How to See in The Dark

If you want to be able to see in the dark you can pick up a maglite and shine it every where you want. But if you don't want other people to know you are there you have to figure out an other way to be able to see using a lightbeam others can't see. in otherwords build your own night vision scope.

what do you need:
- a viewfinder from an old camera.
- an old 380 line black and white camera
- six Infrared LED's
- three 15 ohm resistors

Step 1The viewfinder

i

• 
• 
• 

The viewfinder I used for this night vision scope. Was taken from a CANON UC4000 V8 Camcorder. The Camera was broke but the viewfinder is stil very usefull.

The viewfinder used to be connected to the camera with 5 cables.
When I started measuring them I noticed that I just needed the first three cables those where.
- +5 volt
- Ground
- video-in

ATTENTION:
The viewfinder contains a 0.7 inch picture tube, a high voltage power supply and some calibration pots. The size of this module is only 2,5 x 5 cm.
Therefore the  high voltage power supply could for the picture tube could cause serious injury if you touched it.

This is why in attached new cables to those connection points en put the viewfinder back together.

Now our output device is ready.

Step 2The camera

i

After some searching I found a 380 line black/white camera in my garage which was solderd on a piece of stripboard and used a 5 volt power supply (thats nice the same votage as my view finder). This camera cannot see in the dark but it can see IR light (which is invisible for the human’s eye). So fore the record this night vision scope is not an image intensifier this scope needs an Infrared light source.

(Sometimes manufactors put a filter in the lens which blocks the infrared light when you work carefull jou can remove it as described in my Instructable Turning an old webcam into a Night vision cam

Step 3The illuminator

i

For the illuminator I used 6 High Power Infrared Emitter, type SFH4550.

Some specifics on these IR LED's:
- Current: 100 mA
- Wavelength: 860 nm
- Radiant Intensity: 700 mW/sr
- viewing angle: 3 degrees
- voltage: 1,5 Volt
- Diode Case t-1 3/4 (5 mm)

I used the stripboard that was attached to the camera as a base for my illuminator which i made by connecting 2 times 3 LED's in series (3 * 1.5 volts = 4,5 volts) to make it work in my system that has to run on 5 volts becaus of the viewfinder and the camera, I had to place a 5 ohm resistor before the LED's to make the powerdrop I placed 3 resistors of 15 omh in parallel.

Step 4Connect and enjoy

i

After connecting the viewfinder to the camera en connected all the power and ground cables I could see in the dark using the light of the Infrared LED's.

I am stil searching for a case to put it in and when i do I will deside what kind of battery i will use en design a circuit for battery power to the 5 volt working power of the electronics in my scope.

Images of the completed Night vision scope will be added after i have found a nice case to put it in.

Unforunatly i can't let you see what the image looks like when you look trough the night vision scope, But i can gaurantee that it works great.

Happy spying.

Read more »

Panelizing PCBs for Seeed Using Eagle Free / Light

• 
• 

Some PCB fab houses (like SeeedStudio, with their Fusion PCB service) will allow you to panelize smaller PCBs.  For example, if you have a 2.5cm x 5cm board, you could panelize two of them on to a single 5mm x 5mm PCB.  Or, put a 7cm x 7cm board and a bunch of 3cm x 3cm boards onto a 10cm x 10cm panel.  Seeed will allow up to 5 sub-boards on a panel.

The freeware and light versions of Cadsoft Eagle limit the design area of the PCB to 10cm x 8cm.  This is enough to do many projects, but when you want to try and panelize to fill a 10cm x 10 cm board, it won't work.  Plus, maintaining separate projects and updating them on the panel, and maintaining consistency of labels and reference designators can be a pain.

In this Instructable, I will show you an easy way to merge Gerber files generated from Eagle (or any other EDA tool) in a way that Seeed Studio will accept them for panelizing with their Fusion PCB service.  I will be using the SARduino644 v1.0 board shown below as an example.

Step 1Design Board and Render Gerbers

i

This has been covered elsewhere.  Sparkfun has a set of particularly good tutorials.  Note that Seeed requests that you put your order number on the silkscreen layer somewhere, so you might want to consider placing your order before going through the render/check cycle.

When you're happy with your board, and it passes Seeed's design rules, use the Seeed CAM processor to generate the Gerbers for your PCB.

