-----------------------------------
USB 5V to 9V USB Adapter
pic
Spoiler
Good news is that the USB to 9V adapter does indeed power the Super Famicom and ran Mega Man X and Yoshi's Island no issues. I can confirm this $9 adapter meant to power guitar pedals is negative center polarity.
I'm not sure if it's really a charge pump or a boost converter but, either way, can still generate low MHz switching noise. Best to hold out buying one until I measure the noise with an oscilloscope. If low kHz range that 7805 can filter then just need to be careful of the USB 5V source. Lose what you gained with a cell phone charger's switching noise but a power bank should be fine.
I'm not sure if it's really a charge pump or a boost converter but, either way, can still generate low MHz switching noise. Best to hold out buying one until I measure the noise with an oscilloscope. If low kHz range that 7805 can filter then just need to be careful of the USB 5V source. Lose what you gained with a cell phone charger's switching noise but a power bank should be fine.
Rechargeable 9V Battery
pic
Spoiler
Rechargeable 9V battery can work while being charged. Bad news is that it powered on the console but games wouldn't start. I tried when not charging too. This means it put out enough voltage to activate the 7805 but not enough current. Looking at the watts on Poniie meter confirmed. Should note that a red LED light reaches max brightness at 20mA. It turning on means the 7805 is outputting some power but not necessarily 300mA or more to run any game.
Next step is testing two 9V batteries in parallel to output double the current. This is necessary when different 9V brands both specified they charge at a rate of (5V) x (500mA) = 2.5W. Poniie meter confirmed 2.6W. Console uses more like 4W. Power to console needs to be less than the power charging the batteries.
Alligator to alligator clips and a $2 parallel 9V to barrel connector on the way! If I need to wire more than two 9V in parallel - that must be charged while working - then this setup becomes convoluted. No one makes an adapter that connects more than two 9V together. Got to alligator clip them.
Next step is testing two 9V batteries in parallel to output double the current. This is necessary when different 9V brands both specified they charge at a rate of (5V) x (500mA) = 2.5W. Poniie meter confirmed 2.6W. Console uses more like 4W. Power to console needs to be less than the power charging the batteries.
Alligator to alligator clips and a $2 parallel 9V to barrel connector on the way! If I need to wire more than two 9V in parallel - that must be charged while working - then this setup becomes convoluted. No one makes an adapter that connects more than two 9V together. Got to alligator clip them.
Regular 9V (don't do this)
Just as a test, I was able to boot Mega Man X on a regular (non-chargeable) 9V battery. Battery will last 30 minutes max before dropping to 7V and cutting off the 7805.
-----------------------------------
Isopropyl Alcohol Cleaning
pic
Spoiler
I took VajSkids Consoles' advice and cleaned carts and console with 99% isopropyl alcohol + Q-tips. All were dirty though Mega Man X and Yoshi's Island already with the best chance at booting were slightly less so. Now I can get SFC Donkey Kong Country and SFC Mega Man X3 to work. Mega Man X and Yoshi's Island boot 100% of the time now versus 30-50% before. Best 10 minutes I ever spent.
Other five games I tried still don't work. I didn't unscrew the carts to clean the whole of the connector, just what I could reach while carts are intact. Real solution may be replacing cart electrolytic capacitors that are guaranteed to dry out and fail given enough years.
Other five games I tried still don't work. I didn't unscrew the carts to clean the whole of the connector, just what I could reach while carts are intact. Real solution may be replacing cart electrolytic capacitors that are guaranteed to dry out and fail given enough years.
PAL Notes
pic
Spoiler
I imported a PAL SNES + Super Game Boy + Honey Bee adapter (bypasses NTSC lockout for most games) from Italy after watching eBay for a month. I have two displays that can take PAL. Waited out Street Fighter II Turbo and Super Mario World from US sellers. Fairly confident the SD2SNES flash cart will work when it's made by Europeans.
I was thinking PAL emits less EMI due to no TTL csync. Turns out I had the PAL schematic this whole time and the truth is no longer clear.
PAL SNES uses a cleverly designed but convoluted (even by Nintendo standards) 2 stage Dickson charge pump that requires AC supply for the two inputs pulses to be out of phase. The AC sine waves are really supposed to be square waves and the low 50 Hz forces high 10uF capacitors.
Standard Zener diode regulator fixes output to +12V. Charge pumps are noisy like I was saying, meaning it's no longer certain that PAL noise is less. Difference must be tested.
The thing that caught me off guard is the +12V line clearly can't work without AC input. People including me and the Bible say PAL can run off AC or DC voltage. I have no SCART but could stick a probe on the +12V multiout pin to confirm it doesn't work on DC input. Way I understand things, entire purpose of replacing TTL csync with +12V is to tell PAL television with SCART to use RGB in the cable for video versus Composite that gets used as sync instead. Some PAL televisions could adjust the input with a menu option.
PAL consoles came with 9-9.4V AC PSUs. Worded as such on the PSU because 230V yields 9V and 240V yields 9.4V. Issue of supplying AC instead DC power, besides PAL RGB situation or quality of SNES built-in rectifier, is the AC supply is not regulated. 220V makes 8.6V.
I was thinking PAL emits less EMI due to no TTL csync. Turns out I had the PAL schematic this whole time and the truth is no longer clear.
PAL SNES uses a cleverly designed but convoluted (even by Nintendo standards) 2 stage Dickson charge pump that requires AC supply for the two inputs pulses to be out of phase. The AC sine waves are really supposed to be square waves and the low 50 Hz forces high 10uF capacitors.
Standard Zener diode regulator fixes output to +12V. Charge pumps are noisy like I was saying, meaning it's no longer certain that PAL noise is less. Difference must be tested.
The thing that caught me off guard is the +12V line clearly can't work without AC input. People including me and the Bible say PAL can run off AC or DC voltage. I have no SCART but could stick a probe on the +12V multiout pin to confirm it doesn't work on DC input. Way I understand things, entire purpose of replacing TTL csync with +12V is to tell PAL television with SCART to use RGB in the cable for video versus Composite that gets used as sync instead. Some PAL televisions could adjust the input with a menu option.
PAL consoles came with 9-9.4V AC PSUs. Worded as such on the PSU because 230V yields 9V and 240V yields 9.4V. Issue of supplying AC instead DC power, besides PAL RGB situation or quality of SNES built-in rectifier, is the AC supply is not regulated. 220V makes 8.6V.
Measuring Current
Spoiler
Current needs to be measured in series since it divides in parallel. Voltage works the other way around. I thought out what to do and ordered female barrel to screw connector adapter + screw connector to male barrel adapter to plug into SFC. In between the screw connectors I can wire multimeter leads to measure current leaving the power supply and prove exactly how much is needed without having to lift the fuse or regulator pin or solder anything.