Run Away Brainz

Pro Gamer Johnathan Wendel AKA "Fatal1ty" Interview 2012

2012-02-21T14:05:00.002Z

My friend and fellow gamer Richard Elliott who is a free lance journalist over at thegamingcyclist has just posted a great interview with Johnathan Wendel AKA "Fatal1ty" one of the Pro-Gaming legends of FPS (first person shooters) .

Rich finds out that Johnathan's current poison of choice happens to be Battlefield 3 Take a look here

A Hardware Sponsor's dream

Audio: Universal Input Selector / A-B comparison PCB

2012-02-20T12:58:00.002Z

When modifying/building audio gear its pretty handy to be able to check between either two inputs or two outputs.

Doing this quickly is the key before you forget what the other sounded like compared to the previous test.
So I decided to build a quick and dirty passive universal A To B test switch PCB......................

The Schematic

The PCB Layout (The Capacitors are optional)

It is universal in the fact its bi-directional and takes either phono (RCA) or Jack.This comes in handy when testing audio at line level or output level in the case of headphones.There are provisions for input/output capacitors which comes in handy when testing audio differences between using input capacitors and when none are used.

Various scenarios and test uses:

1) Switching between 2 inputs such as iPod and PC

2) 2 different sources (eg comparing 2 different headphone amplifiers) with a single pair of headphones

3) Switching compare between 2 different types of headphones quickly for audio differences

4) Input capacitor testing (one type versus another of one type verses none)

5) More stuff than I can think off at the moment :)

Eagle files inc PDFs are available in the files section

The Switch used is a DPDT (Dual Pole Dual Throw) ON-ON configuration meaning it swaps "ON" state between one side and the other switching 2 contacts at once (Left&Right channels).

As the switch is only dual pole the ground is not broken during switching a better choice would have been a rotary 3 pole (Switches Left,Right & Ground outputs) 2 conductor ( 2 different sources/inputs) make before break multiway selector switch but I did not have one in my parts bin.

I think it turned out well for what it is and its a pretty useful tool to have lying around in the lab.

runawaybrainz new members of staff Mr Fluke 175 , Mr Panasonic HX-DC1 and a PA

2012-01-27T13:48:00.005Z

Mr Fluke 175

Job Title: Assistant Technical Director

Certified Professional

Recruited via: Ebay

Head huntered for £67 (RRP £250)

Curriculum vitae

Specifications

Voltage DC

175 - Accuracy*	± (0.15%+2)
177 - Accuracy*	± (0.09%+2)
179 - Accuracy*	± (0.09%+2)
Max. Resolution	0.1 mV
Maximum	1000 V

Voltage AC

Accuracy*	± (1.0%+3)
Max. Resolution	0.1 mV
Maximum	1000 V

Current DC

Accuracy*	± (1.0%+3)
Max. Resolution	0.01 mA
Maximum	10 A

Current AC

Accuracy*	± (1.5%+3)
Max. Resolution	0.01 mA
Maximum	10 A

Resistance

Accuracy*	± (0.9%+1)
Max. Resolution	0.1 Ω
Maximum	50 MΩ

Capacitance

Accuracy*	± (1.2%+2)
Max. Resolution	1 nF
Maximum	10,000 µF

Frequency

Accuracy*	± (0.1%+1)
Max. Resolution	0.01 Hz
Maximum	100 kHz

Temperature

179 - Accuracy*	± (1.0%+10)
Max. Resolution	0.1°C
Range	-40°C/400°C

After months of watching auctions for the Legendary Fluke 87 IV (version 5's) on eBay as I didn't fancy paying the full price (around £300) I thought i would look at some of the other ranges of Flukes.The Fluke 85 has been going for quite some time now but that doesn't seem to affect its timeless design it has the same look and feel as the first series of the 85 but version "IV" has one feature I really wanted which is high capacitance testing right up to 10,000 uf .The problem with this model is that it is in great demand and retains a high second hand value.

After a while I decided to look down the range a bit and indeed the Fluke 83 and 85 version 5's also have 10,000 uf testing but these also demand a high second hand premium.Then I looked at the 170 Series these seemed to hit the bill perfectly for me and I managed win the auction with this one from eBay for a paltry £67 with leads and a case in as new condition with the screen protector still on !.

After resurrecting many things over the years due to blown capacitors I find it rather satisfying to bring something back to life with a £0.50 part.One problem has arisen on many occasions and that is many meters will only test a small amount of capacitance and unless there is a visible way to determine the state of the suspect capacitor you can not move on easily with the larger value Capacitors.

