RE: using breadboards

I have no experience here, but I would just like to say that you are right about developing things from scratch and foregoing the already invented wheel for your own. Look at the braillenote: this March will mark the very first time a braillenote is able to use any sort of instant messenger. A year and a half ago was the first time SSL was supported, and we have yet to see a reliable bluetooth stack or G wifi that does not require very specific settings to work smoothly. All this, and the bn is based on Windows, but it has a special program called keysoft on it that completely hides Windows functionality and implements that functionality only when necessary; some things are built into keysoft itself, like the bluetooth stack, and some are based in Windows, like javascript support; keysoft is what slows down the development of new features on the bn family of products. The Braille Plus has none of these problems because it is just an adapted Linux box with special hardware and a rewritten interface, which is how users can run command-line apps (sorry, I am a Windows user) on a Plus or Icon. Just my 2 cents. 

Have a great day,
Alex


----- Original Message -----
From: "Ken Perry" <whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
To: <programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Date sent: Sun, 22 Feb 2009 18:57:18 -0500
Subject: RE: using breadboards
I think you again are barking up the wrong tree. So you write 
your own
shell. (I have done this ) What then? To make it useful you 
need
applications for it. You will have to write them all. You would 
be better
off getting involved in something like the Google Android 
operating system
or OE Linux at the ground level. If you do something like that 
you're in on
the low level of both devices and software and you can make a 
large
difference. The Android operating system is made for all mobile 
devices so
you could both start from scratch and get the support of a 
community.  The
problem is in the past a lot of blind or disability companies 
have created
things from scratch and when you are all done you end up with a 
device that
is so behind the times no one wants to use it. Same goes for 
software you
will spend more time making your shell interact with things that 
are out
there because your users will want to chat with his friend on Msn 
or print
her papers to that usb printer. So look more into getting 
involved with
things like OE Linux or Android or things of that sort and you 
will learn

the same amount your thinking of while making a huge difference.





Ken





From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tyler
Littlefield
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 5:40 PM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: using breadboards





I graduate this may, I believe.
Maybe I won't go that route. I'm interested in OS design, making 
something

work.
I really want to just write a basic shell, though I doubt my OS 
will be the

next windows on the market, I want to get things working.
I started playing with something, but after I got it to boot up 
and
everything I wasn't able to find a way to test what I wanted to 
see if it

works.
Basically I'm looking for another solution besides just windows 
and linux
dev. I want to start playing with new technologies learning how 
things work,

making things go bang, etc.
Any other ideas would be great. I won't give up on learning 
about circuitry,

but it's hardly a career option for me.





----- Original Message -----



From: Ken Perry <mailto:whistler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 3:34 PM



Subject: RE: using breadboards
You are looking at the wrong place for making a PDA even if it 
was just for
you personally. I said 274 for the development board after you 
design the
software on that and decide what components you want for example 
the 274$
development board I spoke of came with y-fi, 2 usb ports, blue 
tooth, and
some other things like keyboard input which you would have to 
design.  Of
course a finished product would not need all of those or it would 
be a Pac
mate. Anyway the thing is you buy one dev board and develop your 
PDA idea.
When you're done you get the company who made the dev board to 
make you 5000
of them and your off and running with the next Victor stream. 
Now I am not
talking from left field. I would suggest you call Marc at 
Levelstar and
talk to him. He developed the brail plus and Icon hardware and 
he will be
able to explain it much better when I was talking to him the 
other day he
said and I quote, "you may think you want to get into hardware 
design but
you don't believe me you don't." You really need to talk to 
people already

in the industry.
I also know of another device that was a Linux pda that never 
made it to
market because it took 6 months to get a bread board working for 
it because
you have to match up the daughter boards and get all the 
polarities and
voltages right and in this case it was a sighted person doing it 
and he
smoked a few components just getting it to work. After that he 
had to get
some kind of software to actually compile and work on it. Why 
would you
want to go through that kind of hell when you can purchase a 
development
board from either Samsung or hell there are lots of companies 
that you can
get atom dev boards from and I am not even sure my $274 is the 
lowest cost I
did see one that was $1000 for a dev board and it was a 4 inch by 
3 inch
board that was pretty much a laptop in a tiny box. These dev 
boards come
with an operating system that works on them, heck most of them 
come with

both windows CE and Linux so you can choose
Shrug do what you want but the work you will have to put into a 
PDA is not
worth it. This is the last I will say, without any other 
questions,
because if you want to fight with it more power to you just know 
you are in
for a long hard road to get nowhere and by the time you get there 
your
device will be so far behind the times it won't be worth having. 
For
example if you are planning on making this for more than yourself 
it costs
in around $2000 to $5000 just to get your power supply tested and 
passed all
the regulations. That's just one of the things you will have to 
do with

your own design.
By the way as a side note, Tylor when do you graduate from High 
school?
This has nothing to do with what you're doing I am just 
interested.




