First Gamecube Portable - The PortaCube [Done!]

[_Nold_]

Sooo, after i "fixed" my trimmed board (Wrong Composite pin for PAL ) i can finally start with my portable GC Project.
I have no idea if i can or will finish this project, since i suck at case construction and never worked with batterys before.
In addition I'm a pretty unpatient person

But anyway here is the "plan":
- GC: 3rd Board.. this time: DOL-001 PAL - Arrived
- Screen: 3.5" Car-Screen - Arrived
- Case: This one will be frankencased, Arrived
- Drive: Wiikey Fusion - Arrived
- Batterys: 4x LG Li-Ion 2600mAh 3.6V Arrived +Loader + PCB Ordered, not arrived yet

Additionals:
- Humbrol Model Filler / Car putty - Arrived - Never worked with something like that before ^^
- Paint.. Of course flat black, because i suck at painting, too
- Name: None yet :/


Day 1
First of all i wanted to trim down my Rev. C Board as much as possible. But i wanted to keep the onboard PSU, to save money and make the whole project a little bit easier. So i did the cut that Ashen shared, but kept the PSU part.

And this is what came out:

20120327_193724.jpg

Trimmed Board

(1.58 MiB) Not downloaded yet

20120327_193751.jpg

Timmed Board

(1.71 MiB) Not downloaded yet

Basically it was easier than i thought.. you just need to reconnect the Audio-AMP to 12V and the RTC-Crystal.
But the real fun is just about to come - Soldering difficult things is always fun but after that.. i need to build a case >.<

//EDIT:
it's finally finished much respect to everyone who has finished one of those babys

[emu_kidid]

Nice board trimming - I'm too scared to go past the easiest cut

[Ashen]

Looking nice man! Cut looks great! Yea, I really need to fix my guides to show the solder points for PAL boards too... :/

As for batteries in your area, lots of people like to use "canon bp 911" packs. They are camcorder batteries that contain usually 2 or 4 18650 type li-ion cells and a 7.4v protection circuit and the set most always comes with a charger. Search e-bay for "canon bp 911". Since you are keeping the onboard regulator, you will likely need to reconfigure the packs once you get them though. As the GC's built in regulator needs an 11.1v or 14.8v pack.

As for a case, unless you want to vac form your own, these are most likely your best bets:

http://www.polycase.com/
http://www.okwenclosures.com/

Good luck man! If you need help don't hesitate to ask.

[_Nold_]

Thanks

These packs are looking good.. Even if the most supplyers don't tell how much mAh they have..
I saw one about 2000mAh.. so i would need 4, to get to 14.8V and 4000mAh.. which should be fine for the beginning...

What does "reconfigure" mean? I guess i can't just solder 2 in serial and 2/2 in parallel, rigth?
So i would open them up, connect them as i want them and after that, connect these to a protection circuit?
And how would i have to load them, if i connect them like this?

[Ashen]

Like I said, those BP camera batteries contain standard 18650 li-ion cells. Just like these:

http://www.batteryspace.com/LG-Lithium- ... .62Wh.aspx

Though they may be rated lower per cell as far as mah goes.

Really your best bet would be to order from batteryspace.com or all-battery.com and to get the cells/charger/protection circuit you need for the specific pack you want to build. Or to buy a pre built pack of the specific voltage and mah you are looking for. The only reason I suggested the BP batteries is because many people say that shipping from the two suppliers mentioned above to anywhere other than the US is outrageous. If you go for the BP cells, you can get them easily on e-bay and likely get free shipping. Then once you have them, you can take the pack apart and wire the cells the way you want. You'd also need to get the proper protection circuit and smart charger, which can also be found on e-bay. This way, you'd avoid the crazy shipping charges from batteryspace and the like. look for BP battery packs rated @ 7.4v 2600mah as that's what the normal 18650 cell maxes out at.

As for what you stated above about combining the packs. You can only add voltage OR mah. Meaning that if you have 2x 7.4v 2600mah BP battery packs, you could combine them to make either:

A: 7.4v 5200mah pack
OR
B: 14.8v 2600mah pack

Lucklily, in most cases when voltage goes up, amp draw goes down. So you'd get roughly equal playtime from either of those packs.

