Watching Ben build custom handhelds out of my favorite gaming systems is literally why I subscribe to this channel. I may have to wait between builds, but they're always worth it.
+Jacemachine Gaming Yeah, it's still one of my favourite things in the show too. I think it was probably the reason for him creating the channel in the first place - I mean, back in the day, he was mostly known for accessible controllers, pinball, and portable-all-the-things.
I have always loved this Show. But I gotta say that the video production quality is so much better since Max joined the team. It is much more fun since Karen joined. Felix has become a very cool part of the show too. Keep it up guys!
I love all of the Atari mods that you have come up with. I have my first ever Atari 2600 from my childhood back in 1979 that is still running to this day.
8 лет назад+17
Every single episode I'm still waiting for the "batten down the hatches". I'm not sure how long I can last.
Love the organisation tips. Here's an extension of one...after you're done writing on your storage containers in sharpie, cover it over with clear sticky tape. That marker ink rubs off plastic WAY easy. Of course, if your container is made of a material with high temperature resistance, you can seal your written labelling with a few passes from a heat gun.
There was probably some kind of technical issue with getting the audio to work. They mention audio various times during the build as if they planned for there to be audio, but then in the end it seems like it doesn't have audio.
This is my favorite one of your Atari handhelds yet; other than the minor issues with the case you brought up yourself (and which could easily be remedied by a strip of wood-print vinyl around the edge,) it's the most coherently designed one you've made. I like the idea of integrating a wheel into the d-pad design; if you decide to do that, it would make this absolutely perfect.
I really like how this build turned out. The laser cut front panel looks incredible. The only real weakness seems to be the d-pad. I LOVE seeing a reasonably sized portable Atari with an actual functional cartridge slot!!
This is neat. For you battery drain issue, I suspect the power switch connections on the board just turn off the boost converter and when off it may still be supplying the 3.7V directly from the battery to the output. I remember reading/hearing this about another charger board I was looking at.
It's fun watching this, you start thinking about just how much work and thought goes into designing the final handhelds and such from the Nintendo/Sony/Segas and so forth of the world.
you could reprint the d-pad with small pie piece shapes in the "corners", they would sit in the blank spots around the tact switches and prevent rotation but still allow for the rocking motion to hit the switches? just an idea i had. thanks for all the fun episodes guys!
3:55 The datasheet on Adafruit says that the battery is rated to a max discharge cuurent of 2C. Since this battery's capacity is 2500 mAh, that should mean up to 5A max current draw, right? 1A is well within its ratings.
Problems I see with this design: Some cartridges will not fit, and a decent number of games do not use the joystick. Some use 2 joysticks, paddles, driving controller, or keypads. The option for DB9 plugs is a huge oversight.
Outstanding creativity, Ben. Bravo. Have you ever considered trying to teach people how to keep their pinball machines running beyond designing? A worthwhile "public service announcement".
Wow this is great!! Sorry it took so long for me to find it!! Coming to you from Little America in Wyoming, in my 35 foot Class A motor home, as we meander our way from our Arizona winter to our South Dakota summer digs.
Would be neat to see if you could make some sort of recycler for your 3d printing plastic. there are a couple on the market but who wouldn't want to grind up and re-use failed/test parts.
Great job as usual. Only complaint I have would be needing ports for keyboard controller games. You have the d pad seemingly for joystick and paddle controls, and I'm assuming the driver controller used to play Indy 500. The keyboard controller is the only thing missing.
Why is this so unique? I converted a B&W TV to run in a car back in the 80s and did the calculation for the current drop, installed an 1/8 jack to run a male mono to mono plug so it could feed 9vdc from the 12vdc tv to the atari. I played in the back seat. The only annoying thing was when I cranked the engine the whole screen squished up for lack of juice.
I'd like to see you do this again but use the Atari flash back 2 as it used Atari hardware but wasn't made in the 70s. Released in 2005, many people added a cart slot to the unit to play games other then the built in ones.
Bin cabinets are pricey. If you are wondering, they range from $700 (US) to $1300 (still US). They are great, but like Karen says, there are alternatives. I found one at a yard/garage sale for $50 (but I had to wheel it nearly a mile, over hills, to my place by hand-truck).
