Namco Portable Progress Thread

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nightwheel
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Namco Portable Progress Thread

Post by nightwheel » Fri Jul 27, 2007 10:08 pm

This will be my first attempt at making a portable. And As the name says. Im bulding a namco portable. Im bulding it out of a Namco Plug"n"play. So this is how far im so far. Starting on disasembly of the namco. I got most of things I will need to make this thing. One of the thing I realy need is screen. If you got any lieing around. PM me please. I would like to get the screen for free IF possable or at least reasonablely priced. Free or not I want the screen to work please. Here is some progress pics(56k warning):

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/ ... uts2-1.png

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/ ... oguts1.png

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/ ... oguts3.png

http://i156.photobucket.com/albums/t29/ ... 93mini.png
Last edited by nightwheel on Wed Nov 28, 2007 11:53 am, edited 1 time in total.

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Post by arfink » Sun Aug 19, 2007 12:42 pm

Well, two things really. First, ebay has PSOne screens for about as cheap as you will ever find them, and second, please link somewhat smaller pictures in future. I know, with broadband the loading times aren't horrifyingly long, but the pictures don't need to be so huge. Even better, you could link the thumbnails to bigger pictures, so that people who still want to see little details can do so.

Aside from that, good work and good luck! This looks like a perfectly doable project, and I hope you can finish well!
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Post by bicostp » Sun Aug 19, 2007 5:32 pm

Don't use PNG for large photos, that just makes them too big. Here are JPEG versions, all under 100k each.

<img src="http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/9089/0highqy3.jpg">
<img src="http://img340.imageshack.us/img340/4208/1highlb9.jpg">
<img src="http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/2104/2highdy8.jpg">
<img src="http://img264.imageshack.us/img264/8691/3highxd7.jpg">

You want someone here to give you a screen? :lol: Get some sort of pocket TV or a screenpad, they're relatively cheap and are more than enough for what you want.

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Post by nightwheel » Sat Nov 10, 2007 7:31 pm

Before I say anything else. The Namco Portable project is NOT DEAD.

I had little money so i picked this up this up for $3 at a local Dollar General today.

Image

Thought it was a good price for a set of speakers.
Yes, I know im going to need more than that to make my portable. I'm going to need a screen, rechargeable batteries, power regulators, and tact switches.

I've drawn up a few ideas for the namco. One themed after a Atari Lynx. And one themed after a GBO. Here are the ideas:

Image Image

I'm thinking about what to make the case out of. Plastic, wood, or a combination of the two?
Last edited by nightwheel on Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:14 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Image

Who knows if the Namco Portable will ever become a reality? :P

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Post by bacteria » Mon Nov 12, 2007 5:07 pm

This is a nice easy project which will be fun to make. I have a couple of these for sale at the moment as I found a plug 'n' play with 128 games which include the 5 in the Namco plus lots of other nice ones.

Speaker will be nice, I have several of these 50mm speakers; sound quality in portables is excellent.

As for the case, I suggest using 2mm or 3mm perspex for the front, wood (pine?) for the sides and reinforce the right angle between the two with right angled triangles cut from mounting board and hot glued in place. I did this on my Nintendo 64 Advance project to great effect; and adopting this method too with my latest project. If you want to see more, look in the sticky in the N64 forum for my N64 project.

Only items you probably need for this project is:

Screen
Controller (eg NES controller buttons and D-pad)
Wires
Perspex
Wood edging
hot glue, solder, dremel, scissors, craft knife, etc
batteries or mains power with 5v regulator - or better still, for example, a set of 6 AA's for the screen (eg PSone screen) of which 4 of these also feed the games system.

