Basics Of Remote Cellular Access – Choosing A Modem

December 18, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 23 Comments

These days, we’re blessed with cellular data networks that span great swathes of the Earth. By and large, they’re used to watch TV shows and argue with strangers online. However, they’re also a great tool to use to interact with hardware in remote locations, particularly mobile ones where a wired connection is impractical.

In this series, we’re taking a look at tips and tricks for doing remote cellular admin the right way. First things first, you’ll need a data connection – so let’s look at choosing a modem.

Options Abound

When shopping around for cellular data modems, it can be difficult to wade through the variety of options out there and find something fit for purpose. Modems in this space are often marketed for very specific use cases; at the consumer level, many are designed to be a no-fuss home broadband solution, while in the commercial space, they’re aimed primarily to provide free WiFi for restaurants and cafes. For use in remote admin, the presence of certain features can be critical, so it pays to do your research before spending your hard earned money. We’ve laid out some of the common options below.

Consumer Models

The Sierra Aircard 320U is ancient now, with limited frequency bands available. Its flimsy flexible connector is also a drawback. However, its ease of configuration with Linux systems makes it a dream to use in remote access situations. Unlike many others, it acts as a Direct IP connection, not appearing as a separate router.

Many telecommunications providers around the world sell cheap USB dongles for connecting to the Internet, with these first becoming popular with the rise of 3G. They’re somewhat less common now in the 5G era, with the market shifting more towards WiFi-enabled devices that share internet among several users. These devices can often be had for under $50, and used on prepaid and contract data plans.

These devices are often the first stop for the budding enthusiast building a project that needs remote admin over the cellular network. However, they come with certain caveats that can make them less attractive for this use. Aimed at home users, they are often heavily locked down with firmware that provides minimal configuration options. They’re generally unable to be set up for port forwarding, even if you can convince your telco to give you a real IP instead of carrier-grade NAT. Worse, many appear to the host computer as a router themselves, adding another layer of NAT that can further complicate things. Perhaps most frustratingly, with these telco-delivered modems, the model number printed on the box is often not a great guide as to what you’re getting.

A perfect example is the Huawei E8327. This comes in a huge number of sub-models, with various versions of the modem operating in different routing modes, on different bands, and some even omitting major features like external antenna connectors. Often, it’s impossible to know exactly what features the device has until you open the box and strip the cover off, at which point you’re unable to return the device for your money back.

All is not lost, however. The use of VPNs can help get around NAT issues, and for the more adventurous, some models even have custom firmware available on the deeper, darker forums on the web. For the truly cash strapped, they’re a viable option for those willing to deal with the inevitable headaches. There are generally some modems that stand out over others in this space for configurability and ease of use. This writer has had great success with a now-aging Sierra Aircard 320U, while others have found luck with the Huawei E3372-607. As per earlier warnings though, you don’t want to accidentally end up with an E3372-608 – thar be dragons.

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Building A Smash Bros. Controller With Keyswitches

December 18, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 5 Comments

When it comes to competitive fighting games, having the right controller in your hands can make the difference between victory and defeat. Many tournaments have strict rules around controllers for this very reason. [Akaki Kuumeri] has recently put together a custom controller, aimed at maximising performance in Super Smash Brothers: Ultimate on the Nintendo Switch. (Video, embedded below.)

The build is assembled in an attractive 3D-printed body, made to be reminiscent of the original Nintendo Entertainment System controller. Inside, a cheap third-party Gamecube controller is used to interface with the console. Mechanical keyboard switches are used to replace the buttons and even the analog sticks, with a special modifier key that enables walking and running across the stage. This is pulled off with a handful of resistors emulating the intermediate position of the analog sticks, and makes pulling off advanced combos easier.

It’s a fun build, and we can imagine the precise digital key inputs having some benefits over analog controls. It also pays to note that such a build wouldn’t be as easy without the ready supply of mechanical key switches thanks to the custom keyboard subculture. We’ve seen these satisfying switches cropping up in many controller builds in recent times.

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900-Degree Racing Wheel Helps You Nail The Apex

December 17, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 21 Comments

There are many racing wheels on the market for the budding sim enthusiast. Unfortunately, lower end models tend to have a limited range of motion and ship with cheap plastic wheels that don’t feel good in the hand. As always, if what’s on the shelf doesn’t meet your needs, you can always build your own. [ilge]’s DIY racing wheel build is a great example of how to go about it.

It’s a no-frills build, with an Arduino Leonardo doing the USB Human Interface Device duties in this case. It reads a standard 10K potentiometer via an analog input to determine wheel position. To enable a realistic 900 degrees of motion, unlike the standard 270 degree rotation of the potentiometer, [ilge] uses 3D printed gears of 15 and 54 degrees respectively. This also has the benefit of allowing the wheel to be mounted to a stout bearing for smooth motion. The steering wheel itself is a high quality drift wheel from MOMO, and the benefit of building your own setup is that you can choose whatever wheel you like to taste.