Cool project. The project has something in common with my PSP-3000. It uses a noticeable amount of power while off(not just suspended). I never get tired of "Where are my dragons?" in the intro. Good times!
So cool. My only criticism would be that the games were designed to play on a 4:3 screen, so stretching them to a 16:9 screen alters their appearance a bit. It's the minorest of minor nitpicks :p
Horrible Freight is a good place for those organizers, at least for what I have found. I use them for components and such. For Rivets, Nuts and tools I found that there are tackle/toolboxes at FleetFarm that are fairly good too.
To fix your power problem, you need a 2 position, 6 pin switch, Have the top pins for your voltage, so NC, +V, +v to atari, and on the bottom row it would be Power booster enable pin, Ground, NC So when it's off, it connects ground to the enable pin, which puts the power booster into ultra low power mode. Else the power booster will remain "on", even if the device isn't.
You inspire me mod electronics, I very much enjoy your enginuity. I recently modded a Sega Saturn arcade stick to work as a 7800 controller, so much better than the original controller. My next idea is to stick a retron 3 inside a fat arcade stick box and wire the cartridge slots on the back to make a custom arcade stick multi console. I wouldn't have even thought of hacking electronics until I saw your work. Thanks for the content
Speaking of organisation, I honestly want to see Ben build some sort of automatic part fetcher and delivery system! Using model trains, or scalectrics or RC cars.
I've never done anything with electronics what would a good project be for my introduction and what soldering gun could you suggest that's not to expensive but will still work well for my needs.
love this project. loved the solder episode too. Atari. Ben needs to let me have this console. I love it. Ben you are a legend. keep doing what you do and I will continue to watch your videos. :)
Ahh, I found it. you already made one. I was watching this one, and at the end you were talking about how you could have done this, that, etc: I wondered, why didnt you round and taper the sides and corners, and maybe just print a screen riser that would elevate the screen enough to hold the caps, while 'perfecting' the appearance of it, and maybe make it look more atari-like?
Nice build. But how can "Indiana Jones" be played as there isn't anything to plug in a second controller that is needed to select items in the player's inventory?
You finally did one with the cart on the back! Yess! _That's_ the proper way to do it! But why didn't you put everything on one side of the case? Maybe you could save some space for a bigger battery. Although you could probably make that thicker on the sides... As much as the LCD + cartridge + some plastic in between for structural integrity like you did there, but for the whole width of the case, rounding the corners for comfort, that sort of thing. Love the front "plate"... except for the pad not being a cross. Wonder if you could make one with a slide pad (like the one on the 3DS). AND that it doesn't look again like a GameBoy! Bit of a short episode... You started the project in the middle. :(
I would like to build an Atari 7800 portable if possible is it an easier project for a novice or could you give me some advice on what I should start with for my first project. I've never soldered anything other than the pipes in my bathroom or in high school electrical class back in 1990/91
Perhaps all 252 Atari games is the best portable complete version as long as the joystick pad and paddle controllers are built in. Even a portable Intellivision should be on the next episode is a must for any Intellivision lover.
Ben Heck, next time around for the D-Pad, try the old Sega Master System style which is square. It was a softer rubber and more comfortable than the traditional Nintendo style.
is there a parts list and diagram for the wiring available. I have the chips from a bad atari 2600 that only plays in black and white... and this might be a fun project plus i just got a 7 inch screen that would awesome to try and do this project...
I wonder what kind of work/hardware would be required to make it able to dump cartridge ROM via USB / to SD card, or going the other way and loading an image via SD/USB to make sort of a modding/"dev" console? IIRC that's what the RetroN 5 does to load a physical cartridge for its emulation cores. It seems like something that wouldn't be too difficult in theory, especially for the 2600... I know actually *writing* (E)EPROM would be much more difficult and would require a lot more specialized hardware and software.
+Runefox i think the atari game chips were written on eeprom reader/writer style writers and the pcb on the cart is just a different connector for those pins
3:57 "Probably pushing this battery right up to its limit". Lel, that's a 2500mAh Li-po, so that's less than 0.4C. I bet it could do many times that continuously or even more in burst.
