This is a part of the boat that hasn’t really had much TLC since we moved aboard, and finally it’s completely succumbed to corrosion, opening a rusty hole into the engine space below. I’ve already used a grinder to remove the rest of the locker – and even this had corroded to the point of failure all around the bottom just above the welds. The bulkhead forming the rear of the locker has also corroded fairly severely, so this will be getting cut out & replaced with a new piece of steel.
This was originally a 1/8″ plate, but now it’s as thin as foil in some places, with just the paint hiding the holes.
Replacement Steel
I’ve cut out as much of the corroded deck plate as possible – it’s supported underneath by many struts made of angle iron, and got the new 3mm replacement tacked in place with the MIG. I’ve not yet cut out the rotten section on the bulkhead, this will come after we’ve got the steel cut to replace it, as electrical distribution is behind this plate – I’d rather not have weather exposure to the electrical systems for long! Unfortunately more corrosion has showed itself around the edges of the old locker:
Thin Steel
Around the corner the steel has pretty much totally failed from corrosion coming from underneath – applying welding heat here has simply blown large holes in the steel as there’s nothing more than foil thickness to support anything.
Some more extensive deck replacement is going to happen to fix this issue, more to come when the steel comes in!
Here’s another battery charger designed for lithium chemistry cells, the BLU4. This charger doesn’t display much on it’s built in LCD, apart from basic cell voltage & charging current limits, as it has a built in Bluetooth module that will link into an Android or iOS app.
Above the charger is operating with 4 brand new cells, at a current of 500mA per cell. If only a pair of cells is being charged, the current can be increased to 1A per cell.
LCD
Not much in the way of user interface on the charger, a tiny LCD & single button for cycling through the display options.
Dataplate
The usual stuff on the data plate, the charger accepts an input of 12v DC at 1A.
Bottom Cover Removed
Removing the 6 screws on the bottom of the casing allows the board to be seen. Not much on the bottom, the 4 cell negative connections can be seen, with their springs for adjusting for cell length.
MOSFETs
There’s a couple of P-Channel FETs on the bottom side for the charging circuits, along with some diodes.
Main PCB
The main PCB is easily removed after the springs are unhooked from the terminals. Most of the power circuitry is located on the top side near the power input. There are 4 DC-DC converters on board for stepping the input 12v down to the 4.2v required to charge a lithium cell.
Second Controller
Not entirely sure what this IC is in the bottom corner, as it’s completely unmarked. I’m guessing it’s a microcontroller though.
DC Input Side
The top left of the board is crammed with the DC-DC converters, all the FETs are in SO8 packages.
DC-DC Converters
One pair of DC-DC inductors is larger than the other pair, for reasons I’m unsure of.
Bluetooth Module
Bluetooth connectivity is provided by this module, which is based around a TTC2541 BLE IC.
Microcontroller
Below the Bluetooth module is yet another completely unmarked IC, the direct link to the BLE interface probably means it’s another microcontroller. The Socket to the left of the IC is the connector for the front panel LCD & button.
LCD PCB
There’s not much to the LCD itself, so I won’t remove this board. The LCD controller is a COB type device, from the number of connections it most likely communicates with the micro via serial.
As the CO meter I bought on eBay didn’t register anything whatsoever, I decided I’d hack the sensor itself apart to make sure it wasn’t just an empty steel can. It turns out that it’s not just an empty can, but there are some reasons why the thing doesn’t work 😉
Cell Disassembled
The cell was crimped together under the yellow shrinkwrap, but that’s nothing my aviation snips couldn’t take care of. The photo above shows the components from inside.
End Cap
The endcap is just a steel pressing, nothing special here.
Filter
Also pretty standard is the inlet filter over the tiny hole in the next plate, even though it’s a lot more porous that I’ve seen before in other sensors.
Working Electrode Components
Next up is the working electrode assembly, this also forms the seal on the can when it’s crimped, along with insulating it from the counter electrode & external can. The small disc third from left is supposed to be the electrode, which in these cells should be loaded with Platinum. Considering where else they’ve skimped in this unit, I’ll be very surprised if it’s anything except graphite.
Counter Electrode
Next up is the counter electrode, which is identical to the first, working electrode. Again I doubt there’s any precious metals in here.
Backplate
Another steel backplate finishes off the cell itself, and keeps most of the liquid out, just making sure everything stays moist.
