Misc. HamsterTracker™ Geekin' Projects

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Day 173 current treadmill total: 196,551.50 meters! (19:45 CET)

Geekin' the Scanner-Fix

The HamsterTracker™-Geek dept. hasn't been sitting still.

There is a broken HamsterTracker™-scanner to fix.

As it seemed I did shove USB plug in it, wreckin' it, along the way,
simply because I didn't use the supplied cable.

Sounds fair...
But on HamsterTracker™-account: we do have a lot of those USB cables!

Here's the fix:

" The scanner dismantled... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Department

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-Scanner.

" As you can see,
the USB connector has come loose ... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Department

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-Scanner.

" So we mounted an extention cable.
Using two cable-ties as a 'cable-block'.
(you can't pull the cable out of the case with these two ties) " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Department

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-Scanner.

" This extention cable is soldered to the original USB connector.
(kept together with a cable-tie.) " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Department

This (Sadly) didn't do the trick

" More drastic measures. " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Department

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-Scanner.

" The USB cable directly soldered to the extention-cable. " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Department

Unfortunately all the Scanner-revalidations where in vain...
The led does light up after plugging it in,
then the scanner remains response-less.

" We guess it should go to 'Scanner-heaven'... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Department

Can't win them all !
Can you?

It was fun to try, though...

While doin' all this,
I gave Lucy some (ordinary) piece of bread

( " This variety got lot's of seeds in it,
I personally love this buttered with lot's of Gouda cheese " - Mathijs )

My hamster Lucy (3.0) chewin' a piece of bread.

" SCAN THIS!
Dude ! " - Lucy

Wednesday, January 2, 2008

Day 188 current treadmill total: 201,357.69 meters! (18:15 CET)

Geekin' Seasons holiday project: Fixin' the LCD (part 1)

You might already know that the HamsterTracker™-Server supplies data for
the Point of Sale Display.

The HamsterTracker™-Hardware is also equipped with a LCD-display,
which displays todays treadmill distance,
as well as the total distance.

This enables a quick glance of Lucy's total statistics,
without having to activate the HamsterTracker™-monitor and looking it up.

We are hoping to save energy this way.

Unfortunately, the connector was a bit dodgy from the start,
as well as it's malfunction after the upgrade to the new HamsterTracker™-Server.

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" Removing the HamsterTracker™-Hardware... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" You can't believe how dusty this gets after three years... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" These are the problem areas;
the connector of the LCD display has some bad connections... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" We used an old toothbrush to clean
the top of the circuitboards,
as well as all aluminum plating and wires.

[ Work in progress here... ] " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" So we tried to patch those bad connections... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" This sadly didn't work,
so we removed the whole connector.

This way we can hook up the LCD display directly. " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Fortunately all these setbacks didn't keep Lucy awake:

My hamster Lucy's reaction to the LCD-Fix.

" I *know* you'll get it right ... Dude ... ! ...

ZZZ ... zzz ... ZZZ ... " - Lucy

To Be Continiued...

Monday, January 21, 2008

Day 207 current treadmill total: 207,504.12 meters! (19:25 CET)

Geekin' Seasons holiday project: Fixin' the LCD (final part)

I started to blog about this gem of a project on january 2nd, 2008,
but I didn't finish it....

We left off then, by cutting off the (faulty) LCD-screen connector,
what we didn't show it that the HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept. actually
pulled out the Ol' HamsterTracker™-server,
(Known to acually work with this hardware :)
to simplify testing...

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" Yes it still runs Windows 98 ... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Nice and Geeky Setup

Isn't it?

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" Here's the ribbon-cable (of the LCD-screen),
(minutes after) soldering it on the main-board... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" Using a rib-tie;
it's secured to the main-board... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

We used the rib-tie as soon as it gave a sign of life,
using the Ol' HamsterTracker™ server...

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" It got then hooked it up to the new Dream Machine,
Et Voilà ! " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Since then it's been running flaweless !

[ Knock on wood ]

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" It shows the latest update time,
last session speed and today's distance,
as well as total distance. " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

There is also a software version:

( This is for easy software-development,
then I don't need to run back and forth
to check the status of the LCD-screen
[ AND it was fun to program ] )

Fixin' the HamsterTracker(tm)-LCD display.

" Note the similarity with tha 'real thing'.
The controls on the left, control the cursor! (which is currently not displaying, note the 'None')

The extra "m" (top line, on the right) is a software bug, it is not hardware-related,
[ Else it wouldn't show up on the emulator above ]

We should really clear the line first,
BEFORE displaying the updated data. " - HamsterTracker™-Geek Dept.

Which got us to notice:

Lucy only ran 0.53 meters today (time of writing: 19:25),
which is not really a lot,
when askin' Lucy,
she responded...

My hamster Lucy's reaction to the LCD-Fix.

" I am reeeeeee---aly.... ZZZ ... buuuu---sy .... zzzz ... rrrrright now .... ZZZ

ZZZ ... zzz ... ZZZ ... " - Lucy

" Please note, Lucy's left hand supporting her face." - HamsterTracker™-Observation Dept.

(I am inclined to saying (reasonably loud) : " PINE-SEEDS ANYONE ? " as you read this :)

Monday, June 16, 2008

Day 354 current treadmill total: 235,505.94 meters! (19:10 CET)

Geekin' Maintenance Fun at HamsterTracker™

Last week the FT100 - Point of Sale Display started to goof up seriously.
Between displaying Lucy's and HamsterTracker™-Website statistics,
it was displaying a a whole lot of nonsense, hundreds of characters at one go.

After checking the HamsterTracker™-Software that is controlling it,
it took a little while to deduce that the power supply was causing this.

This 220 Volt AC to 5 Volt regulated powersupply,
was outputting a solid 1.15 Volts when I measured it (with my new Volt-meter).
So it was time to open it up, (assembled when I was 14 years of age, opening it approx. 27 years later):

Fixing the FT100 (Point of Sale) Power Supply.

" This old beauty has powered a lot of projects ... " - Mathijs

Fixing the FT100 (Point of Sale) Power Supply.

" Opening it ... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek-&-Fix Dept.

Fixing the FT100 (Point of Sale) Power Supply.

" Getting all the stuff ready; Multi-Meter, Solder Iron, Solder & Screwdrivers ...
Together with some obligatory pliers ... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek-&-Fix Dept.

Fixing the FT100 (Point of Sale) Power Supply.

" After opening:
the powersupply cable connection broke (1)
as well as the problem area became apparent (2) " - HamsterTracker™-Geek-&-Fix Dept.

The heating and cooling off,
has (over the years) worn down the (2) connection,
thereby outputting only a slight part of the total power.

Fixing the FT100 (Point of Sale) Power Supply.

" Here it is all (re-)soldered again. " - HamsterTracker™-Geek-&-Fix Dept.

Fixing the FT100 (Point of Sale) Power Supply.

" Re-Assemblin' ... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek-&-Fix Dept.

Fixing the FT100 (Point of Sale) Power Supply.

" It has been running since this fix ... " - HamsterTracker™-Geek-&-Fix Dept.

Then Lucy asked:

My hamster Lucy inspecting the repaired FT100.

" Tell me it DOESN'T show Pine-Seed consumption, Dude ! " - Lucy

" It [ (un-)fortunately ] doesn't. Dear Lucy ! " - Mathijs