+Jared Reabow (Jazza) Sort of? It's more burning it off. It's plastic with a thin layer of brushed aluminum on the surface. The laser is essentially vaporizing the aluminum. Though now that I spell it out that does sound pretty metal. \m/
You still need the BW/Color switch for like the three games that did something useful with it (useful in this case being something other then switching between BW and Color)
- Journey Escape had a colorful background that would switch on in color mode, Space Shuttle used all of the switches for different things. Obviously there will be a few more but that is all I can think of.
There was a guy building these by hand 20 years ago. I wish I could find his site but it’s probably gone. I nearly bought one. This was the early day of the internet. You could send him your Atari and he’d turn it into a handheld. It wasn’t cheap either.
This is AWESOME! I mean it really is, I have produced products and like they are in the stores... I'm telling you this is badass, when you feel the thing come together and it's that retro.... Madness! 😆 well done guys.
So check out the latest Vsauce2 Mind Blow, it's got something in it that's going in the same direction as your pill weight thingy, can't remember what it's called.
This connector is a board edge connector, 0.100" pitch, 24 contacts, vertical through-hole, top-mount version. Getting an exact connector is possible, but most manufacturers don't offer 24-contact versions, they jump from 22 or 20 to 26. I think this one is made by Sullins, certainly looks like it.
Watching Ben build custom handhelds out of my favorite gaming systems is literally why I subscribe to this channel. I may have to wait between builds, but they're always worth it.
+Jacemachine Gaming Yeah, it's still one of my favourite things in the show too. I think it was probably the reason for him creating the channel in the first place - I mean, back in the day, he was mostly known for accessible controllers, pinball, and portable-all-the-things.
One of my favorite things about TBHS is that every time it comes up on my YT feed it reminds me that it's FRIDAY!!
Thank Ben Heck It's Friday!
+xKatjaxPurrsx Haha same!
I have always loved this Show. But I gotta say that the video production quality is so much better since Max joined the team. It is much more fun since Karen joined. Felix has become a very cool part of the show too. Keep it up guys!
If Atari would reproduce these things in this format I would buy them all over again!! :) Great work guys!
+6LordMortus9
tru dat, me2
+Omega Rugal back in the day there would have been much more shielding and also a bigger psu
Just buy an atari box
I love all of the Atari mods that you have come up with. I have my first ever Atari 2600 from my childhood back in 1979 that is still running to this day.
Every single episode I'm still waiting for the "batten down the hatches".
I'm not sure how long I can last.
+Toni Lähdekorpi That clip is from the "Ben Heck's Hacking the Zombie Apocalypse" episode (april 2015)
"I need to find the least worst option for this" Ben
Exactly sums up politics right now.
+BeatlesCuber Hildog is the worst one.
Someone actually thinks Trump is the better option.... Jesus Christ.
Krytern UK Somebody who is a liberal and feels the need to insult people with different opinions.... Jesus Christ
rccarz5 What insult did I say?
Krytern UK You implied Trump supporters has issues.
Needs some wood grain covering on it. :)
Dan Waters lgr approved?
Love the organisation tips. Here's an extension of one...after you're done writing on your storage containers in sharpie, cover it over with clear sticky tape. That marker ink rubs off plastic WAY easy. Of course, if your container is made of a material with high temperature resistance, you can seal your written labelling with a few passes from a heat gun.
There was probably some kind of technical issue with getting the audio to work. They mention audio various times during the build as if they planned for there to be audio, but then in the end it seems like it doesn't have audio.
This is my favorite one of your Atari handhelds yet; other than the minor issues with the case you brought up yourself (and which could easily be remedied by a strip of wood-print vinyl around the edge,) it's the most coherently designed one you've made. I like the idea of integrating a wheel into the d-pad design; if you decide to do that, it would make this absolutely perfect.
I really like how this build turned out. The laser cut front panel looks incredible. The only real weakness seems to be the d-pad. I LOVE seeing a reasonably sized portable Atari with an actual functional cartridge slot!!
no speakers?
The design of the unit reminds me of the Nintendo Game&Watch. Great job, Ben!
This is neat. For you battery drain issue, I suspect the power switch connections on the board just turn off the boost converter and when off it may still be supplying the 3.7V directly from the battery to the output. I remember reading/hearing this about another charger board I was looking at.
