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unmaker

Joined: 22 Sep 2017

Posts: 6

GG Power Board Pro by segasonicfan Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 9:24 am

Long story short, I sent my GG off to segasonicfan for repair. While working on it he offered to do some mods/upgrades to my GG. What I ended up with is probably the most advanced GG in the world! As a child I almost never used the GG as a portable device since there was no way in hell my parents were going to constantly supply me with 6 AA batteries. Most of my childhood memories with my GG were of me sitting next to an AC outlet and hoping the 10 pound AC adapter wouldn't fall out when I finally beat the first boss in Sonic 2. All in all I didn't have the best memories with my GG and I blame that mostly on the fact that the GG was such a power hog, so much so that portable gaming with it wasn't the most convenient option.



Many years later, that's all changed. Segasonicfan has upgraded my GG with his very own "GG Power Board Pro". It's a complete replacement of the power PCB found inside GG's along with some Li-Poly batteries installed into the AA battery slots. I also bought a USB Mini A cable and a 5V 2A USB adapter to keep the batteries healthy. Here's a quick run down of its specs and features:



* 2x rechargeable Li-Poly batteries installed (3.7V @ 1500maH each)

* USB Mini A plug for charging and running off USB wall adapter

* high-powered 1A Fast Charging with a 2A USB source

* 3-State battery life indicator (found next to the screen)

-blue = 70 to 100%

-purple = around 70%

-red(solid) = 30 to 70%

-red(blinking) = 0 to 30%

* Bi-color LED charge indicator (found above USB charging port)

-red = 0 to 90% charged

-green = 90 to 100% charged

-red(dimmed) = powered on without USB charger plugged in

* Soft start (hold push button) to turn-on system

* PTC resettable fuses and reverse polarity protection

* Over-voltage and Under-voltage charge protection circuitry

* more than 2x output power of a stock GG board (so you can now easily power any upgrade PCBs). More than 8W output power instead of 3W.

* High PSRR / noise regulation (much better than original PCB)

* High-efficiency charge pump and boost regulators for longer battery life



I've had my upgraded GG for a few weeks now, enough time to put it through its paces and I've not been let down yet. My GG was upgraded with 4 additional PCB's, in addition to the McWill LCD, and this upgrade is able to supply them all. This gives me approximately 5 hours of playtime with the VGA output and 3 hours of playtime with the LCD and speakers on. One of the truly great things about this upgrade is that the GG will no longer reset when a power source is plugged in! When using a GG with AA batteries, plugging in a power supply would cause the GG to reset which is no fun for anyone when in the middle of a game. This is also compatible with those easy to find power banks, so you can now have a seemingly limitless portable power supply. The LED indicators are an easy way to know the charge state of the batteries and when you should start recharging them. This in my eyes is the perfect solution to the GG's power hogging issues and makes the GG much more enjoyable to use now that portability is feasible.



It's hard to think of any downsides to using this new upgrade. From my understanding this is a permanent install so if you were looking to perform other mods to your GG they should be done first. The other issue with a permanent install is if some problem were to develop with your GG, performing a disassembly and repair could be difficult. Also Li-Poly batteries are still batteries and they won't last forever. Some time in the future they will need to be replaced but they should last a very long time if they are taken care of properly. Just don't let the batteries drain completely and it's recommended that you start charging them as soon as your LED turns into a blinking red. Better yet, try to keep the batteries at at least 80%. I don't know how difficult this would be to install if these were to be sold as kits for a DIYer. That would be a question for segasonicfan.







I really want to give a big shoutout to segasonicfan! He is incredibly knowledgeable about electronics and the GG, provides amazing mod work at more than fair prices, gives in depth progress updates, and just great to work with. I can't recommend him enough if you're looking for repair or upgrades for your GG. Along with his power board, he also upgraded my GG with his very own "Uni-Gen Converter" to allow use of a classic Sega Genesis controller along with built in auto-fire, an upgraded speaker, and an overclocking feature which gives a 10-20% CPU boost to help alleviate lag! The overclocking feature can be turned on and off at any given moment. I didn't get to enjoy my GG much as a child but that's turned into a good thing for me now. I now have tons of unexplored Sega content to enjoy and I want to thank segasonicfan for making these upcoming experiences be even more enjoyable!





