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Sega CD u/mode7mike ·

Why did the Sega CD come with a big metal plate?

I bought a Sega CD model 2 on eBay and it came with this flat metal sheet that the seller said goes under my Genesis. What is this actually for? The console seems to snap together and turn on fine without it.
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3 comments

  • u/crt_glow ·
    That's an RF (radio frequency) shield and grounding plate. Because the Genesis and Sega CD are two separate electronics devices talking over a fast expansion bus, they can generate a lot of electromagnetic interference. The FCC required Sega to include that plate to stop the consoles from messing with other electronics in your house like TVs and radios.
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  • u/floppy_five25 ·
    You technically can run the console without it, but it's highly recommended you put it on. Besides the RF shielding, it connects the ground planes of both consoles together over a large surface area instead of forcing all the ground current through the edge connector. This makes the system more stable.
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  • u/grey_cart ·
    There's also a tiny metal clip that comes with the plate which attaches the Genesis cartridge slot's shielding to the plate. If you leave all that off, some people get audio buzzing or random freezing because the expansion port connection isn't perfectly stable.
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