Ben Heck's Hand Soldered Portable Atari 2600

In a previous episode Ben hand wired an Atari 2600, in this episode he finishes the job by making it portable. Let's get started!
Watch Ben Heck Super Solder the Atari 2600 : bit.ly/1XcoSCQ
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[@jacemachine]

Watching Ben build custom handhelds out of my favorite gaming systems is literally why I subscribe to this channel. I may have to wait between builds, but they're always worth it.

[@garydagget7738]

+Jacemachine Gaming Yeah, it's still one of my favourite things in the show too. I think it was probably the reason for him creating the channel in the first place - I mean, back in the day, he was mostly known for accessible controllers, pinball, and portable-all-the-things.

[@xKatjaxPurrsx]

One of my favorite things about TBHS is that every time it comes up on my YT feed it reminds me that it's FRIDAY!! Thank Ben Heck It's Friday!

[@EddieHart]

+xKatjaxPurrsx Haha same!

[@ksp1278]

I have always loved this Show. But I gotta say that the video production quality is so much better since Max joined the team. It is much more fun since Karen joined. Felix has become a very cool part of the show too. Keep it up guys!

[@6LordMortus9]

If Atari would reproduce these things in this format I would buy them all over again!! :) Great work guys!

[@luigipizzolito5597]

+6LordMortus9 tru dat, me2

[@Gmoyer11Tech]

+Omega Rugal back in the day there would have been much more shielding and also a bigger psu

[@bland9876]

Just buy an atari box

Every single episode I'm still waiting for the "batten down the hatches". I'm not sure how long I can last.

[@MrDmkus]

+Toni Lähdekorpi That clip is from the "Ben Heck's Hacking the Zombie Apocalypse" episode (april 2015)

[@kj197734]

I love all of the Atari mods that you have come up with. I have my first ever Atari 2600 from my childhood back in 1979 that is still running to this day.

[@RustandRedemption]

"NO DAMAGE THO" I got a good laugh out of that reference

[@BeatlesCuber]

"I need to find the least worst option for this" Ben Exactly sums up politics right now.

[@rccarz5]

+BeatlesCuber Hildog is the worst one.

[@Krytern]

Someone actually thinks Trump is the better option.... Jesus Christ.

[@rccarz5]

Krytern UK Somebody who is a liberal and feels the need to insult people with different opinions.... Jesus Christ

[@Krytern]

rccarz5 What insult did I say?

[@rccarz5]

Krytern UK You implied Trump supporters has issues.

[@vladtomoiaga4721]

The design of the unit reminds me of the Nintendo Game&Watch. Great job, Ben!

[@DanWaters73]

Needs some wood grain covering on it. :)

[@nilswegner2881]

Dan Waters lgr approved?

[@garydagget7738]

Love the organisation tips. Here's an extension of one...after you're done writing on your storage containers in sharpie, cover it over with clear sticky tape. That marker ink rubs off plastic WAY easy. Of course, if your container is made of a material with high temperature resistance, you can seal your written labelling with a few passes from a heat gun.

[@CMM1215]

I really like how this build turned out. The laser cut front panel looks incredible. The only real weakness seems to be the d-pad. I LOVE seeing a reasonably sized portable Atari with an actual functional cartridge slot!!

[@ValensBellator]

It's fun watching this, you start thinking about just how much work and thought goes into designing the final handhelds and such from the Nintendo/Sony/Segas and so forth of the world.

[@Tom_____5]

Bring Back "batten down the hatches!!" or riot

[@DarcyFerrier]

plz ben

[@azyfloof]

+TechBuild Studios "I wanna live in a world with 'Batten down the hatches!!' agaaaaaaain!"

[@StingrayOfficial]

+TechBuild Studios I am starting to like "Oh look I knocked some hot glue loose." and "Where are my dragons?"

[@Tom_____5]

Stingray "where are my dragons" is great but lets get an intro with both

[@DarcyFerrier]

I love "where are my dragons" haha

[@guerillagrueplays6301]

This is my favorite one of your Atari handhelds yet; other than the minor issues with the case you brought up yourself (and which could easily be remedied by a strip of wood-print vinyl around the edge,) it's the most coherently designed one you've made. I like the idea of integrating a wheel into the d-pad design; if you decide to do that, it would make this absolutely perfect.

[@terrytyner7722]

no speakers?

[@The_Black_Knight]

Outstanding creativity, Ben. Bravo. Have you ever considered trying to teach people how to keep their pinball machines running beyond designing? A worthwhile "public service announcement".

