Wow, two videos where I fail to solder a battery holder on a SNES cartridge. The next one will be a success - I promise or your money back! Also, we touch on the TSOP40-to-DIP36 adapter used in one of my previous videos - loss of continuity there, apologies.

After the previous battery-holder adventure, somebody on Twitter kindly pointed me in the direction of a different style of holder. The original one had a raised section at the back that made it difficult to fit inside the cartridge shell. Not particularly useful when the whole idea is to close the cartridge afterwards!

I ordered some lower-profile holders from element14 and compared them with the previous design. These looked much better, without that enormous bit sticking up at the back. I bought five of each colour, including some white ones that already looked rather discoloured and awful. I know nobody is going to spend much time staring inside the cartridge, but it still matters to me!

The hope was that these new holders would finally solve the clearance problem, particularly on the cartridges I’m preparing for EarthBound. They certainly looked more promising when held side by side with the old design. I hadn’t completed the new installation in this recording, though, so there was still a little soldering to do before declaring victory.

Meanwhile, some more goodies had arrived for the SNES flash-cartridge project. I’d received the adapter PCBs for the TSOP40 flash chips, along with two of the chips themselves. These tiny little things are what I’ll eventually be using in the donor cartridges, although getting those fine-pitch legs soldered down should be an adventure of its own.

I also had another adapter on order so I could program the flash memory using my GQ-4X programmer. There was plenty of work ahead, but the PCBs looked lovely and I was rather keen to put them to use. I’ll definitely need a generous supply of flux paste before tackling those tiny connections!

So no, this isn’t the triumphant battery-holder installation video just yet. But the parts are finally looking more suitable, and the EarthBound cartridge project is coming together nicely. Now I just need to get everything soldered without another Sunday-night disaster.

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