tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-44720009377320720792024-03-14T03:17:56.395+11:00blog.ambor.comThe only normal people are the ones you don't know that well...amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.comBlogger55125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-71021430267490777992024-02-27T10:16:00.002+11:002024-02-27T10:17:15.111+11:00ISO 8601 Formula in Excel<p></p><p>I had to do this and then spent way more time Googling it than just writing it from scratch. Everyone seems to want to do the reverse (parse an ISO 8601), but in my case I want to create it from the current date. Here it is:</p><p><span style="font-family: courier;"> </span></p><p><span style="font-family: courier;">=TEXT(NOW(), "yyyy-mm-ddThh:mm:ss") & "+10:00"</span><br /></p><p></p><p> </p><p>NOTE: You need to manually adjust the "+10:00" at the end of that to your actual Time Zone. <br /></p><p>I think the main issue is that Excel doesn't have a
built-in function to automatically include the time zone in a formatted
string, so you'll have to manually add the time zone offset. <br /></p><p>For time zones behind UTC, you would use a minus sign (e.g., "-05:00" for Eastern Standard Time).</p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-32145664412721397002022-12-10T22:23:00.004+11:002022-12-22T22:43:40.416+11:00Abarth 595 (and Fiat 500) cruise control retrofit / install<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A7Py2sJlRl_W_QdBEJQv1vlDz7f5T4wfb7IypoWrDHFkPI23i4h7Wex7KCoFPMwEgwz3xxTIaFmkCDFPx0E3iYKHkp7zTN5XpdugJCxL0YR9B6d9IjXuuSYuMFMx8VmOBaE8hGKZaxn3hcy_-kYxTrQK-Jn8yq0keNEClQx80DVAWdz4OUVo3In3/s4032/IMG_1792.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh4A7Py2sJlRl_W_QdBEJQv1vlDz7f5T4wfb7IypoWrDHFkPI23i4h7Wex7KCoFPMwEgwz3xxTIaFmkCDFPx0E3iYKHkp7zTN5XpdugJCxL0YR9B6d9IjXuuSYuMFMx8VmOBaE8hGKZaxn3hcy_-kYxTrQK-Jn8yq0keNEClQx80DVAWdz4OUVo3In3/s320/IMG_1792.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>While the Abarth is a car meant for spirited performance driving, sometimes you do need to go from A to B where B is far away and cruise control makes that much more pleasant.<p></p><p>The last time I did a <a href="https://www.ambor.com/world/text/cruzefaq.txt">cruise control retrofit</a> was in 1996 on a 1994 VW Golf LE which also oddly didn't come with it. The VW retrofit used official VW parts, but I haven't come across an official FIAT retrofit kit.</p><p>Instead I went with the CANM8 kit available here: <a href="https://www.canm8.com/cruise-control-systems/fiat-cruise-control/precision-cruise-fiat-500.html">https://www.canm8.com/cruise-control-systems/fiat-cruise-control/precision-cruise-fiat-500.html</a>. I have no relationship with CANM8 other than being a satisfied customer. When you order the kit they send you a PDF file with the installation instructions which is copyright, so I won't reproduce it here. There is also an error in it anyway which I will cover below.</p><p>You can click on any of the images to enlarge them. The installation took me about 2 hours going slowly and methodically and also taking tons of photos. If I were to do this again, I could probably do it in an hour.<br /></p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_zkvRO1b3cQ6DznTaG9IsLvqHRdU9vyqrLCRYof-vORgmIdLSM-RMagz2gEKkJtjrLB9BbN9Oa-exh22h9X9FHBdNatmV2JMZxlfgTmjTnT73-jXFxIqo7hcjGQDMVjgE6jgjESXWTOaazRJCXHzSSa2IV7UQAMxtQrtRynytVJBrliy194BINlse/s4032/IMG_1791.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_zkvRO1b3cQ6DznTaG9IsLvqHRdU9vyqrLCRYof-vORgmIdLSM-RMagz2gEKkJtjrLB9BbN9Oa-exh22h9X9FHBdNatmV2JMZxlfgTmjTnT73-jXFxIqo7hcjGQDMVjgE6jgjESXWTOaazRJCXHzSSa2IV7UQAMxtQrtRynytVJBrliy194BINlse/s320/IMG_1791.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Step 1 - Unbox and ensure you have all the correct parts. In my case I ordered the "<label class="required">Optional In-Line OBD Data Harness" to avoid having to modify any wiring on the harness. I also had to specify my model year and that I had a manual transmission. </label></div><p></p><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">In this photo you can see the pedal interface on the top left, the OBD Data Harness on the top right, the "brain" in the middle and the stalk on the bottom. The stalk needs to be threaded through a small hole so they left the ends un-terminated but you'll see later on that it's easy to push the wires into the correct terminals which are also provided.</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJHYaKP8EdqrJpjjRBxT7B_aYLeeBGE34oYm2oYJrPyJ-uaQXnC78mB5uKY13W8sQh8uW5yl6JUhVViCf9_xo0s9b8cQmjG3VMveWDQXF1y_A8vsTOW_ysaOHhFhaYDJi0Y6-GncESAT9gnGCYmKdHvy7wqT4AfHbgpphZDauOb_IlpkAwd-Gq_-_/s4032/IMG_1804.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwJHYaKP8EdqrJpjjRBxT7B_aYLeeBGE34oYm2oYJrPyJ-uaQXnC78mB5uKY13W8sQh8uW5yl6JUhVViCf9_xo0s9b8cQmjG3VMveWDQXF1y_A8vsTOW_ysaOHhFhaYDJi0Y6-GncESAT9gnGCYmKdHvy7wqT4AfHbgpphZDauOb_IlpkAwd-Gq_-_/w150-h200/IMG_1804.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div>Step 2 - Pop the bonnet and disconnect the cable from the negative terminal of the battery. This is easier than on other cars I've worked on as it has a quick release mechanism.<p></p><p style="text-align: left;">To be extra safe you can put it in a plastic bag so that it can't move and make contact with the battery. You basically want the electrical system of the car de-energised.</p><p style="text-align: left;"></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXc94EtVqbrrtHCrWcsbCR14wnzm_nECcYyBSR6U3--k8z8-J5XEDNAhmezysn-R6jaTka53sg_c4630HphGTCpN0pXWXb2pw9tNIRM45EME3oYxIXGzIRD8DJJXimHv48XgOJL80SB0AsuvjeXgwxKGp9pRMAHc9LJI0p-qUdl-j_I_KecN3mzYT/s4032/IMG_1794.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizXc94EtVqbrrtHCrWcsbCR14wnzm_nECcYyBSR6U3--k8z8-J5XEDNAhmezysn-R6jaTka53sg_c4630HphGTCpN0pXWXb2pw9tNIRM45EME3oYxIXGzIRD8DJJXimHv48XgOJL80SB0AsuvjeXgwxKGp9pRMAHc9LJI0p-qUdl-j_I_KecN3mzYT/w200-h150/IMG_1794.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div>Step 3 - Pull the panel that covers the OBD port which on a RHD car will be on the right of the steering wheel. If you ordered the optional in-line OBD data harness, you simply plug it in as per my photo. If you did not, then you need to use the cable terminated at one end with a two pole connector and unterminated at the other end. The red wire goes to OBD pin 6 and the black wire goes to OBD pin 14. This should be soldered, but there are solderless ways of doing it as well with crimped connectors.<br /><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Step 4- Connect the accelerator pedal harness. First you need to carefully remove the existing cable from the pedal assembly. <br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQRKmP6YBstkQhPVWcBRnf0SBtEPsUiQhzWxJx5aal_KtEVAyxKQc1rRq5AXvmxm50ZLZa8qr77l0aa7RFgpWv20iNrMb4w7_3qFJETbr3ng8pLlIsAPm7djNB5YmwkBxNRqJmF98YPH8ZX8R2VNWgLnsZjVPXZxxoagRjuQOyBNEGBuJi5H455uv/s4032/IMG_1795.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSQRKmP6YBstkQhPVWcBRnf0SBtEPsUiQhzWxJx5aal_KtEVAyxKQc1rRq5AXvmxm50ZLZa8qr77l0aa7RFgpWv20iNrMb4w7_3qFJETbr3ng8pLlIsAPm7djNB5YmwkBxNRqJmF98YPH8ZX8R2VNWgLnsZjVPXZxxoagRjuQOyBNEGBuJi5H455uv/s320/IMG_1795.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>You can see the wires entering into the black box above the pedal.<br /> <p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gcnE45F4LrIAQ4WH991Ej0FCS0bSfyurng73ySb5tO3AfWIMELG9yfc0YsYrocqoajCIkEKY1hiPv1vZpYiphImgIjJXVAFJxpo06MzV_gzQqWPv32_B8J_RxdPRp56EbNxgGiX-XQ_YIwZgeWGGnxr9Bg2QrAn9lKg87VNA0SPtqtY0v5V5Yvwo/s1920/IMG_0135.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3gcnE45F4LrIAQ4WH991Ej0FCS0bSfyurng73ySb5tO3AfWIMELG9yfc0YsYrocqoajCIkEKY1hiPv1vZpYiphImgIjJXVAFJxpo06MzV_gzQqWPv32_B8J_RxdPRp56EbNxgGiX-XQ_YIwZgeWGGnxr9Bg2QrAn9lKg87VNA0SPtqtY0v5V5Yvwo/s320/IMG_0135.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p style="text-align: left;">There is a white clip that holds it in place, this needs to be slid up. In my case it completely came off, make sure you don't lose it. This is what it looks like when removed.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigt4Go8t8gYCZ8uU2WPQGV-vYwZnPlOzy91H9zgDC42i9dgMDSfiMUhG2YxvV8Mf3-mfs_QBWXEDlAJOjYCKPF51GrnHi8vgwHmGwLhACjyxeJhqh-9w9IqvHZ5PoFo6MeIiXT22Iun0ANcj4_bNDGcU8F9Q-PDzQ2Mkg33xHJeZgpWdpGwcHHjYRL/s1920/IMG_0137.JPG" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1080" data-original-width="1920" height="180" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigt4Go8t8gYCZ8uU2WPQGV-vYwZnPlOzy91H9zgDC42i9dgMDSfiMUhG2YxvV8Mf3-mfs_QBWXEDlAJOjYCKPF51GrnHi8vgwHmGwLhACjyxeJhqh-9w9IqvHZ5PoFo6MeIiXT22Iun0ANcj4_bNDGcU8F9Q-PDzQ2Mkg33xHJeZgpWdpGwcHHjYRL/s320/IMG_0137.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><p>Here is the cable once removed</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9oqP3X57YMsfIkC6ZauNZO2nICvSVIZxAzSsQrqUvZXd8IoGzPBipUcGEkAajLB7INmJbvc6PdG4gQMiuCoWdeS3bi45dfVtSh5pB-W6qIm4DCy58poK7c5wWuNojkkBKwbC-qPWKhDaBCdZuHsojRiQtUKMHlC3XPI1o6O7nBKx3zl0Vu94Glb-/s4032/IMG_1796.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjU9oqP3X57YMsfIkC6ZauNZO2nICvSVIZxAzSsQrqUvZXd8IoGzPBipUcGEkAajLB7INmJbvc6PdG4gQMiuCoWdeS3bi45dfVtSh5pB-W6qIm4DCy58poK7c5wWuNojkkBKwbC-qPWKhDaBCdZuHsojRiQtUKMHlC3XPI1o6O7nBKx3zl0Vu94Glb-/s320/IMG_1796.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>Here is the socket at the top of the pedal with the cable removed<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UPKkkXePeaNci7ih0VtvwCIQfIvg-V9_B_g5V3sldtW5759FmfY215cKfjn_Ugo-GYa9O1CbfuNaPlbAPEqGFDcZEjkebODt7YcBvBEGVuwzgvR7Y7-iWDGGe9v0-roMVHE_9woOEjDrn9HFGBNXwVvi1vV0LdVG7ECz1ryKFy4iGDIH06pzJH_z/s4032/IMG_1797.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-UPKkkXePeaNci7ih0VtvwCIQfIvg-V9_B_g5V3sldtW5759FmfY215cKfjn_Ugo-GYa9O1CbfuNaPlbAPEqGFDcZEjkebODt7YcBvBEGVuwzgvR7Y7-iWDGGe9v0-roMVHE_9woOEjDrn9HFGBNXwVvi1vV0LdVG7ECz1ryKFy4iGDIH06pzJH_z/s320/IMG_1797.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>And voila, it's basically just plug and play to put the kit harness in place. I also replaced the white locking clip.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_Ce_kAtASAHyZZ6B5AtzZBQPeA5NkAquGlJZJMAXsVeROfD078NwoC4VZp1mVL1-_DeLgpyFlWpmPJ3ci---rJE7vWxIteg6f3OJejAXAY4pkcr2MFKdGTs3eg6FOiRTS51lRkhTpqXNwlXPoXE8fYSy7Q_rQSMDspUbM2XSOmzOjHNwNp4McD2W/s4032/IMG_1798.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD_Ce_kAtASAHyZZ6B5AtzZBQPeA5NkAquGlJZJMAXsVeROfD078NwoC4VZp1mVL1-_DeLgpyFlWpmPJ3ci---rJE7vWxIteg6f3OJejAXAY4pkcr2MFKdGTs3eg6FOiRTS51lRkhTpqXNwlXPoXE8fYSy7Q_rQSMDspUbM2XSOmzOjHNwNp4McD2W/s320/IMG_1798.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>I waited until the end of the whole install before zip tying everything neatly out of the way.</p><p>Step 5 - Install the stalk. First you need to remove the bottom of the steering wheel column collar. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-8jroxbKHasK1o5g_GlUhJ47pniZmLvA4BWfptWc94Ot1TmuWLatVv-lb7UevmhVUdJPMJmHWcjTbIUsXH3K10BnwdCmNeye-8dfm384X2JZ7IPZniNEPSDc2YF_b89N4ABztZnQPJIlfoIZA8fF_PiMzHv2s4LUfX6Fre-gzN5SRvDZ-970nynZ/s4032/IMG_1799.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo-8jroxbKHasK1o5g_GlUhJ47pniZmLvA4BWfptWc94Ot1TmuWLatVv-lb7UevmhVUdJPMJmHWcjTbIUsXH3K10BnwdCmNeye-8dfm384X2JZ7IPZniNEPSDc2YF_b89N4ABztZnQPJIlfoIZA8fF_PiMzHv2s4LUfX6Fre-gzN5SRvDZ-970nynZ/s320/IMG_1799.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Basically it's just the two Phillips screws in those prominent holes.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDl8OxLlS6AZEAG5mXsPDSGp3WthLGQSFmOnhDyfqqw6k80h3lEI-RNxPBD-Xfqjajp6YngF7g7kdohLQZ6IsbYMoZqUswvvouf9uPa5hOL9KYe9frgq7AgLv3e5KXbActWbiYkCM6VDn5RwMxxPF9q1iJG8GHVs_se5HyuV2Ytaws6guD0nAJgfL/s4032/IMG_1800.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtDl8OxLlS6AZEAG5mXsPDSGp3WthLGQSFmOnhDyfqqw6k80h3lEI-RNxPBD-Xfqjajp6YngF7g7kdohLQZ6IsbYMoZqUswvvouf9uPa5hOL9KYe9frgq7AgLv3e5KXbActWbiYkCM6VDn5RwMxxPF9q1iJG8GHVs_se5HyuV2Ytaws6guD0nAJgfL/s320/IMG_1800.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Once the two screws are out you need to pry the bottom half of the collar off. I would use a plastic tool from a trim kit to avoid damaging the plastic. It does require a bit of force and makes a worrying snapping sound when it frees up. This is what will greet you inside.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTOG3OFE-AtCYvhTW5CJGdGi0t8jUT5dtBpGCGfu6GIlENkQ6h_i78SFmRb8_6vSaoIv4_v14hPrpWJyPSy8UGoRvtgR_RBr3u2eoOpz379MrAQ4KyUvA7tkU_F6NuwSxRKDsBet5NqkYtp1QZiOQLr0mN0pbfLCWlXMg_yS8afq-G5vZvFqicTJp/s4032/IMG_1801.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpTOG3OFE-AtCYvhTW5CJGdGi0t8jUT5dtBpGCGfu6GIlENkQ6h_i78SFmRb8_6vSaoIv4_v14hPrpWJyPSy8UGoRvtgR_RBr3u2eoOpz379MrAQ4KyUvA7tkU_F6NuwSxRKDsBet5NqkYtp1QZiOQLr0mN0pbfLCWlXMg_yS8afq-G5vZvFqicTJp/s320/IMG_1801.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Pull out the 3 pole connector which has the orange switched power line on it.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wWv2V20js5lDviIu3I80yKPrKWX3cq1CHaGFNS9U80WA5eDQIxYJKuajD5kZJpBLly88CXQTc-3c8fnx1UzsI2EO_zeVpWhSBefEETN_4mDiDoh3vWeBTy_ZwfbJWI-u7NmTDQwrtlRf8idn3mXXbehwSXEjnszLu8YG7lujQEnRXnlC7C7_pNBc/s4032/IMG_1802.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4wWv2V20js5lDviIu3I80yKPrKWX3cq1CHaGFNS9U80WA5eDQIxYJKuajD5kZJpBLly88CXQTc-3c8fnx1UzsI2EO_zeVpWhSBefEETN_4mDiDoh3vWeBTy_ZwfbJWI-u7NmTDQwrtlRf8idn3mXXbehwSXEjnszLu8YG7lujQEnRXnlC7C7_pNBc/s320/IMG_1802.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>You need to clear away a bit of insulation and solder the red wire from the kit to the orange wire. </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRY27pUjGHOto2CerwV_DeZ5XJDIbUGU4WgLfeIqT55hEcVMhMGjZJtkAoJilJQ4buOsp9fX_tYYDK2URlqUcv3fvLhUq5FOSRZ7ptWUvGC01-p7tOdLhQZX9I4QY2t8ITQl9W4d1Z9zd4TxQbAupXyPt2kbb-9tnh7soScFviCVt36diyNgs43pOM/s4032/IMG_1806.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRY27pUjGHOto2CerwV_DeZ5XJDIbUGU4WgLfeIqT55hEcVMhMGjZJtkAoJilJQ4buOsp9fX_tYYDK2URlqUcv3fvLhUq5FOSRZ7ptWUvGC01-p7tOdLhQZX9I4QY2t8ITQl9W4d1Z9zd4TxQbAupXyPt2kbb-9tnh7soScFviCVt36diyNgs43pOM/s320/IMG_1806.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><b>There is an error in the instructions. They make reference to a black wire which was not supplied. Ignoring that instruction has no effect. The black wire is meant to go to the chassis ground. They may have updated the kit to no longer need that connection.</b><br /><p>I then carefully re-insulated the wound with electrical tape, pulling the original factory tape over that and then zip tying everything as a form of strain relief.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH6Tp6VWAqbvClnt1TdzOd23AcIPKpBMjPdEx-0vJkVGHWEjychAnjxW2UWHhdmD5yOWIz-lmHexp_-MGbTWJ63SymYSn6yHIccMfqaxnIpVqUtOm7e5GMhN98X25ye_yTIWdD3-rpYNHhWEsBGZgz9oNVYl8ZUjSwrSgXyRRRqD22uZN5-jv7Y4fL/s4032/IMG_1807.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH6Tp6VWAqbvClnt1TdzOd23AcIPKpBMjPdEx-0vJkVGHWEjychAnjxW2UWHhdmD5yOWIz-lmHexp_-MGbTWJ63SymYSn6yHIccMfqaxnIpVqUtOm7e5GMhN98X25ye_yTIWdD3-rpYNHhWEsBGZgz9oNVYl8ZUjSwrSgXyRRRqD22uZN5-jv7Y4fL/s320/IMG_1807.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>Next you have to drill a 10mm hole where you want the stalk to go. Keep in mind that there will be part of the stalk protruding into the column as well as some wiring. You also need to make sure the stalk will be easily reachable and not be in the way of your knees as you drive. I put mine there as you see in the photo below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bGsvye58s27nuAkRvuy47XUVGioVlLgczOswi3tfVh80lbBBpA3TmAeoctXmHy94ngfrda5Gw1-CTo_jOAyykogpCjwAbDMuEJwMyqyoQbh5HKWfdqb8DUNzMSjyP1XUwX8YwdbyXq4ETq6CXUjcaPslTOkHtZ4t8lbabrGTmZdOD8E8Bcd5eN58/s4032/IMG_1808.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4bGsvye58s27nuAkRvuy47XUVGioVlLgczOswi3tfVh80lbBBpA3TmAeoctXmHy94ngfrda5Gw1-CTo_jOAyykogpCjwAbDMuEJwMyqyoQbh5HKWfdqb8DUNzMSjyP1XUwX8YwdbyXq4ETq6CXUjcaPslTOkHtZ4t8lbabrGTmZdOD8E8Bcd5eN58/s320/IMG_1808.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>You then have to remove the parts of the stalk mounting mechanism that needs to be on the inside of the collar.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aD8hBO8zxxTymX5gvVhO4KHeoVlmKwMz5ji33jOrOlEcrFZp7p6hJlxM1DHTZNQ_ME9cAyLzYkZEykYTL71UieoT-xAwLNHt4qpPlZwpLvMa_8hUcV3yRQsMWJo8TtlIaUMI9R-RwiIsSU88SWtqXeMa1YjUtOvXIJvt0dK0s_7ocg7fnWMQhn1d/s4032/IMG_1810.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5aD8hBO8zxxTymX5gvVhO4KHeoVlmKwMz5ji33jOrOlEcrFZp7p6hJlxM1DHTZNQ_ME9cAyLzYkZEykYTL71UieoT-xAwLNHt4qpPlZwpLvMa_8hUcV3yRQsMWJo8TtlIaUMI9R-RwiIsSU88SWtqXeMa1YjUtOvXIJvt0dK0s_7ocg7fnWMQhn1d/s320/IMG_1810.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>And now you can pass it though the hole that you drilled</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUasC4X_xupLN-sAYcoI6I8fjozgtXY2i7dpYbWt21C4zTG-mmH-5fcFJFAehD0Kk9Yy0soL9uK0c7c4vFgI2WCjUbzJsBK8VQsPCeO4HlQXYr6pHJMIcptgShiHuRCa5zU2TnoZmeyKS4F6-mDxg3ba36SvBBei0zVBev1okecYXNFrVcSjRU0Xe/s4032/IMG_1811.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJUasC4X_xupLN-sAYcoI6I8fjozgtXY2i7dpYbWt21C4zTG-mmH-5fcFJFAehD0Kk9Yy0soL9uK0c7c4vFgI2WCjUbzJsBK8VQsPCeO4HlQXYr6pHJMIcptgShiHuRCa5zU2TnoZmeyKS4F6-mDxg3ba36SvBBei0zVBev1okecYXNFrVcSjRU0Xe/s320/IMG_1811.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIGdQL4-YU7VWGbIrSu-75YmuQg8AijDtjSxh6VMmFzB7G-KmCuqXwr4edWZDy7aAy4ifWRCcR4yBHAUK8vV7vaWWh8pwsbQyq36yce3y69dBd9BwmUC26fA_d_P61zvTv5BJUFq_Km-LnALM1sCzTcDDcqNIfG2NF1Lk52C4OuTk3uxAePIR21sK/s4032/IMG_1812.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisIGdQL4-YU7VWGbIrSu-75YmuQg8AijDtjSxh6VMmFzB7G-KmCuqXwr4edWZDy7aAy4ifWRCcR4yBHAUK8vV7vaWWh8pwsbQyq36yce3y69dBd9BwmUC26fA_d_P61zvTv5BJUFq_Km-LnALM1sCzTcDDcqNIfG2NF1Lk52C4OuTk3uxAePIR21sK/s320/IMG_1812.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Next you follow the instructions on putting the lose wires into the connectors (they press in and then lock). Make sure you do it right the first time or it is a pain to remove the connectors once they are locked in (probably you need to cut them out and start completely again). When complete it will look like this.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoMqIhjkkuRbn9jwvX-CprAItiQkykLN9wn0evuybyhSAD5GpAs_yaPB_jRTpbhBEq4yPI0Jf0W-MiC7eDsfGeXpVy2Mbci3KJz6I7BkAyAIFDd6JLc1nWVkTOVXQBv0OVnvBhwg5JfqFgP1fSzNTCHcf5u0spp4dwWsmzLPSpCOy6xFlAhMHoE1D/s4032/IMG_1813.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXoMqIhjkkuRbn9jwvX-CprAItiQkykLN9wn0evuybyhSAD5GpAs_yaPB_jRTpbhBEq4yPI0Jf0W-MiC7eDsfGeXpVy2Mbci3KJz6I7BkAyAIFDd6JLc1nWVkTOVXQBv0OVnvBhwg5JfqFgP1fSzNTCHcf5u0spp4dwWsmzLPSpCOy6xFlAhMHoE1D/s320/IMG_1813.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>The red/black pair at the bottom go to the OBD port. The thin orange, white, black, green and red wires go to the stalk and the thicker green, red, yellow, brown, white and red wires go to the pedal harness.</p><p>There is also a connector on the other side of the module which I presume is a programming / firmware update / diagnostics port.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5X21Lbmh0O04DQxMDfc6VN36sPMrxXHaPqoDJuPFs3_QeK1buk5OnJW6rIerOO2RmYsj6CgNfjeS1enFxKDLs9erkj9m8bTeDiefFv517lgYscF68kE33hmAeE3TolpeqPkhXXxZ6xnY1uvNorBq4OcRD-LXm6ZOPE_kG_kco3tZzpaKnS7pA5N2A/s4032/IMG_1803.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5X21Lbmh0O04DQxMDfc6VN36sPMrxXHaPqoDJuPFs3_QeK1buk5OnJW6rIerOO2RmYsj6CgNfjeS1enFxKDLs9erkj9m8bTeDiefFv517lgYscF68kE33hmAeE3TolpeqPkhXXxZ6xnY1uvNorBq4OcRD-LXm6ZOPE_kG_kco3tZzpaKnS7pA5N2A/s320/IMG_1803.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>This is how the stalk looks in my installation.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYwuqlClps1Bm62_8hYBsSMGA8Z9-FUc_EipQKNitUOFWPCBkaEIbnw33q4Mr1YJC00cowTrFdmbJRyEiptoczZiMzaWZDmtreoJmJhimknf1a9wit1Rcr3RgFgsTEwVxMS_RHrB_Kiw6ec1m5IpkIL9K8hh7gr8wHTSLm0ixDgqYS-k6D-27Zmqd/s4032/IMG_1814.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQYwuqlClps1Bm62_8hYBsSMGA8Z9-FUc_EipQKNitUOFWPCBkaEIbnw33q4Mr1YJC00cowTrFdmbJRyEiptoczZiMzaWZDmtreoJmJhimknf1a9wit1Rcr3RgFgsTEwVxMS_RHrB_Kiw6ec1m5IpkIL9K8hh7gr8wHTSLm0ixDgqYS-k6D-27Zmqd/s320/IMG_1814.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQwUXY85rIft3q_5dRI4oBaGcdO8GhJ20gWoFjegNV0a2LbF_chGvms-_1RMSGnc9Nvh4qu01zLrPdpPBjYasZUhBE8R9lA4Bjw4Hnp3_pHq9iHFLVCaqdesWUciLdbzqqPxJm3-T1miCbxHBlfOrE07GMYfAElXZsfbBEdowSf8B5nm204RyF2hkr/s4032/IMG_1815.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQwUXY85rIft3q_5dRI4oBaGcdO8GhJ20gWoFjegNV0a2LbF_chGvms-_1RMSGnc9Nvh4qu01zLrPdpPBjYasZUhBE8R9lA4Bjw4Hnp3_pHq9iHFLVCaqdesWUciLdbzqqPxJm3-T1miCbxHBlfOrE07GMYfAElXZsfbBEdowSf8B5nm204RyF2hkr/s320/IMG_1815.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>When deciding where to put the stalk you need to make sure it won't interfere with the steering column tilt control. </p><p>Step 6 - Reconnect the battery negative terminal</p><p>Step 7 - Perform diagnostics as specified in the instruction sheet. Basically you test the following:</p><ul style="text-align: left;"><li>Foot Brake Operation - can the module detect when the brake pedal is pressed?</li><li>Clutch Operation - can the module detect when the clutch pedal is pressed?</li><li>Accelerator Operation - can the module detect the position of the accelerator pedal?</li><li>Vehicle Speed - can the module detect the speed of the vehicle</li></ul><p>There is also an RPM Signal test and a Transmission Type configuration. The instructions note that these are not necessary. </p><p>Step 8 - Button everything back up and secure any loose wires. I used zip-ties. </p><p>It's very easy to make the entire install look "factory" to the naked eye.</p><p>Step 9 - Road test.</p><p>I took a quick road test and noted the following:</p><p>1. The unit doesn't do anything under about 40km/h - you need to be above that speed for either the cruise control or the speed limiter to operate.</p><p>2. The cruise control is far more smooth (less herky-jerky) when the car is <b>not</b> in SPORT mode. SPORT mode is noticeably rougher with the cruise. <br /></p><p>3. When you engage the cruise mode, the car accelerates by 3km/h (5km/h in SPORT mode) before settling back to the speed you were at when you hit the SET button. <br /></p><p>4. The cruise control doesn't seem to be aware of the RPM or the gear selection which causes 2 "bugs" to occur:</p><p><span> </span>a) If you slip the transmission into Neutral without the clutch pedal, the engine will quickly rev up to the rev limiter as the cruise module tries to add more throttle to maintain speed.</p><p><span> </span>b) If you are > 40km/h and in Neutral and press the RESUME or MEM button, the engine will quickly rev up to the rev limiter as it tries to achieve the target speed.<br /></p><p>5. The light on the stalk which gives all sorts of info is completely blocked by the steering wheel in my case. A better positioning may resolve that issue.</p><p>6. My knee occasionally touches the stalk while driving, I will need to rotate it and hopefully I can get it completely out of the way. There is very little scope to move the stalk further up.</p><p>7. With the OBD Data Harness, you cannot replace the little cover that gets to the OBD port as it sticks out too far. I am in contact with the vendor to see if there is an alternative solution. <br /></p><label class="required"></label><p></p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-65707621483840221652022-10-17T11:29:00.004+11:002023-06-14T18:12:20.539+10:00Ubiquiti UVC-G4-DB Doorbell Teardown<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J6DNiAWPjAKv7i62CGzhuf_-bIeztvi0v1Z8qJKcX7pkYYSRZM5ZP4mgmVumZhCXBa34_7Av4mVzhj-CFZCc6RWyj9ak_DKnd9KZ0yr4xXYWD6zvzJ4a8y-kkv9LPkAmb4QVEbAWNHLrzTInqx5GR5iBLITy5xHERRkNFPkvdXcPMT3f4M2CR8K4/s438/2022-10-15_11-38-32.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="380" data-original-width="438" height="278" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_J6DNiAWPjAKv7i62CGzhuf_-bIeztvi0v1Z8qJKcX7pkYYSRZM5ZP4mgmVumZhCXBa34_7Av4mVzhj-CFZCc6RWyj9ak_DKnd9KZ0yr4xXYWD6zvzJ4a8y-kkv9LPkAmb4QVEbAWNHLrzTInqx5GR5iBLITy5xHERRkNFPkvdXcPMT3f4M2CR8K4/s320/2022-10-15_11-38-32.png" width="320" /></a></div><br />It's about the time now that the oldest of the UVC-G4-Doorbells are running out of warranty. I've had two of them so far fail and one was just within warranty and one just fell outside. <p></p><p>The failure mode is a momentary loss of power when someone rings the bell. The Doorbell has an unusual (for network equipment) power arrangement where it is fed by 16-24VAC. This is to maintain backwards compatibility with very old mechanical doorbells. </p><p>Ubiquiti has a clever workaround whereby the power needs to be cut momentarily to the electronics to allow the mechanical doorbell to ring. This is done via an onboard battery arrangement. I suspect this wears out over time. Given I was out of warranty I wanted to see if it was a quick fix to repair.