2 questions

dimefan90 · Post by **dimefan90** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 3:28 pm

i live in australia and i want to portablize my radica. i am having trouble finding a screen to use. i only want to spend about $15 and ebay has nothing. can someone from australia tell me where to find screens.

also, my digital camera has a yellow video out, does this mean i can use its screen.

collinE · Post by **collinE** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 4:42 pm

it needs to have a video "in" not video "out."

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 6:30 pm

You need to pay more for a screen than $15.

Best option might be for a portable DVD player which doesn't work but the screen works (eg "spares" or "faulty DVD") and has composite input (AV input).

palmertech · Post by **palmertech** » Wed Oct 29, 2008 10:37 pm

You are looking at at least $100 to make a portable radica. Get more money first. What if you mess up? Then you have no money, AND no portable.

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 3:25 am

Indeed, this is not a cheap hobby!

SonyPortableizer · Post by **SonyPortableizer** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:07 am

Bacteria, you could say that again

dimefan90 · Post by **dimefan90** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:31 am

where does the $100 go to. i have the radica, all i need is the screen...... right?

i can build a case out of Tupperware if i have to.

is there somewhere like jaycar or tandy i can get screens from those little pocket tv's, i only want as much as a 3" screen. surely there is somewhere that sells these, how else could you repair them....

SonyPortableizer · Post by **SonyPortableizer** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:34 am

The 100 goes to parts, screen, radica, parts, messups-Ruining the screen/radica, and the case

SonyPortableizer · Post by **SonyPortableizer** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:34 am

The 100 goes to parts, screen, radica, parts, messups-Ruining the screen/radica, and the case

bacteria · Post by **bacteria** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 5:44 am

You will pay probably something like $30 - $80 on a screen, depending on the size you get and where from and luck on e-bay: unless you go for AA batteries which won't last long, you will probably pay around $40 - $70 on a couple of Li-ions and a charger; you then need odds and sods like controllers to butcher for the d-pad and buttons, etc; wiring, glue, case material, finishing, solder, desolder braid, hot glue; and that assumes you have the tools in the first place (Dremel and bits, sanding blocks, hot glue gun, soldering iron, craft knives, Stanley knife, etc, etc).

I got a number of components cheaply for my Mini project; in essence what you are trying to do, only my system can take whatever plug'n'plays you want it to; cost (as I recall) about Â£80 or so (about $150), which is cheap; it can easily cost over Â£100 to make a portable, and that is based on getting a console dead cheap (like a SNES and controllers for Â£5 for example).

People often come to this site and expect to make something dead cheap, as commercial electronics is cheap these days, so the reasoning is that this hobby is cheap - it isn't because you take one system apart for a screen, a console apart, buy expensive batteries, various controllers, etc - all adds up! However, if you look at it in a different way - if you buy a games console when it gets released you will be paying more outlay than ifn you leave it for 5 years when the console is unpopular and people are giving them away and make it into a portable!

dimefan90 · Post by **dimefan90** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:00 am

right now i have, radica console, materials to make case, batteries and charger, tools eg soldering iron, solder etc. the screen is the only thing i will have to actually buy, every thing else i already have on hand or can cannibalize from various sources. which is the only reason i got the idea in the first place,

i dont want to spend much money because i have a gameboy addiction to keep up. and i needed something to do in between purchases. if i am unable to get a screen at a low price i will just have to sell the radica. as making a portable is the only reason im keeping it. (i have a genesis already)

because phone and ds/psp/gba lcd screens are so easy to come by i just had the idea that it would be a simple job to find one that i can use. on ebay in my area a suitable screen rarely comes up and the only ones that do are 7" which isnt exactly portable in my mind.

Post by **bicostp** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 6:49 am

dimefan90 wrote:because phone and ds/psp/gba lcd screens are so easy to come by i just had the idea that it would be a simple job to find one that i can use.

Nope.

You can't use screens that aren't designed to take an analog composite video signal. In order to use those screens, you need to build a driver board to decode the signal into something the screen understands, which hasn't been done yet. By the time you have the decoder and screen, you'll have spent more than the price of an equivalent, usable screen.

Look for Intec and Hip Gear screenpad controllers. (They have smallish screens attached. Not very good for anything newer than PSX, but they're fine for the Genesis.) You should be able to find one fairly cheap.

dimefan90 · Post by **dimefan90** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:51 am

"You can't use screens that aren't designed to take an analog composite video signal."

i already knew this. i meant that since the ds/psp screens are easy to get. i thought that the analogue composite ones were as well.

palmertech · Post by **palmertech** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:21 pm

The screens that take composite are also unusable.

See, the DS and PSP use a digital interface. ALL lcds use a digital interface. The tricky part is getting a decoder that will turn a normal composite signal into the special digital signal for the LCD.

What are you planning on using for batteries? Alkaline AAs?

dimefan90 · Post by **dimefan90** » Thu Oct 30, 2008 7:47 pm

ive got some nimh rechargeables