module – Page 2 – Experimental Engineering

Posted on October 4, 2011 by The Engineer — Leave a comment

LED Lighting Part 1

Here I will document progress in replacing standard halogen MR10 lights with LEDs.

These units are from TruOpto, available through Rapid Electronics in the UK. They are 3W total, from 3x 1W emitters on an aluminium back plate.

Here is the LED attached to a heatsink for testing purposes – these units dissipate nearly 2W in heat at full output.

As the lights are to be run from a 12v battery bank, for simplicity a master regulator is required to provide a stable 11.4v rail for LED supply.

I have used a Texas Instruments part – PTN78020WAH. This is a 6A capable adjustable regulator module.

The LED lights are to be fully dimmable – the low voltage PWM dimmers are in progress of being built.

Posted on January 20, 2011 by The Engineer — Leave a comment

532nm DPSS Module

A quick post documenting a DPSS laser module i salvaged from a disco scanner. Estimated output ~80mW

Connection to the 808nm pump diode on the back of the module. There is a protection diode soldered across the diode pins. (Not visible). Note heatsinking of the module.

Driver PCB. This module was originally 240v AC powered, with a transformer mounted on the PCB with a built in rectifier & filter capacitor. I converted it to 5v operation. Emission LED on PCB.

Output beam from the module.

Posted on January 20, 2011January 20, 2011 by The Engineer — Leave a comment

Here’s my prototype 455nm laser head, constructed from the front section of an Aixiz module threaded into a heatsink from an old ATX power supply. This sink has enough thermal mass for short 1W testing.

Connection to the laser diode at the back of the heatsink. Cable is heat shrink covered for strain relief, & hot glued to the sink for extra strain relief.

Looking down the beam, laser is under the camera. Operating around 1.2W here

Camera looking towards the laser. Again operating at ~1.2W output power.

Posted on January 20, 2011 by The Engineer — Leave a comment

Power Pack Regulator Update

To help make my system more efficient, a pair of switching regulators has been fitted, the one shown above is a Texas Instruments PTN78060 switchmode regulator module, which provides a 7.5v rail from the main 12v battery pack.

A Lot like the LM317 & similar linear regulators, these modules require a single program resistor to set the output voltage, but are much more efficient, around the 94% mark at the settings used here.

The 7.5v rail supplies the LM317 constant current circuit in the laser diode driver subsection. This increases efficiency by taking some voltage drop away from the LM317.

The 7.5v rail also provides power to this Texas Instruments PTH08000 switchmode regulator module, providing the 5v rail for the USB port power.

Posted on December 11, 2010 by The Engineer — Leave a comment

Marmitek Gigavideo 30

Here is a Marmitek Gigavideo 30 2.4GHz wireless video transmitter, has a receiver paired which will be uploaded shortly. Here is a view of the antennae, the large flat one being the 2.4GHz directional, the whip antenna possibly performing IR relay functions for the remote control.

For all those interested, here’s the bottom label.

The top cover removed reveals the main PCB. Big metal can is the RF transmitter circuitry. was encapsulated circuitry below that looks like an FM modulator for the whip antenna. Big TO220 package on heatsink is a LM7805 5-Volt regulator for the transmitter module.

These units work fantastically well when the antennas are aligned properly, at a decent range, however, they do have a nasty habit of doubling as a very effective WiFi LAN jammer.

Posted on August 26, 2010 by The Engineer — Leave a comment

Motorola V360v

Here is a more modern phone, the Motorola V360v. Features include Dual screens, 640×480 VGA camera, full col

our TFT Main LCD, SD-Micro slot.
Here on the back the grey scale LCD can be seen, with the camera lens to the right of the Motorola logo

Here the phone is opened showing the keypad & the full colour TFT LCD display.

Here the battery is removed from the unit, showing the SIM connector. The antenna cover is still on at the bottom.

The antenna cover has been removed in this shot, the antenna is the white section at the bottom, With the loudspeaker & the external antenna connector hidden at the right.

Here is the main PCB. Parts from left are the Bluetooth module at the top, supplied by Broadcom, the SD Card socket at the bottom. Main CPU next to that is the Freescale SC29343VKP. Above right of the CPU is the Freescale SC13890P23A Charger, Power & Audio IC. Below is the SIM card socket. Under the main CPU is the Intel Flash memory IC. ICs inside the shields are the RF sections for transmit & receive.

Rear of the display unit showing the monochrome LCD. The camera module on the bottom left. Ear speaker on the far right of the unit.

Main colour TFT LCD.

Camera module removed from the LCD unit.

The vibration motor attached to one of the LCD looms.

Posted on July 31, 2010August 1, 2010 by The Engineer — 2 Comments

Current Cost ‘Envi’ CC128 Power Meter

This is the Current Cost CC128 Real Time Power Meter. Shown here is the display unit, British Gas issued these free to some customers.
This unit measures current power draw in Watts, cost of power currently being used (requires unit price to be set), overall kWh usage over the past 1, 7 or 30 days & power trends during the day, night & evening. Also displays current time & current room temperature.

Here the front panel of the display has been un-clipped. At the bottom are the RJ-45 serial port & power connections.
This unit uses a PIC micro-controller as it’s CPU (PIC18F85J90) Just above & left of the CPU is the 433MHz SPD radio receiver module. The chips on the right of the CPU are a 25LC128 SPI serial EEPROM for data storage & a 74HC4060 14 stage binary counter, to which is connected the 32kHz clock crystal. The red wire around the top of the display is the antenna for the radio receiver.

For more info on the CC128 in general, the serial port & software for computer data logging, see this link
See this link for Current Cost’s list of software

Closeup of the ICs on the mainboard.

Here we have the transmitter unit, with Current Transformer (CT). The red clamp fits around one of the electric meter tails & read the current going to the various circuits. This unit is powered by 2x D cells, rated at a life of 7 years.

The PCB inside the transmitter. Again very minimal design, unknown controller IC, 433MHz radio transmitter on right hand side with wire antenna. Two barrel connectors on left hand side of board allow connection of up to two more CT clamps for measurement of 3-phase power. Centre of board is unmarked header. (ICSP?)

CT unit. Inside is a coil of wire & an iron core which surrounds the cable to be measured.

PIC18F85J90

Tag: module