Genesis Radica in an Etch-a-sketch Handheld

[jonjandran]

Well I decided to try my hand at making a portable.

I had a Genesis Radica Volume II lying around and I found this at a gas station for $4.:

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port7.jpg

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port9.jpg

Now what does this thing look like on the inside and can I use it ?

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port10.jpg

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port11.jpg

Hmm doesn't look bad , but not a whole lot of room in there.

So I went about making the case more accessible. First take it all aprt and remove the battery packs.

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port1.jpg

Now take off the front panel and disconnect the controllers from the main board.

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port3.jpg

Hmm looks like with a little work the front panel could hold a 2.5" screen.

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port2.jpg

And what do you know it will. :)

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/Port4.jpg

[jonjandran]

I started yesterday morning and at about 3:30 I had it all done but the d-pad wasn't working good I decided to rewire it and that's when the fun started.

I had hotglued 2 circuit boards back to back and had to seperate them to work on the d-pad wiring. Well I was using a utility knife and I slipped :(

*warning slightly graphic pic, do not click if you don't want to see a sliced finger*
http://www.vzwpix.com/mi/116543306_375589639_0.jpeg

Seven stitches and 3 hours later I got back to work and finished it up.

Here's some pics :

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica1.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica2.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica3.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica4.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica5.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica6.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica7.jpg

As you can see I used a Radica Genesis Volume II.

I had to cut down the controller board on the Radica, and I had to rewire the power switch.

I also unsoldered the 3 controls for the sound/brightness/color. Then I wired them to a breadboard and cut a slot for them on the side.

I had to order a 6" extension for the Lcd from digikey to be ble to hook up the Lcd to it's controller.

And lot's and lot's of re-wiring and trimming. But it was a fun project.

[jonjandran]

Darker pics to show the screen quality.

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica8.jpg

http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica9.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/radica10.jpg

Got the screen on Ebay for $67 shipped. It has the same resolution as the Psone screen 320x234. It really looks good.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=005&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=150042513126&rd=1&rd=1

Here's how it strips:


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/screen1.jpg


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/screen2.jpg

And here it is with the extension :


http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/screen3.jpg

[c0ldb33r]

Wow, very impressive! :D

[RockyRaccoon]

This is nice! Whats the battery life on that thing?

Also, it's nice to see one of those Plug and Play games being made portable. Maybe give those companies some initiaive. ;P

~Rocky

[qbertandernie]

thats awesome!

but the sliced finger pic is not availalbe :(

[jonjandran]

Try this link for the finger pic:
http://www.wavetel.us/~jonjandran/finger.jpg

[boatofcar]

Looks good! I wish I had talent with electronics...