Dummy NP-BG1

This is the Sony Cybershot DSC-H55. It’s a 14-megapixel digital camera from 2010 with a maximum resolution of 4320 x 3240. It has a fixed screen and lens, making it small and portable. It can take nice photos, and it really does try to take videos when you… ask it to.

Here it is:

While I’m a sucker for the style of photos it takes, its battery life has aged worse than the camera. It’s powered by NP-BG1 batteries:

These run out quite fast and swapping between batteries on-the-go requires you to not only have replacements with you but also to set date, time, and locale settings at every boot. I decided to dismantle a Digitek battery to try making a “dummy battery” from its shell:

After taking out the Digitek cell, I put a protoboard in the frame and soldered on an XY-016 and a USB-C breakout (both heartlessly scavenged from a dead project) and soldered them uglily to the frame’s contacts:

Surprisingly, despite all the extra bulging, it fit into the camera. Pulling it out was more difficult. The battery door, of course, cannot close while the camera is plugged into power.

It was ugly, but after randomly trying a few different resistors on the “C” (“Communication”? Usually a thermistor, I’m guessing) pad between the anode and cathode, I managed to fool the camera into allowing itself to work with this battery in and powered by USB-C.

I’m sure you were able to spot mine :P

Comment on "2010s cybershot dummy battery"