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aMKo5rrct1K_3d-zg7UUeOMIWWDkANz3l91rXwUb1D_hUkPRhSDwtI0NWDUqKMJJl-AMqovzBKKs8yc5raitLouqQ56zuyt4Hiaq9JlBoIu3dnctx0ChfO5j54fhS3CyXK7PA6leKIJvSB_fSbeKfekgpMzDlAKNuFTLQJyWlTWUokw340NMTswP/s2049/IMG_0665.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2049" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7aMKo5rrct1K_3d-zg7UUeOMIWWDkANz3l91rXwUb1D_hUkPRhSDwtI0NWDUqKMJJl-AMqovzBKKs8yc5raitLouqQ56zuyt4Hiaq9JlBoIu3dnctx0ChfO5j54fhS3CyXK7PA6leKIJvSB_fSbeKfekgpMzDlAKNuFTLQJyWlTWUokw340NMTswP/s320/IMG_0665.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>(Click on any of these images to enlarge)</p><p>Opening the doorbell is quite straightforward. There are 6 Torx T5 screws around the outside and two Phillips screws where the power comes in. The two Torx screws nerest the UniFi logo have little seals on them so it's pretty easy to remember which one goes back where.</p><p>Once you remove those screws you can carefully flip the case open, just keep in mind that there is a ribbon cable and a connector (labelled BAT1) that you want to avoid breaking.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiempUlLy-ep_mAPXAmHODoaszXmhTn9VzadgLW3FhZo5IO9yHFzKvBNRkJTxApnEyz6_nkDuG5e_bn5AW3WCtkW_MvWJv2pWGg9TUW8R_vMY1pBSPtzpKxT7CjBDvxPmuocDpAEX3abLArzY4Dfk-qmtUt0jFDYwiYelv0hBELlhmUm5FCoXhJoLed/s2049/IMG_0666.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2049" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiempUlLy-ep_mAPXAmHODoaszXmhTn9VzadgLW3FhZo5IO9yHFzKvBNRkJTxApnEyz6_nkDuG5e_bn5AW3WCtkW_MvWJv2pWGg9TUW8R_vMY1pBSPtzpKxT7CjBDvxPmuocDpAEX3abLArzY4Dfk-qmtUt0jFDYwiYelv0hBELlhmUm5FCoXhJoLed/s320/IMG_0666.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>You can leave the ribbon cable alone, but the BAT1 needs to be carefully lifted up (pry vertically not horizontally) and it will disconnect.</p><p>You will then find two black Torx screws that need to be removed. one is on the bottom right of this image and one is near the square IC. They are conveniently marked SCREW. On mine there is a blank additional place marked SCREW (next to MH1) that didn't have a screw in it. You do not need to remove the large flat Phillips screws (they hold the camera on the other side). You also do not need to disconnect the white connector. You do need to remove the ribbon cable connected to J33 (it just pulls out) and also the ribbon cable attached to J34 which also pulls out. Lastly you want to remove the red/black wire connected to CON1 , this also just lifts up. You can now get to the next level.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-8Ik8VTi6xLxaRtLi90qKPIP8QlLTjruiFQRxZ8H0pPsxf453kpaes73_6UlK-xtCrJRZy2APbQlIwsltgKU9RCQBxpbcnN9dBOwfHkSPPg8nXwGbl7-xwRPkvdCkpYXhUkuA9f4XH8pIaMfO1eVO2iiqLV0M829gdgvr8yWU5-ydgwN6nYGjFd0/s2049/IMG_0667.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2049" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjR-8Ik8VTi6xLxaRtLi90qKPIP8QlLTjruiFQRxZ8H0pPsxf453kpaes73_6UlK-xtCrJRZy2APbQlIwsltgKU9RCQBxpbcnN9dBOwfHkSPPg8nXwGbl7-xwRPkvdCkpYXhUkuA9f4XH8pIaMfO1eVO2iiqLV0M829gdgvr8yWU5-ydgwN6nYGjFd0/s320/IMG_0667.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>There are two types of power sources here. There is a double-battery arrangement which you can just disconnect at the top and also a capacitor at the bottom left which is connected to BAT2.</p><p>The capacitor is a 50V 220μF radial electrolytic made by AiSHi. It was marked 1844JPET which isn't a part number, but it seems from the AiSHi web site that it's <a href="https://aishi.us/search/?search=ERJ1HM221G1BOT">an RJ series</a> part number <a href="https://f004.backblazeb2.com/file/blog-ambor-com/ERJ1HM221G1BOT.pdf">ERJ1HM221G1BOT</a>. Size is 10mm diameter, 12.5mm height. When I did a test with my DMM it tested out to 202μF which is within the <span>±20% spec on the AiSHi web site</span>. <br /></p><p>Next was to look at the battery which is made up of two connected modules.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaufVf3QcZNXKxU9dZoqd440eA8JDTPBj9tAOjZ2XXOWYZ5ik1OFK1HdMQAwsybWvGUAcoVJkD5VtKj_dowXB-osQHSv2Dg_DOrX6OonNyugZU7dtwR-YjLWXqS8k-F1R1jtzzSD4IX9SXIc8HavO0c0EeilYMfxrJuyNxkSktWAoiLONoipphRZ67/s2049/IMG_0670.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgaufVf3QcZNXKxU9dZoqd440eA8JDTPBj9tAOjZ2XXOWYZ5ik1OFK1HdMQAwsybWvGUAcoVJkD5VtKj_dowXB-osQHSv2Dg_DOrX6OonNyugZU7dtwR-YjLWXqS8k-F1R1jtzzSD4IX9SXIc8HavO0c0EeilYMfxrJuyNxkSktWAoiLONoipphRZ67/s320/IMG_0670.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>Here is the photo from front/back. They are two 3.7V 180mAh LiPo modules wired up in parallel. They actually looked to be on OK shape, they were not obviously swollen and my DMM measured 4.01V. This test was not done under load though so it's not certain that the batteries are still actually good.</p><p>Then I ran out of time... so next step would be to see how this performs under load, but I haven't seen any other teardown pics online so I thought putting these here would get the ball rolling for someone else to do a bit more investigation if they have the same problem.</p><p>In the end, I simply bought a new one and it fired up and works perfectly (which shows that the power supply is not the issue - something I tested right up front before doing all this).<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJDTwPegiYFBhRFz_gSeyw1mt489a0V6h6VYcb1a-kDDhyRlDpuWnHcdGE5r00LeZZOEWzcjdtG67xnfhxHmwWfaYPtPR-Y_adtjTpRIWZTbNfXVsyM63ImbPn2Ex_qQ_cRFLl4dqt3DJb0-Vomvq_m06NXC7Qzficd6hO6yo2YpdW4vkoNrV8xs2/s2049/IMG_0672.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiJDTwPegiYFBhRFz_gSeyw1mt489a0V6h6VYcb1a-kDDhyRlDpuWnHcdGE5r00LeZZOEWzcjdtG67xnfhxHmwWfaYPtPR-Y_adtjTpRIWZTbNfXVsyM63ImbPn2Ex_qQ_cRFLl4dqt3DJb0-Vomvq_m06NXC7Qzficd6hO6yo2YpdW4vkoNrV8xs2/s320/IMG_0672.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-91672618575713042102022-08-29T12:12:00.008+10:002022-08-29T14:12:11.669+10:00Abarth 595 (and Fiat 500) rear dashcam / camera install<p>Installing a rear facing camera is not a hugely difficult task on an Abarth 595 / Fiat 500 and there are several Youtube videos on the topic, however I found they all seem to gloss over a few key items which I will cover here.</p><p>1. Fuse taps / orientation / polarity / series vs. parallel - it's an important thing</p><p>2. Partial headliner removal - how to take out the coat hook (don't just pull it!)</p><p>3. Passing the wire into the hatch area <br /></p><p>First, most of these systems require a 12V battery connection ("always on") and a 12V accessory connection ("only on when the key is in the accessory/on position"). Fortunately these are easy to access via fuse taps in the interior fuse panel. My car is a RHD version, so the glovebox is on the left and behind it is a panel which hides the fuses. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOt4UkaNV62t5SJ8eN_8uAWQOebb5_Zfe2F1-UzUMDeSCejaw4WLK7UCDtQlzlX9dLsV-Szk8BX1y3ii940U_3_oxz13MdY34cHCz5RsUndUuQBuF8Y_yxjwDR1_bAWDJXhcuZos1Uz2Nl-4hk3OI6PYzZYrEfluOxzAtgyJ33eXCn6aIAYrmZaUw/s2049/IMG_8412.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="1529" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgiOt4UkaNV62t5SJ8eN_8uAWQOebb5_Zfe2F1-UzUMDeSCejaw4WLK7UCDtQlzlX9dLsV-Szk8BX1y3ii940U_3_oxz13MdY34cHCz5RsUndUuQBuF8Y_yxjwDR1_bAWDJXhcuZos1Uz2Nl-4hk3OI6PYzZYrEfluOxzAtgyJ33eXCn6aIAYrmZaUw/s320/IMG_8412.jpeg" width="239" /></a></div> <p></p><p>In the Abarth/Fiat (see photo above), the fuses on the left column as well as both bottom two 20A fuses are always on ("Battery") while the rest are only on with the key ("Accessory"). Fuse taps are very common, <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20220828164308&SearchText=fuse+tap">easy</a> <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/s?k=fuse+tap">to</a> <a href="https://www.ebay.com.au/sch/i.html?_nkw=fuse+tap&_sacat=0&LH_TitleDesc=0&_odkw=fuse+tap&_osacat=0">find</a> in the usual places, convenient and allow you to add accessories without modifying the wiring. <b>But they have an important flaw/bug that you need to be aware of.</b></p><p>A fuse tap will work in either direction, facing left or right, but in one orientation the two fuses are in series and in the other they are parallel. You want to avoid using the series configuration because the smaller fuse will blow first and take out both circuits - For example, in the case of the 5A fuse (<a href="https://www.autogenius.info/abarth-500-from-2008-fuse-box-diagram/">refer this diagram</a> - which is a sideways version of the photo above) for the stop lights and instrument panel, adding a 50W UHF CB radio (which can draw 8A) via a fuse tap will blow out your stop lights and instrument panel every time you use the radio if wired in series.</p><p>To make sure you install the fuse tap in parallel, follow these steps:</p><p>1. Remove the existing fuse - and do not plug it into the fuse tap<br />2. Insert the fuse tap (with its pre-existing fuse, but without the fuse from step 1) and test for voltage on the pigtail - if no voltage, turn it around and put in the other way.</p><p>Once you have confirmed that you have voltage on the pigtail, you can then insert the existing fuse into the blank spot on the fuse tap.</p><p>Annoyingly, because of the configuration of the fuse panel (the metal plate on the left and the plastic shape of the fuse panel which protrudes), I was unable to follow my own advice.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8kHT0hbbD6k1M74f7uJ0WRNj659H_LvJQAObjSYYkH97G50iw05p_f_lQODAdCYcrjHhGYNK7HcKCQukx8oZaQERqvTFfegRUf5t-tMM7mY-7aKX_akOZz-j_pUQmVUIElR8oACJrENz_KH9eI-6-JIbLH7uarKQFleWODXpTIcWySNydNQD7FYn/s4032/IMG_8413.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhe8kHT0hbbD6k1M74f7uJ0WRNj659H_LvJQAObjSYYkH97G50iw05p_f_lQODAdCYcrjHhGYNK7HcKCQukx8oZaQERqvTFfegRUf5t-tMM7mY-7aKX_akOZz-j_pUQmVUIElR8oACJrENz_KH9eI-6-JIbLH7uarKQFleWODXpTIcWySNydNQD7FYn/s320/IMG_8413.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>I went looking for fuse taps wired with the pigtail facing the other direction but they don't seem to exist. So for now I've left it like this mess, but have ordered <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005004071633736.html">this item</a> to allow me to wire it correctly (it will give much more space and allow me to wire in parallel. I'll have to wait for that part to arrive but until then it will be mis-wired in series).<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiqlvPo1qcIsc0U-LNw6VQwzORZVFH0qOYmcV-U3GbTDCFI6k0sU7OnlF2flG-5I-WNm9Ml1PavX5m6QpvXueeTYncE_ib_L4cyQQXvmQK9MTOn2M1WhZns7E3c9Q1fROEWv3hejqtWoz_VsMZaFgHFdWpRnNARIsmaBnzcKieUtsw1nU3faZH-2B/s477/2022-08-29_11-29-11.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="319" data-original-width="477" height="214" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSiqlvPo1qcIsc0U-LNw6VQwzORZVFH0qOYmcV-U3GbTDCFI6k0sU7OnlF2flG-5I-WNm9Ml1PavX5m6QpvXueeTYncE_ib_L4cyQQXvmQK9MTOn2M1WhZns7E3c9Q1fROEWv3hejqtWoz_VsMZaFgHFdWpRnNARIsmaBnzcKieUtsw1nU3faZH-2B/s320/2022-08-29_11-29-11.png" width="320" /></a></div><p>The next issue is running the wiring. There is actually plenty of space in the front to just tuck it behind the rubber seals and headliner just with a plastic trim tool like these: <a href="https://www.amazon.com.au/Automotive-Trim-Tools/b?node=4958954051">https://www.amazon.com.au/Automotive-Trim-Tools/b?node=4958954051</a></p><p>For the rear camera, you need to get the cable through to the hatch. The easiest way to is drop the back of the headliner a bit. Again, this is easy with the plastic trim tool I linked in the last paragraph where you just pry it out... EXCEPT... you cannot pry out the coat hook.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt9MkPYnM7fEbYXsj6UQggdUD3FNoJjXvwzAMFiKTdFjpPKRNuXHZfYgdKgpCJFnf9fldgExJohvQ5_Wx4NRs9ZM7v7KIRBj28PlZqTrtK5ROvshUuM5ybdITLnToLKT92R-Gdy_gi2ZBI9XXL33RKUbDsavvPyT2G4AOHFyqH4bGSZZwzs_RBcG6J/s4032/IMG_8418.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt9MkPYnM7fEbYXsj6UQggdUD3FNoJjXvwzAMFiKTdFjpPKRNuXHZfYgdKgpCJFnf9fldgExJohvQ5_Wx4NRs9ZM7v7KIRBj28PlZqTrtK5ROvshUuM5ybdITLnToLKT92R-Gdy_gi2ZBI9XXL33RKUbDsavvPyT2G4AOHFyqH4bGSZZwzs_RBcG6J/s320/IMG_8418.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>You need to turn the coat hook counterclockwise about 45 degrees and then it will pull out. You may need to use pliers to grab it.<br /></p><p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVNNzZbd_60RKPOx37oZfhRnkDsyBF3voW3PRb4x-FAOdgdu-xv30iTFWb-pEcdEiRzLxIWdcFR6PepN0fyUxe02aUr9fqqBHrqFdDwfNRHI2XNC5S2-DNWleIO9McGdsIH_2PoXMCYbhUC99wl88f2qojiItOlMxR6CXbC6705YlZIsnrw5s153H/s4032/IMG_8417.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtVNNzZbd_60RKPOx37oZfhRnkDsyBF3voW3PRb4x-FAOdgdu-xv30iTFWb-pEcdEiRzLxIWdcFR6PepN0fyUxe02aUr9fqqBHrqFdDwfNRHI2XNC5S2-DNWleIO9McGdsIH_2PoXMCYbhUC99wl88f2qojiItOlMxR6CXbC6705YlZIsnrw5s153H/s320/IMG_8417.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p></p><p> Here are some additional photos to show how it works (click to enlarge).<br /><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiDAgM4G7mJot-TqgsFB6N0jIloYgiBDzSvRWGX_lGbS8GOTBVjMsdQtCHE6Nk2fN6yC76cKP8K5t9d4BRSUOfeTNloDe3P20ZZev60ziC3k29JJ3FgV9kfyMeKySzH6CK-zZ75Sx7l7xq_SlDkVVH9JDknB0zf66tGqZGuyRGk4w6UEQ9lRtC9qW/s4032/IMG_8414.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyiDAgM4G7mJot-TqgsFB6N0jIloYgiBDzSvRWGX_lGbS8GOTBVjMsdQtCHE6Nk2fN6yC76cKP8K5t9d4BRSUOfeTNloDe3P20ZZev60ziC3k29JJ3FgV9kfyMeKySzH6CK-zZ75Sx7l7xq_SlDkVVH9JDknB0zf66tGqZGuyRGk4w6UEQ9lRtC9qW/w150-h200/IMG_8414.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa0KwjBWq3aYCYqfd8Hkk29SW3Bw6T2NGcSPl9h1okGDM-e1DHjOzjo24ewk8Pyp9b2JDgrqxzYEW1q_5VEtwZ-QD-4pxwwWJSNBGO8qPe2i3232YvwZCJWA21DSBTPKtP1ZIHQX9r0tX7REHTe9KhLPDsdscr-X29epfzx0QuEql2tJw8FPcecYb/s4032/IMG_8415.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqa0KwjBWq3aYCYqfd8Hkk29SW3Bw6T2NGcSPl9h1okGDM-e1DHjOzjo24ewk8Pyp9b2JDgrqxzYEW1q_5VEtwZ-QD-4pxwwWJSNBGO8qPe2i3232YvwZCJWA21DSBTPKtP1ZIHQX9r0tX7REHTe9KhLPDsdscr-X29epfzx0QuEql2tJw8FPcecYb/w150-h200/IMG_8415.jpeg" width="150" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Pvk6wszM1EY_FubpN-xq8tIjA3XejNqbs9gMDIsH5kDU9yql_j0R4QpuB6EAisIDJ4lQu0M4tJrUjIpxlgY3FIM7ttG5DluQ4qIS3tGMyKuhdW5qlzIeyvKMwun9NiemBYv4hXmjW8CqBSRa1t4Uy7CppTsn6d54h8A_mRspD-oSQj7H8ezlwzYs/s4032/IMG_8416.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Pvk6wszM1EY_FubpN-xq8tIjA3XejNqbs9gMDIsH5kDU9yql_j0R4QpuB6EAisIDJ4lQu0M4tJrUjIpxlgY3FIM7ttG5DluQ4qIS3tGMyKuhdW5qlzIeyvKMwun9NiemBYv4hXmjW8CqBSRa1t4Uy7CppTsn6d54h8A_mRspD-oSQj7H8ezlwzYs/w200-h150/IMG_8416.jpeg" width="200" /></a></div><p>Once you've removed the plug and the coat hook, you can simply pull out the plastic C pillar trim piece as well and gain access to the inside where you can pass the cable through.</p><p>The last step was getting the cable into the hatch itself. The difficult part here is to pass it through the rubber boot. The boot already has all sorts of problems (simply Google all the issues with frayed wiring and broken lights, hatch release, blown fuses, etc. caused by these frayed wires. It's a bad problem). My relatively new car already had this issue only a few years into its use which I had to repair. Here is a photo from before the repair:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXqu6ve35Nq2xjf-YracE_2NID-dJuFP8U0OQlg6M4irEyBiIWXmS787Tn47PXyTIYIk5rXQQVqsXrQshNiCeaBi6KIoFbNVJAdS-NAG4ts5HRfh_UeQed2jvGipBO98lgdw1bPfJdprI8EhOZ9ecx3bEZE3y_2WJCSj2t4XL8o_dGS-Ep0cQMKfk/s4032/IMG_7698.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaXqu6ve35Nq2xjf-YracE_2NID-dJuFP8U0OQlg6M4irEyBiIWXmS787Tn47PXyTIYIk5rXQQVqsXrQshNiCeaBi6KIoFbNVJAdS-NAG4ts5HRfh_UeQed2jvGipBO98lgdw1bPfJdprI8EhOZ9ecx3bEZE3y_2WJCSj2t4XL8o_dGS-Ep0cQMKfk/s320/IMG_7698.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>I made a blog post about the repair above here: <a href="https://blog.ambor.com/2022/06/license-plate-light-repair-on-abarth.html">https://blog.ambor.com/2022/06/license-plate-light-repair-on-abarth.html</a><br /><p>You can see it's already incredibly tight and the wires get frayed from normal use. I was nervous about adding more wiring to the mix. In addition, the repair I made above added more bulk to the wiring inside from the extra insulation.<br /></p><p>My first attempt was doing something like this:</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IBBDBhrUwcAQ5HZBekIiP8bl9IXTMDvOXyr_x1Mv88mFtph0UA52QcD0k7OEkatO0Bo61CWIMHH0j9qmJL_PmBbwg5X20GbALsA3v_XyyakUqpansfshIsKk1AkPjGPx8YJFSHTK1_uVFNTR16UcZtZHKNYA5m2p69LYq1H-rdp3SXaj3K-ScCS1/s4032/IMG_8420.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7IBBDBhrUwcAQ5HZBekIiP8bl9IXTMDvOXyr_x1Mv88mFtph0UA52QcD0k7OEkatO0Bo61CWIMHH0j9qmJL_PmBbwg5X20GbALsA3v_XyyakUqpansfshIsKk1AkPjGPx8YJFSHTK1_uVFNTR16UcZtZHKNYA5m2p69LYq1H-rdp3SXaj3K-ScCS1/s320/IMG_8420.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>It really pained me to have to cut into the rubber boot (thus breaking the water seal) but the USB plug at the end of the cable was very large and not going through. It also looked like it was starting to get damaged from my efforts... and it was starting to get late in the day (which is a super-bad excuse).<br /></p><p>I posted the above picture on the <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/995055527308820">OzAbarth Facebook Group</a> and got a big thumbs down on that exposed wiring. One of the members suggested trimming the un-needed plastic on the USB connector to make it smaller and shaping it better using some electrical tape (as below).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkwHS7vIwa1QOmPPv4mChxDhcltTP2340APMvuDp1PzbT5ELzvk-dpOT7t6QQioWvxWB0eZA6DXsqrHF0iSY1aQI7ADyqsF3qsQvQQDRD-rrw20dnau_H1CmUJeNzRILiEJiMPVV9z2y2XYHiUgMF5dUBT24wYsa3ziCAxalSVIVQr8CxsvtNuSLq/s2049/IMG_8421.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="1537" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxkwHS7vIwa1QOmPPv4mChxDhcltTP2340APMvuDp1PzbT5ELzvk-dpOT7t6QQioWvxWB0eZA6DXsqrHF0iSY1aQI7ADyqsF3qsQvQQDRD-rrw20dnau_H1CmUJeNzRILiEJiMPVV9z2y2XYHiUgMF5dUBT24wYsa3ziCAxalSVIVQr8CxsvtNuSLq/s320/IMG_8421.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><p>With a bit more elbow grease I was able to finally get it through properly.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunHUdiljRhz9kTDnTOK4Y2JoyWSjBwVeaExjDAtAHZbNGHaooAXM_xKl9t5jU_bQXJgamjYw2qM6fIswX5BWm1CLdhfNqRYCv2alhisTkwmWbx_AhaHB2dD0tg27s53xRnf9WA-cGMrCNXGOkuAGBNNEfAMQdVHAe1CYEsC0iVIFsDtZsqno9q7PF/s2049/IMG_8422.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2049" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiunHUdiljRhz9kTDnTOK4Y2JoyWSjBwVeaExjDAtAHZbNGHaooAXM_xKl9t5jU_bQXJgamjYw2qM6fIswX5BWm1CLdhfNqRYCv2alhisTkwmWbx_AhaHB2dD0tg27s53xRnf9WA-cGMrCNXGOkuAGBNNEfAMQdVHAe1CYEsC0iVIFsDtZsqno9q7PF/s320/IMG_8422.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>The dark cable on the right is the camera. You can see <a href="https://blog.ambor.com/2022/06/license-plate-light-repair-on-abarth.html">the repairs I had previously done to the frayed wiring to fix the license plate lights</a> which makes the whole bundle going through the rubber boot a bit thicker than planned by Fiat.</p><p>The completed job now has a much tidier appearance. The two "wounds" where I had passed the wire through previously I think will self-seal when I close the boot and they are under compression.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBDV0gvuknWSNHrTaZnQWjrl--szRzk6muawBVrgeSPIaa2PYSUqGi9JoukL4vGt4mln1rFcwnW6G_XozLdQjWvI54E8waTUgjiYu2608GMb12FKgZqiRiXwTQBzlDTM98Pv1cAvWMUUnfoCPlvjySTPIUZ6JnzbeEzc9wWb5qCqDcvv4kdBKBuqd/s2049/IMG_8423.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2049" data-original-width="1537" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKBDV0gvuknWSNHrTaZnQWjrl--szRzk6muawBVrgeSPIaa2PYSUqGi9JoukL4vGt4mln1rFcwnW6G_XozLdQjWvI54E8waTUgjiYu2608GMb12FKgZqiRiXwTQBzlDTM98Pv1cAvWMUUnfoCPlvjySTPIUZ6JnzbeEzc9wWb5qCqDcvv4kdBKBuqd/s320/IMG_8423.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>Or maybe I'll try some <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Rubber-Boot-Repair/s?k=Rubber+Boot+Repair">boot repair product</a> if it's still a problem. Replacing the entire boot is a much bigger job which I'll do when I ultimately<a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=TAILGATE+BOOT+WIRING+REPAIR+KIT+FIAT+500"> do the whole loom repair</a> (as they all seem to eventually need).<br /></p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-1641721474429138572022-08-03T15:23:00.006+10:002022-08-03T16:13:15.400+10:00Repair a Ubiquiti UVC-G4-Pro CCTV Camera<div><p>It seems like a fairly common problem that these cameras can fail due to the RJ45 port on the back pulling up off the circuit board. Symptoms include flashing green light, unstable Unifi Protect application (keeps crashing) or the camera simply doesn't power on. There are several threads out there on this topic and it seems to affect other models such as the UVC-G3 and others. There is a good thread here on the topic relating to the G3: <a href="https://community.ui.com/questions/I-broke-the-RJ45-of-my-brand-new-G3-PRO-/e8afb284-ae60-4afe-8c81-2aa1b9bcf5e6">https://community.ui.com/questions/I-broke-the-RJ45-of-my-brand-new-G3-PRO-/e8afb284-ae60-4afe-8c81-2aa1b9bcf5e6</a></p><p>If you want to cut to the chase, there is a guy (TomBK) who you can directly DM to get you a custom made replacement board that he makes himself: <a href="https://community.ui.com/questions/I-broke-the-RJ45-of-my-brand-new-G3-PRO-/e8afb284-ae60-4afe-8c81-2aa1b9bcf5e6#answer/4c00c8eb-2913-410c-90df-466f67aadbfd">https://community.ui.com/questions/I-broke-the-RJ45-of-my-brand-new-G3-PRO-/e8afb284-ae60-4afe-8c81-2aa1b9bcf5e6#answer/4c00c8eb-2913-410c-90df-466f67aadbfd </a></p><p>If you are interested in the gory details of a repair, keep reading.</p><p>The first step is to open the camera. You basically unscrew the plastic lens cover which will be on there quite tight, a screw driver across the face of the lens will give some leverage. When you open it up you can get to the next step which is to remove the four longer screws holding the IR Beam / LEDs.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWanYPdtExnTEC3BgXGuLAkEwivJcoyR-c5TN496vsxKkBL9j5YNt_eoDiWQ9YsJkwpGgRQNGJD0oM1lcmovw21mzsBU_LNeFRNOp6c7nA8ilh0LuACfc4eZ6l2yE4xj4-Fl7ldGexuaki_3E8o4ZKkbpUFhMl-YnvGIFs8Qtv48IKwCleALJ8ZgQ/s3911/camphoto_824023566.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1963" data-original-width="3911" height="161" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTWanYPdtExnTEC3BgXGuLAkEwivJcoyR-c5TN496vsxKkBL9j5YNt_eoDiWQ9YsJkwpGgRQNGJD0oM1lcmovw21mzsBU_LNeFRNOp6c7nA8ilh0LuACfc4eZ6l2yE4xj4-Fl7ldGexuaki_3E8o4ZKkbpUFhMl-YnvGIFs8Qtv48IKwCleALJ8ZgQ/s320/camphoto_824023566.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div><br /><div><p>It's interesting to see the two desiccant packets in there to mop up any extra moisture that can get in.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaxuWonudFuSJ9vyQJU921HrQlBfLggdUNiNXH82rkjIG16VmNQkzmK4t12SdIckUL8AO9HHD345-u2N2lair8MfUWonSGwUotlYsrzpKNuFmYlVHKT14FlXgMqT_tWRlcwDrJKYY4nxKp_kbtZYsBkK1a5Ri2TMalV0T07zgaRv58g0O397RoVCj/s4032/camphoto_1932422408.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmaxuWonudFuSJ9vyQJU921HrQlBfLggdUNiNXH82rkjIG16VmNQkzmK4t12SdIckUL8AO9HHD345-u2N2lair8MfUWonSGwUotlYsrzpKNuFmYlVHKT14FlXgMqT_tWRlcwDrJKYY4nxKp_kbtZYsBkK1a5Ri2TMalV0T07zgaRv58g0O397RoVCj/s320/camphoto_1932422408.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div><p>The next step is to remove the four flatter and shinier Phillips head screws to remove the main camera assembly. It's interesting to note that there is a USB port in there. As a test, I was able to power up the camera with it, but I didn't mess around any further. I suspect this could be a fun avenue for further investigation.