Owner: YourITronics URL:http://www.YourITronics.com Join Date: Sun, 09 Sep 2007 16:54:11 -0500 Rating:0 Site Description: my personal blog where you will find new stuff about electronics , IT , DIY , gadgets , hi-tech and Debian tutorials.Schematics , pictures , reviews. Site statistics:Click here
Chinese LED’s are not working as they should 2007-10-22 01:03:04 These days almost every project needs a led or two, projects based mostly on led’s may need more. So what can I do? I go to my local store, or I order from an online store, the parts that I need for the project. The bad thing is that most of the parts are made in China. I don’t have any problem with China. Is the parts that don’t work as they should that worries me. For example the LED’s I used in the earlier project “Changing the Ceiling 5w lamp from a car with 5 white LED’s gave me some trouble. I mounted all led’s correctly on the board but surprise, only 2 of them were working
when I tested the circuit. The other 3 led’s were working backwards, so I had to take the project apart and mount them incorrectly so they can function properly. This is not too pleasant when it happens. So be careful if you’re using made in China parts and your circuits don’t work, you might want to check them.
Read more:Chinese
Serial port infrared receiver 2007-10-27 04:05:42
This project is really easy to build, anyone can try it. After reading this tutorial anyone can build this. You just need the tools and the parts list and you can start building it. I first build this project about 2-3 years ago when I found the schematic on a website I don’t remember which website, and I gave it a try. Surprise, it worked! And it worked fine.
The receiver
it’s very sensitive, you can send signals with a TV remote from 10 m away very easy. You don’t even need to point the remote at the receiver, it’s so sensitive it picks the signal that bounces from objects or walls. And if you think at the cost of this project parts list, it’s really cheap, about $4. You can build this on a board or just connect the parts between them.
There are various modes of assembly of this project: you can build the hole circuit inside the RS232 connector so only the IR sensor comes out, or you can build the circuit inside the connector and attach a wire with the sensor at th Read more:Serial
How to set the mac address from /etc/network/interfaces in Debian 2007-10-27 02:00:40 This is an update to a previous post regarding the change of mac address in Debian
. In the previous tutorial I told you can change it by ifconfig from a root account. Now I’m going to teach you how to set an interface mac address using /etc/network
/interfaces . This is a better way to set your mac address because the mac you set in /etc/network/interfaces will always load when the interfaces are loaded so you don’t have to worry about the mac after reboot for example. Let’s start by looking at my /etc/network/interfaces it looks like this:
#This file describes the network interfaces available on your system
# and how to activate them. For more information, see interfaces(5).
# The loopback network interface
auto lo
iface lo inet loopback
# The primary network interface
auto eth0
iface eth0 inet static
address 1.1.1.2
netmask 255.255.255.0
network 1.1.1.255
broadcast 1.1.1.255
gateway 1.1.1.1
dns-nameservers 1.1.1.1
dns-search .com
hwaddress ether 00:01:04:1
A small review of the currently available small computer’s 2007-10-26 03:51:34 Small computers are always liked by people. The reasons are obvious they are ergonomic, environmental friendly since they only suck up about 4-6w(considering the number of PCs that are left on continuously that could add up to a big environmental - and cost - saving), silently, they have fanless designs and lets not forget cool. The first reason I can come up for buying a small computer its because it is cool, after the cool part I can think at the other advantages.
Lets start by saying a few words about Linutop a small computer that runs from a USB key. Without internal hard drive, linutop is more robust. It offers a completely silent, low-power operation in an extremely small package. It comes with optimized software to access the Web and Digital Contents (Text, Photos, Music & Videos). Its low energy consumption its very low compared to a normal desktop computer, linutop only uses 5W of energy. A pack of Linutop + USB Key 1 GB Linutop
Is priced at $400. Cl Read more:review
, available
TV high range remote control the TV-B-Gone Kit 2007-10-26 03:05:27 A great piece of kit and it comes cheap(only $19.50), you can buy it from www.adafruit.com, here is what they say about it:
“A great piece of kit and it comes cheap(only $19.50), you can buy it from www.adafruit.com, here is what they say about it:
Tired of all those LCD TVs everywhere?
Want a break from advertisements while you’re trying to eat?
