The eN64p STATUS: Finalizing case. Total cost: $134

[timmeh87]

Digikey has a few that provide up to 5a in the standard 3-lead TSOP package, but I'm not sure how feasible it'll be to use them. In my scenario, I've got plenty of room, but for everyone else... well, it's bigger than the pth08000 package just by itself, never mind the external capacitor and resistor required.

I'm pretty sure TSOP-3 is WAY smaller than a pth08000. Correct me if I'm wrong.

Are you sure you dont mean... SOT? SOT-220?

It sounds like you are thinking of a linear reg. On a 12 -> 3v conversion they are only 25% efficient and they heat up like the mother freaking sun.,

Also the N64 only needs 7.2v if it wasnt mentioned here somewhere.

[XCVG]

TSOP is Thin Small Outline Package, really small SSD. I think maybe he means TO-220, which is what 90% of 78XX and mid-high power transistors come in.

[robm]

Yes, a 78** package is what I had in mind. But, I'm not going to go that route, I'll stick with the PTH08000 series regulators. I'm still on hold for a charging protection circuit, but once that comes back in I'll be re-experimenting with wiring the system back up.

Come to think of it, I'll order that tonight.

[robm]

Ok, not a major update, but by popular demand:



A re-sanded case, sans black paint. I'll post once the z-button's all good to go.

[robm]

Hah! A tech update!

I've been working on the case almost exclusively, so I thought I'd hammer on some of the hardware. My last hang-up with the pth08000 is that as soon as I connected power to the circuit, there was a small, insignificant "snap," no power came out of the regulator, and the battery refused to charge. No good. Therefore, I shelved the regulator problem for a later date, which ended up being today.

I had ordered two new regulators, the pth08000 and the pth08080. The '8080 is a smaller package, and I think I like it better than the '8000 - while it requires the same amount of parts, it seems a bit simpler to implement. I bread-boarded the circuit today to make sure everything works as required, and sure enough, it works. I used four D-cell batteries to power the circuit, using a good-ole RadioCrack breadboard. This required zero effort on my part thanks to SkyOne's diagram, hosted on Bacteria's site.

I still have no idea why the original circuit did not work; I re-checked everything, and it was all hooked up as it should have been. I suppose I may never know.

The two chips seen on the left on the board have absolutely nothing to do with the eN64p, I swear. One's an atmega168, and the other is a quad comparator. I am NOT thinking of developing a debugging interface for the eN64p, linking through the LOB64 port.

Close-up of the regulator assembly:


Proof of proper voltage:

[jjhammerstein]

What is the rating on that regulator?

[robm]

Hmm, whatcha mean by rating?

It's pretty much the same thing as the PTH08000; same exact resistor and capacitor is used to provide the 3.3 (ish) output. It's missing a few pins over the PTH08000, but I don't think that affects our use.

[jjhammerstein]

How much resistance does that resistor resist?

[robm]

How many ohms could a resistor resist if a resistor could resist ohms...

22k resistor, I think. Could be wrong.

Tech update #2!

RED LIGHT OF LIFE...



Red D-cell of fail, also - powered this setup for all of two minutes. Please ignore the horrible jumper wire configuration. I couldn't find my good test leads.

[Skyone]

Should be 2.2k ohms, if that.

[robm]

LOL

Missed my period.

[thewise1]

Dude, my friend and I looked at the picture of your unpainted case and he immediately said it looks like a toilet seat.

[robm]

Hahahhahahaha!!


That's ok. There's an obscure compliment there, something about the smoothness of porcelain.

Or plastic, depending on the quality of your toilet seat.

[robm]

And that's a 1.8K resistor, btw.

[robm]

Ok, it looks like my N64 board may be fried. I powered up the screen and the N64 together this afternoon, and got no sound or video to the screen. The N64 powers up, the red light comes on, the center chip gets fairly warm (it's twin does not,) I see around a volt drop on both the 3v and 12v line, the screen's backlight shuts off for a second and then comes back on, and nothing seems to be happening. So, I've either got a fried board, or, I've hooked something up horribly wrong. I'm going to search through the N64 test sticky, see what I can find, and then post a "Help needed" thread if necessary. I've got an extra N64, so the project is far from dead, just set back a bit.