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Today: May 20, 2012
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Hey everyone,
Thanks for reading this stuff. I just wanted to let you all know that I haven't been adding tot he site recently because I'm in the process of moving. All of my electronics gear is packed up and unfortunately will be the last thing I will be able to unpack and set up (The kitchen is my favorite place to be). I will try to keep somewhat of an ongoing update on this article to keep those who care informed.
I was wondering if there are some things anyone out there would like help modifying? If so drop me an e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , and I'll at least be able to point you in a direction.
Take care everyone, I'll be back soon.
Jordan
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Hello everyone,
Today I would like to share my dump lawnmower creation with you. First a little background. I live and grew up in an area that is deemed "cottage country". Let's just say it's great living here until cottage season starts. Over the many years living here I have made countless trips to the dump, not just to bring garbage there, but to find interesting things to muck about with. Now I know what you are thinking, "great, you played with garbage as a kid". I guess you are right, the only thing that makes that less disgusting is that it was quality garbage! It seems that "cottagers" in our area are quick to toss anything and everything without any reason (as far as I can tell).
Some of the best things I have found at the dump that where in full working order would be;
-1970's vintage Bombardier snowmobile (with paint still on the skis, sold for $1500)
-2 DVD players (one was up-converting to 1080P and both had remotes)
-1986 Bonair tent trailer (converted to carry my carpentry tools and generator, plus solar panels. Also had new tires on it)
-An old riding lawn mower that a friend still uses
-Countless tires for field cars
-An old Can-am dirt bike (lasted for a summer until it blew up, which is good for any vintage Can-am)
-Boat motors ( I think 3, maybe even four. One was a 1930 something that ran for 3-4 years, but I couldn't get any parts for it after that)
- 4-5 Desktop computers ( donated to people who needed them)
-Tons of bicycles, and bicycle parts
There are so many things, I just cannot remember them all. Anyways this brings us to my latest find. I gave my riding lawnmower to my parents as they have 5 acres and use a push mower, so I was in need of a lawn mower. If I need something and I wait long enough, it usually finds it's way to me one way or another (Ever run out of diesel in your VW right across the street from a sale on vegetable oil? I rest my case). There I was at the dump when I saw a man taking a push mower out of the back of his truck and setting in the pile of metal. I quickly moved in to asses the situation and give it a gentle pull. There was lots of compression and everything looked ok so I tossed it in my trailer for later review. As I was doing this the man drove up to me with his passenger window open and his ( I assume) wife wished me luck and started laughing as they drove off.
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(CLICK READ MORE)
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For those of you who do not have a Clarion deck like mine, Deyan's work on his 2001 Mazda Protege's head unit may help you out with yours. All of the fundamentals will in most cases be the same, but feel free to contact me if you need some help. Just e-mail me some clear pictures of your PCB at jordan@electronicsjunk (dot) com.
From Deyan:
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Today I would like to sahre with you all one of my repair projects and some photos. I came across this meter a few years ago when I found it on the road. It had been run over my by a car and suffered minimal damage, so I have used it as my go to portable meter since. It was originally intended for telephone technicians to check lines, Internet connections, and do all sorts of interesting troubleshooting. I really only use this meter for its volts, miliamps, and resistance measurement modes, but it is capable of much more than that. For instance it can also calculate distance to a splice/short, loses in different wire types , and generate tones!
Here is a picture of one the same in a little nicer condition;
When I originally found it, it was complete with the carrying bag, the manual, a self test circuit with wire gauge, but over the years I have misplaced those somewhere. Anyways I still have the meter it self and the 5 test leads that go with it. The one thing that was lacking from the beginning was the charger. This was the first thing I had to fix for obvious reasons but I couldn't justify buying an overpriced OEM one. If you have been reading my posts you know by now that I'm somewhat frugal :). I decided to open it and do some investigating. This was a few years ago, so I have no pictures of the mod in progress, just the finished work. Also I recently had to repair this unit, as someone mixed up the polarity or something. (more on this later).
(CLICK READ MORE TO SEE THE REST)
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Monday, 18 April 2011 19:58 | Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 June 2011 09:53 | Written by Jordan (Admin) |
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152 Trackbacks (Pingbacks are enabled) Subaru Clarion Disassembly HERE If you have a different head unit check out Deyan's work HERE as a reference.
