Screen/Controll/Battery module

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 9:04 am

I wasn'y sure where to put this since it dosn't really belong in any particular forum, but F42 already has eough crap in it, so I put it in the lonely PS1 forum.

My idea is this: I found that through hacking and rewiring, every system up to Dreamcast, can fit inside a 7"x5" project box. So why not have another 7"x5" box that has the screen, controlls, and battery for each system, that velcros on top of the box with the system in it?
Sure, it would have to have enough controlls for every system in it (6 buttoms on the right, 2 analog sticks, D-pad, start and select) but it would work.

This would save me from having to buy a screen, battery pack, and controlls for every new portable I want to make. All I would have to do is put the system in a project box with a plug to connect it to the top box and it's done!

This is actually a lot more complex than it sounds but it's a real cool idea. I'll elaborate on it later, I have class in a few minutes....

Post by **Sparkfist** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:51 am

So what a one size fits all for the 8-32bit systems? Its an iteresting idea.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:29 pm

Sounds interesting, I'll have to take that into consideration.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 4:56 pm

Sparkfist wrote:So what a one size fits all for the 8-32bit systems? Its an iteresting idea.

Yeah

And they would all run off 6 AA's too.

Here are all the systems I can think of that would work:
NES (NOAC version)
Genesis (Radica)
PS1
N64 (The board size would have to be hacked)
SNES (mini version)
C64 (not completely sure about this, but pretty sure)
Atari 2600
Annnnddd, that's all I can think of. Any I missed?

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 5:33 pm

It'd also be cool because if you used composit out on the 7x5 system boxes, you could use them as normal consoles when wanting to play on the big screen, and simultaneously use the 7x5 screen for another 7x5 system.

EDIT - "C64" is this a hint?

EDIT EDIT - And do you mean the 7x5x3 box? Seems kinda thick to have two of those things stacked, thinking about it, I think I'd wanna find a 9x5 box for the screen, and use a 7x5 for the system. Then, assemble them like a '+' sign, allowing the places where you put you hands to be only 3" thick.
I'll make a sketch in Paint in a few minutes of my idea.

Post by **Sparkfist** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:04 pm

C64 DTV will (dispit what the instructions say) run on rechargeable batties but only needs 5v so 4 is fine.

As for the dementions, yes 3 inches thick is a lot. Dont you think 2 is enough, after all 3 out of 7 (about half) are on chips and so like the Atari about 4x4 or less.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 6:16 pm

The parts where you put the hands are only 3" compared to 6", plus I like the +-sign look.

and for the screen area, its probably have to be 3" thick, to fit all the chips and wire that work for each controller (NES, SNES, N64, PS1, Genesis, C64[?]) thats a 6-in-one controller, each needing a chip (SNES needing two), some of them could probably be put on one board, individually wired between the switches and the plug. But, the N64 and PS1 seem to need their own boards, since they have those retarded surface mount chips that cant be desoldered.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 9:57 pm

Sadly I'm not making a C64p. I've never even played it before

, I was just saying it could be done.

That's a good idea, but what I the idea I had was to have the controller for each system in with the system box, not the screen box.
As for height, I am definetly going to cut down the height of the box. The thickest the total height of the two boxes together would be is 2". I'm going for as small I can get it.

Here's a concept I drew in paint, it kind of explains what I want to do. (Side view)

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Thu Mar 24, 2005 10:14 pm

Aha! the control board in the system box, yes, thatd make it much easier. I was thinking of just making one that was campatible between NES, SNES, Genesis, and maybe Atari or something, which would really cut down on the wiring of the PS1/N64 analog crap. Probably starting out with just a NES & SNES controll thing, I'd add the Genesis C-button in time, and later an Atari paddle if I were to feel like doing it.

And I was going to use a PSone screen, it's all about big screens.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:29 am

Sadly, the PSone screen won't fit in a 7"x5" box, as the board for it is too large. So I have to go with a Hip Gear screen, which works great! (for single-player

)

I'm not sure if I should just have the original N64 stick and no PS1 sticks, or try and get the PS1 sticks to work for N64 (I haven't had any luck with that so far) What do you think?

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 11:59 am

I just thought of something, all the listed systems above use 5V or less, so why not just use 4AA's (6V) instead of 6AA's (7.2V)? I wouldn't be losing any amperage.
For systems that use a lot of power (like N64) I could have two packs of 4AA's in parallel and double the battery life.

Any reason why this wouldn't work?

Post by **gannon** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 12:50 pm

for one thing, 4 rechargable AAs would be 4.8V, not 6V. All you need is a ldo and 5 rechargables otherwise I suppose.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 3:21 pm

My Ni-Mh AA battery measure 1.46 V, so it should work. I may need one more AA if the voltage drops when the system turns on.

soundwave · Post by **soundwave** » Fri Mar 25, 2005 8:42 pm

I was considering making custom cases for the individual parts, its too annoying to find correctly sized boxes, the upper area would have a circular shape for the round PSone board, and a rectangular lower portion for the controls and speakers. The whole thing would take three or for 7.2v 3000mah ni-mh RC-car batteries wired in parallel.

As for connecting the screen with the system, I thought it'd be really cool to use an N64 cart slot and the lower area of an n64 cartridge., so many people fry their N64s while trying to make portables that there are a million and one unused cart slots out there.

G-force · Post by **G-force** » Mon Mar 28, 2005 3:38 pm

N64 cart plugs wouldn't be too great, you would have to cut up a N64 cart for each system you wanted to have. And the connector is kinda big. Also somebody could plug the system in backwards and possibly fry the whole thing. I'm just gonna use some connectors from radio shack, they only plug in one way and they are small.

What I'm trying to decide right now is what to use for the controlls. I was thinking of a hacked NES D-pad and 3 rows of NES B&A buttons. Or maybe SNES buttons and tac switches. Any ideas?