Macetech’s ChronoDot is a Real Time Clock module for projects requiring highly accurate time keeping and measurement. The ChronoDot uses the DS3231 chip, which features a TCXO to compensate for variations in temperature which affect normal oscillators, like the ones in most microcontrollers. The DS3231 uses simple I2C commands and registers for storing and retrieving time, but also features a variable output that goes all the way down to 1.000 hz for low power, interrupt style timekeeping applications. With the provided watch battery, the ChronoDot can keep time in idle mode for up to 8 years.

Normally the ChronoDot comes mostly assembled, requiring you to only solder on the watch battery. However, due to a manufacturing mistake, Macetech is selling a version with the header pins on the wrong side they call the ChronoDoh. This module is currently nearly half off the regular price of $14.99, which makes it a great low cost addition to a project. Macetech has sent us a couple of these modules to demonstrate how functional they still are.

Because of this mistake, using these parts as a breadboard tool is made a little bit harder, as the silkscreen pin names are only on the “top” side. However, if a project is designed around this part, or if alternate tools such as a wire ribbon or probes were used, this problem would disappear. It would also be possible to desolder the header pins and remount them, but there is always the possibility of lifting the pads, or otherwise causing damage to the parts whenever desoldering is involved.

We set up one of the ChronoDoh modules as demonstrated, and pinned out the I2C connection using a “right side up” ChronoDoh as reference. The Dot must have an external VCC signal to respond to I2C commands, and will only silently keep time when powered by the watch battery. For the ChronoDo(h/t), sample Arduino code and schematics are provided on Macetech’s website, making initial set up and testing a breeze. We used a Teensy++ running the Teensyduino loader to simplify the process. The sample code simply displayed the time reported over I2C by the Dot, which seemed to be the time since the Dot first received 5V power (when it was most likely initialized). The chip reported that the time was 00:01:55, which meant that it was time to update the registers. Unfortunately, this is where the sample code leaves off, though the provided documentation does provide a list of all of the relevant registers (page 11 of the datasheet).

After setting the I2C registers, the ChronoDoh was correctly keeping time, so we decided to test the accuracy. We set up the other module, put it in our freezer for a week, then tested the two against each other. Wonderfully, they both reported identical times. Though unscientific, this is backed up by the ongoing accuracy test by the makers of the DS3231, which claims an accuracy of “± 2ppm at 0C to +40C (~1 minute per year)”.

These breakout boards are a great way to test out this chip, which has tons of applications, on an easy to use breakout board, which is what Macetech does best.

Hack a Day review disclosure: Macetech gave us a couple free ChronoDohs to review for this post.

We’ve been eyeing Seeed Studio’s DSO nano digital storage oscilloscope with a mix of intrigue and skepticism. A pocket-sized $89 storage ’scope? This is a joke, right? Hack a Day reader [Blair Thomson] has written a thorough review based on his experience with one of the beta test units, and it might be a winner after all.

[Blair] feels the unit compares favorably to buying a similarly-priced secondhand analog oscilloscope. The DSO nano wins major points for ease of use, a good range of functionality, and of course the whole portability thing (the enclosure is a repurposed portable media player). Can’t say we’re entirely convinced though. As a single-trace ’scope with 1 MHz bandwidth, the DSO nano may be extremely limiting for anything but basic hobbyist use…which, to be fair, is exactly how they’re marketing it. We can see a place for this the same way there’s a place for $10 multimeters — an inexpensive, toss-in-the-toolbag second ’scope to quickly test for vital signs, something that might complement but not replace a good bench unit.

Reader [Mikey Sklar] told us about a review he wrote covering 3 different models of pocket multimeters. We’re sure that you’ve had the same experiences we have being the go-to-guy or got-to-gal  for all things electrical. For our sort, having a multimeter on hand at all times has become an expectation.

[Mikey] looks at a model from ebay, Harbor Freight, and Radio Shack. Not surprisingly, the ebay offering doesn’t rate too well but does get the job done. We were surprised to read that he picked up the Cen-Tech model for about $10 at Harbor Freight. Although it may no longer be sold there (we haven’t checked) [Mikey] seems pretty happy with it so we’ll be on the lookout during our next tool-buying trip. We’re unfamiliar with the tiny Radio Shack 22-820 but we’ve always been happy with our larger 22-811. The 22-820 allows the probes to be folded up inside of the case cover for a truly pocketable package.

You can never have too many meters at your disposal and we’ll have to keep this article in mind the next time we’re shopping for another. Never used a multimeter before? Take a look at the tutorial [Mikey] linked to over at ladyada.

