My idea for a totally portable (w/in wifi range) all in one sage client

[btrcp2000]

Posted this at shspvr as well in the mediamvp forum, thought I would try here as well...

I am using sagetv and have a wireless mvp set up as a client, and it works quite well. Being incapable of leaving things alone, I want to take the next step and cut the power cord too. I also happen to have a couple of those sony playstation lcds that went on clearance at Kmart last year, and I have a used psone coming from ebay. My plan is to gut the playstation and put the mvp board into it. As a first step, I'll just leave all the cables hanging out the back, as the lcd will take a normal av in cable from the mvp without being attached to an actual playstation (already tested this), so I don't see any reason why this won't work out of the box.

But my perfect scenario would be to have both the screen and the mvp run off of a battery, which would result in a clean all in one sage client that could go anywhere within my wifi range. I found Ben Heckendorn's site and book www.benheck.com that explains how to use camcorder batteries to make a portable psone, but of course he doesn't deal directly with the mediamvp. Also, not being an electrical engineer, I am not even sure if this is feasible.

Here's the questions I have come up with so far, and yes I fully anticipate losing some of this equipment to trial and error, that's ok. It is also acceptable to tell me that this is physically impossible, because I have little knowledge of electrical engineering. Although I do have an uncle working for General Electric with several patents who is about to be conscripted :

LCD screen runs off of a 7.5 volt ac adapter, and the mvp is 6. What is the best approach to get the correct voltage out of a battery? Two separate batteries? Could they both be arranged to charge off the same ac adapter?

Could the psone's power switch be arranged to power on the screen as well as the mvp? I know it will be a full boot from the mvp, that's fine.

Will this void my mvp warranty? (just kidding)

tia

[MeInMaui]

Or you could run Placeshifter on a laptop...

Of course where is the challenge in that?

Aloha,
Mike

[btrcp2000]

yeah, but that's no fun. I can do more damage this way, and it will really make my wife's eyes roll back into her head as she slowly continues to realize exactly what she married. Especially when the neighbors see it.

I thought of that and ruled it out because...

I don't have and don't want to purchase a laptop for this.
I do have most of the parts already collecting dust.
Laptops take forever to boot up
I don't feel like endlessly tweaking another pc based client, 3 is enough
If it falls into the hot tub I can afford the $40 I have in it

[jdamore]

Your biggest challenge is getting the correct voltages but, 6 and 7.5 are not to different. A 7.2v battery (like an RC car battery) is probably be ok for the lcd and just might be ok for the MVP. Most electronics are rated to have a voltage tolerance of +-10% and sometimes more. You might want to get 2 or even 3 batteries, run them in parallel to up your run time. Take my advise at your own risk.

Personally, I would rather just plug it in so I didn't have to worry about charging it. You can just put the power supplies in the PS1 enclosure and run a power cord out. You might even be able to use the power connector and switch on the PS1 if you solder it to the lcd and MVP PS's. Of course, if this falls in the hottub your gonna have a bad night!! BZZZZZ