When you're done, you should end up with the following files:
<board>.GTO - top silkscreen
<board>.GTS - top soldermask
<board>.GTL - top copper
<board>.GBO - bottom silkscreen
<board>.GBS - bottom soldermask
<board>.GBL - bottom copper
<board>.TXT - Excellon drill file.


Before you proceed, you should check the Gerbers carefully to make sure everything looks right *before* combining them into a panel, this will save time later if you find a problem.  I like to use the online gerber viewer provided by CircuitPeople.  You can make a zip of all the files and upload them in one go, and they will all be rendered to image files.

Step 2Install Gerbmerge and Patch for Seeed

Rugged Circuits has created an excellent program for merging gerber files, called, not unexpectedly, gerbmerge.  This program will merge gerber files onto a panel with a layout you can specify.

Go download the latest version (currently 1.8) and install it.

In order to accept panelized PCBs, Seeed requires an outline for the entire panel to be present on all layers, otherwise, they will offer to change your order for multiple, separate boards, which defeats the entire purpose.  Out of the box, v1.8 of gerbmerge does not support rendering the outline of the entire panel to all layers.  However, I have successfully patched it to include this support.  I have submitted this patch to the folks at Rugged Circuits, and they are considering including it in the next release.  Until then, you'll have to apply it manually.  But it isn't hard...

The latest patched version is in this gerberge-patched github repo.  To patch your installation, find the installed files (for example, look for a gerbmerge folder in C:\Python<version>\Lib\site-packages\ on Windows, or in /usr/lib/python<version>/site-packages on Linux).  Then apply these patches: https://github.com/space-age-robotics/gerbmerge-patched/commit/5078c7b33439912c465fb33fc0082b82cfac3687#diff-0 to the config.py and gerbmerge.py files.

If you're worried about messing up your installation, feel free to make a backup copy of the gerbmerge folder before you proceed.  You might also consider setting up your merge configuration and layout first, and then adding the patch once you have it producing the output you want, so you have more confidence in the output.

Step 3Define your panel configuration

i

The panel configuration file defines the source gerber files for each PCB, and specifies the details of the merged gerber output.  Here is an explanation of some values you may want, from the SARduino644 panel configuration, which you can find in full here: https://github.com/space-age-robotics/SARduino/blob/master/panel.cfg

# I always use the local directory to contain all input gerbers, config files, and output files
projdir = .
# MergeOut is the prefix of the output files.
MergeOut = merge2

# CutlineLayers will determine where the subboard markings are, which will help in separating them.  These are the accentuated lines between the two instances of the board in the image below.
CutLineLayers = *topsilkscreen,*bottomsilkscreen

# OutlineLayers is used by the patched gerbmerge, it defines which layers the entire panel outline will be drawn on.  Seeed requires this on all layers.
OutlineLayers = *toplayer,*bottomlayer,*topsilkscreen,*bottomsilkscreen,*topsoldermask,*bottomsoldermask

# here you can specify the maximum dimensions allowed by the Seeed PCB service you ordered (in inches).
# gerbmerge will warn you if your final panel (based on your layout) exceeds these dimensions.
PanelWidth = 3.93
PanelHeight = 3.93

# comment out the margins or set them to zero if you want the maximum amount of useable area on your panel.
#LeftMargin   = 0.1
#RightMargin  = 0.1
#TopMargin    = 0.1
#BottomMargin = 0.1

# spacing determines how much space between the panels.  I found 0.0625 to be plenty of space for a band-saw blade, I may reduce it a hair in the next run.
XSpacing = 0.0625
YSpacing = 0.0625

# if you define the merge output files to be in the filename scheme that Seeed requires, you won't have to rename them by hand later.
[MergeOutputFiles]
Prefix = %(mergeout)s
*TopLayer=%(prefix)s.GTL
*BottomLayer=%(prefix)s.GBL
*TopSilkscreen=%(prefix)s.GTO
*BottomSilkscreen=%(prefix)s.GBO
*TopSoldermask=%(prefix)s.GTS
*BottomSoldermask=%(prefix)s.GBS
Drills=%(prefix)s.TXT
BoardOutline=%(prefix)s.bor
ToolList = toollist.%(prefix)s.drl
Placement = placement.%(prefix)s.txt

# Job configuration - for each different sub-board, define a section like follows with the subboard name (used in the layout file) and the gerbers comprising that job.
[SARduino_644]

