Cheap 'n Easy Digital Picture Frame

Step 3 The guts

Before you even make the frame, it's probably a good idea to get the internals working before you go flying into this project full-fledged. I'd post some pictures of the thing working, but I kinda need the memory card in the camera in order to take pictures... You get the idea.

The connections are simple. Even if you have minor experience with soldering it's easy. All you have to do is connect the video out from the viewer to video in on the screen (see picture), connect power to the screen and viewer, and make sure to connect the ground of the screen and viewer together. That's it.

Once again, sheer dumb luck came in handy. Now, the screen can only take 7.5 volts of power. Much more than that, and it'll fry. The adapter that comes with the viewer is labeled for 12 volts (but I was measuring 15 with my multimeter... all lies!) and so you'd think that the viewer needs 12 volts to run. Not so! I just so happened to test if it would run off of 7.5 volts, and luckily it does. This means that you only need one adapter to power the whole project, and you don't need a voltage regulator or whatever to step down the power for the screen. If you got a Sony PSOne screen, hopefully it'll come with a 7.5 volt adapter. My GameCube screen only came with a car adapter, so I just salvaged a Sony PSOne screen adapter I already had. However, for those of you who aren't in the habit of hacking up lcd screens to use for making portable Super Nintendos and such, I think you can get a 7.2 V adapter at RadioShack or somewhere like that for not too much. Should work...

Edit: Due to problems people have had, I'll just state it here and now - make sure that your power adapter is not giving you more than 9 volts! Check it with a multimeter yourself! If you're getting an image, but it's got something weird going on with your picture, then your voltage is probably incorrect. Easy way to test your setup without having to build any sort of regulating circuit would be to connect 5 or 6 AA batteries or a 9 volt battery. Naturally, they won't last long powering your setup, but it's an easy way to check if you're doing everything right.

Double Edit: Also, make sure your power adapter is providing enough current to power the system. I don't recall exactly how much this system draws, but if you can get something that provides at least 800 mA or higher then you should be good (I'd say go for 1 Amp to be safe).

If you find that you have an adapter that's just unreliable in its voltage, then go find a "7808 voltage regulator". Google search for how to use a 7808 voltage regulator, and then USE IT! It will then give you a steady 8 volts - just right for this project. RadioShack sells a linear regulator than you can adjust the output voltage, but you have to build a small circuit to get the output you want.

Comments

[etechtim]

Good Job ! Looking forward to giving it a try. Keep up the good work. By the way, the part where you say "The adapter that comes with the viewer is labeled for 12 volts (but I was measuring 15 with my multimeter... all lies!) " has a basis in reality. Power supplies read higher when its just them and a multimeter. Its called "no-load" reading. Like driving at highway speed and you press in the clutch the engine will go to higher rpm's because it is not under the load of pulling the car.

[Jollyrgr]

An unregulated 12V DC power supply with no load will read 15V easy. Throw a load on it and I'll bet it will settle down to 12V.

[apider36439]

That is correct. When a power supply is not connected to a load the voltage reading is called OCV (open collector Voltage). The OCV will very with rated voltage and current. if the power supply is rated at say 12 volts and you are reading 15 or more. just put a 12 volt light bulb near the rated power out and the voltage should be close enough to 12 volts for most projects.

[Elementix]

I'm currently making my dpf using the parts you used. Is there any way you could put a close-up of all the soldering points on the card reader?