Don't buy Samsung!!!

Samsung SmartTV "support"  says it's perfectly normal that my TV forgets all already downloaded EPG data
and that I have to switch through each and every chanel manually every time I switch on the TV
and that it's my own fault for using satelite TV instead of cable.

HELLO? EARTH CALLING? IS THERE ANY INTELLIGENT LIFE ON PLANET SAMSUNG?

This is the latest and greatest and most expensive model they have with the most recent software.

making 3d photos in munich

Made a number of 3D photos in Munich last night.
Click the photo above to see the album.
The photos are not sorted or edited yet and a lot of them are ruined by snow getting in front of the flash.
(Photos made with a Panasonic G-series 3D lens that is limited to f11, so a flash is needed.)

30 Hackerspaces for Shanghai

"Shanghai government is going to build up the first 30 hackerspaces"
Including CNC tools and everything.
Members only cover the operating cost, not the initial cost of the machines and rooms being purchased and set up.


source

Don't use Maxspot

(Crossposted from Google+ because it annoys me so much)
I'll never book a Hotel that uses #Maxspot for Wifi again!!!
At least every 5 minutes, sometimes every few seconds they highjack a random HTTP connection to inject
"Sie müssen sich zuerst anmelden um diese Website besuchen zu können!".
Then you must enter your wifi hotspot login and click to get the intended page. Problem: This also happens vor HTTP requests for
.css,
JSON,
XML,
Javascripts,... and it does forget
HTTP-GET and -POST parameters as well as
HTTP-headers.

So any "next" link in a google search or a link to amazon, ebay,... for example forgets what you have been searching for.
This breaks my internet and is completely unacceptable for a hotel's service I'm paying for!!!

• Google+ microblogging post

Reversing an RC04

Dissecting an RC04 remote for a Zoom H4n...
Well labeled inside.
I should record what is transfered on that 3.3V serial bus soon.
Should be easy to syncronously start/stop recording on 2 cameras for 3D and sound with a single button.

Upgrading the ToM

(I have neglected posting here for a while. Much is posted on Google+ but too short and meaningless for a blog posting.) As the jamming and filament-stalls of the Thing-O-Matic continue, I'm now fed uo enough to mount a new extruder. It did not quite fit but I guess I can make it work. My current suspicion on the jams is that any contact with the ABP belt cloggs up the extruder. The original extruder is very week and cannot overcome that. I would have liked to use an angled drive-bolt extruder like the RepMan uses as I found that to be extremely powerful, back-pressure resistant and reliable. But no such extruder design exists for the ToM and I need to use a ready design to save time. I'm now trying to use a geared down extruder with more force and also replace the plastic belt with titanium. I don't know yet how best to cut the 0,025mm titanium. As Makerbot didn't include any mechanism for tightening the belt, a new belt has to be perfect in length.

• First Google+ posting
• Second Google+ posting
• Extruder on Thingiverse

3d printed foldable shoulder rig with sound+video controls on handles

And as promised I added the front support to the foldable shoulder rig I did yesterday. You can detach the support or fold it up and keep it on the rig. I used a leg of a very cheap tripod that broke down to make a support that can be adjusted in length.

• Design files on Thingiverse
• cheap tripod misused for front support
• Photos (coming soon)
• Video (coming soon)
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I'm back 3D printing

After many month of trying to find the bug I'm now back to 3D printing. :)

• Design of this shoulder rig on Thingiverse

problem in battery grip conversion

Problem converting a Canon500D battery grip for the Panasonic GH1/GH2.
Powering the GH1 works well for a while now but I'm working on getting the shutter button running. Made a mistake here.
The battery grip has a nice 2-stage button (full press+half press).
My circuit would work...if the full press would not ALSO close the circuit for the half press.
So at the moment you can only focus but not trigger a photo/video to be shot with that button.

So different from this one, I need to attach GND in-between focus and shutter, replace 3KOhm with 5KOhm and replace the 2KOhm with one that gives 2KOhm when used in parallel to a 5KOhm resistor (3.5KOhm).
Problem: That 2KOhm-resistor attaches to a 0.xmm trace on a tiny connector and took me days to get right without shorting any other pathes.

• Photos (coming soon)
• Video (coming soon)
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LED lights for th workshop

Finally got the PTFE tubes from Makerbot. So I hope I can get the printer back online tomorrow.
Also installed the first LED light-strips to get some shadow-free lights for the workshop tables.
(Having one large light in the middle of the room is not enough here.)

• Photos

GH1 battery grip

Managed to find some minutes for soldering on my GH1 battery grip.
Had to stop because there was no desoldering-wick left in the house.
No breakthrough with the GH2 external power issue (7.2V+crypto or 8.4V).

