The www.HandheldMuseum.com Forum Forum Index
 FAQFAQ   SearchSearch   MemberlistMemberlist   UsergroupsUsergroups   RegisterRegister 
 ProfileProfile   Log in to check your private messagesLog in to check your private messages   Log inLog in 
My Mattel Football hack (made the 'screen' larger)

 
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The www.HandheldMuseum.com Forum Forum Index -> Handheld Games
View previous topic :: View next topic  
Author Message
Rik
Site Admin


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 28 Mar 2024
Posts: 1932
Location: California

PostPosted: Fri Jan 20, 2012 1:23 pm    Post subject: My Mattel Football hack (made the 'screen' larger) Reply with quote

This was mentioned in another thread, and someone wanted to see pics of it... This was originally a working Mattel Football, but a couple of the LEDs had been damaged and no longer worked (once you touch one, it's toast... But that's how I got it). So I figured it would be fun to try to make an external display for it. I meant to make a 'nice looking' one eventually, but I wanted to see if it work first, so this was my prototype (and the only one I ever made). After making the board, I thought it would be funny to mount it in the handheld game and carry it around at Classic Gaming Expo playing it... Got a lot of fun comments on it...

Here's the front, just after turning the game on, ready to play:


And showing the score when pressing one of the score buttons:


And the back side with all the wiring... Shocked


Another thing I thought of doing was replacing the LEDs with the tiny surface mount ones they make these days... Maybe bright blue or white, just to be weird. Mr. Green

See this thread:
http://www.handheldmuseum.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1752
to see how the professionals do it... Cool

Rik
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
nicknicknickandnick
Bandai FL Burgertime


Joined: 24 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 18 May 2014
Posts: 107

PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 2:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

lol, that's larger alright, more so than I expected!

OK now I have an image in my mind of giant lights on a real football field hooked up in that manner, and someone up in the stands playing it.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
slydc
Entex Crazy Climber


Joined: 24 Sep 2011
Last Visit: 16 Oct 2012
Posts: 66
Location: QC, Canada

PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 8:04 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Cool!! You finally posted some pictures of your Mattel Football mod. Very Happy

Looks even bigger than i imagined and for a prototype, hats off! Wink

I was going to mention if you would ever do a better display/casing
of your mod but after reading/seeing the over-sized Mattel Soccer
that you recently got, i think you'll never going to finish it which would
be a real shame. Crying or Very sad

Just a question: do you use a 9v battery or a 9v power supply since
the big display uses bigger LEDs ? If you use a 9v battery, how long
does it last ?

So many questions & projects, so little time... Wink


--- Sly DC ---
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger
blanka
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Last Visit: 13 Oct 2022
Posts: 561
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands

PostPosted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 9:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

With other colour LED's be careful that the voltage is different, and at higher brightness the current can be higher. The current limiting resistor (is it on the board or inside the chip? if there are many similar resistors on the board, they might be outside the chip) has to be changed to match your LED. What value do they have now?
For example a red LED works between 1.5-2V, where a blue or white one needs aroudn 3V to operate.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rik
Site Admin


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 28 Mar 2024
Posts: 1932
Location: California

PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:33 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

slydc wrote:
I was going to mention if you would ever do a better display/casing
of your mod but after reading/seeing the over-sized Mattel Soccer
that you recently got, i think you'll never going to finish it which would
be a real shame. Crying or Very sad


Actually, it might motivate me to re-do this... I might even use a fully working Football so I can have the display working on both the handheld and the larger display, that's actually kind of cool to see...

I don't think I'd make anything as big as the Soccer, but something like the size of an Adventure Vision with the actual game mounted in the front... Or maybe just make a 1-foot tall version of the game, fully self-contained an playable.... That'd be cool. Mr. Green

slydc wrote:
Just a question: do you use a 9v battery or a 9v power supply since
the big display uses bigger LEDs ? If you use a 9v battery, how long
does it last ?