For example. @ 7.4v most of the portables I've built draw roughly 2~ amps while the system is running. Though the same portable if powered by a 14.8v pack would only draw around 1~ amp.

This is a really good guide to batteries and basic wiring of them put together by Hailraizer. Its a good read.

http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?f=43&t=34576

[_Nold_]

Yea,
what i ment is to combine 4 Packs, 2 in serial and the 2 and 2 in parallel so i would get double mAh and double voltage.

Yea i was thinking about Battery packs, too. The bad thing about batterys is just, if they are cheap, they suck and if they are great, they are just to expensive to "play around" with them ^^

I guess i will check out ebay for a good solution... thanks so much man

//Edit: Ok, i just saw how big this guys are ^^
But if the cube+screen really just needs around 1A, 2,6Ah seems fine..
At least i could play my whole way to work

//Edit 2:
Ok can i use this setup, without risking my portable to blow into many pieces?

Charger: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Intelligent-Smar ... 4ab4c6c78d
4x These in Series: http://www.ebay.de/itm/251011462187?ssP ... 1423.l2649
Connected to this PCB: http://www.ebay.de/itm/Protection-Circu ... 4aa338a6fa


Thanks again

[_Nold_]

Just ordered the Case and some additional stuff i hvn't lying around anymore.. (switches, headphone jack, ...)

This is the case i've choosen: http://www.conrad.de/ce/de/product/5225 ... U-1599HSGY
It's maybe a little too long, but it's cheap and has prettymuch the size i will need.. and it's my first portable so it's better too big then too small ^^

For the shoulder buttons i guess i will steal the idea of Ashen (Fusion Rev. 3)
I just cut into the case ^^

Now i just need a little feedback to my battery-pack and i will have everything i need in a few weeks ^^

//Edit 1: Btw: Will i have to build a little Audio-Amp if I only want to use headphones? Mostly In-Ears?

[Ashen]

All that stuff you listed for the batteries looks good, Just make sure to wire them properly when you get all of it. If you don't know, its always best to ask in the case of working with these types of batteries. That case also looks pretty nice.

You don't need to install an audio amp if you'll only be using earbud type headphones. The onboard pre amp on the GC will drive them fine. Anything larger however will require an external audio amp. You'll need to install a dual gang trim pot for volume control if you go that route.

[_Nold_]

All that stuff you listed for the batteries looks good, Just make sure to wire them properly when you get all of it. If you don't know, its always best to ask in the case of working with these types of batteries. That case also looks pretty nice.

Great! Thanks

You don't need to install an audio amp if you'll only be using earbud type headphones. The onboard pre amp on the GC will drive them fine. Anything larger however will require an external audio amp. You'll need to install a dual gang trim pot for volume control if you go that route.

Jea, i need to find such a little poti somewhere ^^ but that can wait..

My Screen arrived today not the best, but who cares.. ^^
Then the next step will be to "improve" the heatsink, just make a fan fit in it or something like that :/

I think i will now play something on my 3.5" screen.. just because i can XD (But on my normal Cube or maybe even 360 xD)

[_Nold_]

To get to the heatsink, i want to trimm it just like you did here:


Hope that this will cool down the guce enough, but i saw this kind of trim many times so i guess it's fine.

But how did you cut it down so nicely? i just got a dremel so i guess it will not be as nice as your's but it should work ^^

//Edit: Here are some pics of the Screen running and the hight of everything (except Wiikey and memorycard)
I could even trimm the PCB of the Screen a little bit more (Caps, coils, ...) and maybe the heatsink will become a little bit thinner, but only if i have to..


//Edit 2: The Wiikey needs a switch that is instantly connected to ground (as eject switch) right?
Could i use a pull-down resistor for that?

Wiikey pin --- Pull-down resistor --- push-button --- 1.9V

would that work? Thanks again ^^ ..

[kel01]

//Edit 2: The Wiikey needs a switch that is instantly connected to ground (as eject switch) right?
Could i use a pull-down resistor for that?

