Atari 2600 powered by 9v battery

[esplonky]

I was wondering if i could power my Atari 2600 4 switch woody NTSC with a single 9 volt battery since the power brick outputs 9 volts

 

 

if it can I'm planning to make a portable game center

[Thomas Jentzsch]

Should work, but I suppose the running time will be VERY bad.

[Rex Dart]

Assuming the power brick outputs DC, I suppose it might work. There are better ways of powering a 2600 from batteries, though.

[esplonky]

yeah. I go through 9v batteries like candy so i always stock enough. and is the power input cord the same as a headphone plug? cus they seem the same but im not so sure they are

[Tr3vor]

I wonder if those 2600 on a chips from the flashback 2 consume less power. Someone should try to make a handheld out of one...

Edited October 15, 2011 by Tr3vor

[Rex Dart]

I wonder if those 2600 on a chips from the flashback 2 consume less power. Someone should try to make a handheld out of one...

 

[potatohead]

I've done it. Did it way back when as a kid too.

 

Run time is really crappy. I don't recall just how long, but it's not very long at all.

 

If you really want to do battery, get some C or D sized rechargeable batteries and one of those battery packs.

[player 0ne]

i run my flashback2 on a 9v battery. but if i use a cart or my harmony cart in the cart mod it wont work. with just the built in games the low 9v battery will run it for a LONG time. but the cart port wears out the battery QUICK. it obviously uses more power. i would assume the 2600 is the same way. it will use more power than the 9v battery likes to output. so heres the fix. use a 12v battery. you could use the smallest 12v lead acid gel sealed battery available. either from a powerwheels, or from a battery store. then you just need to punch some numbers into ohms law to determine what resistor to use. the 2600 uses like 350ma of power, and you need to waste like 3 volts. not sure what resistor you would need, but since the 2600 has a regulator in it.. it doesnt have to be perfect. if someone does the math please post the answer here. you can get the resistor online or at radio shack.

i run my flashback2 with a cart AND a 3.5 inch lcd screen on a 12volt 500ma wall wart with no resistor. i think the consumption reduces the voltage just enough, and the lcd screen is 12v anyway. so be pretty open minded about the power.

im glad someone posted about this.

[RodLightning]

Two or more wired together in series would be a better approach. How many 9v transistor radio batteries can you cram into an Altoids tin?

[keilbaca]

The run time is about 4 hours on a 9 volt.

[+5-11under]

Replace the regulator with an LDO, and use a 7.2V or 8.4V Li-ion battery. Fairly simple and fairly efficient.

[zylon]

6 9volts wired in parallel works great. Series increases voltage, parallel increases amps.

[+thegoldenband]

I have a recurring pipe dream of driving into some extremely remote part of Quebec with my girlfriend (like the Trans-Taiga Road or something), and playing battery-powered Atari in the middle of nowhere while the moose watch warily from a distance. (Don't know what I'd use for the picture, but cross that bridge etc.)

 

Even without that picturesque image, I love the idea of being able to charge some 9-volts with a solar panel, and then play Atari without using any juice from the wall.

 

To get 4 hours from a 9 volt, do you have to remove the voltage regulator first? I have a 2600 Jr. that may have a dead voltage regulator, and if so that'd be the perfect excuse to turn it into a battery-powered special.

[Pioneer4x4]

I wonder if those 2600 on a chips from the flashback 2 consume less power. Someone should try to make a handheld out of one...

 

 

That is COOL, where can I find more info on it?

[SlowCoder]

I believe the 2600 runs on 5v, and the regulator drops the voltage from 9v to 5v. I don't think there is any part of the console that actually uses 9v.

 

Therefore, could you install a series of five 1.2v rechargeable sub-C batteries? They are high amperage, can be quick-charged, and would probably run the console for a long while.

 

If running on battery, would also probably be a good idea to install a voltage cutoff that kills the power when the batteries can't supply a proper running voltage. Some electronics don't like running on low voltage.

[31336haxx0r]

The 2600 runs on 5 Volts. Running it on a higher voltage WILL kill it, so please don't remove the power regulator and put 9 Volts to it! The stock voltage regulator is a linear regulator type (7805), that means it simply wastes the excess voltage as heat. At 300 mA current draw, 9V input voltage, that makes 0,3A*4V= 1,2 Watts simply wasted. If you want a more efficient power supply, replace the linear regulator with a switching type regulator. It has a much better efficiency, prolonging battery life. According to this site (http://www.mercateo....aet_550mAh.html) Varta 9V batteries have a capacity of 550 mAh. That means the battery is dead, if you draw 550 mAmps for 1 hour or 275 mAmps for 2 hours. I suggest using a switch mode regulator and 8 type AA NiMH accus. Those can have like 2000 mAh, so you could play like 7 hours straight. IWith those calculations, I didn't include voltage drop as the battery looses capacity. IIRC the dropout voltage of most regulators is about 2 volts. So if the battery runs lower tha 5V+2V=7V, power will slowly fade below 5 Volts, eventually cutting out the 2600's power.

Also, a switch mode reg would enable you to play straight from a car's battery. Like using the cigarette lighter connector thingie.

Edited October 16, 2011 by 31336haxx0r

[Mxyzptlk]

The run time is about 4 hours on a 9 volt.

Seriously? I was thinking an hour or less. Glad to know it can go 4 plus hours.

[esplonky]

me too. that's what i was really aiming for was at least 3 hrs

[Schizophretard]

Would An Atari Lynx battery pack plugged into a modified plug that plugs into the Atari work?

[+Gemintronic]

Plenty of 5v USB adapters out there:

http://www.amazon.com/3-5mm-Barrel-Jack-Power-Cable/dp/B003059FAI

 

If you can go USB for power there are MANY USB chargers out there. Some even store juice in AA batteries instead of lithium Ion packs.

[Syntaxerror999]

Look in ben Heck projects.... the miliamps of your power supply determins how long it will last. This is why people sugested other 9v supplies as opposed to a 9v battery. Also using 5 v instead of 9 will work, but like with the FB2 you might not be able to run more power hungry games and devices.

 

Heres the link for ben heck...

 

http://benheck.com/hacking-videogame-consoles

[enthusi]

I recently did just that: solder a stereo-3.5mm plug to a 9V battery connector and run the vcs 2600 from it.

Didnt check how long it lasted, but at least some 20 minutes (didnt want to drain the battery just for fun).

The power-plug is MONO but stereo works as well of course.

And yes, it would be smart to replace the 78xx 9V -> 5V regulator which indeed just gets warm to fry away voltage.

Changing the complete setup to 5v apparently requires some further changes if I remember correctly.

Something about that was written in http://enthusi.de/Atari%202600%20Specifications.html

At the bottom.

Anyone tried that?