Rear Can & Reservoir
Finally, the rear of the cell holds the reservoir of liquid electrolyte. This is supposed to be Sulphuric Acid, but yet again they’ve skimped on the cost, and it’s just WATER.
It’s now not surprising that it wouldn’t give me any readings, this cell never would have worked correctly, if at all, without the correct electrolyte. These cheap alarms are dangerous, as people will trust it to alert them to high CO levels, when in fact it’s nothing more than a fancy flashing LED with an LCD display.
Ironically enough, when I connected a real electrochemical CO detector cell to the circuit from the alarm, it started working, detecting CO given off from a burning Butane lighter. It wouldn’t be calibrated, but it proves everything electronic is there & operational. It’s not surprising that the corner cut in this instance is on the sensor cell, as they contain precious metals & require careful manufacturing it’s where the cost lies with these alarms.
As I have posted about before, the main propulsion system onboard the boat is all hydraulic. To get the drive from the flywheel of the engine to the hydraulic pump stack, a custom drive plate was machined by Centa Transmissions over in Yorkshire, and a Centaflex A coupling was fitted to this.
Centaflex A Coupling
This coupling is a big rubber doughnut, bolted to a centre hub of steel. The steel hub is splined onto the input shaft of the hydraulic pump stack.
Pump Stack
The problem we’ve had is that to prevent the coupling from riding along the splines in operation, a pair of giant grub screws are provided in the side of the centre steel boss, that compress the splines to lock the device in place. These screws are a nightmare to get tightened down (the engineer from Centa who originally came to survey the system said we’d probably shear some tools off trying).
Because of this, the grub screws have loosened over the last 350-odd hours of running & this has had the effect of totally destroying the splines in the hub.
Spline Remains
Here’s the backside of the centre boss, with what remains of the splines, the figure-8 shaped gap on the right is where the securing grub screws deform the steel to lock the coupling into place.
No More Splines
Here’s the other side of the coupling, showing the damage. The splines have effectively been totally removed, as if I’d gone in there with a boring bar on the lathe. Luckily this part isn’t too expensive to replace, and no damage was done to the input shaft of the hydraulic pump stack (Mega ££££). Quite luckily, this damage got to the point of failure while running the engine on the mooring, so it didn’t leave us stranded somewhere without motive power.
The boat being over 50 years old, there are some parts that are suffering from rather bad corrosion. The bow deck plate is about the worst, so this is being replaced in it’s entirety.
However a hole has developed in the stern deck, this has rusted from the inside out due to condensation in the engine bay.
After Grinding
After taking a grinder to the area, this is how it looks. The steel has gone from 1/4″ to paper thin, not surprising after 50 years or so!
It would be a massive job to cut out the entire plate for replacement, so a patch was made from 5mm steel, and welded over the hole:
Patch
Here’s the patch partially welded. The holes closer to the bottom are another small area of damage, and another patch will have to be cut for this. It’s covering the deck drain channel so it’s frequently under water, so it’s inevitable that this section would corrode.
All that is left to do now is to finish off the welding, grind everything smooth & repaint.
I recently ordered a PSU to run one of the TVs I converted to 12v operation, and being an older TV, it’s a fairly heavy load at 6.5A. eBay to the rescue again, with a cheap 10A rated supply.
Power Brick
Like all similar supplies these days, it’s a SMPS unit, and feels suspiciously light for it’s power rating.
Cover Removed
Luckily this one is easy to get into, no ultrasonic welding on the case, just clips. Here’s the top cover removed, big alloy plate between the heatsinks.
PCB
The top heatsink plate was glued to the top of the transformer with silicone, some gentle prying released it. From the top, things don’t look too bad. There’s some filtering on the mains input & it’s even fused!
Primary Side
Here’s a closeup of the primary side of the PSU, the main DC bus capacitor is a Nichicon one, but it’s clearly been recovered from another device, look at the different glue on the end!
it’s also flapping about in the breeze, the squirt of silicone they’ve put on does nothing to stop movement.
Also here is the mains input fuse, filter capacitor & common mode choke. At least there is some filtering!
The main control IC is a UC3843B High Performance Current Mode PWM Controller, operating at a switching frequency of 250kHz.
The main switching transistor is visible at the bottom left corner, attached to the heatsink.
