tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-9326726068094582742024-02-21T07:11:42.001-05:00Steves Fix It ShopIt seems I'm always fixing, building, or modifying something. I hope the information here will save you some time, frustration, and maybe even a little money.Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.comBlogger40125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-5740521593438366702014-09-13T11:25:00.002-04:002014-09-13T11:25:45.561-04:00Samsung Galaxy S3 LTE and VOIP Microphone IssueI heard about <a href="http://www.freedompop.com/">FreedomPOP</a> from my brother, basically you get 200 minutes, 500 Texts and 500MB data free each month. They use the Sprint network and support 3G & LTE. The way it works is everything goes over the data connection. Calls are routed over VOIP and texts are about the same. This actually works really good for me as I get basically no service at home on Verizon or Sprint, but I have good WiFi. It will route over any available internet connection, so you could even use it overseas (on WiFi). There are some issues I can't resolve ATM. Here's What I've run into so far:<br />
<br />
I'm running a SlimKAT 7.0 on a Samsung Galaxy S3 (Sprint), so these may or may not work for you. <b>I TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY IF YOU BRICK OR DAMAGE YOUR DEVICE!</b><br />
<h4>
Problem 1 - No LTE</h4>
No LTE, 3g works fine, but when you get an LTE Connection you don't get an IP. This is an APN problem. LTE Works fine on stock, but not on SlimKAT / CM11 (tested).<br />
<br />
<b>Solution:</b> You have to activate on stock (you should have a nandroid right?). After you've got everything working on stock you have to backup your APN list, then flash your custom ROM.<br />
Next you have to restore your APN list, reboot and LTE will work! Unfortunately it's harder to do than it seems. an unprivileged app can no longer write to the APN list. So here's my solution (you may or may not need to do this on stock to read them):<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>Make sure your phone is rooted (and has supersu or something on it)</li>
<li>Install <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.riteshsahu.APNBackupRestore&hl=en">APN Backup and Restore</a> from the Play Store.</li>
<li>Install <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.estrongs.android.pop&hl=en">ES File Explorer File Manager</a> from the Play Store.</li>
<li>Launch ES File Explorer and in the setting enable "Root Explorer"</li>
<li>Navigate to "/data/app" and long press and "cut" "com.riteshsahu.APNBackupRestore-1.apk"</li>
<li>Navigate to "/system/priv-app" and paste the apk file there. </li>
<li>Long press on the apk and hit properties. Permissions should be "rw-r--r--" Owner and Group should both be "root"</li>
<li>Reboot</li>
<li>Open APN Backup and Restore, close the ICS warning, hit menu, then disable ICS checking.</li>
<li>Now you can backup and restore your APN's</li>
</ol>
<br />Notes:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>If you're restoring you may want to make a backup, delete the APN's that came with your ROM, then restore the stock ones. </li>
<li>You may need to find and move the stock file with ES File Exporer if it didn't save to "/storage/emulated/0/ApnBackupRestore". </li>
<li>I don't recall where it saved them on stock, but you may want to find it and make sure it's not going to get deleted when you flash. </li>
<li>Reboot when you're done.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
Problem 2 - VOIP Apps use top microphone</h4>
<div>
I fought with this for quite a while, in the freedompop messaging app I could turn on various settings and it would work until they updated the app, then it would require a different set of options. I thought it was a freedompop problem until I started playing with the new Google Hangouts. It only used the top microphone, and there were no options to fix it.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Solution: It's a build.prop issue.</div>
<div>
<ol>
<li>Install <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.jrummy.apps.build.prop.editor&hl=en">Build Prop Editor</a> From the play store. (or use whatever method you want)</li>
<li>Change "persist.audio.handset.mic" from "digital" to "analog"</li>
<li>Reboot </li>
</ol>
<div>
Note: I removed some lines in "/etc/audio_policy.conf" related to VOIP before finding the build.prop issue and it didn't fix it. But it may have changed things, I'm looking into this.</div>
<div>
<b>UPDATE:</b> Just confirmed from my brother - the build.prop edit fixes the problem.</div>
<h4>
Problem 3 - Amazon Music Won't Play Downloaded Prime Songs</h4>
</div>
<div>
Symptoms: Streams Prime music fine, plays music I've bought and downloaded, plays MP3's from the phone fine, crashes when trying to play Prime Music I've downloaded.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
No solution so far.</div>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-59701797449726266462014-05-26T07:44:00.003-04:002014-05-26T07:44:38.873-04:00Adventures in 3d printing Or "I Finally Built a RepRap!"I've wanted a 3d printer for quite some time. A few years ago I stared building one that, to say the least, was poorly engineered and under constructed. It never actually worked at all. Some of the designs could have worked, especially in a large CNC machine, but were just not a good fit for a small 3d printer. I've been eyeing the RepRap i3 models for a while now, last week I bought a kit (less electronics).<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCL2c0BMWwxPfLuKhSVyh1NizI46PXSOeUBOtAjnDP4yl4szGi6C_aUlRtraEkFyGlGyRknrIJk8xMG9zM_csCqpln7x3cnWNgeciaakiBSKwR1wYF0K1NTVlNwOkjZlFooBrxN7lTaU/s1600/reprap1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHCL2c0BMWwxPfLuKhSVyh1NizI46PXSOeUBOtAjnDP4yl4szGi6C_aUlRtraEkFyGlGyRknrIJk8xMG9zM_csCqpln7x3cnWNgeciaakiBSKwR1wYF0K1NTVlNwOkjZlFooBrxN7lTaU/s1600/reprap1.JPG" height="320" width="255" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RepRap i3 with cooling fans and filament spool. <br />Note spool is on backwards to allow for the sloped ceiling in my lab.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br />
Assembly was quite straightforward, there is a partial guide, though it skips (or I missed) some key steps.<br />
<br />
A few tips:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Final alignment of the XZ (vertical) frame should be done after assembly. Just line it up so the extruder will reach the front and back of the Y frame and is square.</li>
<li>I printed thumbnuts to fine tune the bed leveling, it makes it really easy to get it spot on. I used these "<a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:208137">Easy Heated Bed Leveling Thumbnuts</a>"</li>
<li>The Z axis endstop was a pain, part of it was I used the wrong mount, but I printed this "<a href="http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:267927">Adjustable Z-Axis Endstop Arm</a>" to make it easier</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Fire in the Hole!</h4>
Everything I (and probably everyone else) build has some "teething" issues. I had (and am still having) a few. After I got it set up fairly good I started a print and it seemed to be working nicely, then the Sanguinololou literally caught fire (there were flames). The bug list for the Sanguinololou says the traces for the heated bed are too small, so I had reinforced them with wires before this point, it was the wires that caught fire. Turns out the mosFET shorted and the bed just stayed on continuously drawing ~16A. I salvaged the board and put a new mosFET (all I had on hand was a 12A logic level one) put it back together, set it to pwm at 50% and it lasted about 30 seconds before shorting too (I was watching this time). I swapped it again, added a reverse diode and ran it through an automotive relay (so the mosFET turns the relay on and off). That works really good.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk5TOHiOWPG70tWtviIhSOp4v69zgbADLA3du2hyaJJAxI1kgo0GXNgqSyFo9N6ZqAbtBlo-Lj4iYVnsits3fgdw77wisV3K-ANYPQfOKgoNj-AXLtch88doRiD-yXCFXR5SgtWJy4Z8/s1600/DSCI0144.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnk5TOHiOWPG70tWtviIhSOp4v69zgbADLA3du2hyaJJAxI1kgo0GXNgqSyFo9N6ZqAbtBlo-Lj4iYVnsits3fgdw77wisV3K-ANYPQfOKgoNj-AXLtch88doRiD-yXCFXR5SgtWJy4Z8/s1600/DSCI0144.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electronics, complete with rats nest</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Now that the fires were out It was time to try some real prints. The filament won't stick to the bed. No matter what I do it won't stick. I tried cleaning really well, nope. gluestick helped, allowed me to print the upgrades I mentioned, but was hit or miss. I researched, tweaked settings, spent the better part of a day on it. Finally my brother was over and (looking on his tablet) said "they say here that Reprapper brand glossy black PLA won't stick to glass, use blue tape". Yep, I had Reprapper brand glossy black PLA filament, and yes, it sticks really well to blue tape.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnwRCin6pl0hw_noVx2V5uhTJZxrMnC4aHEHKkzNwjGMRyKbixODahzmzrRDmcGKYXYpHjOVbxr3E3KAcaB7nzCPNYPQE9OmOclOKbMJoihfPG8P3UemEJ1cJK2IKuINR0-JkN3sBxsY/s1600/DSCI0148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXnwRCin6pl0hw_noVx2V5uhTJZxrMnC4aHEHKkzNwjGMRyKbixODahzmzrRDmcGKYXYpHjOVbxr3E3KAcaB7nzCPNYPQE9OmOclOKbMJoihfPG8P3UemEJ1cJK2IKuINR0-JkN3sBxsY/s1600/DSCI0148.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Sheep! Here's the first print that I took a picture of.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
A few remain</h4>
Now I can print, I've still got a few issues left, mostly "dialing in" problems.<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Overhangs and bridging don't work quite right. I've been lowering the extrusion temperature and it really helps. I started at 200C and am down to 180C for the first layer and 175C after that. A box fan after ~5 layers helps even more.</li>
<li>I printed some large parts and they warped, pulling the blue tape off the glass. The cooling fan bracket printed really nice with the 182C/177C and bed at 35C settings. this might be licked, but can't say yet. </li>
<li>The first layer of big parts will bunch up a bit during infill, leaving stuff sticking up that can catch the extruder. If it gets 3 layers or so it will bury the problem and will complete fine. I might still be a touch close on my z-axis start point or it might be something else.</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Future plans</h4>
<ul>
<li>Upgrade to optical endstop for Z-axis. It should be considerably more repeatable than a mechanical endstop, so I think it would be a big improvement. The X and Y axis are not nearly as critical, so I don't see any need to change those endstops.</li>
<li>Upgrade the electronics so I don't need a computer hooked to it and add cooling fan support. I've got several options: MosFET board and sd adapter, MosFET board and android tablet, Panelolou (includes Mosfets on the interface board and SD on the panel). I'm leaning toward the tablet option. The software looks really cool. I need to try it sometime.</li>
</ul>
<div>
<b>UPDATE:</b> I printed a bracket to mount some 40mm cooling fans, but all my small fans are 50mm, so I printed a 50mm bracket. Seems I chose one bad fan (rattles) so I'll have to replace that at some point. It makes a huge difference. I'll do another post on integrating it with the electronics.</div>
<h4>
Links</h4>
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:208137 - thumbscrews<br />
http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:267927 - Z-Axis Endstop Arm<br />
<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-73284137057673270652014-03-02T08:14:00.000-05:002015-04-26T07:43:49.342-04:001997 Dodge Dakota PCM RepairMy transportation situation in 2014 has started out bad. My car decided it doesn't want to run when on pavement anymore (works fine in the driveway). I'd been two weeks trying to fix it (along with working a 50hrs/week and studying for CS50x) when my truck started stalling randomly. The first time I was pulling out of the driveway on the way to work, it cranked for a minute then started and ran fine. The second time (same day) I was driving through town on my way home from work and it just started coasting. Fortunately it re-started just as I was preparing to coast onto the shoulder. I got home and pulled the codes.<br />
<h4>
Diagnosis</h4>
<div>
<ul>
<li>P0320 - Crankshaft Position Sensor</li>
<li>P0351 - Ignition coil A</li>
</ul>
<div>
I know I pinched the CPS wires when I put the transmission back in, I just hadn't got around to replacing it. I searched for P0351 and it seems it's usually not the coil, but the PCM failing. I also found that there is a header in the PCM that can cause stalling problems. It's on the voltage regulator board.</div>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I replaced the CPS and coil just to be on the safe side. Then started it up and wiggled the wires at the PCM. The center (white) connector would cause it to skip. So I pulled the PCM and re-soldered the header (see links).<br />
<h4>
Repair</h4>
</div>
<div>
What a pain that was! it's mounted to a aluminum plate that sucks the heat out of the connector. I ended up with a hot air rework gun at 300C and my soldering iron at 400C. It barely melted the solder, even after heating it for a few minutes! If I do this again I'll put it on my BGA rework pre-heater (electric griddle) and heat the whole board up!</div>
<div>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkdimoOLmuiXCcv9yT8L6l0GhfitWexcXgS4Lf05DFRqf1cyhHaNuLzUmaRg2dDk_1MI3NsB8H_Egnfn4JVuHbF0hfFQ78ZVzvqius0PlzPmCH2IfyCTsXBCLIwStawTKfZtttwwLTf0/s1600/PCM.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkkdimoOLmuiXCcv9yT8L6l0GhfitWexcXgS4Lf05DFRqf1cyhHaNuLzUmaRg2dDk_1MI3NsB8H_Egnfn4JVuHbF0hfFQ78ZVzvqius0PlzPmCH2IfyCTsXBCLIwStawTKfZtttwwLTf0/s1600/PCM.JPG" height="172" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">1997 Dodge PCM Voltage Regulator Daughter Board?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<br /></div>
<div>
Anyway, I reassembled the PCM and sprayed all the connectors with De-oxit. Wiggling the wires no longer has any effect on the engine. At least I'm (hopefully) back to one driveable vehicle. If I have to I'll try to pull the board under the potting and re-solder that too, but for now it seems to be working again.<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE:</b> It worked for a while, but started acting up again. I bought a used one off ebay and the truck has run great ever since. I pulled the main board out of the case and started cleaning the goo off it, I think it's the connectors where the harness plugs in, but that's as far as I've got.<br />
<h4>
Links</h4>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY62r-rtvls">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uY62r-rtvls</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/infamous-stalling-problem-identified-temporary-cure-1997-grand-cherokee-1112078/">http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/infamous-stalling-problem-identified-temporary-cure-1997-grand-cherokee-1112078/</a></li>
<li>I found this later, if the above fails to fix it this is the next step: <a href="http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/96-98-pcm-repair-procedure-w-pictures-1303589/">http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f13/96-98-pcm-repair-procedure-w-pictures-1303589/</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-28087014363477370762014-03-02T08:06:00.000-05:002014-03-02T08:06:27.633-05:00CS50xLate last year I signed up for CS50x from Harvardx on EDUx.<br />