One visible way to check a capacitor is to look for a subtle or not so subtle bulge on the top or a leak at the base.

Out of interest if you are new to electronics or looking for a new multimeter I cant recommend watching Dave Jones reviews enough even if its just for the comical value of his "say it how it is nature".

Some may think that Dave's reviews are picky and a bit anal but if you have used things like Multimeter's for any length of time all these little annoyances do surface often.

EEVblog - Digital Multimeter Buying Guide for Beginners

EEVblog - $50 Multimeter Shootout

EEVblog - $100 Multimeter Shootout Part 1

EEVblog - $100 Multimeter Shootout Part 2

Mr Panasonic HX-DC1

Job Title: Assistant Director of Media

Recruited via: Woolworths

Head huntered for £99 (RRP £159)

Curriculum vitae

GENERAL
Power Supply	DC3.7V (Battery) / 5.0V (USB)
Dimension (W x H x D)	approx. 86.2 x 120.8 x 38.1mm (3.40 x 4.76 x 1.50inch)
Power Consumption	2.9W (Recording) / 3.1W (Charging)

Weight
Without Battery and SD Card	approx. 163g (0.360lb)
With Battery and SD Card	approx. 181g (0.399lb)

SENSOR SECTION
Image Sensor	1/2.33" CMOS Sensor
Total Pixels	14.4 Megapixels
Effective Pixels
Motion Image	11.9 Megapixels [16:9] / 14.3 Megapixels [4:3]
Still Image	11.9 Megapixels [16:9] / 14.3 Megapixels [4:3]

LENS SECTION
F Value	F3.5(WIDE), F3.7(TELE)
Optical Zoom	5x
Focal Length	6.8 - 34.0mm
35mm Film camera Equivalent
Motion Image	(W-Range Zoom W mode) 40.1- 240.6mm [16:9], 39.2- 235.2mm [4:3] / (W-Range Zoom T mode) 82.4- 494.4mm [16:9], 80.9- 485.4mm [4:3]
Still Picture	39.9 - 199.5mm [16:9], 38.6 - 193.0mm [4:3]

CAMERA SECTION
Image Stabilizer	E.I.S. [Electorical Image Stabilizer]
Focus	Auto/Manual
White Balance	Auto/ Manual (Sunny, Cloudy, Incandescent, Whiteset)
Standard Illumination	1400 lx
Iris	Auto
Minimum Illumination	17lx (Scene mode off: 1/30), 5lx (Low Light Mode: 1/15)
Zoom
Optical Zoom	5x
Advanced Zoom / W-Range Zoom (Only for Motion Image)	W-Range Zoom 12x
Digital Zoom	60x [Motion Image] , 50x [Still Image]
Shutter Speed
Motion Image	1/30 - 1/10000 / (Low Light Mode: 1/15 - 1/10000)
Still Image	1/2 - 1/1500

MONITOR
Monitor (LCD)	7.5cm (3.0") Wide LCD ( 230,400 dots)

STILL IMAGE SECTION
Recording Format	JPEG(DCF/Exif2.2)
Recording Image Size
Still Picture	[4:3] / 14 megapixels-H (4352 x 3264), 14 megapixels-S (4352 x 3264) / 2 megapixels (1600 x 1200),0.3 megapixels (640 x 480) / [16:9] / 10 megapixels (4352 x 2448) / 2 megapixels (1920 x 1080), 0.9 megapixels (1280 x 720)
Simultaneous Recording	[16:9] 2.1 megapixels, (1920 x 1080) / 0.9 megapixels,(1080 x 720) / [4:3] 0.3 megapixels, (640 x 480)
Creating still picture from motion picture	Yes
Flash	Yes

RECORDING SECTION
Signal System	1080/60i* 、1080/30p* 、 720/60p* 、720/30p* 、 480/30p* 、540/30p*
Recording Format	MPEG-4 AVC/H.264
Recording / Playback Mode	1080/ 60i* , (1920 x 1080) / 1080/ 30p* , (1920 x 1080) / 720/ 60p* , (1280 x 720) / 720/ 30p* , (1280 x 720) / 480/ 30p* , (640 x 480) / 540/ 30p* , (960 x 540)
Audio Recording System	AAC (2ch)
Microphone	2ch stereo
Speaker	Dynamic type
Media Remaining Indication	yes
Media (Motion/ Still Image)	SD/SDHC/SDXC Memory Card

This is my first video camera purchase but one of the other features really got me interested in this camera .The 1080p recording but the other was the macro capability of the stills 14mp camera It will focus right down to the point where the lens touches the subject !.