Want to zap screens from across the street?
The TV-B-Gone kit is what you need! This ultra-high-power, open source kit version of the popular TV-B-Gone is fun to make and even more fun to use. This version is best used in countries with NTSC: North America & Asia.
This kit comes with all parts necessary. Tools and batteries are not included. This is a very simple kit and great for people who have never soldered anything before.
Power: 2 AA batteries (not included)
Output: 2 narrow-beam and 2 wide-beam IR LEDs
Number of TV power codes: 46
This covers pretty much every TV of the following brands, including the latest fla
Infrared remote control receiver with multiple applications 2007-10-26 02:55:01
It seems that we like remote controlling stuff around the house. So why not control your computer remotely. Many people have turned their Pc’s into multimedia centers replacing their tv, dvd, mp3 player. But a multimedia center without a remote it’s not so good. There are a few commercial alternatives, but they are a bit expensive and are not totally adaptable.
I have build a project like this which I will present in a future post, it’s a much simpler version of an IR receiver
connected to the COM port of your computer and with the help of a plugin trough a software called Girder I successfully control almost anything in my computer. The IR receiver we are talking about now it’s a bit more complicated and more advanced, it uses ATtiny13 microcontroller.
You have the possibility to turn on/off your computer and also control anything you like from your computer. A note to this project is that its only programmed to work with RC5 remote controls. If your rem Read more:Infrared
Alarm clock/timer kit 2007-10-26 02:32:48
This is simple, and the pictures tell you enough. Denkimono.com offers you the possibility to buy a kit of this alarmclock/timer that you can assembly yourself. It is available in 2 modes as a kit or ready assembled. The kit comprises of a PCB and all the necessary components.
The assembled version comprises of a fully populated and tested CPU and display PCB. All that is required is for the two boards to be connected together and mounted on the battery. Printed instructions are provided with both forms of the product. I don’t think they supply you with schematics. That would have been nice to give others the opportunity to build the project themselves. But its their idea and their right to sell it. For full details and ordering click the Link.
Turn your iPod Touch into a 3G iPhone! 2007-10-26 02:09:54
I found this tutorial on www.pyrofersprojects.com, it teaches you how to turn your iPod
Touch (and iPhone
) into a 3.5G iPhone! This is suitable for beginners as it involves no hacking at all of the iPod, and only a simple registry edit on the Windows phone.
What You Need
1) An iPod Touch or an iPhone.
2) A Phone/PDA with Windows Mobile 5 or 6.
3) A SIM card.
4) Download and install the free PHM Registry Editor onto the Windows phone. You can get it from www.phm.lu/Products/PocketPC/RegEdit/
After doing the procedure you don’t have to worry about the PDA, it will stay hidden in your pocket and only act as a mobile access point. This is a nice hack but it has its limitations, you cant really make a voice call with your iPod Touch because it doesn’t have a microphone. You should use a normal phone for that as it’s much more sensible for voice calls.
You can even use the PDA phone in your other pocket if you don’t mind looking like a co
30 Year Continuous Power Laptop Battery 2007-11-01 01:24:38 Using this technology your next laptop could have a continuous power battery that lasts for 30 years without a single recharge thanks to work being funded by the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. The breakthrough betavoltaic power cells are constructed from semiconductors and use radioisotopes as the energy source. As the radioactive material decays it emits beta particles that transform into electric power capable of fueling an electrical device like a laptop for years. Although hearing the expression “betavoltaic batteries” you may think at nuclear energy they are not based on nuclear energy. They neither use fission/fusion or chemical processes to produce energy and so they do not produce any radioactive or hazardous waste.
You can read full article here Link Read more:Laptop
New WiFi camera technology using WiFi memory card 2007-11-01 01:15:31 A former Cisco Systems engineer is behind all these. He was thinking what good are digital cameras if many of the pictures they take remain forgotten on their memory card
s because of complicated ways to upload them to computers. Convinced that users would pay for an easier way to upload their pictures, Koren left Cisco, assembled a team and founded Mountain View, Calif.-based Eye-Fi.
