When we last saw our heroes...
Sep. 30th, 2012 01:03 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
psipsyMission accomplished. ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nozomichan05 now has a radio that can natively play iPods (it has 2 USB ports). Also installed new speakers, so the whole thing sounds better now.
Next: Installing USB charging ports! The core parts are here and I have most of a working proof-of-concept. I may have over-bought on the components, but I do plan on making at least two of these gadgets, with enough parts leftover for another two. And each gadget will be capable of charging two USB-powered devices at the same time. Assembling the circuits, testing them out, tuning and tweaking them, and so on, is the easy part for me. The hard part will be modifying some of the plastic interior pieces in such a way that it looks natural instead of looking like someone took a chainsaw to the interior.
"Butpsipsy, they sell lighter adapters everywhere for only a couple bucks. Why not just buy one of those?" Well, I did. Several times. And for the most part they suck. The problem is, most of the USB chargers that are out there rely on a rather ancient form factor that was designed around the primary task of intentionally but momentarily creating a lot of heat. For the sake of simple power transmission, far superior methods of connection exist.
What makes it worse is that in the effort to make such devices as small/cheap as possible, the internals of the adapters are weak. One of them I had to modify just to get it to stay connected, and it barely puts out enough power to keep up with my phone. Another one just simply fell apart after less than a month. I've calculated the cost of parts and supplies of building an integrated one, and it's less than what I've spent on failed adapters.
"Butpsipsy, if that new radio has built-in USB ports, why not use those?" For one thing, they're on the back of the radio and would require extension cables to reach them. The iPod cable that's attached isn't going anywhere now. Also, the current capacity from there is limited. The ones I'm building can pump out 3 times as much current. I've measured how much my phone pulls, which is about half an amp, but I foresee more phones in the near future pulling much more than that to recharge. The iPhone is already there, pulling a solid amp.
Here's a twist: On iDevices, they require voltages on the D+/- pins for some weird Apple-based reason. On the other hand, Android devices don't give a damn, or at least mine doesn't. It'll take whatever 5 volts it can get, wherever it can get it. It's not picky.
"Butpsipsy, if you--Oh never mind. I'm tired of asking you questions." Wise move.
nozomichan05 now has a radio that can natively play iPods (it has 2 USB ports). Also installed new speakers, so the whole thing sounds better now.Next: Installing USB charging ports! The core parts are here and I have most of a working proof-of-concept. I may have over-bought on the components, but I do plan on making at least two of these gadgets, with enough parts leftover for another two. And each gadget will be capable of charging two USB-powered devices at the same time. Assembling the circuits, testing them out, tuning and tweaking them, and so on, is the easy part for me. The hard part will be modifying some of the plastic interior pieces in such a way that it looks natural instead of looking like someone took a chainsaw to the interior.
"But
psipsy, they sell lighter adapters everywhere for only a couple bucks. Why not just buy one of those?" Well, I did. Several times. And for the most part they suck. The problem is, most of the USB chargers that are out there rely on a rather ancient form factor that was designed around the primary task of intentionally but momentarily creating a lot of heat. For the sake of simple power transmission, far superior methods of connection exist.What makes it worse is that in the effort to make such devices as small/cheap as possible, the internals of the adapters are weak. One of them I had to modify just to get it to stay connected, and it barely puts out enough power to keep up with my phone. Another one just simply fell apart after less than a month. I've calculated the cost of parts and supplies of building an integrated one, and it's less than what I've spent on failed adapters.
"But
psipsy, if that new radio has built-in USB ports, why not use those?" For one thing, they're on the back of the radio and would require extension cables to reach them. The iPod cable that's attached isn't going anywhere now. Also, the current capacity from there is limited. The ones I'm building can pump out 3 times as much current. I've measured how much my phone pulls, which is about half an amp, but I foresee more phones in the near future pulling much more than that to recharge. The iPhone is already there, pulling a solid amp. Here's a twist: On iDevices, they require voltages on the D+/- pins for some weird Apple-based reason. On the other hand, Android devices don't give a damn, or at least mine doesn't. It'll take whatever 5 volts it can get, wherever it can get it. It's not picky.
"But
psipsy, if you--Oh never mind. I'm tired of asking you questions." Wise move.
