Posted on Leave a comment

Chicom “500W” ATX PSU

Cover Removed
Cover Removed

Here is a cheapo 500W rated ATX PSU that has totally borked itself, probably due to the unit NOT actually being capable of 500W. All 3 of the switching transistors were shorted, causing the ensuing carnage:

AC Input
AC Input

Here is the AC input to the PCB. Note the vapourised element inside the input fuse on the left. There is no PFC/filtering built into this supply, being as cheap as it is links have been installed in place of the RFI chokes.

Input Side
Input Side

Main filter capacitors & bridge rectifier diodes. PCB shows signs of excessive heating.

Filter Caps Removed
Filter Caps Removed

Filter capacitors have been removed from the PCB here, showing some cooked components. Resistor & diode next to the heatsink are the in the biasing network for the main switching transistors.

Heatsinks Removed
Heatsinks Removed

Heatsink has been removed, note the remaining pin from one of the switching transistors still attached to the PCB & not the transistor 🙂

Transformers
Transformers

Output side of the PSU, with heatsink removed. Main transformer on  the right, transformers centre & left are the 5vSB  transformer & feedback transformer.

Output Side
Output Side

Output side of the unit, filter capacitors, choke & rectifier diodes are visible here attached to their heatsink.

Comparator
Comparator

Comparator IC that deals with regulation of the outputs & overvoltage protection.

Posted on Leave a comment

PSP Slim

Front
Front

Here is a PSP Slim that recently died.

Label
Label

For those that are interested, here is the ID label, this is a PSP-2003.

Front Removed
Front Removed

Here the front of the unit has been removed, showing the first internal components.

Screen Removed
Screen Removed

Here is the unit with the LCD removed, here the mainboard is partially visible.

Left Pad
Left Pad

Left pad unit removed from the PSP, with the left speaker & the memory stick slot cover.

Left Pad Rear
Left Pad Rear

Rear of the left pad assembly, showing the speaker.

Joypad
Joypad

Joypad removed from the casing. Resistive unit.

Output Jack
Output Jack

Headphone/data board removed from the casing. This also has TV-Out on the PSP-200x series.

Mainboard
Mainboard

Mainboard removed. Main CPU is at the top. Sockets around the bottom connect to the UMD drive & UMD Drive.

CPU & GPU
CPU & GPU

Closeup of the main chipset. CPU is the top IC.

Mainboard Rear
Mainboard Rear

Rear of the mainboard, Memory Stick socket on the right.

WiFi Chipset
WiFi Chipset

Closeup of the WiFi chipset & the charging power socket on the right.

Charging Chipset
Charging Chipset

Closeup of the bettery connector & the charge controller IC.

UMD Drive
UMD Drive

UMD Drive removed from the rear of the casing. This is a miniature DVD style drive, using a 635nm visible red laser.

UMD Drive Back
UMD Drive Back

Rear of the UMD drive, showing the laser sled & drive motors. Both the spindle motor & the sled motor are 3-phase brushless type. The laser diode/photodiode array is at the top of the laser sled.

Posted on Leave a comment

Logitech Cordless Ball Mouse

Top
Top

This is an old legacy wireless mouse from Logitech. This uses a ball rather than optical technology.

Bottom
Bottom

Bottom of the mouse, showing the battery cover & the mouse ball.

PCB Bottom
PCB Bottom

Top removed from the mouse, showing the PCB inside. The smaller PCB on the left supports the microswitches for the buttons & mouse wheel.

Switches
Switches

Closeup of small PCB showing the microswitches & the IR LED & phototransistor pair for the mouse wheel encoder.

Main PCB
Main PCB

View of main PCB, with interface IC lower right. Pair of quartz crystals provide clocking for the transmitter & internal µC.
Battery contacts are on lower left of the PCB. At the top are the IR pairs for the X & Y axis of the mouse ball.

Encoder Pairs
Encoder Pairs

Closeup of the pairs of IR LEDs & phototransistors that make up the encoders for X/Y movement of the mouse, together with the slotted wheels in the mouse base that rotate with the ball. Steel wire around the smaller PCB is the antenna.

Posted on Leave a comment

Marmitek Gigavideo 30

Antenna
Antenna

Here is a Marmitek Gigavideo 30 2.4GHz wireless video transmitter, has a receiver paired which will be uploaded shortly. Here is a view of the antennae, the large flat one being the 2.4GHz directional, the whip antenna possibly performing IR relay functions for the remote control.