Here are some pictures:



https://imgur.com/a/QWKE6

asynchronous

Joined: 14 Aug 2000

Posts: 555

Location: Adelaide, Australia GG Power Board Pro by segasonicfan Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 11:13 am

Nice.

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2018 10:27 pm

skipkfc

Joined: 25 Apr 2018

Posts: 1

Posted: Thu Apr 26, 2018 12:58 am

segasonicfan wrote Thank for the review!



Note, this board is being finalized for production but I am taking pre-orders now.



Here are some pics.



-Segasonicfan



Hi,



Would like to order one if possible.



Cheers,

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 8:04 am

Thank you for your interest (replied to your email).

Please note, pre-orders will take 1-2 months to ship currently.



*The new version also incorporates a Reset button for GG Everdrive menu loading, and it fixes the GG Everdrive boot issue on original launch GGs (see here: https://krikzz.com/forum/index.php?topic=905.0)



The board has 2x battery or 4x battery install options (for longer life but heavier system). Original stock Game Gear with 4x battery install will last 8-10 hours per charge. 2x battery will be 4-5 hours per charge.



Please note: the McWIll LCD upgrade uses 30% more power than a stock unmodded Game Gear, so results will vary.



-Segasonicfan

Maxim Site Admin

Joined: 19 Oct 1999

Posts: 13349

Location: London Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 12:54 pm

Huh, you'd have thought the LCD backlighting would be less power hungry than the fluorescent tube - but maybe the FPGA makes up for it.

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Fri May 04, 2018 3:57 pm

Last edited by segasonicfan on Fri May 18, 2018 9:20 pm; edited 1 time in total

Maxim wrote Huh, you'd have thought the LCD backlighting would be less power hungry than the fluorescent tube - but maybe the FPGA makes up for it.



Yup it does. It also uses an LDO which burns off some. But I think most of the power is probably eaten up in order to support all the great resolution modes.



-Segasonicfan

ouegamer

Joined: 14 May 2018

Posts: 1

Posted: Mon May 14, 2018 10:13 pm

segasonicfan wrote Thank for the review!



Note, this board is being finalized for production but I am taking pre-orders now.



Here are some pics.



-Segasonicfan



What type of batteries does this use? The AA size Lithium, in the original batteries slots? or flat ones?

Also what will the price be. I'd love to know more about this, it sounds really cool. I like the idea of a usb plug instead of Sega one it originally took.

Thanks,

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Tue May 15, 2018 4:14 am

This board works with Li-Poly batteries to maximize power at the lightest weight. The batteries are fitted exactly to the GG's battery compartments. For more info, you can contact me via the SSFD website.



Here's the latest version.

Note, I will be hand making these for short productions runs in a while (100% designed, assembled, and built in USA), so pre-orders now will be the first to ship when the boards are finalized. For right now I am only doing installs (send in your Game Gear) but down the road I plan to sell these as a kit, too.



-Segasonicfan GG Powe Board V2.7.jpg (206.02 KB)



Bruce

Joined: 18 May 2018

Posts: 3

Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 1:06 pm

Hello, I could be interested too ! Do you provide both battery ?

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Fri May 18, 2018 9:20 pm

Yep, I'm only taking install orders right now. They include the Li-Po batteries.



-SSF

Bruce

Joined: 18 May 2018

Posts: 3

Posted: Tue May 29, 2018 2:36 pm

segasonicfan wrote Yep, I'm only taking install orders right now. They include the Li-Po batteries.



-SSF



Hello, ok, so for now, you don't send kit ? Cause I live in Europa and shipping costs are really high. How much do you sell the whole installation ?

