Monday, October 6, 2014

5.8GHz Antenna Investigation - Any idea what type of Antenna this is?

5.8GHz Cordless Phone Base

Label:
Circuit Board:
Antenna connections:
RF circuit (shield removed)
Antenna traces connection to white component then capacitor.
Antenna 0:
Antenna 0 opened:










Saturday, September 6, 2014

How to make a Color Detector

 Schematic: (Fritzing file and Arduino sketch can be downloaded below)

Fritzing File - Color Detector

Arduino Sketch - Color Detector

Video describing the Color Detector's operation and build parameters:




Thursday, May 22, 2014

Wednesday, May 14, 2014

Electroplating Steel Sword with Aluminum

Sanded Blade with 100 grid sand paper.



















Cleaned Blade with Muriatic Acid.


















Dissolved Aluminum into Muriatic Acid.

















Applied Aluminum/ Muriatic Acid to blade with 5 volts (Steel blade = 0 volts ; Al/ Muriatic Acid = 5 volts)


















Result: Blade partially plated with Aluminum.

Sunday, April 27, 2014

Tree of Knowledge - Go Robotics

Tree of Knowledge - Go Robotics
How to wire robots.

As the instructions were pretty bad, I decided to make my own wiring guide.
(hope it helps)






Monday, February 10, 2014

Switching to Linux Log - Mint: Peripheral Testing


Peripheral Status
Keyboard: Dell SK-8115 Fully Functional
Mouse: Logitech LX8 Fully Functional
Monitor 1: Asus VW246 Fully Functional
Monitor 2: Acer X223W Fully Functional


- Scanner: Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB 2400 Pro (Requires Drivers, will investigate further)



- Camera: Logitech HD Webcam C615 (Fully Functional)





Sunday, February 9, 2014

Switching to Linux Log - Mint: Hardware Testing

Hardware Information:
- CPU: Phenom II x4 3.2GHz (4 cores detected)
- Motherboard: M4A97T Deluxe (Preforming adequately) 
- RAM: 8 GB (All RAM present and usable)

- GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5850 (Driver located [catalyst may need to be installed])

- HDD: 1TB (Present and Functional)




Switching to Linux Log - Linux Mint 15

Downloaded a live ISO  of Linux Mint 15 using UNetbootin
http://hivelocity.dl.sourceforge.net/project/unetbootin/UNetbootin/585/unetbootin-windows-585.exe


























Restarted computer and booted from USB.

Selected to Try Linux Mint




And was very impressed with the interface.



Switching to Linux Log - PCLinuxOS install

PCLinuxOS install (attempt)
- Created a bootable USB
- Restarted Computer and changed boot device priority


- Booted from USB

- After load bar completed, nothing changed

- After 30 minutes attempted "num-lock" keyboard light did not turn on
- Then attempted "escape", "alt+ctrl+F1", "alt+ctrl+delete" none of which caused any change.
- Preformed Hard Reset and booted to Windows.
- Will attempt Downloading Live-CD on PCLinuxOS

Saturday, February 8, 2014

Switching to Linux Log - Distributions

Distributions To Try: (Similar desktops to Windows)
- Linux Mint 16 Cinnamon
http://mirror.jmu.edu/pub/linuxmint/images/stable/16/linuxmint-16-cinnamon-dvd-64bit.iso
- PCLinuxOS 2013 KDE
http://spout.ussg.indiana.edu/linux/pclinuxos/pclinuxos/live-cd/pclinuxos64-kde-fullmonty-2013.12.iso
- Debian 7.3 Gnome
http://debian.cites.illinois.edu/pub/debian-cd/current-live/i386/iso-hybrid/debian-live-7.2-i386-gnome-desktop.iso
- Arch 2014
http://mirrors.aggregate.org/archlinux/iso/2014.02.01/archlinux-2014.02.01-dual.iso
- openSUSE 13.01
http://mirror.clarkson.edu/opensuse/distribution/13.1/iso/openSUSE-13.1-DVD-x86_64.iso

Switching to Linux Log - Software

Software Required:
- Schematic and PCB software (EAGLE Cadsoft)
- AVR Microcontroller Programming IDE (Atmel Studio 6)
- Video Editing Software (Movie Maker)
- Audio Editing Software (Audacity)
- Image Editing Software (GIMP 2.6)
- Web Browser (Firefox)
- Email Client (Thunderbird)
- Music Player (Winamp)
- Video Player (Winamp)
- HTML/PHP Editor (Textpad)
- Netflix Player (Silverlight)
- Office Software (OpenOffice)
- VNC Server/Client (Tight VNC)
- FTP Client (FileZilla)
- Video Format Converter (Any Video Convertor)
- CAD Software (TurboCAD deluxe v10)
- VPN Client (Microsoft Network)
- Backup Software (SyncBack)
- Music Software (Fruity Loops Studio)

Switching to Linux Log - Peripherals

Peripherals Attached:
- Keyboard: Dell SK-8115
- Mouse: Logitech LX8 Cordless Laser mouse
- Monitor 1: Asus VW246
- Monitor 2: Acer X223W
- Scanner: Mustek ScanExpress A3 USB 2400 Pro
- Camera: Logitech HD Webcam C615

Friday, February 7, 2014

Switching to Linux Log - Hardware

Hardware Information:
- CPU: Phenom II x4 3.2GHz
- Motherboard: M4A97T Deluxe
- RAM: 8 GB
- GPU: ATI Radeon HD 5850
- HDD: 1TB