This guide is By. em3bilko (Original Post Can Be Found Here)

How-To get a LCD Character Screen to work.

The first thing that needs to be done is to gather all material for this project.

Material List:
1 LCD character screen (HD44780 controller or compatible) size isn’t important)

1 Parallel Port Printer cable

Soldering iron
Resin core solder
Schematic (wiring diagram) there are several available and not all work with all LCD’s, this was a hit or miss situation for me, it was my 3rd schematic that finally worked for me.)I will be showing only the one that worked for me.)
Power Connector (Molex or USB) I used a Molex but USB is as good, it is for 5 volts only)
Multi-meter (Ohm meter)
Software (there are many available, here is a short list of a few that are free to download)
1. jaLCD (http://www.jalcd.de/) this is the one I use.)
2. LCDStudio (http://www.lcdstudio.com/site20/home.php)
3. LCDHype (http://lcdhype.de/)
4. LCDSmartie (http://lcdsmartie.sourceforge.net/)
5. Liquid-MP3 (http://liquid-mp3.schijf.org/) WinAmp plug-in)
6. Port95nt (http://www.red-mamba.com/datoteke/port95nt.exe) this program is required for opening the printer port for instructions from the software that is used.)

Extra Parts that help:
Helping Hands (project holder)

Magnifying Glass (to check connections up close)
External Molex connection

I purchased my LCD screen from an online vendor, www.shopeio.com, they have a wide selection and the prices are good. They ship by way of the USPS only, so there will be no tracking number, and it could be slow about arriving. I have ordered 3 screens from them and I think I screwed up the first one but the second and third worked. However the third one only worked on the top line only the second line gave only the bottom half of the character. I think it came from the manufacture that way and has nothing to do with Shopeio. The parallel printer cable was from my junk drawer. Since most printers now use the USB port finding an older parallel port cable shouldn’t be a problem. The molex connector was also from my junk drawer. You can find them on old fans that don’t work any more or some fans come with a molex and a 3-pin connector for plugging into the motherboard. With this type just cut off the molex and the fan will be just fine working with the motherboard. The reason that I went with the molex was to be able to obtain power without having to run the cable out the back of the case to plug into a USB port. Now you’re wondering, what is the different between the power connector and the printer cable? Some motherboards don’t have a parallel port but have a header to plug a bracket onto and then fix it onto a PCI slot. That is what I have in my case; it could be different for each motherboard. The software was actually the easiest part of collecting the materials, just downloaded the program from the selected sites. The schematic was the hardest part. Being that there are different wiring diagrams a person doesn’t know which one will work with the LCD that you purchase. All you have to go by is the amount of connections, which ranges from 16-18 connections. The first LCD I used had 18 connections and the last 2 are for the backlight. If you have 16 connections then there is no backlight. My other 2 LCD’s only had 16 connections and they didn’t have backlights. A LCD that has18 connections may have 2 different configurations, you could have all 18 connections in a line or 16 connections in a line and 2 at the end of the LCD. The 2 extra connections are for a backlight. I got the working schematic from http://www.crystalfontz.com/software/crystalcontrol2/manual/lcdsetup-hd44780.html and there are 2 different setups, 1 for a 4×40 character screen and one for a generic character screen. I used the generic version because I had a 2×20 LCD screen. Here is the explanation that I used for wiring my LCD.

Printer port cables soldered to the LCD.

You will notice that the parallel port cable has 25 wires and you will be using only 16-18 wires total. The rest will be cut short so that they are not in your way. Don’t cut these extra wires until you are finished with the soldering. Just in case you soldered the wrong wire. You will need to check each wire with the Multi-meter from the end of the wire to the DB-25 plug to make sure you have the correct wire for soldering. Once you have finished the above procedure you will find that you have a few connections that are empty. Pin 3 will be empty, it is used for contrast. There are a couple of ways to use this, 1 is to put in a POT (potentiometer) or wire it direct and not have a variable contrast. I chose not to have the variable contrast. Here is how to do both.

Contrast Control
Pin 3 on the LCD is used for contrast control. There are two options which can be taken in this step.
The first option which is the easiest is to fix the contrast at a certain level. This is a bit of a gamble as the contrast setting may not be to your liking, but in most cases, the LCD contrast is set at an acceptable level. To do this, simply solder a piece of wire from pin 1 to pin 3 on the LCD. If you do this, skip to the next step of this guide.
The second option is to connect a potentiometer (or “pot”) to the LCD which will allow the LCDs contrast setting to be changed.
There are two types of pot’s which can be used for this, a normal full size pot, or a “trim-pot”. I would recommend using a trim-pot, as it’s small, and if you’re clever can be mounted on the back of the LCD itself. The value of the potentiometer will need to be 10KOhms. It can be of either the “linear” or “logarithmic” variety, it won’t make a difference.
Solder a wire from the center pin of the pot, to pin 3 on the LCD module.
Solder a wire from either of the two remaining pins on the pot to pin 1 on the LCD module.
Solder a wire from the remaining pin on the pot to pin 2 on the LCD module.
I didn’t have a backlight on my LCD screen but I will include how to hookup a backlight.