</p><p>If you've made it this far, it should not be hard to get to, and remove, the little board that holds the RJ45 port. You can see in this photo the arrows showing the complete separation of the RJ45 port from the board. In my case it had ripped up the traces and while in the camera was giving an intermittent bad connection. <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv26F_Q11QWiCL8FEouCmIDtlUtW8uH8M85zEwXxUEbCqDFBqJBSX6Q1It5FYEg-fRphZp5ylRYXMDxHpB9ir6ciOyD_O4RHOMDfxp-qL0F2P59Spr4YglSpEFQOZPFr9fud41hofhZIBopit7XV9IuZGYQlX5VC6Sz72mu8yVhgLkMv7NtmpxQdr6/s4032/camphoto_579758561.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhv26F_Q11QWiCL8FEouCmIDtlUtW8uH8M85zEwXxUEbCqDFBqJBSX6Q1It5FYEg-fRphZp5ylRYXMDxHpB9ir6ciOyD_O4RHOMDfxp-qL0F2P59Spr4YglSpEFQOZPFr9fud41hofhZIBopit7XV9IuZGYQlX5VC6Sz72mu8yVhgLkMv7NtmpxQdr6/s320/camphoto_579758561.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div><p style="text-align: center;"></p><p>The other side of the board has a 12-pin header connector to connect to the camera sub-assembly. The repair involves essentially repairing those electrical connections. By scratching away at the top layer of the PCB I was able to see where those traces went on the connector. Here is my assessment of the board pinout.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Dez6QoLdIJGP5TyuhGOALzup7_77EPHyBO00iIw8dIKMClnxiaFmW7oboqXaeSqO_Cz-KBuIz_74izAdcwjXkkrHYrbksRlqGM7JWCJze9SBYwYyGbkg0PcGwuEiFtcGKHKAuGTdwqtJs-XWYSTzMGDeCubDLGpqO0Cepj0Gv51SieUa8wGoKZxj/s3254/camphoto_1804928587.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1868" data-original-width="3254" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Dez6QoLdIJGP5TyuhGOALzup7_77EPHyBO00iIw8dIKMClnxiaFmW7oboqXaeSqO_Cz-KBuIz_74izAdcwjXkkrHYrbksRlqGM7JWCJze9SBYwYyGbkg0PcGwuEiFtcGKHKAuGTdwqtJs-XWYSTzMGDeCubDLGpqO0Cepj0Gv51SieUa8wGoKZxj/s320/camphoto_1804928587.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div><p>This is my crude drawing of how to map the pins on the RJ45 to the connector on the other side of the board.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKwPMoeFQdzfZy6AEX3Ppv1B9z0o_m3gNkGA1nkWjyg94jdZBZyJgogpe1WM29BXk0ZnwMFXaPF20HA21bwyom1cMA450r-5XvXT054TJT2Zejr-fPeuWaDDcrHfISEKywv6nISfuwtvL6WYWL5k5kBj7BwJ7ls0x573lEAro43HNcujUfJ1VYaEc/s4032/camphoto_684387517.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOKwPMoeFQdzfZy6AEX3Ppv1B9z0o_m3gNkGA1nkWjyg94jdZBZyJgogpe1WM29BXk0ZnwMFXaPF20HA21bwyom1cMA450r-5XvXT054TJT2Zejr-fPeuWaDDcrHfISEKywv6nISfuwtvL6WYWL5k5kBj7BwJ7ls0x573lEAro43HNcujUfJ1VYaEc/s320/camphoto_684387517.jpg" width="320" /></a></div></div><div style="text-align: center;"><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div></div><div><p>You can see on the other side of the board where Pin 0 is marked on the actual board. </p><p>In my case I didn't have the tools or even the solder paste to try an "on board" repair. Some people have used conductive ink pens with some success as well. I went old-skool and just used some wire, which I colour coded to the normal CAT5 scheme.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigf544RSGpUNaGZQSmgmX6xv417UpHIzGZDuG7ziF1MqqeZ6J7dOaI5fikSrLH0cU8WHmBw5l5nkWkKZKVbTnx-JPXh3oQKtjd3QMemjKQNVdmoaTTAtmzr_SRJBWcxwxTkGKModyilKrrUNQizgrFCeETUyXpW6PXQ4ecPIWSSC2DTzLMPlZ9hRfv/s4032/IMG_8272.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigf544RSGpUNaGZQSmgmX6xv417UpHIzGZDuG7ziF1MqqeZ6J7dOaI5fikSrLH0cU8WHmBw5l5nkWkKZKVbTnx-JPXh3oQKtjd3QMemjKQNVdmoaTTAtmzr_SRJBWcxwxTkGKModyilKrrUNQizgrFCeETUyXpW6PXQ4ecPIWSSC2DTzLMPlZ9hRfv/s320/IMG_8272.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div><p>The hacky part is to then wrap it around and connect it to the other side. If you use my method, the camera will no longer be waterproof since it won't close properly when you put it all back together. This wasn't a problem for me so I routed the wires through those existing holes which I no longer will be using.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIN6_98oQ2_kO1u_LqFS7UWwGp9-9wh8kvZs01zqESefRj3773AN8c-CzmfsN-pokBNYjDDvbkBflHaFnTAcPnYjiVCP06G4_hFIGAmsFwYLxxSratBGmIGYFIjAyOIPitRH4JaAvoo8eq_bMWI_DyqKOiy4VrM1yaXshNhBYRGwC7wpDOnL5lDhP/s4032/IMG_8273.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgAIN6_98oQ2_kO1u_LqFS7UWwGp9-9wh8kvZs01zqESefRj3773AN8c-CzmfsN-pokBNYjDDvbkBflHaFnTAcPnYjiVCP06G4_hFIGAmsFwYLxxSratBGmIGYFIjAyOIPitRH4JaAvoo8eq_bMWI_DyqKOiy4VrM1yaXshNhBYRGwC7wpDOnL5lDhP/s320/IMG_8273.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div><p>I used a lot of electrical tape to isolate the wires from each other and also to add a bit of strength. On the other side it looked like this.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMj_hgkBXhV8_lGmIqAygtW2piwmNWpX_dwCo6GFtXuk0GKBj_5hSmcwLJgiwyc2WnAsBywIZ_pUuSfoNmeC36DmBbZJ9iIlU1xP9loRWHGe97DhByFcbk094mAlACKHr6Oc0vK5qj6UiQxCl8O3ELpUXQQa4Oai6NtEEKk7nbcK1hT8GCWInVrQCr/s4032/IMG_8274.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMj_hgkBXhV8_lGmIqAygtW2piwmNWpX_dwCo6GFtXuk0GKBj_5hSmcwLJgiwyc2WnAsBywIZ_pUuSfoNmeC36DmBbZJ9iIlU1xP9loRWHGe97DhByFcbk094mAlACKHr6Oc0vK5qj6UiQxCl8O3ELpUXQQa4Oai6NtEEKk7nbcK1hT8GCWInVrQCr/s320/IMG_8274.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;">Click Image to Enlarge<br /></div><p>Because this board is also slightly thicker now with my repair, it doesn't fit as neatly back against the camera board, but it still works.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p></div>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-8752510338944085022022-06-12T21:02:00.005+10:002022-06-12T21:11:02.426+10:00License plate light repair on Abarth 595 / Fiat 500<p>The right-hand side number plate light on my 2017 Abarth 595 was intermittently working and most annoyingly it would randomly trigger the warning light on the dash. This post is about my debug/repair and I uncovered a few things that might help others in the same situation.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HRdVK2329f38KD7m1oHMVfXySv_c-NC6GrWAQAJeKnRXwVpFFgmku2idqEWttIJpesLhW2bnnsm0mKmIFiGM14PNHnvWYNE1hMWAR5qncEJAJSItYPxHsR0as-NI729P7XdX2rG3W9r9Fy6DDDGpusBNQu_lOqv6sT95rDs210WNlgVzSaSSMdMp/s4032/IMG_7698.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="217" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-HRdVK2329f38KD7m1oHMVfXySv_c-NC6GrWAQAJeKnRXwVpFFgmku2idqEWttIJpesLhW2bnnsm0mKmIFiGM14PNHnvWYNE1hMWAR5qncEJAJSItYPxHsR0as-NI729P7XdX2rG3W9r9Fy6DDDGpusBNQu_lOqv6sT95rDs210WNlgVzSaSSMdMp/w162-h217/IMG_7698.jpg" width="162" /></a></div>Since only 1 of the lights wasn't working, my hunch was that the issue was in the handle somewhere rather than in the wiring going to the hatch. However, I've seen many cases where the wiring loom to the hatch has frayed due to a very poor design by Fiat. My first step was to check that, and sure enough it was heavily frayed.<p></p><p>Sadly this is a very common issue that has gone unresolved for 10+ years of this design. In my case, this was not the cause of the intermittent light, but I taped and reinforced all those wires. If I had let it go longer the wires would eventually have broken completely. Also the smaller grey/white wire had 12V on it and would have blown a fuse.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCH2KpPkKVEKslSqoFjO4uwDJC-kwXvWo3QxJYQAn1Whrl1mHTZPnt0TECfh_e7GQuFGsBcRdvPS_VkTFSahzrSmzYoB5iONBWuhn5eg8KBCenxBuywtpgGMsM5vukOP_Lgd4_rbC2oJnCsJ1EJFqtG3fUB_R6YCxNto_jacGjLtvaZU18AsaoDdTX/s4032/IMG_7712.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="159" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCH2KpPkKVEKslSqoFjO4uwDJC-kwXvWo3QxJYQAn1Whrl1mHTZPnt0TECfh_e7GQuFGsBcRdvPS_VkTFSahzrSmzYoB5iONBWuhn5eg8KBCenxBuywtpgGMsM5vukOP_Lgd4_rbC2oJnCsJ1EJFqtG3fUB_R6YCxNto_jacGjLtvaZU18AsaoDdTX/w212-h159/IMG_7712.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>Once that was repaired, it was time to go to the actual housing with the light in it. Step 1 was to remove the inside panel which I did using the same technique as in <a href="https://blog.ambor.com/2022/06/abarth-595-license-plate-grommet-drama.html">this post</a>.<p></p><p>Once inside you will see where the wiring from the loom connects to the housing on the inside. The loom has 3 wires (Black, Orange/White and Yellow/Green). Those connect to Black, Blue and Red which go to the handle. Black is ground, Blue goes to the hatch release button and Red is the power to the license plate lights.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYDYX9X3O7zRXpyv1C1gBXNEM190CB4IAKRTBI-KLOlhXMmw1NU3xuGbVYZtWQczrZRvRx2ufAW3A4I-VHVAmy3zJUGke1MPKn90chrpCsOD4wabeEx0yDFKscTiqOpzIxj6iW-GSP23uIEdW6oPHBNF848zn2V8h7L0MvK6BeAIRNGF1S4cNny5C/s4032/IMG_7706.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="174" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdYDYX9X3O7zRXpyv1C1gBXNEM190CB4IAKRTBI-KLOlhXMmw1NU3xuGbVYZtWQczrZRvRx2ufAW3A4I-VHVAmy3zJUGke1MPKn90chrpCsOD4wabeEx0yDFKscTiqOpzIxj6iW-GSP23uIEdW6oPHBNF848zn2V8h7L0MvK6BeAIRNGF1S4cNny5C/w232-h174/IMG_7706.jpg" width="232" /></a></div>This connector is easy to un-clip. The next step is to remove the handle itself which is held in place with 4 10mm hex nuts. <p></p><p>Once you remove the nuts, the handle just comes off quite easily revealing a bunch of cutouts. I took the opportunity to clean it up a bit since it had collected a bunch of dirt. I'm a bit curious what the larger rectangular cutout is on the right side since it's not used for anything on my car. If you know, drop it in the comments. I'm thinking maybe it's for a manual key lock?<br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkwF_r6CIQxfP6L9b7p7QnsMiGn94X_JGU0hY2GUWl97B0kkqs4qFN9EgazvxGfdeuYJTdisBEZDWB6tVL2dzemm_w45F5krYMK2-6cdHwWJsX3FY9cORAZf3eZVqbHnl7xpv-tBHaoxyJA_v87G2mf3xZXeaiJxwtD0Sk8KHeivVdSjpusBSuJFv/s4032/IMG_7702.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="227" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMkwF_r6CIQxfP6L9b7p7QnsMiGn94X_JGU0hY2GUWl97B0kkqs4qFN9EgazvxGfdeuYJTdisBEZDWB6tVL2dzemm_w45F5krYMK2-6cdHwWJsX3FY9cORAZf3eZVqbHnl7xpv-tBHaoxyJA_v87G2mf3xZXeaiJxwtD0Sk8KHeivVdSjpusBSuJFv/w170-h227/IMG_7702.jpg" width="170" /></a></div>With the handle removed, I then tried to get to the inside of it. Using prying tools I quickly realised that the plastic handle assembly wouldn't come apart without breaking something. So instead, I went in through the other side by cutting out a slit in the foam to be able to access the right-hand light.<p></p><p>The left hand light is powered from the red wire (above) and internally it is extended with the brown/red and brown/black and black wires to the right side. In my case this is what had a dodgy connection and was easy to fix.</p><p>The other thing I noticed is that both the right and left lights had heat damage to their housings. These bulbs are incandescent and get hot enough to damage the inside of the housing per the photo below. Replacing these with lower wattage LEDs to prevent further heat damage might be an option - but I don't think it will work. </p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMAq7JwHEJ5TFL1TUSMm15aWqO82LEHUxvFxeWTF8ETINbidwh2CXOwLESBrwj9w6TF774SxH1qCwviEmRrTwiTpUfD4BJbuhPqMrknSJqIpXGQfk5teQFSdJCR-Q95ZhZ8GqXQfhnXVFLvk-MtlRVWClLiSosbYkLR3dEQxrvHIp5WgdZtSNfvnb/s4032/IMG_7701.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrMAq7JwHEJ5TFL1TUSMm15aWqO82LEHUxvFxeWTF8ETINbidwh2CXOwLESBrwj9w6TF774SxH1qCwviEmRrTwiTpUfD4BJbuhPqMrknSJqIpXGQfk5teQFSdJCR-Q95ZhZ8GqXQfhnXVFLvk-MtlRVWClLiSosbYkLR3dEQxrvHIp5WgdZtSNfvnb/w158-h211/IMG_7701.jpg" width="158" /></a></div>These are 36mm festoon lights. To avoid getting errors on the dash (which was the whole point of this exercise) you would need to get lights which are sold as "CAN-bus Error Free".<p></p><p>The method that the car uses to determine if the light globe is blown out is to test how much current is drawn by the lights. A dead light draws 0A and a working light draws about 420mA (5W @ 12V). A LED replacement would draw far less than 5W and thus may not draw enough current to avoid an error light. The "Error Free" lights thus also include a resistor with the LEDs so that the total current draw of the package is close to about 420mA. The clincher is that the heat is produced by the entire power draw of the package. Thus with LED + Resistor, the total draw would be 5W and thus the heat would be about the same. If the heat is the same, then the melting issue isn't resolved. If I am wrong, let me know in the comments. Another option is to put a resistor elsewhere in the circuit where the heat wouldn't be an issue.</p><p>With everything fixed, I did a bench test of the handle assembly and the lights worked. Interestingly the total draw was 8.6W across the two bulbs so clearly the 5W rating on the bulbs is not very precise (and they are 5 years old anyway).<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6xDr1lL6ngN1CNn9wj9LymMl-59Ac9ThQMXbixUJ_n45AzLxN6zSvuCEfTxxLKcKihA0-FipZuyKRGRnW7yzdzpxaw3vk-sjMk34eUPe84t_4XWLY_6m0oMtMliAr8UZdmD77FCBjk6gDkQn1qsqKwmXSbfiNBAFdH12TdmVT0jLzoDU5oUCEVS0/s4032/IMG_7709.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="3024" data-original-width="4032" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjL6xDr1lL6ngN1CNn9wj9LymMl-59Ac9ThQMXbixUJ_n45AzLxN6zSvuCEfTxxLKcKihA0-FipZuyKRGRnW7yzdzpxaw3vk-sjMk34eUPe84t_4XWLY_6m0oMtMliAr8UZdmD77FCBjk6gDkQn1qsqKwmXSbfiNBAFdH12TdmVT0jLzoDU5oUCEVS0/s320/IMG_7709.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br /><p>Because I had torn the foam to get access to the wires, I used a bit of black duct tape to reseal it. Not sure if this was the best way to do it (if you have better ideas, put them in the comments).</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIyct5iFHuMQMRy1-Nql6j26zN_m8Rb8KjSk6JT7JFqJHou57v66TbPYAF7rGlj4RKM_G4RvpxwUPj1956bX3eug3XFexGzSMAiNYL1W05ZoYHI6rDbg_LI3X6Kw5SzRj5vmscPd3il6tuTjO6utsdIojKHuM5KZSJWAOz96soLEoG8R55kk88OHK/s4032/IMG_7714.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="4032" data-original-width="3024" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgQIyct5iFHuMQMRy1-Nql6j26zN_m8Rb8KjSk6JT7JFqJHou57v66TbPYAF7rGlj4RKM_G4RvpxwUPj1956bX3eug3XFexGzSMAiNYL1W05ZoYHI6rDbg_LI3X6Kw5SzRj5vmscPd3il6tuTjO6utsdIojKHuM5KZSJWAOz96soLEoG8R55kk88OHK/s320/IMG_7714.jpg" width="240" /></a></div><br /><p>Then re-installation was simply the reverse. Place the handle assembly on the car, reattach and tighten the 4 hex nuts, connect the electrical connector, test the lights, replace the panel and the job is done.</p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-53922234894247893752022-06-04T18:17:00.007+10:002022-06-04T20:05:36.515+10:00Abarth 595 license plate grommet drama<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qB4zRCuknjL1qCz--bUihklDF9t9h1A3tgsEbuKJQTcOw90ZikO8SmN2uQfEtLapZsbXwGY1yr4siXEaBa36iOAkzqiSVwwopy3qZ-V46F3n7sFX3RW--lBozQjuQFzOhkaQmZkQ24sTDKLndTZtdQU5GYgTexw6Kc_EOMW6gz77E3QK4NbK5wUW/s1460/IMG_7608.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1233" data-original-width="1460" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj_qB4zRCuknjL1qCz--bUihklDF9t9h1A3tgsEbuKJQTcOw90ZikO8SmN2uQfEtLapZsbXwGY1yr4siXEaBa36iOAkzqiSVwwopy3qZ-V46F3n7sFX3RW--lBozQjuQFzOhkaQmZkQ24sTDKLndTZtdQU5GYgTexw6Kc_EOMW6gz77E3QK4NbK5wUW/w228-h193/IMG_7608.jpeg" width="228" /></a></div><p>Did a bit of an impulse buy on the weekend and flew down Monday to MEL to drive back to SYD the same day in this 595 Comp. Hard to find around here with red / sunroof / manual transmission. The next day it was time to get it registered in NSW. The standard NSW plate is about the same size as the VIC plate, but I wanted something to cover up those white grommets so I went with the "Euro Style" NSW plate. </p><p>The physical process of swapping a license plate should be one of the easiest possible "mods" anyone could ever do.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbUvuucrgraUIPqwbQI6fwTeRwENi3UNyYTfgkuEXuFAqPLuJY48N6Y2vdoD9_QAihhnbwQWKMHK_aLPX1VduZT-rsrzSzkV9Qb-EawXkyrYHKbrTohyg_iZcIBAswkctxCSyorj93Iqi48YixeOxS0COv4QNzShRsTZr6aaWAWQBNNWgLqtmCD8M/s2049/IMG_7616.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1537" data-original-width="2049" height="243" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkbUvuucrgraUIPqwbQI6fwTeRwENi3UNyYTfgkuEXuFAqPLuJY48N6Y2vdoD9_QAihhnbwQWKMHK_aLPX1VduZT-rsrzSzkV9Qb-EawXkyrYHKbrTohyg_iZcIBAswkctxCSyorj93Iqi48YixeOxS0COv4QNzShRsTZr6aaWAWQBNNWgLqtmCD8M/w323-h243/IMG_7616.jpeg" width="323" /></a></div>I removed the VIC plate and the previous owner had simply screwed it into the sheet metal leaving a bunch of holes and some paint damage. I covered up the damage with a bit of primer to not cause problems in the future.<p></p><p>Then it was simply a matter of drilling holes in the NSW plate to match up with the factory grommet locations. Interestingly it's not exactly a rectangle for some reason (if you look at the grommet on the lower right you can see it's not exactly in-line with the one above it.</p><p>With all the holes made in the plate and everything ready to go, I start screwing it into the grommet, and the first two go OK and then #3 and #4 break and fall into the gap! </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTA_-zYsZZGsntqH3HIOCBw5A2x94CvwTE7BsVaeJHo5PLXmf25pzT4dRFxBcDcH8Tl0yzuaFSf6VX2-JZnUJMNyRWOWpiOMjyoVB1jDYo2XoN-_tcZpjnXckp0vuN8ZbNYcfQwL6kQZkivplEqN4kYR8kI_vLgyYLQlqE15Zb-9jdk0fPplKGpQ1/s2048/IMG_7638.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="262" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXTA_-zYsZZGsntqH3HIOCBw5A2x94CvwTE7BsVaeJHo5PLXmf25pzT4dRFxBcDcH8Tl0yzuaFSf6VX2-JZnUJMNyRWOWpiOMjyoVB1jDYo2XoN-_tcZpjnXckp0vuN8ZbNYcfQwL6kQZkivplEqN4kYR8kI_vLgyYLQlqE15Zb-9jdk0fPplKGpQ1/w349-h262/IMG_7638.jpeg" width="349" /></a></div><p>You can see from this picture that the factory holes are actually quite large. The factory white plastic grommets were so brittle that they shattered with barely any pressure and then proceeded to fall into those holes. </p><p>This actually poses two problems. First, how to attach the plate and second, which is far more annoying is that the little pieces will now be rattling in the door. </p><p>So here is what I did.</p><p>To address the first issue, I used brand new screw grommets designed for a 4.2mm hole (<a href="https://www.supercheapauto.com.au/p/champion-champion-screw-grommets---6g-pp12-panel-pack/6345.html">these are the specific ones I used</a>). I got these at a car parts store and they actually fit perfectly as you can see in the picture. With the new grommets in place, the wider license plate fit perfectly snugly. The grommets also make the plate stand off a bit so that the plate itself isn't rattling against the bodywork.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvoY4a4SQorKL5udwZLvWfmbWF2X_WGTJZ87seeylHSBAaCULE7WzT1P9d9KkVK1OwOwCBZ6rG3UJLm8_GR4fW3jeVN6nASjZk_44VGSV94tJ_wjepIOixwFkRE53TmoOjq2YzdCW10KanKGBgeWPNeKESiFNFjKN1INrLsno_ZInoR84HlSNgJdU/s2048/IMG_7636.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIvoY4a4SQorKL5udwZLvWfmbWF2X_WGTJZ87seeylHSBAaCULE7WzT1P9d9KkVK1OwOwCBZ6rG3UJLm8_GR4fW3jeVN6nASjZk_44VGSV94tJ_wjepIOixwFkRE53TmoOjq2YzdCW10KanKGBgeWPNeKESiFNFjKN1INrLsno_ZInoR84HlSNgJdU/w151-h200/IMG_7636.jpeg" width="151" /></a></div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_pPzAMeu0RF9EqApB7FFdLOSe5I1ImydqhVOlFofKmtd-K4Gs_eu3BxWYllB5V2fe-u92zPrYlVn87l1-i85DYaK0_2WtK2vKH8ZkibEf18rKZ0oYYfOBiErcKM5GOYT_bB2SLfwro1C8CJtZazRvoGRncrOeD6gtuMfKQuI_vaUCDilAkrMeY6o/s2048/IMG_7639.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhN_pPzAMeu0RF9EqApB7FFdLOSe5I1ImydqhVOlFofKmtd-K4Gs_eu3BxWYllB5V2fe-u92zPrYlVn87l1-i85DYaK0_2WtK2vKH8ZkibEf18rKZ0oYYfOBiErcKM5GOYT_bB2SLfwro1C8CJtZazRvoGRncrOeD6gtuMfKQuI_vaUCDilAkrMeY6o/s320/IMG_7639.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div>The next issue was far more annoying. The little pieces of the stock grommet were rattling around inside the deck lid and I had to get them out.<p></p><p>Using my trusty "trim puller" kit (<a href="https://www.jaycar.com.au/12-piece-audio-and-interior-removal-kit/p/TH2339">this is the one I used</a>) and a Torx driver I was able to remove the rear hatch panel. The plastic trim puller helps you pry out the plugs at the locations indicated with the red arrows. It may be possible not to need to remove all of them, but I found it easy enough to just remove them all and gain access to the area inside the hatch. The hatch closing handle requires a Torx driver to remove.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqN_M_lxB3cQIb7xdmaDSzOk-844ySM8e_2Qt5pKzfyzO0I_-4-DyV859GIUpvFmWd9hEM3HKEF1nyZFXBW6Ct9V3O7GYgsXGN35-_vQub4BAzcKvq9wq3NfcOQy6d4u0nxJwmCYQKU1shG08DIIpvbHP42DcOF8IkgerwuXnKOJNAwH1T2ELy0LtI/s2048/IMG_7648.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqN_M_lxB3cQIb7xdmaDSzOk-844ySM8e_2Qt5pKzfyzO0I_-4-DyV859GIUpvFmWd9hEM3HKEF1nyZFXBW6Ct9V3O7GYgsXGN35-_vQub4BAzcKvq9wq3NfcOQy6d4u0nxJwmCYQKU1shG08DIIpvbHP42DcOF8IkgerwuXnKOJNAwH1T2ELy0LtI/s320/IMG_7648.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><p>Once you've removed the panel, you get access to the interior and remove the bits that are rattling around inside. </p><p>The photos below show the bits that were rattling as well as what the plugs look like when they've been pried off. To replace the panel, simply line up the panel and press them back in place. They go in nice and snug and nobody will ever know they were ever removed.</p><p><br /></p><p><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieeSFqtzSVgved3T7UeLlRqPVq9W22ncdFwW9nRZkKG8SIEtnF83BjzBJvSaIbssnV15nGao3o1WAU0ZAZ0Ey1jhW8J2CjngwPuBdCSm1g-zbGaEfITSOhz0ovQDBj70lgX1uT_seCxCjedEltdTbysPj6Vq75My1cUagih627exsnzt6Z7xZGyQh4/s2048/IMG_7647.jpeg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1536" data-original-width="2048" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEieeSFqtzSVgved3T7UeLlRqPVq9W22ncdFwW9nRZkKG8SIEtnF83BjzBJvSaIbssnV15nGao3o1WAU0ZAZ0Ey1jhW8J2CjngwPuBdCSm1g-zbGaEfITSOhz0ovQDBj70lgX1uT_seCxCjedEltdTbysPj6Vq75My1cUagih627exsnzt6Z7xZGyQh4/s320/IMG_7647.jpeg" width="320" /></a></div><=== These are the plugs that you pry out. There are two different sizes, so make sure you remember which one is which for when you put them back. If you do it carefully you won't leave any marks and you won't damage the plugs. This is where the pry tool mentioned above comes in handy. <a href="https://youtu.be/WZx0DuzPpZY?t=213">This video</a> shows how it's done (start at about 3m30s). It looks like he's using a metal tool, mine were hard plastic and looked similar. <a href="https://youtu.be/WZx0DuzPpZY?t=213">https://youtu.be/WZx0DuzPpZY?t=213</a><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl55i3GliS7CZwoz_OH3dYpB8lZOxAgKKgM5AZvl3qdhHOIYX3GQKafK10X--Nxp09vOArnUhKJovSh0mCXOo8Z-W5xNLGbW1fZ_6ErwYICovUNHLSVEf7fDnnWk4WFOoDn7XUAqkcwZpwPfV0vc6Kv2B3SNiN7idmc-2Or8Df2zfjz5lccBtKgdrA/s2048/IMG_7644.jpeg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjl55i3GliS7CZwoz_OH3dYpB8lZOxAgKKgM5AZvl3qdhHOIYX3GQKafK10X--Nxp09vOArnUhKJovSh0mCXOo8Z-W5xNLGbW1fZ_6ErwYICovUNHLSVEf7fDnnWk4WFOoDn7XUAqkcwZpwPfV0vc6Kv2B3SNiN7idmc-2Or8Df2zfjz5lccBtKgdrA/s320/IMG_7644.jpeg" width="240" /></a></div>These are the stock grommets from Fiat that came with the car and were completely brittle. The white circular bits fell off outside, everything else ended up in the door and was very annoyingly rattling around. =========================><br /><p><br /></p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-62121092751314539572021-10-02T21:01:00.004+10:002023-06-14T17:59:28.690+10:00Shimano ST-AT20 (Altus A20) shifting mechanism teardown and rebuild<p>I've had my mountain bike with the stock Altus A20 (Shimano part # ST-AT20) shifting mechanism since I bought it new in 1993 and now finally I experienced the "doesn't shift" issue for the first time (in 2021 - not a bad run!). There are plenty of YouTube videos (like <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gm23B2lza7E" target="_blank">here</a>) that show you how to fix it by squirting WD40 through the hole in the back, but I wanted to dismantle and clean it up. Oddly, I couldn't find any pics of the internals. Even on the Shimano website the best you can get is an exploded diagram that doesn't show you what it's like inside! See here:<a href="https://f004.backblazeb2.com/file/blog-ambor-com/EV-ST-AT20-1292A.pdf">https://si.shimano.com/api/publish/storage/pdf/en/ev/ST-AT20/EV-ST-AT20-1292A.pdf</a></p><p>So since I had to take photos as I tore it down anyway, here they are in case you want to see what's actually inside this thing. In order to show the "clean" photos (taking it apart, it was obviously a complete gunky mess inside) I'm showing the photos in reverse after the parts were cleaned. To clean the parts, I just soaked them in degreaser.</p><p>Take apart the mechanism per any one of the many YouTube videos (or have a look at the photos here from the bottom up). Then place all the parts in degreaser and clean them all up.</p><p>I recommend that you scroll to the bottom of this page and look at the photos going up which will show you the disassembly. <b><span style="color: red;">NOTE THAT THE FIRST NUT YOU HIT IS REVERSE THREADED - Clockwise to loosen, anti-clockwise to tighten.</span></b></p><p style="text-align: center;"><b><span style="color: red;"><u><span style="color: #2b00fe;">Click on any of the images to enlarge.</span></u> </span></b> <br /></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5255.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5255.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>The larger lever (#1) has a little spring loaded mechanism which is what gets stuck and prevents the shifter from working. It needs to move freely and return quickly when you press against the spring. I was able to achieve this by soaking the whole part in degreaser, but you may need to remove the circlip and fully tear apart if that doesn't do the trick. </p><p>Also note the following:</p><p>The copper bushing (#5) is very thin and easily bends. <br />The silver bushings marked #6 and #7 are not identical, but look very similar. They are sized to correspond to the two levers (marked #1 and #2).<br />The springs (#3 and #4) are best removed and installed carefully with needle nosed pliers and make sure they don't fly off somewhere never to be found again.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5256.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5256.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>With all the parts removed, the mechanism looks like the figure above. I was able to clean this just by soaking it in degreaser and I didn't need to remove the cable itself. </p><p>To put it all back together you start with making a "sandwich" with #2, #5 and #7 from the top image. I