Prefix=%(projdir)s/SARduino_644

# List all the layers that participate in this job. Required layers are Drills
# and BoardOutline and have no '*' at the beginning.  Optional layers have
# names chosen by you and begin with '*'. You should choose consistent layer
# names across all jobs.
*TopLayer=%(prefix)s.GTL
*BottomLayer=%(prefix)s.GBL
*TopSilkscreen=%(prefix)s.GTO
*BottomSilkscreen=%(prefix)s.GBO
*TopSoldermask=%(prefix)s.GTS
*BottomSoldermask=%(prefix)s.GBS
Drills=%(prefix)s.TXT
BoardOutline=%(prefix)s.BOR

Step 4Define your panel layout

i

This is a layout file that defines a panel of one row, one column, with two SARduino_644 jobs (matching the job name in the config file).  The result is that there are two instances of the board in the panel, one above the other.

Here is the file in the repo:  https://github.com/space-age-robotics/SARduino/blob/master/panel.layout

Row {
    Col {
        SARduino_644
        SARduino_644
    }
}

Defining layouts is very simple, and the instructions are excellent.  Gerbmerge also has basic auto-layout capability, see the fine documentation for more details.

panel.layout52 bytes

Step 5Generate Panel Gerbers and Check

i

• 
• 

To generate the panel, invoke gerbmerge as follows, with the panel configuration file first, and the layout file second, for example:

path/to/python path/to/gerbmerge.py panel.cfg panel.layout

You will first be presented with a warning about the lack of warranty, as in the first image below.  Enter 'Y' to continue.
You should then shortly see output like in the second image below.

Have a look at the output in your favorite gerber viewer, to make sure the results are as you expected.

Repeat from step 1 until you are happy with the results.

Step 6Order PCBs

i

Follow all of Seeed's instructions for faster processing.  As mentioned earlier, you may want to place your order before you go through the panelizing process, so that you can add your order number to the silk layer as required.

Step 7Separate PCBs from Panel

i

• 
• 

Once you have your boards, you need to cut them apart.  I found that a bandsaw worked well, there was plenty of room for the blade between the boards, and I had a good guide that made a perfect edge.  After cutting them, I cleaned up the cut edges by running them by hand over a (powered off!) belt sander.

Read more »

How I built a Solar iPhone Charger for under $50.

To see my personal site with these tutorials and news, please visit http://www.BrennanZelener.com

**DISCLAIMER**

I am not responsible for any damage that you may cause to your iPhone or any device that you use with this charger. I can not stress the importance of checking your circuits with a multimeter enough, and I can assure you that I've done so at every step in this build process. Your phone is a very expensive device. Treat it like one!

Intro and Design:

Over the past month or so, I've been working on designs for a stationary solar iPhone charger. By stationary I mean a charger that will be kept in a fairly permanent place. I bring mine with me if I'm going to be camping or staying somewhere for a while, but it's really not meant to be portable.

This isn't only a solar iPhone charger. You can use it with any device that will charge via USB. I just happen to use it to charge my iPhone. Also, this design doesn't include a battery in the circuit - which means that you'll have to charge your iPhone when the sun is out and shining. I know it's a serious inconvenience, but adding a battery makes the circuit much more complex - and is a bit more costly. I'll be following up this design with an update on how to add a battery conveniently into this circuit.

The idea behind this panel is that it's simple (and cheap!). You don't have to have any prior circuit knowledge,or familiarity with electronics. I'm really just stepping out of the novice stage as far as soldering is concerned, so this is a great beginner project for just about anyone!

Step 1Tools and Materials

i

As I say in the title, I built this charger for just a bit less than $50. That doesn't include the cost for tools and a few of the materials that were salvaged, but if you spend enough time on eBay you should be able to build yours for the same amount, if not less.

Let's take a look at what was used to build the panel.

Tools:

Soldering Iron w/ Solder and Flux
Needle Nose Pliers
Wire Cutters/Stripper
MultiMeter (IMPORTANT)
Materials and Prices:

Part/Material ------------------------------------- Source ----------------- Cost

10 Watt Solar Panel ----------------------------- eBay -------------------$41.45 w/ shipping
7805 5Volt Regulator ---------------------- RadioShack ------------- $1.59
iPhone/iPod Cable ------------------------------ eBay ------------------ $1.20
USB Extension Cable -------------------------- eBay ------------------ $3.00 w/ shipping
Red/Black small-guage wire --------------- On Hand --------------- Free
Electrical Tape --------------------------------- On Hand --------------- Free
Small Zip Tie ----------------------------------- On Hand --------------- Free

---

Step 2The Panel

i

• 
• 
• 
• 

This Solar Panel is a 10W panel made by LaVie Solar. You can check out their website, but your cheapest bet is to use eBay. Their eBay user ID is lavie-inc. I snagged a pretty great deal at $41.45. The panel has a really sturdy build quality. It has an aluminum frame, and seems to be entirely weatherized. I wouldn't have too much of a problem leaving it in the rain. Also, All of the wiring has been done for us which saves a LOT of time. They even put a blocking diode into the connection on the back, so we don't have to worry about that in our circuit.