A decent drill press is a crucial tool for an electronics lab. We use our drill press to make holes in our own circuit boards, and tap or break traces on existing circuit boards. We’ve used a lot of tools to drill circuit boards — power drills, power drills in “drill press stands”, and high-speed rotary tools — but when we started doing projects on a schedule, it was time for something more reliable.

We first spotted the Proxxon TBM115/TBM220 drill press in the window of a local shop.  Its tiny size and adjustable speed seemed ideal for drilling circuit boards. At $200, this is one of the pricier tools in our lab, but quality bearings and smooth drilling action aren’t cheap.  Read about our experience with this tool below the break.

This drill press is tiny, less than a foot tall. It’s easy to tuck away in a closet or under a bed. Despite it’s size, it has all the typical drill press functions like adjustable height and drill depth.

An adjustable drive belt connects the drill head to the motor. The belt moves to different positions on internal pulleys to create three combinations of speed and torque; 1,800, 4,700 and 8,500 rpm. It’s a bit of a pain to adjust the belt, and the instructions for proper tightness are a bit vague.

If the drill is left for long periods, the belt should be loosened so it doesn’t warp. We think our drill press was over-tightened and stood in a hot shop window for more than a year. Now it sometimes suffers excessive vibration and noise after long periods of drilling. This was ameliorated to some extent by the previously mentioned vague adjustment procedure, but we probably need a new belt. While this is a problem specific to our drill, it’s something to consider if you have similar problems, or if you have the opportunity to buy a new belt when you get the drill.

The drill came with 6 collets of various diameters, but no chuck. We bought the collet-compatible drill bit in the photo at the local electronics store for about $10. Reconditioned drill bits are much cheaper on eBay and we’ve also had Drill Bit City recommended to us.

We usually use cheap 0.8mm bits that don’t fit in a collet, so we bought the optional chuck. As you can see in the photo, after a couple years we still haven’t taken it out of the package. The drill is so smooth and straight that the first bit we purchased has lasted through two years of medium-duty use.

Proper safety is imperative when working with high-speed drills and tiny bits. You must wear safety glasses. Every bit will break, it’s just a question of when. A broken bit will usually stick inside the circuit board, but sometimes they shoot out like shrapnel and stick in the woodwork. Not wearing safety glasses while using a high-speed drill almost guarantees you’ll eventually lose an eye. We also wear a dust mask, not just to protect the lungs from fiberglass dust, but to shield the face from broken drill bit debris.

Like our soldering station, this is another tool that we absolutely love. It’s the prefect size for working with circuit boards, and worlds better than any high-speed rotary tool we’ve had the displeasure of using. The drilling action is very smooth, and the motor has tons of speed and torque. The biggest difference to us, migrating from a cordless drill on an old drill press stand, is the steadiness of the drilling head. It drills super sharp holes with no wobble or rough edges. This is one of the most important tools in our lab, and one of our favorites.

The 115volt North American model (TBM 115) is available here for about $200, a search shows several other outlets. The 220volt EU/AUS/world model (TBM 220) is available from here, and a number of online shops. You can also contact Proxxon to find nearby brick and mortar outlets.

The ThingamaKIT is an anthropomorphic analog synthesizer kit from Bleep Labs. Using “LEDacles”, photoresistors, knobs, and switches, it generates interesting high pitched vocalizations. Bleep Labs sent us a review unit and this article shares our experiences building and using the kit. We’ve also included a tutorial on making some hacks, modifications, and circuit bends to it. Skip to the end to see a video of our hacked kit in action.

Using the ThingamaKIT

While it may not be that useful for serious musical composition, the ThingamaKIT makes some nice bleeps and blips, even without modification.The LED to photoresistor input/feedback method is enjoyable to play with, by repointing the LEDacles and waving hands around the photoresistor. The ThingamaKIT is very easy to start using; just twiddle knobs, and it starts making its characteristic ridiculous sounds.

The ThingamaKIT is an simple but fun circuit, and schematics are provided. Three Schmitt trigger oscillators, like the ones used in the previous Hack a Day synth article are used to control the first LEDacle. Because they have different frequencies, the LEDacle blinks in an interesting manner. A Schmitt trigger and op amp generate a triangle wave for the other LEDacle, with controllable waveshape and speed. Another Schmitt trigger generates the modulating wave, with a frequency based on either Photocell 2 or a potentiometer. The main oscillator, the XR2206, has a pitch controlled by Photocell 1, except when the output from the modulation is high, then it switches to a different pitch.

Embedded above is Bleep Labs official demo video.

