Wire length and signal loss? For a more portable Virtual Boy

[slicerd]

I have been thinking about reworking my Virtual Boy so it is more portable and wearable. I was thinking about relocating most of the hard ware either into a controller or onto a belt pack. I have just taken apart a semi broken vitual boy and I think it might be possible but there are a large amount of wires that would have to be re routed around 40 or 70 depending on the configuration. I dont know a ton about electronics so I dont know how much signal loss there would be in the 2-3 foot length of wires i would be running. I would thing ribbon cable would be the most efficient way to run that many wires.

That was the long explaination basically im just wondering if i rewire all of this and run 3 feet of cable will it still work or not. I'm interested in any suggestions and experiences that you guys have to offer.

[SpongeBuell]

it hasn't really been tried, but I think it would work. The one thing to worry about is resistence in the wire, that's the biggest part that would cause a bad picture, but it's probably not enough to make a huge difference. Just give it a shot, I guess. Be prepared to possibly do a lot of wiring.

[slicerd]

The virtual boy is actually a really interesting machine. It uses persistence of vision display by quickly moving to mirrors back and forth. So there is no acutal screen just a row of red leds (really small red leds i might add) that are magnified and they displayed via the quickly moving mirrors. The rows of leds are attached to a board that is attached to the mother board via micro ribbon cables. The type that are used in laptops and such. I think this prohibits me from taking the mother board off of the head piece. Unfortunately the cartridge slot is attached to the mother board and I really wanted to move it too the controller/beltpack which i might do anyway if it would work.

I think it should be possible to move the sound/controller board, speakers, and controller ports off of the main machine. Ideally I would like too move the cartridge slot as well but this would requre me adding an additional 30+ wires and I dont know how well the signal would last getting back to the mother board.

So if anybody has bothered to read this far I still have the same questions about wiring and if anybody has ran 1+ foot of wire to something similar could you let me know. Also if there is any way to convert a 30 pin micro ribbon cable to a regular ribbon cable then back again without killing the signal it would be the ultimate soulution.

Thanks guys

[SpongeBuell]

I haven't run wire to it, but I know what you're talking about. I was in Disney World a while back and they had this thing that had a row of about 8 LED's. You spin the thing and it makes a message of your choice. Kinda cool.

[slicerd]

Yeah I've seen those too basically the same idea. I really dont need to know how to wire those they are gong to stay put becuase they are tiny I would break them in my clumsy hands. But I just dont want to relocate the cartride slot and then have it not work after hours of soldering. I'm figuring that not much voltage is passes through the lines and it might not work after 3 feet of cable. Also what kind of wire would you guys suggest I use for something like this. I have only done very basic stuff so far and have just used parts around the house. I deally I think a rounded computer ribbon cable would be nice. But I really dont know what would be good for this situation.

[xxxeagle]

Maybe if you put another battery on it will make it so you dont lose somuch signal by increasing the electricity (if it runs on batteries dont know too much about the virtualboy) that runs through the wire. Not sure cause I know nothing about the virtual boy really and I dont know if it runs on batterys.

[G-force]

I saw a cell phone that had a row of LEDs on the back and you wave it in the air and it will make a temporary message in the air

[gannon]

/|\ Just hope that the person waving it isn't a butterfingers

[HK-47]

Whoops... *bonk!*
Ow my head!

Also this is another example of what your talking about, couresty of ladyada.
http://web.media.mit.edu/~ladyada/make/ ... index.html

[···Agent EQzE···]

The virtual boy is actually a really interesting machine. It uses persistence of vision display by quickly moving to mirrors back and forth. So there is no acutal screen just a row of red leds (really small red leds i might add) that are magnified and they displayed via the quickly moving mirrors.

Hah! Seriously? That's the same technology used in the AdventureVision, 1982:

http://www.adventurevision.com/

Didn't know that's how the Virtual Boy worked, though it would explain why they used red LEDs for a low-cost screen. In general, if you consider how the mirror and such works, you can't slim it down much. Is there a possibility you could adapt the video circuitry to a real screen? Of course, it would require extra circuitry, even an FPGA to get it to work... wishful thinking, anyway. It would certainly make it more portable, though.

Reminds me of something I thought about a while back, converting the vector monitor of the Vectrex to a static TV output. Using an FPGA, it would take the signals for controlling the x and y of the yoke, and "draw" it on its internal memory, possibly even complete with phosphor effects. Main problem being that you'd have to draw it sideways to get the aspect ratio right, delay times of the vector screen vs. the FPGA, the best resolution for the fake screen, and when all's over and done with, it likely wouldn't work with the 3D glasses.

and no, i don't actually know how to use fpgas. i just have too much thinking time on my hands

[goodie]

But I just dont want to relocate the cartride slot and then have it not work after hours of soldering.

The cartridge slot on any other system can be relocated using wires without signal loss. I don't see why the Virtual Boy would be any different.

[Nes Man]

The Atari Cosmos used the same Led idea too... Exept to make "holographic" pictures.

[SgtBowhack]

If you're worried about signal loss, as SpongeBuell said, the trick is to avoid resistance. This can be done by using slightly thicker cables.

[SpongeBuell]

If you're worried about signal loss, as SpongeBuell said, the trick is to avoid resistance. This can be done by using slightly thicker cables.

yup, and shorter ones.

as I learned in Physics,