Battery options +question re connecting buttons to RPIZ

[shadowman]

1st post on Sudomod, so Hello to everyone.

I've been following wermy's Gameboy project on Youtube and its gotten me interested in doing the same for myself. I have bought some components so far but have a few questions regarding the batteries and the interface for the buttons.

Battery - is there not a way of using rechargeable batteries in the Gameboy's battery bay, to enable quick change out (and little downtime whilst away from a plug socket) I noticed in the videos, a Powerboost 1000c was used - could I not use a powerboost 1000 basic which doesnt have the recharge circuit built in to make use of multiple sets of recharageables - or is it the rechargables don't have the stamina to keep the console running? I have my eye on some duracell 2500mah rechargeables on Amazon which I think may do the trick.

Button interface - I have purchased an arduino leornardo pro micro due to cost of the teensy which will require different code (found it on the wiki page). However, whilst watching a Ben Heck show video on youtube a few nights ago on him creating a protable mame device, his alternative to a teensy was to run one side of each button to a designated pin on the pi zero and the other side to ground and using adafruit retrogame to detect the button pushes and apply the correct action - would this be easier then the teensy/leonardo route as it would remove components from inside, and also a lot of wiring/soldering?

I have added the Youtube video linked, with the starting point https://youtu.be/zrEj1aQRbpw?t=4m13s to understand what I meant above re buttons

Also, I am struggling to get hold of a Gameboy on the cheap - I don't want to strip a working one for this project so was thinking about just buying the shell from Ebay - if I did that, I wouldnt be able to do the cartridge mod, but I wasn't planning on doing that anyway (if anything, I was going to just extend the sd slot to an adaptor to make switching cards easier) The main concern is that if I just buy a shell, the battery connectors won't be in place to do the AA rechargeable battery bay. If a shell doesn't come with the battery hardware, is there somewhere I can get it from?

Sorry for the long 1st post, I have many questions before embarking on this project! I'll probably be back with more questions regarding screens, but I'll leave that one for now.

[Kilren]

1st post on Sudomod, so Hello to everyone.

Welcome to the forum!

Let me see if I can answer some of these questions for you.

Concerning the PC1000 Basic vs the PC1000C: If you want rechargeable batteries and the ability to switch them out, why do you want to create an external system to charge the battery? The PB1000C (C stands for charge) is made to charge the batteries internally. You could use rechargeable batteries and remove them and recharge them, but for $5 more (difference in price of boards) it sure isn't worth it.

Concerning the buttons, I'll watch what you posted tonight and let you know. Someone possibly might answer quicker though. Generally, the two choices are through a USB interface (Teensy or Teensy clone) or GPIO pads.

As for the shell, I bought mine from amazon from a seller called NBGames. There are some other sellers that are equal, but mine included buttons, silicone pads, screws, screen cover, and battery connectors. Everything you need in that department.

As for the cartridge reader, you can still totally do it with only a shell. Buy a 3DS cartridge reader repair piece and a little bit of dremeling, it works perfectly.

I'm building a GBZ with absolutely no OEM parts and started from a shell, and it will match wermy's.

[shadowman]

Concerning the PC1000 Basic vs the PC1000C: If you want rechargeable batteries and the ability to switch them out, why do you want to create an external system to charge the battery? The PB1000C (C stands for charge) is made to charge the batteries internally. You could use rechargeable batteries and remove them and recharge them, but for $5 more (difference in price of boards) it sure isn't worth it.

So, you're saying put the recharge circuit in anyway and can make use of the same batteries so that it gives options on recharging? If so, then that's a good idea - something I'd not really thought about. My main concern was to try and bring my project in as cheap as possible, which is why I have bought the Leonardo Micro board instead of a teensy and why I'm looking at the non recharge circuited version of the powerboost (I'm in the UK - The 1000c is £18 ($24) and 1000 basic is £10 ($13)) It's also why I'm asking about the Ben Heck method of connecting the buttons to the GPIO rather than the separate board. (there is a very big chance that I'm going to get asked to make at least one more of these once family members see my one completed.

One more question regarding batteries - how long do you think the piboy would run using 4 duracell 2500mah batteries?