Building the ThingamaKIT

The instructions for building the ThingamaKIT are printed well and easy to follow. [Surachai]‘s build time lapse, shown above, gives a nice overview of the process. We had no problem finding components and soldering them to the board. Though troubleshooting instructions are provided in the manual, our device worked fine, and we did not need them.

If you are assembling the ThingamaKIT with the intent to hack it as shown in the rest of this article, there are a couple things you should do differently than shown in the instructions.

• Cut the 4” wires a little longer, closer to 6”. You’ll need the extra length when fitting components.
• Do not install the waveshape switch, unless you want to test the default ThingamaKIT unit without modifications.
• Do not proceed to the casing steps until you have made modifications.

Hacking the ThingamaKIT

Bleep Labs has designed the ThingamaKIT to be easily circuit bendable, and there are many fun hacks that can be done with this unit. A few are briefly presented in the extra information given with the kit. While playing around with it and assembling it, we also discovered several more. We’ll show you a few different hacks and circuit bends that you can do with an assembled ThingamaKIT.

Adding an audio input

Our favorite hack for the ThingamaKIT is to add an audio input. The ThingamaKIT will completely warp any audio input, crushing it to lo-fi fuzz and crunches. Here is its emotional rendition of The Police’s “Every Breath You Take”:

To do this, you’ll need a 3.5mm audio jack, like the kind used in the previous synthesizer how-to article and a SPDT (three way) switch. Solder a wire to the signal lug and a wire to the ground lug on the jack. Then, solder the signal wire (the blue wire) to the left hand pad of the .01 uF capacitor, which is outlined above in red. Our solder joints look like a warzone, but it all works. We swear.

There are two places the ground wire can be soldered, and each has a different sound; we installed a switch so that both could be used. Solder the ground wire to the center lug on the SPDT switch. Solder one of the outside lugs to the board’s ground, and another to the other pin of the .01 uF capacitor, as outlined in red above.

To use the audio input, flip the SPDT switch to either outside position, then patch some audio to the input. Music, drum machines, other synthesizers and more all work to make an interesting sound.

Adding a waveshaper knob

In its default configuration, the ThingamaKIT only has a switch to select between triangle and square wave main oscillators. By replacing this knob with a potentiometer, you can transition smoothly between the two waveforms. However, there will be a significant attenuation (decrease in volume) when the potentiometer is near its center, as both outputs will have increased impedance. This is not easily corrected, except with active amplification, or a dual potentiometer with two different tapers, which we have been unable to find.

To do this mod, you first need to remove the waveshape switch if you have already attached it. The easiest way to remove it is with a desoldering iron. Simply squeeze the bulb, place the hot iron over each pad (pads to remove are outlined in red on the image above), and release the bulb. Do this for each pad until all solder is removed, then remove the switch. Keep the switch, as it will be useful if you want to do the sine wave hack.

Next, solder three wires to a 10K potentiometer, such as the one pictured above. The red wire goes to the middle lug, and the other two go to either end on the board.

The waveshaper knob is complete, and you can now easily fade between square and triangle waves.

Adding a sine wave switch

While reading the datasheet (PDF) for the XR2206, the signal generator that the ThingamaKIT uses, we noticed a very easy way to change the triangle wave output into a sine wave, which has a softer sound.

If you are doing this with the waveshaper hack above, start by taking the old switch, and removing one lug from its side. Then bend the other two down slightly, as shown. This will allow the switch to fit where the old one did on the panel, without being in contact with the board. Solder two short wires to the remaining lugs. Then, stick a piece of electrical tape over the top of the pads on the board where the potentiometer is now wired, and put the switch there, using a bit of hot glue to hold it in place.

To one wire, solder a 220 ohm resistor inline; an extra is helpfully provided in the kit. Wrap the resistor in electrical tape to cover the exposed leads, then solder the two wire ends to pins 13 and 14 of the XR2206 as outlined in red above. The sine wave mod is complete!

Adding a spike wave switch

Another bend we found while poking around in the unit caused the main oscillator to create a “spike” waveform. It produces a nice lo-fi, glitchy sound. To add this bend, take any normal SPST (two way on-off switch) and solder a wire to each lug.

Then, connect it to pins 8 and 6 on the XR2206, as outlined in red. The spike wave mod is done.

Packaging it all up

To finish up our ThingamaKIT, we followed the instructions provided with the kit, but with a few modifications. A couple of extra holes had to be drilled for the new potentiometer (5/16”), the spike wave switch (5/16”), and the audio input (1/4”).

We had some difficulty getting all of the new components fitted into the case, but with some rearranging we managed. Be sure not to push the photoresistors up higher on the face then is shown on the drill jig, or you will have trouble fitting them around the LEDacles. The volume potentiometer was also mounted a little low, and we had to put the speaker toward the controls side rather then the LEDacle side of the case to fit it in.

