hammer64 (previously "My N64p")

hammertime94 · Post by **hammertime94** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:29 pm

Okay, planning on making a N64p.

I plan to use:
7.2V Camcorder Li-ion battery
N64 (Duh)
PSOne LCD (duh)
Vacuum-formed case
N64 controller (duh)
Tact switches for buttons
All three of Z,L,R
D-pad
Memory Card
Expansion Pack

Please excuse my poor paint skills (BTW, the case will be oval)

If anyone has suggestions for me, great.
I will give details on my progress when I start.

THON · Post by **THON** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 4:55 pm

I think you'd be better off making the case square like you have now...

Unless you want a lot of empty space.

Valium · Post by **Valium** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:41 pm

Oval, ugh. Rectangles are much better, like THON said.

Rectangle case with rounded edges, would look nice, and feel nice.

benol · Post by **benol** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 5:53 pm

Is this your first portable? Do you have any experience? Do you no how to solder? I sure don't! But do you? If no, try an NES, a SNES, or a plug-n-play system.

THON · Post by **THON** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 6:17 pm

Normally I wouldn't agree to that sort of thing, but I definitely do now. Unless you have a couple of years of electronics and soldering under your belt, I'd say don't attempt this massive project. Instead, I'd recommend something like the SNES as benol said, or a Genesis. This is an EXTREMELY hard system to work with, and it breaks VERY easily.

But, if your mind is set on it and you have some experience, I say go for it. After all, you'll never really finish a project like this unless you want to. Just beware of very very very very very tiny soldering. I'd recommend looking through Ben's making of story.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Sep 05, 2007 11:44 pm

Until I started by BigBoy Advance project, I had almost no experience with electronics or soldering for that matter. I used this project as a learning curve. It also gave me ideas of how to make a decent case and buttons (learning from mistakes basically!).

Yes, it makes sense to do a different mod before tackling the N64, however, the key is research. All soldering needs is a steady hand - I use a cheap pencil nibbed soldering iron (30w), a desoldering unit (which came with it as a "starter" pack) and desoldering braid.

Research all you can, look at the forum, and my WIP if you wish; learn what you can, then do the N64 project. All the information you need is on this forum to complete the project.

Good luck.

hammertime94 · Post by **hammertime94** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:12 am

I have some soldering experience and access to someone with 40+ years of electronics experience (my grandfather). Yes Benol, this is my first portable. My favorite way of learning is through trial and error because I can take more pride in the final result. I always love a challenge.

BTW, when i said oval i meant rounded edges.

Also, does anyone think that leaving out speakers will make it significantly lighter and smaller? I would never use them anyway that's what sixty dollar earbuds are for.

I found some mini dv camcorder batteries that are 7.2V (or 7.4?) 1600mAH they are really small and if I wire up 3 in parrallel that's about 2hrs 45mins, even if i wire up 4 in parrallel (for a whopping 6400mAH or about 3hrs 40mins) they might still be silightly lighter that those gigantic camcorder batteries.

I plan to get camcorder batteries because the are $1-5 on ebay.

Bacteria, I read Ben's making of several times and yours too before I decided that I would do it.

UPDATE: Rayovac supplies no information on those batteries on their website so I am now looking into NiMH.

jedi knight · Post by **jedi knight** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:19 am

Just be careful with those batteries. Make sure you have a protection circuit on them or your portable might turn into a flaming ball of doom.

hammertime94 · Post by **hammertime94** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 5:38 am

Thanks for the tip, I am still researching that I haven't decided which type of control circuit to use.

The batteries are Rayovac RV-4015

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 7:37 am

Issues with having batteries in parallel are (as far as I remember): 1) amperage - too much could damage your system, 2) the batteries will drain at slightly different amounts, it could happen that some of the batteries drain too much and then get damaged.

Various people have suggested using laptop batteries, they are farily light and usually have protection circuits. Don't bother with 1600mAH batteries.

Research, research, research!

codeman · Post by **codeman** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 8:33 am

bacteria wrote:Issues with having batteries in parallel are (as far as I remember): 1) amperage - too much could damage your system, 2) the batteries will drain at slightly different amounts, it could happen that some of the batteries drain too much and then get damaged.

Well, just to clarify things for you both...batteries in parallel would be a good idea for your application.
As far as too much amperage, batteries in parallel won't cause that. The system will only draw as much current as it needs, and another battery in parallel won't "force" more current into the system. The parallel batteries will just provide extra "reservoirs" of charge for your system, which is exactly what you want.
As far as getting damaged from different discharge rates...I think you're getting that mixed up with batteries in series. With batteries in parallel, they're all connected to the same node, so the voltage across the batteries will be exactly the same. This may cause a little bit of back charging on the batteries that start with a lower voltage, but it shouldn't be enough to damage the battery.
If you connect batteries in series to get a higher voltage, but the batteries have a different capacity, then you could cause damage. One of the batteries could discharge beyond it's limit, trying to "keep up" with the ones that have a higher overall capacity. Then it would be damaged, probably beyond repair.
Hope that helps

benol · Post by **benol** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 2:10 pm

bacteria wrote:Until I started by BigBoy Advance project, I had almost no experience with electronics or soldering for that matter. I used this project as a learning curve. It also gave me ideas of how to make a decent case and buttons (learning from mistakes basically!).

Yes, it makes sense to do a different mod before tackling the N64, however, the key is research. All soldering needs is a steady hand - I use a cheap pencil nibbed soldering iron (30w), a desoldering unit (which came with it as a "starter" pack) and desoldering braid.

Research all you can, look at the forum, and my WIP if you wish; learn what you can, then do the N64 project. All the information you need is on this forum to complete the project.

Good luck.

Ooh, steady hands? I guess when I decide to make a portable, I will need someone else to solder for me. I have shaky programmer hands. I have at least 200mg of caffeine on a daily basis.

Soulfeeder · Post by **Soulfeeder** » Thu Sep 06, 2007 9:54 pm

Milligram or Megagram?

xD

Codeman - So what your saying is if your portable ran off 2 AA batteries, (Magically) then you could add more batteries in series to get longer playing time?

Hammertime - Can't wait to see how your N64 portable comes out. It will probably look a whole lot better than my PS1p.

hammertime94 · Post by **hammertime94** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 4:49 am

Soulfeeder wrote:Milligram or Megagram?

xD

Codeman - So what your saying is if your portable ran off 2 AA batteries, (Magically) then you could add more batteries in series to get longer playing time?

Hammertime - Can't wait to see how your N64 portable comes out. It will probably look a whole lot better than my PS1p.

Only if I buy enough polystyrene for plenty of chances at the case.

codeman · Post by **codeman** » Fri Sep 07, 2007 10:19 am

Soulfeeder wrote: Codeman - So what your saying is if your portable ran off 2 AA batteries, (Magically) then you could add more batteries in series to get longer playing time?

No, if you put them in parallel you'd get a longer play time