[@JerryEricsson]

Wow this is great!! Sorry it took so long for me to find it!! Coming to you from Little America in Wyoming, in my 35 foot Class A motor home, as we meander our way from our Arizona winter to our South Dakota summer digs.

[@slade307]

In Batman Returns, a baby entered some underground caves full of penguins and became Penguin. We know how penguins love caves under a city.

[@TheKillerEmcee]

I like how they made so it looks like something you'd actually see on TV. Seriously, this needs be on TV

[@WaltonPete]

Interesting build. Even more interesting language from Ben at 18.44!

[@arthurc1971]

It always works...except when it doesn’t. Anyone else enjoy looking at Her shirt every episode? 🤪

[@trulygg]

I know this was a bit more rushed so it might almost be insulting to say but this is probably the best looking handheld you've made.

[@darktetsuya]

that's a spot-on recreation of the Commando theme, I will say that haha! awesome build I love seeing these classic gaming projects come to life!!

[@bradnoyes7955]

This is neat. For you battery drain issue, I suspect the power switch connections on the board just turn off the boost converter and when off it may still be supplying the 3.7V directly from the battery to the output. I remember reading/hearing this about another charger board I was looking at.

[@soggytoast111]

There was probably some kind of technical issue with getting the audio to work. They mention audio various times during the build as if they planned for there to be audio, but then in the end it seems like it doesn't have audio.

[@MichielHaisma]

I really like how this one turned out, looks very good.

[@bikingmnviking3801]

Why is this so unique? I converted a B&W TV to run in a car back in the 80s and did the calculation for the current drop, installed an 1/8 jack to run a male mono to mono plug so it could feed 9vdc from the 12vdc tv to the atari. I played in the back seat. The only annoying thing was when I cranked the engine the whole screen squished up for lack of juice.

[@ravagingwolverine]

Cool project. The project has something in common with my PSP-3000. It uses a noticeable amount of power while off(not just suspended). I never get tired of "Where are my dragons?" in the intro. Good times!

[@molten_software]

you could reprint the d-pad with small pie piece shapes in the "corners", they would sit in the blank spots around the tact switches and prevent rotation but still allow for the rocking motion to hit the switches? just an idea i had. thanks for all the fun episodes guys!

[@Danjovic]

Nice build! Loved that it kept the 80's style.

[@retrogeek6868]

More of this type of project please Ben.

[@gioisme123]

You inspire me mod electronics, I very much enjoy your enginuity. I recently modded a Sega Saturn arcade stick to work as a 7800 controller, so much better than the original controller. My next idea is to stick a retron 3 inside a fat arcade stick box and wire the cartridge slots on the back to make a custom arcade stick multi console. I wouldn't have even thought of hacking electronics until I saw your work. Thanks for the content

[@Alopexus]

Great build Ben. Love the front plate design.

[@LazyBunnyKiera]

To fix your power problem, you need a 2 position, 6 pin switch, Have the top pins for your voltage, so NC, +V, +v to atari, and on the bottom row it would be Power booster enable pin, Ground, NC So when it's off, it connects ground to the enable pin, which puts the power booster into ultra low power mode. Else the power booster will remain "on", even if the device isn't.

[@himselfe]

Speaking of organisation, I honestly want to see Ben build some sort of automatic part fetcher and delivery system! Using model trains, or scalectrics or RC cars.

[@nightwheel]

Best looking Atari 2600 portable yet Ben!

[@PhrontDoor]

Bin cabinets are pricey. If you are wondering, they range from $700 (US) to $1300 (still US). They are great, but like Karen says, there are alternatives. I found one at a yard/garage sale for $50 (but I had to wheel it nearly a mile, over hills, to my place by hand-truck).

[@GeoffreyToday]

So cool. My only criticism would be that the games were designed to play on a 4:3 screen, so stretching them to a 16:9 screen alters their appearance a bit. It's the minorest of minor nitpicks :p

[@green929392]

Yeah, i think it's crazy he used the wrong aspect ratio.

[@ottersdangerden]

Horrible Freight is a good place for those organizers, at least for what I have found. I use them for components and such. For Rivets, Nuts and tools I found that there are tackle/toolboxes at FleetFarm that are fairly good too.

[@RossLarson]

I played this at the Madison mini Maker Faire. It was great!

[@AnOfficialAndrewFloyd]

Problems I see with this design: Some cartridges will not fit, and a decent number of games do not use the joystick. Some use 2 joysticks, paddles, driving controller, or keypads. The option for DB9 plugs is a huge oversight.

[@2000freefuel]

use the Atari 2800 controllers?