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Tue Jun 12, 2018 6:40 pm

Hi Bruce,

That is correct, I am only selling this board as an install right now. Price can vary depending on details, so please send me a private message or an email if you are interested in this service.



–Segasonicfan

Niloct

Joined: 25 Dec 2005

Posts: 582

Location: São Paulo - Brazil Testimonial Posted: Fri Dec 28, 2018 12:02 pm

A few months ago I decided to let ssfan handle my broken GG lot and see if he could come with a working unit out of the mess.



Well, long story short, the item arrived yesterday here, after some customs clearance which bit 60% over the total cost, but the quality of the mod work was really amazing.



My first try was to plug a mastergear adapter, since I've only a master everdrive, and tried to play.



Alas, it didn't work at first, but then I blew at the cartridges once (Bock would say this is mumbo jumbo lol) and it worked.



The case is modded with a battery light indicator and a power button.



I am really glad with the results, and certainly recommend the service to anyone here.



Thanks ssfan!

nuno14272

Joined: 10 Aug 2017

Posts: 19

reset Posted: Thu Jan 03, 2019 3:27 pm

Does this new game gear power board, be of any help with the reset problemas of the game gear ???



I've been long waiting for a solution to this problem.. that to my understanding does not have a solution...



Curius if someone with this probleam and a new power board like thios could be the solution.

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2019 12:14 pm

nuno14272 wrote Does this new game gear power board, be of any help with the reset problemas of the game gear ???



I've been long waiting for a solution to this problem.. that to my understanding does not have a solution...



Curius if someone with this probleam and a new power board like thios could be the solution.



Can you elaborate on what you mean by reset problems? If you're talking about the issue from leaking capacitors, only repairing the motherboard can fix that.

However, this does install a reset button if desired, to fix a compatibility problem with the GG everdrive on VA0 models.

Peder Johnsen

Joined: 14 Jan 2006

Posts: 72

Location: UK Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2019 5:21 pm

Colour me interested if you start selling these as a kit. I got a big lot of game gears I need to get around fixing, and adding this to them would be a nice bonus.

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Sun Oct 20, 2019 10:03 pm

Hi everyone,

I've been getting a fair number of emails inquiring about the GG Power Board Pro. While I'm very glad to see people interested in the PCB I've developed, there is no affordable way to make these PCBs other than by hand, which I don't have the capability to do at the moment.



It will be some time before I have kits available. Feel free to post here if you are interested or shoot me an email if you just want to be on the wait list.



My replies here and to my site's emails will be very sparse right now, so expect at least 2 weeks for a response since I'm putting things on hold for the time being.



Thanks,

-SSF

S.F

Joined: 08 Apr 2005

Posts: 386

Location: Netherlands Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 7:07 pm

Hiya SSF, has the situation changed? I'd be very interested in having my GG refurbished.

segasonicfan

Joined: 05 Jan 2006

Posts: 316

Location: USA Posted: Wed Aug 05, 2020 10:28 pm

S.F wrote Hiya SSF, has the situation changed? I'd be very interested in having my GG refurbished.



Hi,

I will do a mega blast-out and update here on my website if the situation changes. For the forseable future this will be a deluxe and expensive PCB for those that really want the very best GG option out there.



It would be hard for non-engineers to know I think, but this PCB incorporates a ton of features and parts that really make for a deluxe board. The way the GG is designed makes it very hard to have a simple and affordable power architecture.



The GG power PCB is designed entirely around odd voltages, many produced by a now-extinct IC. Recreating them, and doing it with quality and protection circuitry, doesn't come cheap.



I have parts available and the means to make them. But this PCB (with accompanying li-ion cells) will be over $100 for some time. There's no way I can see around that for now, sorry.

S.F

Joined: 08 Apr 2005

Posts: 386

Location: Netherlands Posted: Fri Aug 07, 2020 8:28 pm