Who wants to be an Atarionaire: Atari 2600 4-switch portable

[Muniosi]

EDIT: Anyone know which Atari that takes 2600 cartridges can be cut the smallest?
EDIT 2: Would this make a good battery for an Atari 2600?
EDIT 3: Anyone know how Ben makes his Atari 2600 cartridge slots?

I'm starting an Atari 2600 portable using a "Who wants to be a millionaire"(heretofore referred to as WWtbaM) case. All I've got now is the case (and the batteries, but I'm running it off AA's). I haven't found a place to get the Atari, but I'm gonna try Freecycle. The screen (on the WWtbaM) is 3 inches, so I'll probably get a screen to match the case. Please know that I am just getting started at modding, so any help/comments would be greatly appreciated!

Picture of WWtbaM:

[Life of Brian]

Yes, anything over 5v will fry it. A regulator is just used to make absolutely sure your power is 5v.

[Muniosi]

So, would 3 AA's be enough? Or would it have to be exactly 5 volts?

[Life of Brian]

Maybe for a short while if at all? Here's how it's usually done - you get some power supply (batteries or power adapter) that provides over 5v and use a regulator to step the voltage down to 5v. Most people use what came with the system - for NES, SNES, Atari, and most other systems that is a 7805 linear regulator. It requires something like 7v to 35v input and steps the voltage down to 5v as its output. Advantage is that it is cheap, easy to use, and no extra parts. Downside is that it isn't very efficient compared to something like a switching regulator.

Once you get your Atari, it is going to have something that looks like this on the board:


It will say 7805 on it. That is what I recommend you use. If space is an issue (such as you only have room for three or four AAs) then let's discuss other options.

[Muniosi]

Mmm... yeah. Space is an issue. I only have room for 3 AA's, but I might be able to make room for 4. It would be hard, though.

[Muniosi]

Bump for question. See OP.

[Life of Brian]

I suggest getting one of these: http://focus.ti.com/docs/prod/folders/p ... 4050c.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

You can either go the legit way and buy one from someplace like DigiKey.com or Mouser.com, or take the quick and easy way and just order a free sample from TI.

Pretty much all you need to know about it is in this datasheet PDF file: http://focus.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/ptn04050c.pdf" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[cennar]

I Like when people use these for cases. Find some thing with a good shape and Scoop out the innards!

[Muniosi]

I Like when people use these for cases. Find some thing with a good shape and Scoop out the innards!

Thanks!

[Muniosi]

Bump for question. See EDIT 2 in OP.

[Muniosi]

Bump.

[Muniosi]

Bump for question in original post.

[retrodelee]

I used these:

http://shop.ebay.com/i.html?_from=R40&_ ... kw=ul-f550
and also the original Sony batteries:
NP-F330

Not too expensive and you can play for a long time.

These are 7.2v. I think the Ultralast is only 1850mAh
I have no idea about the sony one.

But like mentioned earlier... have it hooked to something or you will fry your system