<br />
So far it's an interesting course. When I signed up I thought we only had 12 weeks to complete it, but it turns out we have an entire year. Which is great because I started a full-time job three days after CS50x started! I've been putting off writing about it, but I want to get started. My progress is slow, as I'm working 50+hrs/week and trying to keep up with everything else (car broke down the first week, then the truck, you get the picture).<br />
<br />
I'm going to do a post on each Problem Set, and try to describe and explain the issues I ran into and how I solved them, without violating the cs50x policy of course (no complete solutions will be available here). Remember, I'm new at this, so my solution may not be the most efficient nor elegant by any means. But it should work.<br />
<h4>
Overview</h4>
The lectures have a lively feel to them and are available in many formats, I have been streaming the videos from the courseware page and occasionally downloading the mp3's to listen to on the way to work.<br />
<br />
The shorts are really cool 5-10min explanations of things related to the course. Did you know that in ASCII to change from capital to lower case (and vise versa) only one bit changes? Yep, it was in a short.<br />
<br />
The appliance is a virtual machine running Linux with a selection of tools to help you. I used virtualbox under Arch Linux, but it runs on Windows, Linux and Mac. It could be really slow on old or low-powered systems. it's a bit slow on my HTPC, but OK on my laptop. It took a while to get everything running smoothly, but that was mostly vitrualbox issues rather than appliance problems.<br />
<br />
The problem sets start easy (scratch) and get harder really fast, but it's supposed to be a challenge right? There is a standard edition and a hacker edition, only the standard counts toward completing the course, so I've concentrated on them. I'll go back and do the hackers as time permits (or when I'm procrastinating on the final project).<br />
<br />
The final project is a dilemma for me, so far all the ideas I've had fit one of these categories: too simple, too complicated, already been done, or not sufficiently interesting to me. Hopefully I'll come up with a good idea before I'm through with problem sets.<br />
<h4>
Links</h4>
<a href="http://www.reddit.com/r/cs50/">http://www.reddit.com/r/cs50/</a><br />
<a href="https://www.edx.org/course/harvardx/harvardx-cs50x-introduction-computer-1022">https://www.edx.org/course/harvardx/harvardx-cs50x-introduction-computer-1022</a><br />
<ul>
</ul>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-64498292644916118832013-11-24T19:47:00.000-05:002013-11-24T23:03:19.929-05:00Belkin F7D7301 DD-WRT & OPTWAREI've been using a Buffalo wzr-hp-g300nh as my wireless router for about a year and a half, before that I was using it as one end on a 900ft link with a <a href="http://martybugs.net/wireless/biquad/">bi-quad antenna</a> attached to a small satellite dish. It provided internet to my sisters house. All in all it's been a good router, but it's had a rough life and it was starting to show. The 2nd Ethernet port intermittently stopped working and it started dropping the wifi randomly. I'd mess with it, upgrade the firmware and it seemed to do OK for a while (on the WiFi, port 2 was completely dead at this point). Then it would start in on the same old problems. I knew it was failing so when I saw the F7D7301 for $25 shipped I bought one to have on hand. I paid $80 for the buffalo, and I like it better, but it needs to work. As far as specs go they are very similar.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6mNx7zuomwBakj1q92JKCOTo182SvAhsaALUjdxPtGTrLfxkcApjunR3nKK3K3zdqE28Md84ihuXjAoXt-wEONDd7Ndf0mhMrrjgdqul877mQpleTD8Zujocn9e6mOkSsNA71_yBc16c/s1600/belkin1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6mNx7zuomwBakj1q92JKCOTo182SvAhsaALUjdxPtGTrLfxkcApjunR3nKK3K3zdqE28Md84ihuXjAoXt-wEONDd7Ndf0mhMrrjgdqul877mQpleTD8Zujocn9e6mOkSsNA71_yBc16c/s320/belkin1.JPG" width="284" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Belkin F7D7301</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<h4>
Belkin F7D7301 Specs:</h4>
<ul>
<li>Broadcom BCM4716 CPU @ 450mhz</li>
<li>64MB Ram</li>
<li>8MB Flash</li>
<li>32K NVRAM</li>
<li>Wireless N 2.4GHZ radio (up to 300mbps), 2 internal antennas</li>
<li>5 Gigabit Ethernet ports (1 WAN, 4 LAN)</li>
<li>2x usb ports</li>
<li>Supports DD-WRT and OPTWARE</li>
</ul>
<h4>
DD-WRT</h4>
<div>
DD-WRT is easy to install, I tried to follow the instructions from <a href="http://trythistv.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=114">trythistv.com</a>, but I couldn't get to the CFE page, probably needed a hub, so I just uploaded the mini version from the Belkin firmware upgrade page. It worked just fine. After it rebooted I put a Kong build on it (<a href="http://www.desipro.de/ddwrt/K26/r22200/usb-ftp-samba3-dlna-nv32k-broadcom.bin">r22200/usb-ftp-samba3-dlna-nv32k-broadcom.bin</a>). That worked too. I did my normal config run through.</div>
<h4>
Config</h4>
<div>
<i>Note: I recommend you investigate and test each option for yourself, I may be doing something stupid in here and not know it. YMMV</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Basic Setup Page:</i></div>
<div>
I use a slightly different ip range on my internal network, so I set that up</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I use DD-WRT to cache DNS requests, so I turn on local-dns and add my router IP to the first static DNS (I don't know if it's needed or not). I check "Use DNSMasq for DHCP", "Use DNSMasq for DNS" and "DHCP Authoritative".</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
I set up the NTP for my timezone and use "0.north-america.pool.ntp.org" as the server.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Wireless Basic Page:</i></div>
<div>
In Wireless it defaults to channel 6 (my neighbor is on 6), I use 40mhz width, upper extension channel and 11 as the channel. NOTE: You need to <i><b>do</b></i><b><i> it in that order and press save each time you change one of these settings</i></b>, it will reset and / or not show options if you don't. (that really aggravated me until i figured it out)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Wireless Security Page:</i></div>
<div>
WPA2 Personal, TKIP+AES</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Wireless Advanced:</i></div>
<div>
I'm using the defaults at the moment, I've barely started tweaking these yet.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Services Page:</i></div>
<div>
I enable "DNSMasq", "Local DNS", and "No DNS Rebind".</div>
<div>
I add:</div>
<div>
<i>cache-size=2000</i></div>
<div>
<i>no-negcache</i></div>
<div>
to Additional DNSMasq Options</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
USB Page:</div>
<div>
I Enable "Core USB", "USB Storage", "Automatic Drive Mount"</div>
<h4>
OPTWARE</h4>
<div>
<i>Disk:</i></div>
<div>
I used a 4gb thumbdrive with a ~3GB and a ~500MB partition.</div>
<div>
The 3GB is ext2 and the Label is "Optware"</div>
<div>
The 500MB is Linux-Swap and the label is "Swap"</div>
<div>
DD-WRT detects and mounts them properly to /opt and as swap.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Install:</i></div>
<div>
First I used "<a href="http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/Optware,_the_Right_Way">Optware The Right Way</a>", got it all going and realized it was outdated and there is now "<a href="http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/OTRW2_%28Optware_the_right_way_Take_2%29">Optware The Right Way , Take 2</a>". So I re-did it with that. It went smoothly, I enabled the services I wanted (with the "service" command). Disabled the one that oddly comes enabled that I don't think should: "Transmission", the bittorrent client. </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Well I tried to anyway, I stopped it, turned it off, and rebooted. It seemed fine, but something was using 100% of the cpu. It was "gunzip" trying to extract "level1.gz", the bittorent block list. I tried to stop it, but it refused, it kept coming back whenever I rebooted. So I figured I'd just let it run. 5hrs later the CPU was still pegged at 100% with "gunzip level1.gz" at the top of "top". I don't need bittorrent at all, I don't use it, and if I did I'd use it on my little server that runs 24/7 anyway. I figured I'd uninstall it. "ipkg" complained it needed jffs, nope wrong command. "opkg" claimed there were no packages installed. It was opkg on atheros, I thought it was ipkg on broadcom. So a bit of hunting and I found it was "<b><i>ipkg-opt</i></b>". I removed Transmission, rebooted and now it's apparently enabled as a service again, but at least it's not hogging the cpu anymore. Why won't it go away?</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Services I am trying at the moment:</i></div>
<div>
Asiablock</div>
<div>
Stophammer</div>
<div>
Fixtables</div>
<div>
pixelserv<br />
<br />
I tried mypage, which is cool, but seems to be a bit of a resource hog so I disabled it, I can turn it on if I need info from it.</div>
<div>
<h4>
Wall Mount</h4>
</div>
<div>
One other issue I had with the Belkin is it only has a stand on the bottom. The buffalo would mount neatly to the wall. I removed the stand, bent a little piece of metal I had lying around to attach the Belkin to the wall. It's not pretty, but it works (and the bracket's out of sight).<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlNJg5RrYFBIOmt6M1F5sDdvJl3Qh1ozVDKBalc6yu46XDQrvRhu6XnY47sx9LjpdA6MjnjqZpxI5JClHyPkBypkhgOG1_d2BCJVNCKKP0hC0fA7f1mmgizZNZaMNCWGNwSdZTIiLKII/s1600/Belkin3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="291" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmlNJg5RrYFBIOmt6M1F5sDdvJl3Qh1ozVDKBalc6yu46XDQrvRhu6XnY47sx9LjpdA6MjnjqZpxI5JClHyPkBypkhgOG1_d2BCJVNCKKP0hC0fA7f1mmgizZNZaMNCWGNwSdZTIiLKII/s320/Belkin3.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<h4>
Notes:</h4>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>I think the Kong stuff is now in the main DD-WRT source, so I don't know what the best place to get a build is anymore. (probably not a kong build anymore, Arhhh)</li>
<li>I'm sure there are some errors in here, I don't mess with routers much (as long as they work right?).</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h4>
Links</h4>
<div>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://trythistv.com/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=114">DD-WRT install</a></li>
<li><a href="http://trythistv.com/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=758">Selecting the right Kong Build</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.desipro.de/ddwrt/">Kong Builds</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.dd-wrt.com/wiki/index.php/OTRW2_%28Optware_the_right_way_Take_2%29">Optware The Right Way Take 2</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Thanks! DD-WRT and OPTWARE folks! Thanks to you we can turn a crappy router into an awesome router, basically a miniature, full featured, headless server!</div>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-90355576479132458952013-10-18T11:00:00.000-04:002013-10-18T11:00:07.785-04:00Electric Fence Charger Repair<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEgCEDq6DZKJlMnEVSkJw6upzuVc0N6piKbD6abJquUDdN5beqQkcGy7xwfMIcbKVURnOk-5a8DuQ_06f6hW3Sel9HIM4FqZNufbRP8FGu9vXs2VxYm60X8ZeyS-XxX-uX1T0MlLQlE8/s1600/fence1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPEgCEDq6DZKJlMnEVSkJw6upzuVc0N6piKbD6abJquUDdN5beqQkcGy7xwfMIcbKVURnOk-5a8DuQ_06f6hW3Sel9HIM4FqZNufbRP8FGu9vXs2VxYm60X8ZeyS-XxX-uX1T0MlLQlE8/s320/fence1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Electric Fencer</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
My parents keep some goats. An electric fence is the best way they've found to contain them. Basically you run multiple strands of metal wire around the field supported by insulators, then hook it up to a "fencer" that pulses a high voltage, pulse through it once or twice a second.<br />
<h4>
Never Do This (rant)</h4>
I've heard of people just hooking the (fence) wire up to a 110/220 volt line. That's a dangerously bad idea! Grab a line hooked up to a fencer and you'll get a jolt, but it's intermittent, and it won't kill you (pacemakers / various health conditions excluded). Grab a 110VAC line in wet boots and you're going to have a very bad day, you could DIE! or your kids, or whoever, it's a really really bad idea! <b>DON"T DO IT!</b><br />
<h4>
Back to the topic</h4>
Lightning is a potential problem with these as they have electronics in them and they are hooked to (potentially) several miles of wire. A strike within a few miles may well induce a serious spike in it. They are pretty rugged though, as they expect to have thousands of volts present during normal operation (20KV insulation is specified for the hookup wires).<br />
<br />
Anyway, we've been using this one for years (10+?) before it just stopped working. We've had to replace the fuses several times, and they were blown, but replacing them didn't fix it this time, so I took it apart. We swapped in a new unit while this one was broken, as we had no way to tell when or if I could fix it.<br />
<h4>
Operation <span style="font-weight: normal;">(seems to go like this, I could be wrong)</span></h4>
<ul>
<li>120VAC is run through a transformer that (I think) both steps up and down the voltage (I didn't test this, and couldn't see any markings) There are fuses and MOV's on the a/c input for protection / filtering. </li>
<li>The high voltage feed is rectified and charges the big capacitor. (there could be some flyback or something going on here too, idk) The low voltage is rectified and powers most of the circuit board. (probably some regulation in here)</li>
<li>The large cap is discharged by the SCR through a second transformer that steps the capacitor voltage from hundreds to thousands of volts. The output is connected directly to the case (ground) and a heavily insulated terminal (fence). The case is grounded by multiple grounding rods with the first no more than 20ft away.</li>
<li>The whole unit is built into a grounded metal box (Faraday cage?), there should be no arcing inside it (or anywhere actually), but there is a very audible "Tick" when it's working. A wire, grounded to the case, placed near the insulated output will jump a bright blue spark over 3/4 of an inch!</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Diagnosis</h4>
<ul>
<li>This isn't something I want to test on my bench, as the voltages / EM pulses could easily damage my test equipment. </li>
<li>Fortunately it's a pretty simple circuit, so it's not that hard to figure out. </li>
<li>A visual inspection didn't turn up anything obvious. </li>
<li>A few minutes tracing circuits indicated that the TO-220 SCR (2n6509GOS) would be the place to start (this would take the brunt of a surge on the fence loop). </li>
<li>I tried to test the SCR in-circuit. It failed, but I couldn't be sure the other components weren't interfering so I removed and tested it. It still failed. So for ~$1.50 I ordered a new one and now it works!</li>
</ul>
<br />