Watching Chris's videos really helped my impulse purchase :)

Panasonic HX-DC1 Final Thoughts

Heres some impressive video

Panasonic HX-DC1 TEST - Best Pocket Camcorder 2012

Mr Flight Case

Job Title: Personnel Assistant

Recruited via: Maplins

Head huntered for £29 (RRP £50)

Curriculum vitae

Top opening lid with flip-down clasps
Two robust smooth slide-out drawers that are locked in place when the top lid is closed to avoid spillages
Ideal for tools storage, service engineers, crafts and hobbies
Convenient carry handle
Four rubber feet for stability
Corner edge protectors
External dimensions: 410 (W) x 302 (D) x 285 (H)mm
Internal dimensions (top section): 395 (W) x 272 (D) x 90 (H)mm
Internal dimensions (drawers): 326 (W) x 250 (D) x 51 (H)mm
Weight: 6.3kg

Hack: Reverse engineer and re purpose an old Keyboard "The Matrix Reloaded"

2012-01-08T15:08:00.000Z

Updated 10/1/2012
(see the bottom of the article)

A keyboard has its own processor and circuitry that gets the information from momentry switches (The keys) the large part of this circuit is called a matrix.This is what we will be reverse engineering as it were.

I have a couple of projects which require a custom keyboard one of them being a MACH3 control box for my CNC project or maybe a MAME controller.

There are a few ways to emulate a keyboard for such a project one of them being a Pokeys.

Mach3 Control box

Another way would be using a PIC or an AVR micro controller but its a bit of a learning curve.So here we have a quick and dirty guide to making your own at a minuscule cost.

Keyboards these days can be bought for as little as £5 or just use a donor, PS2 or USB they use the same principal.

The Victim..............This particular donor keyboard has multimedia control which would come in handy for quite a few things.

Heres the bit that we are after !

Now mark the pins on the board and the top/bottom connectors if not already marked.Different keyboards will use different connectors but the bottom and top layers will always be separate in some way.

Here we have an 18 pin top layer connector on the left and the 8 pin bottom layer connector on the right.

Each one of the lines on the ribbon cable represents a non returning circuit.The Micro controller on the PCB detect which key has been press by a combination of these pins just like coordinates as an example the number 9 equals a short between top layer pin 12 and bottom layer pin 8 or 12,8 as you will be writing all these combinations down as you go.

Here you can see 3 layers,the top an insulating layer plus the bottom layer.

To start testing bottom layer you will need a multimeter on the continuity mode depending on the sensitivity of the multimeter and due to the length of tracks there can be quite a bit of resistance so even though you meter is set on beep in actual fact you may just have to look at the screen for a change in resistance.

As you get continuity between the bottom layer and the PCB connector using a marker write the pin number on the bottom layer for each circuit as shown below.

Before you start testing top layer for continuity I found it useful to write the actual key names onto the layer film.You may only need a few keys for you project such as the CONTROL,ALT and DEL comical dig at windows keyboard this will make the process alot quicker as you can cherry pick only the keys you will need.

Testing the Top layer

I initially thought testing the top layer for continuity would be a pain as it has more than twice the amount of connector pins, but actually it was far easier, due to the fact many keys are grouped together closely and was easily visible as they shared the same circuit .

Mark the corresponding top layer pins and keys.

Below we can see an example ,the blue circle shows this track belongs to pin 15 on the top layer connector,the red shows the key name "4" and the yellow shows all the keys on the photo that share that circuit.

Here we can see pin 13 with the key name "i" and the pin 1 below on the bottom layer this would make 13,1 on the connectors.

So shorting these two pins on both connectors give us the letter "i" and so on .

All this marking makes it a lot easier to see corresponding pins through both layers.

Here's another example showing the key name "F5", top pin 3 and bottom pin 8 that gives us ?

3,8 !

Now you can write down the pins as you go much more quickly

When you are sure that you have the correct pin number configurations you can remove the PCB.

The black blob is actually the micro controller for the keyboard buried in epoxy ,on the whole its a pretty poorly soldered PCB shame on you Labtec!

Ready for a the transplant to a new home!