Currently just using a regular battery. I think I carried it around for a couple of hours at CGE, and definitely noticed that the LEDs were getting harder to see at that point. I'm pretty sure that's a new battery in it in these pictures, so it's not exceptionally bright to begin with (I guess in all fairness, the real LEDs in the game aren't very bright either when you have the case off... Putting them in the dark cave of the game's display area definitely helps their appearance. Smile )

blanka wrote:
With other colour LED's be careful that the voltage is different, and at higher brightness the current can be higher. The current limiting resistor (is it on the board or inside the chip? if there are many similar resistors on the board, they might be outside the chip) has to be changed to match your LED. What value do they have now?
For example a red LED works between 1.5-2V, where a blue or white one needs aroudn 3V to operate.


Yeah, I figure there's more than slapping LEDs in there... I know the 'exotic' colors (blue, white) draw more power... Would they just be dimmer if I mounted them straight in the game? Or not work at all?

I'd have to look again, but I'm pretty sure there's only a couple of circuits visible on the board as it is (certainly not one resister per LED)... I believe the LEDs are 'scanned' though, so technically there's only one on at any given time (maybe 3 max, many of them share the same circuit on one side), so maybe only a few resistors would be needed? Stuff I gotta look into if I ever do it...

Rik
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
blanka
Atari Cosmos


Joined: 14 Dec 2010
Last Visit: 13 Oct 2022
Posts: 561
Location: Eindhoven, the Netherlands

PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 2:01 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Blue or white leds might not work at all at 1.5V.
Guess they are matrixed. So they either have a common anode or a common cathode. That would allow 1 resistor per group. But the resisters might as well be inside the controller. In that case, you can use optocouplers to switch higher loads, while maintaining a regular "LED" balast to the game itself. It also allows for a complete independant circuit.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message
Rik
Site Admin


Joined: 07 Oct 2005
Last Visit: 28 Mar 2024
Posts: 1932
Location: California

PostPosted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 11:14 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

blanka wrote:
Blue or white leds might not work at all at 1.5V.
Guess they are matrixed. So they either have a common anode or a common cathode. That would allow 1 resistor per group. But the resisters might as well be inside the controller. In that case, you can use optocouplers to switch higher loads, while maintaining a regular "LED" balast to the game itself. It also allows for a complete independant circuit.


Matrixed, that's the word I was looking for... Smile Yeah, if you look at the picture of the back of the board, you can see the wiring diagram I drew on the card board: 3 rows, 9 columns. That's how they are wire up, 3 sets of commons on one side, 9 sets on the other... The score LEDs wire up in a similar way, and are only active when a button is pressed (which turns off the playfield LEDs...)

I'll have to experiment with all of this and see if I can get something cool to work... Cool
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website
slydc
Entex Crazy Climber


Joined: 24 Sep 2011
Last Visit: 16 Oct 2012
Posts: 66
Location: QC, Canada

PostPosted: Fri Jan 27, 2012 10:14 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was thinking for using blue, green, etc...LEDs, why not make a small voltage "booster" circuitry with some few transistors ?

For each micro LED on a board, boost the voltage with a 2N2222 or 2N3904 ? Just a thought here since i do this to boost the video signal or invert it for old video game systems.
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Yahoo Messenger
bomberpunk
Gakken Dig Dug


Joined: 13 Jul 2006
Last Visit: 15 Mar 2021
Posts: 152
Location: new orleans, la

PostPosted: Mon Jan 30, 2012 12:35 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Shocked wow, it looks like the numeric display was a complete pain in the rump. great job!
_________________
cheers,
bp
Back to top
View user's profile Send private message Visit poster's website AIM Address
Display posts from previous:   
Post new topic   Reply to topic    The www.HandheldMuseum.com Forum Forum Index -> Handheld Games All times are GMT - 8 Hours
Page 1 of 1

 
Jump to:  
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum


Powered by phpBB © 2001, 2005 phpBB Group