If you mess around in one of these <b>be very, very careful! High voltages</b> all over the place! That cap looks like it could kill a horse!<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1Sf_qniNzI9tm-algZcAhueJJGQ_7CPLHWKyDdZoLPy_Zw5-R6lPfnhaCTFM48qwcdPZhl4uzVlcFgUw5FUfWJVHfMTBorjYmhtSnXCr64X3aNgzY3Gt05EOVTIIgOHXTsWiWkiOUYY/s1600/fence2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgX1Sf_qniNzI9tm-algZcAhueJJGQ_7CPLHWKyDdZoLPy_Zw5-R6lPfnhaCTFM48qwcdPZhl4uzVlcFgUw5FUfWJVHfMTBorjYmhtSnXCr64X3aNgzY3Gt05EOVTIIgOHXTsWiWkiOUYY/s320/fence2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top PCB</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The main (active) components were the 2n6509, a 2n6028, and a LM324. I ordered all of these, but only needed the SCR.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5-Cb3YniINfLhp-NswRELkUMX5X6U9llAVa06-sQOH4E75N66ladYGjHhaM_285kJnNpOt08UCJ3Na14d7mvScnhfJyhBu4hIx2dJZbsLMjtcZGr0VMZhIUQ5C-aXn5iygu42twQeFo/s1600/fence3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv5-Cb3YniINfLhp-NswRELkUMX5X6U9llAVa06-sQOH4E75N66ladYGjHhaM_285kJnNpOt08UCJ3Na14d7mvScnhfJyhBu4hIx2dJZbsLMjtcZGr0VMZhIUQ5C-aXn5iygu42twQeFo/s320/fence3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom PCB</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
The SCR is a 2n6509GOS 800V 25A<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLk4Y99MhmxuZoVQbbzB6IS4cHMUx_jIJwCn7FAK7n3mW4naaTyhaMlMsSJYX46ludKXeLTQDUpaKUmrqo6FIow5VcE-5RcOk08rVBD7crYUB2ch-NU49YbRaOh3_0CXhyzPjGHvnBMtQ/s1600/fence4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLk4Y99MhmxuZoVQbbzB6IS4cHMUx_jIJwCn7FAK7n3mW4naaTyhaMlMsSJYX46ludKXeLTQDUpaKUmrqo6FIow5VcE-5RcOk08rVBD7crYUB2ch-NU49YbRaOh3_0CXhyzPjGHvnBMtQ/s320/fence4.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Failed SCR, Doesn't look damaged, but it tested as failed, and replacing it restored the unit to operation.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
Links</h4>
<a href="http://www.circuitstoday.com/how-to-test-an-scr">http://www.circuitstoday.com/how-to-test-an-scr</a>Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-88954391894175959742013-09-27T23:15:00.000-04:002013-09-27T23:15:09.482-04:00Underground Leak Location (Failed, but interesting)My brother has a water leak in the plastic line between his house and the street. We don't know where the pipe runs and haven't been able to find a wet spot. It's not a huge leak, so he can just shut it off at the meter most of the time.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiz-KbNCh4LlMOmjGwdvJlLH0Wxm-OLL7mKetAhyphenhyphenFxuean3sn4I8ia30xCQKdA_yf-MRIx7C_UaH1frUKtIzRoN3l89byWx4jYYgsCOAT9oUPKsW-bBLoRrHPucZtG4pbDc2qHntunZlw/s1600/gm3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiz-KbNCh4LlMOmjGwdvJlLH0Wxm-OLL7mKetAhyphenhyphenFxuean3sn4I8ia30xCQKdA_yf-MRIx7C_UaH1frUKtIzRoN3l89byWx4jYYgsCOAT9oUPKsW-bBLoRrHPucZtG4pbDc2qHntunZlw/s320/gm3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cool Little Amplifier</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
The first problem is locating the pipe, we know where it is on both ends, but there's 400ft and a concrete driveway in between.<br />
<h4>
Options</h4>
<ul>
<li>I found ground penetrating radar first, but it would cost way more than just running a new pipe to buy and it's well out of my capabilities to build. Maybe in a few years, but we don't have that kind of time.</li>
<li>Metal detectors don't work on plastic pipe unless you put something metal in them (steel cable), which requires disconnecting the pipe. If we had a metal detector this would be a reasonable starting point. It's still on the table, but we have other options to try.</li>
<li>A smaller wire could be pushed down the pipe and connected to a small transmitter. Then a receiver would locate the signal and pinpoint the pipe.</li>
<li>With a ground microphone and an amplifier it's possible to listen to sounds under ground. A wrench or solenoid can be used to tap on the pipe, which will transfer down the pipe a ways and (hopefully) be audible near the pipes location. The leak may also be audible within a few feet.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTcA8aPWXN7mdPuuORasL9SZv58Y3VaIVGUgxpCFpE91AWAoZ7P3kflrlFgXDvecHV6vTB6UfMO9uqSa96g1I8X1yd1ldiwrEuXr1dAlE3_8excV8HNjjxgJfsMpVGnJV1ZDVOqgidjj4/s1600/gm2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="119" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTcA8aPWXN7mdPuuORasL9SZv58Y3VaIVGUgxpCFpE91AWAoZ7P3kflrlFgXDvecHV6vTB6UfMO9uqSa96g1I8X1yd1ldiwrEuXr1dAlE3_8excV8HNjjxgJfsMpVGnJV1ZDVOqgidjj4/s320/gm2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Schematic - Pretty much exactly as in the source link</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<div>
I've build a amplifier based on a circuit for an amplified ear I found on the internet. It seems to work good, but I'm having a real problem with the microphone. It will pick up sounds from all over, but nothing from the ground. I've tried several different ideas to transfer the sound, but so far I've come up dry. I think a piezo buzzer element is the key, and I managed to break the only one I had. I've got several more on the way, but it will be at least Saturday, probably Monday before I have them. We can't start digging before Monday (call-before-you-dig), so I'm hoping for Sat.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YqOpIh8Q5AkjPbyDafxBvaaHdiczAUlb_3DampNR56V6NMJGQG5x8C-KRiFoLJzt_zq92eiqr3pFgCqogrjnOSKgeTFcm-FkXMIgTY0oJGTU5_Y1xW74wqhiwwCfgSSeBkBh-xoKrgA/s1600/gm1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4YqOpIh8Q5AkjPbyDafxBvaaHdiczAUlb_3DampNR56V6NMJGQG5x8C-KRiFoLJzt_zq92eiqr3pFgCqogrjnOSKgeTFcm-FkXMIgTY0oJGTU5_Y1xW74wqhiwwCfgSSeBkBh-xoKrgA/s320/gm1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prototype and RevA001 PCB</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
</div>
<h4>
Results So Far</h4>
<ul>
<li>It's a really cool little amplifier, Q3 varies the gain of Q1 so that faint noises are highly amplified and loud noises have little amplification. If I can sort out the microphone problem it should work really well. It would also work great as an electronic stethoscope.</li>
<li>It doesn't seem to work as I intended to use it. I really need the digikey parts before passing judgement, but I think it should have a variable bandpass filter in it to isolate the desired noises. I can hear all kinds of stuff, but not what I'm listening for.</li>
<li>I ended up connecting a piece of wire to a fish tape, shoving it down the pipe and hooking a arduino clicking a relay that shorts a (low output) battery charger across the wire to transmit a clicking noise. I only had a 50ft tape so I couldn't trace much of the line, but it looks like a bee line. I used 30 turns around a cool-whip container (approx 15cm diameter) connected to the microphone input to listen for the clicks. It (barely) picks up the clicks, but AC lines are VERY obvious (loud buzz). I think I found the pipe and the end of the tape, but gave up as I didn't feel I was accomplishing anything. I could divide the pipe into (up to) 8 pieces and find the leak, but that would mean 8 potential future leak points (and 8+ holes to dig of unknown depth).</li>
<li>Unless the digikey parts are here tomorrow and I locate and fix the leak (unlikely) we're digging in a new line with a trencher on Monday. It's not looking good. I'm not shelving this project yet though, it would be very useful for locating noises in various equipment and it should work for finding pipes, if I can come up with a working mic. Perhaps I'll modify it for a bandpass filter too. </li>
</ul>
<h4>
Notes</h4>
<div>
<ul>
<li>R1 is specified as 10K, but my mic element specified 2.2K and worked much better with that. For the piezo transducer and the wire coil I disconnected the resistor.</li>
<li>The audio jack is connected with wires, I didn't have time to make a footprint for the one I had. </li>
<li>I did the PCB in a hurry, and I really should redo it, I make no promises as to it's performance.</li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ub6zWAXsTOdASQGtOYkw0J9AGXCWgRzypcTpNfgTbMj3VrJxbgIXhyphenhyphenWe0tQGgryjTRFxr8zzbaeXlnPMp-0W4XYN8EX-bTTzdIpBfkwZVT4HPyV9fKzqNzlkHnCr92tUiRdqTvchivE/s1600/gm4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9Ub6zWAXsTOdASQGtOYkw0J9AGXCWgRzypcTpNfgTbMj3VrJxbgIXhyphenhyphenWe0tQGgryjTRFxr8zzbaeXlnPMp-0W4XYN8EX-bTTzdIpBfkwZVT4HPyV9fKzqNzlkHnCr92tUiRdqTvchivE/s320/gm4.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Underside of PCB</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
</ul>
<h4>
Links</h4>
</div>
<div>
Circuit source: <a href="http://www.redcircuits.com/Page38.htm">http://www.redcircuits.com/Page38.htm</a><br />
KiCAD Files: <a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4806416/GroundMic.zip">https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4806416/GroundMic.zip </a></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-33781682582031427862013-09-14T12:14:00.000-04:002013-09-28T09:11:38.128-04:00Intel Hardware Video Decoding on Linux! VDPAU, VA-API, and Flash!My laptop has a Core 2 Duo 2.4ghz CPU with an integrated Intel video chipset (GM45). It plays flash fine, but I wondered if I could get some HW decoding like the ATI. Here goes:<br />
<br />
Intel supports va-api, not vdpau (required by flash) I'm running Arch on my laptop, so it may require some modifications to use on other distros (or it may not work at all).<br />
<h4>
Requirements</h4>
<ul>
<li>xf86-video-intel</li>
<li>libva</li>
<li>libvdpau</li>
<li>libva-intel-driver (only does mpeg2)</li>
<li>libvdpau-va-gl</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Optional</h4>
<ul>
<li>libva-driver-intel-g45-h264 - replaces libva-intel-driver (in the AUR, it does h.264 on specific chipsets, but may be worse than software decoding)</li>
<li>vainfo</li>
<li>vdpauinfo</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Setup</h4>
<div>
After the required software is installed "vainfo" should return the supported decoders. vdpauinfo will return an error. Create a file (as root) /etc/profile.d/vdpau_vaapi.sh containing:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>#!/bin/sh</i></div>
<div>
<i>export VDPAU_DRIVER=va_gl</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Save and add execute permissions (chmod +x vdpau_vaapi.sh). Log off and back on or execute the export command above and vdpauinfo should return the supported codecs. Then modify /etc/adobe/mms.cfg and uncomment or add </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Next in <a href="chrome://flags/">chrome://flags</a> enable </div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>Override software rendering list</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now it should work!<br />
<h4>
Notes:</h4>
<ol>
<li>This works with flashplugin (11.2). I haven't played with it much, but it doesn't seem to work with pepper-flash (11.8). It has lower cpu usage than 11.2 with EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode commented out in /etc/adobe/mms.cfg, but uncommenting it has no effect. Either it's looking somewhere else for that config or it doesn't support it. 11.2 drops way below 11.8 with it enabled.</li>
<li>Obviously different chipsets support different codecs, some may not support any at all. The VA-API Wiki page linked below has some info to that end.</li>
<li>The Chrome flag may improve overall performance or it may break things / slow things down. you'll have to try it and see.</li>
<li>You can check <a href="chrome://flash/">chrome://flash</a> and <a href="chrome://gpu">chrome://gpu</a> before and after to see what changes.</li>
</ol>
</div>
<div>
<h4>
Links</h4>
</div>
<div>
<a href="https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=166593&p=1">https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=166593&p=1</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VA-API">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VA-API</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VDPAU">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VDPAU</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Intel</a></div>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-10334200608436673922013-09-14T09:58:00.001-04:002013-09-15T07:45:27.483-04:00My PCB Fabrication Process<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAi_8-2mBhNNXPQ5XScFCaCMlLh30z07MNlvmOTDHaYpt9PXocEhNXbRLtYoKVI23t_530ADv2u-mB214n8AtvGygHVl3mqbMOrj_arjruT-zj_pdP46ixr8DbCzirXVDaEt6iFZGlTg/s1600/ds1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="263" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgBAi_8-2mBhNNXPQ5XScFCaCMlLh30z07MNlvmOTDHaYpt9PXocEhNXbRLtYoKVI23t_530ADv2u-mB214n8AtvGygHVl3mqbMOrj_arjruT-zj_pdP46ixr8DbCzirXVDaEt6iFZGlTg/s320/ds1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desulfator</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
My last desulfator design was Rev B. I decided it should be Rev A (even though Rev B is etched on the board), as it was the first desulfator board I actually built. For future reference I'm doing major revisions A, B, C, but minor (and or pre release) tweaks 001, 002, etc. So this should be Rev A 003, I think.<br />
<br />
For more information on the desulfator see my previous post <a href="http://stevesfixitshop.blogspot.com/2013/02/lead-acid-battery-desulfator.html">here</a>.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Specs / Limitations</h4>
<br />
<ul>
<li>When I do the layout I've found I can etch down to about 0.010"(50% success), but 0.020" is much more forgiving (80+% success). So I do most of my traces as 0.020". but they won't fit between some pins, so I run a 0.020" trace as close as I can, end it, put a 0.010-0.012 trace in the tight spot, end it, and continue with a 0.020 trace.</li>
<li>I try to maintain 0.025" clearance around traces, since I don't use a solder mask it helps me avoid bridging traces.</li>
<li>I flood-fill everything I can, the more copper I leave on the board the quicker it etches.</li>
<li>So far I only do single-sided boards. Hasn't been a huge issue yet. I'd be tempted to just order 2 sided boards when I need them.</li>
</ul>
<br />
I use the toner transfer method for both the etch resist and the silkscreen. As far as prep it goes like this:<br />
<ul>
</ul>
<i><b>Copper Side First</b></i><br />
<ul>
</ul>
<ol>
<li>Sand board with 400grit (wet sandpaper) wet with just a drop of dish soap</li>
<li>Dry board with a paper towel</li>
<li>Apply rubbing alcohol and dry with a paper towel. </li>
<li>Print resist on a piece of shiny paper, I have varing results with this, seems to depend on the paper I find. I read that the (glossy) whites of newspaper / magazine ads worked the best, but I find that some heavily colored ads have more of the wax / clay stuff on them and work better for me, with the exception of the silk screen side (more on that later)</li>
<li>Align board and paper, either fold the ends over to keep it in place or use a tiny piece of tape. Then run through laminator 5+ times.</li>
<li>Soak in cold water until paper starts to dissolve. Some times it peels off, other times I have to rub it until just the toner remains. sometimes I loose traces and stuff, if it's not too tight I continue, otherwise back to step 1.</li>
<li>Gently dry and examine carefully, touch up little holes in the flood fills and broken traces with a permanent sharpe(3 coats).</li>
</ol>
<i><b>Etching</b></i><br />
For etching I use cupric chloride, it
works really good above 60F, somewhere around 40-50F and below it's really
slow. It needs to work fairly fast, the majority of the problems I've
had with it were when it's cold out and instead of 20-40 minutes it took
2-3 hours.<br />
<br />
I keep it out in the garage, as I prefer not to risk spilling stuff like that in the house. (I don't want to spill it out there either, but I have better ventilation and access to a garden hose for emergency clean-up)<br />
<br />
8. Etch until traces are isolated. <br />
<ol>
</ol>
9. Rinse thoroughly, then Sand with 400 grit to remove toner, should look<br />
like this: (note the 2 is missing from the 2013? yep, didn't transfer perfect)<br />
<ol>