found it easier to put the copper part in first and then the other two,
but keep in mind that you don't want to damage the thin copper bushing
(nor lose any of the items). You can see I slightly bent the copper bushing already here.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5258.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5258.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p></p><p>I put the copper bushing in first...<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5257.jpeg" width="400" /> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then I put in the lever (note the orientation) <br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> </div><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5260.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5260.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Then the silver coloured bushing labelled #7 goes next with the flat part on the top and the cylindrical part on the bottom. This is used to centre the lever correctly. Make sure that you don't damage the copper bushing below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5261.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5261.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>And there you can see how the lever becomes nicely centered on the shaft. Next is the spring - you will need pliers to fix it on one end and bend it around to the other end. It needs to be under stress for it to work.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5262.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5262.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Then comes the next lever and I have two photos to show exactly how it goes below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5263.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5263.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5264.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5264.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Then you will use the bushing marked #6 to center it like you did with the other lever.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5265.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5265.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Next is the spring which can be a bit confusing. One end will latch onto the lever, the other end will be sticking up waiting for the next piece of the sandwich.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5266.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5266.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Then you align part #8 so it can fit down the shaft and it should be aligned to catch the part of the spring that is sticking up in the groove.<br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5267.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5267.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>Then you tighten on the last piece of the sandwich (marked #9 in the top image).<b><span style="color: red;"> KEEP IN MIND THAT THIS IS REVERSE THREADED! You turn clockwise to loosen and anti-clockwise to tighten.</span></b> <br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5268.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5268.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><p>Then there is one more step which is to use pliers to pull the spring into the deeper grove as per the photo below.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5269.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5269.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p>And here are some photos of the finished assembly from different angles.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5270.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5270.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5271.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5271.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5272.jpeg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="600" data-original-width="800" height="300" src="https://www.ambor.com/blog/shimano/IMG_5272.jpeg" width="400" /></a></div><br /><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-4345980324346028142021-08-16T14:35:00.005+10:002021-08-16T15:40:34.999+10:00Using cURL to send an e-mail with an attachment<p>TL;DR Version: You would think that sending an e-mail with an attachment using only cURL in a shell script would be a simple exercise, indeed it's a native feature of cURL. One day I was looking for a quick bit of info for a shell script I was writing and became frustrated at the lack of a fully working example. The documentation has a few ambiguities which made putting it all together not just a 5 minute exercise. So for those looking for a fully working example, check out the script I put together here: <a href="https://github.com/ambanmba/send-ses">https://github.com/ambanmba/send-ses</a>.</p><p>Longer version: I've been looking for a way to send quick transactional messages using <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/ses/">Amazon SES</a> via a shell script. There is the <a href="https://aws.amazon.com/cli/">aws-cli </a>which has built-in features for this and this technique works, as outlined here: <a href="https://github.com/ambanmba/aws-ses-sender">https://github.com/ambanmba/aws-ses-sender</a>. The problem with this approach, however; is that you need to have installed the aws-cli on the device (which isn't always possible/feasible) and it creates a dependency that I was looking to avoid. It also requires you to use Amazon SES as opposed to any SMTP server.</p><p>The <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CURL">cURL</a> project (also see <a href="https://curl.se/">here</a>) natively supports sending mail via SMTP and also has the benefit of being preinstalled on many systems include macOS, Linux/Unix and even more recent versions of Windows. This opens up the possibility of a completely cross-platform method of sending messages from the command line that contain attachments. </p><p>If you Google around how to send e-mails with cURL they don't tend to include examples that include attachments for some reason. The other thing you see is that people build up an <a href="https://datatracker.ietf.org/doc/html/rfc5322.html">rfc5322</a> formatted file which is then sent via the cURL command. This to me was inelegant since cURL natively supports making the rfc5322 file on its own. </p><p>So my goal became to create a way to 1) send an e-mail, 2) using an SMTP server, 3) with an attachment, 4) that has the correct MIME type associated with it, 5) without creating any interim temporary files. </p><p>And voila! Here is my worked example (also on GitHub: <a href="https://github.com/ambanmba/send-ses">https://github.com/ambanmba/send-ses</a>) which uses Amazon SES, although you could use whatever SMTP server you like. </p><p>It uses the native cURL functionality (-F and -H) to directly create and send the rfc5322 file without any interim steps. <br /></p><p>To use this, you just run this script and provide filename to send. <br /></p><p>
<code>
#!/bin/bash </code></p><p><code>sesAccess='AKIAXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX'
sesSecret='Bxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx' <br />sesFromName="Joe McJones"
<br />sesFromAddress="joe.mcjones@fakeaddress.net"
<br />sesToName="Mary McMary"
<br />sesToAddress="mary.mcmary@notmyrealmail.com"
<br />sesSubject="Test Email from Script"
<br />sesSMTP="email-smtp.us-east-1.amazonaws.com"
<br />sesPort="465"
<br />sesMessage=$'Test of line 1\nTest of line 2'
<br />sesFile="$1"<br />sesMIMEType=`file --mime-type "$sesFile" | sed 's/.*: //'`<br /><br />curl -v --url smtps://$sesSMTP:$sesPort --ssl-reqd --mail-from $sesFromAddress --mail-rcpt $sesToAddress --user $sesAccess:$sesSecret -F '=(;type=multipart/mixed' -F "=$sesMessage;type=text/plain" -F "file=@$sesFile;type=$sesMIMEType;encoder=base64" -F '=)' -H "Subject: $sesSubject" -H "From: $sesFromName <$sesFromAddress>" -H "To: $sesToName <$sesToAddress>"<br /></code></p>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-17204749148771739692020-04-07T15:57:00.003+10:002023-06-14T17:48:10.749+10:00Driving a LED panel with a spreadsheet (Y5207 / AM03127 N00GA)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
I recently found a LED panel on the street with no documentation, cabling, power supply, etc. I thought it would be a fun project with my son to see if we could get it going. The only markings were a model number Y5207. It turns out this is a widely available and very generic device that is also known by other part numbers such as the <a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20150319080724/http://www.maplin.co.uk:80/p/colour-moving-message-sign-n00ga" target="_blank">Maplin N00GA</a>, <a href="https://www.amplus.com.hk/LED_%20AM03127-H13.htm" target="_blank">Amplus AM03127</a>, <a href="https://www.velleman.eu/products/view/?id=372614" target="_blank">Velleman MML16R</a>, and many others. They come in different sizes and optionally in different colours. <br />
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The Y5207 has just a power connection for 12VDC and an RJ-11 port for RS-232 data. The RJ-11 pinout for RS-232 has no set standard so we had to figure it out. You only need GND, RXD, TXD so it's not hard to work out with trial an error. In our case, we made up a cable as per the photo.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaEwoWtN7FqSNupyabXIVRLH5m9OgkqGayQXDoNDnchl4w8Ry-fLRpCNqJlySncevNlmhw2R74vNHgiGRAqXmn0V_f9ia5aves8hPQn5XYJ5SjvOBTSSuIMcxpoqRpc1nPgyxomRJPi0/s1600/IMG_0809.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1200" data-original-width="1600" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmaEwoWtN7FqSNupyabXIVRLH5m9OgkqGayQXDoNDnchl4w8Ry-fLRpCNqJlySncevNlmhw2R74vNHgiGRAqXmn0V_f9ia5aves8hPQn5XYJ5SjvOBTSSuIMcxpoqRpc1nPgyxomRJPi0/s320/IMG_0809.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
With the device facing towards you and the connectors on the left side, the top pin is GND, the next pin down is TXD and the next pin down is RXD.<br />
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<b>The bad news:</b> Upon reading the <a href="https://github.com/micolous/ledsign/blob/master/docs-official/y5207/RGB%20ledbar%20conrad.pdf" target="_blank">documentation</a>, <b>you can't just send this thing human generated commands via the serial port. </b>The information has to be structured with a checksum calculated individually for each command. This makes it basically impossible for a human to hand craft commands to send. Therefore you can't just play with it with a young child that doesn't have enough math skills to understand how to construct a checksum.<br />
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<b>To play with it you have a few options:</b><br />
1. Connect to an Arduino, Raspberry Pi or other micro controller and use various libraries and code segments available on Github (like this one and many others; <a href="https://github.com/micolous/ledsign/tree/master/docs-official/y5207">https://github.com/micolous/ledsign/tree/master/docs-official/y5207</a>). There are also some great <a href="https://emalliab.wordpress.com/2015/04/27/rpi-uart-and-maplins-n00ga-or-am03127-led-display/" target="_blank">write ups like this one</a>.<br />
2. Get a copy of the official software (which is only for Windows). You can use some Googling around with the part numbers above to find it. The problem with this option is that it's just a black box, you have no idea how it works.<br />
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If you don't have a Windows machine, or don't want to mess around with Python, Java, etc, or.... in my case I wanted to create something that was interactive and allowed for young children to have a play with controlling such a device. This meant something like a spreadsheet!<br />
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The nice thing about doing it in a spreadsheet is:<br />
1. You can very easily see HOW it all works without any prior programming knowledge<br />
2. You can use it interactively from any computer that can run a spreadsheet (completely hardware agnostic)<br />
3. You can start playing it right now with the device you are using to read this blog post<br />
4. You can more or less mask the checksum calculation on a background sheet <br />
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The only thing you need is a way to send RS-232 data to the device. You can use a USB-Serial adapter which are incredibly cheap and ubiquitous. (For example: <a href="https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20200406201242&SearchText=usb+to+rs232">https://www.aliexpress.com/wholesale?catId=0&initiative_id=SB_20200406201242&SearchText=usb+to+rs232</a>)<br />
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You also need a terminal that allows your operating system to actually send the data. Examples include <a href="https://apps.apple.com/us/app/serialtools/id611021963?mt=12" target="_blank">SerialTools</a> (Mac), or <a href="https://www.chiark.greenend.org.uk/~sgtatham/putty/" target="_blank">Putty</a> (Multi-Platform)<br />
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This spreadsheet implements virtually all the features available in the official technical documentation of the device. (available here: <a href="https://github.com/micolous/ledsign/blob/master/docs-official/y5207/RGB%20ledbar%20conrad.pdf">https://github.com/micolous/ledsign/blob/master/docs-official/y5207/RGB%20ledbar%20conrad.pdf</a>)<br />
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If you are too impatient to read any of this, just send the following string down the RS-232 cable by cutting/pasting it into your terminal program at 9600,8,N,1, and it may give you motivation:<br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><code><</code>ID00<code>></code><code><</code>L1<code>></code><code><</code>PA<code>></code><code><</code>FE<code>></code><code><</code>MQ<code>></code><code><</code>WA<code>></code><code><</code>FB<code>></code><code><</code>AA<code>></code><code><</code>CC<code>></code><code><</code>N00<code>></code>Hello
World0D<code><</code>E>
</span></b><br />
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Notice the little <b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">0D</span></b> just before the <b><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><code><</code>E></span></b><e> that's the checksum. You need to individually calculate it for each unique command. Bit of a bummer that prevents straight human-entered commands, but that's what the spreadsheet does.</e><br />
Read below to find out how to use the spreadsheet in more detail:<br />
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<a href="https://github.com/ambanmba/LEDBoardControl/blob/main/LEDBoardControl.xlsx" target="_blank"><b>CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE SPREADSHEET</b></a> - Excel Version<br />
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<b><a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1r10zw35hl2OkCmBJX2uUiVVnFx7nmXCoN1aqbvTe84o/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">CLICK HERE TO ACCESS THE SPREADSHEET</a></b> - Online Google Sheets Version<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7Fj2Xk29E3hV57B4kEusZMan2DndmDZojcjpfYpYUaSDXXz7G9JmSETummbM8o4NwB_tbuTCvXv1gd-cysJkpIjEzzWlNgFH3dg-8cyf9SbJIlSJnDJYjUSuKDWbU1Fpr5x569zhRL4/s1600/Spreadsheet+View.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="886" data-original-width="1600" height="220" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-7Fj2Xk29E3hV57B4kEusZMan2DndmDZojcjpfYpYUaSDXXz7G9JmSETummbM8o4NwB_tbuTCvXv1gd-cysJkpIjEzzWlNgFH3dg-8cyf9SbJIlSJnDJYjUSuKDWbU1Fpr5x569zhRL4/s400/Spreadsheet+View.png" width="400" /> </a></div>
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<b>The TL;DR version: </b></div>
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Main Sheet: You enter your information in the yellow cells and the output is in the dark green cells. Each row of green cells can just be cut / pasted into a terminal software to send straight down the RS-232 wire. Use 9600 baud, 8 bits, No Parity, 1 Stop Big (this is commonly referred to as 8N1). </div>
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Example: Cut cell T4 and Paste it into your terminal program and your sign should say Hello World.</div>
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It's basically that simple. You can then start messing with the "Message Options" to change the font, style, speed, etc. If you get more adventurous you can add Special Characters and custom graphics per the instructions in cells P10 and below.</div>
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<b>The Slightly Longer Version:</b></div>
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I would recommend you read the documentation <a href="https://github.com/micolous/ledsign/blob/master/docs-official/y5207/RGB%20ledbar%20conrad.pdf" target="_blank">here</a><b> </b>to get a sense for how the commands work. The thing that makes it slightly complex is that for each command you need to calculate a checksum using an XOR algorithm. The spreadsheet sorts this out for you and the items in the green cells (T4 for example) have this checksum already applied.</div>
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<b> </b></div>
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<b>Other Considerations:</b></div>
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<b>1. Utility Sheet: </b>There is a sheet called "Utility Sheet"<b> </b>which is in the tab next to "Main Sheet". Here you can perform some utility functions. For example, the spreadsheet assumes that you have sent the command in cell B5 of the utility sheet if you want to use all 4 "pages" (represented by cells P4, P5, P6 and P7 in the Main Sheet). You can have up to 26 pages and it would be easy to modify the spreadsheet to accommodate all 26.</div>
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<b>2. LED Panel Capabilities: </b>Some of the settings (for example multiple Lines, the largest font size, or various colours) only work on panels that have those capabilities. The panel I found was a red single line panel so I couldn't use some of the features.</div>
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<b>3. Custom Graphics</b>: You can create custom graphics (for example a company logo). These graphics cannot be produced in this version of the spreadsheet as it's quite complex to create. There are some built-in graphics you can try, for example by adding a <ga1> to your text, but you can't create your own with this spreadsheet. If you do create your own via other means, they are stored in the panel. So if you create a custom image stored in Page 4, Block 1, then you could call it from the spreadsheet with <gd1> (D = Page 4, 1 = Block 1)</gd1></ga1></div>
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<b>Future Work:</b></div>
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1. Implement the Custom Graphics Generator within the spreadsheet (I have an idea of how to do it from my <a href="https://blog.ambor.com/2013/03/create-qr-codes-in-excel-or-any.html" target="_blank">QR Code Generator spreadsheet</a>). </div>
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2. Find out if the spreadsheet itself can send the data directly to the serial port - This could allow directly driving the display from Google Sheets?</div>
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-17356230801560717542020-03-31T16:01:00.002+11:002020-03-31T16:50:40.444+11:00Trigger a new macOS FileVault Recovery Key for Escrow<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Starting with macOS 10.13 you can now escrow the FileVault recovery key with an MDM. This is useful if you are running a fleet of macOS devices and want to automatically store the recovery key. The problem is that once the key is generated, it is lost forever if you don't store it somehow. It also means that if you implement an escrow policy on a machine with FileVault already enabled, you cannot escrow the key. The trick is to re-generate a key which will allow it to be escrowed. The command is:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">sudo fdesetup changerecovery -personal</span><br />
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After entering the command you will be asked for the password for the logged in user (you won't see the password as you type it) then hit return.<br />
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Then it will ask for a user that has access to the FileVault key - which is typically the same user and then again enter the password. The interaction looks something like this:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><br /><span style="font-size: x-small;">Test-MacBook-Pro:~ testadmin$ <b>sudo fdesetup changerecovery -personal</b><br />Password: <b>[enter the password]</b><br />Enter the user name: <b>testadmin</b><br />Enter the password for user 'testadmin': </span></span><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;"><b>[enter the password]</b></span></span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">New personal recover key = '32BT-LEXH-59KL-VUVV-73HU-V92Q'<br />Test-MacBook-Pro:~ testadmin$</span></span><span style="font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></div>
amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-13025490291686048602020-02-04T18:14:00.001+11:002020-03-31T16:01:47.540+11:00Trigger DEP on a MacOS machine after installation<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Ever wondered how to trigger a Mac to pull a DEP profile without rebuilding the whole machine? This is something I thought was totally impossible despite lots of searching. Then one day, I ran across t<a href="https://www.reddit.com/r/macsysadmin/comments/euolt2/a_few_macs_wont_dep_no_errors_using_ac2/ffsklql/?context=3">his thread in Reddit</a> and it's possible! <br />
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Someone just casually mentioned that you can do this with the following command:<br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">sudo profiles renew -type enrollment</span><br />
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Sure enough it works perfectly? How was I not able to find this all this time? Jees... you'd think there would be a good way to search the internet or something.<br />