It’s a simple build both mechanically and electronically speaking, but one that serves as a great entry into building a DIY sim for the beginner. We’d love to see further upgrades towards force feedback, or even shift paddles added on the back. Those looking to go all out can even consider building a motion platform. Video after the break.

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How To Get Into Cars: Drag Racing Mods

December 17, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 20 Comments

While some love to carve up mountain roads, and others relish the challenge of perfectly apexing every corner at the track, many crave a different challenge. Drag racing is a sport all about timing, finesse, and brute power. Like any other discipline in motorsport, to compete you’ll need a vehicle finely honed for the task at hand. Here’s how you go about getting started on your first quarter-mile monster.

It’s All About Power, Right?

It’s true that if you want to go faster, having more power on tap is a great way to do it. If that’s what you’re looking for, we’ve covered that topic in detail – for both the naturally aspirated and forced induction fans. However, anyone that’s been to the drag strip before will tell you that’s only part of the story. All of the power in the world isn’t worth jack if you can’t get it down to the ground. Even if you can, you’ve still got to keep your steering wheels planted if you intend to keep your nose out of the wall. So, if you want more power, consider the articles linked above. For everything else that’s important in drag racing, read on below.

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Fancy Filament Joiner Has Promise, But Ultimately Fails

December 17, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 29 Comments

[Proper Printing] has been trying to 3D print rims for his car for quite some time. However, the size of the print has led to problems with filament spools running out prior to completion. This led to endless headaches trying to join several smaller lengths of filament in order to make a single larger spool. After his initial attempts by hand failed, a rig was built to try and bring some consistency to the process. (Video, embedded below.)

The rig consists of a heater block intended to melt the ends of two pieces of filament so that they can be fused together. A cheap set of brass calipers was modified with a tube in order to form a guide for the filament, ensuring that it gets bonded neatly without flaring out to a larger size. Fan coolers are then placed either side of the heating area to avoid turning the whole filament into a hot mess.

Unfortunately, the rig simply didn’t work. The initial design simply never got the filament hot enough, with the suspicion being that heat was instead being dumped into the calipers instead of the filament itself. Modifications to reduce this sadly didn’t help, and in the end, more success was had by simply holding a lighter below a length of brass tube.

While the project wasn’t a success, there’s still value in the learning along the way. We can’t see any fundamental reason why such a rig couldn’t be made to work, so if you’ve got ideas on how it could be improved, sound off in the comments. We’ve seen other successful builds using hair straighteners in a relatively simple setup, too.

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Skittle Sorter Makes Long Task Shorter

December 16, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 11 Comments

One of the most common complaints fielded by the agents of Big Candy regards the non-homogenous nature of their products. Skittles and M&Ms are two egregious offenders in this area, and it’s left up to the determined consumer to handle sorting these candies themselves. Of course, you can always do it by hand, but as we all know – machines will do the work.

This Skittle sorter is the creation of [Lewis] of [DIY Machines], and it’s a build targeted at the beginner level. Constructed out of cardboard, it uses a pair of servos to handle the transport of the candies into their requisite colored bins, via a rotating disc and chute. Skittles are scanned with a TCS34725 color scanner hooked up to an Arduino Nano, which changes the angle of the output chute to dump the candy in the proper location. The hopper is able to handle a standard 180 gram bag of Skittles without problems.

[Lewis] does a great job explaining each stage of the build, from the mechanical and electronic side of things, to the required calibrations to make everything play together nicely. The project teaches builders a multiude of useful lessons, like how to use limit switches and other concepts of automation. We’ve featured [Lewis] on these pages before, too; his stylish shelf clock is a particular delight. Video after the break.

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Building Distributed Mode Loudspeakers With Plywood

December 16, 2020 by Zoe Skyforest 18 Comments

Distributed-mode loudspeakers work rather differently from the typical drivers used in 99% of applications. Instead of using piston-like motion to create sound waves, they instead rely on exciting an entire panel to vibrate and thus produce sound. [JGJMatt] decided to build a pair of bookshelf-sized units, with great results.

The build begins with a pair of 44mm DML exciters, readily available online. These had to be modified to remove their stock metal mounting plates that degraded the sound output in early tests. Instead, 3D printed pieces were used to mount the exciters to the 3mm plywood boards, which were lasercut to act as the main DML panels. Additionally, whizzer cones were fitted to the panels in an effort to further boost the high frequency response of the speakers. The speaker stands are assembled out of more 3D printed pieces and aluminium rods, giving a clean, modern look to the final product.

The performance of the speakers is admirable based on the test video, though [JGJMatt] notes that they should be paired with a subwoofer in use as the DML units do not readily produce frequencies below 100Hz. We’ve seen similar builds before on a larger scale, too. Video after the break.

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