electronics
USB Stick Data Recovery
It isn’t the first time, and it probably won’t be the last. Today I had a client e-mail me in some panic, as her USB memory drive had stopped working. It was plugged into the computer, and someone walked into it, bending the connector.
Breaking the 64MB, chinese-made promotional USB key was not the disaster – it was losing the files on it.
I’ve had luck before re-soldering damaged USB key connectors, so I got my tools together and gave it a shot.
Custom Car Bluetooth Receiver
Currently my phone is simply connected to my radio’s AUX input with a cable, and if I want to change songs I must do so from the phone. Modern raidos have integrated Bluetooth capabilities, allowing you to pair your radio to your phone wirelessly. In some cases, pausing and skipping tracks can be done directly from the radio’s buttons – safer than waking up and unlocking your phone to change songs within the music player app.
I could have purchased such a radio, but I already had a perfectly fine JVC unit I installed not even two years ago. It has two AUX inputs, the one in the front I’ve been using, and a special Bluetooth AUX input in the rear. Although designed for use with a JVC accessory, I decided to build my own Bluetooth receiver for my car.
Quick Flip Fix
After a weekend at the Ottawa Pinball and Gameroom Show ’12, I came home to find that one of my Flip HD video cameras had stopped powering on. It functioned without problem when connected to the computer to copy the videos from it, but it would not turn on to record.
Today, I finally decided to open it up and figure out the cause. I suspected perhaps the power switch was bad, since it didn’t seem to be a major system failure. When I opened it up, the problem was as clear as day:
As you can see, something isn’t sitting quite right. One of the diodes became un-soldered, perhaps due to a shock, causing an already cracked solder joint to completely give up.
Simple enough to fix, a quick test with a multimeter, two points of solder, and everything was back to normal.
You never know if a task will be easy or difficult without first taking a look.
Modifying a Flip Video UltraHD to Add Charging Capabilities
The Cisco Flip Video UltraHD is a very basic 720p video recording device. It has a screen, a few buttons, and USB and HDMI ports. Not very much going on. Record, play back, copy to computer. However, these devices were discontinued, so my friend and I bought two to share at $29 a piece. I was very keen on using them together for 3D video.
To prepare for this weekend’s 2nd annual Ottawa Pinball Expo, I was making sure all my camera gear’s batteries were charged. The Flip UltraHD takes 2 AA batteries, which is generally enough to allow you to completely fill the camera’s 1 hour internal memory.
I noticed that there was a rechargeable battery pack you could buy for the Flips. It charges when the camera is plugged in to a USB port. This battery pack is really just two AA NiMH rechargeable batteries wrapped together, with a little tab that pushes on a switch to tell the camera that the pack is installed, and not regular AAs. When I realized this, I figured I could modify the Flips to work with my own AA NiMHs, and charge when connected to my computer.
Refurbishing a Brother DCP-120C Inkjet Printer
About a month ago my neighbour gave me an old Brother DCP-120C printer/scanner. The auto-document feeder was what caught my eye at first, but after I looked more closely, the type of ink cartridges it used made me very happy with this gift: they are simply little tanks of ink, with no head, meaning they are very easy to refill and should last a long time. What’s more, it only cost $7 for a full set at 123inkcartridges.ca.
However, after ordering the new cartridges and trying to print, I encountered some problems: nothing came out, except for trace amounts of colour – no black, and it certainly was not printing properly.
This is the inherent design flaw of these printers: they have a fixed print head, that is part of the printer. Unlike HPs and Canons (to name a few), the print head isn’t part of the cartridge. This means that if the printer is left sitting for long, and the ink clogs the head, the whole thing needs to be disassembled and either cleaned, or the head replaced.
Print head on an HP cartridge – replaced whenever you
buy a new cartridge.
Being the do-it-yourselfer I am, I decided I would tackle the task of refurbishing this printer.
Final Project – Final Writeup
After yesterday’s exam, I have completed the Electronic Technologies program at Heritage College! Although final marks are not yet posted, graduation is certain, and I can pretty much call myself a Technologist (except not officially).
