SpudBencer
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Hi Guys,
Iam new here. Hope this is the right section.

So i had this idea, i got a transparent orange DMG with an internal Pro Sound Mod. The wires are soldered Prepot so it would give me a steady signal. Since the Postpot solder points are not needed for anything else, could i solder some LEDs to it? Or at least one?

I imagine it quite cool, since the LEDs would light up when there's an output signal and you could dimm them with the volume control.
I also imagine that it's not quite as easy as i imagine.
So do you guys know how many volts are going through this points and why it won't work in the end?

Maybe a good steady 5v as an alternative so i can illuminate the case?

Thanks in advance

Jazzmarazz
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Michigan

I did this but didn't experiment a lot.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=t0q0rDW8uK4

Becusse of the output level, you'll need some transistors. IIRC, they were TIP140...something. 141 or 142. If I had experimented with the resistor values, I could probably have gotten it to work really well.

SpudBencer
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That actually looks exactly like what i want.
What i don't understand is... well the whole part after you said i need transistors. Im sorry im not that good in electronics. If someone tells me to solder this there i can do that though.

Can you explain this a little further please?

Last edited by SpudBencer (Oct 28, 2015 2:14 pm)

Jazzmarazz
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Michigan

Here is something similar:

I'm at work so I can't really sit and explain it. Also different transistors might be needed since the gb can only supply 5v and not 9

SpudBencer
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I got some LEDs with matching resistors for 5v laying around, for what would i need the transistor?

Last edited by SpudBencer (Oct 28, 2015 4:05 pm)

katsumbhong
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Taichung, Taiwan

google transistor.

SpudBencer
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I did. Actually more confused now than before.

jefftheworld
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Toronto, Ontario, Canada
katsumbhong wrote:

google transistor.

Seeing as how many different things transistors are used for, that's a pretty useless answer.

SpudBencer wrote:

I did. Actually more confused now than before.

In this case, the transistor is being used to amplify the audio signal to allow a larger voltage for driving the LEDs. Think of a transistor as an electronically controlled switch, a voltage at the base will allow current to flow from the collector to the emitter. The audio signal in this design is relatively weak, not enough to drive your LEDs well, but it's connecting to the base instead and a 9v source is connecting to the LEDs in series with collector and emitter.

This means, as a small voltage/current is applied to the base, a larger voltage/current will flow through the LEDs - and through the collector and emitter - to ground. When even more voltage is applied to the base, even more of that 9v source will be allowed to pass through - obviously up to a maximum of 9 volts, as that's all you're providing.

In this sense, you can think of a transistor similar to a floodgate. The base acts as the controls to allow the gate to widen or close completely, the collector and emitter are the upstream and downstream sides of the gate, respectively.

Last edited by jefftheworld (Oct 28, 2015 5:55 pm)

SpudBencer
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Thanks, i think i get it now.
If i understood that correctly, the Gameboy only supplies 5v and isn't the volume control also a transistor? Thats where the idea came from.

Knife Crimes
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SpudBencer wrote:

isn't the volume control also a transistor?

No. The volume control is a potentiometer.

SuperBustySamuraiMonkey
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Madriz, Supain

Jazzmarazz, would you build a DMG with those and sell it on commision?

Jazzmarazz
Offline
Michigan

I'm not really doing gameboys anymore. But I will work on a schematic when I get a chance. I'll make it work with the 2n3904 transistor or a dual op amp with a trimmer so people can set their own brightness preferences.

The only problem is that I don't know the full range of the output, so the trimmer will fix that.

Last edited by Jazzmarazz (Oct 29, 2015 6:54 pm)

katsumbhong
Offline
Taichung, Taiwan
jefftheworld wrote:
katsumbhong wrote:

google transistor.

Seeing as how many different things transistors are used for, that's a pretty useless answer.

SpudBencer wrote:

I did. Actually more confused now than before.

In this case, the transistor is being used to amplify the audio signal to allow a larger voltage for driving the LEDs. Think of a transistor as an electronically controlled switch, a voltage at the base will allow current to flow from the collector to the emitter. The audio signal in this design is relatively weak, not enough to drive your LEDs well, but it's connecting to the base instead and a 9v source is connecting to the LEDs in series with collector and emitter.

This means, as a small voltage/current is applied to the base, a larger voltage/current will flow through the LEDs - and through the collector and emitter - to ground. When even more voltage is applied to the base, even more of that 9v source will be allowed to pass through - obviously up to a maximum of 9 volts, as that's all you're providing.

In this sense, you can think of a transistor similar to a floodgate. The base acts as the controls to allow the gate to widen or close completely, the collector and emitter are the upstream and downstream sides of the gate, respectively.

Meh. Worked for me.

catskull
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NUMBSKULL

"a transistor is a series of tubes"

Dire Hit
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Seattle, WA

I still regard transistors as unnatural abominations and transistor biasing as an dark form of witchcraft.

SpudBencer
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Jazzmarazz wrote:

I'm not really doing gameboys anymore. But I will work on a schematic when I get a chance. I'll make it work with the 2n3904 transistor or a dual op amp with a trimmer so people can set their own brightness preferences.

The only problem is that I don't know the full range of the output, so the trimmer will fix that.

That would be awesome. As I mentioned i can do solder this to that things smile