pm Post subject:

Hope a muff got that! End up selling for 21.50 (but with 21.47 shipping). Even at $42.97 for a genlock-able component/RGBs scan converter, that's a hell of a deal.

wcfields · Posted: Mon Mar 19, 2012 6:34 pm Post subject:

Another one popped up on eBay: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Extron-Emotia-Extreme-/230763571518

This one is the same as mine and you'll need to hack together an ATX PC power supply.