Playing with Arduino LCD Shields

A friend wants me to make a multi screen LCD display that looks like old fashioned VU meters.  I have developed the software but am trying to determine the best LCD screen for the task.  I have the 2.4 inch, 3.2 inch and 3.5 inch LCD screens to try out.

This picture compares the sizes of the screens.

This is the 2.4 inch screen.  It has some sort of push button switch.  

This is the 3.2 inch screen.  It uses a totally different pin arrangement. Why?  I do not know!  

This is the 3.5 inch LCD screen.  On this LCD pin A4 is the LCD Reset pin so it has to be disconnected and pulled high with a resistor in order to use A4 for the MSGEQ7.

The 2.4 inch and 3.5 inch LCD screens both work with the Adafruit ILI9341 driver.  You can use   uint16_t identifier = 0x9341; or tft.begin(0x9341); to set it up.  

The screen size needs to be manually changed in the Adafruit library.  The "Adafruit_TFTLCD" file is changed like the following for the 3.5 inch screen:

// Manually overide size

#define TFTWIDTH   320

#define TFTHEIGHT  480

//#define TFTWIDTH   240

//#define TFTHEIGHT  320

Now the 3.2 inch screen is more complicated to get working.  In the Adafruit library the file "pin_magic" needs to have these lines changed to designate the correct data pins as follows:

 #else // Uno w/Breakout board

  #define write8inline(d) {                          \

    PORTD = (PORTD & B00101111) | ((d) & B11010000); \

    PORTB = (PORTB & B11010000) | ((d) & B00101111); \

    WR_STROBE; }

  #define read8inline(result) {                       \

    RD_ACTIVE;                                        \

    DELAY7;                                           \

    result = (PIND & B11010000) | (PINB & B00101111); \

    RD_IDLE; }

  #define setWriteDirInline() { DDRD |=  B11010000; DDRB |=  B00101111; }

  #define setReadDirInline()  { DDRD &= ~B11010000; DDRB &= ~B00101111; }

 #endif

However the colors are not correct and text is backwards.....  A easier solution is to download and use the OPENSMART_TFT LCD driver.

2019 Keuka Lake Hamfest

I do not make it to the Kueka Lake Hamfest every year.  This year was an exception as I need to get rid of lots of stuff!  My shed has been overflowing with stuff!  This morning I discovered that a shelf in my shed had fallen down.  Fortunately there was enough junk under it to keep it from falling very far!  Anyway here are some pictures from the Hamfest.

This is my stuff.  Fortunately someone bought all my tuning cavities.  I was only getting $1 each at scrap metal.  I sold them all for $20 so I did not make any more money than if I had taken them to scrap metal!

 Here are some other vendors tables.

 I really like antique radios because I worked with them back in the day.

NanoVNA Vector Network Analyzer 50KHz-900MHz Review

This is my NanoVNA Vector Network Analyzer 50KHz-900MHz with 2.8" LCD Screen Review.  To start with I am used to using a big expensive Agilent RF VNA.  I thought a pocket sized model would be great for hamfests and stuff like that. So I bought one on eBay.

I was very disappointed.  After an hour of trying to set it up to 150 MHz spanning 10 MHz I gave up! The selection switch makes it unusable. Maybe mine was just defective?

This is what the screen looks like when turned on and off..

This is what the guts look like with the back cover and the battery removed.  Note the pads for a SD memory adapter. Some way to save settings would have been nice.

What I do not like about this device is this switch.  It has so frustrated me that I am almost ready to get rid of it.  Should I buy a better switch or just sell the device?  It hangs in one direction and the pressure to move it side to side often results in a key selected response.  Sometime I just gave up and powered off and back on to try setting it up again.  This switch is a disaster!

This is what it looks like with the top cover removed and the LCD screen moved out of the way.

2019 Batavia NY Hamfest

The 2019 Batavia Hamfest is always a highlight of my summer.  I was able to sell about 1/2 of the stuff that I brought there.  Now I can get inside my shed, before the shed was filled to the ceiling.  I still have that 18" speaker and need to get rid of it.

These are antennas made out of lamp-stands.  I forget what band they cover.

 Here are some old radios for sale.

 This is a radio/record player.

 Some more old radio's for sale.

 This is an antique TV, I have only seen this TV in pictures before this day!

Panasonic AG HVX200 Video Camera Repair when buttons do not work

I purchased a Panasonic HVX200 video camera really cheap on eBay.  It was missing many screws the buttons did not work and the power was always on.  There were some stripped screws where someone had tried to take it apart.  The cure is to reset the ribbon cables.  First of all there is a great tutorial on how to dissemble it at:

http://www.dvxuser.com/V6/showthread.php?177130-HVX200P-Modular-Disassembly-(DIY-Photos)-To-Be-Cont

Next what you need to do is re-seat the ribbon cables on the top board.  Then sure enough it powers on and off and the buttons work just fine!  The ribbon cables to re-seat are white with a blue stripe in the picture below.

This picture shows the crud on one of the ribbon connectors. (Zoom in to see it better)

Here are my pictures of dissembling the camera.

 The final results - lots of parts!