PB10 Prototyping Board Review

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Prototyping boards were never at the top of my priority list when spending money. The cheapest thing I could find would suffice. The most I had previously spent on a prototyping board was seven or eight dollars from local electronics surplus stores. They did the job.

However in the fall of 2011 I picked up a $24 prototyping board (PB-10 by Global Specialities  ) from Newark since my old board was giving me hassles. The problem I started having with the cheapo prototyping boards was that wires would get stuck in the hole, and would require a lot of force to yank out, and some paths just totally stopped working.

The PB-10 is a great. The insertion force is minimal, nothing gets snagged in the holes, and the battery posts are fantastic. No more battery contacts pulled out and accidentally whipped across expensive components.

Have built a couple of projects on this board, and I don’t think I will cheap out again on a prototyping board.
It’s the little things that make a development project work smoothly.

Recovery of images from camera memory card

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I recently had a memory card fail on me on a recent trip (the filesystem somehow got corrupted) and I could not access the photos on it. I put the CF memory card aside, and left it till I got home. Once home, I used PhotoRec (in linux)to scan and recover all my photos from the CF card.
The file name of the files is lost, but all I need to do is sort by date in Bibble (my RAW converter software), which uses the meta-data date to sort, so the file name is not that important.

Choosing a flash

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I’ve been pondering what flashes to buy to use with my PW Flex/Mini system of wireless triggers.

Above all else, I want a flash with low RF interference with the PocketWizards TT5 system. Cost is the other quality. Prefer not to spend 580EX II money. HighSpeed Sync is the other requirement as I ‘d like to be able to shoot in bright daylight. Manual zoom head would also be nice. Continue reading →

AF assistant v3.1

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UPDATE: Work has indeed started on the (near) IR version of this tool. Details on the AF Assistant IR 1.0 (in early development stages) can be found here.

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Right from the get go, i wasn’t the happiest with the v3.0 design (see v3.0 link for details of why I built this, and previous version history) of the AF assistant. The main concern i had with it was the sloppiness of the case, and the extra cables that were required (which some of you commented about on the hack-a-day post).
So I did some searching around at local electronics shops and came across a small case that has a battery compartment for one AA battery. Digikey also sells a version of the case in black, which I will grab for the next upgrade. Much sleeker then cream colored on a black camera, though more expensive then the $0.25 I paid for the cream colored cases.

About the same time, i received an order from DealExtreme for some line lasers i had ordered some time ago. So I put together a circuit based on the v3.0 design (plugs in the side of the camera in the remote trigger port) and i have added a dc-dc boost voltage regulator that takes any voltage (0.7volts and higher) and turns it into a constant 3.3volts (based on suggestions from the hack-a-day post comments). This is perfect since that means that regardless of what battery i use, (1.5v alkaline or 1.2v NiMH rechargeable battery) i can get a constant voltage to drive the line laser. Continue reading →

Cases for projects

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This is perfect! A list of manufacturers that sell enclosures! Most have boxes with battery covers!!

New Age Enclosures: http://www.newageenclosures.com/
PacTec: http://www.pactecenclosures.com/
Serpac: http://www.serpac.com/
PolyCase: http://www.polycase.com/
EAI : http://www.plasticelectronicenclosure.com/
Evatron: http://www.evatron.com/
Plastronic: http://www.pei2000.com/
OKW Enclosures: http://www.okwenclosures.com/

The VM series (probably VM-24) from PolyCase should suit my needs. Slim, low profile… perfect!