Radio Shack Desoldering Tool

I rarely endorse things, and I do not get a penny for endorsing things when I do.

Recently I need to de-solder some transistors.  They were in a very tight space and getting a solder sucking tool on one side and a soldering iron on the other side was not a possibility.  So I looked at getting an all in one tool.  I was looking on eBay when someone nearby said that they had one for the same price at Radio Shack.  I could not believe it, but sure enough it was at the same price.  So I bought it and had the chance to use it.  Let me say I was very impressed, it worked perfectly.

Here is the same tool from another angle.  It is well worth the $15 price tag.

Batavia NY Hamfest

Today I attended the Batavia NY Hamfest.  It is actually located at the Alexander Firemen Grounds on 98 south of Batavia.  To be honest it might have been the worse one ever.  I did sell a couple of items but then it started raining.  They opened up the pavilions to anyone so I moved to where there was a roof over my head, but I still did not sell much. 

On the bright side I bought the least amount of stuff that I have ever bought at an Hamfest.  All I bought was a hamburg!  There were some really nice oscilloscopes and even a scope meter, but I did not have a chance to buy anything before it started raining.

here is a picture of the pavilion that I moved to.

This was my setup before it started raining.  I moved everything I could into the back of the van when it started raining.

Chaffee NY Hamfest

Back on June 11 I went to the Chaffee NY Hamfest.  It was only the second time that I have been there.  I just today discovered that I have not posted about the Hamfests that I have been attending for about 2 or 3 years.  Even this post is a month late!

I thought that this radio was an amazing find.  

 Here is my spot, I mostly sold books.

 This is what it looked like, there were not a lot of people there.

Gateway MS2274 Power Button Repair

I recently had a Gateway MS2274 laptop come in for repairs.  It was totally dead.  The hinges were in rough shape and some screws were missing.  The power cord had broken and was taped together in two spots.  I searched around and found another adapter but the laptop was still dead.  I started taking it apart and when I located where to power button plugs in I jumpered my screwdriver across it.  The laptop powered on and worked!  So I went on eBay and purchased a replacement.

To disassemble it there is a screw hidden on the backside of the screen hinge as well as two screws inside of the battery compartment. 

Here is the removed power switch, actually just the cord to it was bad.

Here is where the power switch is located.  You have to remove the piece above the keyboard as well as some screen screws to get to it.

 This is another picture of the power switch, it is hard to get it back together.

 Here is the screw that is hidden on the back side of the hinge. 

Arduino powered 5 Million samples per second oscope with CA3306 Part 2

It is easier for me to add another part to the previous post, than to edit that one because if I do blogger will totally trash my code.  Someone asked about the LCD display connections, etc.  First the LCD is the common 2.4 inch LCD found on eBay.  It is identified by having 18 pins at one end and two sets of pins that are perpendicular to that for the touch screen and memory card.

here is a picture of the backside of the LCD showing how the connectors are arranged.

Here is a schematic of the LCD hookup with the control pins changed so the analog ports are free.

Here is a picture of the LCD hookup for the 5 million sample per second oscilloscope.

Someone on "Hack A Day" pointed out that I left off the oscillator schematic.  Here is a schematic of the clock.  It can be any clock oscillator from 5 to 10 MC.