I still have the unit, built it easily with just one chip, a 4-op amp LM324 jobbie.
By the way, like yourself, I am more of a programmer, and know very little about electronics. So if I could do it, you probably could, too. The design is something like this: http://www.eleccircuit.com/increase-out ... 85ma-size/
Only thing I'm not sure is if the 85mA output is enough for you.