Stella: Atari FB2 Pocket-Sized Portable

[Mario]

Those look alright. I'll make the diagram when I have some time. (Read: when I feel like it. But I will soon.)

I'll let these pictures speak for themselves!





















So, it's basically completed. Everything works except the cartridge slot and the A/V out. With the slot, it's probably just a short; it's happened many times. For the A/V out, the FB2 doesn't want to share the video signal and the outputted video is a rolling picture. I think the screen's chip has a video out signal, though, so I'll tap into that.

One more thing, too. I tried my hardest to make a second battery fit, but the case wouldn't close. So, it has only one 600mAh battery, giving about 1.2 hours if the audio is on all the time at full volume. If the sound is off, it should last around 2.5 hours.

[Donalbain619]

[marshallh]

Very nice job on that. It's clear you put a lot of time into the parts placement.

[Mario]

Thank you very much! That was the hardest part, making sure nothing got in the way of anything else.

I got the cartridge slot to work and fixed the video out issue. I added a lever switch in the cartridge slot, and the switch that used to switch from the built-in games to the cartridge now controls whether the video signal goes to the screen or a TV.

Also, the battery life appears to be right around 2 hours with the sound all the way down. Pretty good in my opinion.



I will take nice pictures and a video tomorrow!

[Mario]

Alright, I think this portable is officially completed. I added a low-battery indicator based on daftmike's:
http://forums.modretro.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=255" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
(the second revision)
I redesigned it so that it only needs two transistors, but does not have a green LED, just turns on a red one when the battery is low. Here is the circuit I built:




I also added a jack for an external battery pack/power source. It still cannot charge while playing, however, because the battery is only hooked to the charge port when the power switch is in the off position.


Here is the low-battery indicator in the case:


External battery port:


I did not drill a hole for the LED but instead stuck it under the screen, behind the plastic. When it lights up, it shines through the paint.


Just to prove the cartridge works:


External power supply plugged in: (the case isn't closed in this picture)


I will be posting a "finished" thread on ModRetro very soon, so check in the Finished Projects section in a while!
http://forums.modretro.com/viewforum.php?f=3" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

EDIT: Here's the thread!
http://forums.modretro.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=3639" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

(I will post it on here soon, but if any tech sites feature this I want them to link to MR. )

[nevermind1534]

Nice work

[Mario]

Thanks.
I was right about to post this. I made a topic for the two-transistor low-battery indicator.
http://forums.modretro.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=3640" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

[eagle5953]

Very cool!

You've been hackadayed, FYI.

[Rekarp]

IMO most impressive flashback portable. Just needs that internal rom now

[c_mon]

That's a really great portable. And amazingly enough, you made room for every detail in such a tiny case. Congratulations, dude...

BTW, do you have a diagram or drawing of how to hack a FB2 to that size? It would be appreciated very much...

[Mario]

That's a really great portable. And amazingly enough, you made room for every detail in such a tiny case. Congratulations, dude...

BTW, do you have a diagram or drawing of how to hack a FB2 to that size? It would be appreciated very much...

I don't, sorry. I was going to make one with Chevy's photos, but they turned out to be too blurry (and I forgot until to tell her to take new ones. ). It's not too hard, here's a hint: The components on the right of the board, where audio and video connect, are entirely unneeded. Look for the audio and video signals where they go into that circuit. It's not too hard, you just need to do some searching.

And thanks for the compliments.

[c_mon]

Just a few questions:

1 Why did you use 2nd player port paddle components? Aren't the resistors and caps at the 1st player port suitable for paddle controller?

2 How did you activate cartridge port?

3 What components did you add to GBC voltage regulator to make it work and how?

4 What value are the resistors below and for what reason are they used for?




Answers are apprecited very much..

Thanks.

[Snow_Cat]

Impressive work.
Are you going to make a jacket or dummy cart for that second battery?

[Mario]

Just a few questions:

1 Why did you use 2nd player port paddle components? Aren't the resistors and caps at the 1st player port suitable for paddle controller?

2 How did you activate cartridge port?

3 What components did you add to GBC voltage regulator to make it work and how?

4 What value are the resistors below and for what reason are they used for?




Answers are apprecited very much..

Thanks.

1. The components are there because they were on the original, uncut board. I'm assuming the 2nd player paddle controllers would not work without them. And yes, they are the same components, but I was using them for the first player paddle controller.

2. It says on the FB2 board. You can see it here: http://i48.tinypic.com/qsmuc6.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; . Since there are two contacts that need to be switched, most people assumed you needed a DPDT switch. With 30 seconds with my multimeter I found that one side of each jumper goes to ground. So, I could just use a SPDT switch instead. It saved space.

3. You actually don't need any extra components. I just took the caps off the game boy for some filtering. After I desoldered the regulator, I sanded the GB so I could see what caps went where. As for the regulator pinout, on one side there are two pins. One is marked as Vcc and the other as GND, I think. Then you can just probe the others to find what gives off what voltage.

4. They are both 10k. The one on the left is for the 1p paddle controller, because I chopped off the 10k SMD resistor for the paddle controls. The other is to limit the volume coming from the board so the sound isn't ridiculously loud.

Snow: No, I'm just having the one battery.

[c_mon]

Great info. Many thanks...