The company raised $5.5 million from Silicon Valley firms Shasta Ventures and Opus Capital and the result is an orange 2-gigabyte memory card embedded with a Wi-Fi chip that allows cameras to automatically and wirelessly upload digital pictures. Priced at $99.99 the wifi memory card is already available on stores like Amazon and Wal-Mart.
Here is a few words about how Eye-Fi works: Camera owners set up their Eye-Fi account online and choose where they’d like to upload photos online and on their desktops. Photos can be sent to 17 photo-sharing and blogging sites, including iPhoto, Flickr, Shutterf Read more:WiFi
Surveyor SRV-1 Blackfin Robot with onboard camera 2007-10-30 05:46:19 This is a full project only for advanced users in electronics. The author provides you with all the details and schematics that you need to build this project. Its pretty cool to, to build your own robot with onboard camera and it has multiple aplication, especially spy applications.
Here is the camera module:
And here is the list of specifications:
500MHz Analog Devices Blackfin BF537 Processor (1000 integer MIPS)
32MB SDRAM, 4MB SPI Flash
JTAG (tested with section5 ICEbear USB-JTAG)
SPI Flash and UART boot mode select
External I/O Header (32-pin - 16 x 2 x 0.1″)
Omnivision OV9655 1.3 Megapixel Sensor
Radio Module
Motor Control Module
Visit project’s page Link to read detailed specifications and download all the schematics and files that you need to build the robot. Read more:Robot
Transform your new iPhone into old school iPhone 2007-10-30 05:34:56 Some of us get nostalgic, and they remember the good old days when apple’s logo was a rainbow apple. So if you like the idea of an old school iPhone
you should check this tutorial at geektechnique to turn your new iPhone into an old school iPhone.
Read more:Transform
DIY clock using a fan and a LED 2007-10-30 05:25:28 This is a really coool project from spritesmods.com they had the idea of creating a clock in such a way: make a red, a green and a blue ‘hand’ and by lighting up the three dies of an RGB-led, you can control exactly at what angle the image of every hand shows up. Apart from the hands, the fan itself doesn’t need to be modified: the led, in conjunction with a microcontroller, does all the work.
This is the fan itself. I glued three pieces of paper to it and used a felt tipped pen to colour them in: red for the hour hand, green for the minute hand and blue for the second hand. Eventually, I remove the blue piece: it wasn’t colored in completely OK and the green piece reflected enough blue to give an indication of where the hand indicating the seconds is. Btw: The angle you put the hands in isn’t inportant: the software can compensate for any decision you make when you initialize the hardware.
The software mainly works by using three inte
Forwarding a specific port in Debian 2007-10-29 09:00:40 I’m writing this tutorial to help other that may have the same problem I had. Let me explain to you: I have a Debian
server called debian1 which has external ip 1.1.1.1 on eth0 and a local ip 192.168.1.1 on eth0:1, and a second Debian server called debian2 which only has 192.168.1.2 local ip on eth0. I need to access debian2 with ssh from the internet. I cant do that directly because debian2 does not have an external ip address to connect to the internet. But we can use a port forwarding rule on debian1 so that I can access debian2 trough debian1 on a specific port. The only command you have to use is:
iptables -A PREROUTING -t nat -p tcp -i eth0 –dport 88 -j DNAT –to 192.168.1.2:22
after entering this command debian1 will forward any request on port 88 from eth0 to 192.168.1.2 on port 22. Now all I have to do is to enter 1.1.1.1 port 88 in putty and I can log-in to debian2 trough ssh. That’s it short and simple about port forwarding. Read more:Forwarding
$199 Linux Computer available at Wal-Mart 2007-11-02 03:13:03 Due to the holiday season up next the linux OS will get a great chance to become more popular than it is at Wal-Mart Stores. They were taking orders online Wednesday for a computer called the “Green gPC” that is made by Everex of Taiwan, costs $199 and runs Linux
.
It will be available
in about 600 stores, as well as online, Wal-Mart said. A comparable Everex PC preinstalled with Windows Vista Home Basic and more memory costs $298 partly because the manufacturer has to pay Microsoft Corp. for a software license, so I think people will like the new computer and discover the goods of linux.
Both computers come with keyboard, mouse, and speakers, but without a monitor. As you already may know Linux is developed and offered on a open-source basis by individuals and companies around the world.