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While I'm at it, here is another neat trick to re-trigger a Mac to act as if it's been newly started up without having to fully wipe it first.<br />
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">sudo rm /var/db/.AppleSetupDone </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">sudo rm -rf /var/db/ConfigurationProfiles/ </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;">sudo rm /Library/Keychains/apsd.keychain</span><br />
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Reboot the machine and re-enroll. You may find that you are not allowed to run the 2nd or 3rd command due to permissions, but just doing the first one should be good enough.<br />
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<code class="_34q3PgLsx9zIU5BiSOjFoM"></code></div>
amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-1516388560641041512020-01-09T18:46:00.000+11:002020-03-31T16:01:59.998+11:00Apple Serial Number Decoding spreadsheet<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Apple has been using the same serial number format since 2010 on virtually all (if not all?) their devices. The serial number encodes a bunch of things such as the manufacturing location, the production week in a given year, the model number as well as a unique ID. There are many use cases for being able to decode the serial number and there are a few web sites out there that let you enter a serial number and get the result. But, who knows what those sites do with the information you give them? I thought it would be much better to do it on a spreadsheet where you can decode your own serial numbers.<br />
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My source for much of this information is here: <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/16/apple-tweaks-serial-number-format-with-new-macbook-pro/">https://www.macrumors.com/2010/04/16/apple-tweaks-serial-number-format-with-new-macbook-pro/</a><br />
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Click on the link below to go to the spreadsheet:<br />
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<a href="https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/14kUP6Dl6u3K3PuNiGZ2-FsdZ0fTGqWwQmovP2Vr6Od0/edit?usp=sharing" target="_blank">Decoding Spreadsheet</a> <==========<br />
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Just click on the link, see how it works and copy it to your computer. Or if you just want to quickly decode a serial number you can do it live in the spreadsheet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HsKxjuqE41u-b2-rm3mrlbqKFY2joNOSWXKvwY_DmRRlp79bUWYCZ2imryxpUAdnmgEXwYh-cgIUljQMHI4NOUjehbDf9CHBqmmHkwhvql96HYLQE7dMD1MA5cuoI-daTd7vS3JCaro/s1600/Screen+Shot+2020-01-09+at+18.33.25.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Image of Spreadsheet" border="0" data-original-height="151" data-original-width="691" height="85" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8HsKxjuqE41u-b2-rm3mrlbqKFY2joNOSWXKvwY_DmRRlp79bUWYCZ2imryxpUAdnmgEXwYh-cgIUljQMHI4NOUjehbDf9CHBqmmHkwhvql96HYLQE7dMD1MA5cuoI-daTd7vS3JCaro/s400/Screen+Shot+2020-01-09+at+18.33.25.png" title="Spreadsheet Screen Shot" width="400" /></a></div>
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One thing that I was curious about was what would happen in 2020. Their numbering system has a single character to denote the Year and Half starting with C and going to Z. The 2nd half of 2019 was Z and I was curious if they were going to go from Z to 1, if they were going to create a new numbering schema or circle back to A.<br />
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<b>We now know the answer at least for now...</b> I just bought a machine built in Week 1 of 2020 and it looks like they have circled back to C (which used to be 2010, First Half).<br />
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What this means is that any machine built after December 31, 2019 will need to use a different formula in the spreadsheet. I've called this the "New Epoch" section in the spreadsheet.<br />
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So long as Apple don't reuse Model IDs (the last 4 digits) there is no risk of creating colliding serial numbers, so it's really not a huge problem.<br />
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Also, there are rumors that Apple will be moving to completely random serial numbers in which case none of this will work anymore. Read about it here: <a href="https://www.macrumors.com/2020/01/06/apple-randomized-serial-numbers-late-2020/">https://www.macrumors.com/2020/01/06/apple-randomized-serial-numbers-late-2020/</a><br />
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-66653571644827488052019-04-13T21:27:00.003+10:002020-03-31T16:02:29.554+11:00Azure Information Protection - Broken "by design" according to Microsoft<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
As of this writing, it's been <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2016/06/22/microsoft-announces-new-data-protection-tool-to-help-enterprises-secure-their-data/" target="_blank">3 years since Microsoft announced their Azure Information Protection</a> (AIP) product. As recently as <a href="https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/information-protection/what-is-information-protection" target="_blank">March of this year</a>, they were touting ominously "When you use Azure Information Protection with Exchange Online, you get
an additional benefit: The ability to send protected emails to any user,
with <b>the assurance that they can read it on any device</b>." What they don't mention is that Outlook Web App (a.k.a. OWA) <b>completely bypasses AIP security</b>. Can this be possible? <br />
<br />
Long story short - yes... according to Microsoft... "<span style="background-color: yellow;">Azure Information Protection does not work in OWA and it is by design</span>". (click below to enlarge). And when they say "does not work" they don't mean that you can't read the protected information - "does not work" according to Microsoft means that all protection is removed. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglf9jOM9G58MJwT1QSoj3rU-ZHjghtdN7dIcF5JRvYrAYcuFt-uuVCBB3NN9JpV3HcDCiM8J16Hnt0lruUpdlavl44PswltSgIQGe_qv1ZEFkPGq5F7bCpTgQ9eRBXyoMpcV-sUKOI3S4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+20.01.53.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="1322" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEglf9jOM9G58MJwT1QSoj3rU-ZHjghtdN7dIcF5JRvYrAYcuFt-uuVCBB3NN9JpV3HcDCiM8J16Hnt0lruUpdlavl44PswltSgIQGe_qv1ZEFkPGq5F7bCpTgQ9eRBXyoMpcV-sUKOI3S4/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+20.01.53.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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In fact, I am told that if I'm not happy with this protection feature, I can join other unhappy Microsoft customers and vote for this broken functionality to be fixed. The link they gave me, humorously, is one that I originally created. <a href="https://office365.uservoice.com/forums/289138-office-365-security-compliance/suggestions/37295347-owa-should-respect-aip-message-expiry-rules">https://office365.uservoice.com/forums/289138-office-365-security-compliance/suggestions/37295347-owa-should-respect-aip-message-expiry-rules.</a> If you are reading this and reckon that AIP should actually protect your cloud information, feel free to "vote" for my suggestion. Sadly, the odds of this being a successful approach are nil when the top features that Microsoft is working on are <a href="https://twitter.com/ambanmba/status/1113995272697180160">really important things</a> like animated 3D hearts in Excel.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8ogleYQaP9EK479Qx-l9X9jHvmjvQvprqshFedcSxpDN2wtOOXu6_CgMhyphenhyphen0JmmDQyeXy0FKqAlfLog_8lCikjwa3clgYHDBVs7eT5xSdXIRNSqym_JSR9yTdTUMIYftRIFVisYDyMzI/s1600/D3W0k95UUAAM4u5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="220" data-original-width="586" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC8ogleYQaP9EK479Qx-l9X9jHvmjvQvprqshFedcSxpDN2wtOOXu6_CgMhyphenhyphen0JmmDQyeXy0FKqAlfLog_8lCikjwa3clgYHDBVs7eT5xSdXIRNSqym_JSR9yTdTUMIYftRIFVisYDyMzI/s400/D3W0k95UUAAM4u5.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
For those technically minded of you, I have a bit more detail below. For everyone else, don't waste your time on Azure Information Protection (or your money on the expensive Enterprise licenses that are required for it), after 3 years, it's still not ready.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI7jULR2Rgr5E_oT-FKjdaMkMy4Ifv2OsA4op58ME-u3Qfgj0sXE6fPUzeibycqB34mpJJdMyhAVCIe3YJR_NVAAoy6MfBgn7-nJ4C4WYxR_GLrFBbEDzZzlsbiFZg3HNAs6bjjTvDQCg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+21.35.16.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="11" data-original-width="600" height="6" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiI7jULR2Rgr5E_oT-FKjdaMkMy4Ifv2OsA4op58ME-u3Qfgj0sXE6fPUzeibycqB34mpJJdMyhAVCIe3YJR_NVAAoy6MfBgn7-nJ4C4WYxR_GLrFBbEDzZzlsbiFZg3HNAs6bjjTvDQCg/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+21.35.16.png" width="400" /></a></div>
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The way that AIP works is by setting up what are called Labels. Here is an example label that causes items to expire after 3 days. I have confirmed with Microsoft that this is the correct way to configure the feature.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF45JChteYM4YVH15AukULSvOXuHLn5TK-XWPC7J0g7YxNTDGqSBXNSeSVQU0h_i3JUBsdTkC2BKc4LkveaPzKoF6qJ40HCdS6DLKl11Zdn30N-YN7NeTvAdLa0LM9KJy4CjkVyQV731s/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.45.58.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1225" data-original-width="1400" height="280" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhF45JChteYM4YVH15AukULSvOXuHLn5TK-XWPC7J0g7YxNTDGqSBXNSeSVQU0h_i3JUBsdTkC2BKc4LkveaPzKoF6qJ40HCdS6DLKl11Zdn30N-YN7NeTvAdLa0LM9KJy4CjkVyQV731s/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.45.58.png" width="320" /></a></div>
This label called "Secure Inbox" is listed along with other labels available in our tenancy.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFIzvXKyuNuLhFnpFIx-n-8731Ymuz1aMcgsZq6zhpXdehW9ruv1maGSAOqgknAKfM8WXkdOU_AqXgEiIucFYyU-_hAnYdII0iyHJhC_6eULXFnV7_BcvXhEy7DOMT1N9pUES39XO0xY/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.46.42.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="776" data-original-width="1384" height="179" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzFIzvXKyuNuLhFnpFIx-n-8731Ymuz1aMcgsZq6zhpXdehW9ruv1maGSAOqgknAKfM8WXkdOU_AqXgEiIucFYyU-_hAnYdII0iyHJhC_6eULXFnV7_BcvXhEy7DOMT1N9pUES39XO0xY/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.46.42.png" width="320" /></a></div>
To invoke this label, you can create a rule in Exchange to apply the label under certain conditions. In this example, mail coming into Test AU will get the "Secure Inbox" treatment as defined above.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxitg_iUD80d6KaPjvMcXucX2FGlLdjaesJnmQ0teh5YmyWVHlVTZC82nM91g2t5c7CkogvcASk91qAtPr9Qsv99kD7QdR2qAtbXwgu4Zy7bdNwSOLpqyKLwW2kPPTs_EVWklQqlkSkw/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.43.51.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1153" data-original-width="784" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgcxitg_iUD80d6KaPjvMcXucX2FGlLdjaesJnmQ0teh5YmyWVHlVTZC82nM91g2t5c7CkogvcASk91qAtPr9Qsv99kD7QdR2qAtbXwgu4Zy7bdNwSOLpqyKLwW2kPPTs_EVWklQqlkSkw/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.43.51.png" width="217" /></a></div>
Microsoft have confirmed that this is the correct way to implement a policy to make messages no longer visible after 3 days. Indeed, if you send an e-mail to a mailbox and wait 3 days, you get the following in both Mac and Windows versions of Outlook:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIiFtl5v9hdA1qYTf4GwXAhDzHRP0m0vF82urnjOLIJUiT-m3Zue1rbH9h9DVFoNE3XYgOW7uxX4E-Ob-t73wlRD-nJKbenQ1ryG9RIxbQbDORj1UhReyNfLMRN5S67amEhoiMCAi0dM/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.47.39.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="974" data-original-width="1581" height="197" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqIiFtl5v9hdA1qYTf4GwXAhDzHRP0m0vF82urnjOLIJUiT-m3Zue1rbH9h9DVFoNE3XYgOW7uxX4E-Ob-t73wlRD-nJKbenQ1ryG9RIxbQbDORj1UhReyNfLMRN5S67amEhoiMCAi0dM/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.47.39.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEw7zVlxbLObj4a8qulVWXAgp6fm4OTQeFCMDBRJS5ulfyMNcoc44g7QtkZZ3Q_nXhTb8kMrunJ6Lc6ZVEqXuUiwQCcx5lj15YhRCYf-dosg78wxbFjWL36h8IPE8fsSG_0oleuFBpW4/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.56.18.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="921" data-original-width="1277" height="230" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEEw7zVlxbLObj4a8qulVWXAgp6fm4OTQeFCMDBRJS5ulfyMNcoc44g7QtkZZ3Q_nXhTb8kMrunJ6Lc6ZVEqXuUiwQCcx5lj15YhRCYf-dosg78wxbFjWL36h8IPE8fsSG_0oleuFBpW4/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.56.18.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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This is perfect... exactly as advertised.<br />
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But... what if you log in to OWA and read your mail there? The exact same message, which was meant to expire after 3 days is displayed freely without any restriction. Indeed, even the attachment can be downloaded. In the older OWA interface, you get a message saying "This message will expire on: Friday, 15 March 2019 8:04:00 PM" which is when it expired on the desktop version... but despite it being already mid-April, a month old message is still plainly visible.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlMXDUwu2DuE-LdUhONxLfEamYmsPdn4AIMFaRkOhkFbv_kPtw-CMvIUFLG2yL0vPinlDYzQyW3-USVTG5Dnq52VviTJPWNalzOh4XY62H_Kx_aA8RBocr-vIjEUNKPKBxThjRZ031KI/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.58.52.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="965" data-original-width="1600" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrlMXDUwu2DuE-LdUhONxLfEamYmsPdn4AIMFaRkOhkFbv_kPtw-CMvIUFLG2yL0vPinlDYzQyW3-USVTG5Dnq52VviTJPWNalzOh4XY62H_Kx_aA8RBocr-vIjEUNKPKBxThjRZ031KI/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.58.52.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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What about the New OWA interface (click "Try the new Outlook" on the top right)... well, that's even worse!<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzXGX32CbNi5mAbG7byfjiQQipEK7Qc0XxbLXa3eNMnJVgMMk7pANa-vj6wQ8tKFPwQK83h-5M4AeVD533EGtAQMwJuBp0LweMKy98ObJBPxJykWZnnxFXQp0zC965wJzwxRcrxt3H60/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.59.17.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="965" data-original-width="1600" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtzXGX32CbNi5mAbG7byfjiQQipEK7Qc0XxbLXa3eNMnJVgMMk7pANa-vj6wQ8tKFPwQK83h-5M4AeVD533EGtAQMwJuBp0LweMKy98ObJBPxJykWZnnxFXQp0zC965wJzwxRcrxt3H60/s320/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+19.59.17.png" width="320" /></a></div>
In the new interface, not only is the message and the attachment fully accessible, but they don't even bother to tell you that you are past the expiration date.<br />
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What about on the phone? You guessed it... plainly visible well past the "expiration" date.<br />
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After over a month of back and forth with Microsoft support (who have been able to reproduce this problem - and initially agreed that it doesn't feel like a secure way to secure things), they have given up with a flippant "this is by design"...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC9jbJSJSowhXwRKKLrru5zXmcWs0nqns-8xijZLYgX9cM24cAcKM2gdGzXq7EqvXCa__NpDogA6fkTFDe4Esjgkqqa0S51MtzTuto6FIZuV7xmJ2gh-3iIL1B4zUtWL08gqQWU0Fo20/s1600/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+20.01.53.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="304" data-original-width="1322" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgxC9jbJSJSowhXwRKKLrru5zXmcWs0nqns-8xijZLYgX9cM24cAcKM2gdGzXq7EqvXCa__NpDogA6fkTFDe4Esjgkqqa0S51MtzTuto6FIZuV7xmJ2gh-3iIL1B4zUtWL08gqQWU0Fo20/s400/Screen+Shot+2019-04-13+at+20.01.53.png" width="400" /></a></div>
Thanks for nothing...<br />
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-40575226435327240772018-03-16T21:53:00.002+11:002020-03-31T16:02:18.937+11:00Hacking an IKEA MOLGAN Light - Part 2<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHOYwKqN8azJ1Nguf-Q9R3yioK5x76QOxZxCYlYbIBPKWC-cGvg07jSsMCYhx6BB8zUvyX0R71WnSYZ8ZTijsjeDuTS8Nu_A791JKUCfF0LnxDgU9E07Xz4OD3f8nNRWgSr0yzH2pqJs/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-17+at+22.56.14.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="835" data-original-width="984" height="271" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfHOYwKqN8azJ1Nguf-Q9R3yioK5x76QOxZxCYlYbIBPKWC-cGvg07jSsMCYhx6BB8zUvyX0R71WnSYZ8ZTijsjeDuTS8Nu_A791JKUCfF0LnxDgU9E07Xz4OD3f8nNRWgSr0yzH2pqJs/s320/Screen+Shot+2017-02-17+at+22.56.14.png" width="320" /></a></div>
Over a year has passed since my previous MOLGAN Hack to improve battery life, (see <a href="http://blog.ambor.com/2017/02/hacking-ikea-molgan-light.html" target="_blank">http://blog.ambor.com/2017/02/hacking-ikea-molgan-light.html</a>). I have modified several MOLGANs and the battery endurance in the modified lights is great (several months on rechargeable AAA batteries). Under the default timing, the lights come on for about 30 seconds which is fine for all of them except one which I'd like to stay on for a little longer.<br />
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As mentioned in my previous post, these lights are driven by a very common <a href="http://www.datasheetcafe.com/biss0001-datasheet-pdf/" target="_blank">BISS0001</a> motion detector IC. Pins 3 and 4 are connected to resistors and capacitors whose values define the "Output Pulse Width" which is the fancy way to say the number of seconds that the light stays on once it is triggered.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI95GgslPoanPvzzk6n9Brn3KWeV3HkOqo8kEYseHu-UXUnMmklBoIiZjX2wyNPlkpQrimMjqYyqSq7zjevaPUZh-UXjS9Hx74AHefw_OOLA5YYXtC4ErWHw_HKpXQdcNZpCa4Wk_lNIU/s1600/IMG_0219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgI95GgslPoanPvzzk6n9Brn3KWeV3HkOqo8kEYseHu-UXUnMmklBoIiZjX2wyNPlkpQrimMjqYyqSq7zjevaPUZh-UXjS9Hx74AHefw_OOLA5YYXtC4ErWHw_HKpXQdcNZpCa4Wk_lNIU/s320/IMG_0219.jpg" width="240" /></a><br />
Refer my previous post to see how to disassemble the light. Once you are inside you will see what is pictured here (ignore the extra RED and BLACK wires in this photo). I have drawn on my board so you can see which are the relevant resistors and capacitors to adjust the timing. I've also drawn a black trace line to show how they are connected to each other and via a pad labeled B.<br />
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The pulse width is defined by a function that is the product of the resistor and capacitor value. If you increase them, the time increases and if you decrease them the time decreases. In my case, I wanted to increase the time and the easiest way to do this was to remove the old resistor at position R11 and replace it with a bigger value. In my case I went for a <span class="st">1.5 MΩ resistor which gives me about 80 seconds of ON time. If you want to reduce the on time from the default then simply put a resistor in parallel (piggyback) with the one that is already there. </span></div>
amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-54179805911679536672017-02-17T23:24:00.002+11:002023-06-14T17:19:04.199+10:00Hacking an IKEA MOLGAN light<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9zm69R1YKHyRICMc9qMshDvg1mfPpfCPuOewNfVZ6o_hoP4wbr11ruN_jfa_0qymXopES8KOCZljYZs_VQPQCcUKtpEQ69CNxWLVuy0r-dRDAgvHlgMVjb1mGtqsyiBkmaWjBDABOic/s1600/Screen+Shot+2017-02-17+at+22.56.14.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="169" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjv9zm69R1YKHyRICMc9qMshDvg1mfPpfCPuOewNfVZ6o_hoP4wbr11ruN_jfa_0qymXopES8KOCZljYZs_VQPQCcUKtpEQ69CNxWLVuy0r-dRDAgvHlgMVjb1mGtqsyiBkmaWjBDABOic/s200/Screen+Shot+2017-02-17+at+22.56.14.png" width="200" /></a>The <a href="http://www.ikea.com/au/en/catalog/products/40263730/" target="_blank">IKEA MOLGAN</a> is a great little product to provide motion-detected path lighting in the house at night.<br />
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<b><u>TL;DR version</u>: To save battery life, you can make the MOLGAN more sensitive to light by adding 140KOhms of resistance in parallel to the light sensor. This will cause the MOLGAN to only trigger when it's much darker than the stock setting.</b><br />
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I have a bunch of these mounted on the ceiling outside the bedrooms and in the bathrooms so that at night they just come on automatically with a dim enough light not to get your brain out of sleep mode but bright enough that you can see. Because they are battery-powered you can mount them anywhere and they are cheap enough that you can buy a few of them.<br />
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<b>My biggest complaint with them is that they take 3 AAA batteries which don't provide much longevity.</b> I use rechargeable batteries and they need to be recharged about every 3-4 weeks. They are light and motion activated which means that they only run when there is motion detected AND it's dark (see below re: IKEA's definition of "dark").<br />
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Increasing the longevity (time between recharges) could be accomplished either by<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li>Increasing the capacity of the batteries</li>
<li>Reducing the time the light is running (draws about 80mA when running)</li>
<li>Reducing the brightness of the light (so that it draws less than 80mA when lit)</li>
<li><b>Decreasing the minimum ambient light trigger (currently triggers when not totally dark)</b></li>
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Increasing battery capacity is difficult to do without basically creating a new case for it. Using 3 AA batteries or even a single 16850 Li+ battery would require heavy physical modification of the case.</div>
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Reducing the run time with each trigger wouldn't gain much since the light runs for about 30 seconds per trigger and making it much shorter than that would be annoying.</div>
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Reducing the brightness could be an option, and it would be quite simple to remove one or more of the 5 LEDs on the circuit board. </div>
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I opted to try to solve the "darkness" problem. IKEA's design means that it does not need to be absolutely pitch dark for the light to come on. This means that it often comes on unnecessarily when it's actually quite light inside (i.e. early morning, late afternoon). </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBapTRi5EbTHus3gUNenQtZV2rb4SQ_f0fi8fMI7W2vfqY_HS_weAG5NFlRfE4_ok9EZSWsJY5kA0LvJxmiMhcph1SqxI4M9hMCEjNEp1O-DLfbdmazmz8d-hGUkelo4nH9F9tq3rvryo/s1600/IMG_7072.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiBapTRi5EbTHus3gUNenQtZV2rb4SQ_f0fi8fMI7W2vfqY_HS_weAG5NFlRfE4_ok9EZSWsJY5kA0LvJxmiMhcph1SqxI4M9hMCEjNEp1O-DLfbdmazmz8d-hGUkelo4nH9F9tq3rvryo/s200/IMG_7072.jpg" width="150" /></a></div>
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Opening up the MOLGAN is quite simple. You just pry the face (the part where the light comes out) off. It's lightly glued in and it's easy to put it back. You can pry it off with a flat-head screwdriver without even leaving a mark. When you do so, it looks something like this on the left.<br />
