Hardware Thanks/Progress post Bluetooth Audio and Qi Charger

[dsearnack]

Thanks to Dennis Gagliano(is he around here?) for his youtube post:
(4k demonstration using different parts)


Short:The Sun can now charge my 3ds wirelessly while enjoying wireless audio while streaming

I used the following products(google them):
AUKEY Solar Charger With 16000mAh USB-C & Quick Charge 3.0 Dual-Output Power Bank
Only modification was goo(see more about goo below) & tape to get the qi pcb stuck to the back of it for a compact, one hand grab and go solution.
Aobiny charger 3 Coils Qi Wireless ChargerCircuit Board Coil Wireless Charging
Tried a few different ways to take advantage of the small screw holes... ditched them in the final. The goo is holding it in place just fine.
Slim-Thin Qi Standard Wireless Charging Receiver Module for Samsung Galaxy S5 Series
This was trimmed down to slim the package. The solder blocks that come on here were taken off and then wires soldered directly to the pads, experimented with folds in unit and lost charging, recommended not to fold, at least between the solder points and the pcb of the receiver. I used my multi meter and toned out the docking port to find out which was ground. (closest to ZR)
Brightech - BrightPlay Live HD Bluetooth Transmitter with apt-X Technology for Digital Quality Sound
Removed the onboard usb, battery, audio plug, soldered 5 wires, audio left, audio right, common ground and the two power wires to the board. Side note, this package comes as a PCB soldered on a PCB, id like to may buy another and take the one board off and perhaps make a small 3ds specific daughter board. Currently this one has some tape around it to protect the sparky bits.
8 in. x 10 in. x 0.050 in. Polystyrene Sheet/30ga silicone wire/Electrical tape/homemade surgo to hold it to the Solar Power Bank
some cables/some solder/patience/wiggling of parts to get no screen wash from "pressure" added from the bulk of parts
First few times I packaged everything together, the lower right side of the screen would be a bit white from pressure, noticeable on black screens.)

I used always use solar battery packs for out on the go our just sitting in the kitchen window, and recently needed one for my Hero6. Splattered the back of it with a mix of 50/50 corn starch and clear caulk (added black ink, two pens, ended up with way to much purple/grey putty matches my galaxy 3ds) to make a homemade "Surgo". Stuck the Qi charging pcb on the goo and made standoffs for this next bit. Cut out a clear bit of .050 poly to use as the base the 3ds would sit on. Sanded it square. Surrounded in various electrical tape. The Bluetooth is nice and with the layout of my house if its charging in the middle I can walk between two rooms with headphones. I cut an old headphone cable and used the cable to create a key-chain as a "key" to enable the Bluetooth. May add a switch to not have to have the key, but hey it reminds me the Bluetooth is on because no lights are visible yet to indicate the Bluetooth is on unless you take off the back lid. When the lid is off there is a small square hole to see the pairing button and lights. Can be paired with key or stylus. Have yet to re-position the pairing switch to the back and I think a Bluetooth light up front would look nice.

Running the charger, Bluetooth and streaming NTR gets me a pretty hot little 3ds. To combat heat created from the induction charging I taped the charging circuit on-top of the card slot. Seems to help, and flashcards only fit slightly tight. With the official carts being slightly thinner than my R4 plus, the tape holding the qi package to the card slot is making it harder for me to take the carts out, and is slightly annoying. So next time I take it apart to take pictures I may remove the tape and expose my error, remove tape and enjoy Would love to see battery percentage, and temp of device in a homebrew app like in the 3ds test app by @8BitWonder but have heard the hardware will not support this. Perhaps squeezing in a small lcd equipped usb power meter type device would provide a nice quick set of stats on the face of the bottom. I think I have room.

Found a battery percentage in the 3DSHELL thanks to @Joel16 from his post:
https://gbatemp.net/threads/3dshell-multi-purpose-file-mananger-gui-wip.471503/

• "Precise battery percentage using mcu::hwc"

Have also debated an audio breakout cable for another set of headphones for viewing a film with my wife.

 

[Joel16]

@dsearnack

3DSident is probably better for what you're looking for. (battery starts and some hw info)

 

[dsearnack]

@Joel16 thank you, this works well!

Also tomorrow I should have a bluetooth update in the mail the:
Brightech - BTX Ultra - low latency

I will update pictures after the new unit has been transplanted and installed
reasoning:
regular BT - 250ms delay
aptx - 170 ms delay (current)
aptx with LL - 40 ms delay (incoming)

all assuming the chip will fit

 

[Avellea]

That wireless charging mod is fantastic. Thinking about doing that on my Luma O3DSXL. Anything you guys can suggest for someone new to the hardware scene? I understand soldering and have hardmodded my 3DS already.

 

[dsearnack]

That wireless charging mod is fantastic. Thinking about doing that on my Luma O3DSXL. Anything you guys can suggest for someone new to the hardware scene? I understand soldering and have hardmodded my 3DS already.

Very nice! I will look over your posts to review your hard-mod, i need to look at a few more examples before I do that (if you posted it)

And thanks @DynamicDonkey -- here is what I can recommend. Others that I saw do this mod used a wireless charging receiving coil from a samsung s5. I went with the same, and the one I mention is very thin, however I still "trimmed" the plastic around the coil and circuit board. (I will take better pictures when i tear down to upgrade the bluetooth this weekend)

For placement I originally had it under the battery, it fit well but would not charge with the coil I have, to much "air space" between the two coils when everything was put back together. So I moved the coil from under the battery to "on top" of the gamecard slot. This required me to cut some plastic on the card slot, but also allows the coil to have a heatsink-- cause it gets HOT when charging... also this places it about 8-10 mm closer to the charging coil when everything is buttoned back together.

A note on polarity --- I mentioned it before, but just to reiterate. And it may be different for the O3DS but they are the same connector so I hope they are the same on the PCB...If you have a multimeter you can tone out the ground at the charging port--if I remember right the outside (shield) of the charging dock connector is ground, connected to the LEFT pad on the circuit board when the charging port is "above" or "distant" and the headphone jack is closest to you. (again ill take some better pictures and label them on the pcb) Also as a note I de-soldered the "metal blocks" that came on the Samsung qi receiver to expose the copper pads. They almost come off automatically, so heat them up and push them aside. If you have flux clean it up a little, and apply wires.
Side note 2 the 30ga wire I used has quite a thick silicone jacket for its shielding(the outside casing of the wire)- I will be looking for thinner shielded wire for future mods, perhaps some copper enameled wire (data transfer like audio or hardmod) and only be using the silicone wire on power rails. The wires themselves would be more prone to damage but they would fit in the new 3ds tight frame so much better.

 

[dsearnack]

rats - fedex can never seem to find my house - if i was able to choose @ amazon my shipping I would never choose them lol
so no bluetooth update unless this fedex agent can help me (on phone)

Fedex did deliver! But I have made a big mistake - and a first for me - when de-soldering I removed a few pads from the audio in connections - I went with a pal to a maker lab here in the NW and went over possible fixes -- This may be my first re-padding/re-tracing experience or I may tap into other areas on the board for audio input (found a spot that seems impossible to solder too)

Pending post work sleep or a nap I may have some test wires on the new board tonight and will show some of the troubleshooting involved - or ill pay to get another one and start over