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Some say this is the greatest invention man has ever made, some say it is not, others still contest that it is. Regardless, I now would like all of you to realize this electronic device can be yours. All you need is a few hours and a couple of tools, oh and about $25 USD. Depending if you want to make it fancy or not, it could cost more. But my total costs where about $50 (that's because I spent $30 on a programmer) and there is no reason it should cost you any more, probably less. There are a few skills you might need before you get started. Not to worry though, Soldering is really easy! Trust me, if my girlfriend can do it, so can you! On top of that, this whole project can be accomplished without soldering on a proto-board, but for practical use one would most likely want to solder it to a board, and then put it in a case. Before we start, I want everyone putting this together to head on over to Firestarter`s home page and print out the parts list, and download the schematics, and the .hex file that you`re going to need later. OK, enough talk lets get down to bussiness!

Above is a photo of the proto-board completed with all the electronic components. The large and small ICs are the heart of operations. The larger one is the PIC16F268, Now when you order one of these things they don`t come programmed with all of the awesome programming that we need to get this thing to work! Firestarter said that you will be able to order them from him already programmed, and if this option is available at the time you are reading this, go a head and order one from him, it will save you a lot of time and money. ***UPDATE SEE BOTTOM ABOUT PIC!! However if you are one of those DIY persons, a good DIY programmer can be fond out on the net, try a google search. If that just looks like a whole lot more work then you want to tackle I would suggest the PIC Development Package from Spark Fun Electronics, it comes completed, and is XP compatible. I ordered the one from Spark Fun Electronics and I recommend this to anyone that wants to save some time, it was really simple to set up! All you have to do is download the latest vesion of IC-prog open up the hex file you downloaded, select the IC that your going to program, and the hardware model (JDM if you have the one from Spark Fun), and burn that sucker. The only draw back to this is that the Development package is really expensive, about $30 plus S&H. You could just get the programmer (SKU Number: PIC-P18B), and the ICSP connector (SKU Number: PIC-PG1) the only difference is that it that you wont get a power supply and a serial cable you didn't really didn't need in the first place (the programmer runs off the power from the seral cable, and the ICSP can connect directly to the back of your PC, if you don't already have a serial cable), then the total comes to about $27 plus S&H.

All the other parts on the parts list can be found at mouser.com I got all my parts from a local electronical store in the town over from mine, I'm sure you will be able to find most of the parts locally, but mouser is a good place to find the Opto-coupler (and other parts) if you are having trouble finding one, or too. Also a converson table helped me figure out what kind of compactors I needed, not all brands do measurements in Pico farads.

Once you get all your parts, you can start putting everything together. The best way to start is on a Proto-board, it will save you a lot of time as you will be able to check if you have the LEDs positioned correctly among other components. One tip on putting the proto-board together, you want the 20mhz crystal and the two 22pf capatiors as close as possable to the PIC, you can see how close mine are in the photo above. You should start with putting the power circuit together, then test it with a mulitmeater, if it reads 5v between a ground and the far right pin of the voltage regulator you`re golden. We will be using the five volts from the power circuit to power the whole unit. I've labeled the different circuits in the picture below, and where the power and ground lines are.

Once you get everything setup and working on the proto-board, its time to move to a project board, and solder all the components to the board.

I'm no great PCB artist, and there is probably a better way to set all this up on a project board, but all I did was take the way I had it setup on the proto-board, squish it, and move it to the project board. It was that simple. the project board did take a lot more time to set up even though I had my proto-board to follow, mainly because of the soldering. I had flux on my hands for days! A few tips for the Project board: never solder directly to the two ICs, buy some dip sockets. And if you are having trouble finding a good power supply, a 9v battery works fine, I had my rechargeable 9v hooked up and synced for two hours and it didn't skip a beat once. Oh, and a note on the photos of the project board, I'm using switches instead of buttons, it doesn't matter witch one you use, but make sure that they are 5v when not pressed and 0v when they are being pressed. This site is really more of an overview than a actual step by step Tutorial but to go through every solder point would be murder, I'll add more stuff as it arrives, ask any and all questions to the LSDJ-MC2 group. With a finished project you should be able to do this. Much love and respect to Firestarter and the whole LSDJ Community. UPDATE 09/08/04 I was debating in my mind if I should go buy a midi thru for the MC2, or try and build one myself - and after much debate (I'm really cheap!) I decided to buy one. But then Firestarter produced this: The Midi-thru version of the schematics! I noticed it wasn't up on his page and I thought I'd share the glory with all of you! That's all for now, but I made a box for the project then updated it with the new V1.1.1 so its really ugly right now! When I put it in a new case I'll add some more photos! **** UPDATE ****: 10/16/04 Here are some pictures of my new case! I used an old NES Acclaim wireless pad case, the LEDs are visible from the inside thru the tinted black IR cover. Its still a little ugly, but that's because the case wouldn't fit the V1.1.1 update. **** UPDATE ****: 05/01/05 The PIC16F268 can now be ordered with the LSDJ-MC2 flashed directly on it here! http://www.gameboymall.com/