Wiikey pin --- Pull-down resistor --- push-button --- 1.9V

would that work? Thanks again ^^ ..

I would try just a momantary switch normally connected to ground first and see what happens. If you then find that you have some noise on the eject line causing it to float low even when the switch is open like I did then you can easily add a pull-up or pull-down resistor to the cicuit. I added a 10k pull-up resistor from pin 29 to 1.9v onto mine and it works great now

[_Nold_]

sound good, pull-up is even a better idea
Thanks mate

[Ashen]

I used a large band saw at my work to cut my heat sinks and then wire wheeled them to get rid of the rough edges. You can use a dremel, but it doesn't work real well. You can use a drillpress with a large cutting disc. That works pretty well. Or you can use a hacksaw if you feel like giving your arm workout.

For the Wiikey switch, I'd do exactly like Kel01 said.

[_Nold_]

Or you can use a hacksaw if you feel like giving your arm workout.

Yea, that was what i'm thinking of, too... but i hope to find a better way xD#


//Edit: Just found this: http://forums.benheck.com/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=42907
Damn, that looks pretty easy.. at least the bending is a really good idea, after that i should be able to cut them also with a dremel, and after that i will just dremel the rest down...

I will remove the side of the RAM, think these are not getting that hot.. and i will just use the stock fan from the GC if i don't find anything better!

Btw: Are there many games that are using the "sliding"-feature of the shoulder-buttons (don't really know how to call it ^^)

[liquitt]

.. at least the bending is a really good idea

bending is always a good idea!

[_Nold_]

@liquitt: I don't get it xD

[liquitt]

bending is also used for describing the act of drinking. drinking a lot.

[_Nold_]

bending is also used for describing the act of drinking. drinking a lot.

aaah, well.. i guess then you'r right xD

[_Nold_]

So, some updates..
These days i was doing some cutting to the controller, since the case didn't arrive yet, i nearly couldn't do anything -.-' (I know why i never buy at Conrad -.-)

download/file.php?mode=view&id=569

Also i finished the Heatsink.. it feels somekind like the OMGWTF-Cut for Heatsinks xD
I used a Hacksaw first, which works but it didn't get straight through.. so i used a drill-press, file and dremel to get everything down.. at the end it looked pretty good ^^

download/file.php?mode=view&id=570


At the end i put in the fan.. i used the original GC fan, and connected everthing with the portabelisers best friend: Hotglue ^^
download/file.php?mode=view&id=571

As you can see i used Kapton-Tape to force the Airflow to go right through the whole heatsink.
And it seems to work better than i thought xD


Edit:
I just cut out the case parts from the controller.. they are looking really nice in my eyes
download/file.php?mode=view&id=572

[megalomaniac]

Nice work.

[Ashen]

All looks very nice man, except I worry about hot glue on a heatsink... I think maybe that's not such a good idea...

[_Nold_]

All looks very nice man, except I worry about hot glue on a heatsink... I think maybe that's not such a good idea...

Yea, i thought that, too... but i saw some ppl even glue there heatsink on the mainboard.. so i thought it would be finge...

i'll try it out with some hotair from my rework station ^^

//Edit: Otherwise i'll use some 2-component glue!

[dilav]

Looks great so far, been thinking of making one, but the case making/modifying mainly put me off from attempting it. Would love to see how work progresses.
Good Luck!

[_Nold_]

Yea, case arrived today.. i just pretty much finished the hole for the screen >.<.. damn this will become really hard xD
I bought putty and 2-component glue today, too..

I trimmed my board a little bit because the case seems to becomes smaller and smaller everytime i take a look at it <.<

No pics today.. too lazy xD

[_Nold_]

Some updates

here is the case as it is right now:
download/file.php?mode=view&id=585

I just puttied it so it now needs to get dry so i can sand it.. it seems to become pretty nice and i think i'm going to call my gcp "UglyCube" because if i'm working on the case, it won't become a beauty XD


Still my Wiikey didn't arrive this stops my whole technical work..