Snes Portable (Questions and build info)

Hello everyone,
I am new to this forum but it looked like it was the most active and useful one I have come across so I decided to sign up.

I have a few technical questions
1) First off is the 62 pin connector has anyone removed it in one piece. I have a soldered in kind as I am using the Snes jr. I believe I may be able to get it free with a solder sucker or flooding the pins and rocking it back and forth but this is a larger component then I am use to working with. Typically I solder 0603 resistors or an occasional tsop and on the rare occasion a QNF.

2) How many layers is the PCB? I was wondering if I should be worried about cutting into it. The controller looks like its a single layer but I am not sure about the main board.

3) any recommendations for body filler for a plastic case. I am planning on using the popular ZN-40 case or the knock off version rather.

 

Parts list
Snes Jr (because of its small size)
Generic 4.3 Inch LCD TFT Rearview Monitor screen for Car Backup Camera (15 bucks amazon) Oddly enough it has volume control and audio in but no audio out. I will have to dig into that.
ZN-40 style case (PC-11640 because I love digi-key.)
Audio jack (for headphones)
Barrel jack (easy power removal)
USB male (power in)
RAVPower Portable Charger 3000mAh (Had it laying around the house)

Current progress

Currently I have everything running off of 5 volts with no issues. I have not tried any of the Super FX games yet as I do not have any. So far Final Fantasy III works without any issues.

The who setup runs of 700mA so that should give me three hours of game play. I was planning on upgrading the battery but for now this will do.

I have the audio working off of 5 volts as well without issue. I pulled the 7805 voltage regulator, was planning to make a boost but the system seems to be running just fine off of main power. I haven't added an amp or volume control yet. Plan on adding it later as its a little quiet.

 

1)It's possible but it, IMHO, will give you the most trouble. It's kinda easy to mess up and could potentially screw up the whole build. Use a solder sucker and be careful.

2)I'm not sure how many layers the PCB is but there are a few guides online about trimming it down.

3)For body filler, I like to use a mixture of ABS glue, epoxy putty, or bondo. I use ABS glue primarily but will use epoxy for larger gaps, then ABS glue to fill in. I use bondo as a finishing filler, sanding after each fill.

Here is a video of my SNES portable from a few years ago.

 

For me, that was probably the nicest SNES handheld made brainpann, and i've seen a fair few over the years.

 

WOW

I really love your mod, it's definitely the best Snes protable i've seen so far. Nice work with the epoxy and finish : D

 

Not sure how easy it is to use for playing as it looks top heavy for the button locations so might tire the hands (including reach to the d-pad), plus wobble factor viewing the screen for same reason, but for looks it is the best looking SNES portable i've seen. Handhelds with buttons and d-pad/joystick work best when to the left and right of the screen as screen stays still; however design as above looks nicer IMO.

 

It would have been awesome if it featured original controller slots ! so you can play with a friend.. on a protable Snes wow..
Also what's the battery lifetime? Is it easily replacable?

 

Thanks for the video BrianPann. The electronics side of this should be pretty easy but I am not that experienced with body filler and or glues. Typically I stick to screws. The case you went with looks similar to another one I found. I like the look of the finished piece.

I should get 3 hours of battery life with my design currently but I am planning on increasing the battery if I can make the room for it to 10 hours. It shouldn't be that hard to fit.

 

wow, thanks!

A few people have brought this up but I actually did build it with comfort in mind, as I like spending time playing RPGs. Despite how it looks, a majority of the weight is in the bottom of the unit and is fairly comfortable to hold for extended periods of time.

 

Sorry for the double post.

I thought about adding a controller port and a video out but I didnt have any room left in the case. Battery life is about 4.5 hours using Li-Poly batteries and are kinda easy to replace.

 

you can buy cheap desoldering irons, basically a hand pump plunger with a iron on the end.

If you plan on ever making a few of these or even selling them, invest in a proper deslodering pump

 

So we have a pretty good desoldering setup at work but it didn't seem to work very well. I tired to clear the vacuum pump but it didn't seem to do well. So instead I cut the one I had into pieces and pulled the bits off one at a time. I removed a lot of the pins by just heating the backside and pulling them through the plastic. Not what I wanted to do but it worked and I got another connector, it was the non-solder kind but I just soldered to the connections underneath.
The next thing I am going to try will be replacing the Caps with ceramic ones instead of
electrolytic.

And yes I felt very very wrong about what I have done to that last connector.