[@turret72]

Great job as usual. Only complaint I have would be needing ports for keyboard controller games. You have the d pad seemingly for joystick and paddle controls, and I'm assuming the driver controller used to play Indy 500. The keyboard controller is the only thing missing.

[@n.h.s.a.d.m.]

Wow, that turned out beautifully!

[@dccelly1615]

The Heck are the speakers?!

[@hightde13]

Would be neat to see if you could make some sort of recycler for your 3d printing plastic. there are a couple on the market but who wouldn't want to grind up and re-use failed/test parts.

[@LivingWithTheGuzmans]

Cool

[@Metalman200xdamnit]

That is so cool. Excellent work.

[@tahustvedt]

Why 16:9? Maybe you can form a plastic screen dome to lay over the LCD in the shape of the old curved CRT monitors.

[@BrentBlueAllen]

3:55 The datasheet on Adafruit says that the battery is rated to a max discharge cuurent of 2C. Since this battery's capacity is 2500 mAh, that should mean up to 5A max current draw, right? 1A is well within its ratings.

[@Zyxxi]

Why put a volume control and no speaker or audio jack?

[@bzboii]

Just to stymie you

[@steprockmedia]

It's weird, to be sure. Out of time?

[@john-paulhopman318]

Needs wood trim on the side.

[@MrMalky1550]

yeah would definitely suit it.

[@InsertGame1]

I'd like to see you do this again but use the Atari flash back 2 as it used Atari hardware but wasn't made in the 70s. Released in 2005, many people added a cart slot to the unit to play games other then the built in ones.

[@MrMalky1550]

love this project. loved the solder episode too. Atari. Ben needs to let me have this console. I love it. Ben you are a legend. keep doing what you do and I will continue to watch your videos. :)

[@kevinbarton9052]

Perhaps all 252 Atari games is the best portable complete version as long as the joystick pad and paddle controllers are built in. Even a portable Intellivision should be on the next episode is a must for any Intellivision lover.

[@pinokotsbeer6453]

Nice episode, wouldnt mind watching the hour long resoldering of the connector either :D

[@soepschoen]

He was wiring a audio amp, where is the speaker and sound during demo?

[@steprockmedia]

+soepschoen I was wondering that myself. Doesn't seem to have speakers.

[@MrTarekradi]

Exactly! What happened to the audio circuitry??

[@mohamededrees979]

He made the wheel and the bread board for the audio amplifyr but he doesn't add it

[@o.g.awe3785]

There was a guy building these by hand 20 years ago. I wish I could find his site but it’s probably gone. I nearly bought one. This was the early day of the internet. You could send him your Atari and he’d turn it into a handheld. It wasn’t cheap either.

[@juansalvadorarpip]

Incredible, I am using my atari 2600 with my son, it is great, thank you

[@SEEtheREPLAY]

how about wiring a SEGA Genesis controller to it. You could use the D-Pad of it and the 3 or 6 way buttons

[@echelonenergy8099]

This is AWESOME! I mean it really is, I have produced products and like they are in the stores... I'm telling you this is badass, when you feel the thing come together and it's that retro.... Madness! 😆 well done guys.

[@ScottMcGlynn]

Ben, Can you tell what the new video circuit is that you made for this one? That was clean looking.

[@doug6394]

bloody brilliant.

[@Scionic]

Look, I love Ben's shows, but remember the "corporate" intro they stuck onto Wayne's World in the Wayne's World movie? That's what the intro to this show feels like.

[@JoshuaPritt]

"It always works. Except when it doesn't." So, so true.

[@phr3dmcc0y]

Ahh, I found it. you already made one. I was watching this one, and at the end you were talking about how you could have done this, that, etc: I wondered, why didnt you round and taper the sides and corners, and maybe just print a screen riser that would elevate the screen enough to hold the caps, while 'perfecting' the appearance of it, and maybe make it look more atari-like?

[@aloizgorjup1869]

PS: Love the build. Could you you put AV ports on it so you could connect it to your tele?

[@jamesdodd8731]

Ben....I want your prototype!! Super cool!

[@kawawete]

Dat front panel gives me the chills :D

[@retrikstudios9025]

You have a part giveaway bin? I could make use of my old semi-broken 2600, just need a case.

[@trenzinhodaalegria8012]

Well the Atari 2600 was cutting edge in relation to what was available to consumers... However universities and institutes of technology already had workstations capable of 3D graphics at the time. The well known Silicon Graphics workstations and of course the Pixar Image Computer (Released 32 years ago in 1986).

