In Hardware

"free POWer" = POWer without screwing up actual game play? I'm working on a mod and this is my first step thanx

You can draw 5v right from the regulator (the little black thing with three legs that's screwed onto a "U" shaped piece of metal) as long as you're not trying to draw huge amounts of POWer, you should be fine right there. Just be VERY careful not to short those three solder points.

Check this out, i stole it from Evilnes's thread about his mod. He got his POWer from here, just to POWer a small christmas light.

If you're doing a really big mod and need even more POWer than what the NES POWer supply can provide, you could use a bigger POWer supply (meaning more amperage, but obviously keeping everything else the same, voltage, ac etc).

By having a POWer supply that can deliver more amperage you give yourself the extra amperage you need for your mod, yet you don't hurt the NES (it'll still use exactly as much amperage as it did before, it won't even know the difference).

That's how electronics works (someone can back me up on this probably)

How much can you draw from the lockout chip and will it affect operation? I need to POWer a 5v LED.

You can run an LED just fine, probably multiple LEDs. I don't know why you'd draw from the lockout chip though.

Why not? The lockout chip stays on all the time, or atleast in my NES it does.

... Do you know what the lockout chip is?

What do you mean it "stays on" all the time?

Yes. It's a 4-bit processor that stops unlicensed games from working. What I mean by "stays on" is that it recieves POWer when you're actually playing a game.

So does everything else in the console as long as the POWer button is active...

Trying to solder to the lockout chip is going to be nothing but a headache. You're better to get it from the source - the VRM.

You can probably get +5v from the controller ports. Much more convenient and safe than soldering onto the pin of the cpu. You'll have to find your own ground, though.

Dead easy...

You see that silvery border around the whole board?

that's a ground.

use the regulator, looking at the front of it the pins are input (ignore that) ground (use for ground or negative) output (5 volts, use this as positive).
i dont know where you got a 5v led though, usually theyre 3.8v max. theres no reason to get POWer from the lockout chip, itll be exactly the same, only more of a pain to work with.

and yeah, whoever said it, electronics is like that, the amperage printed on the ac adaptor is just the maximum it can handle, current is not like voltage, only what is drawn is used. however in this case it doesnt make a difference, an led will need like 30mA max

I got a question sort of on the same topic. On my nes i changed the color of the "ON LIGHT". well that was easy and i also added a second LED (above the 72 Pin connector) off of the same POWer source. does that pose any problem?? can i add more LED's than just the one?

Im currently running two LED's off of the same source, and I havent had any problems.

LEDs draw such low POWer that you could probably run several with no problems at all...

Also, to anyone who likes pretty blue LEDs, get those fancy new LED christmas lights. At $10 for a string of 50+, it's a LOT cheaper than buying they from Radio Shack.

i just found this on the web a couple of days ago and went at it!. They arent the best of quality though are they?? here is the site i found.

LEDs draw such low POWer that you could probably run several with no problems at all...

Also, to anyone who likes pretty blue LEDs, get those fancy new LED christmas lights. At $10 for a string of 50+, it's a LOT cheaper than buying they from Radio Shack.

Are the NES LED's limited to just blue, or could I get another color?

If you just asked that question, i wouldn't attempt it.

it depends on how electronic smart you are.... sometimes different colors require different Volts. and if you use one color you have to use the same color all round... unless you know how to use resistors and .................

Yes it is confusing, and i am new to it myself but its not rocket science.. just google most of the information.