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USB Line Voltage Inducer

Posted: Wed Apr 30, 2025 7:34 pm
by lostinspace
A few weeks ago I saw this guide of how to make a Dreamcast Line Voltage Inducer, powered via USB ( no batteries )

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" Dreamcast : Construire un Line Voltage Inducer pour connecter sa Dreamcast "

https://forums.sega-mag.com/t/dreamcast ... mcast/7840

Have you seen any other cool projects, like step by step , or did you ever make a USB line voltage inducer ?

Re: USB Line Voltage Inducer

Posted: Thu May 01, 2025 9:30 am
by onlycodered
I've actually been making my own USB LVI cables and selling them on eBay using the below PCB design:
https://github.com/joshman196/Dreamcast ... nducer-PCB

Mine uses a 9v USB to barrel jack cable found for around $1.50 each on Aliexpress with the custom PCB and a phone line. Lemme tell you though, those 0805 SMD capacitors and resistors are a pain to solder. :lol:

Re: USB Line Voltage Inducer

Posted: Thu May 01, 2025 2:44 pm
by lostinspace
onlycodered wrote: Thu May 01, 2025 9:30 am I've actually been making my own USB LVI cables and selling them on eBay using the below PCB design:
https://github.com/joshman196/Dreamcast ... nducer-PCB

Mine uses a 9v USB to barrel jack cable found for around $1.50 each on Aliexpress with the custom PCB and a phone line. Lemme tell you though, those 0805 SMD capacitors and resistors are a pain to solder. :lol:
Nice, yeah quite tiny, need to have a steady hand for that :) . Thanks for sharing. So, in that method you use a 9v usb "charger" for a NTSC Dreamcast , right ?

Re: USB Line Voltage Inducer

Posted: Sat May 03, 2025 10:53 am
by onlycodered
Correct, my method only works for NTSC sadly.

Re: USB Line Voltage Inducer

Posted: Sat May 03, 2025 3:13 pm
by lostinspace
To just replace those batteries of the Dreampi of my PAL Dreamcast (18v), I have been thinking to use something like that:
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It only cost around 2 pounds/euros with shipping from aliexpress, and it's well, easy to put it together. That way, I believe, I could use a power source from either a Raspberry or a standard phone charger. ( you still need a capacitor+resistor as it shows on that guide).

For those living in UK, there is a seller on ebay ( not me ) selling a new compatible Zoom modem for 22£, while it's not the cheapest I ever saw, it's not that bad either.
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/235993686024 ... media=COPY