The biggest part of this third and final year was the final project. I’ve made a few posts in the past about it (video, menu, schematics), and the original plan was to make separate blog posts for each step of the process. However, time constraints, and the sheer volume of material, makes it easier if I just provide this summative post.
This post will be divided down into two main sections: hardware and software. I will try to explain with detail while keeping it short, and cover some of the key elements and choices involved in making this project.
Final Project – Walkthrough
After two semesters, I can finally present my complete, ~fully functional, Final Project.
A good project is never finished, and I do indeed have other features and fixes I would like to implement in the future.
Check out the video below to see it in action!
ATX Power Supplies – Negative Voltages
Computer power supply units (PSUs) provides all the voltages the computer needs to function. Most computers use the ATX form factor, a standard that describes which voltages and connectors a PSU should have to be compatible with other hardware.
The ATX standard has three main voltages (3.3V, 5V, and 12V), and two, almost never used, negative voltages (-5V and -12V). Recently, I was thinking about how I could make a computer power supply that accepted a 12VDC input, while still providing the range of voltages needed. Indeed, regulating 12V down to 5V and 3.3V is not so difficult, but obtaining negative voltages along side these positive ones was a challenge for my mind.
Looking online I found that almost all examples of dual polarity power supplies involved the use of a center tapped transformer and AC voltages. This was not the most practical method if my input were to be a DC source. So, rather than begin complicating the idea, why not find out if these negative voltages are even needed at all.
Modifying Bluetooth Headphones
Backstory
For Christmas, I asked my sister for a pair of Bluetooth headphones. I had wanted a pair for a while, but the biggest concern I had was quality, but hand in hand with that is price. I read many reviews about headsets in the $50-$80 range, and many of them complained of sound dropping, artifacting, tinny sound, empty bass. This was the highest I was willing to pay for BT headphones, and even at that, I wanted excellent quality for that price. Then I came across these:
These Nexxtech “Soaring” Bluetooth headphones were on sale for $19.99 at the time. I thought, “hey, these have the same kind of reviews as the $60 units. Since they are more affordable, and would be a great gift idea, I’ll try them out.” So, when Christmas came, these were the headphones I got.
I used them a few times, but it wasn’t until college resumed that they were getting more usage. I found they were fairly comfortable to wear (as long as you have hair that covers your ears), and that the sound quality was actually exceptional. Not as in, “I can tell it is Bluetooth but I don’t mind.” I mean, it sounded as close to wired headphones as it could get. My friends were equally impressed.
Unfortunately, clarity does not mean frequency response. The bass lacked punch, dubstep did not tickle my eardrums like other headphones. It suffered from Generic Driver Syndrome – standard, run of the mill, $10 headphone speakers.
Time for a solution…
PW5115 UPS – Quick Post
Okay, maybe not so quick. Tonight I was playing around inside the Power Ware PW5115 UPS I wrote about here. Over the last several weeks it has been in service, I’ve run into a few problems with it, and cracked it open in hopes of finding some answers (as well as to change the noisy fan for something quieter.)
I was experiencing two issues:
- Every couple of days, the fan will randomly turn off. This happened ever since I got it, and sometimes happened every 4 days, once a week, then it happened twice in two days.
- It was no longer capable of supporting the server when mains was removed.
When I opened it, there was nothing out of the ordinary. No bulging caps of anything of the sort. I believe at this point I can attribute the problem to aging, ready to retire batteries.
This is the huge bus capacitor at the 36VDC input. It has enough power that, when the batteries are disconnected, it can fire several relays and hold them for a second, before finally dying. As well, when the battery pack is connected initially, considerable current is sucked to charge this cap, enough that a large blue arc appears, creating ozone and smoke. Awesome.
Here you can see where the buzzer used to be, removed to preserve my sanity. I don’t know if any of you have a UPS (or two) in your bedroom, but they will beep, non stop, for no reason. Power failed? Beep every 2 seconds. Battery dying? Beep continuously. If a power outage happens at 3am, this is not a sound you want to be woken up for. It has happened to me, and the adrenaline rush is actually kind of unpleasant.
To the top right of the buzzer footprint you can see a black-red-yellow wire. This is the wire going to the fan. I plan on replacing the stock turbine with a much quieter CPU fan. The turbine didn’t really even move that much air, anyway.