In attempting to figure out what the maximum "safe" amount of current to draw from the cartridge port is, I thought a good experiment would be to measure the current draw of existing games. I used one of my new Genesis Probing Adapters to easily measure the current each of these game carts requires to operate. Pictures of the experiment are here, and a table of results can be found in Technical Info along with other Genesis power supply information. The choice of which games to measure seemed obvious to me.
ResultsIn my opinion, the current consumption values measured on Virtua Racing are probably a good limit to follow. If we consider that all of the cartridge current is supplied by a +5V LDO, then an additional 100mA (drawn by Virtua Racing) is probably starting to push the limits of a poor old LM7805. Behold the towers of power! |
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