</ol>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWT22Ph-ZOakpJ-Nh-ShmhwHncYYh4ymbYOFwBcyT_VnrbObjyW3mnqPUMgXuroxOw_cDwe1nrMRDaxB2FTj5-VqNcePS97DJ9kBO8NO5vOtVrQtM8xgnH6Z5_x3svspxGakpCGWcaJk/s1600/desulfrevb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="270" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaWT22Ph-ZOakpJ-Nh-ShmhwHncYYh4ymbYOFwBcyT_VnrbObjyW3mnqPUMgXuroxOw_cDwe1nrMRDaxB2FTj5-VqNcePS97DJ9kBO8NO5vOtVrQtM8xgnH6Z5_x3svspxGakpCGWcaJk/s320/desulfrevb2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<i><b>Then the Front (silkscreen) </b></i><br />
10. Dry then drill two holes (for through-hole parts) as far apart as possible<br />
(either corner would
be good) and use them to align your silk screen (do<br />
steps 3-6). I poke a wire right through the board and paper for alignment.<br />
(remove wire before running through laminator) Note: I try to use mostly<br />
white paper for this as the colors tend to stick.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0aqzQuSMxckXoo8nKZhL_snMCYWsDkStmfenedHDJe8yElmC9oyawotif2WZ_QZqhwDoGAiWweW4eR8XfwK0ytU5P8ALX6qnXChUSvSOTgkN3Az-o9Dgj3c0cOgNJ3XmJ9sPHmGy0eU/s1600/desulfrevb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="281" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgD0aqzQuSMxckXoo8nKZhL_snMCYWsDkStmfenedHDJe8yElmC9oyawotif2WZ_QZqhwDoGAiWweW4eR8XfwK0ytU5P8ALX6qnXChUSvSOTgkN3Az-o9Dgj3c0cOgNJ3XmJ9sPHmGy0eU/s320/desulfrevb1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
When it's all assembled and tested I spray the copper side with several thick coats of Rust-Oleum clear coat.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSGyxtB_m2PSzzum95axnoDwwLGK85-HEV0zs_PNoH2VgWRSgvuembBARhYjnnElITP19HYyUS7YUTYbCbuPLwVV0jQfZRVJBi590eR2sAkNd8EDN_UwCORjEbeKwvragVyAfpfTopeWo/s1600/ds2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="294" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSGyxtB_m2PSzzum95axnoDwwLGK85-HEV0zs_PNoH2VgWRSgvuembBARhYjnnElITP19HYyUS7YUTYbCbuPLwVV0jQfZRVJBi590eR2sAkNd8EDN_UwCORjEbeKwvragVyAfpfTopeWo/s320/ds2.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-6708507430438273022013-09-12T15:23:00.000-04:002013-09-28T09:10:05.764-04:00ATI Hardware Video Decoding on Linux! VDPAU, VA-API, and Flash!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><span style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><a href="http://xkcd.com/619/"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://imgs.xkcd.com/comics/supported_features.png" width="318" /></a></span></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://xkcd.com/619/">XKCD - Supported Features</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I love that XKCD. Anyway, I built a HTPC / home server around a Biostar Deluxe A681-350. It is powered by a AMD E-350 APU that combines a dual core 1.6ghz cpu and an ATI Radeon HD 6310 gpu on one chip. It's a low end system, but I don't need a lot of power here. It handles full screen 1080i video from an ATSC tuner beautifully. It won't play 360p flash smooth at 1/2 screen, and it's a slide show at full screen (1920x1200). It just doesn't have the CPU to decode and scale video. Mythtv uses hardware scaling, so it only has to decode on the cpu, and ffmpeg's software decoders are well optimized.<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Today I installed Arch Linux on it. This post was going to cover that, but I discovered hardware acceleration for flash on ATI chipsets works!</div>
<div>
<h4>
Comparison</h4>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>With software decoding and rendering flash takes 60-75% of my total cpu time (windowed, scaled as large as smooth playback allows).</li>
<li>With hardware decoding and (possibly?) rendering it takes 10-25% and plays smoothly full-screen.<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
</li>
</ul>
</div>
<div>
<h4>
Requirements</h4>
</div>
<div>
<ul>
<li>A very up-to date system. (Arch hasn't supported it long, most distro's will probably take some time to, but you may find a ppa or can always compile from source)</li>
<li>kernel 3.10+</li>
<li>mesa 9.2+</li>
<li>libvdpau</li>
<li>ati-dri</li>
<li>xf86-video-ati</li>
<li>flashplugin</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Optional</h4>
<div>
<ul>
<li>vdpauinfo (print info about VDPAU (and show's it's working)</li>
<li>vainfo (same as above, but for VA-API)</li>
<li>libva-vdpau-driver (allows va-api enabled apps to be accelerated)</li>
<li>libva</li>
</ul>
</div>
<h4>
Setup</h4>
</div>
<div>
Assuming you have installed all these packages vdpauinfo should spit out a bunch of information on what's supported. If it doesn't you may need to specify the driver. I didn't need to, but you <b>might </b>(shouldn't) need to add something like this to your environment variables:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<i>VDPAU_DRIVER=<driver_name><your driver=""></your></driver_name></i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Flash probably won't work until you edit <i>/etc/adobe/mms.cfg</i> and uncomment the line:</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode=1</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
I haven't tried it in anything but chromium, so I'll stick to that for now. In <a href="chrome://flags"><i></i></a><i><a href="chrome://flags/">chrome://flags</a></i> I had to enable<br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Override software rendering list</i><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Now Flash should have hardware decoding! MythTV can be configured to use vdpau decoding and it works nicely too.<br />
<div>
<h4>
VA-API</h4>
</div>
<div>
(I haven't messed with VA-API much, so this may or may not work.) For VA-API it may be necessary to add the following to your environment variables setup. (you don't need this for flash, it only supports vdpau)</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
<i>LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=vdpau</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
One way to do this is create a file (as root) /etc/profile.d/vaapi_vdpau.sh containing:<br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
#!/bin/sh</div>
<div>
<i>export LIBVA_DRIVER_NAME=vdpau</i></div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
Save and add execute permissions (chmod +x vaapi_vdpau.sh . Log off and back on or execute the export command above and vainfo should return the supported codecs.</div>
</div>
<h4>
Notes</h4>
<div>
<ol>
<li>It only works with the open source driver, though there is a way to get it in fglrx. (see <a href="https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=166593&p=1">https://bbs.archlinux.org/viewtopic.php?id=166593&p=1</a>)</li>
<li>Before "top" shows flash using 120-150% cpu. After "top" shows 20-50% (dual core = 200% max)</li>
<li>This works with flashplugin (11.2). I haven't played with it much, but it doesn't seem to work with pepper-flash (11.8). It has lower cpu usage than 11.2 with EnableLinuxHWVideoDecode commented out in /etc/adobe/mms.cfg, but uncommenting it has no effect. Either it's looking somewhere else for that config or it doesn't support it. CPU usage under 11.2 drops way below 11.8 with it enabled.</li>
<li>Obviously different chipsets support different codecs, some may not support any at all. The VA-API Wiki page linked below has some info to that end.</li>
<li>The Chrome flag may improve overall performance or it may break things / slow things down. you'll have to try it and see.</li>
<li>You can check <a href="chrome://flash">chrome://flash</a> and <a href="chrome://gpu">chrome://gpu</a> before and after to see what changes.</li>
</ol>
<ol></ol>
<ol></ol>
<ol></ol>
<h4>
Links:</h4>
<div>
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VDPAU">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VDPAU</a></div>
<div>
<a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VA-API">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/VA-API</a></div>
<div>
<a href="http://xkcd.com/619/">http://xkcd.com/619/</a></div>
<div>
<br />
<div>
<span style="font-family: 'DejaVu Sans', Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 11px; font-weight: bold;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
</div>
</div>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-28699662591456797012013-09-10T16:54:00.000-04:002013-09-10T16:54:13.804-04:00Arch Linux FunI just installed Arch Linux on my laptop, because I apparently have nothing better to do. OK, that's not true, there are lots of things I "Should" be doing, but today I'm messing with Linux instead. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PITFda_IazpLIeMMqTfNLCXXo1exl8vdTU4115y4D8YKzD0vPMrau7heKvfeRM2sG9bKoNUZUTrEjAvrmddB-91Xmg-RTPkhxNcEX44K_6EJBQ_Zf8jWF7GL8845xZVlvVXwZuOwQuc/s1600/Screenshot+from+2013-09-10+16:19:16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3PITFda_IazpLIeMMqTfNLCXXo1exl8vdTU4115y4D8YKzD0vPMrau7heKvfeRM2sG9bKoNUZUTrEjAvrmddB-91Xmg-RTPkhxNcEX44K_6EJBQ_Zf8jWF7GL8845xZVlvVXwZuOwQuc/s320/Screenshot+from+2013-09-10+16:19:16.png" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Arch Linux with Cinnamon and an Awesome Wolf Background</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<h4>
Live USB Boot </h4>
I hit a snags right off the bat. I installed the arch iso to a thumbdrive with unetbootin and it seemed unable to locate the media. Just sat there saying "Mounting '/dev/disk/by-label' to '/run/archiso/bootmnt'" and "Waiting 30 seconds for device /dev/disk/bylabel". After a brief search I discovered this was a common problem and the simple solution was to "dd" the image over your thumbdrive. Uh, what about the other files on there? Arch needs to work on this. I know Ubuntu and Parted Magic both fine from a unetbooting usb. So I hunted a bit more and found you can specify the right device as "archisodevice=/dev/sdb1" for example. Ha! too easy, if I specified it as sdb1 it would detect the usb drive as sda. Change it to sda and it's detected as sdb. WTF! <i>Finally I set it to sdb1 and pulled the drive as soon as the kernel had loaded, plugged it back in and it booted right up.</i> Whew, what a PITA just to boot a live USB!<br />
<h4>
Installation</h4>
The installation was complicated compared to Ubuntu or Mint, but I just followed the beginners guide and it went smoothly. Wifi worked and everything. I highly recommend a second computer / tablet / etc. on hand if you decide to install Arch. One reason I wanted Arch was the lack of junk cluttering up my system, things updating in the background, etc.I admit I install a bunch of junk myself, but at least I have some control. It took a couple hours, but I have a usable OS on my laptop. Lots more tweaking to do yet. Seriously, it took longer to get the usb to boot than install the system.<br />
<h4>
Things I Like</h4>
There are a lot of really nice features that appeal to me.<br />
<ul>
<li>Boots unbelievably fast.</li>
<li>I'd eventually like to have a single distro on all my computers. With Arch you can do a headless server, a media center, a desktop workstation or a portable laptop. The base is the same, just install the packages you need for your application.</li>
<li>A local package cache / repository on my HTPC / Server would be cool. Most distro's can do that, so I don't know that this is a major plus, but it's availible.</li>
<li>I don't mind the pacman / apt-get / emerge command line tools, but synaptic is slow, and the "linux app store" doesn't appeal to me. So far I love yaourt when used with yaourt-gui, a bash gui for yaourt. It take a little fiddling to get installed, but it will manage pacman, AUR, etc. quickly and beautifully.</li>
<li>The AUR, it's huge! if you can't get an official package, it's probably in the AUR.</li>
<li>Arch doesn't hold your hand with tons of helper scripts to make everything "just work". While that can be good or bad, I'm counting it a good, as you get a better understanding of what's going on right from the start. That (hopefully) makes problems easier to solve later.</li>
<li>It's more up to date. I loved this about Gentoo, that you had recent packages. I installed MyPaint, because it works nicely with my laptop's Wacom penabled screen, and there are all kinds of buttons and options that weren't there on Ubuntu! Ubuntu has 1.0.0-1, Arch has 1.1.0-2. </li>
<li>Rolling release. In theory once installed I should never need to re-install. just update the system when I feel like it.</li>
<li>No "Update Manager" nagging me to update all the time. I hate windows for it's constant updates (always at inconvenient times) and some Linux distros seems to want that "functionality" too. It's running in the background without my knowledge too, I don't like that.</li>
<li>No "error reporting" pop-ups I get too many of these for a supposedly stable system, I understand the need for error reports, but I'm watching a movie and have to get up to get that dumb window out of the way.</li>
</ul>
<h4>
Things I Don't Like</h4>
<ul>
<li>Arch is MUCH more complicated to install as opposed to Mint or Ubuntu. It didn't take me that long to have a working system, but <i>I wouldn't recommend it to a beginner </i>or at least not as an introduction to Linux<i>.</i> I used to use Gentoo, which I feel is even more complicated, but just didn't have the ambition to keep it working.</li>
<li>The installation ISO really sucked for me, YMMV.</li>
<li>I have a working system, but it's not nearly as pretty or complete as Mint 15 yet (I installed Cinnamon). I foresee a lot of tweak time to get it just the way I want. This may lead to frustration, like Gentoo years ago. I dropped Gentoo because, at the time, it took a ~3 days of compiling to install the base system and get X running with the basics (Firefox, Fluxbox, file manger, etc.) and the better part of a week for a full desktop environment (KDE at the time).</li>
</ul>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
</h4>
<h4>
Conclusion</h4>
So far I like what I see. The install was a bit aggravating, but I shouldn’t have to do that too often. I love yaourt-gui, it really makes package management quick and easy.<br />
I think I'm going to swap my HTPC / Server over to Arch eventually. I have some performance issues with Mint 15 and haven't been able to track them down. I don't know if it's Mint or just the my hardware. Either way I hope I can squeeze a little more out of Arch.<br />
If you have an excess of free time try it, it's easier than Gentoo and you end up with a distro that's tailored to you. All the stuff you want with none of the stuff you don't. <br />
<h4>
Links:</h4>
Arch Linux - <a href="https://www.archlinux.org/">https://www.archlinux.org/</a><br />
Yaourt - <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Yaourt">https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/Yaourt</a><br />
Awesome Wolf Art Source - <a href="http://www.deviantart.com/art/wolf-324819837">http://www.deviantart.com/art/wolf-324819837</a><br />
<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-47235525508890675822013-08-26T12:48:00.000-04:002015-04-18T15:07:16.707-04:00Briggs and Stratton 21HP Won't Crank OverMy Grandparents new lawnmower refused to start, it would crank part way over and the compression stroke would stop it. It was under warranty, so Sears sent a guy out, it wasn't the valve adjustment, starter, or anything simple, so he came back and put a new engine on it. We've got a broken cub cadet, also my grandparents, that had a Kohler Courage which cracked the engine case after 2-3 years! I told them not to buy another one of those! But the Briggs didn't survive 6 months! The repairman didn't need the old engine, so he didn't mind leaving it for me to try to fix.<br />
<br />
<h4>
Specs</h4>
<br />
<ul>
