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I have an old US (NTSC) NES system which we found in the garage. Sadly the power supply is missing.

As I now live in the UK, I was wondering if it is possible to use a UK NES power supply with it.

The power supply I was thinking of using is below:

PSU Label

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    This would be easy to answer if the output was DC (just check the polarity, voltage and current draw), but if it really is AC, then there may be a difference: the US has 60Hz AC, the UK 50Hz. I'm wondering if a US console on 50Hz would produce a bizarre 50Hz NTSC output... (Your original US adapter wouldn't work in the UK anyway, since it's not a 230V-compatible switching adapter.)
    – Stephen Kitt
    Oct 24, 2016 at 11:39
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    Excuse the ignorance but isn't the role of the "brick" to convert whatever came from the wall supply to what is compatible with the console? Do the power units in the console differ as well?
    – Emanuele Ciurleo
    Oct 24, 2016 at 12:40
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    The brick converts the wall supply to whatever the console it was sold with expects. You can use other bricks, as long as all the output specs match up (or in the case of current, as long as the brick can supply at least the current needed for the console) — but when you're dealing with AC, the specs include the frequency. I'd imagine the power units in the UK/US consoles are the same or very similar, but the whole console will be designed around a certain frequency, 50Hz in the UK and 60Hz in the US. I don't think you'd break anything, but you might not see anything on your TV.
    – Stephen Kitt
    Oct 24, 2016 at 12:57
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    It would be pretty uncommon for a "relatively modern" console like the NES to derive video frequency from the AC power frequency. So I wouldn't expect any problems basedon that. You will, however need an NTSC-compatible TV in case you want to use the RF output.
    – tofro
    Oct 24, 2016 at 15:22
  • The "TV", I have (although seeing a 10" screen sitting next to my "real tv" makes me think it should be called something different ;) )
    – Emanuele Ciurleo
    Oct 24, 2016 at 15:33

1 Answer 1

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It should work just fine -- the PPU times the rendering process based on the clock. The NES doesn't directly use the 9V AC from the power supply; the power supply circuit converts it to 5V DC with a rectifier and voltage regulator. I'm using a DC adapter with my NES without problems.

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