This is my first instructable so don't judge too harshly. This project came to be when I thought "Hey, Sony is evil, they don't have any inexpensive alternatives to their battery packs" I find out now that other companies have made external battery packs (but what's the fun in buying one anyway!). So I set out on an epic journey to create an external battery pack for my PSP. Enjoy!

Step 1: Procure Components

first you'll need to get all of the parts and pieces.

1- altiods tin (flavor of your choice)
2- a +5 volt regulatora +5 volt regulator (what this whole project revolves around)
3- a dpdt switch or your choice (it should be pretty small)
4- a four AA battery holdera four AA battery holder
5- a LED for indicatora LED for indicator
6- a DC power connectora DC power connector (plugs into PSP)
7- mono phone plugmono phone plug
8- mono phone jackmono phone jack
9- 2 conducter speaker wire
10- various wires for connections

once you have that you're ready to go!

Step 2: Hack Battery Holder

when you buy the battery holder it will not fit in the tin, it was at this point when I thought "NOT COOL" and I went through an hour or two trying to make my own battery holder until at 11:00 I realized "WOW, I'm stupider than I thought!!!" and came to the realization that I could just cut out the center section of the original battery pack (or maybe I was just angry at it and wanted revenge the thing), it worked. It actually helps the lid close better so it won't fall open by accident.

once it's cut, go ahead and dry fit it, put it in, insert the batteries and push it as far to one end of the tin as you can then super glue it in

note on super glue: when using teh uberglue don't close the tin until it is completely dry or you will end up with the fumes drying onto the walls and you get the cloudy look that are in my pics, and also only glue in well ventilated areas so that you don't die

There I said it Now you can't sue me

Step 3: Assemble the Circuit

once the battery pack is installed and the glue has dried you can break out the soldering iron. It uses a extremely simple circuit and I should be able to discribe it, If you have trouble understanding or I just do a bad job of discribing it and the sketch doesn't help, just tell me and I can go more in depth. Here I go.

The output plug and the LED are wired in parallel (if they are in series, the LED will suck up too much voltage, I learned that the hard way) through the switch and the regulator, Just look at the sketch please

once you're done with soldering make sure there is no way that it will short because the whole thing will be crammed into a pretty small space in the end

ONWARD!!!

Step 4: Make the Connection and Go for a Spin!

Now to make the cord that connects the battery pack to the PSP.

cut a legth of your speaker wire (it doesn't really matter how long) and attach the two different plugs to each end make sure that the polarities work, the inside of the power connector needs to be positive and the outside negative.(I am not responsible for any fried PSPs, OK)

now, that you have the cord, make it look good, take it for a spin! this was featured in a recent MAKE: podcast but if you missed it, here's how,

Put one end of the cord in the chuck of your drill, hold the other end and let 'er rip, when you're done spin it backwards a little ways so that it doesn't coil up.

Step 5: Put It All Together!

now just drill the holes and install all of the parts in the tin, be careful not to scratch up the sides like I did, and have a good plan for the layout before you start to poke holes in your tin

Step 6: Conclusion

well, there you have it! in five easy steps, I highly recomend making one if you have a PSP but I will also sell them if someone wants one...

Coming Soon,
THE ALTOIDS EXTERNAL WI-FI ANTENNAE

it's a thing of beauty, eh?