The panel has an output rating of 21.6 Volts (Open Circuit) and .62Amps (Short Circuit). These are optimal ratings, but when I tested my panel in direct sunlight, that's almost exactly what I got.

As far as efficiency goes, this is not the ideal panel to be using as a direct USB charger. We'll be loosing a lot of energy as heat when we regulate the 20V output down to 5V to match USB standard. However, using a larger panel means that there will be more current flowing even when there's not a lot of sun. I've even seen my iPhone charging when the solar panel is in the shade!

Step 3The Simple Circuit

i

• 
• 
• 

After gathering all of the materials, I sat down and got to work.

I cut 2 pieces of Black wire and 2 pieces of Red Wire. The lengths were around 5-6 inches. Then, I cut a little bit less than an inch off both ends of each wire.

With my black and red wires ready, I cut my USB extension cable in half and stripped the cut half of the female end to expose all of the individual wires. There are 4 wires in all USB cables- Green, White, Red, and Black. The Green and White wires are for data, so those are not needed. I snipped the Green and White wires, along with all of shielding and fiber - leaving only the Red and Black wires coming out about an inch and a half from the USB cable. I stripped a little bit less than an inch off the Red and Black wires on my USB extension.

Since the 5V regulator only has one Ground pin, I used the two black wires that I cut initially- to make the soldering a little bit easier. I took both of my black wires, along with the black wire coming from my USB extension, and twisted them all together carefully and securely. I put some solder on that connection to make sure that all of the wires stayed together. Then, to keep things safe, I covered the 3-way connection with electrical tape.

Once all of the wiring was prepped, it was time to put the 5V regulator into the equation. Soldering wires onto the tiny pins from the 5V regulator can be a task. I used a small Zip Tie to hold my wires to the 5V regulator to make things much easier. It really helped - I was able to do pretty clean solder jobs on each of the pins. Since neither of the red wires were connected to anything, it didn't matter which ones I soldered to which pins. Just make sure you know that if your 5V regulator is laying flat, the input pin is on the bottom, and the output pin is on the top!. I also bent the pins in opposite directions to keep everything separate.

The fantastic part about this charger is that we're already done with our circuit. Once I was done soldering to my 5V regulator, I connected the Red wire from the Output pin on the regulator - to the Red wire coming from my USB extension cable. Now, I only had 2 wire ends left. A Red wire connecting to the input pin on my 5V regulator, and a Black wire connecting to the regulator's Ground Pin and my USB extension cable.

Step 4Connect the Circuit to the Panel

i

Since the LaVie Solar Panel has a pretty simple connection panel, pinching the Black and Red wires to the right screws on the panel was easy!

Step 5Test the Charger!

i

• 
• 

I used my MultiMeter to measure my Input voltage that was going into my 5.00V regulator. about 20V @ 0.50A Good!. Then, I measured the output voltage coming from my Regulator. The reading was 5.00V @ 0.50A Perfect!. Those readings meant that everything was working correctly. Watch out, that 5V regulator gets hot when electrons are flowing through it!

Fully convinced that everything was working as it should be, I covered all of my open wires with electrical tape, took a deep breath, and plugged my iPhone in.

IT'S CHARGING!

Step 6Conclusion

i

In future designs, I'll definitely be adding a battery so that you can charge your devices at a more convenient time. I'd also like to make a more portable version of this charger. With all of the new solar technology, flexible panels are bound to cheapen up sometime!

Read more »

USB Iphone Ipod Dynamo Charger

• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

No outlet in sight? Do not worry pull out your very own USB Dynamo (wind up) Charger! Going Green could not have been so easy! This is a step by step guide on how to Build, Test, and Perfect your Green USB Dynamo! Please don't forget to Rate and Vote on the Pocket-size Contest.