Check out the demo video below to see our glorious leader in action.

Further hacks

To hack your ThingamaKIT further, Dr. Bleep has some recommendations in the manual: using the extra oscillators on the board to add effects, replacing the variable photocells with resistors and buttons to make a keyboard, making a patchbay, and getting complete control over LEDacle 1 with potentiometers.

That concludes our ThingamaKIT hacking. Have any of you built one? To see other custom ThingamaKITs, check out the Flickr group.

The WiFi uploading Eye-Fi SD card made a big splash when it was first introduced, but now Eye-Fi has a whole line of different products. The top of the line is the Eye-Fi Explore, which supports geotagging without using a GPS. Instead of GPS hardware, it uses the Skyhook Wireless Wi-Fi Postitioning System, which correlates the position of the Eye-Fi’s access point to GPS locations, creating virtual GPS functionality. This allows photos taken with the Eye-Fi to be be geotagged. Of course, the accuracy of the system is noticeably lower than true GPS and seems to be affected by a number of external factors, but it is still accurate enough to tag the photo within the immediate vicinity of where it was taken.

WiFi positioning is great feature, but certainly not limited to photography. Since the Eye-Fi is at its core SD storage media, you could probably have it geotag data saved to the card, even if it wasn’t created by a digital camera..

The other major problem with previous versions was the inconsistent speed of their package handling system. In 11.0, though, a new command line app called Zypper makes installing updates, patches, and other packages much faster.

The final verdict is that OpenSUSE 11.0 has become a viable alternative to Ubuntu; the overall quality of the open source distro was never in question, but now that speed has gone from being its biggest deficiency to being one of its biggest strengths, we expect to see a lot more chameleons in the wild.

I feel the need to include a disclaimer before getting into this: I don’t own an original Xbox, I own a Playstation 2, I consider myself a casual gamer, I’m a fan of Open Source and not Microsoft.

I purchased this box on the first day because early versions of consoles are generally easier to modify. With the PSP ver. 1.0 it was easy to run homebrew code, but with each successive firmware version, Sony makes it harder. The original Xboxes that are being sold now make it almost impossible to run Xbox Linux because of a hardware change.

Before we get to my experiences, here are some links that you might find interesting.

• Chipworks de-capps and photographs Xbox silicon. Chipworks is a leading silicon reverse engineering company. [via bunnie, who still needs a 360]

• Anandtech’s photo tour of the 360 internals, one and two

• batlogic’s VGA cable pinout and article on the original Xbox’s security model

• Free60.org, the Xbox 360 Linux project

Crashes

This is the current hot topic (puns are always intended), so I’ll start with it. As you can see from the photo above, I have experienced problems with my 360. You can see more photos on the Flickr Hack-A-Day photo pool. While observing a race that
Joystiq was in, I brought up the sidebar to play music from my iPod. This resulted in severe graphic glitches (the music wasn’t playing right either) and I had to reboot. Another time while playing PGR3 I brought up the sidebar and the system froze; I could still chat, but the system would not respond to any button presses, so I rebooted. I feel that both of these issues are Dashboard problems and not heat related. I’m guessing these problems will probably be cured in a future Dashboard upgrade. When you access Live for the first time the dashboard upgrades from ver. 2.0.1888.0 to 2.0.2241.0.

I haven’t experienced any problems that I would consider heat related. That being said: This console is extremely hot. Heat pours out of the back out the machine even when doing menial tasks like playing MP3s. If you place a hand across the right side of the box you can feel the suction from fans. This is the largest intake and because of that I think standing the box up on carpet would be a really bad idea. The feet are short enough that I wouldn’t feel good about standing it up on a hard surface either. The power supply has been blamed for most overheating problems. It has intake and exhaust ports that consist of two rows of holes in a 2×1/4 inch space. The power supply doesn’t get too hot; I’m sitting with my feet on top of it right now using it a foot warmer.

HiDef

From the top photo you can see I’ve got the 360 plugged into my
Dell 2405FP using the included component cable. The component cable also has a composite video connection so you don’t need a different cable when connecting to an SDTV. Yes, 720p looks amazing and I’m glad that Microsoft has required support for it in all games. It looks a lot better than the jaggie 480p from my Playstation 2. The clarity of the HD is a little lost on me since I use this as my regular computer monitor which can support resolutions up to 1920×1200. I did buy this monitor specifically for the HD support and it should be able to handle 1080p, if the Playstation 3 manages to support it. It’s also nice being able to work while monitoring Live using the picture in picture.