<li>21HP Briggs and Stratton</li>
<li>MFG in 2012</li>
<li>331877 - 2371 - G5</li>
</ul>
<br />
<h4>
Pictures!</h4>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFycorJtAF5-gHpan4HEe2n4XvQbts7_40kBv7GQM4gK9u_PPcHNjbqJEZm8jrpkhzU2e-f3l0Ppm4qNxikfHPE_x6QGVF2kp5Rk99ehrXzfPp6YXykVS-5SjrCTn1WwvPLUUKaYikhUc/s1600/bseng1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFycorJtAF5-gHpan4HEe2n4XvQbts7_40kBv7GQM4gK9u_PPcHNjbqJEZm8jrpkhzU2e-f3l0Ppm4qNxikfHPE_x6QGVF2kp5Rk99ehrXzfPp6YXykVS-5SjrCTn1WwvPLUUKaYikhUc/s320/bseng1.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxpMyE6FK_OtI0UQHNLuWc6rkqzQKPaeNftI6jol4LuxzRE2zP2wIS1D-Z3Km1uBwWKqQ0XUfHPbbUcg22AttuJMIF7rfkVcQBfkTrZPZ1T5NOtMtdSaz3-wLhbqrmBLdIMD0k2vXim0/s1600/bseng2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivxpMyE6FK_OtI0UQHNLuWc6rkqzQKPaeNftI6jol4LuxzRE2zP2wIS1D-Z3Km1uBwWKqQ0XUfHPbbUcg22AttuJMIF7rfkVcQBfkTrZPZ1T5NOtMtdSaz3-wLhbqrmBLdIMD0k2vXim0/s320/bseng2.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Insides</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Here's the problem, the compression release weight has failed.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_eVam2DwdRZJemkrXiK4cjgTFqhjuhnzTdHWY4GrUxcLkUlCK6r9YJwPDzkPisRA7y2eQoYvZtgEzD8Gz6jKfgSo-PIAuVGpgmz5s3tW3oi0mC4c4JJqDaN1mokWRGCTljNkodnPcU-c/s1600/bseng3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_eVam2DwdRZJemkrXiK4cjgTFqhjuhnzTdHWY4GrUxcLkUlCK6r9YJwPDzkPisRA7y2eQoYvZtgEzD8Gz6jKfgSo-PIAuVGpgmz5s3tW3oi0mC4c4JJqDaN1mokWRGCTljNkodnPcU-c/s320/bseng3.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Camshaft and compression release weight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It's made of some sort of cast metal! The hole for the shaft is 1/2 the thickness of the actual weight! What are you thinking Briggs? At least machine it from mild steel, then it wouldn't snap!<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSg9X89YM1FCBhbCdnXrJ5_etWz6Ld3WcGgdnoF7WfqQCVm03iM4UjWB4DM_rDFNfWALfWF7lHWiJu-llg9_SFaNRTVZcqUElSIivYLrApJWlruSSMrkn9sAYkcCdcpeVoG2L14-XYY0/s1600/bseng4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDSg9X89YM1FCBhbCdnXrJ5_etWz6Ld3WcGgdnoF7WfqQCVm03iM4UjWB4DM_rDFNfWALfWF7lHWiJu-llg9_SFaNRTVZcqUElSIivYLrApJWlruSSMrkn9sAYkcCdcpeVoG2L14-XYY0/s320/bseng4.JPG" height="237" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Broken compression release weight</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Well that's the problem, a new camshaft will cost ~$80, but if it has the same cast weight on it I don't know that I want it! I'm not sure how to proceed at this point. I could try grinding one out of steel, but that's going to be a job.<br />
<br />
<b>UPDATE:</b> We decided to go ahead with the new camshaft. It's installed on the Cub Cadet and still working as of April 2015.Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-55288982097513826862013-06-05T23:22:00.000-04:002014-07-17T21:36:40.699-04:00Linux Mint 15 and Amazon Video (This also affects other video sites)I just bought a new drive for my HTPC, A 3tb WD Red, but that's for another post. I had Amazon video working on Mythbuntu (just had to install HAL) but installing HAL on my (fairly) fresh new Linux Mint 15 install didn't work. I finally figured it out, with some help of course<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpD1JPZDlHyyLqOIn_uMWtIymRRoljoCBk1sojI9Y_ONaoStljpDJ5vpYl_NMnJMFEPWmPtuLTIEY1ZnvoonM7rJ3eyao1DuaHyMpWIiwueUDCM_46oPAncE-VCZBw0k5FeGn_VQjzY0/s1600/amazon1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFpD1JPZDlHyyLqOIn_uMWtIymRRoljoCBk1sojI9Y_ONaoStljpDJ5vpYl_NMnJMFEPWmPtuLTIEY1ZnvoonM7rJ3eyao1DuaHyMpWIiwueUDCM_46oPAncE-VCZBw0k5FeGn_VQjzY0/s320/amazon1.jpg" height="163" width="320" /></a></div>
What I've found:<br />
<ol>
<li>Amazon's error is completely useless. It makes you think that you have the wrong version of flash.</li>
<li>If you haven't already, you need to install hal and libhal1 "sudo apt-get install hal libhal1" </li>
<li>Adobe has a guide for sorting out these problems once you figure out it's DRM related. <a href="http://helpx.adobe.com/x-productkb/multi/flash-player-11-problems-playing.html">Here</a> the test page was the most helpful.</li>
<li>The test page gave me the cryptic error 3322 - device binding failed. </li>
<li>I tried the solution found <a href="http://forums.adobe.com/thread/964787">here</a>, "rm -r ~.adobe/Flash_Player" it didn't work, but was needed later, after I actually fixed the problem</li>
<li>It turns out HAL wasn't starting, I ran "sudo hald --daemon=no --verbose=yes" it spat out a bunch of errors and died. I found the solution <a href="http://forums.opensuse.org/english/get-technical-help-here/applications/print-480178-compiling-hal-form-source-needed-amazon-instant-video-3.html">here</a>, I'm not sure it's a perfect solution, but I ran "sudo rm -r /etc/hal" then "sudo ln -sn /usr/share/hal /etc/hal" and HAL runs! I think I will copy rather than link it at some point, but that's what I did.</li>
<li>I rebooted and the test page still doesn't work, I had to do step 5 again, now it works.</li>
</ol>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT8F4xmkb2HEyLzgqTzEtI7BViQj7dtAfNdEL0pp_La4BU_OlzV37fAvE6_OmwMZZ038d4GfQ2FstTxTgEA_QnNZcnzR4xf00mP34SKSuf7uno51l3uEfXyYjByM3MiJQ-XUGBaEa4qP0/s1600/amazon2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiT8F4xmkb2HEyLzgqTzEtI7BViQj7dtAfNdEL0pp_La4BU_OlzV37fAvE6_OmwMZZ038d4GfQ2FstTxTgEA_QnNZcnzR4xf00mP34SKSuf7uno51l3uEfXyYjByM3MiJQ-XUGBaEa4qP0/s320/amazon2.jpg" height="161" width="320" /></a></div>
<ol>
</ol>
Whew, only took me half the night to figure that one out.<br />
<br />
Notes:<br />
I tried this on Linux Mint 14.1 and just installing HAL worked, I couldn't reproduce the problem on 15 by removing the /etc/hal directory. It's possible I corrupted something at some point, I'll try on a clean Mint 15 install sometime and report back. <br />
<br />
I also got a 3323 error while HAL was broke, also fixed with #5.<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Update:</b> Only steps 2, 5, and 6 are necessary to solve the problem, the others are either diagnostics or irrelevant. (Thanks Douglas Roberts!)<br />
<br />
<b>Update 2:</b> This affects other sites (Thanks NikAmi!), I don't really have the time to determine which ones myself, so I'll do a list and update it if anyone finds one that needs it (Post it in the comments). It may help someone else.<br />
<b>Known Sites Also Affected:</b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">NBC Sports</span></span><br />
<br />
<b>Update 3: </b>There is a package available (at least in Arch Linux's AUR) called HAL-Flash that lets you play DRM Flash content without needing the HAL package / daemon. I'm using it on both my laptop and HTPC and it seems to work fine.<br />
<br />
<b>Update 4:</b> <a href="https://wiki.archlinux.org/index.php/chromium#Flash_Player_plugin">Chromium no longer supports NPAPI</a> (netscape plugin API), pepper-flash doesn't work with protected files. Firefox still uses NPAPI and works with Amazon Prime Video. HD doesn't seem to work for me, but SD works fine. I'm not sure why.<br />
<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-4469002462109234542013-04-26T09:47:00.000-04:002013-04-26T09:47:30.885-04:00RobertShaw HS780 TeardownI recently replaced a old furnace with a 90+ for my father, I don't recall the make or model of the old furnace, but I salvaged some parts from it to look at. Today we have a Robertshaw HS780 Hot Surface ignition control. The furnace was working, so there wasn't a failure to fix, but it may be of some interest.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOV3AVngiMv_zUpx5SESMk2gGivRVIB2ezyNwxA9Dlep6oaEaN4cz8-NDHKkiEGkQSjpIx4-JofcRFYeCGkLqjfodCG95fmwrybrT0fJqVstIIsLCTDQqxT4U0Q99TuRLKzRSpyd7CaaE/s1600/hsi1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOV3AVngiMv_zUpx5SESMk2gGivRVIB2ezyNwxA9Dlep6oaEaN4cz8-NDHKkiEGkQSjpIx4-JofcRFYeCGkLqjfodCG95fmwrybrT0fJqVstIIsLCTDQqxT4U0Q99TuRLKzRSpyd7CaaE/s320/hsi1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">RobertShaw HS780</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you watch the video be warned, It's my first attempt at an ad-lib teardown. I kept talking as I figured out the board and was a bit off. It's not bad, hope to do better next time. I think the left small relay is the gas valve, the right one powers up this board when the thermostat closes.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDOIWe6zYwrp0UgCrmUqC3IFvctzJ73_nSS-rX3GS44NNAsxgDI31wxbt_MVCPfWC4F6cD2aukilLdSrAsrI-FCPGdpEFjjzKAjCoonpXSVnTu5VUhX6am9wB48otZsF_XC810-q_yj0/s1600/hsi2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTDOIWe6zYwrp0UgCrmUqC3IFvctzJ73_nSS-rX3GS44NNAsxgDI31wxbt_MVCPfWC4F6cD2aukilLdSrAsrI-FCPGdpEFjjzKAjCoonpXSVnTu5VUhX6am9wB48otZsF_XC810-q_yj0/s320/hsi2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Top</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmZLl8YLy90d-wn9Lwaa8Y62LIorOFgK2Pe6uhWUGA4P5UZpYOaXM1SdTuA0rS-3mq5qwPG5wFYq1ZU1Fzc9-mAdRlxhK16nLTFWVRXjNbH0IzTIKgCB9SQUgUO4gVa7dNCYl0ifg_gM/s1600/hsi3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUmZLl8YLy90d-wn9Lwaa8Y62LIorOFgK2Pe6uhWUGA4P5UZpYOaXM1SdTuA0rS-3mq5qwPG5wFYq1ZU1Fzc9-mAdRlxhK16nLTFWVRXjNbH0IzTIKgCB9SQUgUO4gVa7dNCYl0ifg_gM/s320/hsi3.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By far the most common failure on HSI ignition systems is the ignitor (not this control). They are fairly fragile. Never touch the heating part, it could cause early failure.<br />
<br />
<b>Diagnosis would go like this:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>120VAC present at terminals labeled 120 and NEUT?</li>
<li>24VAC present at TH and TR? (thermostat calling for heat?)</li>
<li>When calling for heat is 120V present at IGN terminals AND HSI not glowing? (if yes replace HSI, if no suspect large relay)</li>
<li>HSI Glows and 24VAC present between VALVE and GND? (if yes, suspect gas valve / safety switches/wiring, if no suspect outer small relay)</li>
<li>Failing all that test the inner small relay, inspect all solder joints for failure and caps for leakage. (if you can't find anything at this point consider replacing the control.)</li>
</ul>
Sometimes a relay will actually fail (shorted coil, open coil, or bad contacts) and they can often be sourced for $5-10 from digikey or a similar company.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz638XR1gnUoagSI09n97Gt7wcgTN1eOeLnss94oR8rEWF9zJ-1eqiaQLhTYMEhoUEerP7B18xCI5J49zrQfg' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<i><b>Video Notes:</b></i><br />
<ol>
<li>The fan/limit control won't come apart easily.</li>
<li>Typical setting are ~100 fan off, ~120 fan on, ~180 high limit.</li>
<li>You shouldn't be bouncing off the high limit, if you are you have an airflow problem, oversized furnace, etc.</li>
<li>Flame sense is through the ignitor.</li>
</ol>
<br />
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-75953664758529055862013-02-21T09:53:00.000-05:002013-09-28T09:03:43.514-04:00Lead Acid Battery Desulfator<b>UPDATE 2:</b><br />
My parts have arrived, I've got the schematic sorted out (I think)<b>. </b>I think I'm going to do a start to finish post on my current PCB fab procedure and make a new board, even though the other one seems to work. I've got the correct parts and the other pcb is together and working. I'd like to see if they work differently. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gZUSL5898MDySX6qZGvw4iMBZbuJsX7zwpaRVIewwi1GSaIK31qN-CW-0qmZAWxAOatwCGyDxKV9xQi1-2Apj3VjsnRCItjC2oW4Q4zgd5JVSgSA5hCYdhtQk0oLx2svUhDVTjyGMPw/s1600/desulfator-RevB.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi6gZUSL5898MDySX6qZGvw4iMBZbuJsX7zwpaRVIewwi1GSaIK31qN-CW-0qmZAWxAOatwCGyDxKV9xQi1-2Apj3VjsnRCItjC2oW4Q4zgd5JVSgSA5hCYdhtQk0oLx2svUhDVTjyGMPw/s320/desulfator-RevB.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desulfator-RevB - KiCAD 3D Render</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>The Theory</b>:<br />
When a lead acid battery sets discharged sulfate crystals form on the plates, reducing the surface area and thus potential capacity of the battery. A desulfator pulses a high voltage / current spike into the battery that causes vibrations that knock the sulfate crystals off the plates.<br />
The usual frequency is around 1khz, though the vibrations are usually in the mhz range. It's described as ringing a bell. The desulfator rings it a thousand times a second and the harmonic vibrations actually do all the work. Therefore the actual frequency doesn't seem to be particularly important.<br />
It would probably be best to remove the battery from the vehicle so we don't pulse high voltage through computers, regulators, etc. It may take a week to several months to restore a battery anyway, so doing it out of vehicle is preferable anyway.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeV8guj14P8e6Y1RZSlCnQgkF-J3R8mcPP4210QD2antawG8aCZn46wIEgPD2hyphenhyphennspX6kG6987xQMPzYcu5qGKdSZG715cLFSGn7NPWu6paSaLngmAYH5yVY_JV5wU7nduYkWSiSevGY/s1600/Desulfator-RevB-F.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyeV8guj14P8e6Y1RZSlCnQgkF-J3R8mcPP4210QD2antawG8aCZn46wIEgPD2hyphenhyphennspX6kG6987xQMPzYcu5qGKdSZG715cLFSGn7NPWu6paSaLngmAYH5yVY_JV5wU7nduYkWSiSevGY/s320/Desulfator-RevB-F.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desulfator Rev. B - Top</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<b>The Specs:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>Unit is controlled by the venerable 555 timer, although an attiny would work and allow more control / monitoring of progress. (Possible future design)</li>
<li>Should work on many voltages</li>
<li>May work on nicad's too. </li>
<li>This is basically a reference design. I want to see if (and how well) it works before spending a lot of time designing my own system (if I even need too, let's not go reinventing the wheel right?)</li>
<li>I'm trying for a compact design, altoids tin or smaller. preferably 50mm x 50mm, as if it works well I may get a batch made and try to sell them.</li>
</ul>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuDrvoKpbBNPXDOIysa-atS86KSXfynlkdGLneXeF0FDJp8Ds7Lx7HE7FVvyKALO3ei2I3qYYNv5g-8KzcGJen3JPQndsNqEPjKXy5KujZtREW6d-h2xOrXdrdmA91ifkjWVL788LpXo/s1600/Desulfator-RevB-B.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFuDrvoKpbBNPXDOIysa-atS86KSXfynlkdGLneXeF0FDJp8Ds7Lx7HE7FVvyKALO3ei2I3qYYNv5g-8KzcGJen3JPQndsNqEPjKXy5KujZtREW6d-h2xOrXdrdmA91ifkjWVL788LpXo/s320/Desulfator-RevB-B.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Desulfator Rev B - Bottom</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<ul>
</ul>
<b>Limitations:</b><br />
<ul>
<li>As the battery size increases the amperage needs to increase. Two resistors can be replaced with pots to adjust the frequency and duty cycle of the 555, but this results in increased heat on the inductors. (we'll try the default settings to start)</li>
<li>Increased amperage requires bigger, more expensive inductors.</li>
<li>It's not self-powered, so a trickle charge is needed for operation. </li>
<li>No reverse - polarity protection, hook it up backwards and you will probably destroy it. (I'm going to look into this, doesn't seem it would be too hard to prevent this, definitely looking into this before selling any)</li>
</ul>
<b>Notes:</b><br />
I'm basing this on Ron Ingraham's design, I don't think he followed the component numbering of the original, so if they say you can substitute something for R1, it may not be R1 in the schematic.<br />
<br />
<b>Update 1: </b><br />
My parts haven't arrived and I've run out of patience. So I scrounged
some inductors (about 600uh and 180uh) substituted some other parts and it
seems to work.<br />
<br />
<i>Only found two problems:</i><br />
1.