Here I removed the PCB connectors and used an old floppy drive cable to interface to the PCB.The older floppy/CD IDE cables (ATA33 spec) are the best for this as newer DVD drive IDE cables use two thinner wires for each one connection.

When dealing with a lot of small gauge wiring hot glue is your best friend ,it will stop any wire breakage due to movement.

Only use the hot glue when you are sure everything is wired correctly!

Using the wiring connection chart which we made earlier open notepad in windows then and using a bit of wire to prod into the relevant holes on the IDE plug watch the screen to see if the correct character appears.

Making a break out board (BOB) to interface with the outside world.

Vero board or strip board is the obvious choice here as we need to a lot of possible connections, it also allows us about every selection that was available on the old keyboard when using an IDE socket salvaged from an dead motherboard.

Unlike keyboard emulators such as the Pokeys there is no common ground as such ,but there are commons on both side of the layers .Multiple keys will share the same pin number on either layers and these can be chained together to save on addition wiring.

Example:

The Cursor Keys (Direction arrows)

Left number = Top Layer

Right number = Bottom layer

UP Arrow = 11,4

Down Arrow = 8,6

Left Arrow = 11,6

Right Arrow = 9,6

Any key sharing the same number on the same layer can be connected together these can be called common connections its just you have groups of commons instead of just one universal.So using the example above the bottom layer of the Down,Left and Right Arrows can share the same wire (pin 6) and visa versa 2 a share the same number (Pin 11) 8,9,4 would need a separate wire.

The Paper silkscreen will help with connecting momentary switches to the breakout board as it shows all the pin numbers.

Now its ready for any project requiring a custom keyboard.

UPDATE

Although the article was never aimed squarely at MAME controllers and after the article was published on Hackaday there was a lot of criticism regarding the suitability of using this method with Games that use multiply key presses at once .Some keyboard fair better than others, the ZBoard which is aimed squarely at gamers can handle 7 simultaneous key strokes at once.

I embedded a test keyboard for those that would like to test their keyboards suitability before hacking it to find different combinations of keys that would allow the most number of keystrokes at one time and show any signs of ghosting of keys .Some combinations will work better than others.

For a lot of the arcade classics you shouldn't see any problems but for complex fighting games etc. a specific MAME encoder would be more suitable.

Bear in mind when using the diagonal corners of an 8 way joystick you are actually holding 2 keys at once.

Click on the below keyboard then start typing to test combinations

I did a quick one minute test and was easily able to find a combination of 7 Keys (CTRL,Z,X,C,U,B,SHIFT) I could hold down at once with an Apple USB keyboard (on a PC) .I also did another test on a PS2 keyboard I had and was able to press a combination of 8 keys at once.

After these tests it made me think, if you needed more key presses at once just use two hacked keyboards as Windows lets you use multiply keyboards.I then tried both keyboards together and indeed found using the on-screen test keyboard that all the keys for both keyboard combinations worked at once.

After doing this hack I am pretty confident I could have a second one running in a few hours or even less if they were the same type/model.

I must be cheap as I have better things and projects to spend the $50+ TAX,Shipping on for a MAME encoder such as the I-Pac when I have the parts around ,plus you learn a few things on the way :) .One thing I have learnt from prototypes is to build the first one really cheap and then if it works great but if it doesn't work out spend the money on the next project. Or in different sentence you might say I work ASS BACKWARDS sometimes.

Please note when doing these tests you may have to turn off windows sticky keys if it should pop up with a warning.

I ran out of fingers so ask a friend to lend some a hand :)

The end of 2011,Start of 2012

2012-01-01T18:17:00.000Z

Another year and another year of "her indoors" watching "Big Brother" , time for more projects I think!

I hope I have spurred on a few do it yourself's old and new in the few months since September.....

Since I started the blog to archive some of my projects I have been greatly cheered on by the responses I have had from around the web to mention a few....

Make
Hackaday
Build Lounge
Home Built Hi-Fi

Strangely I even got linked from the Wall Street Journal on-line tech section of the for my Gridrunner tool

Wall Street Journal

By far the most popular article was How to bend aluminium the easy way with a home made brake

Thanks for all the comments and all the best for 2012 !

Rupert

Electronics: Potentiometer Shaft Jig.... a nice tight knob! :)

2011-12-28T02:00:00.000Z

What to do when you have 10 potentiometer shafts to make flat and keep the reference point/key the same on all of them with a nice tight knob? :)

Sometimes due to availability and price you have to modify something .In this case i just couldn't get 10 potentiometers with the required length and flat side from the supplier, so i had to settle for round shafts that were too long.