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What you are looking at are the 5 SMT LEDs around the edge of the board, the motion sensor in the middle and on the right edge there is a clear component that looks like a LED which is the light sensor.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnvTGBjhyphenhypheno8fIgYw1V4V4jMe-QGhOOgIJs51k2HF0D9CiwHou0dssYR1ggaGVfkJJ-XQm74Q31AbojHZ1S95S5zJDWBsh2BO2gWheP_EAjAUF38R25lM8nRb3XcTk2wOJFdOp56TdfLU/s1600/IMG_7073.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHnvTGBjhyphenhypheno8fIgYw1V4V4jMe-QGhOOgIJs51k2HF0D9CiwHou0dssYR1ggaGVfkJJ-XQm74Q31AbojHZ1S95S5zJDWBsh2BO2gWheP_EAjAUF38R25lM8nRb3XcTk2wOJFdOp56TdfLU/s200/IMG_7073.jpg" width="200" /></a>If you remove two screws and unsolder the battery contacts you can remove the board and it looks like this on the other side.</div>
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Here you can see the <a href="http://www.datasheetcafe.com/biss0001-datasheet-pdf/" target="_blank">BISS0001</a> which is the chip in the middle of the board. It's a very common controller for battery-powered PIR controlled devices.<br />
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Importantly, the two pins next to the R2 label are the pins of the light sensor. The light sensor works like a variable resistor that varies by light. The more light, the less the resistance, the less light, the more the resistance. </div>
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<b>The trick is to change the range of the resistance of the light sensor so that "darkness" is triggered at a lower ambient light level.</b></div>
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If you remember from high school physics/electronics (or just find out by <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=resistors+in+parallel+calculator" target="_blank">Googling around</a>), it's very easy to reduce the resistance of a resistor by adding another resistor in parallel. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW601Z4kmok-QubdkCiFm2B4k6Q1_LIfZXW4BU-8C0kp5bBRGUyu4VHy3mvJjxVRBt-XPWm6anjJd1xiGpEBe-srYpu1aNCJa6rMYdKdeTMZ5ZbRxxFXc-0JAQxAQSMeAv90nWGbwc578/s1600/IMG_7076.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiW601Z4kmok-QubdkCiFm2B4k6Q1_LIfZXW4BU-8C0kp5bBRGUyu4VHy3mvJjxVRBt-XPWm6anjJd1xiGpEBe-srYpu1aNCJa6rMYdKdeTMZ5ZbRxxFXc-0JAQxAQSMeAv90nWGbwc578/s320/IMG_7076.jpg" width="240" /></a></div>
The correct resistor size can be figured out in several ways - one is to mathematically solve it by using the BISS0001 data sheet. Another one is to measure the light sensor resistance at the critical level of darkness and back-solve the correct resistor.<br />
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For me, the simplest was to just use trial-and-error with some resistors I had lying around.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgloxozBScDyClzBYIISFfOI-LgoR13tY-AAg9j7u4eLxCCUWLvGbbKswi79iTQOzFc5MpBpGPxg1xl0POp_zlIEdeuIEeX4nWFMpF_z-02jKepHRXbvA6qFil0O3iGWCWu0XVLrkkd4U/s1600/IMG_7077.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgloxozBScDyClzBYIISFfOI-LgoR13tY-AAg9j7u4eLxCCUWLvGbbKswi79iTQOzFc5MpBpGPxg1xl0POp_zlIEdeuIEeX4nWFMpF_z-02jKepHRXbvA6qFil0O3iGWCWu0XVLrkkd4U/s320/IMG_7077.jpg" width="240" /></a>To make it as simple as possible to find the correct resistance by trial-and-error I soldered some DuPont wire with female ends to the light sensor pins so that any resistor I add is in parallel.<br />
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With a very slight bit of case modding (just cutting back some plastic) you can fully re-mount the board and solder back the battery connectors. The next photo shows the MOLGAN back to fully functioning condition but with the addition of a "breakout" area to add additional resistors in parallel to the light sensor.<br />
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Playing around with some resistors I had lying around I quickly found that 130KOhm was about the lowest I could go where it would still trigger in total darkness. I went up to 140KOhm and that was quite reliable even in a room that wasn't pitch dark. Because I was just using parts that were lying around, to do 140KOhm I had 3 resistors (100K+20K+20K) Going up to 168KOhm was also quite acceptable and allowed me to use 2 resistors that I had lying around (100K+68K)<br />
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I then re-mounted the MOLGAN with the additional resistors on the ceiling to do a bit of testing and see that it was behaving as expected.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HadDy4qN8B9jTHT8YaYUbqhCIvetkr1PcBkcygvzHEQnLpFnT9bu6hJl3C2KYg5dm0aUJQhVJ-edqvki-rCUx6db0O2dsOUUhfA6JKLyQqB05_7D1KJLTby7aIhRyNsSDGNIV8OsrB4/s1600/IMG_7084.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9HadDy4qN8B9jTHT8YaYUbqhCIvetkr1PcBkcygvzHEQnLpFnT9bu6hJl3C2KYg5dm0aUJQhVJ-edqvki-rCUx6db0O2dsOUUhfA6JKLyQqB05_7D1KJLTby7aIhRyNsSDGNIV8OsrB4/s320/IMG_7084.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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After a couple of days of testing, I was really happy with the new calibration for the darkness trigger and modified the rest of my MOLGANs with a more permanent mod.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirN9FNE7kWbSLorzvCs-8yLLW3Eb3HPse2CFFAmMtnE8fnaX50w5fAMbosxJkPKl_ZnM3NP1sX3PabLWEGVmgPRSxH_A6sIpwPxgEGlJNt43vy_tGRoHC9pI0n0WpIn4a9AHBO5gtg6S4/s1600/IMG_7085.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirN9FNE7kWbSLorzvCs-8yLLW3Eb3HPse2CFFAmMtnE8fnaX50w5fAMbosxJkPKl_ZnM3NP1sX3PabLWEGVmgPRSxH_A6sIpwPxgEGlJNt43vy_tGRoHC9pI0n0WpIn4a9AHBO5gtg6S4/s640/IMG_7085.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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And there you have it, with a 100KOhm and 68KOhm resistor in series added in parallel to the light sensor. By not triggering when still pretty light in the room, I'm hoping that the batteries will last longer before requiring a recharge.<br />
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For a particular room where I wanted the MOLGAN to come on only when it was very dark (since it got tons of false triggers from people walking past the open door) I went with the 140KOhm option which really cut down on the false triggers. With 140KOhm, the MOLGAN only comes on if you've entered the room and almost completely shut the door.</div>
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-1406482376321292102017-01-29T23:19:00.001+11:002023-06-14T17:15:47.438+10:00Repairing a Boogie Board WT13087 (a.k.a. Jot 4.5 eWriter)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgWVCf8A-2VGxdg6s-ISImD0BBBlRt-Fk9FSErQ5GT8cLrzOsQBYqzYoYwEuh_ztCDVfSe6kUZk5SDxwrAPsrohExwBcG5KDdErR3dFhZAAlKNfv9NtlvMInWjnkXn9W0DKwFRLftFZs/s1600/IMG_6996.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibgWVCf8A-2VGxdg6s-ISImD0BBBlRt-Fk9FSErQ5GT8cLrzOsQBYqzYoYwEuh_ztCDVfSe6kUZk5SDxwrAPsrohExwBcG5KDdErR3dFhZAAlKNfv9NtlvMInWjnkXn9W0DKwFRLftFZs/s200/IMG_6996.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZh00qRxQerrdUrzzWCTHjWN1L6uiDpn7aSWSxgjs3DoaolQH9RZK05lU5UlRbH-lguRjowiznUuMaL3RobY-2tHSZ4FQSj1QLJGPrOUHzQXxHxmo1saOOruZbWMZUWPopDkomCrE4_qk/s1600/IMG_6995.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZh00qRxQerrdUrzzWCTHjWN1L6uiDpn7aSWSxgjs3DoaolQH9RZK05lU5UlRbH-lguRjowiznUuMaL3RobY-2tHSZ4FQSj1QLJGPrOUHzQXxHxmo1saOOruZbWMZUWPopDkomCrE4_qk/s200/IMG_6995.JPG" width="150" /></a>During a recent trip to Costco I bought my daughter a <a href="https://myboogieboard.com/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Boogie Board WT13087 (Jot 4.5)</a> by a company called Kent Displays as a bit of an impulse buy. The way they are packaged, you can test them out in the store and the one my daughter picked was working fine.<br />
Within about a half hour of arriving home; however, the "erase" function stopped working. This is a fatal problem because it's the only way to erase the screen. The whole point of this device is that it can be re-erased many time.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bFSNIW12L0kHF0s_a3_1Ki3h53rqL-3jiWm16y09HIvP3qGB8vOAn5dxo0xztv0ksfIn1VLj7Jslu_Bf5poR-pPOWeuP6unpBI43HdismpRzBxwt7OxbX4fNuGEljkkVE4jbhNpEmoI/s1600/IMG_6997.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh6bFSNIW12L0kHF0s_a3_1Ki3h53rqL-3jiWm16y09HIvP3qGB8vOAn5dxo0xztv0ksfIn1VLj7Jslu_Bf5poR-pPOWeuP6unpBI43HdismpRzBxwt7OxbX4fNuGEljkkVE4jbhNpEmoI/s200/IMG_6997.JPG" width="150" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDBPz9E8czL7QI9i3l_kki__nnVY0cnlhpy_UWzhApcdZU2A_dnrwIGBZfEckcsT92qVUHkbaWqw-QVNqR6bava0aTgLXOjivpvFMFpNJ1aqrb_avqXfLIrgVf9xYN9H_2sYfNEMI92g/s1600/IMG_6998.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheDBPz9E8czL7QI9i3l_kki__nnVY0cnlhpy_UWzhApcdZU2A_dnrwIGBZfEckcsT92qVUHkbaWqw-QVNqR6bava0aTgLXOjivpvFMFpNJ1aqrb_avqXfLIrgVf9xYN9H_2sYfNEMI92g/s200/IMG_6998.JPG" width="150" /></a>I did a bit of hunting around the internet and clearly this is a problem that others have experienced. I figured that since you could use it in the store, the battery might have died from overuse by other customers playing with it and testing it out.<br />
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<span style="text-align: left;">It's also very clear from Googling around that the battery is definitely not replaceable. The closest I could get to a successful YouTube video on this was here: </span><span style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k1lcq8LA5E">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_k1lcq8LA5E</a> - but alas this guy managed to ruin his Boogie Board in the process. The good news was that from the video, at least I could find out where the battery was. Instead of doing a full disassembly, I thought I would just target the battery.</span></div>
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I used a box cutter and snipper to expose the battery and I figured this would be an easy fix to replace. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssu1ssUyAf4wpfAbqkMLYcZCVQOaRbwZsJ2YvXPGLg3TWLVD-Bb5QxMhfSkZ54BebsuqoWl4i0cO2aRQzBM9_PY9R7HodJ9qUeWGJEZ77pkFfZJtinhnRYoeBPyxELKx5aNTkkvDYVLI/s1600/IMG_6999.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgssu1ssUyAf4wpfAbqkMLYcZCVQOaRbwZsJ2YvXPGLg3TWLVD-Bb5QxMhfSkZ54BebsuqoWl4i0cO2aRQzBM9_PY9R7HodJ9qUeWGJEZ77pkFfZJtinhnRYoeBPyxELKx5aNTkkvDYVLI/s200/IMG_6999.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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Lo and behold, the battery was fine, showing a full 3V... argh! Incidentally, it's a <a href="http://data.energizer.com/pdfs/cr1620.pdf" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">CR1620H</a>. They definitely don't make it easily replaceable, but if it were just a battery issue, it's doable.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHHEos4XajEkAfBWOaRkgFydZkRjeL1TThrVfcCNlFeuHEigaJ9a1nDFhC7SURTS_3tZawNCZxKYK-QqlILKxgQUM6HTJPRq4s-qzAL32Qwium6AJvNU5YudXk0YmyGtmRZFJQLCdwnM/s1600/IMG_7001.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqHHEos4XajEkAfBWOaRkgFydZkRjeL1TThrVfcCNlFeuHEigaJ9a1nDFhC7SURTS_3tZawNCZxKYK-QqlILKxgQUM6HTJPRq4s-qzAL32Qwium6AJvNU5YudXk0YmyGtmRZFJQLCdwnM/s200/IMG_7001.JPG" width="150" /></a>As it wasn't the battery, I continued opening it up to expose the circuit board. Maybe something was wrong there.</div>
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It actually wasn't too hard to expose the rest of the circuit board. The trick is not to let the plastic peel off the screen.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ki6xQs2y63AxpvctgsXkGrrcg21Zv9dKxmmZnnT894Y8pcqWXE6lbZJMduekbux7oFzGenuh4atGB06g0XedvsizSMwctSRr7QUjwZ755EtaGuL6hAxbJT5kQudJKgKzstk6_Ojcqw8/s1600/IMG_7003.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_Ki6xQs2y63AxpvctgsXkGrrcg21Zv9dKxmmZnnT894Y8pcqWXE6lbZJMduekbux7oFzGenuh4atGB06g0XedvsizSMwctSRr7QUjwZ755EtaGuL6hAxbJT5kQudJKgKzstk6_Ojcqw8/s200/IMG_7003.JPG" width="150" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNT19RWJApmZASCXQv1QHWdvaM-Z4pkSnn22nDssTHuikSe1AUFVNVA6Zbb_PxXxw5DqSUztUaUXBqr8DbdRE7gxutEq4vamoPPXg7TVPkAoATPljwjm-ArtqW3Dsbrzxt7nlJhAZALs/s1600/IMG_7004.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCNT19RWJApmZASCXQv1QHWdvaM-Z4pkSnn22nDssTHuikSe1AUFVNVA6Zbb_PxXxw5DqSUztUaUXBqr8DbdRE7gxutEq4vamoPPXg7TVPkAoATPljwjm-ArtqW3Dsbrzxt7nlJhAZALs/s320/IMG_7004.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltQQ8ub69cLk7Y8Pk6BiblXhhkpGWzv_k7RxOfdPCm4W54MnPXsXnpUnqmIP358uRdk2U6bXRzcP-yZpUjjPHGexCM8-FGmvkBT1smgLAhMghojMj89-8GpXz-ZWsJ6HZJ-r6_CH99ZI/s1600/IMG_7002.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgltQQ8ub69cLk7Y8Pk6BiblXhhkpGWzv_k7RxOfdPCm4W54MnPXsXnpUnqmIP358uRdk2U6bXRzcP-yZpUjjPHGexCM8-FGmvkBT1smgLAhMghojMj89-8GpXz-ZWsJ6HZJ-r6_CH99ZI/s200/IMG_7002.JPG" width="150" /></a>As you can see, the board is pretty simple with the power going in from the battery to an unidentified controller and a button to activate it all. The output of this board goes via two wires to another board at the bottom of the screen. I stuck my scope on the output wires to see what was going on when the button was pressed. </div>
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As you can see, all the button does is to cause the circuit to produce 3 pulses. First a 36V pulse for ~150ms and then two ~150ms ~19V pulses with 250ms gaps in between each pulse. </div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMY6ud14q9RN8c0AIqEMiJo4eTjqnkvaqTkOFVCnqBeLk30V8FwM4Hz-Km9KvGlunrZwa5CmJ2P2Y7i1qcPjoZGao8E5hJqsbPDfdB2PlD5aE6g6X3k7MeDAU_wKJS8uk7-pEz7L3Dt4/s1600/IMG_7006.JPG" style="clear: right; display: inline; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgjMY6ud14q9RN8c0AIqEMiJo4eTjqnkvaqTkOFVCnqBeLk30V8FwM4Hz-Km9KvGlunrZwa5CmJ2P2Y7i1qcPjoZGao8E5hJqsbPDfdB2PlD5aE6g6X3k7MeDAU_wKJS8uk7-pEz7L3Dt4/s200/IMG_7006.JPG" width="150" /></a>So that didn't get me any closer to solving the problem, but at least I knew the top board was doing something in response to a button press.</div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEJCCn_buNgSa2p3h_M790laAqErAexVkbjvtxHNIs-mErb2_igalxNOvmWnjYCa5Gq9x04NL_25LqoZ3V3oiNFKRO4ufkflliV9VZ-qRfRi5wX2_qGCQ3KvZGEUsWhnYu_7IMjFhR0o/s1600/IMG_7005.JPG" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjUEJCCn_buNgSa2p3h_M790laAqErAexVkbjvtxHNIs-mErb2_igalxNOvmWnjYCa5Gq9x04NL_25LqoZ3V3oiNFKRO4ufkflliV9VZ-qRfRi5wX2_qGCQ3KvZGEUsWhnYu_7IMjFhR0o/s200/IMG_7005.JPG" width="150" /></a>Using the box cutter, I went to expose the bottom board. This is where I made a stupid mistake. In the process of cutting open the plastic on the bottom, I cut the connection between the bottom circuit board and the screen. The bottom circuit board is completely passive, all it does is it connects the two layers of the screen to the positive and negative of the pulses from the top circuit board.<br />
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If that's all that it does, I figured that I could erase the board by sending 35V to the screen in a short burst followed by two more pulses.<br />
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Unfortunately, my power supply only goes up to 30V so I gave it a shot. I connected the power supply output to the two sections of the screen (there is a clear section that takes the negative and a black section that takes the positive).<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBOdHHsb88td3axNQDOdigC0m7TBZ2opUAp468onjWERC8dG4O7jt7qeMeyL-oqyA2SOUFSkJGz1R4N_GNI3Fj8bZp0uIK2WQSKU9FVOUXTv8abMhnLD0RBw7bAYNby_YhTUycNBarnU/s1600/IMG_7008.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQBOdHHsb88td3axNQDOdigC0m7TBZ2opUAp468onjWERC8dG4O7jt7qeMeyL-oqyA2SOUFSkJGz1R4N_GNI3Fj8bZp0uIK2WQSKU9FVOUXTv8abMhnLD0RBw7bAYNby_YhTUycNBarnU/s320/IMG_7008.JPG" width="240" /></a>Sure enough, it worked! Sending 30V to the screen erased it. See the video below for the full show. It turns out, you just need to send it 30V and it's not very sensitive to how long you do it for. Also, it doesn't really care about the 2 additional 19V pulses either.<br />
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So, in the end it had nothing to do with replacing the battery (although if that's what your problem is, then it's pretty easy to do). It's likely that due to some manufacturing defect, the connection between the screen and the bottom circuit board was flakey. I checked that the whole rest of the device (from the battery to the bottom circuit board) was fine. The screen itself is fine.<br />
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Now that I've "fixed" it, I have a slightly less portable version. The big lesson here is that if you are one of the many people who find that their display no longer erases, it might not be the battery. You might need to check for a good connection to the screen. This is located at the bottom (the side without the button). You could try pressing on various sections of the case to see if you can correct the bad connection.<br />
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Epilogue: I contacted Kent Displays and after a proving that I have a defective product (receipt and some photos) they sent me a new one free of charge. The new one they sent is a model WT13087B (note the B at the end). It's otherwise looks identical and after a few days it still works! See photo below of the old (right) and replacement one (left).</div>
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-39028668728752549272016-08-27T22:23:00.001+10:002017-02-19T21:42:11.573+11:00A bit of "found music" from the 1960s<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqzhNlT_iC_L0ZuCS7EeksQTkH96BpCRzypCw2EW4yD_Ag8mNck2crMkppBuQUJGPmzUeoP9b0RjqjmXQoZl1yDlAZzgtE8ZdFUCnfgClZODLIHAP_dLWUS4JrZz5UI5NlGjmK-glx7o/s1600/IMG_3175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwqzhNlT_iC_L0ZuCS7EeksQTkH96BpCRzypCw2EW4yD_Ag8mNck2crMkppBuQUJGPmzUeoP9b0RjqjmXQoZl1yDlAZzgtE8ZdFUCnfgClZODLIHAP_dLWUS4JrZz5UI5NlGjmK-glx7o/s320/IMG_3175.JPG" width="320" /></a>I recently found this box of my Dad's old <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Reel-to-reel_audio_tape_recording" target="_blank">reel-to-reel audio tapes</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #1d2129; line-height: 19.32px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> from the late 1950s to mid 1960s. They hadn't been stored particularly well and I doubted that I could yield anything interesting from them... I was wrong! The quality is actually amazing considering the circumstances. Some of it is incredibly precious commentary by relatives who are long gone, but there is also some music which I am posting here in case there is some interest in such recordings. These tapes are from Hungary so unsurprisingly the music is Hungarian. The tapes are predominantly popular music of the era. Click on on each clipping below to get the full audio of the tape associated with it. Enjoy!</span></span></div>
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-31423859728987392792016-06-25T22:36:00.002+10:002023-06-12T17:33:43.678+10:00The QR Fortune Clock Concept<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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QR clocks are funny in their banal use of technology - but ever since I built my first one I was wondering if there could be a better use for them. This video shows my QR Fortune Clock concept which is like a fortune cookie (you need to "unwrap" the QR code with a QR reader to find the fortune inside).<br />
You basically fill an SD card with a text file that contains the quotes you are interested in and then every second it will randomly display the quote as a QR code. Using a cheap 128x64 OLED screen, the version 10 QR code is easily readable while providing space for a 395 character message as well as a human-readable time/date. The underlying code is running on an Arduino Mega (simply because I couldn't squeeze the code to fit onto something smaller and also because I had a spare one lying around).<br />
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If there is interest, I can provide more details about the hardware and software but essentially the clock is made from:<br />
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<li><a href="https://docs.arduino.cc/hardware/mega-2560" target="_blank">Arduino Mega 2560</a> - I needed the extra on-board SRAM to fit the code. Writing software is not my day job so I'm sure some smart people out there could shrink it down to fit on an Uno.</li>
<li>1.3 inch 128x64 pixel white OLED module (this one uses an SH1106 / SSD1306 driver)</li>
<li>MicroSD module using the SPI bus.</li>
<li>MicroSD card (I had a 16gb one lying around, but this is way overkill)</li>
<li>KY-040 rotary encoder (to control the functions like time setting, file selection)</li>
<li>10K pull-up resistor (for the pushbutton feature on the KY-040)</li>
<li>DS3231 high accuracy TCXO RTC module for timing</li>
</ul>
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Apart from the standard built-in libraries, the sketch uses the following additional libraries:</div>
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<li><a href="https://github.com/olikraus/u8glib" target="_blank">U8glib</a> to run the OLED display</li>
<li><a href="http://www.rinkydinkelectronics.com/library.php?id=73" target="_blank">DS3231</a> to drive the RTC module</li>
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I also use a heavily modified version of the code I found <a href="http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?topic=303434.msg2176874#msg2176874" target="_blank">here</a> to actually convert the text to a bitmap of a QR code.</div>
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This concept can be expanded to use a larger screen and the nice thing about it is that compared to having actual text scrolling past every second, this clock just sits on the desk quite inconspicuously until you want a bit of inspiration. I have created versions that use all sorts of different texts as the base. Some particularly interesting ones are a <a href="http://fortunes.cat-v.org/" target="_blank">Unix Fortune File</a>, books from <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/" target="_blank">Project Gutenberg</a> such as The Art of War, Walden, the Shakespearean Sonnets, the Analects of Confucius and Dante's Inferno. Of course your favourite translation of the bible or other religious text also works particularly well. Basically anything that neatly breaks down into < 400 character segments. </div>
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-91587694136498237272015-08-15T22:45:00.000+10:002016-02-09T23:53:13.289+11:00Installing a Pumpkin Android Car Stereo Head Unit Radio in my 2010 Audi A3<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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When I bought my <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Audi_A3#2008_update" target="_blank">2010 Audi A3</a> (8P body style, also known as "2010 face lift") it came with the standard Audi Concert II head unit (Audi part # 8P0 035 186 S) and a dealer-installed <a href="http://www.fiscon-mobile.eu/support/img/fiscon_audi_en.pdf" target="_blank">Kufatec FISCON</a> 36429 "Basic" Bluetooth adapter. From the outset I wasn't happy with this setup because the Bluetooth never worked properly throughout multiple phone changes (iPhone 3GS, 4, 4S, 5, etc.) and firmware updates. The volume was too loud and there seemed to be no way to lower it. Moreover, playing music over the Bluetooth sounded lousy - as if through an old crystal radio. (This is despite going back to the dealer numerous times, playing with the internal settings of the Kufatec and even using VCDS to try some internal Audi settings). When we recently moved house, our new driveway was extremely narrow, full of blind spots and required reversing in so I thought it would be time to replace the head unit with one that had a display for a reversing camera.<br />
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After doing some research on options, I decided to get a <a href="http://autopumpkin.com/" target="_blank">Pumpkin</a> head unit to meet the following requirements:<br />
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<li>Have a stock "look and feel" that would not ruin the aesthetics of the dashboard</li>
<li>Integrate with the steering wheel volume/channel/telephone controls</li>
<li>Provide improved Bluetooth compared to the Kufatec unit</li>
<li>Provide a screen for a reversing camera</li>
<li>Be installable without lots of cutting / soldering / drilling - basically "plug and play"</li>
</ul>
The TL;DR version of this post is that I am happy with the end result and the Pumpkin head unit meets all my requirements. It was a bit of a journey to get there, so for all the gory detail, read the full post.<br />