Secondary Side
Here’s the secondary side of the supply. The transformer itself is OK, nice heavy windings on the output to suit the high current.
It’s using proper opto-isolated feedback for voltage regulation, with a TL431 reference IC.
The output diodes are attached to the heatsink at the top of the photo, I couldn’t read any numbers on those parts.
The output filter capacitors are low quality, only time will tell if they survive. I’ll put the supply under full load & see what the temperature rise is inside the casing.
PCB Bottom
On the bottom of the PCB things get a little more dire. There isn’t really much of an isolation gap between the primary & secondary sides, and there’s a track joining the output negative with mains earth, which gets to within 2mm of the live mains input!
As with all these cheapo supplies, there’s good points & bad points, I will update when I’ve had a chance to put the supply under full load for a while & see if it explodes!
The latest addition to my radio shack is the GY561 frequency & power meter, which has already come in useful for measuring the output power of all my radios.
GY561
It’s a small device, roughly the same size & weight as a stock UV-5R. Power is provided by 3 AAA cells.
Display
The display is a standard HD44780 8×2 module. The display on this unit isn’t backlit, so no operating in the dark.
Cover Removed
The cover pops off easily to allow access to the internals, without having to remove any screws!
The 4 screws on the back of the unit hold the heatsink plate for the 50W 50Ω dummy load resistor.
Removing the cover reveals a couple of adjustments, for frequency & RF power calibration.
There are also 3 tactile switches that aren’t on the front panel. According to the manual (which in itself is a masterpiece of Chinglish), they are used to software calibrate the unit if an accurate RF power source is available. I will attempt to do a reasonable translation when time allows.
Disassembly further than this involves some desoldering in awkward places, so a search of the internet revealed an image of the rest of the internal components. In the case of my meter, all the part numbers have been scrubbed off the ICs in an attempt to hide their purpose. While it’s possible to cross-reference IC databooks & find the part numbers manually, this process is a time consuming one. Luckily the image I managed to locate doesn’t have the numbers scrubbed.
Total Disassembly
Under the LCD is some 74HC series logic, and a prescaler IC as seen in the previous frequency counter post. However in this unit the prescaler is a MB506 microwave band version to handle the higher frequencies specified.
In this case however the main microcontroller is an ATMEGA8L.
This is complemented by a SN54HC393 4-bit binary counter for the frequency side of things. This seems to make it much more usable down to lower frequencies, although the manual is very generous in this regard, stating that it’s capable of reading down to 1kHz. In practice I’ve found the lowest it reliably reads the frequency input is 10MHz, using my AD9850 DDS VFO Module as a signal source.
It did however read slightly high on all readings with the DDS, but this could have been due to the low power output of the frequency source.
Just like the other frequency counter module, this also uses a trimmer capacitor to adjust the microcontroller’s clock frequency to adjust the calibration.
The power supply circuitry is in the bottom left corner of the board, in this case a small switching supply. The switching regulator is needed to boost the +4.5v of the batteries to +5v for the logic.
Also, as the batteries discharge & their terminal voltage drops, the switching regulator will allow the circuit to carry on functioning. At present I am unsure of the lower battery voltage limit on the meter, but AAA cells are usually considered dead at 0.8v terminal voltage. (2.4v total for the 3 cells).
When turned on this meter draws 52mA from the battery, and assuming 1200mAh capacity for a decent brand-name AAA cell, this should give a battery life of 23 hours continuous use.
On the back of the main PCB is a 5v relay, which seems to be switching an input attenuator for higher power levels, although I only managed to trigger it on the 2m band.
Finally, right at the back attached to an aluminium plate, is the 50Ω dummy load resistor. This component will make up most of the cost of building these, at roughly £15.
On my DVM, this termination reads at about 46Ω, because of the other components on the board are skewing the reading. There are a pair of SMT resistors, at 200Ω & 390Ω in series, and these are connected across the 50Ω RF resistor, giving a total resistance of 46.094Ω.
This isn’t ideal, and the impedance mismatch will probably affect the calibration of the unit somewhat.
The heatsinking provided by the aluminium plate is minimal, and the unit gets noticeably warm within a couple of minutes measuring higher power levels.
High power readings should definitely be limited to very short periods, to prevent overheating.
The RF is sampled from the dummy load with a short piece of Teflon coax.
