Today is a shitty rainy Monday - my VMU batteries are dead and I can't afford to replace them (also I got a sore foot & can't go out anyway!) so after much fun on Skies of Arcadia I decided it's time to get cracking on Pinta's Quest to have access to all the goodies which can be transferred across to the main game. With no power to the VMU being a bit of a bugger I went on a quest into my wires cupboard to see what I could find. After mucho untangling an old Electronics Boutique branded Gameboy Pocket PSU was found (3.3v - enough to power the VMU) so I promtly reached for the nearest set of scissors and chopped the connector end off! After very dodgily stripping the wires with the scissors I twisted the fibres to ensure adequate support for the next stages. After locating a screwdriver I opened up the back panel popped out the batteries, touched the wires to the connectors to see which wire went where .... and voila! It has life! However I can hardly sit there all day holding the wires in place whilst I play Can I? I decided I would need to make 2 holes in the back of the battery cover to feed the wires through however I have no power tools! I grabbed a wooden clothes peg , dismantled it so I had the 2 pieces of wood and put them side by side. To make pilot holes to ensure clean holes without cracking the cover I used a wine bottle cork opener thingymagig, after the pilot's were made I placed the cover over the "operating table" clothes pegs, jammed a nail into the pilots then bashed em with a hammer. Now we had holes! But they wern't big enough! I rummaged around the kitchen and found an old rusted pair of pliers. I pretty much jammed the tip of the pliers into the hole and twisted it like mad untill the tight little hole was a nice pair of gaping wounds big enough to take the wires! The next step was even more fiddly - I somehow had to secure the wires to the connectors. For the bigger connector I wrapped the end of the twisted wire around it to establish a stable (ish)connection however it kept sliding off so I pulled out the pliers again and buckled it so the wire has nowhere to go As for thesmaller connector I tried to bend them open so I could put the wire through and tighten it to clamp the wire, but unfortunately they snapped off so I was forced to try another way. I scrunched up the twisted wire into a little ball then jammed it into the place. Unfortunately this wasnt secure enough, so out came the scissors again and I used 1 of the legs to ram it in further :smt083 Before closing up I sellotaped the wires inside so there is little chance the wire will come loose. I then tightened up the cover screw and sellotaped the wires into position on the back and now the damned thing works hitch free! I would strongly advise against using this method as it isn't very safe or tidy, but desperate times call for desperate measures! I'll post pics of this monstrosity when I dig up my webcam :smt023
I'm proud of it too :smt023 Anyhow, here are pics of my very crude modification as promised. Granted I'm not the 1st person to do a mains powered VMU, but hey as far as I know I'm the 1st to do it without the proper tools (ie: soldering iron, power socket etc ..) in such a crude fashion :smt082 Front of the VMU with it's new power source :-D Rear view of the VMU with it's new power source :-D YAY! Pinta's Quest atlast! Closer view of the dodgyness :smt083 Here I was mega lucky. Note the points where the wire exit holes for the wires are - they are incredibly close to the ridge of the controller. If I had punched them through slightly higher the VMU wouldn't fit in the controller!
Hehe they're not all that big - it's because it's a transformer for converting this and that currents :smt023
That's a UK specific one to be precise, on the European mainland the power prongs are different (and often the adapters are a bit smaller, but not always) Could it be that UK regulations require more shielding? I've got 2 UK AC adapters (one for my Jaguar and one for my MP3 player) and they are very heavy... even though they only output a single DC voltage.
Yeah I noticed that as well with my European power supplies. I think its to do with the 3rd pin (earth), I assume there are more stringent laws in the UK for earthing electrical units.
