Here’s one of the old modems from my spares bin, a Vodafone Mobile WiFi R207. This is just a rebranded Huawei E5330. This unit includes a 3G modem, and a WiFi chipset, running firmware that makes this a mini-router, with NAT. The back has the batter compartment & the SIM
Yesterday, the Raspberry Pi community got a nice surprise – a new Pi! This one has some improved features over the previous RPi 3 Model B: Improved CPU – 64-Bit 1.4GHz Quad-Core BCM2837B0 Improved WiFi – Dual Band 802.11b/g/n/ac. This is now under a shield on the top of the
Continue readingRaspberry Pi 3 Model B+ Initial Tests & Benchmarks
Another random teardown from the junk box time! Here’s an old Motorola DECT landline phone, no use to me as I’ve not used a landline for many years. Not much on the back, other than the battery compartment for a pair of AAA rechargables. The base unit contains the charger.
Here’s a quick look at one of the now surplus cards from my old networking system, a MiniPCI Wireless interface card. This is an older generation card, one of the first with Wireless N support on 2.4GHz. Network PHY & firmware EEPROM. Power supply stuff is over to the left.
Continue readingAlpha Networks WMP-N06SA MiniPCI Wireless N Card
Since the boat was still running it’s internal network on 10/100M speeds, an upgrade was decided on, the internal WiFi signal strength was also pretty poor further than a few feet from the NOC. The new router is a Cisco/Linksys AC1750 model, with gigabit networking, and full 802.11ac 2.4/5GHz Wireless.
With every piece of Chinese electronics I obtain, mainly Baofeng radios, they come with a Europlug-type power adaptor, and a universal plug adaptor for the mains. The charger units aren’t too bad, there’s a fair amount of isolation between the primary & secondary, and even though they’re very simple &
Here’s a rather unique device for protecting safes & vaults from attack by thefts. It’s an Aritech VV602 seismic detector, based on piezoelectric sensors. Not surprisingly, this unit is covered in tamper sensors as well. There are several different sensor types in use: Piezoelectric vibration sensing Thermal sensing Magnetic sensing
Here’s the teardown of the projector itself! On the right is the info label from the projector, which covers the flex ribbon to the VGA/composite input board below. This unit is held together with Allen screws, but is easy to get apart. Here’s the insides of the projector, with
Continue readingMicroVision ShowWX+ HDMI Laser Pico Projector
Here is a 2Gbit Fibre Channel transceiver from Cisco Systems in SFP module format. Here the shield has been removed from the bottom of the module (it just clips off). The bottom of the PCB can be seen, with the copper interface on the
Here are the internals of a cheap Microwave/Convection Oven combo. Electronics bay is pretty much the same as a standard microwave, with the magnetron, transformer & diode/capacitor voltage doubler, with the addition of an extra fan & a pair of nichrome elements to provide the convection oven function. Convection blower
An old Xircom Ethernet card for a laptop. This uses the old 50 pin PCMCIA interface. Rear of the card with the MAC address & card spec details. PCB removed from the outer shield. Xircom ethernet chipset centre. Special socket on the right fits a RJ-45 adaptor lead. 00
Pocket sized GPS navigator. Here is shown the greyscale dot matrix LCD. Serial interface on the back of the unit. Pinout from left is +3v, Rx, Tx, GND. PCB Removed from the casing. RTC backup battery in the centre of board, CPU & flash ROM on the left. GPS chipset
Another phone from the mid 90s. This is the nokia 7110. Here the slider is open showing the keypad. Here the battery is removed, a Li-Ion unit. The battery cell & protection circuit removed from the casing. This is the rear of the PCB removed from the housing. Data &
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. Here the battery is removed from the phone, showing the SIM card socket. At the top under the antenna stub is