Worklog IBP's SNES Portable

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I'm back! Phew! It's been a while! Decided to put in some more work on this guy! Here's pictures with brief descriptions.

Case after cutting holes and Frankencasing in the controller parts

First application of Bondo

Some sanding, more Bondo needed of course.

Bondo done? Maybe it'll need more later, but it looks pretty great to me! I decided to Frankencase the bezel in for accurate screen borders/placement.

And here it is as it sits right now, screen bezel in, just needs some cleaning up, the case front is coming along nicely this second time around! Hope to finish this up this spring/summer, well see how it goes!
-IBP
 
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More progress! Not much, but a good step. I super glued parts of the the border portion of the screen bezel into the case to hold the screen. It actually is a nice tight fit which to hold the screen in on its own, so after I add screw down brackets when I close it up it won't be going anywhere!

On a side note, I've been thinking about how I will add the start/select/ABXY decals at the end. I was thinking water slide decals at first, and then rub on, but both of those do it yourself versions look like they leave a visible transparent border where you cut out the decal. Is there a method to get good looking label decals, either in a print yourself or ordering online somewhere?

 

fibbef

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Rock-solid work! This kind of almost (but probably not) makes me want to get back into frankencasing. As for the decals, if you can't get exactly the look you want to go for, I would advocate for leaving them off entirely. Most people who pick up something with SNES controls are going to know what does what.
 

Nold

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Nice work dude! Always nice to see some good old frankencasing...

Anyways.. I tried to illustrate my mixed feelings about this thread...

failobucket.jpg


Please consider uploading your pictures to the forums. It's loading faster, no stupid watermark & no 2nd modretro ;-)
 
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Nice work dude! Always nice to see some good old frankencasing...

Anyways.. I tried to illustrate my mixed feelings about this thread...

View attachment 8530

Please consider uploading your pictures to the forums. It's loading faster, no stupid watermark & no 2nd modretro ;-)
I literally teared up laughing at that, it's beautiful!

I didn't see that was an option, thank goodness I can stop using stupid photo bucket!!! And thanks for the compliments, I really want this to look professional.
 
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Made an oopsie... So I decided to finally cut out the pieces from the motherboard in order to make it able to fit around the screw posts. Just now realizing it would have been much much MUCH better and smarter to drill holes through the board and use the screw posts to hold the motherboard in place... It doesn't actually need to go down low like I thought it did, it would have been better for it to sit up there. So now I'm going to have to glue plastic pieces on to the motherboard so I can fasten it down. Oh boy I'm so smart some times...
 

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Anybody know where I can find information on the power draws of an SNES like this? Will it run on 7.4v batteries? I can't find information anywhere, but I think the entire system might actually run on 5v? I really wish that right from the beginning I would have bought a Jr model (you can still get them from $50-75, and I would if I was rich, but I ain't) because there are SO many advantages, but that's not what I have, so unless someone tells me that there's a really important reason I should use a Jr, I won't.
 

fibbef

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Yes, the SNES can run off of 7.4v. The voltage line feeds directly into a 7805 step down regulator, so that’s why you heard 5v.

One of the board revisions (probably an early one) had a separate audio daughterboard that I think might require another voltage, but I don’t have any information on that. All I know is that when I tried to relocate one, I couldn’t get the SNES to boot anymore.

Edit: I just looked at your latest pic and saw that you do have the rev with the daughterboard. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I recommend not trying to relocate it.
 
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Yes, the SNES can run off of 7.4v. The voltage line feeds directly into a 7805 step down regulator, so that’s why you heard 5v.

One of the board revisions (probably an early one) had a separate audio daughterboard that I think might require another voltage, but I don’t have any information on that. All I know is that when I tried to relocate one, I couldn’t get the SNES to boot anymore.

Edit: I just looked at your latest pic and saw that you do have the rev with the daughterboard. I’m not saying it’s impossible, but I recommend not trying to relocate it.
Well, lucky for me I already relocated it and it booted just fine B|, although that was with wall power, so we'll see if that changes once batteries are in play. Thanks for the info though! :D
 
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I'm torn between my two options I have for OG controller support and OG AV support. I would like to maintain the ability to use this as regular SNES system, original controller ports and AV port. My two ideas are this. One, include all 3 ports, av and two controller ports, in the front of the case, or option two, use a sturdy 15 pin connector I have to make a breakout box that contains the AV out and controller port, and I even could make the breakout box simply attach to the front of the case via 15 pin connector so that it's still kind of part of the portable but removable. What do you guys think?

Also, does anybody know if I would have to implement a switch to shut off the built in controls for player one, or would both controllers function normally if they were both connected to port one?
 
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