Bottom Label
Bottom Label

For all those interested, here’s the bottom label.

PCB Top
PCB Top

The top cover removed reveals the main PCB. Big metal can is the RF transmitter circuitry. was encapsulated circuitry below that looks like an FM modulator for the whip antenna. Big TO220 package on heatsink is a LM7805 5-Volt regulator for the transmitter module.

These units work fantastically well when the antennas are aligned properly, at a decent range, however, they do have a nasty habit of doubling as a very effective WiFi LAN jammer.

Posted on Leave a comment

Belkin PCMCIA Wi-Fi Card

Top label
Top label

Here is an old Belkin Wireless G network card. This is a PCMCIA version.

Bottom Label
Bottom Label

Here is the bottom of the device, with all the details.

Antenna
Antenna

Plastic antenna cover removed, showing the pair of 2.4GHz etched antennae. There is a pair of LEDs on the upper left of the PCB showing activity & link status.

PCB
PCB

Overall view of the PCB, antennae on the left, RF chipset in centre, WiFi controller IC on right, and PCMCIA socket on far right. Can below wireless controller is a quartz crystal for the clock.

Chipset
Chipset

Closeup of the chipset, a Ralink RT2560F wireless controller on the right & a RT2525L transceiver on the left.

Posted on Leave a comment

Southwestern Bell Freedom Phone

Phone
Phone

This is an old cordless landline phone, with dead handset batteries.

Handset Radio Board
Handset Radio Board

Here’s the handset with the back removed. Shown is the radio TX/RX board, underneath is the keyboard PCB with the speaker & mic. All the FM radio tuning coils are visible & a LT450GW electromechanical filter.

Handset Radio Board Bottom
Handset Radio Board Bottom

Radio PCB removed from the housing showing the main CPU controlling the unit, a Motorola MC13109FB.

Keypad Board
Keypad Board

The keypad PCB, with also holds the microphone & speaker.

Handset Keypad Board Bottom
Handset Keypad Board Bottom

Bottom of the keypad board, which holds a LSC526534DW 8-Bit µC & a AT93C46R serial EEPROM for phone number storage.

Base Main Board
Base Main Board

Here’s the base unit with it’s top cover removed. Black square object on far right of image is the microphone for intercom use, power supply section is top left, phone interface bottom left, FM radio is centre. Battery snap for power backup is bottom right.

Power Supply Section
Power Supply Section

PSU section of the board on the left here, 9v AC input socket at the bottom, with bridge rectifier diodes & main filter capacitor above. Two green transformers on the right are for audio impedance matching. Another LT450GW filter is visible at the top, part of the base unit FM transceiver.

ICs
ICs

Another 8-bit µC, this time a LSC526535P, paired with another AT93C46 EEPROM. Blue blob is 3.58MHz crystal resonator for the MCU clock. The SEC IC is a KS58015 4-bit binary to DTMF dialer IC. This is controlled by the µC.

Base Main Board Bottom
Base Main Board Bottom

Underside of the base unit Main PCB, showing the matching MC13109FB IC for the radio functions.

Posted on Leave a comment

Motorised Valve

This is the internals of a motorised valve for central heating systems. Here the top is removed showing the motor & microswitch.

Left side of the valve, showing the gearing under the motor, & the valve body under the powerhead.

Right side of the valve, showing the sprung mechanism of the valve quadrant.

Here the motor has been removed from the powerhead, showing the microswitch & the sprung quadrant gear. This spring keeps the valve closed until the motor is energized. The motor remains energized to hold the valve open.

Here the valve body has been opened showing the internal components. The rubber valve rotates on the shaft, blocking the lower port of the valve when in operation.

The motor’s protective cap has been removed here showing the rotor. This is a synchronous motor, of a special type for use in motorised valves. As the windings need to be continuously energized to hold the valve open, it is designed not to burn out under this load. 240v AC 50Hz, 5RPM.

Posted on 1 Comment

Co-Op Bank Card Reader

Keypad
Keypad

This is a little security measure you get with Internet Banking with the Co-Op, generates codes to confirm your identity using your bank card. About the size of a pocket calculator, this is the keypad & screen.

Card Slot
Card Slot

The rear of the unit, the card slots into the top, manufactured by Gemalto Digital Security.

Card Contacts
Card Contacts

Outer back cover removed, showing the 8 contacts for the chip on the bank card, the 2 contacts below that switch on power when a card is inserted. Power comes from 2 lithium coin cells in the compartment on the lower left.