It can be alot easier to sort of automate the process and worthwhile to make a jig.You can see the end profile here all i did was make a square block of wood then using a pillar drill bored a 6mm hole down the centre.

The block was then cut just over the halfway mark longways then you end up with a nice slot to hold the shaft in the correct position and height.

Adding a metal plate allowed me to adjust where i wanted to limit the flat on the shaft also holding the shaft in the correct orientation!

And what you end up with is 10 perfect flats with the same reference point when the knob is turned from one end to the other .

The Christmas bauble for GEEKS !

2011-12-16T12:12:00.000Z

While decorating the Christmas tree Kirsty mentioned getting some more decorations for the tree.

" I have something with all the festive colours my air wired headphone amplifier project!"

You can see the actual project links for the headphone amplifier below

Mystery Project

Mystery Project Update 1

Mystery Project Update 2 "The Time Vampire"

Merry Christmas...

"Hit me baby one more time !"

2011-12-14T18:00:00.000Z

WOW !

Initially I had the idea of starting this blog as a way of archiving some of my projects, I never thought it would reach 20,000+ hits .

Mystery Project update 2 "The Time Vampire"

2011-12-14T16:30:00.000Z

"ta da" another Headphone Amplifier/Pre-amp it took way too much time to make.

If you have been following the previous posts what you have been looking at is.... as someone posted in the comments section and i quote..

" A double-ended power supply that takes a single-ended input and splits it with a voltage divider. The space on the right could be for some op-amp circuit that requires +/GND/- instead of just +/GND."

What this basically means is the power input for the Burr Brown OPA2107 Operational amplifier or Op-Amp needs -Volts and +Volts the T shaped wire which runs down the middle is the ground or in this case a "virtual ground" produced by the voltage divider it never comes into direct contact with the main power ground incoming from the power jack.

To create the power buses I used solid core 1.10mm wire taken from mains twin and earth cable used for the internal house wiring.

Here's the Schematic for the Amp it follows the classic Cmoy design.You can find more info here

The two 4.7k resistors near the back are the voltage dividers,the supply to the power jack in this case is 12VDC is then halved by the voltage divider producing -6v and +6v on both of the outer copper wires or you could call then buses.

The +V for the LED is fed straight out of the back of the power jack and uses the -6v copper wire for Ground through a 1k Resistor ,as this all comes before the voltage divider as far as the LED is concerned -6v is normal ground.

The two large silver Nover 470uf 40v capacitors are for the power supply rails followed by the two red bi-pass capacitors for Op-Amp stability just in case of any oscillation which strictly speaking should be attach as close to the Op-Amp legs as possible .Having said that i haven't had any stability issues with this IC in other Cmoys i have made.

Now to start adding the Resistors

Here you can see the the Turquoise Resistor legs (R4) sticking out from the top of the Op-Amp IC this is where they loop round from the output to where R5 should be on the Schematic.R5 is optional and i never install it but it still needs to be connected to the output with or with out the resistor this also cuts down on additional wires.The turquoise resistor (R4) sets the gain along with R3.

you can see the loops better in this picture

The bottom 4 Leads can now be connected to the virtual ground

Time to add the Input caps these stop any DC voltage (Direct Current) entering the amplifier from the source (iPod ETC) through the input jack socket as this would also be amplified by a factor of the gain. Audio signals work on AC (Alternating Current).The gain is set quite lower as the input source in this case the PC has high output and there will be no volume potentiometer to physically adjust volume.

The legs from the turquoise resistors are bent to form the output connection which will be hooked up to the headphone jack socket.

To hook up the Input and headphone jacks I used enamelled wire from an old transformer to give a consistent look but it also has a good amount of insulation against shorts.

Tested ,working and sounding great!

After you consider how much I had to handle this thing to construct it and wore nothing to counteract static there was always an outside chance it wouldn't work.
Looks like these Op-Amps are pretty robust.

Next for the fun stuff !

TO BE CONTINUED.......................

Mystery Project

Mystery Project Update 1

Run Away Brainz

Pro Gamer Johnathan Wendel AKA "Fatal1ty" Interview 2012

Audio: Universal Input Selector / A-B comparison PCB

runawaybrainz new members of staff Mr Fluke 175 , Mr Panasonic HX-DC1 and a PA

GENERAL

SENSOR SECTION

LENS SECTION

CAMERA SECTION

MONITOR