Questions about import Dreamcast and Powerboards

[Menfa]

Hello! This is my first time posting, I'm unsure if I should put this under Dreamcast modding or voltage, if I should repost elsewhere on this site please do tell.

I live in Australia (PAL) and I want to get a Dreamcast. I've been watching Dreamcast prices on Ebay for a while now, but the prices for a PAL unit are much more than an NTSC-J unit.

Should I buy a model 0 or 1 NTSC-J Dreamcast from "Buyee", burn a "Codebreaker" or equivalent iso to a CD-R, that lets me bypass region checking, and replace the powerboard instead? (Btw I say Buyee because I've heard its the best place to import Japanese stuff). My TV can read NTSC video signals so that's no problem, but would PAL games run too slow/fast doing this method?

I don't think getting my hands on a PAL Dreamcast powerboard would be possible/practical since there aren't any broken PAL Dreamcasts on ebay right now and normally ones listed an untested sell for almost as much as tested units. Nor are there any stand alone powerboards listed. I have 4 ideas on how to approach this, but I am not sure how possible they are:

1. Mod the powerboard from the NTSC-J console so that it functions the same as a PAL console's powerboard. If all I would need to replace is resistors, capacitors, inductors or even make a custom PCB with a correct layout then this seems to be possible
2. For my birthday someone bought me a 8000mAh charger battery that has two USB ports that outputs at 1.0A and 2.1A. I don't think that battery would work since USB ports normally output 5V and I think some parts of the Dreamcast use 12V
3. I have a PAL model 1 Sega Saturn. Off the top of my head I can't remember if the powerboard is a type A or B...this might be useless for the Dreamcast, idk
4. I think I heard something about a Dreamcast DC (As oppose to AC) power mod, that would be amazing if it actually exists

Thanks!

Edit: I forgot to say that I won't go with the stepdown machine route because if I or someone else forgets and hooks the Dreamcast up to mains then its broken (And would cause a fright!). That and stepdowns are bulky.

 

[Menfa]

You have 2 reasonable options

1. Buy a Dev kit (thousands)
2. Perform the region free mod on a normal dreamcast (works on any dreamcast

Do I need to do one of those to get games to play at the correct speed or is that an alternate method than just burning a CD-R with codebreaker?

 

[ttsgeb]

If your TV plays NTSC just fine, I'd get an NTSC console and a 240v to 120v AC adapter to plug your ever growing collection of import consoles into.
From there, either run a modchip or just buy games from the console's region. You're probably not going to be walking into a random game store and buying games for this thing, anyway, and it's likely that any shop you find that does sell dreamcast games will have imports available, too.

If you aren't scared of hacking the console, you just need a 3.3v, 5v, and 12v line to power it. It would be really easy to modify an old computer power supply to do the trick, or roll your own DC/DC converters and switch it to using the relatively standard 12v power bricks with a 5.5 * 2.5mm connector that everything uses.

 

[Menfa]

If your TV plays NTSC just fine, I'd get an NTSC console and a 240v to 120v AC adapter to plug your ever growing collection of import consoles into.
From there, either run a modchip or just buy games from the console's region. You're probably not going to be walking into a random game store and buying games for this thing, anyway, and it's likely that any shop you find that does sell dreamcast games will have imports available, too.

If you aren't scared of hacking the console, you just need a 3.3v, 5v, and 12v line to power it. It would be really easy to modify an old computer power supply to do the trick, or roll your own DC/DC converters and switch it to using the relatively standard 12v power bricks with a 5.5 * 2.5mm connector that everything uses.

In my state I've only seen a total of 5 Dreamcast games and one controller in stores and there aren't many ebay/gumtree listings in my state either so I'm basically forced to buy online :/ I didn't mention before but I used to have a PAL revision 1 Dreamcast and still have some PAL Dreamcast games (Bought the console from one person and bought the games from another). I bought the Dreamcast from interstate and basically when it arrived, the laser was dead so I sent it back for a refund. That's partly why I would rather buy a Japanese unit since the price is less and wouldn't matter as much if it were faulty. But whatever Dreamcast unit I get would need to be able to play those PAL games so region-free BIOS it is.

I'll need to talk to one of my friends about how to create 3.3V and 5V from 12V, but I think that's the best option; Buying a Japanese unit, install region-free BIOS chip, use a 12V power brick (I have one from a broken device right here: 12V, 2A and I think its 4 * 1.5mm or something close) and replacing the powerboard with a custom PCB to take in the 12V brick power and distribute it properly. Thanks for the advice

Do I need 3.3V, 5V and 12V at a specific value of amps or does it not matter? I also heard no one is making the region-free BIOS chips anymore, is this true and if not do you know where I can find one?

 

[ttsgeb]

Do I need 3.3V, 5V and 12V at a specific value of amps or does it not matter? I also heard no one is making the region-free BIOS chips anymore, is this true and if not do you know where I can find one?

I'm not sure what the value you'll need for the power supply is, I'd just design it in excess. I hear the power draw for the whole console is around 25w, so designing it with 5A available on the 3.3v and 5v. lines and 2A available on the 12v lines should be more than enough. Double-check what the rated draw on the console is, though.

For the bios chips, with ASSEMbler games down right now, I can't link you to anyone that has them pre-flashed, but you can work on flashing and installing one yourself. The chips are easy to find, for example Here's a 5 chip set on ebay, and the chip you're looking for is the MX 29LV160TMC-90.
This guy has some pretty decent tutorials on installing the whole thing: http://www.mmmonkey.co.uk/sega-dreamcast-region-free-bios/

I should also say that I don't really know much about the Dreamcast in particular, this is just going off of cursory google searches and what electronic knowledge I already know. Finding some groups of DC fans to ask questions of could probably help you out quite a bit if you get stuck.

 

[Menfa]

Yeah, ASSEMbler games has been down for ages. Really annoying since there were alot of great tutorials and stuff only on that site, I hope it comes back one day. That mmmonkey link looks quite easy to follow so I'll buy some blank chips and do that method.

I'll double check those draw details before starting work, but aside from that I think I have all the information to get started. Again, thanks so much for the help