Burnfingers
Offline
Vancouver, Wa

Hi guys! Posting this here was recommended by a friend, so here goes;

What we have here is an adapter that lets you power your DMG from any USB port you happen to have handy: Laptop, keyboard, phone charger, car... your Xbox... Quite literally anything with a USB port on it. The adapter provides the proper voltage to your DMG (regulated 6v, not 5v), and more importantly has an integrated overload protection circuit meaning you cannot damage your power source by using more than its able to supply. This is particularly important if you are plugging into expensive equipment and have power hungry mods installed in your handheld. The adapter was designed to produce as little 'hum' through your DMG's speaker as possible, and adds none at all through line-out jacks (pro sound).

They are approximately 26" long, and as you may have noticed they have a power / usage indicator on them to let you know whats up. Fairly limited quantities available, I'm offering them for $25 shipped, $30 for priority. Anyone interested in picking one up can me a PM here or on my facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/burnfingers) smile

"...guaranteed to exceed your expectations." "Extremely sturdy, well-built, and reliable power source for your Gameboy." -8bitaesthetics

Last edited by Burnfingers (Jun 5, 2013 10:27 pm)

jackary
Offline
Brisbane, Australia

Put these up on ebay man. You'll have short luck trying to sell them here since Luftek's released his DMG power adapters (which are much cheaper, too!).
Surely someone will pick them up on ebay!

HimsyPimsy
Offline
Austin, TX

Can you plug the usb into an iphone charge plug, and then plug it into the wall if you aren't near a usb jack?

Burnfingers
Offline
Vancouver, Wa
HimsyPimsy wrote:

Can you plug the usb into an iphone charge plug, and then plug it into the wall if you aren't near a usb jack?

Yep, they work perfectly off any cell phone charger, including a usb car charger lol.

@jackery, I actually bought one of Luftek's adapters when he posted them to compare with my type; They don't fit the DMG DC socket (they are to big or 'tight' as he puts it) which actually seems to have damaged one of my projects, they don't filter out any noise, they don't have over-draw (overload) protection so you could easily fry your power source with the right mods, you are limited to the standard 1.5' cord length, they only provide 5 volts which the DMG will run on but its about like running them on dead batterys (screen is dimmer, ext. Not sure about sound quality), and then there's having a 2 inch long core end + adapter sticking out of your DMG... In other words, you really get what you pay for.

No offence to Luftek intended, I just needed to clarify the differences between our products and explain to some degree why mine costs more. Anyone who purchases one of his adapters can back everything I stated above. As it happens I do have then on eBay lol, and a few other places smile

Last edited by Burnfingers (Jun 5, 2013 3:39 pm)

kitsch
Offline
matt's mind

isn't overload protection a built in feature of the computer port already though (as a standard of implementing usb)?

most, if not all, computers will disable a particular usb port if the power considerations exceed tolerances,

or does yours do something different altogether?  (sorry if i've misunderstood)

being that the gameboy runs at 5V internally, and the power converter PCB will take 5V and give 5V, i think i don't understand why running it on 5V is like dead batteries?  does yours boost current beyond the standard usb protocol?

thebitman
Offline
kitsch wrote:

isn't overload protection a built in feature of the computer port already though (as a standard of implementing usb)?

most, if not all, computers will disable a particular usb port if the power considerations exceed tolerances,

or does yours do something different altogether?  (sorry if i've misunderstood)

being that the gameboy runs at 5V internally, and the power converter PCB will take 5V and give 5V, i think i don't understand why running it on 5V is like dead batteries?  does yours boost current beyond the standard usb protocol?

I think what he means is that most cheapo wall-plug USB adapters and car chargers don't have these protections (that is why ones with protection like Apple's OEM ones for iPhone and iPod Touch are $30 or so), so rather than leave it up to chance, this device will have that protection and noise isolation because it is the last thing in the route the power will go through before entering the Gameboy. Luftek's device is a little more "bare-bones" and seems to be intended for use with computers and other electronic devices that "host" the power instead of wall plugs and USB adapters like Burnfingers' design.