Another way to get 5v is to tap off the 7805 if you are using a PSone screen.
Image

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Post by nightwheel » Wed Nov 28, 2007 1:00 am

(Sorry that i have't replyed to this sooner)
Thanks for the tips bacteria. And im honored that you sugest i use your case idea. Which because there are arcade games in the system. To keep a arcadey feel to the portable i might just use your idea. But add my own litte flare to it. As for the screen I'm hoping to use something under 3 inches, 4 inches tops. I'll also probley power the system off of AA's. But the downside is that it would eat the AA for lunch. But Black&Decker has a new type of battery for their cordless tools that I've got my eye on too. And they made to where i can hack it easly too.

Thanks again bacteria :D
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Who knows if the Namco Portable will ever become a reality? :P

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Post by nightwheel » Sat Aug 09, 2008 1:45 am

Holy Cow! My last post in this topic was in November of last year.

Anyways, In light of the Portable Palooza. I'm going to try my hardest to get the Namco finished and entered for the Build off.

I got some surprises I hope to do up my sleeve for this project. But I have to get what I what I want first. So don't expect them. "I don't want to cash a Check that my tush can't Bounce" if you get what I mean.

I do how ever got a surprise that will for sure be Happening. The Namco will be sharing space with another Plug 'n' Play. A "Konami Arcade Advance" Plug 'n' Play. I got the Konami Plug 'n' Play for free a few weeks back, And it works. Now I'll be able to have Ms. Pac man and Frogger for on the go in one system!

I'm not going to be able to do much on the Namco at the moment. I still lack some things I need. But I'll try to get something done. Maybe I'll do a case Mockup so I can can get a idea for a Look and Feel for the case. And maybe try to wire some Audio. But don't worry, I'll try my absolute best to get it done before Aug 30.

Also, here's some pics of the Namco's Current condition. And it been this way since either September or November, I can't remember which. But anyways, Here's the pics:
Image

Image

And here's the Konami's current nearly gutted state:
Image

Image

Image

Keep check here guys for more info on this portable. Things are about to start heating up.
Image

Who knows if the Namco Portable will ever become a reality? :P

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Post by bacteria » Sat Aug 09, 2008 8:40 am

No familiar with the Konami plug'n'play; got quite a few others. What does that one look like (before ripped apart) and what games does it play??
Image

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Post by lovablechevy » Sat Aug 09, 2008 9:48 am

here you go, bacteria.

Image

frogger, rush 'n' attack, gyruss, time pilot, scramble and yie ar kung fu are the games on it.
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Post by bacteria » Sat Aug 09, 2008 2:40 pm

Never seen this one and can't see one on e-bay either. I have quite a few of these systems, not that one.

If you have a spare one of the one in the pic, I don't care about its cosmetic condition as long as it works (it will be butchered anyway for the internal boards), please PM me as I might be interested in getting one (as long as it is cheap!). :wink:
Image

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Post by nightwheel » Sat Aug 09, 2008 4:17 pm

Sorry, I don't have a spare one.

It's the only one I have.
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Who knows if the Namco Portable will ever become a reality? :P

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Post by nightwheel » Sun Aug 10, 2008 12:55 pm

Just a little update.

I may of just snagged a free all important IDE cable. Still need to get some things. But at least I may have got something I need.
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Who knows if the Namco Portable will ever become a reality? :P

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Re: Namco Portable Progress Thread

Post by nightwheel » Mon Aug 17, 2009 8:35 pm

I have no excuse to not finish the Namco Portable now.

As I have just acquired this lovely screen:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... 0339876651" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Folks, things are about to heat up around here. And solder will be flowing soon.
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Who knows if the Namco Portable will ever become a reality? :P

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Re: Namco Portable Progress Thread

Post by nightwheel » Sat Aug 22, 2009 4:03 pm

I tested the Namco's mobo last night to see if it still works after 3 years. Apart from a fixable video issue. It seem that the Namco is ok.

So now all i need is my screen to come in
Image

Who knows if the Namco Portable will ever become a reality? :P

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Re: Namco Portable Progress Thread

Post by kylechu » Sat Aug 22, 2009 6:53 pm

What's the fixable video issue? My namco only outputs black and white now, but only on certain screens. If you are having this issue, how can I fix it?
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