Electroics Tek
To the right are some of the projects that I have done and gotten pictures of. There are some projects that I have done, but I can not take pictures of because cameras aren't allowed into my building at work. For those I will just give you a brief write up with a decent description of what it looks like. Eventually I will get some pictures up when we move buildings.
Completed Projects With Out Pictures
LCD Display for Winamp
The securety in my building sepped up and I could no longer bring in my iPod to listen to at work so I loaded all of my music onto one of the computers at my desk so at least I would have something to break up the day with. At first I used iTunes and the keyboard to control the music with the monitor off.
this got to be a pain in the butt for songs that I couldn't figure out or didn't want to turn the monitor on and let the bosses know that I was screwing with the computer. So I started looking for small external displays and found that you could connect an LCD to your computer w/ LCD Smartie and a winamp plug in
available from their site. So I ordered an LCD screen from BG Micro and waited for it to come in. I built the circuit I found on the 'net (Just google "LCD Winamp Paralell" and that should get you a few or go to Overclockers Australlia) which was basically just the screen a 7805 voltage regulator and a paralell port connector.
When I tried to get it to work w/ LCD Smartie It would clear the screen and do nothing (Windows XP here). So I kept screwing with it and nothing. So I decided to hook it up to my Win98 machine and got that working w/ no problems. So I knew the circuit was good and WinXP sucks (big shocker). After messing with it for a day
or two I gave up and quit. Later I decided to plug it in and it suprisingly worked on the first try. I don't know if it is something with this computer or with WinXP but I have to start it up as a Futaba VFD_LCD and change it to a HD44780 LCD to get it to work.
I made the case for it by cutting a parts tub from my tool box in half and using a plastic divider from another toolbox parts tub as a faceplate. They were yellow so I spray painted them black so they would blend in better with the other crap on my desk. I cut a hole in the back of it for the paralell cable and a space for the barrel plug i salvaged from a phone. It looks pretty good and I have to point it out when I am telling someone about it, so it blends in nicely too.
4 Button Remote for Winamp
Since switching to Winamp I needed a better way to control the program with out using the keyboard. After some searching on the interenet I found a very simple 4 button serial remote control for Winamp. The schematic and maybe the plug-in can be found Here.
It took me a while to scrounge up the right connector. I had plenty of males, but no females. So I asked around the building and found one. I made a bracket to mount the buttons in out of a plastic tray divider like I used for the front plate of the LCD screen. I probably have over a hundred of these laying around. I got out the heat gun
and the metal brake I got from Harbor Freight and began to make the bracket. Plastic isn't too hard to work, just get it pretty hot and start bending it. Then hold it in place while burning the crap out of your hands until it cools, kind of like soldering. Except that your burning your self with plastic instead. I drilled the holes for my push buttons that i salvaged from an old display console trackpad
and painted the thing black with 3 or 4 coats. After putting evertyhing together i mounted it under the lip of my desk by the ESD ground strap brackets so it blends in there too. I installed the plug in and configured the program, nothing too bad, but it is really handy to have.
IR Remote Control for Winamp
This last Winamp add-on came out of boredom on a friday afternoon. I had an Alteac Lancing iPod dock in peices in my drawer from drying to fix it for a friend and wondered what I could do with it. It had a small remote with it which I threw away and had to go back and dig it out of the trash later. So I started surfing agian. I found another small schematic and plug in for winamp that would let you use an IR remote. The program will also let you control other things too which is helpful.
I built the circuit on a small hole board using the parts scavanged off of the dock. The only thing that I didn't get from the dock was a 7805 that I took off of an old ISA sound card. I got it working on the first try which amazed me so I started looking for a case to put it in. After some excessive digging I gave up and sat back down at my desk only to notice a MK5 GTI Hot Wheel sitting there just begging me to use it. What else could I do? I got the drill out and quickly dispatched the rivets holding
the case together. After removing the interior I stuffed the board upside down into the car and tried to put the chassis back underneath it. It fit but it was kind of snug so I decided to cut a hole in the windshield to let the IR reciever to stick through for better reception. With the dremil tool and Exacto knife I made short work of the plastic and was ready to put it all back together. I ran the wires out of the rear passengers fender well so they couldnt be seen from the desk and used a zip tie and orangwood stick
to provide the tension to hold the car together until the glue dried.
The car looks pretty slick on the desk. You have to look really hard at it to notice that anything has been done to it. The range on the remote isn't that great so eventually bring in a new remote and reprogram it to work.