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<b>1. Buying the initial parts</b><br />
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I bought <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/7_%20Android%204%204%20CAR%20Stereo%20Head%20Unit%20Radio%20DVD%20Player%20GPS%20FOR%20Audi%20A3%20Free%20Camera%20_%20eBay.pdf" target="_blank">this Pumpkin item</a> on eBay which came with a free camera and free Australian maps for the GPS. While it came with a free camera, the camera wouldn't look "stock" so I bought <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/Reverse%20Camera%20FOR%20Audi%20A3%20A4%20A5%20A6%20A8%20S8%20Q5%20Q7%20TT%20Rear%20View%20Parking%20Backup%20CAM%20_%20eBay.pdf" target="_blank">this camera instead</a> which was billed as a plug-in replacement for the number plate light. According to some back and forth e-mails with the vendor, the specific camera I needed was the Model 603 which would be an exact replacement for my number plate light. I based my decision partially on an <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knvq4rBUyzk" target="_blank">installation video on YouTube</a> that showed how easy it was to install this camera. I also bought some<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12px;"> CT22AU01</span></span> <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/4%20X%20Radio%20Removal%20Keys%20FOR%20Audi%20Ford%20Volkswagen%20VW%20CAR%20Radio%20Stereo%20Tools%20SET%20_%20eBay.pdf" target="_blank">radio removal keys</a> to help remove the old head unit.</div>
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Now on to the installation and some of the issues I had to resolve...</div>
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<b>2. Installation - Head Unit</b></div>
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The physical installation of the head unit was a relative breeze. With the radio removal key, you just remove the old head unit, unplug the Quadlock connector and basically plug it into the harness of the Pumpkin unit. </div>
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Now you can turn it on and try it out... but not the radio yet.</div>
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<b>2.1 Head Unit - Radio Antenna Fix</b></div>
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The first problem you will encounter is that the radio won't work because the Pumpkin antenna connector is DIN but the Audi uses a "Twin Fakra" connector. You will need to <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/Twin%20Fakra%20TO%20DIN%20Amplified%20Radio%20Antenna%20Adapter%204%20VW%20Volkswagen%20BMW%20Jeep%20Saab%20_%20eBay.pdf" target="_blank">buy one of these</a> adapters to interface the Audi antenna to the Pumpkin. This is pretty easy, but I wish that Pumpkin included one in the box. The Pumpkin has an unterminated wire called "ANT" (see below) which you need to connect to the <complete id="goog_660840190">+</complete>12V wire on the Fakra connector. It's puzzling that Pumpkin didn't pre-make the harness with this wire connected since they clearly have provision for it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDNi3DuGOIQKcFRkdAUG2DcWJvWc55KpZHGG4k5R5w4KMbMj34o-CNXF3BQPWyoDPbKNaABb5H7i9rmM-3hNYVG97OHvIPRdFPet4MHuM0ude3MQ83Lq47eFLMM-PFkcwI9Bb5b8Drx0/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-15+at+22.30.10.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMDNi3DuGOIQKcFRkdAUG2DcWJvWc55KpZHGG4k5R5w4KMbMj34o-CNXF3BQPWyoDPbKNaABb5H7i9rmM-3hNYVG97OHvIPRdFPet4MHuM0ude3MQ83Lq47eFLMM-PFkcwI9Bb5b8Drx0/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-08-15+at+22.30.10.png" width="240" /></a></div>
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Now the radio will work through the front speakers, but there will be no audio at the rear speakers...</div>
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<b>2.2 Head Unit - Rear Speaker Fix</b></div>
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My car came from the factory with an amplified set of rear speakers. The wiring needs to send +12V down to the amp that is located in the rear of the vehicle. The stock Pumpkin harness does not wire up this connection. It will need to be wired up yourself. Like the antenna power wire (mentioned above) there is a remote amp power wire that is unterminated on the Pumpkin. This wire is labeled "AMP-CON" per the photo above. Essentially, you need to <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/rns-e%20diagram.pdf" target="_blank">connect it to Pin 13 of the Quadlock connector per this diagram</a>. Once this is done, you will have audio coming out of the rear speakers. I don't understand why Pumpkin did not wire this into the harness in the first place.</div>
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<b>2.3 Head Unit - Battery Consumption Fix</b></div>
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Everything was working fine with the head unit at this point but I noticed that it would not fully power off when I pulled the ignition key out. I put the Pumpkin to "sleep" (but not OFF) by pressing the power button and by the end of the week my car battery was flat. I sent a complaint e-mail to Pumpkin and they immediately responded with a note telling me to cut <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/ISO1.jpg" target="_blank">this red wire</a>. Cutting that red wire makes the Pumpkin power down when the ignition key is switched off. This fixed the battery problem. </div>
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At this point, the Pumpkin was installed and everything I needed was working reasonably well, although there are a few bugs to note:</div>
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<li>The 3G dongle that I bought from Pumpkin doesn't work very well. It connects to 3G but then after a few minutes of driving disconnects. Googling around, I discovered that the radio is manufactured by HuiFei and there is a forum that discusses issues with it. This is a known problem. <a href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=2660662" target="_blank">Lots of interesting stuff to read about it here</a>. 3G connectivity is not a key requirement for me, I mostly use the radio tethered to the WiFi personal hotspot of my phone.</li>
<li>The software can be a bit "crashy" ... The core functions work fine (radio, DVD, reversing camera, etc.) but if you play around with some Android Apps you will find that they sometimes don't work as expected. Also, sometimes various apps crash for no reason. Again, this is a mild annoyance since these apps are not a key requirement but more for fun. </li>
<li>Since applying the "Battery Consumption Fix" (mentioned in point 2.3 above) the Pumpkin powers down every time I remove the key. This means that each new car trip requires the Pumpkin to boot up from scratch (unlike a car radio which is always instant-on). This can be annoying if you are making frequent small trips. I have wired up a switch to undo the "Battery Consumption Fix" (essentially a switch that can reconnect that cut wire) and when I am doing short trips I just leave that connected. It means that the radio only goes to sleep, but doesn't switch off. Hopefully I won't forget to leave this switch off at the end of the day or I'll have another dead battery.</li>
<li>The radio doesn't quite fit in as flush as the factory radio does. The bottom bezel sticks out a bit despite my repeated attempts to "force it in" for the last mm or so. It's flush at the top and sides so I'll just live with it.</li>
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Now on to the reversing camera which was a bit more of an adventure than I bargained for. This is not Pumpkin's fault since I could have just used the free camera they supplied and not faced these problems.</div>
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<b>3. Installation - Reversing Camera</b></div>
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I basically followed the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=knvq4rBUyzk" target="_blank">instructions provided in this YouTube video</a>. I made a small change to the installation by drilling a much smaller hole in the back of the light holder. This meant that I had to cut the cable (since the RCA jack wouldn't fit through the smaller hole) and then I reattached it after I fed the cable through. I ran the cable to the front of the car and plugged it into the Pumpkin and it worked straight away by just switching the ignition ON and putting the car in reverse. But I did have some problems.</div>
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<b>3.1 Reversing Camera - Engine Running Fix</b> </div>
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The first problem I ran into is that the camera would work fine with the ignition switch in the ON position, but once I started the car it wouldn't work anymore. This reminded me of some old car stereo buzzing problems I used to have years ago which was fixed by a noise isolator. <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/10A%20DC%20Noise%20Filter%20(Improved)%20_%20Car%20Hardware%20Accessories%20_%20Car%20Audio%20Hardware%20_%20Sight%20&%20Sound%20Car%20_%20PRODUCTS%20_%20AA3074%20_%20Jaycar%20Electronics.pdf" target="_blank">So I bought one of these and wired it in</a>. This worked perfectly and now the camera worked exactly as intended. As a side note, this Response brand of noise isolator has lousy instructions. <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/11401281_10204526810155697_3447177515981248849_n.jpg" target="_blank">Their web instructions don't match with the paper instructions that they provided.</a> Follow the wiring diagram above with the green wire going to the +12V of the car and the red wire going to the power input on the camera.</div>
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<b>3.2 Reversing Camera - LED Light Polarity Fix</b></div>
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At this point the camera was working great, but the license plate light that it was integrated with did not light up! The LED light, unlike the incandescent light that it was replacing, cannot be put in any-which-way. There is a + and a - side and they need to be hooked up correctly. <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/Screen%20Shot%202015-08-15%20at%2022.03.01.png" target="_blank">This picture</a> shows the light working fine when providing +12V to the left contact. But it wouldn't work in the car which provided +12V on the right contact. I could prove this by crossing the wires <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/Screen%20Shot%202015-08-15%20at%2022.03.51.png" target="_blank">like in this picture.</a> I contacted the vendor on eBay and after showing them these pictures they went back into their inventory and found a camera module where the LED was wired the other way and sent it to me for free. This was good customer service, but I wonder if Audi wires their cars differently in Australia? Because Audi uses incandescent lights the polarity of this wiring doesn't matter, but it does with LEDs.</div>
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<b>3.3 Reversing Camera - Light Bulb Warning / CANBUS Error Fix</b></div>
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Now that the LED was working with the replacement camera module the car would give a Light Bulb Failure Warning (a.k.a. CANBUS Error). Because the LED draws so much less power than the incandescent bulb, the engine computer thinks the bulb is burned out. This meant a very annoying beep every time the lights came on. The next goal was to fix the light bulb warning. After some Googling around, I<a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/Audi%20A3%208P%20Sportback%20Adapter%20Original%20Number%20Licence%20Plate%20Lighting%20LED%20Light%20_%20eBay.pdf" target="_blank"> found this product</a> which basically puts a load on the line to fool the engine computer into thinking that the bulb is there. You can easily do this yourself by wiring a resistor in parallel with the LED, but this solution was nice in that it was plug-and-play with the correct connections at either end. I also replaced the bulb on the other side of the license plate <a href="http://www.ambor.com/blog/pumpkin/LED%20Festoon%20Globe,%2036mm%206x5730%20LEDs,%20CANBus%20Compatible%20_%20Car%20Hardware%20Accessories%20_%20Car%20Audio%20Hardware%20_%20Sight%20&%20Sound%20Car%20_%20PRODUCTS%20_%20ZD0752%20_%20Jaycar%20Electronics.pdf" target="_blank">with one of these</a> so that the lighting would be even and to avoid drawing too much load with the resistor packs.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPg9shZ7OYP0lixOGhhyjEl3L6kFwj7rNiBWVFE9BvaBrb20C2bXQE8mdGZ_u1lJfeGlsuo5Ug0e8dzCb0uela3HNLE0pRbzbkfBrI6B0p6gSKPJHElssfwM43CnqE5CZYErBL1ukq3g/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-15+at+22.26.29.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="91" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlPg9shZ7OYP0lixOGhhyjEl3L6kFwj7rNiBWVFE9BvaBrb20C2bXQE8mdGZ_u1lJfeGlsuo5Ug0e8dzCb0uela3HNLE0pRbzbkfBrI6B0p6gSKPJHElssfwM43CnqE5CZYErBL1ukq3g/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-08-15+at+22.26.29.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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And here is how the final installation looks of the camera with fully working LED lights as well!</div>
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Overall I am happy with the result, but it was a bit more involved than I had hoped. It took several months of elapsed time to sort out all these problems so I hope this little blog post can fast-track a solution to these problems for others in the same situation.</div>
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Here is the final installation with the camera working and my daughter helping me to test it.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLwg8XcOKZ9FCu_1qQMCEIVkcNWBQAtJTg7zUgn5NM0c0Lxvzoab-Lms4MsgRvYMWeFHRooqBdgdZdgpyV3nD_VtB_c13iTmeG3xsn8z-Amp6CnTDaB9OjlewcqGKEBM-Bc7K7QPk6-M/s1600/Screen+Shot+2015-08-15+at+22.40.28.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFLwg8XcOKZ9FCu_1qQMCEIVkcNWBQAtJTg7zUgn5NM0c0Lxvzoab-Lms4MsgRvYMWeFHRooqBdgdZdgpyV3nD_VtB_c13iTmeG3xsn8z-Amp6CnTDaB9OjlewcqGKEBM-Bc7K7QPk6-M/s320/Screen+Shot+2015-08-15+at+22.40.28.png" width="320" /></a></div>
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com24Australia-25.274398 133.77513599999997-75.069929 51.157948499999975 24.521132999999995 -143.60767650000003tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-69314068836611792292013-07-09T22:24:00.002+10:002013-07-27T18:57:29.052+10:00An unexpected risk of using ReCaptcha<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVcsvz8GWnVx5brJrgVLPyqDeRopa5gHoj9rOjDmmukz_OJw2ZSeDEbON9E5x_L_1H4hKsNMUDWvKCNbPZVf7QOEFxvcFaaOutyuCC674j0zBm6mpEzJpcgZd1MCNhLdMrb0yejzOBeE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-07-09+at+9.31.14+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgfVcsvz8GWnVx5brJrgVLPyqDeRopa5gHoj9rOjDmmukz_OJw2ZSeDEbON9E5x_L_1H4hKsNMUDWvKCNbPZVf7QOEFxvcFaaOutyuCC674j0zBm6mpEzJpcgZd1MCNhLdMrb0yejzOBeE/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-07-09+at+9.31.14+PM.png" height="104" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">We are all familiar with <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Captcha" target="_blank">CAPTCHA</a>s which are used by web sites to make sure that a user is human (and to hopefully hinder spammers).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Sometimes these images are computer generated, but often the images are from a service offered by Google called <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Recaptcha" target="_blank">ReCAPTCHA</a> which sources images from old books. <span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">This service can supply websites with images of words that </span><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Optical_character_recognition" style="background-color: white; background-image: none; color: #0b0080; line-height: 19.1875px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank" title="Optical character recognition">optical character recognition</a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> software has been unable to read. These websites then present the images for humans to decipher as CAPTCHA words as part of their normal validation process. They then return the results to the reCAPTCHA service, which sends the results to the digitization projects. This sounds like a noble cause.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">The old books that Google uses are unlikely to contain any offensive language - however the above graphic shows an interesting potential for confusion. This is an actual reCAPTCHA that I found in a Twitter post where someone berated a web site for having an offensive CAPTCHA. To most modern English speakers the first word looks like "goatfucker" which certainly wouldn't be a word I'd use in polite company.</span></span></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">As I noted above, however, the source of these words are old books... why would an old book have such an offensive word in it? </span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf93R-OBSzX5Jvb4W-XkskBbFyqXWpBjIkeP4jOeliqUfsGXw_jcp0RE-fEUMUcPjaEWBnD2ETGOxpORYo4j32eLKAW0SP_99X26BMyAXhUcFB5OuPb-TTPyicl0bsuTG7Cubgd9zqppo/s1600/220px-AAP065A.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgf93R-OBSzX5Jvb4W-XkskBbFyqXWpBjIkeP4jOeliqUfsGXw_jcp0RE-fEUMUcPjaEWBnD2ETGOxpORYo4j32eLKAW0SP_99X26BMyAXhUcFB5OuPb-TTPyicl0bsuTG7Cubgd9zqppo/s1600/220px-AAP065A.jpg" height="200" width="138" /></a></div>
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<span style="line-height: 19.1875px;">In fact, the fifth letter of the word is a <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s" target="_blank">Lo</a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s" target="_blank">ng S</a> (</span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ſ) not a lower-case F (f). This means that the word is "goat</span></span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">ſucker" which today would be written as "goatsucker" - which is a </span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatsucker" target="_blank"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">medium-sized </span>nocturnal<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"> </span><span style="color: #0b0080;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">bird</span></span></a><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goatsucker" target="_blank"> with long wings, short legs and very short bills</a>. A photo of this innocuous bird appears to the right.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_s" target="_blank">The Long S</a>, according to Wikipedia, stopped being used in printed English by about the 1820s. Those of us who have seen old documents in History class at school or in Museums might recognise it from such famous documents as the U.S. Declaration of Independence and the Magna Carta.</span></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">There are probably other potentially confusing words like <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Suckerfish" target="_blank">suckerfish</a>. </span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">The big question in my mind, though, is what is ReCaptcha expecting us to type? An 'f' or an 's' since I assume they don't want us to have to figure out how to put an '</span><span style="background-color: white; line-height: 19.1875px;">ſ' in there.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKaPUVWE9BLYkrRJuVSQhCEyY4TohuROWuJe8EJaYJuuNlJWsq7MXglFpVFz0Xu-4u_qIPh8hBj25d1g-4vNyuGA3EEcOThOHAF6I4Xre8cXJwukfK_XwJAiF8-LQfEyfqM7H6rpgjJg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-07-27+at+6.50.56+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJKaPUVWE9BLYkrRJuVSQhCEyY4TohuROWuJe8EJaYJuuNlJWsq7MXglFpVFz0Xu-4u_qIPh8hBj25d1g-4vNyuGA3EEcOThOHAF6I4Xre8cXJwukfK_XwJAiF8-LQfEyfqM7H6rpgjJg/s1600/Screen+Shot+2013-07-27+at+6.50.56+PM.png" height="83" width="200" /></a><span style="line-height: 19.1875px;"><b>Epilogue:</b> A few days after writing this blog entry, I got the following ReCAPTCHA on another site (See image on left). I tried typing in "some" for the first word and it worked. I wasn't able to test out what would happen if I had put in "fome" instead. </span></div>
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-87252751423020042922013-03-09T12:39:00.006+11:002023-06-11T22:07:33.920+10:00Create QR Codes in Excel (or any Spreadsheet)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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For a little project I'm working on, I needed to understand how to generate QR codes. Being the Excel junkie that I am, I thought it would be easy to create a proof-of-concept entirely in Excel. As a challenge, I set a goal of doing this without using any Visual Basic or other scripting.<br />
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I will describe here the steps used to generate the code in Excel. <a href="https://www.ambor.com/QR-generator/QR.xlsx">Click here to download the Excel spreadsheet to follow along</a>. You can also link to the Google Spreadsheet if you don't have Excel: <a href="https://bor.to/QRSheet">https://bor.to/QRSheet</a><br />
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If you just want to generate the QR codes and not worry about the details of how it's done, <a href="https://www.ambor.com/QR-generator/QR.xlsx">just download the spreadsheet by clicking here </a>and you can just use it standalone. Everything you need is in the tab "QR Code." Just enter text (up to 15 characters long) in the yellow box (Cell Y36) and the codes will be generated.<br />
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If you want to know how this all works, below is some explanation. To follow along, go to the "Generate QR" tab.<br />
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There are many sizes of QR codes, the smallest being a 21x21 pixel matrix known as Version 1 and the version that I have created in this spreadsheet.<br />
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To follow along, I will assume that you have not modified the original spreadsheet and "This is a test" is the string that we will encode into QR.<br />
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<b>Step 1: </b>There are several "Modes" you can use, but for the purposes of this spreadsheet we will use the "AlphaNumeric" mode. You can see that this is encoded with a 0010. For reasons I will explain in step 2, the spreadsheet will need to be modified if you want to use a different mode.<br />
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<b>Step 2: </b>We need to encode the overall length of the message. In a Version 1 AlphaNumeric QR code (21x21 pixels) there is only enough room for a maximum of 15 characters. Cell D4 has the text we want to encode and cell C7 is simply the length of the string displayed in 9-bit binary. "This is a test" contains 14 characters (including spaces). The number 14 in binary is 1110 and because we need to represent this as a 9-bit character, we put 0s to the left so that there are 9 characters. This is very easy to do in Excel with the DEC2BIN function. As I mentioned in Step 1, if you want to use another mode (Numeric, Binary or Japanese) you will need to modify Step 2 since they use a different number of bits. Numeric uses 10 bits, while Binary and Japanese use 8.<br />
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<b>Step 3:</b> We now need to encode the message itself. To do this, we break the message into sets of 2 characters (i.e. TH, IS,<space><space>I, S<space>, A<space>, <space>TE, ST). We also assign each letter a numeric value (as defined in the table I have placed in the Character Map sheet). </space></space>For each pair of characters, we take the numeric value of the first character and multiply it by 45. Then we add that number to the numeric value of the second character. We then convert the result into an 11-bit binary string. If you are encoding an odd number of characters, then take the ASCII value of the final character and convert it into a 6-bit binary string.