It’s being used especially on servers because of its high stability on long term use. The variant of Linux on the gPC is called gOS and is derived from the popular Ubuntu varia Read more:Computer
SNMP not in use error in Cacti 2007-11-09 03:09:07 A few days ago i installed cacti on a Debian Etch with snmp. After i configured snmp i noticed that when i clicked the host under Devices menu the host settings windows opens and it shows an error
saying “SNMP not in use”. Maybe some of you got his error and you need help in resolving it. Here is how its done: Notice the “SNMP Community” box ? is it empty ? mine was and that is the problem, fill in the community you filled under snmpd.conf and press Save. Now Click your host again and it should work just fine.
And in the second pictures its working fine after entering the community:
Read more:Cacti
Tv remote jammer 2007-11-07 23:20:44
If you are planning to disturb your friends this is the way you should do it, because you will get immediate results. You can build this project with a few cheap parts. The tutorial is released by the guys from Instructables. Here is what they say about it:
How does it work ?
This is a pretty simple concept. When you press a button on a remote control for a TV, stereo or other IR device, it creates a series of pulses which the receiver in the target device; in this example, a TV, decodes into the corresponding function. This frequency is around 35-40kHz. To confuse the receiver, this jammer sends out a steady stream of binary code (1’s an 0’s) at the same frequency, but contains no information to decode. The receiver basically sits there and does not respond at all and the real information cannot get through to it as long as the jammer is on. Voila! You’ve ‘jammed’ your TV remote
Here is the link to the tutorial page Link.
Some info about home made laser’s 2007-11-07 23:00:52 A laser is an optical device that produces coherent radiation. The term “laser” is an acronym: Light Amplification by Stimulated Emission of Radiation. A typical laser emits light in a narrow, low-divergence beam and with a well-defined wavelength. I’m not going to get to messy with the theory.
Everyone must of seen a laser pointer so you know how it looks and what it can do. It’s a fact that ordinary laser pointers can’t burn anything. There are a few commercial lasers that will burn various stuff but those are to expensive, we are looking a cheaper way to burn stuff with a laser. Some people managed to build this kind of lasers. At your own risk you can follow their instructions, but be careful laser’s are dangerous!
Almost all of the laser’s from the following movies are based on this tutorial Link.
Rainbow LED Chaser 2007-11-07 04:01:44 A nice project from justDIY Project Log, as the author is saying he created this project one day when he was boring and needed something “to ease his racing brain …” not many people can create something this nice when they are bored. Led projects like this are always fun to build and to watch them working. I recommend this project to everyone who has a bit of experience with microcontrollers. You can get full info, schematics and source code for this project from here Link
Watch this circuit in action:
Read more:Rainbow
How to use a heat gun to de-solder parts 2007-11-07 03:49:45 Here is a great tutorial on how to use a heat gun to recover parts from various boards. You never know when you will need just a small part to finish up a project and you cant find it. Its better to have these parts available when you need them.
You can recycle your obsolete electronic gadgets and learn about how these products are made at the same time. Useful parts to scrounge include surface mount and through hole components, microcontrollers, LCDs, connectors, digital and analog ICs, transistors, LEDs etc
Full tutorial here: Link
The Pen Phone Concept 2007-11-12 04:53:57 Yes I know, its one gadget that everyone will want to have, its like a new iphone concept, unfortunately this phone wont be available to soon on the store shelves because its only a concept. However, Gizmodo informs us that the Pen Phone concept will be developed by an anonymous manufacturer.
The phone uses Bluetooth ear buds for voice calls. It features a little display, the dialing numbers, a microSD card slot and seems to support USB connection. The project looks very promising and I bet they will hit some high numbers when they put this gadget on sale. Read more:Concept
Samsung Prepares the 128 GB Flash Memory Card 2007-11-12 04:51:46 This news got my attention because I am a fan of flash memory and I’ve been waiting for some time a big capacity flash memory that can replace the Hard Drive from a computer. I don’t know if this memory could replace a Hard Drive but is definitely a big step forward. Samsung
announced an advanced process to pack the maximum of 16 of the multi level cells just 30 nanometers. That means they are able to deliver 64 gigabits of flash memory onto one chip.
