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Cheap Pickups

Some more cheapies from the weekend – although not hugely successful, provided hours of interest. Solidoodle Press Ubiquiti Nanostation HFW5200-IRA camera Solidoodle Press This was a nostalgic purchase, I originally purchased a Solidoodle 2 as my first printer and it was kinda cool to have one of their production models. I purchased it with the intent of buying spare parts and priced accordingly. It didn’t come with a power supply so I soldered a PC PSU to provide the 12v. I have since found that it’s a 24v system, and by using a 20v 4amp laptop charger, I’ve been able great hot end temps and reasonable heated bed temps. Initial tests proved successful and it connected to Repetier Host, homed the axis’s and the heated bed and hot end warmed. I have plenty of spares… Read More »Cheap Pickups

Netgear EX6200

I went against my hatred for Netgear and bought an EX6200 as a replacement for the wireless access points I’ve been using. Having not bought any wireless gear for a while, I figured might as well check out 802.11AC equipment. After the purchase, I found the hardware to be well over spec: dual core 800Mhz processor, 128MB RAM, but the firmware was crippled by rubbish “end-user friendly” features, and only allowed external connections from the existing LAN via wireless sources. To Netgears credit, it does state the following in the manual: “Can I plug it directly to my main wireless router using ethernet? No…” After 40 minutes of stubbornly trying to get it to connect to my LAN using ethernet, I gave up and found this post: Transform the NETGEAR EX6200 into a Wi-Fi Router… Read More »Netgear EX6200

Serial to Bluetooth Convertor

This is a far better version of this wireless serial port. Why bother? I use them for configuring Cisco equipment for work. If you have ever been standing on a chair, balancing your laptop, trying to program a managed switch, you’ll appreciate being able to sit comfortably at a desk close by, while doing it wirelessly. Just screw the console cable onto the RS-232 and turn it on. New: 2-3 Seconds boot time. Old: 20-30 seconds. New: Battery life lasts around 48hrs when continuously transmitting. If you double tap the charge button on the battery it turns on an excellent flash light. Good for finding your way around the back of network racks. Old: About 3-4hrs. New: Auto turns off when inactive Old: Stays on until dead battery. New: Smaller, and easier to manufacture –… Read More »Serial to Bluetooth Convertor

Control LimitlessLED Globes With an Arduino

This is a quick post so please consider it a work in progress. I’ve purchased some Limitless RGB LED globes and a wireless controller for them. The wireless controller,  you can send it small UDP packets to make the paired globes change. By referencing their API, it’s pretty easy to write your own programs. In this example I used an Arduino with a network shield and a PIR sensor. The goal was to get the PIR sensor to detect someone in the room and turn a desk lamp on. Part Specifics: PIR Sensor – HC-SR501 Motion Sensor Module, Network Shield – Ethernet Shield W5100, Arduino UNO, Limitless v2 wireless controller, 2 RGB Globes This is the program written for the Arduino. DISCLAIMER: The code is pretty dirty with no comments. It also needs some refining… Read More »Control LimitlessLED Globes With an Arduino

Rear of DWL-2100AP PCB with USB power cable

D-Link DWL-2100AP – USB Powered Mod

I obtained 5 D-Link DWL-2100AP ages ago and the power supplies have mostly all died. The requirements stated on the back are 5v 2amps. So I desoldered the power connector and replaced it with a cut off USB cable and tried it on a phone charger (5v 1amp) it booted and seemed to be OK. After that I tried my laptop USB charging port – again all seemed OK. Then I tried setting it up with my PC and plugging it into the back of a HP T5500 – All good and the wireless (I assume the most power draining component) was also working in client mode. So now I have it powered via the HP 5500 USB port and the ethernet connects the two for wireless communication with the rest of the network. Easy… Read More »D-Link DWL-2100AP – USB Powered Mod

Wireless Serial Convertor

WR703N Project Box’s

I’ve been inserting the WR703N’s into cases to make them more durable and less ‘touchy-feely’. The Serial to Wireless convertor – used when configuring Cisco switches, you an configure and upgrade the IOS on using it. This has been great for large installs then having to setup 20+ switches. Benefits include being able to sit comfortably at a desk while setting it up, and it runs off a phone backup battery so it doesn’t need to be plugged into a power outlet or USB – general run time is  > 2-3hrs. The case/enclosure allows it to be hanging from a switch without caring a lot for it’s safety. It can take bumps and drops very well. The external connections are RS232, Ethernet, and the hole on the right is for a micro USB power cable.… Read More »WR703N Project Box’s

Close up with GPS & Mac address's blured

WR703N – 1.5inch Digital Photo Frame (DPF)

Please be aware this guide has incomplete information, and is very generalized. Ok, now I’ve got a reliable testing unit up and running – tested it for over a week. During that time I wanted to know if it had kernel panic’d or if the GPS had dropped out etc… So I looked into a few options: The easiest was to use telnet on from a laptop and just leave the screen open, this has other problems like battery life, bulky, heavy, and is over kill because you might as well just use the laptop. 16×2 character display LCD module, would work ok, although you’d have to convert it to use serial USB input. Total cost would be over $30 AUD or so. Possibly use bluetooth and connect to a tty through a virtual serial… Read More »WR703N – 1.5inch Digital Photo Frame (DPF)

WR703N – Wireless Serial Port

The following guide is what I’ve used (twice) to turn a WR703N into a wireless serial port for configuring Cisco network switches/routers. I have already installed OpenWRT onto it before this guide starts. Tap the reset button on the side while inserting the power cable and the status light should flash blue fast. Set you PC’s IP address to 192.168.1.* (last octet cant be 1). Telnet to address 192.168.1.1 and type the following: Setup LAN Networking uci set network.lan.ipaddr=<Ip Address> uci set network.lan.gateway=<default gateway> uci set network.lan.dns=<DNS-Server address>  uci commit /etc/init.d/network restart Install Minicom and USB serial driver opkg update opkg install minicom opkg install kmod-usb-serial-pl2303 <- This is a very common driver but you may need a different one, check online or with the manufacturer to see what you should use. If it’s correct… Read More »WR703N – Wireless Serial Port

Cheap Pickup: WRT54G2 = $2

Yep, a working WRT54G2 (version 1.0) for $2, just required a 12v power cable, which I’ve a few spares. This is the third WRT54G I’ve owned: First one was purchased o modify the flash and use as a bridge. Unfortunatly it was version 7 so it had no known third party firmware available, (atleast at the time)  mainly due to an under sized flash chip and non-supported wireless chipset. Second was an American import and one of the originals flashed with DD-WRT.  Worked perfectly until the loose power cable came out during a reflash… Bricked. As explained, this wireless router is a WRT54G2 v1.0. A quick google found this page. A few downloads and two firmware flashes later, the micro version of DD-WRT is installed, setup and working properly as a secondary WAP to provide… Read More »Cheap Pickup: WRT54G2 = $2