Portable-Palooza (voting thread opened!)

mothatrucka · Post by **mothatrucka** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 2:09 pm

Wow. And all you guys think I'm an ass for never dropping anything.

Post by **Skyone** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 3:08 pm

Let's get the hell back on track; everyone. If this problem persists, the topic will be locked, and another will be open for entries ONLY, no discussion.

</nazi>

dragonball345 · Post by **dragonball345** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 5:23 pm

could we not make a topic only for entries anyways everyone gets only 1 post and it can have whatever they want in it but only one post per member hopefully each with a portable.

hailrazer · Post by **hailrazer** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 6:17 pm

Ok I have made some progress with my entry.

I have my Zenith screen in and Cemented/Epoxied/Sanded.
I have my cart slot relocated.
I have all my parts in but the controller I need.

Waiting on the controller so I can Abs Cement those parts in.

While I wait I'm going to start getting rid of all the extra controller ports/Av connector/power connector/etc. Was waiting for my desolder tip to come in , but it was delayed so I will be using de-solder braid

I hope I can finish in 2 weeks

lovablechevy · Post by **lovablechevy** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 7:01 pm

dang it... i just realized they sent me the wrong charger... 14.4v instead of 11.1v. good thing the rules don't state you need to have the charger!

just means i better get it working quickly once i hook up the batteries!

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:08 pm

spent all day fixing the ceiling fan my roommate broke.....doh

ShockSlayer · Post by **ShockSlayer** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 9:28 pm

Skyone wrote:Let's get the hell back on track; everyone. If this problem persists, the topic will be locked, and another will be open for entries ONLY, no discussion.

</nazi>

After reading that, I wondered: When the heck did we ever have a track?

Yee. Looks like there are only 11 days left?

SS

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Wed Aug 20, 2008 11:49 pm

anotherperson wrote:Does my 2006 era N64 qualify? Just layed down the first coat of paint for the back half (seriously needs a wet sanding, I used cheap paint):

Looks Slick!

Rekarp · Post by **Rekarp** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 1:31 am

http://www.longhornengineer.com/Projects/DuopV1#layout

Got some progress to report on. It will be exactly the same size as my SNES V2. Fancy that!

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 1:59 am

Think the issue with the voltages are resolved - I was concerned that 8.4v would fry some of the plug'n'play boards, so experimented with diodes.

Having three diodes reduces the voltage to a safe level! As the voltage of the batteries fall to 7v (about the minimum voltage the PSone screen works at) the voltage from the other end of the diodes will also drop, so did a test:

Batteries 8.4v, via the diodes 7.29v
Batteries 7.3v, via the diodes 6.06v

I added a fourth diode to see the result - 6.8v and 5.6v respectively: 5.6v might be a bit low for the plug'n'plays as they NEED 6v. As I recall, I ran plug'n'plays at 7.4v fine before, so 7.29v should be fine as the upper end for the plug'n'play boards.

No idea if this is good practice or not, but it works! Thought I would share this with you in case it helps on your projects too. I will of course seal the diodes inside shrink tubing.

This in effect gives me two voltages, one (higher) for the PSone screen and the other (lower) for the plug'n'play boards. I thought this was an interesting solution!

I doubt this would be useful for replacing a step-down regulator as the voltage drops as the battery loses voltage rather than providing a steady voltage throughout, however if your application has some margin of error (as per plug'n'plays seem to have) then I don't see why this method isn't a good idea.

I will be testing out the batteries soon, and will post back the results later today sometime.

Post by **Skyone** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:28 am

@bacteria: For some reason I doubt those diodes are going to handle your load.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 2:57 am

Skyone wrote:@bacteria: For some reason I doubt those diodes are going to handle your load.

No idea, will try it though. Just did a test with my multimeter on one of my other plug'n'plays - a Namco one; only seems to need 150mA.

Decided to go for broke - will wire the power up in final form and then test system for the first time. Advantages and disadvantages in this method!

Anyway, here is the rear of the system as it stands at the moment. Need to do soldering to the various power connectors, then rig up a hacked GB cart and then test everything. Back later!

There will be a cover made for the battery compartment which acts as a lid; this will keep the batteries firmly in place and also be kept in place itself by the game cart on top (when I make them). This means I won't need screws to secure the battery compartment in place.

Post by **Skyone** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 3:16 am

Exactly.

V * I = P
7v * .150A = 1.05W

Are your Zener diodes rated to at least above 1W? They're gonna need to exceed 1W for anything higher than 150mA.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:51 am

anotherperson & Skyone - no idea what these diodes I am using are rated at; I just tried them and they worked. Are the ones you refer to the thicker black ones?

Post by **Skyone** » Thu Aug 21, 2008 4:56 am

Out of curiosity, how warm do the diodes get?