And you are right about the overload protection being built into most computers, but such protection is like I mentioned earlier built into Bunfingers' design so that it is still very safe when used with power sources other than these well-equipped computers. Not sure how/if it can pull more than 5V, but I still think it is a rather interesting deviation from Luftek's approach. Looks cool to me smile

Burnfingers
Offline
Vancouver, Wa

you hit it right on the head bitman smile

Most computers do, but not all unfortunately. I actually fried a card reader USB port playing around with USB power a little while back >_> that's one of the reasons i was so keen on getting overload protection built into this lol. In USB wall adapters, car chargers, other devices ext, it varies depending on the unit in question.

This adapter limits the current draw to the international standard for USB 2.0 so theres no risk using it with anything you have handy, but it provides this current at 6 volts instead of 5v.

getting more technical, its has to do with the DMG picking up more amps (current) by stepping down from 6v to 5v. the batteries provide 6v (1.5v x 4) and all the original adapters and battery packs also provide 6v (and indeed the DMG itself is stamped saying it needs a 6v PS). So, while the system runs on 5v internally, it has a step down transformer which is designed for a 6v primary (input). The power going into and coming out of a step-down transformer has to always be the same; 6v can equal 5v IF 5v has more amps than 6v. What happens when you have a 5v primary feeding a 5v secondary is you basically bypass it with some slight efficiency issues and loose that native boost in amps. running on a 5v primary is the equivalent of running in on low batteries as running the system on a set of batteries that test out at ~5v means you have less current available (and the system will likely crash as soon as you turn on a backlight or try loading a game). the reason it works at all is you're basically making the laptop/whatever you're plugged into provide the amps the transformer is intended to produced from stepping down; your laptop should provide 5v with enough current to run a DMG, but not everything is designed for use with devices that dont regulate their draw. USB wall adapters provide a current range from 250mAh to 1A (1000mAh) lol, meaning not all will work with a direct USB-jack adapter. USB car adapters and other fused power sources will simply blow their fuse without something like my adapter between it and the DMG.

another key difference is noise, as bitman also pointed out. my adapter filters almost all of it out while Luftek's, or at least the one he sent me, can be quite noisy. kind of sounds like a transformer screaming lol wink

Last edited by Burnfingers (Jun 5, 2013 6:01 pm)

jackary
Offline
Brisbane, Australia
Burnfingers wrote:

you hit it right on the head bitman smile

Most computers do, but not all unfortunately. I actually fried a card reader USB port playing around with USB power a little while back >_> that's one of the reasons i was so keen on getting overload protection built into this lol. In USB wall adapters, car chargers, other devices ext, it varies depending on the unit in question.

This adapter limits the current draw to the international standard for USB 2.0 so theres no risk using it with anything you have handy, but it provides this current at 6 volts instead of 5v.

getting more technical, its has to do with the DMG picking up more amps (current) by stepping down from 6v to 5v. the batteries provide 6v (1.5v x 4) and all the original adapters and battery packs also provide 6v (and indeed the DMG itself is stamped saying it needs a 6v PS). So, while the system runs on 5v internally, it has a step down transformer which is designed for a 6v primary (input). The power going into and coming out of a step-down transformer has to always be the same; 6v can equal 5v IF 5v has more amps than 6v. What happens when you have a 5v primary feeding a 5v secondary is you basically bypass it with some slight efficiency issues and loose that native boost in amps. running on a 5v primary is the equivalent of running in on low batteries as running the system on a set of batteries that test out at ~5v means you have less current available (and the system will likely crash as soon as you turn on a backlight or try loading a game). the reason it works at all is you're basically making the laptop/whatever you're plugged into provide the amps the transformer is intended to produced from stepping down; your laptop should provide 5v with enough current to run a DMG, but not everything is designed for use with devices that dont regulate their draw. USB wall adapters provide a current range from 250mAh to 1A (1000mAh) lol, meaning not all will work with a direct USB-jack adapter. USB car adapters and other fused power sources will simply blow their fuse without something like my adapter between it and the DMG.

another key difference is noise, as bitman also pointed out. my adapter filters almost all of it out while Luftek's, or at least the one he sent me, can be quite noisy. kind of sounds like a transformer screaming lol wink

I'm actually genuinely interested in checking out one of these power connectors now! When i get my next work payment i'll consider getting one!