Step 1Planning:

i

Looking around online there is no small Dynano USB Charger on the market. The smallest one available is made in Australia and measures 112(W) x 47(W) x 23(D)mm and can fit in a big pocket. My quest is to build a truly pocket size Low cost USB Windup Charger. Where to begin?

Step 2The Options:

i

• 
• 

Options are good. Looking online there are many ways to build a dynamo charger. Some good and some bad. (very very bad) Here are some of the best options:

1) Dynamo charger plus an Any volt micro step up step down voltage regulator (picture below). On Ebay there are many windup chargers for prices as low as $2.50 shipped.
Advantage:Low cost and easy to buy. Micro Any volt is a great little circuit that can take 2.6-14 volts and step up/down to 2.6-14 volt output.
Disadvantage:Some are poorly made and have bad electronics.

2)Dynamo Charger plus 7805 voltage regulator.
Advantage: Cheap and easy to build.
Disadvantage: Excess electricity is made into heat and has to be dissipated with heat sink. (hot hands?) Have to build a 7805 regulating circuit. (Google 7805 voltage regulator for more information)

3)Dynamo Charger plus USB Car Charger
Advantage: Very easy to build, All parts can be bought locally. Two wire connection
Disadvantage: Cases have to be modified to accept each other

Option one is the best in my option, But due to back orders I was not able to build this model. In this instructable I will guild you to building the easiest of the options, Number 3 and hopefully post the others in a later edition.

For more information about the any volt Micro please visit: http://www.dimensionengineering.com/AnyVoltMicro.htm

Step 3The Right Stuff:

i

• 
• 
• 

The muscle:
Searching on ebay I can across a dynamo charger made for black berry cellphone. The Dynamo chargers cost 5 dollars shipping included (Ebay's seller info :Elec.expert)

The brains:
On a local trip to TJ max I ran across a Griffin USB charger and bought it for this project. This item has great body lines and is very small, that is what sold me on this item . The Griffin Charger can also take a range of power input, so cranking does not have to be at a constant rate. You can use a 7805 Voltage regulator to do the same, but why reinvent the wheel if somebody has already built it for you?

Step 4The doctor says "Open up"

i

• 
• 
• 

To open the USB charger, use a small Phillips head screw driver and unscrew all 4 screws. Two flat head screw drivers can the be used to carefully pop open the case. Now look closely, there are two small connection point about 1/3 down the circuit board (from the 12V plug side). Griffin Might have put these two hole on the board for another project, But in our case they work great as a connection point for the generator. Get a knife and cut right shy of this point. After cutting the board. Measure and cut the black case as well. do not screw the case back together yet.

Step 5Cutting the Dynamo Case

i

Now to accept the USB Car charger cut the Dynamo Charger case. Where the electronics used to fit is now going to be removed for the USB car charger. Look at the picture below for a better understanding. I used an old soldering iron to cut the case. If you do not have an old soldering iron, use a sharp knife and/or a dremel.

Step 6Soldering the Wire and Fusing the Cases

i

• 
• 

Now with the cases cut down to shape, solder wires from the motor to the USB Car Charger and test if the unit works. Screw the Black case together. If working, Use you Soldering iron to fuse the cases together. This step is very important and will made your USB wind up charger strong and professional.

Hint: Use the extra cut plastic as binder to strengthen the bonds between the two cases.

Step 7Sanding & Painting:

i

• 
• 

After welding the cases together, sand them down to make a seamless professional product. Cover USB plug and light. Paint the charger your favorite color. I choose a light green to give my product a more earth tone.

Step 8Size Matters:

i

• 
• 
• 
• 

Here is a couple of pictures of the Dynamo Charger Compared to Orbits Gum.

Step 9The final product & future plans:

i

• 
• 

Over all I would give this project fro a scale 1 to 5 (1 easy-5 hard) a 2. Over all this is the easiest Dynamo project that I have done. Build this project in a week end and save the world! Maybe not the world, but when you are in a pinch and need some power this product will come to your aid.

Testing:
-About 2 minutes of winding increases the power level on my iphone about 1%.

-If you iphone is dead, about 5 minutes of cranking will bring it back to life


Future plans:

Building a wind-up&solar charger to put in the window at work/home to charge my iphone off the grid. How novel! Having the phone that makes you the most connected but charges with no wire attached.
Please contact me if you have any question comment or fun Ideas!

Read more »