There’s a rubber duck antenna included, but this is pretty useless unless it’s almost in contact with the transmitting antenna, as there’s no input amplification. It might be handy for detecting RF emissions from power supplies, etc.
For the total cost involved I’m not expecting miracles as far as accuracy is concerned, (the manual states +/-10% on power readings).
The frequency readout does seem to be pretty much spot on though, and the ability to calibrate against a known source is handy if I need some more accuracy in the future.
I’ve also done an SWR test on the dummy load, and the results aren’t good.
At 145.500 MHz, the SWR is 3:1, while at 433.500 it’s closer to 4:1. This is probably due to the lower than 50Ω I measured at the meter’s connector.
These SWR readings also wander around somewhat as the load resistor warms up under power.
I’ll probably also replace the AAA cells with a LiPo cell & associated charge/protection circuitry, to make the unit chargeable via USB. Avoiding disposable batteries is the goal.
Following on from my review, here are some internal views & detail on the components used in this radio. Below is an overview of the main PCB with the top plate removed from the radio.
Cover RemovedRF Final Amplifier Stage
Most visible are these MOSFETs, which are Mitsubishi RD70HVF1 VHF/UHF power devices. Rated for a maximum of 75W output power at 12.5v (absolute maximum of 150W, these are used well within their power ratings. They are joined to the PCB with heavy soldering, with bypass caps tacked right on to the leads.
RF Pre Drivers
Here is the RF pre-driver stage, with intermediate transistors hidden under the small brass heatspreader.
Power Section
In the top left corner of the radio, near the power input leads, is the power supply & audio amplifier section. Clearly visible are the pair of LA4425A 5W audio power amplifier ICs, these drive the speakers on the top of the radio. Either side of these parts are a 7809 & a 7805 – both linear regulators providing +9v & +5v logic supplies respectively. The large TO220 package device is a KIA378R08PI 3A LDO regulator with ON/OFF control, this one outputs +8v. Just visible in the top right corner are the sockets for the speaker connections.
DTMF Circuits
Here are the two ICs for dealing with DTMF tones, they are HM9170 receivers.
Glue Logic
In the corner next to the interface jack, there are some CD4066B Quad Bilateral switches. These make sense since the interface jack has more than a single purpose, these will switch signals depending on what is connected.
RF Section
Here are visible the RF cans for the oscillators, the crystals visible next to the can at the top. The shields are soldered on, so no opening these unfortunately.
Also visible in this image is a CMX138A Audio Scrambler & Sub-Audio Signalling processor. This IC deals with the Voice Inversion Scrambling feature of the radio, & processes the incoming audio before being sent to the modulator.
Output Filter Network
Shown here is the RF output filter network, this radio uses relays for switching instead of PIN diodes, I imagine for cost reasons. The relay closest to the RF output socket has had a slight accident 🙂 This is slated to be replaced soon.
RF Output Jack
Finally, the RF output jack.
Audio Speakers
Here the speakers are shown, attached to the bottom of the top plate. They are both rated 8Ω 1W.
It’s official. I’m now part of the uRadMonitor network, & assisting in some of the current issues with networking some people (including myself) have been having.
It seems that the uRadMonitor isn’t sending out technically-valid DHCP requests, here is what Wireshark thinks of the DHCP on my production network hardware setup:
WireShark Screencap
As can be seen, the monitor unit is sending a DHCP request of 319 bytes, where a standard length DHCP Request packet should be ~324 bytes, as can be seen on the below screen capture.
Valid DHCP
This valid one was generated from the same SPI Ethernet module as the monitor, (Microchip ENC28J60) connected to an Arduino. Standard example code from the EtherCard library was used to set up the DHCP. The MAC address of the monitor was also cloned to this setup to rule out the possibility of that being the root cause.
My deductive reasoning in this case points to the firmware on the monitor being at fault, rather than the SPI ethernet hardware, or my network hardware. Radu over at uRadMonitor is looking into the firmware being at fault.
Strangely, most routers don’t seem to have an issue with the monitor, as connecting another router on a separate subnet works fine, and Wireshark doesn’t even complain about an invalid DHCP packet, although it’s exactly the same.
Working DHCP
As the firmware for the devices isn’t currently available for me to pick apart & see if I can find the fault, it’s up to Radu to get this fixed at the moment.
Now, for a µTeardown:
uRadMonitor
Here is the monitor, a small aluminium box, with power & network.