*NOTE* If you have a stereo that is not of this make, or is not labeled, try looking along the fm board pins. (where the small up and down board meets the large side to side circuit board. If you can find two traces that go to two identical capacitors (would not have polarity, so polymer film, or ceramic or mostly anything but electrolytic caps), these would be the left and right channels of your stereo's FM board. This is what I have modified below. If you need help identifying this send me some high resolution pics to jordan@electronicsjunk (dot) com. Every now and again I would wish for a new radio for our beloved Subaru. Not that the radio is bad or anything, its fully functional if you neglect the fact that it as no auxiliary input. It is however not the best radio either. It is a Clarion model that I have also seen in early 200's Mazda's. I started looking at new head units online and in stores for something with AUX input (mostly all of them), but couldn't justify spending $100+ on one just for the sake of sound. Sure I could burn a lot of cd's for that price, but i'm getting sick of how crappy CD-R's are these days. They simply do not stand up to wear like their store bought counterparts. There are various pages on the internet that talk about using the left and right audio channels coming from the cd mechanism to insert your mp3 audio. The problem with this is that you need a CD-R recorded with tracks that have no noise. This tricks the cd player into thinking it is playing the cd when you are really using your mp3 player. To me this just seems ... well I dunno... annoying?! I decided to take the head unit apart and see what I could find. What I found was the most labeled PCB one could hope for! I decided to make a connection between the fm tuner and the amplifier circuit. I cut the traces so that the radio would not play at the same time as the mp3 player.
Tuesday, 25 January 2011 19:31 | Last Updated on Saturday, 05 February 2011 00:15 | Written by Jordan (Admin) |
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3 Trackbacks (Pingbacks are enabled) After reviewing The Elenco Resistor substitution box, I thought I should mention the Capacitance version. This is the Elenco CS-440 Capacitance substitution box. It cost roughly the same as the resistor model at around $20, and is sold by Robotshop.ca. There are 24 different capacitance selections, 12 in the pF range and 12 in the uF range. The selection is made by means of a 12 position dial and you select between either dial with a two way switch located in the center. There are two 8 " ish leads with alligator clips on the ends to connect the box to your circuit.
Friday, 01 April 2011 13:16 | Last Updated on Friday, 03 June 2011 21:37 | Written by Jordan (Admin) |
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11 Trackbacks (Pingbacks are enabled) May 25/2011 I have been messing about with the AD9833BRMZ a little bit, but I am having trouble finding a good external clock source for it. The problem lies in not having a PCB made and using perf type board. there is just too much interference and noise. I noticed however that spark fun has a similar chip on a breakout board with all of the external components. HERE. It is $34.95 which seems a bit steep, but I may end up buying one to eliminate some of the variables. Or I could jump the gun a bit and design a board that will probably have to be remade anyways. Does anyone know of a cheap PCB service in Canada, or one that ships to Canada cheaply?
May something th/2011 I have received a few parts as of yesterday, but not all are as ordered :(. I did however get the AD9833BRMZ which is in a tiny package, a 10 pin uSOIC. I had no such breakout board on hand, so I just carefully bent the pins out and soldered it to a SSOP board. I have been poring over the datasheet and having a heck of a time getting anything to work here. I switched over to an Arduino for simplicity just to get a "hello world", but even that is failing me. I have however come across this calculator for the AD9833 from Analog Devices(Link). This will come in handy for sure as long as I can get my timings set properly. Also the power is flickering on and off here and the winds are getting a bit crazy, I think its time to go for now :) April 26/2011 Since the parts are on their way, I decided to start getting to work on some coding :). I recently received an NXP Lpcxpresso in the mail (Manual) so I decided to try that out. After a bit of messing around I finally got an LCD screen talking with the board. I doubt that all of the horsepower contained inside the NXP 1114/302 chip will be required, so I may use something cheaper/easier like a good old Atmel. Anyways here is a picture of the working LCD. I'm getting anxious waiting for the parts to arrive, this is ridiculous! I have gotten samples from TI in less than 24 hours, and thats something they are GIVING you, not something you actually pay money for! FYI The display is driven by a Hitachi HD44780 (Click for datasheet). this is a very common LCD driver and can be found on mostly any 16 pin LCD. I am using 4-bit mode instead of 8-bit. Sure it is a bit slower, but for now I think it will be fine and give us some free pins to work with. This is a 16X2 LCD that I had on hand, I am planning on using a 20X4 LCD with the same driver Like this. A green display would be best I think because you do not require the back light and it is easier on the eyes. That is all for today friends, I will be back with goodies soon! (I hope).
Saturday, 26 March 2011 17:28 | Last Updated on Tuesday, 07 June 2011 10:18 | Written by Jordan (Admin) |
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27 Trackbacks (Pingbacks are enabled) This is the trailer for the documentary "State of Electronics" by Karl von Moller. Please have a look at this and share it around, as it would be nice to see it on television one day! Here is the Original link http://vimeo.com/15612312 Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site Dim lights Embed Embed this video on your site
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