I missed a trace (somehow missed it in the schematic) and that
prevented the duty cycle from dropping below 25% and caused the
frequency to change with it. it was really frustrating. I eventually
found it and added a bodge wire. Now RV2 adjusts frequency and RV4
adjusts duty cycle. I also added a 180K resistor to RV2, but that's just
because I only had 100K pots (should have been at least 300K+. I highly
recommend using pots for these. Then you can just dial it right in.
(with a power supply and scope or by ear and watching that nothing gets
hot)<br />
2. Stupid (me) used non-polarised caps (C) instead of polarised caps (CP) in the schematic, so 3 caps were backwards.<br />
<br />
I've
corrected all these things in the schematic. I need to clean up the schematic and get it uploaded. I'm not sure if I'm going to
roll all this into Rev B or go to Rev C. I have
made a number of minor changes, but it's not a redesign by any means.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJzTxhzBGU3jHhnuYRCt58Q1wBusLWbDle2cMyWvnEdz6Tf6LN1FTg6TIObtHc9kC8a8uU1mQlY8g96ROrqPXfjFb3xIibSiik6JZq_0QXPthr5hpc1m2yFMeDZxROdbZz5nRgb8vn50/s1600/desulfator-revb2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="275" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVJzTxhzBGU3jHhnuYRCt58Q1wBusLWbDle2cMyWvnEdz6Tf6LN1FTg6TIObtHc9kC8a8uU1mQlY8g96ROrqPXfjFb3xIibSiik6JZq_0QXPthr5hpc1m2yFMeDZxROdbZz5nRgb8vn50/s320/desulfator-revb2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EHzTo_Tzi3D5PS8IIzgtV8c0Dj0eMQJJx5_WctdCo-C9V68LQZuoOFFvUyV9VBkSzx4QAV86SjNcCoj2RftcCAJiJMj4xTS0zs_KWBMGrJCw2TCeYuDdzAqjYpwFmgdB9_Dr4jEtm2c/s1600/desulfator-revb1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="266" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi7EHzTo_Tzi3D5PS8IIzgtV8c0Dj0eMQJJx5_WctdCo-C9V68LQZuoOFFvUyV9VBkSzx4QAV86SjNcCoj2RftcCAJiJMj4xTS0zs_KWBMGrJCw2TCeYuDdzAqjYpwFmgdB9_Dr4jEtm2c/s320/desulfator-revb1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<br />
<b>Rev. B Changes:</b><br />
1. Replaced R2 & R4 with Pot's for adjustment. Resistors should fit instead, so it's optional<br />
2. Added C41, C43 for more options on the low esr cap.<br />
3. Noted in schematic different options for assembly.<br />
4. Has component locations for several variations on the circuit. Board shouldn't be completely populated.<br />
5. Might have placed the power connector on backwards. Oops.<br />
6. PCB layout is Copyright for now. Free for Personal Use. I may release it to public domain eventually. I just don't want anyone selling these untested boards yet.<br />
<br />
<b>Links:</b><br />
<a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/4806416/Desulfator.zip">KiCAD + PDF Files</a><b><br /></b><br />
Make sure you add the cache library at the very top of the KiCAD libraries for the schematic. It's a PITA it doesn't do this automatically. The PDF's may or may not work, they gave me a fit. Make sure you print at 100%, no scaling.<br />
<a href="http://stevesfixitshop.blogspot.com/2013/09/my-pcb-fabrication-process.html">Pictures of latest board in my PCB Fab post</a><br />
<br />
<a href="http://home.comcast.net/~ddenhardt201263/desulfator/desulf.htm">Desulfator Information (mine is based on the low power - Ron Ingraham design)</a><br />
<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-22918897508205809032013-01-12T11:22:00.000-05:002013-01-12T11:22:38.355-05:00Drill Press Chuck Repair I've been thinking about starting on another 3d printer, I have some spare time and I gave the one I started last year away. I have some angle iron and a bunch of 608ZZ bearings, so what's stopping me?<br />
<i>The chuck on my drill press broke. </i>At first it just wouldn't tighten up, then it fell apart (some time ago, I hadn't gotten around to replacing it yet).<br />
<i><br /></i>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssZaCIYpdRZ25IrGJdhmF7XeN8LnSb6vMDSVbihYNianPj-djfREBM1EEpBbxL-EnlLFKfZnBVHVcy8YtyxgzPRFXk8G-sGpPwzeZtAs5Anl3up0jyc7AY2HonCdfyFMB0mhajpiZcpw/s1600/drill1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="130" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssZaCIYpdRZ25IrGJdhmF7XeN8LnSb6vMDSVbihYNianPj-djfREBM1EEpBbxL-EnlLFKfZnBVHVcy8YtyxgzPRFXk8G-sGpPwzeZtAs5Anl3up0jyc7AY2HonCdfyFMB0mhajpiZcpw/s320/drill1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Note: Picture taken after I started on the repair.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
From what I can tell the ring shaped piece is supposed to be one piece and the outer piece is held to it by a tight fit. I tried heating the outer piece and shrinking it onto the broken ring without success, undoubtedly it's worn and there is just too much force from the chuck key. At this point I priced a new (cheap) one at $25. Not bad, but I have one more last ditch effort before I buy it.<br />
<br />
<b>Plan B</b><br />
<br />
I took an angle grinder and ground a hole on each side through the outer piece aligned where the ring sets (with it disassembled). I aligned my hole with the crack in the ring and touched it with the grinder to clean for welding.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pyU7FAH6ejxOOWibwhhSfjh5L6g97h2JPWfK7Kesjm4lP7QPAhKuq8H3m-9txYZMBoVi8B8liPCtNz_XG5Gl3jSfTweWSiQX8osYD7PwY187W0WWS6cipCdWilwH4R1tZWq3gVUFeEI/s1600/drill2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-pyU7FAH6ejxOOWibwhhSfjh5L6g97h2JPWfK7Kesjm4lP7QPAhKuq8H3m-9txYZMBoVi8B8liPCtNz_XG5Gl3jSfTweWSiQX8osYD7PwY187W0WWS6cipCdWilwH4R1tZWq3gVUFeEI/s320/drill2.JPG" width="180" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prepped </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I heated it with a propane torch prior to welding, I've found this helpful when welding heavy steel with a small MIG.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnB5Lq_5NSb78bU6KCwOjJxt8exrReRv3Jq3yETDzsE72fhGIobJq5c416DCuERj0sPpY7V9kJYMvB4-MPkerkP5P42s3q-fd-mCAkA_Qa18xraa9zOi6eqF3j1mkMVGXi17ruBngowE/s1600/drill3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEijnB5Lq_5NSb78bU6KCwOjJxt8exrReRv3Jq3yETDzsE72fhGIobJq5c416DCuERj0sPpY7V9kJYMvB4-MPkerkP5P42s3q-fd-mCAkA_Qa18xraa9zOi6eqF3j1mkMVGXi17ruBngowE/s320/drill3.JPG" width="206" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Welded</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVpmYWAuuuiEiwKeCMzlwGd73y-GpsbFosEZIj2csel7yuWlemgB3VLZmPeEIBKFuK4yHjIIvUpe1rWlLif4o0sH9XlBZIommOfPeszFVcbOk01D-YdNNpDNe7cYYqx-eARCjFTAjWbQ/s1600/drill4.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXVpmYWAuuuiEiwKeCMzlwGd73y-GpsbFosEZIj2csel7yuWlemgB3VLZmPeEIBKFuK4yHjIIvUpe1rWlLif4o0sH9XlBZIommOfPeszFVcbOk01D-YdNNpDNe7cYYqx-eARCjFTAjWbQ/s320/drill4.JPG" width="211" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ground Smooth(ish)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
It seems to work, tightens and loosens freely, doesn't slip when reefing on it with the key either. It's a quick, cheap fix, so if it fails I haven't lost anything and I'll have to buy a new one.<br />
Now I have to find my drill bits and make some slides.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<i><br /></i>Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-57308554330486448602013-01-11T21:33:00.000-05:002013-07-22T07:04:38.689-04:00My Failed Fan Controller DesignI've spent all the time and resources I'm willing to on this project for now. I may complete it at a later date. It all works except the input voltage from the furnace transformer is too high after rectification (38-40v). The 78M05 I'm using is 35v max and it doesn't tolerate any more. It doesn't seem to damage it, as even after testing as bad on the furnace it works fine on 18v (max on my lab PS) I tried to build a SMPS replacement based on Roman Black's design, that also worked fine on 18v and blew at least a zener diode when on the furnace. I used parts I had on hand, so sometime I will get precise values and try again. For now I'm ordering a snap-disk. Perhaps some of this design may be useful to someone for other purposes. It really sucks, as the controller works fine, I just can't get the voltage regulated to 5v. If you have any ideas feel free to comment. It's probably easy and I'm just not seeing it :)<br />
<br />
My Dad's woodstove is ducted into his furnace. It works OK, but he has to manually turn the blower fan on to circulate the air through the house. This is OK when they're up and keep the fire going, but if they don't get up during the night the fire burns down and it circulates cold basement air. Brrrr<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1iZpeSYJOAZpwSrZNbAIGWSSTwoY_nBcetoi7PlNMuLUNLs9qnTabRr256ZvoTS_DTu6qV5x5rWnjsjxdbj346wptdMorslvI3BrIWYXuHs4VS7hJvjwgZsd62bmr6eCn9xM6SSH-q4/s1600/fan1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="202" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf1iZpeSYJOAZpwSrZNbAIGWSSTwoY_nBcetoi7PlNMuLUNLs9qnTabRr256ZvoTS_DTu6qV5x5rWnjsjxdbj346wptdMorslvI3BrIWYXuHs4VS7hJvjwgZsd62bmr6eCn9xM6SSH-q4/s320/fan1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
I realize I could just use a therm-o-disk, but what fun is that?<br />
<br />
Plus I get a bit more practice making boards. NOTE: I bumped the zone fill clearance from .020 to .025, that definitely helped me not bridge pins to ground. It's a simple board and I used mostly .025 traces with a few .012 and .080 ones as needed. I can etch .012 very consistently, even .008 fairly well, but I keep tearing pads off drilling. The extra copper seems to help considerably. Extra copper around pad make things much easier drilling and mounting. Essential for wire connections. My first board's traces got torn up where wires mounted (all .012 traces). Notice the pads across the top of the following image compared with the bottom of the board above:<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJ97JwhkslAqs71VPRb0h9QWLfmZRDsD98Y03dqQd0JDJZacf7181GotCVCX6MV1XyIgmsxbmtSguOddzAUYsycU-ol8E7h15ob1IPBW9M4JgxJG1gOrFkUF7ZxV50TbaXCDcSMPksew/s1600/fan2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipJ97JwhkslAqs71VPRb0h9QWLfmZRDsD98Y03dqQd0JDJZacf7181GotCVCX6MV1XyIgmsxbmtSguOddzAUYsycU-ol8E7h15ob1IPBW9M4JgxJG1gOrFkUF7ZxV50TbaXCDcSMPksew/s320/fan2.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<i><b> Requirements:</b></i><br />
<ul>
<li>Run off furnace power (28VAC)</li>
<li>Switch fan on at approx 120F, off at 90f</li>
<li>Make sure fan runs at least 10 minutes when turned on.</li>
<li>Cheap, hopefully less than a $15 T-O-D</li>
</ul>
<i><b>Specs:</b></i><br />
<ul>
<li>Controlled by a attiny85</li>
<li>PCB was done for a full-bridge rectifier, but we may use a half-bridge to keep the voltage under control. (use 2 diodes instead of 4) (Note: Didn't Work)</li>
<li>Used Salvaged Components where possible</li>
</ul>
<i><b>Parts List:</b></i><br />
<ul>
<li>Attiny85 ($1.30) </li>
<li>lm335a Sensor ($1.00) (I had some of these, I would use a mcp9700-e/to($0.25) in the future. the board supports it, just omit the 2k resistor) </li>
<li>lm7805 Regulator ($0.50)</li>
<li>2n7000 mosfet ($0.60)</li>
<li>2x 1n4007 diodes ($0.50x2)</li>
<li>330u 50v cap (salvage)</li>
<li>10u cap(salvage)</li>
<li>0.1u cap</li>
<li>10K resistor</li>
<li>2K Resistor (omit for mcp9700)</li>
<li>RY5W-K Relay (salvage)(you can get ones with ~30ma coils for less than $2.50 and drop the mosfet, though a mosfet does make it more robust IMO) You could also try a solid state relay</li>
</ul>
<a href="http://www.trythistv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=239">Schematic</a><br />
<br />
The 7805 was a bit close to the cap, that will be fixed in the linked files. I intended to use a to-92 regulator, but the one I had was rated for 100MA. I thought my relay was 150MA. It was a last minute change. As it turns out it uses about 9MA idle and 54MA with relay powered. I could have used the to-92 after all.Total cost was under $5, though to buy all the parts would be more like $10, the cheapest T-O-D I found was $8. If I have the wrong temp with this I just reflash the chip, with a T-O-D I buy a different one.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8rMwI3g_JocayEq1Tkrc6Jf0z_GQqb95obn0q0iBWSaCtiVp2jGiMOSH-Efw6kALL8OflOV_qUoTGVBZi7ukXmkKUMxGs-mxHCnfkg83AArmO9CjzffIYuQ52_JvRUGooKMxqCi12Is/s1600/fan3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgw8rMwI3g_JocayEq1Tkrc6Jf0z_GQqb95obn0q0iBWSaCtiVp2jGiMOSH-Efw6kALL8OflOV_qUoTGVBZi7ukXmkKUMxGs-mxHCnfkg83AArmO9CjzffIYuQ52_JvRUGooKMxqCi12Is/s320/fan3.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
Code is in Arduino, you will need the attiny85 hardware files, a programmer or an arduino, some wires and bits. <a href="http://hlt.media.mit.edu/?p=1695">See this guide for more information.</a> I may redo it in AVR C sometime, I just wanted it up and running. I didn't need to do anything special. <br />
<br />
<pre style="background-image: URL(https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjCJzV9sr9599m5lbqRr1WPblciA9LNLcH1A4en4JV8ez_KuSeMgUWKY3wFQCGg8QIS_8KW_lRmK_eS2hGr8TSM5X39eLtFOi4Rr72SMWXCa4koC5DcLNVZXvFZwbft9vtEazVhmEQNo1R/s320/codebg.gif); background: #f0f0f0; border: 1px dashed #CCCCCC; color: black; font-family: arial; font-size: 12px; height: 400px; line-height: 20px; overflow: auto; padding: 0px; text-align: left; width: 99%;"><code style="color: black; word-wrap: normal;"> /*
Fan Controller intended for a attiny85, but takes ~3k, change pins below for arduino and uncomment the serial for debugging on the arduino.