"NO DAMAGE THO" I got a good laugh out of that reference
It's fun watching this, you start thinking about just how much work and thought goes into designing the final handhelds and such from the Nintendo/Sony/Segas and so forth of the world.
He was wiring a audio amp, where is the speaker and sound during demo?
+soepschoen I was wondering that myself. Doesn't seem to have speakers.
Exactly! What happened to the audio circuitry??
He made the wheel and the bread board for the audio amplifyr but he doesn't add it
you could reprint the d-pad with small pie piece shapes in the "corners", they would sit in the blank spots around the tact switches and prevent rotation but still allow for the rocking motion to hit the switches? just an idea i had. thanks for all the fun episodes guys!
Bring Back "batten down the hatches!!" or riot
plz ben
+TechBuild Studios "I wanna live in a world with 'Batten down the hatches!!' agaaaaaaain!"
+TechBuild Studios I am starting to like "Oh look I knocked some hot glue loose." and "Where are my dragons?"
Stingray "where are my dragons" is great but lets get an intro with both
I love "where are my dragons" haha
3:55 The datasheet on Adafruit says that the battery is rated to a max discharge cuurent of 2C. Since this battery's capacity is 2500 mAh, that should mean up to 5A max current draw, right? 1A is well within its ratings.
Problems I see with this design: Some cartridges will not fit, and a decent number of games do not use the joystick. Some use 2 joysticks, paddles, driving controller, or keypads. The option for DB9 plugs is a huge oversight.
use the Atari 2800 controllers?
Outstanding creativity, Ben. Bravo.
Have you ever considered trying to teach people how to keep their pinball machines running beyond designing? A worthwhile "public service announcement".
Wow this is great!! Sorry it took so long for me to find it!! Coming to you from Little America in Wyoming, in my 35 foot Class A motor home, as we meander our way from our Arizona winter to our South Dakota summer digs.
Ben, Can you tell what the new video circuit is that you made for this one? That was clean looking.
Would be neat to see if you could make some sort of recycler for your 3d printing plastic. there are a couple on the market but who wouldn't want to grind up and re-use failed/test parts.
Why 16:9?
Maybe you can form a plastic screen dome to lay over the LCD in the shape of the old curved CRT monitors.
that's a spot-on recreation of the Commando theme, I will say that haha! awesome build I love seeing these classic gaming projects come to life!!
Great build Ben. Love the front plate design.
I like how they made so it looks like something you'd actually see on TV. Seriously, this needs be on TV
Great job as usual. Only complaint I have would be needing ports for keyboard controller games. You have the d pad seemingly for joystick and paddle controls, and I'm assuming the driver controller used to play Indy 500. The keyboard controller is the only thing missing.
Why is this so unique? I converted a B&W TV to run in a car back in the 80s and did the calculation for the current drop, installed an 1/8 jack to run a male mono to mono plug so it could feed 9vdc from the 12vdc tv to the atari.
I played in the back seat. The only annoying thing was when I cranked the engine the whole screen squished up for lack of juice.
PS: Love the build. Could you you put AV ports on it so you could connect it to your tele?
I'd like to see you do this again but use the Atari flash back 2 as it used Atari hardware but wasn't made in the 70s. Released in 2005, many people added a cart slot to the unit to play games other then the built in ones.
Bin cabinets are pricey. If you are wondering, they range from $700 (US) to $1300 (still US). They are great, but like Karen says, there are alternatives. I found one at a yard/garage sale for $50 (but I had to wheel it nearly a mile, over hills, to my place by hand-truck).
Nice build! Loved that it kept the 80's style.
Cool project. The project has something in common with my PSP-3000. It uses a noticeable amount of power while off(not just suspended).
I never get tired of "Where are my dragons?" in the intro. Good times!
I really like how this one turned out, looks very good.
So cool. My only criticism would be that the games were designed to play on a 4:3 screen, so stretching them to a 16:9 screen alters their appearance a bit. It's the minorest of minor nitpicks :p
Yeah, i think it's crazy he used the wrong aspect ratio.
I know this was a bit more rushed so it might almost be insulting to say but this is probably the best looking handheld you've made.
