Unicycler17's GCP worklog FINISHED

[unicycler17]

BLUE! I'm just using momentary switches for all the buttons due to my lack of skills. And the two button holes at the bottom of the case are for the eject button and for the start button.

And yes. That is the box from a Nerf gun. Nerf is awesome.

[unicycler17]

meh...

[unicycler17]

Could I use this battery?
http://cgi.ebay.com/Lightning-Power-11- ... 3cb5a57e6f" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If so would I just use the universal 11.1v li ion smart charger from batteryspace?

Oh and my wiikey fusion clone still hasn't come

EDIT: order was cancelled apparently, and I was refunded the 30 bucks. I think I'll just order up the official Wiikey fusion from foundmy.

Another option is to use the disc drive, mounted on the back, with hailrazer's extension method....
I think that might be easier especially since my soldering skills aren't very good. And since the ZN-45 is such a bulky case, and the way the project looks so far, I almost feel like it would be a waste of effort to put in the tiny little wiikey. But if I use the dd, I'd have to worry about it breaking all the time. Meh..... idk

Comments? Suggestions?

[hailrazer]

That battery will work. But it's huge and the portable would last only about an hour.

[unicycler17]

I read Technott's post about exploding Lipo's..... I don't think I want to take the risk with them. So i'll probably go with Nimh batteries, or the li-ions in your (hailrazer's) guide.

Getting a good capacity with 12v nimh's would probably take up a ton of space... but Im scared of lithiums now hahaha.... I guess I'll just wait and see.

[hailrazer]

The batteries in my guide are li-po's.

I've used over 30 of them in the past 5 years with no problems ever. With some care they are perfectly safe.

Li-po's are in a ton of retail items sold in the last 5 years.

[unicycler17]

The batteries in my guide are li-po's.

I've used over 30 of them in the past 5 years with no problems ever. With some care they are perfectly safe.

Li-po's are in a ton of retail items sold in the last 5 years.

ooh I think I'll just go with Nimh's cause they're cheaper and I'm a noob.

[unicycler17]

I ordered
a multimeter (didn't have one before )
50 tact switches (thanks for the link, MrAfterFX. I don't know why I bought them. I might need them eventually.)
Official Wiikey Fusion (Using Hackmodford's Link)
2 noobtacutlar nimh 12v 1300mah battery packs ( only 15 bucks tho)
A nimh smart charger

My soldering iron tip is totally ruined, because I never tinned it or used a sponge. I can't find any of the right tips for it, and ordering a new tip would cost around 10 bucks. Since I can buy a radioshack iron for that price, I think I'll just do that.

[Snow_Cat]

Have you tried using pot-polish or sandpaper on the tip then heating it up and tinning it?

[unicycler17]

I sanded it down, then used it a little, but it became so oxidized that solder wouldn't even adhere to it. But after your suggestion, I figured I might as well try again, so I put the tip in a drill, and sanded it to a better point and copper all around. I just tinned it. Hopefully it'll work this time.

EDIT: Seems to be working... hopefully it will continue to do so. It's not a very pointed tip though, so I might buy a pointier-tipped iron anyway.

[unicycler17]

I recieved my new memory card, and successfully hardwired it

I wired up a controller to all the buttons :cry4: the y button wouldn't work, and the c-stick was mapping incorrectly. If I replaced the momentary switch for the y button, and put a different joystick in there, I'm sure I could get it to work, but idk if I want to. The zn-45 is a big, uncomfortable case. and....

For the love of god, spend some extra time and use proper buttons. The controls are the most important part of the portable- they are the part you actually interface with. Radioshack buttons are beyond terrible. The rest of the portable looks okay, don't ruin it like this.

I think I'll make a new case, portrait style, and just frankencase the front of a controller in, so that I can just use the original buttons.

[unicycler17]

Haven't really been keeping up with the worklog on this site. Not much has happenned though, except me fail to wire up the wiikey.

Heres a crappy webcam pic of my primed case front. Gonna do a tab bit more sanding, then make it blue. I'm using a nintendo controller on the left, and a buttons from a mini wireless madcatz pad on the right.



Edit: look at it

[adamjohnny5]

Looking pretty good, dude. i'm working on a portable NES right now, and then i'm gonna try to do an SNES portable for my best bud's birthday. A portable GameCube would be Ballin' for my girlfriend. i like looking at what you guys are doing so when i start mine i can learn from others mistakes and get ideas. gonna start a work-log for my NES portable today.

[unicycler17]

Looking pretty good, dude. i'm working on a portable NES right now, and then i'm gonna try to do an SNES portable for my best bud's birthday. A portable GameCube would be Ballin' for my girlfriend. i like looking at what you guys are doing so when i start mine i can learn from others mistakes and get ideas. gonna start a work-log for my NES portable today.

Thanks! And good luck with your projects, I'll be sure to take a look at them.

[unicycler17]

I'm really pleased with the front of the case. Not so happy with the back, but I didn't put any effort into it. The disc cover is just a round tupperware peice that I shrunk down, painted, glued the gamecube piece too, and velcro'd onto the drive.

I did all the casework on the back with the drive inside so I really hope it still actually works. But Tchay says it's easy to replace lens' to fix drive errors. I hope I wont need to though.

For the left controls, I will just screw the official controller directly to the epoxied in shell piece, and have wires running from the rest of the board to the other side.