PCB Rear
PCB Rear

PCB removed from the casing, showing the internal components. Two large pads at top left are battery connections, while the only IC on the board is the main CPU, under the card connector. 6MHz oscillator & 32Khz crystal on board for processing & timekeeping. LCD screen connection at far right.

Keypad Contacts
Keypad Contacts

Reverse side of the PCB, with the keypad contacts. LCD on right, with programming interface pads at side of keypad.

Posted on Leave a comment

Bosch GSR 14.4v Pro Drill-Driver

Drill Case
Drill Case

Here is a Bosch 14.4v Professional cordless drill/driver, recovered from a skip!
It was thrown away due to a gearbox fault, which was easy to rectify.

Internals
Internals

Here is the drill with the side cover removed, showing it’s internal parts. The speed controller is below the motor & gearbox here. The unit at the top consists of a 12v DC motor, coupled to a 4-stage  epicyclic gearbox unit, from which can be selected 2 different ratios, by way of the lever in the centre of the box. This disables one of the gear stages. There is a torque control clutch at the chuck end of the gearbox, this was faulty when found.

Motor
Motor

Here is the drive motor disconnected from the gearbox, having a bayonet fitting on the drive end.

Drive Gear
Drive Gear

This is the primary drive gear of the motor, which connects with the gearbox.

Cooling Fan
Cooling Fan

The motor is cooled by this fan inside next to the commutator, drawing air over the windings.

Gearbox
Gearbox

This is the gearbox partially disassembled, showing the 1st & second stages of the geartrain. The second stage provides the 2 different drive ratios by having the annulus slide over the entire gearset, disabling it entirely, in high gear. The annulus gears are a potential weak point in this gearbox, as they are made from plastic, with all other gears being made of steel.

Charger
Charger

Here is the charging unit for the Ni-Cd battery packs supplied with the drill. The only indicator is the LED shown here on the front of the unit, which flashes while charging, & comes on solid when charging is complete. Charge termination is by way of temperature monitoring.

Transformer
Transformer

Here the bottom of the charger has been removed, showing the internal parts. An 18v transformer supplies power to the charger PCB on the left.

Charger PCB
Charger PCB

This is the charger PCB, with a ST Microelectronics controller IC marked 6HKB07501758. I cannot find any information about this chip.

Battery Pack Internals
Battery Pack Internals

Here is a battery pack with the top removed, showing the cells.

Temperature Sensor
Temperature Sensor

This is the temperature sensor embedded inside the battery pack that is used by the charger to determine when charging is complete.

Posted on Leave a comment

Belkin F5U021 4-Port USB Hub

Top
Top

This is an old USB 1.1 hub that was recently retired from service on some servers. Top of the unit visible here.

Bottom Label
Bottom Label

Bottom label shows that this is a model F5U021 hub, a rather old unit.

PCB Front
PCB Front

PCB is here removed from the casing, Indicator LEDs along the bottom edge of the board, power supply is on the left. Connectors on the top edge are external power, USB host, & the 4 USB outputs. Yellow devices are polyswitch fuses for the 500mA at 5v each port must supply.

USB Hub IC
USB Hub IC

This is the USB Hub Controller IC, which is a Texas Instruments TUSB2046B device. Power filter capacitors next to the USB ports are visible here also, along with 2 of the polyswitches.

Power Supply
Power Supply

The power supply section of the unit, which supplies regulated 5v to the ports, while supplying regulated 3.3v to the hub controller IC. Large TO-220 IC is the 5v regulator. Smaller IC just under the power selector switch is the 3.3v regulator for the hub IC. The switch selects between Host powered or external power for the hub.

Posted on Leave a comment

USB Flash Drive

Disk
Disk

Here is a cheap chinese made flash drive given out for free by Westlaw UK. Capacity 512MB

PCB
PCB

Here is the PCB removed from the casing, USB connector on the left, followed by the clock crystal for the flash controller, a CBM2092, which is a Chipsbank part. 512MB flash memory IC, unknown maker.  Access LED on far right of the board.

Posted on 2 Comments

Epson Ink Cartridge Resetter

Interface
Interface

This is a device designed to reset Epson brand ink cartridges that are reportedly out of ink, so they again report full to the printer Here is the front of the unit, with the guide for attaching to a cartridge.

PCB Back
PCB Back

Back of the device removed. 3 button cells provide power to the PCB. Indicator LED sticks out of the top of the device for reset confirmation.
Row of pads on far left edge of the PCB are presumably a programming header for the uC on the other side of the board.

