HTC Hero Docking station mod

Been a while since I've written anything, so I tought I'd do a short write-up of a mod I did today.

I was not happy with the ugly and bright blue LED (sooo 2009) on a HTC Hero docking station I picked up on ebay, I set out to dim that azure light-house, replacing it with a mellow crimson.

As this will sit on my night-stand, this was given top priority.


Popping the cover revealed a much simpler device than I expected, nothing more than a few wires, a mini-USB, a LED, and a resistor.







Prying away the LED, I simply snipped the LED and resistor off, leaving enough stub to solder on the replacement LED and resistor.







The original resistor was a 460 Ohm (1/8 W), but since blue LEDs in general require a higher voltage than red LEDs, I opted for a 1180 Ohm (1/4 W).






The only other thing I did was to add some shrink sleeving/wrapping. In this picture I was testing the mod before gluing the LED in place.






And there you have it, a nice and warm red glow that won't disburb me in the night.




I hope you've enjoyed reading about this simple mod just as much as I did doing it. Good night ;)

Just another adapter III: LCD adapter - Final

Back from holls, and the components I neded to finish up this project was waiting for me in the mail. However, on closer inspection I found an airwire in the PCB! I could fix this with some trickery, but I decided not to, as it only affects back-light controll (you can see the missing trim-pot).

Some quick soldering of the contrast trim-pot and the missing 8x2 header, and the build was ready for some in-circuit testing. And the build was a success! Even in relativly simple builds like this, you really don't know before you turn it on.

Because of the air-wire, I won't post the schema and design unless requested.

Just another adapter II

So, the PCB is now drilled and partially populated. The two 10-Pin headers for the STK500 are soldered on, as well as the single row (1x16) LCD connector and a LED. I keep the photo-resist until the very last moment, only then do I remove it on the spots I want to solder, using q-tip dipped in acetone. This way, the photo-resist protects the copper and keeping it from oxidising.

I ran out of single row (or double for that matter) female headers and I didn't have the right trim-pot either, so I will have to wait until after the holls to finish this one. Part are on order.Well, at least the LED power-indicator works.

Parts-list, schematics, and PCB to come when the build is done.

Just another adapter

I seem to be making allot of different adapters lately. This is the freshly made PCB/PWB for a LCD adapter for the STK500. More info to come later, that, and I'm trying out blogging from my Android phone :-D

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STK500 10-Pin I/O-Adapter

The STK500 development kit is excellent, and those 10-pin headers are great for making standard expansion boards for the headers. But sometimes all I need is quick access to a pin, for connecting the kit to a bread-board or similar. Nothing ready-made seemed to be available, so I made a quick-and-dirty adapter. Taking the standard 10-pin header and breaking them out into a single 1x10 standard 2.54mm row, adding only a LED for power indication.

PCB available for download soon...