Year: 2008

Mounting An External Antenna On EeePC 900

October 13, 2008 by 13 Comments

[Terry Porter] added an external antenna to his EeePC 900. Initially, he mounted it on the side of the unit, but found that the location caused it to no longer fit in its carrying case, and made plugging in USB or Ethernet cables very difficult. His resolution was to move the mount to the rear portion of the case. His professional looking mount is definitely worthy of some attention. Check out the project for a breakdown and some great pictures showing the necessary modifications to make it fit.

If you’re going to crack open your EeePC, you may want to just go all out and add everything available.

Parts: 3.5mm Stereo Audio Jacks

October 13, 2008 by 21 Comments

3.5mm stereo connectors for headphones and microphones are almost mandatory for audio projects. X1 (left) is a simple plug with connections for the audio channels (pin 2,3), and ground (pin 1). X2 (right) has pass-through contacts (pin 2,3) that divert audio to an internal speaker when headphones aren’t connected.

Here’s a breakdown of the audio connectors illustrated above. Continue reading “Parts: 3.5mm Stereo Audio Jacks” →

Playstation Tank Controller

October 12, 2008 by 6 Comments

[stuart] wanted a more intuitive way to control his rover platform than the software solution he had been using. He settled on using a Playstation controller with an AVR to operate the rover wirelessly. He found a couple references for talking to the controller using SPI on a PIC and adapted that for his ATMega88. The code is available on his site. He removed the rumble motors from the controller and stuffed the chip plus the transmitter package inside. The Linx TX/RX pair are mounted to pluggable boards so he can use them on other projects. A video of the tank in motion is after the jump. Continue reading “Playstation Tank Controller” →

Free Laundry

October 12, 2008 by 52 Comments

While waiting for his clothes to dry, our reader [xaio] decided to poke around and see how his building’s coin laundry system worked. It turned out to be ridiculously simple. All he needed to do was jumper the cable coming from each machine and they’d run without issue. We wonder why the relay box is so big. In any event, it could certainly benefit from a more secure installation.

Electric Bicycle

October 11, 2008 by 31 Comments

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6wNo5SM2da4&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0&color1=0x3a3a3a&color2=0x999999]
[garygadget15] in the UK has an interesting youtube page showing an electric bicycle. On his page titled, saving money the “green way” he has replaced his commuter car with one of these electric bikes. He then videos the commute with both to compare the results. The DIY electric bicycle kit he uses is made by Cyclone comes in multiple wattage’s ranging from 180 watts to 1500 watts where they do a great job of showing the conversion steps. They’ve got enough detail that you could fab your own from salvaged parts if you felt like it.

Passively Cooled Computer

October 11, 2008 by 38 Comments

This came in on the tipline: [Ville ‘Willek’ Kyrö] wanted to build a fully passively cooled computer. That means no fans at all. He started with scrap aluminum heatsinks, ripped apart a cpu heatsink to get the copper heat pipes, and began surrounding the boards with heatsinks to form a case. Cooling down the powersupply was the hardest part, as it did not lend itself to the flat surfaces of heatsinks. Any passive case with powerful components will inevitably be huge and heavy; this one weighs over 20 kg. He says, “It might not have been worth it, but it sure was weird watching the computer boot up with no sound at all”.

Gas Powered Vacuum Sucks Hard Anywhere

October 10, 2008 by 36 Comments

[mdavis19] found himself in the middle of nowhere, with no electricity, needing a strong vacuum. That happens to us all right? His solution was to hack together a gas powered monster vacuum. He found a shop vac at a yard sale and promptly discarded the motor and filter. Some minor modifications to a leaf blower and a plywood mount finished the job. He now has absolute sucking power as long as he has fuel. He describes how this is going to be used for gold prospecting, though it would probably work just as well on pet hair. If you’re going to use one around the house though, you may want to find a way to mount a filter in it, and wear ear plugs.