PCB Front
PCB Front

Here is the  front of the PCB, main feature being the grid of pogo pins to connect to the cartridge chip. IC on lower right of that is a MSP430F2131 uController, a Texas Instruments part.
The IC directly to the left of the pogo pin bed is a voltage regulator, to step down the ~4.5v of the batteries down to the ~3.3v that the uC requires.

Posted on Leave a comment

Motorola V360v

Front
Front

Here is a more modern phone, the Motorola V360v. Features include Dual screens, 640×480 VGA camera, full col

our TFT Main LCD, SD-Micro slot.
Here on the back the grey scale LCD can be seen, with the camera lens to the right of the Motorola logo

Keypad
Keypad

Here the phone is opened showing the keypad & the full colour TFT LCD display.

Battery Compartment
Battery Compartment

Here the battery is removed from the unit, showing the SIM connector. The antenna cover is still on at the bottom.

Antenna
Antenna

The antenna cover has been removed in this shot, the antenna is the white section at the bottom, With the loudspeaker & the external antenna connector hidden at the right.

PCB
PCB

Here is the main PCB. Parts from left are the Bluetooth module at the top, supplied by Broadcom, the SD Card socket at the bottom. Main CPU next to that is the Freescale SC29343VKP. Above right of the CPU is the Freescale SC13890P23A Charger, Power & Audio IC. Below is the SIM card socket. Under the main CPU is the Intel Flash memory IC. ICs inside the shields are the RF sections for transmit & receive.

Cover Removed
Cover Removed

Rear of the display unit showing the monochrome LCD. The camera module on the bottom left. Ear speaker on the far right of the unit.

Main LCD
Main LCD

Main colour TFT LCD.

Camera
Camera

Camera module removed from the LCD unit.

Vibra-Motor
Vibra-Motor

The vibration motor attached to one of the LCD looms.

Posted on Leave a comment

Nokia 7110

Front
Front

Another phone from the mid 90s. This is the nokia 7110.

Slider Open
Slider Open

Here the slider is open showing the keypad.

Battery Removed
Battery Removed

Here the battery is removed, a Li-Ion unit.

Battery
Battery

The battery cell & protection circuit removed from the casing.

Rear Of PCB
Rear Of PCB

This is the rear of the PCB removed from the housing. Data & charging ports on the right hand side f the board.

Front Of PCB
Front Of PCB

Front of the PCB with the RF sections at the left hand side & the keypad contacts on the right.

RF Sections
RF Sections

Closeup of the RF sections of the board, big silver rectangular cans are VCO units.

SIM Connector
SIM Connector

Closeup of the top rear section of the PCB, with SIM cnnector, battery contacts, IR tranciever at the far left. Bottom centre is the external antenna connector.

CPU
CPU

The logic section of the board, Large chip is CPU, to right of that is the ROM storing the machine code. Other chips are unknown custom parts.

Mic & Speaker
Mic & Speaker

The Mic & the loudspeaker removed from it’s housing.

LCD
LCD

LCD from the front of the unit, SPI interfaced. Flex PCB also contains the power button, loudspeaker contacts & a temperature sensor.

Scroll Wheel
Scroll Wheel

The scroll wheel removed from the front housing.

Vibra-Motor
Vibra-Motor

Tiny vibration motor removed from the rear housing, alerts the user to a text or phone call.

Posted on Leave a comment

Dremel MultiPro

Front
Front

Here we have a Dremel MultiPro rotary tool, a main powered 125W 33,000RPM bit of kit.

Motor Assembly
Motor Assembly

Here the field & controller assembly is removed from the casing.

Armature
Armature

Here is the armature, which rotates at up to 33,000RPM. The brushes rise against the commutator on the left, next to the bearing, the cooling fan is on the right hand side on the power output shaft, the chuck attaches at the far right end of the shaft.

Speed Controller & Brush Box
Speed Controller & Brush Box

Here is the speed controller unit, inside is an SCR phase angle speed controller, to vary the speed of the motor from 10,000RPM to the full rated speed of 33,000RPM.

Mains Filter
Mains Filter

This is the mains filter on the input to the unit, stops stray RF from the motor being radiated down the mains cable.

Posted on Leave a comment

Ericsson GA628

Front
Front

Here is a phone from the mid 90s, the Ericsson GA628. Here visible is the front of the unit with keypad, & single line monochrome LCD for number display.

