That doesn't mean I didn't want to learn how to solder. A few years ago I went as far as to purchase all the basic materials I'd need: soldering iron, solder, flux, de-solder bulb, and wires. But even as I was buying this stuff I suspected that I wasn't really going to use it. And I was right. Every time I decided this was the day to learn this skill, I would take everything out of the "solder box", line the equipment across my work bench, and then quickly sweep them back into box and find something else to do. I don't know why, but I was too intimidated.
A few weeks ago I rediscovered my collection of old Game Boy games. I slid in four (!) double A batteries in my original Game Boy, and fired it up for a trip down memory lane. I was disappointed to see that the screen had developed several vertical black lines running down the screen. According to a google search, I could remove the lines by opening the case and running a hot soldering iron's tip across the screen's connecting strip.
Okay! I had a soldering iron, and now I was motivated enough to use it. I followed the instructions, and what do you know? It worked. The screen looked great.
While searching for a solution to my screen problem, I was surprised to see there were so many websites dedicated to fixing and modifying the original Game Boy system. Introduced in 1989, the monotone graphics are archaic by today's standards, and they are useless when you turn off the lights. What would any teenager/ 20-something want with one?
Apparently there is a subculture of musicians who compose music with vintage computing and gaming equipment. This genre is called Chiptunes, and the "DMG" (what the cool kids call the dot matrix Game Boy) is quite a player in the Chiptune universe because it is portable. AND in order to see their screen while performing in some dark, NYC club, these musicians have found a cheap and fairly easy way to install a backlight in a Game Boy.
Whhhhaaaat? The Hipsters' Game Boys have a light inside? In the early 90's that was the stuff of dreams. Do you know how hard it is to find Mario's six golden coins while hiding under the covers holding a Gameboy in your hands and a flashlight wedged between your neck and shoulder? No? Well, it's pretty hard. At least, that what people have told me... Anyway, a Game Boy with an internal light would have been awesome.
I did some online shopping, and Game Boys with this modification are going for over $100. That's money I'd rather spend on VW parts, so I decided to try this myself. I bought a used LED backlight for sale on Ebay for $10, and while I waited for the mailman, I went out the garage to teach myself how to solder. I was finally inspired to learn.
I quickly found that my solder anxiety, like most of my anxieties, was overblown. Soldering isn't that hard at all. After 45 minutes of missteps and small finger burns, I was ready for my project.
Here's the backlight that arrived in the mail (the Game Boy Pocket screen was a freebie).
I wanted to install the light in a original grey Game Boy, but mine had a broken speaker. The guts of a green "Play it Loud" Game Boy (thanks, Goodwill) were used instead.
My first solder is to the left of that small, Phillips head screw. It's a black wire soldered to one of the circuit board's grounds.
Next I soldered a transistor to the white wire, and then soldered that transistor to the circuit board. I didn't have any heat shrink tubing, so used some black tape to keep the wire from shorting out on the circuit board. The tape looks a little Podunk, but you can't see it from the outside, and it gets the job done.
The black and white wires were soldered to the light by the factory, but the white wire tore loose during this process. Instead of freaking out because the light had broke, I tried to keep my composure, and did my best to reattach the wire. It took some time, but I got it back on.
I'd like to say this picture was taken right before final assembly, but I screwed this thing together only to break it down again four more times. I kept forgetting to install buttons, or move the new wires so they wouldn't mess with the button's functions. Each night I have about an hour and a half of free time for my hobbies (that's more than Daphne gets), and this project took about three nights.
I used the darker buttons and screen from the green Game Boy, and I think they look pretty good with the grey case
But how does the light work?
Thirty minutes later I was playing Tetris while hiding under the covers of our bed.
Yes, I am a dork. But I'm a dork who can solder.
No comments:
Post a Comment