Downing's Geneboy 3 Portable Genesis (Mega Drive)

[Downing]

Hey guys, started my next project commission! I'd like to present my 3rd Sega Genesis Portable, the Geneboy 3.

This will be my most advanced Genesis portable I've done utilizing again a custom 3D printed casing, an Adafruit 5V up volt regulator/charger so I only need one 3.7v 5000mAh Li/Po battery and a 3.5" LCD display consistent with the Geneboy line of portables.

I don't anticipate taking this one very long to do. With the design work already complete, it'll just be a matter of printing, finishing and assembling.

So the back half has already printed nicely with the usual 3D printed imperfections apparent, but they will be taken care of in the finishing process. I'll try to document as much as I can here, even though I know the Sega thread is about as quite as a tomb. But, regardless, it's nice to have a build log again.

 

[Downing]

Some more updates. Made a good amount of progress to day.

 

[Mooper]

Looking good! I need a 3d printer.

 

[wallydawg]

I like your button tray prints. I'll have to consider that for my Nomad Jr since I'm having a bit of an issue with controls, but mostly from trying to recreate a NGPC joystick.

 

[Iceflow]

Whats the name of that "spongy" buttons? the ones for the controls... they look so nice some link to them?

Amazing construction you have in here!!

 

[Downing]

They are called "TL-9000" for the manufacturer part number, but you won't find them only by that name anyplace you can actually purchase them.

Ebay is the way to go with these guys. http://r.ebay.com/uAo6sT

 

[Downing]

Finished off the case work yesterday. Came out a bit more "sparkly" than I wanted but for a 3D printed case, I'm not going to complain about it. This "Glitter Blast" textured spray paint laid over a base of filler primer and black metallic finishes does a remarkable job of covering the imperfections that are inherent to 3D printing.

Sanded and Primed.

Painted, textured and painted again.

Now I get to the fun part of assembling the system, though admittedly I'm not looking forward to the cart relocation...60 freaking pins on the Sega systems and I've not taken the time pin out the common grounds and power pins that might save me a few wires in the process, but I have very little luck even when I do do it.

Anyway, got a lot of other things going on so this is kind of my spare time project which is a term that pretty much doesn't exist anymore. But in any case, I hope to get it done fairly quickly so I can sell it and start ordering some new equipment for the shop!

 

[BBDragon]

Downing
Hello)
You make awesome job, very appreciate, mate!
I have 3 questions about new project:

1) What kind of motherboard will you use - original or clone?
2) Why did you change D-pad to Sony once again? Looks like Nintendo D-pad works much better and looks nicely or am I wrong?
3) What are the characteristics of display and don't you wanna use the bigger one (4"-5")?

Thanks in advance!

 

[Downing]

Downing
Hello)
You make awesome job, very appreciate, mate!
I have 3 questions about new project:

1) What kind of motherboard will you use - original or clone?
2) Why did you change D-pad to Sony once again? Looks like Nintendo D-pad works much better and looks nicely or am I wrong?
3) What are the characteristics of display and don't you wanna use the bigger one (4"-5")?

Thanks in advance!

Glad you like the work, much appreciated also! As for your questions.

1. This is an original Gen 3 mother board, the smallest that the original hardware ever came.

2. I chose it because it's what I used on the original GeneBoy and GeneBoy Reloaded. Honestly, when using tact switches for your button presses, it really doesn't matter which D-Pad you use. It works well and it's one less custom part I have to print because I have a ton of D-Pads just lying around.

3. Again, the 3.5 Screen is what I used before and is the only option between a very expensive 5" 4 ratio screen. 4.3" and even the cheap 5" screens are all 16:9 which for a Genesis would look like crap due to the low resolution. You can get away with it using an N64, but still isn't the most ideal option. Plus, for a vertical format system like this, a bigger screen would require more width for the case which would make the whole system bigger if I wanted to keep it proportional. And the taller a vertical system get's, the more top heavy it becomes. So that's pretty much why.

 

[BBDragon]

Downing
Big thanks for answer!

1) As I know Genesis 3 don't support game Virtua Racing and sound is not so clear (revision VA1, VA2 is bit better). What revision do you use? You can check revision of motherboard with this picture.

2) Hmm.. I saw Nintendo D-Pad on Gene Reloaded picture

3) Understand you, thanks! And what is the resolution of this screen?

 

[Downing]

By the looks of it, it's a VA 1. Not that most ears will be able to tell the difference, both revisions are only Mono out which is a jumbled mess anyway. hehe.

Yeah, you got me on the Reloaded pic. It's actually a Game Cube D-Pad. It's been awhile since that one was completed...early memory loss setting in...can't remember why I switched (or that I even did for that matter)

I think it's the standard 320 x 240 resolution. It's just an ebay car back-up screen you can find for $15.

 

[Element18592]

Looking great as always Downing!

 

[Downing]

Thanks man! Gotta make some more updates on this as I have made quite a bit of progress, but so much time to document updates, I just don't have it. hehe

 

[Codete]

Fantastic!