Battery & Rear
Battery & Rear

Here the battery is removed from the phone, showing the SIM card socket. At the top under the antenna stub is the socket for an external antenna.

Front Removed
Front Removed

Here the front is removed from the phone, PCB on left, rear of keypad on right. Microphone is at bottom of keypad, with speaker at the top. Top right of the PCB is the ringer buzzer, left is shield for RF amplifier.

Main PCB
Main PCB

Here is the back of the main PCB, RF sections on left & centre. Processing & memory on right.

Battery
Battery

This phone had a Ni-Mh battery, before Li-Ion batteries were introduced.

LCD
LCD

The LCD from the front of the phone is shown here. A simple dot matrix single line unit.

Posted on Leave a comment

HP Photosmart 375

Top
Top

This is a HP PhotoSmart 375 portable photo printer. With built in card reader, screen & PictBridge.
Top of the printer showing the UI Buttons & Screen.

Front
Front

Front of the unit, card reader slots at the top, Pictbridge USB connector at top left. Paper out slot at bottom. Cartridge door is on the right.

Cartridge Door
Cartridge Door

Here the cartridge door is open. Takes HP 95 Tri-Colour Inkjet Cartridge.

Battery Compartment
Battery Compartment

Battery compartment on the bottom of the unit. A Li-Ion battery pack can be installed here for mobile photo printing.

Bottom Label
Bottom Label

Specifications label.

USB + Power
USB + Power

Power adaptor & USB connection for PC use.

Paper Tray
Paper Tray

Rear door opened. Showing the paper feed tray.

Paper Feeder
Paper Feeder

Rear door has been removed in this shot. Paper feed roller & platen roller can be seen here.

Rear Cover Paper Feeder
Rear Cover Paper Feeder

Paper holder attached to rear door.

Top Cover
Top Cover

Bottom of the top cover, with connections for the buttons & LCD panel.

Main PCB
Main PCB

This is the main PCB of the unit. Controls all aspects of the printer. CPU in center, card reader sockets are along bottom edge. various support circuitry surrounds the CPU.

Rear
Rear

Rear shell has been removed here. Showing the main frame & the carriage drive motor on the left.

Carriage Drive
Carriage Drive

Closeup of the carriage drive motor & timing belt system. All the motors in this printer are DC servo motors, not steppers.

Main Drive Motor
Main Drive Motor

Main drive motor, feeds paper, drives rollers, operates cleaning mechanism for the inkjets.

Shaft Encoder
Shaft Encoder

Mainshaft encoder. Main drive motor is bottom right hand side with timing belt drive.

CPU
CPU

Closeup of the CPU. This is a Phillips ARM chip, unknown spec.

Card Reader Sockets
Card Reader Sockets

Detail of the card reader sockets, this unit takes all current types of Flash memory card.

HP 95 Tri-color Inkjet Print Cartridge
Posted on 1 Comment

ICL Barcode Scanner

Top
Top

An ICL barcode scanner from the 80s is shown here. This is the top of the unit with cover on.

Cover Removed
Cover Removed

Plastic cover removed from the unit showing internal components. Main PSU on left, scan assembly in center. Laser PSU & Cooling fan on right. Laser tube at top.

Scan Motor
Scan Motor

Closeup of laser scan motor. This unit scans the laser beam rapidly across the glass plate to read the barcode.

Controller PCB
Controller PCB

View of the bottom of the unit, showing the controller PCB in the centre.

Scan Motor Driver
Scan Motor Driver

The 3-phase motor driver circuit for the scan motor. 15v DC powered.

Laser Unit
Laser Unit

This is the laser unit disconnected from the back of the scanner. HT PSU is on right hand side, beam emerges from optics on left.

Laser Unit Label
Laser Unit Label

This unit is date stamped 1987. The oldest laser unit i own.

Tube PSU
Tube PSU

Laser tube power supply. Input voltage: 24v DC. Output: 1.8kV 4mA.

Laser PSU Board
Laser PSU Board

Rear of HT PSU. Obviously the factory made a mistake or two 🙂

Laser Tube Mounting
Laser Tube Mounting

Top cover removed from the laser unit here shows the 1mW He-Ne tube. Manufactured by Aerotech.

Tube Label
AeroTech He-Ne Tube

Tube label. Manufactured July 1993. Model LT06XR.

Plasma
Plasma

Here the tube has been removed from it’s mount to show the bore down the centre while energized.

OC Mirror
OC Mirror

OC end of the tube shown here lasing.