[@FreedomCompatriots]

Ben Heck, next time around for the D-Pad, try the old Sega Master System style which is square. It was a softer rubber and more comfortable than the traditional Nintendo style.

[@IceMan0003]

Could you have used your CNC to wood cut a case? Or does it not work well with compact creations?

[@1234garrett1993]

another awesome build Ben thanks for taking your time to do something that frustrating lol i would love to see you do something like a portable pi nano or raspberry pi 3 running retropie lol

[@Deanster101]

This is literally the smartest guy on the planet.

[@rootykazooty351]

Very, very cool indeed.

[@TheRunefox]

I wonder what kind of work/hardware would be required to make it able to dump cartridge ROM via USB / to SD card, or going the other way and loading an image via SD/USB to make sort of a modding/"dev" console? IIRC that's what the RetroN 5 does to load a physical cartridge for its emulation cores. It seems like something that wouldn't be too difficult in theory, especially for the 2600... I know actually *writing* (E)EPROM would be much more difficult and would require a lot more specialized hardware and software.

[@H4KD11]

+Runefox i think the atari game chips were written on eeprom reader/writer style writers and the pcb on the cart is just a different connector for those pins

[@thecommunistgamer9017]

You could mod the carts and print new cases and labels and slim them down.

[@aljr357]

I've never done anything with electronics what would a good project be for my introduction and what soldering gun could you suggest that's not to expensive but will still work well for my needs.

[@aljr357]

I would like to build an Atari 7800 portable if possible is it an easier project for a novice or could you give me some advice on what I should start with for my first project. I've never soldered anything other than the pipes in my bathroom or in high school electrical class back in 1990/91

[@YoshiNoir]

Nice build. But how can "Indiana Jones" be played as there isn't anything to plug in a second controller that is needed to select items in the player's inventory?

[@GRBmusicPR]

What about designing a smaller cartridge case for the games and then designing a new casing based on the new smaller cart design?

[@aljr357]

I definitely like the way the case is laid out its the way I like my handhelds. My first handheld was the gamegear so I guess I'm bias to that style of handheld.

[@weldin]

I did this with the small version back when he posted that. Didn't go this well.

[@m.a.packer5450]

And maybe add some speakers so you can hear the classic Atari sound effects

[@allluckyseven]

You finally did one with the cart on the back! Yess! _That's_ the proper way to do it! But why didn't you put everything on one side of the case? Maybe you could save some space for a bigger battery. Although you could probably make that thicker on the sides... As much as the LCD + cartridge + some plastic in between for structural integrity like you did there, but for the whole width of the case, rounding the corners for comfort, that sort of thing. Love the front "plate"... except for the pad not being a cross. Wonder if you could make one with a slide pad (like the one on the 3DS). AND that it doesn't look again like a GameBoy! Bit of a short episode... You started the project in the middle. :(

[@Ucceah]

please paint the backside dark brown. the white ruins the atari look, that could be spot on otherwise.

[@reddgmd]

I WANNA LIVE IN A WORLD WITH STAR WARS AGAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIN

[@MaverickGrabber71]

Amazing project!

[@fuzzywzhe]

This is why emulators are a better solution. Despite the fact that you are essentially simulating the hardware, and running the code as an interpreter instead of natively in machine language, you still use less energy to do it, and it's still cycle accurate, and everything is implemented at this point, up to and including the bugs in the original hardware.

[@Netbug]

It's beautiful!

[@Lilithe]

Hmm... I found one of those slim model 2600s. Might be a neat project. Although I don't have any games at all. Or controllers.

[@ZOMBIEEZ]

I'm pretty sure Ben heck has already done something like this on a portable version of this but just made it thinner

[@exactspace]

I guess I missed what happened with the speaker. Why did the handheld have no sound?

[@JaredReabow]

14:09 is that cutting metal?????? if no, what did?

[@maker_karen1785]

+Jared Reabow (Jazza) Sort of? It's more burning it off. It's plastic with a thin layer of brushed aluminum on the surface. The laser is essentially vaporizing the aluminum. Though now that I spell it out that does sound pretty metal. \m/

[@mikedl1105]

only lacking one thing, woodgrain

[@Porygonal64]

Maybe if you did it again, the D-Pad could be something akin to the Directional Stick of the Neo Geo Pocket?

[@dmann3042000]

Amazing stuff Ben. I wanted to build one of these when i was a Teen, back in the late 80's. And are you or your shows on Roku?

[@themadhacker9376]

Quick robin! to the hobomobile! (jumps into a shopping cart)

[@brandonlewis2599]

How did you attach wires to the buttons after you glued them to the laser-cut board?