Reading the 24LC256 in the Zenith DTT900Reading the 24LC256 EEPROM in the Zenith DTT900 without removing it from the board doesn’t work. It wouldn’t have gotten me much anyway. Really, only the initial program of the FPGA. Oh well.
Also, here’s a more detailed photo of the micrograbbers on the chip.
Inside of the Zenith DTT900Remember back when I got my DTV Deputy certificate? Well, today the DTV2009 coupon arrived, so I went out to Circuit City, waited an infuriating 15 minutes to pay, then acquired a Zenith DTT900 DTV converter box (photo gallery retired). I haven’t actually tried it yet, but I did tear it apart.
So, want to see the inside of a DTV converter? Click here (photo gallery retired).
Hrm. It looks like I’m going to be doing contract assembly of two Sequentix P3s for $300/each. One is the very original old case kit, the other is the newer design. One of the guys may want me to build up a modular for him as well…
This should satisfy my wanting-to-assemble-something itch, while at the same time getting me a bit bigger savings account.
Maxrad BMM24005ML195NF and RP-SMA to Male N PigtailWhen checking the mail after (a long and rather satisfying day at) work I found that the RP-SMA to male N pigtail (adapter cable) I had ordered last week had arrived. With this fitted to my Maxrad BMM24005ML195NF antenna and connected to the back of the computer everything in the Trashwall is in place. I may reformat it once in order to test my posted config files (and to restore the CF to a fresh, clean state), but it’s otherwise set.
Now, time for the next project. I think that’ll be tearing into
Oh, and the trailer hitch should be in on Thursday, so I’ll try and get that installed on Saturday afternoon. For now I’ll just keep enjoying sipping this lovely glass of New Holland’s Espresso Love.
Gah. I’d forgotten what a chore it is to open a Civic’s dash, particularly in cold weather when the clips are harder.
At least I’m now half done. The old Honda Music Link cable has been removed from my dash, and now I can begin the process of selling a second one (my first, original one). Then I’ll be completely done with any HML-related work.
Honda / Acura Music Link for AuctionI just listed one of my Honda Music Links for auction on eBay, as discussed yesterday.
If you are interested in it but want to make me an offer outside of eBay, please do so. Otherwise, bidding starts at $1 and lasts for 7 days.
Hrm…
I’m very tempted to buy a USA Spec PA11-HON2y and an iPod touch.
The PA11-HON2y would be put in the car, replacing the custom interface I’d made, but using the same iPod holder. The iPod touch would then replace my iPod.
I could then sell the Honda Music Link(s) which I now have and my old iPod on eBay.
This would do a couple of things:
· Get a project off my back (REing the HML’s firmware) and I could abandon it without feeling wasteful.
· Get back some (most?) of the money spent on these projects.
· Put a better quality iPod interface in my car, with next/previous track support. My current setup is also somewhat susceptible to engine noise when the iPod is disconnected.
· Get me a portable data device for checking maps and such while traveling.
On the downside, it’d move me from a 30GB (which is plenty sufficient) iPod to a 16GB, which might be a little tight. Then again, I can wait until MacWorld to see if a 24GB or 32GB is announced.
It’d also be something new to do. Yay!
UPDATE: Hmm… I can get the PA11-HON2y for $119.95 with free shipping via eBay. It’d be best to tear the dash open only once, and that would give me time to remove the remaining cable(s) from the Honda Music Link while cabling this one in. Hmm…
USA Spec PA11-HON2y Installed in a 2004 AccordSo, long story short,
The install went great and while I don’t have many photos of the installation, I did write up a review of the PA11-HON2y.
In short, it’s a pretty nice device which does exactly what it claims to do: provide a basic iPod input to OEM head units, and provide a basic level of control (next / prev track, ff/rw, pausing when turning off the vehicle or switching away from the iPod).
I have a strong suspicion that the other USA Spec interfaces work in a very similar manner (see here for why), so even if you have a non-Honda vehicle, you may want to look at these interfaces if you are looking for a way to hook an iPod to your head unit.
15pF caps cobbled into Ben’s TV-B-GoneSo, that TV-B-Gone problem from last night is sorted. Just after coming in from shoveling snow† I remembered that I had an 8MHz crystal hanging out on the EasyPIC 4 I acquired about a year ago (photo gallery retired). I just dropped the crystal on the board, squeezed in some 15pF caps on the back of the board (not sure if these are the right value, but they should be close enough), and tested it. As expected, it was now working. Also, because we used no-clean flux there wasn’t anything more to clean off. That was quite nice.
To make it a little more pocket-friendly I put some 1″ Harbor Freight Special heatshrink tubing around the main part of the body. This makes it nice and smooth, and parts are less likely to be accidently torn off. (Danielle accidently knocked one of the transistors off… Oops… This will get replaced next time I order something from Mouser or Digi-Key.)
Anyway, it’s working good now. Now it just has to get back to Lapeer and in
† This is normally handled by the condo association, but because of the heavy snowfall I decided to do my porch and in front of my garage myself, instead of waiting for the snow clearing company to get to it.
Wrong Resonator with TV-B-GoneAt first I thought this might be okay, as a new v1.1 of the kit was released, and I figured that maybe the BOM hadn’t been updated. However, after things didn’t work, I did a bit more digging and realized that it’s just the wrong part. The microcontroller won’t even run at that 16MHz speed, the firmware says that 8MHz is required, etc.
That’s now a total of three kits I’ve ordered from there, two of which had missing parts. I hope I’m the only customer with these issues.