Beam
Beam

Beam output from the optics on the laser unit.

Tube Optics
Tube Optics

Optics built into the laser unit. Simple turning mirror on adjustable mount & collimating lens assembly.

Scan Lines
Scan Lines

Kind of hard to see but the unit is running here & projecting the scan lines on the top glass.

Laser Tube Mounting
Laser Tube Mounting

Laser tube mounting. A combo of spring clips & hot glue hold this He-Ne tube in place

Posted on Leave a comment

Hair Dryer

Housing
Housing

This is a 1500W hairdryer, death caused by thermal switch failure.

Switch
Switch

This is the switch unit. Attached are two suppression capacitors & a blocking diode. Cold switch is on right.

Heating Element
Heating Element

Heating element unit removed from housing. Coils of Nichrome wire heat the air passing through the dryer. Fan unit is on right.

Thermal Switch
Thermal Switch

Other side of the heating element unit, here can be seen the thermal switch behind the element winding. (Black square object).

Fan Motor
Fan Motor

The fan motor in this dryer is a low voltage DC unit, powered through a resistor formed by part of the heating element to drop the voltage to around 12-24v. Mounted on the back of the motor here is a rectifier assembly. Guide vanes are visible around the motor, to straighten the airflow from the fan blades.

Fan
Fan

5-blade fan forces air through the element at high speed. Designed to rotate at around 13,000RPM.

Posted on 2 Comments

Current Cost ‘Envi’ CC128 Power Meter

Display Unit
Display Unit

This is the Current Cost CC128 Real Time Power Meter. Shown here is the display unit, British Gas issued these free to some customers.
This unit measures current power draw in Watts, cost of power currently being used (requires unit price to be set), overall kWh usage over the past 1, 7 or 30 days & power trends during the day, night & evening. Also displays current time & current room temperature.

Display PCB
Display PCB

Here the front panel of the display has been un-clipped. At the bottom are the RJ-45 serial port & power connections.
This unit uses a PIC micro-controller as it’s CPU (PIC18F85J90) Just above & left of the CPU is the 433MHz SPD radio receiver module. The chips on the right of the CPU are a 25LC128 SPI serial EEPROM for data storage & a 74HC4060 14 stage binary counter, to which is connected the 32kHz clock crystal. The red wire around the top of the display is the antenna for the radio receiver.

For more info on the CC128 in general, the serial port & software for computer data logging, see this link
See this link for Current Cost’s list of software

Processor & Radio
Processor & Radio

Closeup of the ICs on the mainboard.

Transmitter Unit
Transmitter Unit

Here we have the transmitter unit, with Current Transformer (CT). The red clamp fits around one of the electric meter tails & read the current going to the various circuits. This unit is powered by 2x D cells, rated at a life of 7 years.

Transmitter PCB
Transmitter PCB

The PCB inside the transmitter. Again very minimal design, unknown controller IC, 433MHz radio transmitter on right hand side with wire antenna. Two barrel connectors on left hand side of board allow connection of up to two more CT clamps for measurement of 3-phase power. Centre of board is unmarked header. (ICSP?)

Current Transformer
Current Transformer

CT unit. Inside is a coil of wire & an iron core which surrounds the cable to be measured.

Posted on Leave a comment

Western Digital 160GB 2.5″ HDD

Top Of Drive With Label
Top

This is a Western Digital drive recently removed from my laptop when it died of a severe head crash.
Top of drive can be seen here.

Top Removed From Drive
Top Removed

Here the cover has been removed from the drive, showing the platter, head arm & magnet. Yellow piece top left is head parking ramp.

Head Arm of Drive
Head Arm

The head assembly of the drive is shown here. The head itself is on the left hand end of the arm in the plastic parking ramp. The other end of the arm holds the voice coil part of the head motor, surrounded by the magnet.

Bottom Of Drive with PCB
Bottom Of Drive with PCB

Bottom of drive, with controller PCB. SATA interface socket at bottom.

PCB removed from bottom of drive. Spindle motor connections & connections to the head unit can be seen on the bottom of the drive unit.

Controller PCB. Supports the cache, interface & motor controller ICs.

Closeup of the motor driver IC, this controls the speed of the spindle motor precisely to 5,400RPM. Also controls the voice coil motor controlling the position of the head arm on the platters.

Interface IC closeup. This IC receives signals from the head assembly & processes them for transmission to the SATA bus. Also holds drive firmware, controls the Motor driver IC & all other functions of the drive.

Cache Memory IC.