For the other modes (numeric, binary, and Japanese,) we would use a different method to encode the data. In Excel, I've done this by breaking out each character of the message in column G using the various text functions. Column H helps to tell us if it's an even or odd character (so we know if we need to multiply by 45) and column I has the numeric code that corresponds to each character using a lookup in the character map table. Column M helps us find which is the last row while Column N adds up the pair (or if there isn't a pair due to an odd number of characters, then just takes the last value). We need to convert the decimal number in column N to either an 11-bit or 6-bit binary number which I would ordinarily do with the DEC2BIN function. Unfortunately, Excel cannot do DEC2BIN on decimal numbers larger than 511. So, in Column O you can see the workaround that I had to use by breaking it down into small chunks and then putting it back together.</space></space></space><br />
<br />
<b>Step 4: </b>Here we simply combine the strings from steps 1, 2 and 3. There is an IF/THEN function in there to handle the cases where the message we want to encode (e.g. "This is a test") has an even or odd number of characters.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 5:</b> We now need to make sure that we have the correct length of string. QR codes have in-built error correction and there are different levels you can use. We will use Level Q. For this we need to make sure that we create a string with a total length of 104 bits. In Step 5 we add up to four 0s to lengthen the string. In our case, the length of the string in Step 4 was 90 characters, so we add four 0s to the end. If the length of the string in Step 4 was 102 characters, then we would only add two 0s to the end. This is done in Excel with a series of IF/THEN functions.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 6:</b> If by the end of step 5 we still don't have the correct length (104 bits) then we need to continue padding it out. The way to do this is to break the string from Step 5 into 8-bit words. We will need 13 of these 8-bit words (8x13=104) by the time we're done. Column AB has the string from Step 5 broken into 8-bit words. The first thing to do is to add 0s to the end of the last word to make sure all words from Step 5 have 8 bits. You can see this in column AC. Then we keep adding new words (11101100 and 00010001) repeating in that order until we have 13. In column AD I identify which words need to be filled and then alternatively put Wordfill1 and Wordfill2. Column AE finishes it off by actually inserting the fill words.<br />
<br />
Steps 7-10 involve some complex math to produce the error correction bits. The details of this are beyond the scope of this article, but there is plenty of stuff you can find on Google if you look around. I will describe in a very high-level way what I've done to implement this in the spreadsheet. We will be switching back and forth between decimal notation and Alpha (α) notation. This is done using log and anti-log tables which I have generated and have included in the sheet called "Galois Field 256". If you want to learn more about this, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=galois+field">click here to search on Google</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 7:</b> We need to convert the words into a "Message Polynomial" which is done by converting the binary words from Step 6 back into decimal. You can see this in column AG. Column AH has the exponent part which is shown here just for completeness, but is not used. In column AJ we convert the binary coefficient into what's known as Alpha notation<br />
<br />
<b>Step 8:</b> Here we create a generator which is fixed for each version/type of QR code. The table in columns AM and AN are fixed values for the type of code we are creating (Version 1, AlphaNumeric mode with error correction level Q). For more info on how to create a generator for a different type of code, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=how+to+create+a+generator+polynomial">click here to search on Google</a>.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 9:</b> Here we perform the polynomial division using the message from Step 7 and the Generator from Step 8. Of interest here for the Excel implementation is that I had to create a method to repeatedly perform an XOR step. As I wrote at the beginning, I wanted to do all of this without writing any VBA code and there is no XOR function in Excel. You can see how I've implemented this in the XOR sheet.<br />
NOTE: Step 9 has a known issue in it. The result of the XOR will always correctly give 0 as the first character. In some cases, the second (and subsequent) characters can also be a 0. If this is the case, then the MULT step must take the first non-zero digit. I have not implemented this and therefore the QR generator will fail under these circumstances. These are rare and hard to find occurrences, but if you want to try it out, trying to encode this string will fail: "2747585511"
<br />
<br />
<b>Step 10:</b> Phew, we've made it through all the tough math and it's pretty smooth sailing from here. The last column from Step 9 are the error correction words.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 11:</b> We combine the first 13 words that we generated in step 6 and add the next 13 words from step 10. This is what we will be encoding into the QR code.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 12:</b> Combining all the words together, we have our full binary string ready to populate into the QR matrix.<br />
<br />
You can now switch to the QR Code sheet to see how we finish it off. I have copied the finished string from Step 12 to cell AW21 in the QR Code sheet for simplicity.<br />
<br />
The QR code is drawn by turning pixels on or off. I have implemented this by using 1s and 0s in a matrix'ed set of cells (columns Y to AS). Using conditional formatting, I have set a 1 to be a black-filled cell and a 0 to be a white-filled cell. The trick is now to just create the matrix.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 13: </b>There are some cells in the 21x21 matrix that always must be set in a particular way. These are the "position detection" cells and I have marked them off with a 1 and they are marked in green. There are also cells called "timing cells" which are always in a particular pattern. I have marked them in blue. We also need to load the data we created in Step 12 into the matrix. You can see in the matrix that stretches from cell B2 to V22, I have marked off where each bit goes. Starting at the lower left we put the first bit (that we created in Step 12), and move around the pattern as indicated. You can see how they all fit together in the matrix from B26 to V46.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 14: </b>We're not quite done yet. Because the code we create could be difficult to read (e.g. if there are too many black pixels clustered together, etc.) we need to create 8 different versions of the code and select the best one based on a formula. To do this, we create a "mask" and filter the raw data (B26..V46) through it. Each mask is based on a formula which I will show you below. To tell the reader which mask is being used, we fill what I've labeled as the orange cells with a code to tell the reader which mask we're using. The table of codes can be seen in AV3..AW10. These are also repeated for the sake of ease down column AW at each code. You can see that in each block, the orange cells contain the bits we need to identify each mask.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 15:</b> The matrices starting with B50..V70 (B74..V94, etc.) have been filled in with the mask formula. The mask is simply calculated as a function of the row/column of each cell.<br />
<br />
<ol>
<li>If (row + column) mod 2 is 0</li>
<li>If (row) mod 2 is 0</li>
<li>If (column) mod 3 is 0</li>
<li>If (row + column) mod 3 is 0</li>
<li>If (floor (row / 2) + floor (column / 3) ) mod 2 is 0</li>
<li>If ((row * column) mod 2) + ((row * column) mod 3) is 0</li>
<li>If (((row * column) mod 2) + ((row * column) mod 3)) mod 2 is 0</li>
<li>If (((row + column) mod 2) + ((row * column) mod 3)) mod 2 is 0</li>
</ol>
<br />
If you look at the forumlas inside the mask matrices, you'll see how I've implemented them as Excel functions. Boolean functions in Excel normally return True/False, but if you multiply them by 1 you get 1/0 which is what we need.<br />
<br />
<b>Step 16:</b> We now combine the raw data (Step 13) with the mask such that whenever the mask has a 1 we change the raw data to the opposite of what it is (from 1 to 0 or 0 to 1). Whenever the mask has a 0, we leave the raw data alone. The math to do this is quite easy and is done in the formulae hidden under the actual QR codes we've generated (Cells Y50..AS70, etc.). Using conditional formatting, we just set Excel to make the cells all white or all black based on the number underneath. As you can see, we create 8 QR codes (one for each mask). Officially, the next step is to pick the "best" one, but in practice, my iPhone QR reading app can read all of them... so find one that you like, test it and use it! If you really want to be compliant with the standard, you can <a href="https://www.google.com.au/search?q=chose+qr+codes+mask+pattern&aq=f&oq=chose+qr+codes+mask+pattern&aqs=chrome.0.57.5611&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8">Google how to pick the "best" pattern by clicking here. </a>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-88391163636351519302013-02-10T21:19:00.001+11:002015-08-15T20:09:07.225+10:00Format ErrorA on an iPhone - What does it mean?<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktitVrT4jeZdEgSp2q4Zu3BLEBU-1gpEBr4DMBYP61kEu_4Mfgw73Hj0QR3lP-Xhk8QaGSpOcGMyepfXuum4GTjc9BmSMky22wBI5ajsCpinbAQpak0SzO9ywpbZLEsDjkXCjZp09VPY/s1600/photo.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgktitVrT4jeZdEgSp2q4Zu3BLEBU-1gpEBr4DMBYP61kEu_4Mfgw73Hj0QR3lP-Xhk8QaGSpOcGMyepfXuum4GTjc9BmSMky22wBI5ajsCpinbAQpak0SzO9ywpbZLEsDjkXCjZp09VPY/s1600/photo.PNG" height="400" width="225" /></a></div>
So the other day this pops up on my iPhone 5 and click cancel. Everything goes back to normal. Then I get this again a few more times over the next few days and if I click Accept or Cancel, I just get back to the normal screen and continue as normal. As this is a very benign screen I ignore it.<br />
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But then curiosity gets the better of me and I do a Google search. Someone, somewhere must have had this issue, but doing a search for "Format ErrorA" on Google gives absolutely nothing. <br />
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I go to the Apple store and show them a screenshot (since I can't reproduce the error on demand) and they seem puzzled as well. They've never seen this. Then they do a bit more research and conclude that they don't know what this is.<br />
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Then one of the über-Geniouses at the Apple store says that it reminds him of an error caused by a faulty SIM card and that I should contact my telco to get a new SIM card.<br />
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Then all of a sudden, after a few days, these errors stop occurring. Has anyone else seen this? Any idea what it is?amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-28214981484846088472012-08-01T16:57:00.001+10:002015-08-15T20:09:07.215+10:00How to unbrick a Cisco 7912 Series IP Phone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
Out of the blue this morning, my phone was stuck with a blank screen and the red and green lights stuck on. No buttons did anything and rebooting the phone (via unplugging it) simply returned the phone to the solid red and green lights.<br />
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After some digging around, I found the following process to be successful:<br />
<br />
<b>You will need:</b><br />
<ul style="text-align: left;">
<li>A Windows computer with an Ethernet port</li>
<li>A Cross over Ethernet cable or a spare Ethernet Switch or Hub</li>
<li>A Broken 7912</li>
<li>A Power Pack for 7912 (not a PoE switch or Ethernet power injector)</li>
<li>A Copy of TFTPd32 <a class="external" data-bitly-type="bitly_hover_card" href="http://tftpd32.jounin.net/tftpd32_download.html" rel="nofollow" style="background-image: url(http://forums.whirlpool.net.au/img/extlink.gif); background-position: 100% 0%; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; color: #002299; padding-right: 7px; text-decoration: none;" target="_blank">http://tftpd32.jounin.net/tftpd32_download.html</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
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<b>Follow these steps exactly:</b><br />
1: Disconnect the computer from your current network<br />
<br />
2a: Connect cross over cable to the computer and switch port of the phone<br />
~or~<br />
2b: If you are using a switch or hub, connect both devices to the switch or hub, but they should be the only devices connected<br />
<br />
3: Configure a static IP on the computer and disable any firewall.<br />
3a: Use an IP of 192.168.1.1<br />
3b: Use a Mask of 255.255.255.0<br />
3c: Gateway and DNS can be left blank<br />
<br />
4: Install and open TFTPd32 software<br />
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5: Click settings and modify the following:<br />
5a: In the GLOBAL tab, uncheck everything except TFTP Server and DHCP Server<br />
5b: In the TFTP tab, set a Base Directory to somewhere convenient<br />
5c: In the TFTP tab, set TFTP Security to None<br />
5d: in the DHCP tab uncheck all DHCP Options<br />
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6: Restart TFTPd32<br />
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7: Click on the settings tab and modify the following:<br />
7a: In the DHCP tab, set IP pool starting address to 192.168.1.2, size of pool 1, mask 255.255.255.0, additional option 66 and 192.168.1.1, then click OK<br />
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8. Click on the Log viewer tab<br />
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9: Plug in the power of the phone and watch the logs.</div>
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You should see something like this:<br />
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Rcvd DHCP Discover Msg for IP 0.0.0.0, Mac 00:11:BB:0D:E7:AE [01/08 16:20:58.093]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Client requested address 0.0.0.0 [01/08 16:20:58.093]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">DHCP: proposed address 192.168.1.2 [01/08 16:20:58.093]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">3300 Request 2 not processed [01/08 16:20:58.113]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Rcvd DHCP Rqst Msg for IP 0.0.0.0, Mac 00:11:BB:0D:E7:AE [01/08 16:20:58.113]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Previously allocated address 192.168.1.2 acked [01/08 16:20:58.113]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">3300 Request 2 not processed [01/08 16:20:58.134]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Connection received from 192.168.1.2 on port 16156 [01/08 16:20:58.144]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Read request for file (cp7912r.zup). Mode octet [01/08 16:20:58.144]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">File (cp7912r.zup) : error 2 in system call CreateFile The system cannot find the file specified. [01/08 16:20:58.144]</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
</div>
You can see that it is looking for a file called cp7912r.zup. If you don't get to this point, go back to step 7a and use option 150 instead of 66.<br />
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Now for the difficult part. You need to get this file from somewhere. It turns out that if you manage to get a file called <span style="background-color: #eeeeee; font-family: Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">CP7912080001SIP060412A.sbin</span> you can simply rename it to cp7912r.zup and put it into the base directory (step 5b above). If you do this successfully, the log will look like this:<br />
<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Connection received from 192.168.1.2 on port 16157 [01/08 16:22:52.288]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Read request for file (cp7912r.zup). Mode octet [01/08 16:22:52.288]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">Using local port 1251 [01/08 16:22:52.298]</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace; font-size: xx-small;">(cp7912r.zup): sent 655 blks, 335194 bytes in 13 s. 0 blk resent [01/08 16:23:05.396]</span><br />
<div>
<br /></div>
<br />
<div>
This will indicate success and you will see the phone reboot. In my case, the phone completely went back to normal without loosing any of its prior settings.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
So really the hardest part of this is to find the .sbin file mentioned above. As a hint of where to get it, do a Google search for CP7912080001SIP060412A.zip which is an archive that contains this magic file.</div>
</div>amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4472000937732072079.post-29984426151895187162012-06-16T17:30:00.001+10:002023-06-11T21:55:29.298+10:00How to microwave chestnuts perfectly every time<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8B4XFYIWuBD1dNEHnByTT3sIsMZss_6LXd-fTuy97L53cyd_B_qirrI-K-zhLDbJAs3LZbxCNuBmwAWREYmaoo_weWWt9G4Kk6kLEq02pgnxQtfV45QbI34sLssvdus9RNquAhfdXNYQ/s1600/IMG_1097.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8B4XFYIWuBD1dNEHnByTT3sIsMZss_6LXd-fTuy97L53cyd_B_qirrI-K-zhLDbJAs3LZbxCNuBmwAWREYmaoo_weWWt9G4Kk6kLEq02pgnxQtfV45QbI34sLssvdus9RNquAhfdXNYQ/s200/IMG_1097.jpg" width="150" /></a><span style="text-align: left;"></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
One of the best parts of winter is the fact that chestnuts come into season. Ever since I was young, I've enjoyed eating chestnuts whole and in various recipes (one of my favourites being <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=gesztenyep%C3%BCr%C3%A9">gesztenyepüré</a>). However, anyone who has cooked with them knows how hard it is to cook them just right and remove the two layers of the shell. </div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqQwk8CdjMhyphenhyphenBmP0qb_81jE-ggHMOW4FHGMKRpCs6PMaFXdu1uxe_Le-eF7wk8PXMPdaTtHlIEcTA3jpoKctUSbxCztelyUHu4FLwk6ct-yWgTM8hGzWBqkcyEXrUDJTrwwDAxYbl3FI/s1600/IMG_1092.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCqQwk8CdjMhyphenhyphenBmP0qb_81jE-ggHMOW4FHGMKRpCs6PMaFXdu1uxe_Le-eF7wk8PXMPdaTtHlIEcTA3jpoKctUSbxCztelyUHu4FLwk6ct-yWgTM8hGzWBqkcyEXrUDJTrwwDAxYbl3FI/s200/IMG_1092.jpg" width="150" /></a><br />
This winter I was determined to find a quick way to cook up a few chestnuts to eat whole for dessert after a meal and I think I've cracked it! (no pun intended)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
Begin by slicing an "X" through the shell with a sharp knife as shown in the picture on the right (click on the photo to enlarge). You need to cut about 2/3 into the chestnut (but don't cut fully through). Then, you need to put a bit of water on a plate - a teaspoon or so - and place the chestnuts on the plate.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHx_AZdZJdsGlmSGANZqBYc5hxEfeNqJ3Z3hHi__Y4PXGL3hFAXX61UuAC9RAYL7Cpduzou1dydyU-sD_dOuldoQ9RnJaGeMcQil-nts2xw7CFuLDk61ifGWwBk62iSSu1YWM9Mgxf3o/s1600/IMG_1093.JPG" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjWHx_AZdZJdsGlmSGANZqBYc5hxEfeNqJ3Z3hHi__Y4PXGL3hFAXX61UuAC9RAYL7Cpduzou1dydyU-sD_dOuldoQ9RnJaGeMcQil-nts2xw7CFuLDk61ifGWwBk62iSSu1YWM9Mgxf3o/s200/IMG_1093.JPG" width="200" /></a>Cover it as shown on the picture to the left and microwave it for 33 seconds. It might be different for different models of microwave, but 33 is the exact time I need on our 1200W model. Also, 33 seconds is perfect for 3-4 chestnuts, the time is likely to vary if you add more. Occasionally a chestnut will explode, which is another reason for covering the plate.</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTe4hDc3wceE927PPoc_-qaeYRTuKriej5Ws3Oc1CK7tD1twJ-kvxZT2aov6rP_b9sPtVOja-kWMHgYUtEvUJmnkXfY_UI2evQzQz919fglvfhRM5obT0JeHlgQ9ia1bc14ZP1r_Vqzs/s1600/IMG_1094.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmTe4hDc3wceE927PPoc_-qaeYRTuKriej5Ws3Oc1CK7tD1twJ-kvxZT2aov6rP_b9sPtVOja-kWMHgYUtEvUJmnkXfY_UI2evQzQz919fglvfhRM5obT0JeHlgQ9ia1bc14ZP1r_Vqzs/s200/IMG_1094.jpg" width="150" /></a>If all goes to plan, the chestnuts will start hissing at about the 20 second mark and will have opened slightly by the time the microwave beeps as shown in the picture to the right. (click on the photo to enlarge)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
The next step is to just peel the shell off (and you'll notice that both the inner and the outer shell come off together) and in a about a minute end-to-end you now have what you see in the photo below (click to enlarge) - ready to eat!</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdrlv-itpN3J6zn3ktmQVzqlTiFK8bL1PCcNDmO8BreAPYIoe5MvjyRZw4icr7jvKjOMpN-lGE0R5_GfqWxRcdK8blgzCvS64ywbQot1SF2XUhAz_nVMqic6iu_IxKfu0ymb1fikR1F6c/s1600/IMG_1096.jpg" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdrlv-itpN3J6zn3ktmQVzqlTiFK8bL1PCcNDmO8BreAPYIoe5MvjyRZw4icr7jvKjOMpN-lGE0R5_GfqWxRcdK8blgzCvS64ywbQot1SF2XUhAz_nVMqic6iu_IxKfu0ymb1fikR1F6c/s640/IMG_1096.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
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amborhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14900206939894725159noreply@blogger.com0