Thanks Everyone!

Posted: 03/17/2012 in General News

Hey I just wanted to say thanks to all those who helped make the GeneBoy a mini hit! Though it didn’t go viral or anything crazy, it’s still cool to see there is some interest in these projects and made for some fun watching the stat counter get higher than it ever had! haha.

So again thanks, there are some new projects in the works, including a new high(er)-tech vacuum forming machine that should hopefully make making world class portable cases even more world class! haha, one can dream.

Any, feel free to drop me a line if you have any questions or want me to quote out a project for you. Things are moving right along!

So after 4 weeks, this project has been put to bed! Fully functional, fully awesome! Though I admit, I beat the hell out of the finish when I put the components on the inside and closing it up was kind of ugly, I’m happy to say it’s over with and now I can start to move on to the next project. Haven’t decided yet what that will be, but it won’t be long before I start up a new one! Here is a video and some specs to view if you so desire.

Size: 1-7/8″ Thick x 4-3/4″ Wide x 6-1/2″ High
Weight: About 1.5lbs
Battery: 7.4V @ 4Amps
Screen: 3.5″ TFT Back-up Screen
Sound/Amp: 1 20mm Speaker & Mini iPod Amp
Power Switch: SPDT On/Off Rocker
Power Charge Port: Single Size M Charger Port
PS1 Controller D-pad
3rd Party Super Pad Controller Board & Buttons
Custom 3 Part Vacuum Formed Casing

Feel free to hit me up with a comment or just subscribe to the Blog or You Tube! Love to hear what you think!

So after a few weeks with no posts here, an update for the Genesis portable has come, worthy of posting.

On top of hitting a couple snags which is quite common, I hurt my back lifting an old TV and have been unable to really mod at all because of it. Now that I’m on the mend, I was back to picking up where I left off, even though I left off on a problem.

To make things short and sweet, I couldn’t get the screen to work. After messing with my batteries which I was still scared about after shooting 8.4V up my arm, I hooked everything up to my power switch, hit the button and nothing…

Power was going everywhere it was supposed to, but no image on the screen. So of course I think I fried the damn thing, but it was rated for 12 volts and I only put 8.4 through it. After a bit of thinking and asking on the forums, of course the solution was right under my nose. The Video out line was not grounded. Though I thought didn’t need it because the screens power line was grounded to the Genesis board and there was only one ground coming from the screen, I thought they all shared. Not true. After taking the screens A/V cable apart, I noticed that each RCA input had one signal and one ground and all the grounds met at one junction box midway down the cable and that’s where they merged the ground wires into one.

Simple version, I needed another ground wire and once that was in place, BINGO! First try and the system, screen and game all fired up! Which means I’m good to go with wiring up the audio and controls and with any luck I’ll have this done by this weekend!

I’m actually quite happy with the quality of this screen for it being only composite input, so I’m gonna run with it and not try to RGB mod this. It’s getting close and I’m getting excited!

Though I haven’t updated much here, there has been a lot of progress with the project. I’d say now that I’m over 50% complete as the case is finished and painted and now the mounting of the buttons and the wiring of the components is underway.

The screen and buttons were actually pretty easy and I’ve gained a new respect for super glue. Won’t get into that but it can be a pain in many ways.

I have a feeling though I’m going to have to rewire the cart slot as my batteries have had to move from their original location. This is fine though because the wire I used for it originally I’m not at all happy with. So a step back but it will mean at least two steps forward. Sorry for the short update but everything in detail can be found on the forums. Here is a pic though to show you where I’m at!

That’s right, a new project! Since all the upgrade to our home’s electrical system has been completed, I now have an adequate power supply to my work shop and Vacuum Former! This is going to cut down greatly on set up time and will really make the whole experience more enjoyable.

With that said, he’s the front half case shell of the new portable. This is probably one of the smallest and sleekest that I’ve made and it uses that same mold that my Mario/Zelda portable used. I don’t have the back formed yet as I’m not sure how thick it’s going to need to be but the front half looks like most will be able to fit in it as it is. So I may be able to make this overall thickness a little more than an 1″! But the foot print of the Sega 3 is very small.

But in any case, here’s the pic and I’ll be updating you as I go along!

SNEXbox Contoller

Posted: 02/11/2012 in General News

Hey Guys! This was a small mod I started a few weeks ago and just finished off this morning. It’s basically just a case mod as I took the guts from a SNES first party controller and put it into an XBox controller casing. Took about 10 hours or so to get it functional and as you can tell, no time was really put into making it look nice. I just wanted to see if I could get it working and I have!

The D-pad, ABXY, Start, Select, L and R are the only buttons that work really, but the next mod will allow for me to use the control sticks as both directional and ABXY additions.

Had to chop the SNES PCB down quite a bit but fortunately the the traces were quite easy to follow and the processing chip is in the open so soldering directly too it was quite easy. I’ll try and get more pics up but for know here is a short video of it in action.