PCB
Removing 4 screws in the end plate reveals the PCB, with the Geiger-Mueller tube along the top edge. My personal serial number is also on the PCB.
The ethernet module is on the right, with the DC barrel jack.
PCB Bottom
Here is the bottom of the PCB, with the control MCU & the tiny high voltage inverter for the Geiger tube.
The engine now with it’s required ignition sensor, it is now mounted back on the chassis of the model. I have replaced the stock side exhaust with a rear silencer, so I could fit the ignition module in place next to the engine.
For the mounting, I fabricated a pair of brackets from 0.5mm aluminium, bent around the module & secured with the screws that attach the engine bed plate to the TVPs. The ignition HT lead can be routed up in front of the rear shock tower to clear all moving suspension parts, with the LT wiring tucked into the frame under the engine.
In this location the module is within the profile of the model chassis so it shouldn’t get hit by anything in service.
Rear Exhaust
New exhaust silencer fitted to the back of the model. This saves much space on the side of the model & allows the oily exhaust to be discharged away from the back wheel – no more mess to wipe up.
Kill Switch
The ignition switch fitted into the receiver box. This is wired into channel 3 of the TF-40 radio, allowing me to remotely kill the engine in case of emergency. I have fitted a 25v 1000µF capacitor to smooth out any power fluctuations from the ignition module.
The radio is running from a 11.1v 1Ah 3S LiPo pack connected to a voltage regulator to give a constant 6.5v for the electronics. I found this is much more reliable than the standard 5-cell Ni-MH hump packs.
Fuel Tank
The stock silicone fuel tubing has been replaced with Tygon tubing to withstand the conversion to petrol.
High Speed Needle
High speed needle tweaked to provide a basic running setting on petrol. This is set to ~1.5mm below flush with the needle housing.
Low Speed Needle
Low speed needle tweaked to provide a basic running setting on petrol. This is set to ~1.73mm from flush with the needle housing.
As petrol is a much higher energy density fuel, it requires much more air than the methanol glow fuel – ergo much leaner settings.
The settings listed should allow an engine to run – if nowhere near perfectly as they are still rather rich. It’s a good starting point for eventual tuning.
Here are a few details of a valve amplifier I am building, using the valve related parts from a 1960’s reel to reel tape recorder.
This amplifier is based on an a Mullard ECL82 triode/pentode valve, with an EM84 magic eye tube for level indication.
Beginnings Of The Amplifier
Here the first components are being soldered to the tags on the valve holder, there are so few components that a PCB is not required, everything can be rats-nested onto the valve holders.
Progress
Progressing with the amplifier section componentry, all resistors are either 1/2W or 2W.
Valve Sockets Fitted
Here the valve holders have been fitted, along with the output transformer, DC smoothing capacitor & the filament wiring, into the top of the plastic housing. At this point all the components that complete the amplifier section are soldered to the bottom of the right hand valve holder.
Wiring
Starting the wiring between the valves & the power supply components. The volume control pot is fitted between the valve holders.
Valves Test Fit
The valves here are test fitted into their sockets, the aluminium can at the back is a triple 32uF 250v electrolytic capacitor for smoothing the B+ rail.
Amplifier Section First Test
First test of the amplifier, with the speaker from the 1960’s tape recorder from which the valves came from. the 200v DC B+ supply & the 6.3v AC filament supply is derived from the mains transformer in the background.
Magic Eye Tube Added
Here the magic eye tube has been fitted & is getting it’s initial tuning to the amplifier section. This requires selecting combinations of anode & grid resistors to set the gap between the bars while at no signal & picking a coupling RC network to give the desired response curve.
Final Test
Here both valves are fitted & the unit is sitting on it’s case for final audio testing. the cathodes of the ECL82 can be clearly seen glowing dull red here.
In the final section, I will build a SMPS power supply into the unit to allow it to be powered from a single 12v DC power supply.
An ICL barcode scanner from the 80s is shown here. This is the top of the unit with cover on.
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
Closeup of laser scan motor. This unit scans the laser beam rapidly across the glass plate to read the barcode.
Controller PCB
View of the bottom of the unit, showing the controller PCB in the centre.
Scan Motor Driver
The 3-phase motor driver circuit for the scan motor. 15v DC powered.
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
This unit is date stamped 1987. The oldest laser unit i own.
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