it's intended for a furnace, so no fancy pwm or anything, thought it wouldn't be hard to add.
Stephen Evans - stevesfixitshop.blogspot.com
*/
#define INPIN 3
#define OUTPIN 2
#define ONTEMP 48
#define OFFTEMP 32
#define DEL 600000
unsigned long wait = 0;
int avread = 0;
int ain[10];
int i = 0;
void setup() {
// Serial.begin(9600);
pinMode(OUTPIN, OUTPUT);
}
void loop() {
//make 10 readings
while(i<=9){
ain[i] = analogRead(INPIN);
delay(10); // wait for adc to stabilise
i++;
}
i=0;
//average the readings
avread = 0;
while(i<=9){
avread = avread + ain[i];
i++;
}
i=0;
avread = avread / 10;
//Convert reading to degrees C
float sensorValue = ((avread*4.8)/10)-284.15;
// Serial.println(sensorValue);
// turn fan on
if(sensorValue >= ONTEMP){
digitalWrite(OUTPIN, HIGH);
wait = millis() + DEL;
}
// turn fan off if below set temp and delay has passed.
else if (sensorValue <= OFFTEMP && millis() >= wait){
digitalWrite(OUTPIN,LOW);
}
// every 50 days millis rolls over to 0, this makes sure it doesn't mess things up
else if (millis() <= (wait-DEL-50)){
wait = millis();
}
}
</code></pre>
<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-87509460516497350762012-12-08T19:46:00.000-05:002012-12-08T19:46:18.917-05:00ATX PSU RepairAs noted in the <a href="http://stevesfixitshop.blogspot.com/2012/12/htpc-home-server-build.html">HTPC build</a> I used a repaired Ultra D0408 ATX PSU. I was using it in the P4 and it would work fine for a long time, then just start randomly rebooting, then it would be fine again. At first I thought it was the motherboard or ram, but then discovered if i bumped the desk or case it would almost always start acting up. Of course that screams "Something's Loose!".<br />
<br />
So I had the opportunity to remove it and inspect it as I did my upgrade. Here's what I found:<br />
<br />
Caps all look ok, no bulges, etc.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMB-c9j4T7Zt9baNyNVZH6Ikhtog9INRoW3AqY5IwGReAJtYRA8chDNjqQFJttKNFcQLEO8ox6ehBpMYsl68itbcKzxLF0q4WJno14Usnxc68R_PoaNYGfU1cao9SxWoIiisPcQwrFV_M/s1600/psu1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiMB-c9j4T7Zt9baNyNVZH6Ikhtog9INRoW3AqY5IwGReAJtYRA8chDNjqQFJttKNFcQLEO8ox6ehBpMYsl68itbcKzxLF0q4WJno14Usnxc68R_PoaNYGfU1cao9SxWoIiisPcQwrFV_M/s320/psu1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cover Off</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Be very careful when taking these apart, Voltages may remain for a very long time. I held it by the wires to remove the board, flipped it over and checked those 2 big caps (upper left). They had less than 2VDC in them, but depending on the failure it could be over 300VDC.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiA5a8U3nfhhjcjqccCYqBCEfJUEK9lAyMBbl0P5vBpPnpEwtqLwfYbU8IgyFRH9H88RGLnXtvlRJdKumoRDZKXAJTRy2pQkzB3VtqMY-meOGMfWdOwNOKRV3iOgNhyphenhyphenY1k22KL4QUiiqLI/s320/psu2.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="320" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bottom of board</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Now we can see something, I don't know if you can see it in the above picture but in the lower right corner there is a capacitor that has come loose from the solder. It is on the 12V rail. The heatsink on the left of the unit also has a bad solder joint, but it appears to be isolated.<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtGFBFuQb0u1KdYa8MG5ZpQxdVw6CGtoB6YWtdLsBu1FVvhuH0fUuxxZOFe20hNAqiJTABcK_613b02qBnFWeH4loqgQackfWE_z8-PnHM57F1KFoaV02shk7eM_5UnFbmHhup4fSRVM/s1600/psu3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHtGFBFuQb0u1KdYa8MG5ZpQxdVw6CGtoB6YWtdLsBu1FVvhuH0fUuxxZOFe20hNAqiJTABcK_613b02qBnFWeH4loqgQackfWE_z8-PnHM57F1KFoaV02shk7eM_5UnFbmHhup4fSRVM/s320/psu3.jpg" width="304" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad solder joint (about in center)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
So I soldered it up and will try it out. These units are cheap, so it doesn't pay to spend much time fixing them, but sometimes it's something simple like this. It's also practice for things like the Parrallax. Time will tell if that was the problem or if it's something more serious.Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-61964582013322545862012-12-08T16:59:00.000-05:002012-12-10T13:57:34.556-05:00HTPC & Home Server Build Part 1 - HardwareI moved over the summer and I now get 14 Channels of free over the air TV (up from 3) and yet there's still nothing on. It seems all the good stuff is on when I'm busy (or sleeping). So I've been messing with MythTV on a old P4.<br />
<br />
It worked pretty good except for a few drawbacks:<br />
<ol>
<li>It is kind of noisy.</li>
<li>It's a bigger power hog than I anticipated. It consumes about 100W idle. I figured it out as costing me about $85/yr in electric. Not bad for my TV bill, but a little irritating too. </li>
</ol>
So I was looking around on black friday and found a nice little mini-ITX motherboard with 8GB of ram included for $65. It's no Phenom X6, but since it will spend a lot of time idle or under light loads I think it's a good fit.<br />
<br />
<i><b>Specs:</b></i><br />
<ul>
<li>Biostar Deluxe A681-350 (AMD E-350 1.6GHZ Dual-Core APU)</li>
<li>8GB of G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3</li>
<li>Hauppauge WinTV HVR 950Q (may swap with a Sabrent TV-DGUSB eventually, but I have to re-compile a kernel module for that)</li>
<li>Salvaged 250GB Sata Drive (someday I'll upgrade to a 1-3TB Sata)</li>
<li>Salvaged ATX case</li>
<li><a href="http://stevesfixitshop.blogspot.com/2012/12/atx-psu-repair.html">Repaired Ultra D0408 ATX PSU</a></li>
<li>Total idle power consumption measured at 40W </li>
</ul>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4LJYxdpnJ0dZyuzYIh_OnyFN9cqgVmvk_Z9VDBGAjDFgm-OoYOap01ZxtlgXIDjCYj9ujr8QdHtHO2U1dE7WjCmbOVF6L-FnOSwmzjbgiidjxowTre41qx0nlJcaAa1UnPy_ilPSieU/s1600/htpc1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="187" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc4LJYxdpnJ0dZyuzYIh_OnyFN9cqgVmvk_Z9VDBGAjDFgm-OoYOap01ZxtlgXIDjCYj9ujr8QdHtHO2U1dE7WjCmbOVF6L-FnOSwmzjbgiidjxowTre41qx0nlJcaAa1UnPy_ilPSieU/s320/htpc1.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Biostar A681-350 and G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZGVEabAldbUUbzldKUu4XAEkJxLnVaMGV2pR3yLNOEbY-VZ7OcqkPhFiI0gxxNsEtM5Jkb_bIpkeIo-3OvqibALakay-tHLRXAhaT6-vP_IFM9OHtUKb3surBdLSko9pNpkoDKi4PEw/s1600/htpc2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="231" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizZGVEabAldbUUbzldKUu4XAEkJxLnVaMGV2pR3yLNOEbY-VZ7OcqkPhFiI0gxxNsEtM5Jkb_bIpkeIo-3OvqibALakay-tHLRXAhaT6-vP_IFM9OHtUKb3surBdLSko9pNpkoDKi4PEw/s320/htpc2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Motherboard with ram installed</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihG4DKrcmRRjofnwpR-BFXWlxce1GgndZvpAMRa9NtZDOBzZVsLQHwWs5uqDrxKlCoODa-fG6qu7EoEUqILVtHYlR24V93n9RURdJ5cD3ICoDWcYEEO99oAUkxP-MgRn0-xqiW8e_c4JU/s1600/htpc3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="310" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihG4DKrcmRRjofnwpR-BFXWlxce1GgndZvpAMRa9NtZDOBzZVsLQHwWs5uqDrxKlCoODa-fG6qu7EoEUqILVtHYlR24V93n9RURdJ5cD3ICoDWcYEEO99oAUkxP-MgRn0-xqiW8e_c4JU/s320/htpc3.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All Assembled</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
I'm still figuring what all I want it to do, so far I've got:<br />
<ul>
<li>MythTV, that's the big one, the main purpose of the whole project.</li>
<li>File and Backup Server</li>
<li>Local web server for development, testing, etc. </li>
</ul>
I will do a series of posts covering the software installation and configuration eventually. <br />
<br />
Curiously the my complete setup with the P4 consumed approximately 100W idle and 200W with the screen on. The new one consumes 40W idle and 100W with the screen on. I don't understand it, it's the same screen! Could the video card in the P4 detect the screen was off and power down? Would a video card consume nearly 50W? Is my Kill-A-Watt Broken? Tune in next week...<br />
<ul>
</ul>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-24658980716642977542012-10-27T11:25:00.000-04:002012-10-27T11:25:24.249-04:00Parallax 7345 SMPS Repair TipsI started this as a reply in the <a class="GFUQPS5BPB" href="http://stevesfixitshop.blogspot.com/2012/01/parallax-7345-rv-power-converter-smps.html">Parallax 7345 RV Power Converter (SMPS)</a> post. It quickly grew to the point I decided to tidy it up and make a new post out of it. Most of the specific info is for the Parallax unit though it may apply to other SMPS's.<br />
<br />
Most of what I know about SMPS repair comes from reading: <a href="http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/smpsfaq.htm">http://www.repairfaq.org/sam/smpsfaq.htm </a>If you intend to work on a SMPS I strongly suggest reading and digesting the contents of it first. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLK94fyYiZzA4XtU19z6InFGODoSmeLBuyPJ13VPMcP1jhwkxMLZlsCxSuVIdOwV1IEFsURZ9y4Ip7uFtP_DRHCdL9Tlve1sTYiTyUEvh6TetOctFEcgV927eQQEXkOz7byvzwe6DjU30/s1600/DSCI0131-marked.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLK94fyYiZzA4XtU19z6InFGODoSmeLBuyPJ13VPMcP1jhwkxMLZlsCxSuVIdOwV1IEFsURZ9y4Ip7uFtP_DRHCdL9Tlve1sTYiTyUEvh6TetOctFEcgV927eQQEXkOz7byvzwe6DjU30/s320/DSCI0131-marked.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Possible Problem Areas</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<b>Quick Disclaimer or "Safety Third":</b><br />
Be very careful! There can be potentially lethal voltages all over the board even when disconnected. At least one heatsink is live! Proceed at your own risk!<br />
<br />
Again, be careful, It's hard to diagnose a SMPS without powering it up.
