Dreamcast Power supply

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 7:52 am

Ok as I posted I got a dreamcast, anyways I was looking over the thing with my dad. As far as he could see most of the board really wanted need for what I plan to do. Now as I know lil about electronics I'd just ask should I try to dupalicate the later half of the power supply where its already running on DC and split the voltages into 3.3, 5 and 12 or should I just buy the ATX mini power supply thats up on doomportables?

P.S. if anyone knows of a way for me to post pics without having a website I'd gladly show you what I'm talking about.

Post by **gannon** » Mon Jul 26, 2004 11:59 am

I think a miny atx power supply awould be your best bet. You'd probably pay just that much for the variety of dc-dc converters you would need.

Anyways, since the mini atx power supply runs off of 12V dc, it would work great for standard and portable use.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Tue Jul 27, 2004 9:22 pm

Well Gannon do you think it would be possible to just cut down the power supply and connect the battery directly to it?
The only reason I'm asking is I want to save as much as possible and learn more about any form of electroins.

I also would like to ask what happened to Poppe? Its like he's dropped off the face of the Earth.

cennar · Post by **cennar** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 12:07 pm

for the pictures go to photobucket.com
there new but there good

Post by **gannon** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 12:17 pm

well, he's still updating his modstore unless he has a few people working for him on it.
About the power supply: I doubt it. It's made to convert 120V ac like a normal atx power supply.
You might be able to find schematics for some dc-dc converters online and build your own, but I'm not sure how hard it would be.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 6:37 pm

What are the smallest DC-DC voltage converters you can get or would it be smaller to build one.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:08 pm

Actually I don't know if this will help but I was reading abbibi's notes on the Dreamcast and he said he replaced the power supply with a mini itx power supply and got the system to run off 12 volts. So do you need converters after the supply or will the one he shows be able to power the system after a battery. If that power supply will work you won't need so many batteries. Look under the dreamcast section to see what I'm talking about.

Post by **gannon** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 7:41 pm

gannon wrote:I think a miny atx power supply awould be your best bet. You'd probably pay just that much for the variety of dc-dc converters you would need.

Anyways, since the mini atx power supply runs off of 12V dc, it would work great for standard and portable use.

too slow link89 :p

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 8:11 pm

I know I thought you were saying that if you put that in you'll need a poer outlet to make it run. But could you just use a sony camcorder battery like ben has on some of his portables.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Thu Jul 29, 2004 11:03 pm

Only if the battery is rated at 12v. I'm going to give up on trying to make/cut down/canablize the Dreamcast power supply. When I get the chance I'm buying the ATX one shown on Doomportables. Then I'll look at getting one or two laptop batteries for it. As Gerbaralter Trade center (like a flea market) is having its computer show this weekend should I look there or just buy a battery from Radioshack?

Thanks for any help.

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Sun Aug 01, 2004 10:58 pm

Here what do you think of this battery for the Dreamcast. I think I'll probably use it if I make a dreamcast portable.
http://www.batteryspace.com/index.asp?P ... ProdID=869
It is a little expensive but look at the mAh. You'd need also need a charger I think they sell them on there. It's pretty small too.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 5:51 am

Holy crap! That has twice the battery life of the one I was looking at from radioshack and its accually cheaper. Damn that would be great if I could get something like that. Thans for the link Link89 that would be perfect for the Dreamcast.

Edit #1 - Well I have to note something I noticed. The ATX power supply I'm looking to buy has a narrow input of 11.8-12.4. Now I could use the batteries of laptops but is there a way to get the ATX to use a 14.4v or as low as 10.8v? I need this as 12v batteries of the size useful for the Dreamcast are few at best, as well expensive.

Post by **gannon** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 10:40 am

If you look around, many mini atx power supplies allow 11.1V

Link89 · Post by **Link89** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 11:14 am

Yea your welcome I just saw which one had the highest mAh. You'll have to look around for the charger though. Would that battery work on the playstation? The one on Doom Portables only takes 12v or did you find a different one then he shows you. If you can't find one you could also get a 12 volt converter before the battery.

Post by **gannon** » Mon Aug 02, 2004 12:15 pm

Here is one that uses a min. of 11.4V.
It's closer to what you need, but not quite close enough