Could you have used your CNC to wood cut a case? Or does it not work well with compact creations?
How did you attach wires to the buttons after you glued them to the laser-cut board?
Interesting build. Even more interesting language from Ben at 18.44!
Horrible Freight is a good place for those organizers, at least for what I have found. I use them for components and such. For Rivets, Nuts and tools I found that there are tackle/toolboxes at FleetFarm that are fairly good too.
Why put a volume control and no speaker or audio jack?
Just to stymie you
It's weird, to be sure. Out of time?
More of this type of project please Ben.
The Heck are the speakers?!
What about designing a smaller cartridge case for the games and then designing a new casing based on the new smaller cart design?
To fix your power problem, you need a 2 position, 6 pin switch, Have the top pins for your voltage, so NC, +V, +v to atari, and on the bottom row it would be Power booster enable pin, Ground, NC
So when it's off, it connects ground to the enable pin, which puts the power booster into ultra low power mode. Else the power booster will remain "on", even if the device isn't.
Hey Ben, what material are you using for the laser cut top panel? It looks sort of metallic.
+Ryan Priore It's 1/16" brushed aluminum plastic.
+theHeckwithKaren do you have a source you can tell us...Thanks
You inspire me mod electronics, I very much enjoy your enginuity. I recently modded a Sega Saturn arcade stick to work as a 7800 controller, so much better than the original controller. My next idea is to stick a retron 3 inside a fat arcade stick box and wire the cartridge slots on the back to make a custom arcade stick multi console. I wouldn't have even thought of hacking electronics until I saw your work. Thanks for the content
Speaking of organisation, I honestly want to see Ben build some sort of automatic part fetcher and delivery system! Using model trains, or scalectrics or RC cars.
I've never done anything with electronics what would a good project be for my introduction and what soldering gun could you suggest that's not to expensive but will still work well for my needs.
You have a part giveaway bin? I could make use of my old semi-broken 2600, just need a case.
I guess I missed what happened with the speaker. Why did the handheld have no sound?
Needs wood trim on the side.
yeah would definitely suit it.
love this project. loved the solder episode too. Atari. Ben needs to let me have this console. I love it. Ben you are a legend. keep doing what you do and I will continue to watch your videos. :)
Best looking Atari 2600 portable yet Ben!
Ahh, I found it. you already made one.
I was watching this one, and at the end you were talking about how you could have done this, that, etc: I wondered, why didnt you round and taper the sides and corners, and maybe just print a screen riser that would elevate the screen enough to hold the caps, while 'perfecting' the appearance of it, and maybe make it look more atari-like?
Nice build.
But how can "Indiana Jones" be played as there isn't anything to plug in a second controller that is needed to select items in the player's inventory?
Where do you get the 1/16" brushed aluminum plastic. thanks.
Wow, that turned out beautifully!
In Batman Returns, a baby entered some underground caves full of penguins and became Penguin. We know how penguins love caves under a city.
You finally did one with the cart on the back! Yess! _That's_ the proper way to do it!
But why didn't you put everything on one side of the case? Maybe you could save some space for a bigger battery. Although you could probably make that thicker on the sides... As much as the LCD + cartridge + some plastic in between for structural integrity like you did there, but for the whole width of the case, rounding the corners for comfort, that sort of thing.
Love the front "plate"... except for the pad not being a cross. Wonder if you could make one with a slide pad (like the one on the 3DS). AND that it doesn't look again like a GameBoy!
Bit of a short episode... You started the project in the middle. :(
Doesn’t the lcd need 12 volts since it’s designed to go into a car? How did you power it with only 5v?
how about wiring a SEGA Genesis controller to it. You could use the D-Pad of it and the 3 or 6 way buttons
Maybe if you did it again, the D-Pad could be something akin to the Directional Stick of the Neo Geo Pocket?
Nice episode, wouldnt mind watching the hour long resoldering of the connector either :D
I have one Question What about sound. How do you get sound to work? Is it possible?
I played this at the Madison mini Maker Faire. It was great!
What do you actually do with the 3D printed parts that don't end up in the final build?
+thomasokane They go in a box that we take to events and give away to kids.