Usually a isolation transformer is used. I've toyed with the idea of
using an inverter or generator for this. Basically you don't want the
neutral tied to ground, you want it floating, then it's only dangerous
between the line and neutral rather than line and ground (that you're
standing on). All household / shore power is referenced to ground at some point. Depending on the wiring of your generator it may or may not be. I'm not sure how to advise you on this, no matter what you do there is a risk. Try to minimize it.<br />
<br />
<b>Check the obvious and make sure the problem lies inside the unit.</b><br />
That said, I'd follow the power through the unit as much as possible. Start where the 120v line connects, I've spent hours searching boards for a problem only to find it wasn't powered to start with. make sure you have 120v going into the board from your generator / line connection before disassembling the unit.<br />
<br />
After you can disconnect power, let it sit for a couple hours then disassemble it. Still be careful what you touch, use the one-handed method until you get the board out. turn it over and check the voltage across the two big caps, it should have bled off, but could be over 150VDC (I don't recall the voltage spec on them, assume it's fairly close to it). If they are zero (or at least below 20V) check the continuity from each power-in line to the bridge rectifier (just after the MOV, Square thing with a heatsink) it should read almost zero ohms (if it's several thousand your problem lies here). <br />
<br />
<b>Always look for obvious damage,burnt components, etc. </b><br />
Sometimes a burnt component is caused by a faulty but perfectly good looking component, so don't assume you found it, you may replace it only to have it go again. (A failed triac on a Maytag Neptune washing machine will destroy a resistor, replace the resistor and it will destroy it again, replace both and you can wash clothes)<b><br /></b><br />
<br />
That's as far as I got on this one the problem was rather obvious, so I'm out of specific information on it. As I noted it's basically a big smps, The document at the beginning of this post should help you with the basic operation. I marked some things on the above image, you may need to check how to actually test these, but hopefully it will give you a start. As always Google is you friend, just looking for more generic SMPS info than specific Parallax info should help.<br />
<br />
These are worth checking, roughly ordered from most likely to least (imho):<br />
<ol>
<li><b></b>Bad Capacitors, look for bulged , burst or leaking caps, they cause all kinds of headaches</li>
<li>Output resistors. You can see these have been really hot, but are working
fine on this one. However if one failed I'll bet the rest would go within seconds or the output would drop dramatically. They should be a low ohm value(0-1R). </li>
<li>Switcher Mosfet(s) - handles all the power, it should switch on and off really fast (100khz to several mhz, depending on design) this is connected to one of those big heatsinks, probably the live one.</li>
<li>Logic / Startup power. I might be off the mark with this, but I think without this resistor the unit will not start. It requires some power to get thinks going, I think it comes from here. Not sure of value, but shouldn't be open and probably fairly high(100K+?).</li>
<li>Bridge rectifier - if this goes you will get low(or no) voltage on the caps, unit may not start.</li>
<li>The logic section, the most complicated part of the system. Controls the whole thing, depending what's wrong it may be un-repairable (bad microcontroller, even with a new micro you won't have the firmware) or could be something replaceable (op-amp, pwm controller, etc.) I put this last because I know of one that survived 240V on the input, so I assume it's pretty rugged.</li>
</ol>
<br />
<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-3191023839418853772012-10-18T11:05:00.001-04:002012-10-18T11:05:29.532-04:00Lessons in "Confirming the problem".
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Canon MF8350Cdn Printer </b></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I just carried my new (to me) color
laser printer from it's previous home in the closet up to my
lab. Of course I want to test it out, and I just got a laminator (for
PCB fab) so I printed out some cheat-sheet type cards to laminate.
They all went fine until the last one (vi/vim) came out funny. The
magenta was misaligned by a lot! I did a cleaning and several calibrations and it
was still off. I thought I'd broke it. Or at least needed new
cartridges for sure now. (it has been complaining about the magenta
and cyan cartridges) I tore the magenta cartridge apart and found
nothing unusual. I printed about 6 of these through the process, trying different things
and was about to give up when it occurred to me:
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><b>The other pages printed fine, it's
just this one. </b></i></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcW4u2iM9rOfys2vGH6NOHKeEPVbtVcVP-Ejqmy1kQ8wZlLIyRbMzX0pR-E_x8E1ZV1l7N5_wF2jxRmCEccJ1aflGZNNXR_VcBMu9W0_UR8RU_BhYHHbLoh84Xcs1YgR090YQREPmsiyA/s1600/Image.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjcW4u2iM9rOfys2vGH6NOHKeEPVbtVcVP-Ejqmy1kQ8wZlLIyRbMzX0pR-E_x8E1ZV1l7N5_wF2jxRmCEccJ1aflGZNNXR_VcBMu9W0_UR8RU_BhYHHbLoh84Xcs1YgR090YQREPmsiyA/s320/Image.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scan of bad print</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b> </b>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
It was a .gif file, but it looked
perfect on the computer. I printed a photograph of my dog. (Yes, I
have more pictures of her than anyone else, so sue me) It came out
perfect. </div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
I hunted around and found the <a href="http://www.glump.net/_media/howto/vi-vim-cheat-sheet-and-tutorial.pdfMBR1Azi--aLxQr2LX-mA">vi/vim cheat sheet in pdf format.</a> It also printed perfect. The Morale?
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><b>Always start with the last thing you
changed</b></i>, for me it was I was printing a different file. Oh, yea, always <i><b>Confirm
the problem lies where you think before you start tearing stuff
apart. </b></i></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALjJFfEh-f6spmP8of5KEqihm7CKLbWDktCFQZTfacmOSMnAiDX5D9S3yZWzmb7LQy_eW65TF4mxiMQkLqWVtr-dt-g-cYuxKByRBn4ORLmyNnjO_B4XdqhLyNWa7wc2fjbh9DqJFRDE/s1600/Image0001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjALjJFfEh-f6spmP8of5KEqihm7CKLbWDktCFQZTfacmOSMnAiDX5D9S3yZWzmb7LQy_eW65TF4mxiMQkLqWVtr-dt-g-cYuxKByRBn4ORLmyNnjO_B4XdqhLyNWa7wc2fjbh9DqJFRDE/s320/Image0001.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Scan of good print</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<i><b> </b></i>
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<b>Kindle Fire Problems</b> (that weren't)</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The above lesson applies
to the time I thought my Kindle Fire was dead, it just shut off and
wouldn't turn back on. I had 70% battery, so it couldn’t be that
could it? I couldn’t plug it in that night and as a result didn't
sleep very well. Fortunately the next morning I plugged it in and it
booted right up. Seems something hung and the battery monitor didn't
update.</div>
<div style="font-weight: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<br />
</div>
<div style="margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="font-weight: normal;">My
Dad's Kindle Fire had a different problem. I charge mine frequently
and as a result it seldom goes dead on me. Dad appears to waits until it
dies before charging it. The problem? When he turns it back on some of
his apps don't work. </span><i><b>It acts like the apps are corrupted
and it tells you to re-download them</b></i><span style="font-weight: normal;">
from the app store. That is a real pain since with no internet out here at the moment it requires a trip to
the library or Lowes to do. The last time it happened we discussed
returning it, as something must be wrong with it. Then he said he had
noticed it would start working again a few minutes after getting a
connection, no re-downloading needed. Hmm, sounds more like a
“feature” than a bad memory module. Then I realized the time as
wrong, I checked the date and it was back in 1999. </span><b><i>I set
the date and time manually and it works again!</i> </b><span style="font-weight: normal;">Among
other things it updates the date and time automatically from the
internet, as long as the battery is charged it keeps ticking, but if
it goes completely dead it resets. If it connects as soon as it turns
back on you'd never know, but out here with no internet it can't.</span></div>
Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-73706109949576571022012-10-16T09:57:00.001-04:002012-10-16T09:57:51.257-04:00AVR Dragon Jumpers - ISP for Atmega 168/328/etcI've been trying my hand at etching pcb's lately. As a result I needed to burn a bootloader on a Atmega 328 and I didn't put a ISP header on my target board. I really need to get in the habit of doing that. Usually I just stick it in my dragon, connect it up with a bunch of jumpers and burn it.<br />
<br />
A while back I saw someone had made a whole set of boards for this purpose. You just plugged in the board and never get a wire crossed again! I made a brief search for them but couldn't find anything useful (schematic, pcb layouts, etc). So I made my own. So far I have made the ISP for the 168/328. Sometime I will make the HVPP for these and both for the 644/1284.<br />
<br />
You may notice that I have a mix of male and female headers. When I got my dragon I put mostly female headers on (excluding JTAG and ISP) so I could use normal jumpers rather than special female ones. I still think it was a good idea, but most people use all male headers, so the board could use all females.<br />
<br />
I only put the used headers for ease of use and cost control. For soldering I put all the headers in place on the dragon then added the board. It keeps everything perfectly aligned.<br />
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Etch-resist was a laser printer transfer, cupric chloride etch solution. I'll do a post on that whole process later.<br />
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I intended to attach the KiCAD Schematic and PCB file here, but I can't see how to do that (might not be possible), so I posted it over on <a href="http://trythistv.com/viewtopic.php?f=23&t=133">TryThisTv.com</a> Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-70519395277601791922012-05-26T08:49:00.000-04:002013-03-18T21:26:07.209-04:00Y-Axis<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The Y axis is the same basic design as the X axis.<br />
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Initially I built the Y axis rails too short. My father has told me to measure twice and cut once, Applying that would have saved me considerable time and materials. The upside is I have more travel on the Y axis than I expected, about 14".<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7u9KFAhWxx8Mj-ypKwJBJTJUtA2SjF_VxGXxJOAdM3PklsI50mHV0yly9-4L1P4s9_UQDm1WMt0dTQXrlj4oJyyOusBOGaj4-n_F3jPqvbMF3cvc97yCHfbzNKH7zlg_O93vwRDoickg/s1600/Yaxis.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="318" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7u9KFAhWxx8Mj-ypKwJBJTJUtA2SjF_VxGXxJOAdM3PklsI50mHV0yly9-4L1P4s9_UQDm1WMt0dTQXrlj4oJyyOusBOGaj4-n_F3jPqvbMF3cvc97yCHfbzNKH7zlg_O93vwRDoickg/s320/Yaxis.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
I have just clamped the two frames together for now, I want the table on so I can level it before drilling the holes to attach the Y-axis.<br />
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I completed the z axis too, same basic design. I'm getting ready to move, so the last time my brother visited I gave him the semi-completed frame in hope that he may have more time to work on it than me. It just needs a table, motors and lead screws to be working. Whether he has time to work on it or not remains to be seen, but I know I won't have any time for at least a few months. I still want a 3d printer, I kept all my electronics, when I have time I'll build another one.<br />
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<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-72877225650335870532012-05-25T09:01:00.000-04:002013-03-18T21:27:49.404-04:00Foot Powered EdgerWell, I'm moving in less than a month! One of the things I have here is a underground fence for my dog. I love it, no unsightly fences, and she's good about staying in it. I dug the wire in by hand with a shovel 4 or 5 years ago. It took me way too long. So I was looking and the easy way is to get a lawn edger. So I've been looking at them, but I can't really justify buying a dedicated one just to bury my fence, so I was looking at weed whacker attachments, but people seem to have trouble using them normally (blown motors and broken shafts), so I doubt they would stand up to the abuse I intend to administer. I could probably rent a heavy duty one, and I will if it comes down to it. but I was looking and found this:<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/Miles-Kimball-Step-Edger/dp/B002T0123S/ref=sr_1_2?s=lawn-garden&ie=UTF8&qid=1337947824&sr=1-2" target="_blank">Amazon Link</a><br />
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People seem to like it except the blade bends easily if you hit a rock or large root with it. I think I can make a blade that will stand up to some serious abuse. Here's what I came up with:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PSFsnRdlSycpZ5AokhLBa4IJk4VgMNLK37m4i_SiVddFI-_Qr4xJg9jxLCRnaqsbl5Uw8MrB6PqrkZAD0WQ0MHzpTRO-rm99gX4RYSNmS5i8__Q77LvBh3QB22vEsrO0XcdP0knq_XY/s1600/edge1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2PSFsnRdlSycpZ5AokhLBa4IJk4VgMNLK37m4i_SiVddFI-_Qr4xJg9jxLCRnaqsbl5Uw8MrB6PqrkZAD0WQ0MHzpTRO-rm99gX4RYSNmS5i8__Q77LvBh3QB22vEsrO0XcdP0knq_XY/s320/edge1.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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I used some 3/16" x 3" stock I had lying around. I did 2x 3"x3" foot pads because I had 6" left over from the 12" blade. the pole is a 5' piece of 1/2" steel conduit. It seems to work pretty good in soft soil (yard), hard packed soil not so well (edge of driveway). It won't go through rocks, but I didn't expect it to. I doesn't bend. that's for sure. I don't know if it will work or not, if it does I think it will be quicker than the shovel, but harder and less fun than the edger. But that would cost a lot more than this. For a one time deal I think I'll manage.<br />
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<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-932672606809458274.post-76572631523837226102012-03-03T20:19:00.001-05:002012-03-03T20:21:36.236-05:00Logitech Wave Missing Keystrokes & TeardownMy Logitech wireless keyboard started missing keystrokes. It's really irritating. I tried a few different things before I figured it out.<br />
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<li> It was recommended to not have it's receiver plugged into a hub, so I plugged it directly into a usb port, that didn't fix it. </li>
<li>I tried the "smash it in frustration" approach, which only succeeded in breaking one of the feet.</li>
<li>It was so bad I decided to tear it apart and either finish it off or fix it. I didn't find anything to fix.</li>
<li>I eventually discovered that it works great backwards, or if I hold my hands at a funny angle. it seems the PCB and antenna are under the wrist pad, and something is causing me to interfere with it.</li>
<li>I dropped the receiver behind my desk almost at foot level and the keyboard seems to work great now. The mouse is another story...</li>
<li>I'm contemplating running a new antenna around the perimeter, so part of it is not under my hands</li>
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<i><b>Teardown</b></i><br />
It's all held together with philips screws, Thank you Logitech for not using some stupid tamper-resistant screws. Be careful, pulling the membrane off created quite a static charge, I hope I didn't do any ESD damage.<br />
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The switch thingie is a 3 piece plastic thing with circuits and contacts on the top and bottom with a separator in the center with holes for each key<br />
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I wiped each piece down with rubbing alcohol. </div>
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<i><b>Reassembly</b></i><br />
Put the zoom button and mute button on the lower part, all the other keys are snapped into the upper part.<br />
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<br />Stevehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03528373735470181559noreply@blogger.com1