• Photos (coming soon)
• Video (coming soon)
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shoulder rig modification

And here is the first and most important step in my ongoing modification of the MultiRigPro -clone. The creation of the missing accessory-adapters. I did film the process any may make a HOWTO-video about it. ...if I get my laptop to no longer overheat while editing video. The original comes with such adaptres for 1/4" UNC camera-mounts, hot-shoe mounts and 3/8" microphone mounts as well as a front support. My first try at a front support failed, so I'll now go back to my original plan and design+3d print one based on one leg of a super-cheap tripod. Better then the original one mine is supposed to stay on the rig, so you can unfold it one-handed without looking when you need it. ...without interrupting the shot that suddenly takes longer then expected.

• 3d model on Thingiverse
• Photos
• Video (coming soon)
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• shoulder rig used ($74+customs, no shipping)
• part used to build the attachment-adapters ($6.5 each)
• adapter used to mount the microphone ($8.8)

Update: Found a nice red button to have controls for shutter+focus on the right handle.

modified stage box

As planned I modified a 6xXLR stage-box. Replacing 4 of the 6 XLR-plugs with XLR+6.4mm ones to make it more universal and adding 2 1/4" UNC swivel-mounts for 2 microphones or cameras. (Since a stage-box is already near the stage, this would be the perfect place to mount such a thing to complement the microphones already using the box.)

• Photos
• Video (coming soon)
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• the Thomann SSSNAKE SXX8030 stage-box used
• The swivel-mounts used ($3.7 each, no shipping, no customs because of the low value)

New Zoom RC04 holder RC2

Designed version 0.2 of my new Zoom RC04 holder. It uses small M3x16 bolts because the original, larger design would not work out when folding up the clone of the DVtech MultiRigPro.

• Design files on Thingiverse (coming soon)
• Photos (coming soon)
• Video (coming soon)
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5V USB power output for camera battery grips

I think I found the right part to add a 5V USB power-output to the DIY battery-grips I am making for my cameras. The idea is to hide this regulator in the dummy-batteries, so they don't take up precious space in the cramped battery-grips. http://www.hobby-hour.com/electronics/lm2576-step-down-switching-regulator.php

Tests for DIY battery grip for the Panasonic GH-2 camera

Got myself a good lab power-supply and a big illuminated, table-mounted magnifying-glass and a heated *de*soldering-iron for the workshop last weekend.
Last night the cables for the power supply.

Now I can see if it's possible to power the Panasonic GH2 cameras with modified Canon 550D battery-grips (7.2V) like I did with the GH1 model.
It looks like they tried to lock out 3rd-party batteries way stronger then with the GH1.
So if the power supply can't identify itself as Panasonic it *may be* that a higher voltage is required.
Then again, maybe it's just 2 hidden resistors in the fake battery used to attach their power supply.

If this fails, one of he cheap chinese battery-copies died on me last weekend.
So I may be able to simply gut that and use it's coulomb-counter+crypto chip but get the actual power from a battery-grip.

New Zoom RC04 holder

Based on my "remote audio controls for camera rig" (a 3d printed part to attach the RC04 remote control unit of a Zoom H4n audio recorder to the handle of a camera rig) I designed the first draft of an updated version. It's far easier to print, holds the remote more securely and attached to the thicker, padded handles of the Chinese copies of the DVtec MultiRigPro. (A very cool shoulder rig that is foldable and thus fits into a small camera bag.) It's untested and thus not finished because I'm still struggling with my Thing-o-Matic.

• Original Design files on Thingiverse
• Design files on Thingiverse (coming soon)
• Photos (coming soon)
• Video (coming soon)
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Resurrecting Thing-a-Matic

I just returned from a short vacation and had the nozzle and PTFE -tube sunk in Acetone. This worked very well. The ABS and PLA expanded and became rubbery. It disloged from any surface and floated around. I could pull a large, expanded tube of PLA from the PTFE-tube and I can actually see light through the 0.4mm hole in the nozzle. Sadly there was not enough time to do a test-print. Hopefully I can do that on friday night. With lots of luck printing PLA will work out this time and I can get back to create all the designs that have been piling up here.

Makerbot still failing

I tried the Thing-o-Matic again. 5 perfect layers, then suddenly skipping, only thin, uneven streams filament dripping out every now and then and jut utter chaos. I'll clean nozzle and PTFE-tube with acetone for 4 days. Then try again. I suspect my PTFE-tube to be too wide for this filament. As the print progresses the heat travels up and the filament widenes as there is room for it to widen. Will try again on tuesday night.

Projects in wiki

I updated the wiki that I use to keep notes. It now reflects the projects I'm currently actually working on and their links and notes. I don't want anything to get lost. ;) I was looking forward to building the new shoulder rig, however the chinese parts I wanted to start with have just been returned because of "unsuccessful delivery" after 14 days in customs. (I did not get a notification from customs or postal services and without such notification I can't show up at customs because it contains the required code-number of the delivery.)

• The Wiki
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