[Kilren]

Concerning the PC1000 Basic vs the PC1000C: If you want rechargeable batteries and the ability to switch them out, why do you want to create an external system to charge the battery? The PB1000C (C stands for charge) is made to charge the batteries internally. You could use rechargeable batteries and remove them and recharge them, but for $5 more (difference in price of boards) it sure isn't worth it.

So, you're saying put the recharge circuit in anyway and can make use of the same batteries so that it gives options on recharging? If so, then that's a good idea - something I'd not really thought about. My main concern was to try and bring my project in as cheap as possible, which is why I have bought the Leonardo Micro board instead of a teensy and why I'm looking at the non recharge circuited version of the powerboost (I'm in the UK - The 1000c is £18 ($24) and 1000 basic is £10 ($13)) It's also why I'm asking about the Ben Heck method of connecting the buttons to the GPIO rather than the separate board. (there is a very big chance that I'm going to get asked to make at least one more of these once family members see my one completed.

One more question regarding batteries - how long do you think the piboy would run using 4 duracell 2500mah batteries?

You mentioned you thought about buying battery sets to change to keep playing, the cost of one of those would be the same as buying the pb1000c. I definitely understand saving money, I'm a med student after all, but you'll want to decide for yourself where quality vs budget draws the line.

Sometimes it's cheaper to buy something more expensive.

As for four 2500 batteries, optimally 4-6 hours. Realistically from what I've been hearing so far, 2-4 depending on a lot of factors.

[shadowman]

Its definitely something I'm going to have to think about and make a decision as to whether spending the extra money for having a recharge circuit built in is worth it especially with me wanting to go down the removable battery idea.


Anyway, one quick thought I had when look at faulty gameboy's and replacement shells - you mentioned you also used a shell for your build, where did you get the power switch from as that isn't included in any of the listings I've looked at (only the coloured plastic cover) Iver looked on ebay and not found anything listed - can you buy them separately from suppliers in china or something?

[Kilren]

Its definitely something I'm going to have to think about and make a decision as to whether spending the extra money for having a recharge circuit built in is worth it especially with me wanting to go down the removable battery idea.


Anyway, one quick thought I had when look at faulty gameboy's and replacement shells - you mentioned you also used a shell for your build, where did you get the power switch from as that isn't included in any of the listings I've looked at (only the coloured plastic cover) Iver looked on ebay and not found anything listed - can you buy them separately from suppliers in china or something?

You USA based or across the pond? If you're USA, I'll just mail you a couple. Otherwise, this is where I bought them. These don't fit perfectly, you have to trim a leg and the switch height, but as as you do, they fit perfect and feel the same as stock.
eBay - switch

Also, helpful link of you choose the pb1000c. This is who I bought it from for $22 after shipping.
eBay - pb1000c

[shadowman]

Its definitely something I'm going to have to think about and make a decision as to whether spending the extra money for having a recharge circuit built in is worth it especially with me wanting to go down the removable battery idea.


Anyway, one quick thought I had when look at faulty gameboy's and replacement shells - you mentioned you also used a shell for your build, where did you get the power switch from as that isn't included in any of the listings I've looked at (only the coloured plastic cover) Iver looked on ebay and not found anything listed - can you buy them separately from suppliers in china or something?

You USA based or across the pond? If you're USA, I'll just mail you a couple. Otherwise, this is where I bought them. These don't fit perfectly, you have to trim a leg and the switch height, but as as you do, they fit perfect and feel the same as stock.
eBay - switch

Also, helpful link of you choose the pb1000c. This is who I bought it from for $22 after shipping.
eBay - pb1000c

I'm across the pond in the UK (Liverpool) but thanks for the offer - The link to the switches you provided doesn't ship to the UK so have found these which I think are the same, which i'll order a pack of.

As for the 1000c - if only I was in the USA as that is a decent price, but to ship to me, that seller wants £28/$37 on top - like I mentioned above, the cheapest price of the 1000c in the UK is £18 and average price being somewhere around the £22 mark so I need to decide whether the recharge circuit is needed if I'm using removable rechargeable batteries as another thing to factor in is the cost of the internal battery wermy used in his build = it may be cheaper and more in keeping with the original Gameboy to go with the battery idea I have.