Ken



From: programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
[mailto:programmingblind-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On Behalf Of Tyler
Littlefield
Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 4:43 PM
To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: Re: using breadboards





I figured I was totally scrued up.



It's just something I want to do.
I have an idea for a PDA I would like to build that sounds fun, 
just my
personal little PDA. I could totally customize it, and it would 
be cheaper

than anything I could buy more than likely.
I also want to just learn how these things work. I've often 
found them

interesting.
I have been digging around for some electronics tutorials, but 
haven't found

all that much that doesn't consist of a ton of pictures, etc etc.





----- Original Message -----



From: The Elf <mailto:inthaneelf@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx



To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 2:34 PM



Subject: Re: using breadboards
lol, odd list to send this to, but I used to do modular 
electronics, so your

in luck.





firstly, that setup will not do the job, you need to find a basic
electronics tutorial and read it, smile, not ragging on you, just 
the truth.




there are basic principles that you haven't grasped yet.
for a battery charger, you need the 110 volt (wall) plug, a 
transformer,
you need a full wave rectifier (I'll explain in a minute) and 
you may want
some filter capacitors, though there not really needed for a bat 
charger.
now then, your first mistake is that your setup would have put 
wall type
current, called AC for alternating current, into resisters and 
batteries
which are DC (direct current) devices , that's a large shocking 
flam buoy

recipe.
number two, you said resisters to bring the current down, yes 
resisters will
drop current, but not in the way you need it to, this kind and 
type of
current step down is done with a transformer (that's why so many 
things with
removable wall plugs have that large box either at the wall end, 
or in the
middle of the cord, the box is mostly the transformer that 
reduces the

voltage and changes the amperage of the wall current.
and without the full or half wave bridge rectifier I mentioned 
before, your

still plugging DC parts into an ac circuit, another flam buoy!
the full wave bridge rectifier I have been mentioning is the 
component that
changes the AC current coming out of the transformer into DC 
current for the

batteries to charge off of.
here is the correct series of components for a simple power 
supply:
1. 110 volt power plug, which you attach to a specific set of 
contacts on a
110 AC to... (output voltage equals the number of batteries 
going into the
battery holder, times 1.5 volts) so if you have a battery clip 
for 2
batteries, then its 3 volts, if its four then it's six volts) AC 
transformer
(note here, all the transformer does is change the voltage and 
amperage of
the power, not its type, at this point you still have AC current 
running

through the thing).
3. to the output side of the transformer you attach the input 
leads off the
full wave bridge rectifier (this is the device that changes the 
power from

AC, to DC so its the same type of current as your batteries).



4.  to the output side of the FWBR you can either:
4-1. insert two filter capacitors to screen out noise the 
circuitry
generates, but this is not needed in a simple charger(*note,! the 
filter
capacitors have to be hooked up the correct way, one end is 
positive one

negative).



or,
4-2. attach your battery holder, making sure you get the 
polarity of the
wires correct to the battery holder , or your making a loud bang 
and a lot

of stink and a hazard out of your batteries.
another point, this simple setup has no way, like many chargers 
you buy do
now a days, to tell when the batteries are fully charged, and 
stop trying to
charge them, and this will heat up, and eventually give you 
another ka boom.
the circuitry for a regulator is not to hard, but I can't pull it 
out of my

head like I can a simple power supply.
that is the basics of a power supply and it will work as a 
charger.  and it
will not cost much, but why reinvent the wheel, unless your going 
to try for
some work in the electronics field? which I would not advise, 
some of the
stuff is extremely complex, and some of it quite delicate, and 
none of it is
marked in a method that can be read with our current tech 
abilities.




laters,



inthane



----- Original Message -----



From: Tyler Littlefield <mailto:tyler@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



To: programmingblind@xxxxxxxxxxxxx



Sent: Sunday, February 22, 2009 12:06 PM



Subject: using breadboards





Hello,
I'm looking to start using breadboards to create some small 
things.
I'd like to start off with something small, possibly a battery 
charger or

something similar.
I found a small tutorial on instructables, but not totally sure 
how to get

going.
It explained how things work somewhat, but not accurately enough 
for me.
It mainly used pictures to explain, which didn't do me a whole 
lot of good.


Any ideas on how I can set this up?
I understand the polarity--hooking one negative end to the 
positive etc so
that the circuit forms a loop, I'm just not sure how to do what I 
want.


So, here's my idea.
If I figure out the layout, I can set up a power cable going from 
the outlet

to the breadboard.



Then I can place in jumpers to bridge the gap.
I can take the 120 volts down to 9 with some resisters (?) and 
hook a

battery pack to the other end that will charge the batteries.



I'm thinking I'm way off, but...  ideas would be great.
If I could, I'd like to set it up so it'd charge like 4 at once, 
then I
could cut down the 120 to 36. Possibly put in a heat sink to 
keep it from

getting really hot.





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