Controller

Following the trend set by Nintendo, the Xbox’s OEM wireless controller is great.  They added two shoulder buttons, but unlike the Playstation, placing four fingers on the shoulder buttons doesn’t feel natural. This is fine because the upper buttons are used for occasional tasks like switching view points; you spend most of your time with index fingers on the triggers. The light on top of the controller indicates which number 1-4 the controller is assigned to, a nice touch. It would be nice to see the possibility of more players supported on a single console though. The wired USB controllers can be used with Windows, but not the wireless controllers when connected with the “play &charge”. The obvious conclusion is that: the play & charge is just a power cable and doesn’t add any sort of USB functionality. I think the headset connector is identical to the original Xbox: 2.5mm jack like cellphone headsets, I also have a 2.5mm RCA cable from my digicam that would work. There are two slots next to the headphone jack that have two metal contacts each which aren’t used by the headset.

USB

One of the first things I did was plug every USB device I had into the Xbox to see how it behaved. My keyboard worked fine whenever there was an on-screen keyboard (It’s the keyboard from the Playstation 2 Linux kit). The system really hated the mouse; none of the other peripherals would work when it was plugged in. My video iPod came up almost immediately and was identified by its name “pwn3d by hackaday”. Plugging in the camera, card reader and flash drive all worked, but not at the same time. It also doesn’t like the card reader built into the monitor, but the flash drive and keyboard both work when connected through the monitor’s hub. My Prism2 based WiFi adapters were not recognized by the box.

Media

One of the main reasons I purchased the Xbox was its media streaming ability. Using the Windows Media Connect you can access music and photos stored on your Windows XP machine. The software will also stream video, but not to the Xbox 360 because Microsoft has decided to cripple it. This is an attempt to sell more Windows Media Center PCs since you can stream video using them. Media Connect uses the UPnP AV protocol to stream media, but the Xbox won’t recognize other UPnP servers like uShare. If it did, it would be easy to stream from a Mac or a Linux machine. The Xbox also doesn’t appear as a media renderer when using Cidero UPnP control Point software. Here is a good overview of the media center features. [via Xbox360Fanboy]

Playing music is easy enough. It was a lot more enjoyable navigating music stored on the iPod than on my roommate’s XP machine. The iPod is neatly organized while Media Connect scrapes every directory you give it, listing every random music file and playlist it comes across. The interface is pretty easy to use, but I have a couple complaints. Adding a song to a playlist takes at least three button pushes. When you click “add to playlist” it takes you to the playlist and then you have back up to get back to where you were before. They should dedicate one button on the controller for adding the song and not make you jump back and forth. Also, you can’t save playlists that include music not stored on the hard drive. The easiest way to manage playlists is building them on your PC or in iTunes for your iPod instead of using the Xbox interface. The Xbox does work really well if you want to play by album, artist, or genre though.

Live

I’ve enjoyed playing on Xbox live. Being able to jump easily into a game with friends is great. Delivering free demos to consoles is a wonderful idea: I’m much more likely to buy games I’ve already played just like buying DVDs of movies I’ve already seen. It would be nice to receive videos from videogame review sites too. The downloads from Live are extremely slow, they should really use a distributed system since they have a huge network of identical consoles. I wish Live had a way to organize friends into groups like I can on IM: coworkers, readers, random.

Money, money, money

This is what I hate the most about the new Xbox 360.

• Sure, you can buy a Core bundle for $299, which isn’t anymore than the last version, but it doesn’t come with a hard drive. The hard drive is a $30 SATA drive, but since it is for the Xbox it costs $99.
• The free Media Connect software is fully capable of streaming video, but you have to buy a Media Center PC to do it.
• Media Connect is using the open UPnP AV protocol, but you can’t use other UPnP software to stream to the Xbox
• Xbox Live costs extra – Didn’t I pay a huge entry fee by buying the console? Why do I have to pay a monthly fee just to use it?
• Micropayments – Sure, these little bits of content aren’t worth much, but we are still going to make you pay for it.

The bottom line

Is the Xbox 360 worth buying? If you have prerequisites like an HDTV and a Media Center PC the Xbox 360′s support for these items will make it well worth your time.  If you want to just use it as gaming system, it’s hard to justify the expense right now. Like most console launches, the titles aren’t that revolutionary. I think the best plan would be to wait till next year to make the purchase: the console will be cheaper, the selection of games will be broader, used games will be available, you’ll know the Playstation 3′s features, the Xbox 360 games will be making better use of the console’s power, Microsoft will have most of the bugs ironed out and you might be able to run Linux.