The process was called self-aligned double patterning technology (SaDPT). By using the process described above, Samsung can produce 128 GB NAND memory card. Consequently, the price for memory cards will drop, which is a good thing for the consumers. Also, the high storage cards could replace the traditional hard disks being more efficient. But we have to wait till the technology will be released, maybe in 2009. Read more:Flash
, Memory
, Flash Memory
Build a Blu Ray Phaser 2007-11-20 03:08:54 Very original idea , and i think i don’t need to say any more how cool is this blue-ray laser which is much powerful than ordinary lasers. I like lasers, but i’m trying to keep costs low when building projects, and this one is a bit expensive, however if like this you can try build it, i am sure it will be nice.
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video Read more:Build
Change the message on HP printers 2007-11-19 07:15:46 Is you hp printer getting old and boring ? Here is a great tutorial on how to make your hp printer cool again. At the end of this tutorial you get the same old HP printer (that you should trow away and buy a new one like every normal people) but with a new personalized message. Cool
Link to tutorial Read more:Change
, printers
Increase your wireless signal strength using a soda can 2007-11-25 15:30:03 This is my first movie on diy stuff. Movies are a much better way to teach people on doing stuff because they can see the details and watch the steps in the movie much easier than reading some boring text. In this first movie i am teaching you how to increase your wireless signalstrength
using just a soda can. Here is how it works: the shape of the can and the materials that is made from concentrate the signal and this is how you get an increased signal. Good luck building it.
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
VMUSIC Module - easily add USB Flash Drive interface 2007-11-23 03:24:43 VMUSIC is a product that not only lets you add USB Flash
drive interfacing to your product but allows you to play back MP3 and other popular digital music formats direct from a USB Flash drive. Extensions to the VDAP command set allow you to play a selected file as well as control the volume, balance, etc. of the sound channel and monitor the status of the file being played. VMUSIC is ideal for adding MP3 playback from USB drive capability to home entertainment and in-car audio systems, as well as other appliances requiring audio playback capability from USB Flash drives.
Vmusic features include :
One USB “A” socket to connect to USB Flash drive
Audio line-out connector for audio playback
Stereo 3.5mm headphone jack socket and audio line-out connector for audio playback
Single 5V supply input
Program or update firmware via USB Flash disk or via UART interface
Link to product page. Read more:Module
BLUI: Blowable user interface 2007-11-22 03:21:18 We have to ask ourselves , is this the future in user interfaces ? maybe yes. Students at Georgia Tech have created an audio analysis program that lets you blow at your computer as a way to control it. It only uses one microphone, and after a quick calibration, it’s ready to go.
This is a way to support blowing at a laptop or computer screen to directly control certain interactive applications. Localization estimates are produced in real-time to determine where on the screen the person is blowing. You can do this by using a single microphone, such as those that are already embedded in a standard laptop or one placed near a computer monitor by using audio fingerprinting.
Link to research paper on BLUI.
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
iPod Mini drive upgrading from 4 GB to 5 GB 2007-11-21 03:16:23 Yet another great instuctable , this one about upgrading the drive
from an iPod
Mini, feel free to try this one if you think the 4 gigs are not enough for your needs, or ofcourse you can just buy a new iPod a better one with more drive space :). Link
Read more:iPod Mini
How to : LASER activated paintball gun 2007-12-04 04:00:34 Team Cynergy presents this article with step by step instructions on how to program an electronics kit to use a laser as motion detector and fire a gun with the sensor is triggered. The paintball gun can cause serious injuries if not used correctly. So be careful how you use this project if you decide to build it, don’t start making bad jokes on your friends because someone could get hurt. Good lock with the project.
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video
Google OS screenshots or just a big joke 2007-12-03 13:04:58 I got these pictures from a chineese website. They say that these pictures represent screenshots from google os which i find kind of hard to believe. First of all Google
is a big company and i think they don’t alow information leeks like this one. If they want to show us pictures or screenshots of the Google OS i am sure we will be hearing this from them, and not from some chinese website. And second, the pictures don’t look good at all, i dont think that Google will make such a bad looking OS. I am sure Google OS will look better than this, and i cant wait for it to be released. Here is the pictures below, tell me what you think about them
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