I would like to build an Atari 7800 portable if possible is it an easier project for a novice or could you give me some advice on what I should start with for my first project. I've never soldered anything other than the pipes in my bathroom or in high school electrical class back in 1990/91
Perhaps all 252 Atari games is the best portable complete version as long as the joystick pad and paddle controllers are built in. Even a portable Intellivision should be on the next episode is a must for any Intellivision lover.
Ben Heck, next time around for the D-Pad, try the old Sega Master System style which is square. It was a softer rubber and more comfortable than the traditional Nintendo style.
hi... @ben... can you replace smartphone camera sensor with Dlsr sensor?
is there a parts list and diagram for the wiring available. I have the chips from a bad atari 2600 that only plays in black and white... and this might be a fun project plus i just got a 7 inch screen that would awesome to try and do this project...
+Glenn Few plus i have been waiting for you to finish this project ever since you did the first half..
+Glenn Few If you go to the episode page on the element14 Community, there is a link to the build files. No BOM as of yet though. bit.ly/1SUjW0e
Amazing stuff Ben. I wanted to build one of these when i was a Teen, back in the late 80's. And are you or your shows on Roku?
Anyone know where I could find the same/similar display for a similar project?
That is so cool. Excellent work.
I wonder what kind of work/hardware would be required to make it able to dump cartridge ROM via USB / to SD card, or going the other way and loading an image via SD/USB to make sort of a modding/"dev" console? IIRC that's what the RetroN 5 does to load a physical cartridge for its emulation cores. It seems like something that wouldn't be too difficult in theory, especially for the 2600...
I know actually *writing* (E)EPROM would be much more difficult and would require a lot more specialized hardware and software.
+Runefox i think the atari game chips were written on eeprom reader/writer style writers and the pcb on the cart is just a different connector for those pins
How much to buy one of those from you??
Do you build custom handhelds for people.
I did this with the small version back when he posted that. Didn't go this well.
Awesome job!!! Do you sell these?? How much?
3:57 "Probably pushing this battery right up to its limit". Lel, that's a 2500mAh Li-po, so that's less than 0.4C. I bet it could do many times that continuously or even more in burst.
14:09 is that cutting metal?????? if no, what did?
+Jared Reabow (Jazza) Sort of? It's more burning it off. It's plastic with a thin layer of brushed aluminum on the surface. The laser is essentially vaporizing the aluminum.
Though now that I spell it out that does sound pretty metal. \m/
Ben, could you build a 7 inch tablet out of the Intel compute stick m5.
You still need the BW/Color switch for like the three games that did something useful with it (useful in this case being something other then switching between BW and Color)
Theo Winters
Which games were they?!
- Journey Escape had a colorful background that would switch on in color mode, Space Shuttle used all of the switches for different things. Obviously there will be a few more but that is all I can think of.
Cool
There was a guy building these by hand 20 years ago. I wish I could find his site but it’s probably gone. I nearly bought one. This was the early day of the internet. You could send him your Atari and he’d turn it into a handheld. It wasn’t cheap either.
You could mod the carts and print new cases and labels and slim them down.
Hmm... I found one of those slim model 2600s. Might be a neat project. Although I don't have any games at all. Or controllers.
I'm pretty sure Ben heck has already done something like this on a portable version of this but just made it thinner
This is AWESOME! I mean it really is, I have produced products and like they are in the stores... I'm telling you this is badass, when you feel the thing come together and it's that retro.... Madness! 😆 well done guys.
And maybe add some speakers so you can hear the classic Atari sound effects
It always works...except when it doesn’t. Anyone else enjoy looking at Her shirt every episode? 🤪
please paint the backside dark brown. the white ruins the atari look, that could be spot on otherwise.
So check out the latest Vsauce2 Mind Blow, it's got something in it that's going in the same direction as your pill weight thingy, can't remember what it's called.
Also i was wondering what connector is that for the game cartridge?
This connector is a board edge connector, 0.100" pitch, 24 contacts, vertical through-hole, top-mount version. Getting an exact connector is possible, but most manufacturers don't offer 24-contact versions, they jump from 22 or 20 to 26. I think this one is made by Sullins, certainly looks like it.
Hello Siana Gearz Thank you very much for that information.
+Siana Gearz you made my life a thousand times easier
What happened to Allison?