Backlight Control
Two components will be needed for this step, a resistor of a value you’ll have to calculate, and a 100ohm potentiometer or trim-pot.
The resistors value will need to be calculated first. To do this, you will need the LCD’s specifications which should be available from the manufacturer of the LCD module.
You’ll need to know the recommended voltage required for the backlight and the current.
Then using the following calculation, work out the resistor value needed:
R = (5 – volts) / current
For example, if your LCD required 4.2V at 400mA it would work out to be:
R = (5 – 4.2) / 0.4 which makes R=22.5ohms
If you cannot work out what the current is in decimal, use the following as a guide: 350mA=0.35, 100mA=0.1, 50mA=0.05, 10mA=0.01, etc.
Now, solder one lead of the value resistor you calculated to the center pin of the potentiometer or trim-pot.
You’ll now need to identify the connection points on the LCD for the backlight supply.
If the LCD has 16 pins together, then the 2 unused pins should supply the backlight. They should also be labeled, if not, check the manufacturers data-sheet for the LCD.
If the LCD does not have 16 pins together the connector pins for the backlight should be located at one of the ends of the LCD. The pins are normally labeled “A” and “K” or possibly “+” and “-”.
Now solder a wire from the “K” or “-” backlight supply pin, to pin1 on the LCD.
Solder one lead of the value resistor you calculated earlier to the center pin of the potentiometer or trim-pot.
Solder a wire from pin2 of the LCD to the other remaining lead of the resistor.
Solder a wire from either of the two remaining pins on the potentiometer or trim-pot to the “A” or “+” backlight supply pin.

A typical LCD backlight wiring point.

Next is to setup the project with the 5 volt power. The explanation that I’m using is for the Molex connector but a USB plug can be used. You’ll need to find which wire on the USB plug is for ground and for 5 volt power. I’m not showing how to do this because I didn’t use it so I don’t have it available at this time. Here is how to do the Molex.

Power
To power the LCD and the LCD’s backlight, the DB25 connector end of the cable will now need to be modified.
You will need to obtain a male “molex” connector. If possible, with wire already attached to it.
A molex connector is the style of connector that is used to connect the power to hard-drives and cdrom-drives in your PC.
Male molex connectors can be difficult to find, large electronics shops should stock them as well as some PC repair shops. Another source of male molex connectors is some brands of CPU fans.
Solder a moderately long piece of black wire from pin 24 of the DB25 connector.
Cut the wire on pin 13 as close as possible to the DB25 connector then strip the end of that wire. Solder a red wire (same length as the black), to the wire that was just cut from pin 13 and insulate it with insulation tape or heat-shrink tubing.
You now must make 100% sure you get the next few instructions right. If you do not, there is a big chance you’ll destroy the LCD module and possibly some of your PC’s hardware.
Use the next image to identify the 5V and ground connectors on the male molex connector.

Now solder your red wire to the 5V wire/pin of the male molex connector. Then solder the black wire to the ground wire/pin of the male molex connector. With this completed you have finished wiring and all that is left is to connect and power on the computer.

When you power on there should be row/rows of solid blocks that are showing on the LCD, if so your power supply wiring and contrast control has been wired successfully. The solid blocks show that the LCD is ready to accept data from your PC.

Most problems are caused by incorrect cable wiring. So make sure that all of your work is double checked and double checked again. When you have finished with your wiring then the next step is to put the LCD screen into a housing of your choice. Here is a example of a completed screen in use.

The next picture is showing how a LCD screen is installed into a 5.25 inch drive bay.

Hope this how-to is useful for your next mod and Happy Modding to ya

Finally if you want to take this guide on the road with you, here is the .doc format..
- Download Here -

This guide is By. Darth_Invader (Original Post Can Be Found Here)

Engravings in the Acrylic

Tools:
Protection glasses
Brush
Adhesive ribbon
Drill of 3mm
Soldering iron
Soldering folder
Tin
Rotary tool
Drill for engraving

Material:
Drawing
Thread
08 Leds of 3mm high shine
01 Acrylic of 4mm

Paste the drawing at the back of acrylic with the adhesive ribbon. (That prevents that the drawing changes of place during the engravings.

Choice the engraving drill with which you is going to work… The more slim, larger the precision.

Use the rotary tool with the lowest rotation and go scratching of carries the acrylic ( does not need to deepen the drill into of the acrylic), letting him opaque. Work with for rotary tool a little inclined, because thus you will have a better drawing vision, and a better result. And constantly goes withdrawing with the help from a brush, the dust of acrylic that if form on the drawing. Do not forget to use the protection glasses, because spark of acrylic can fly for accident in their eyes

After being sure that all draw it is scratched and opaque, withdraw the paper, that was put with the adhesive ribbon. The drawing should stay so so of this way (photo)

Using a drill of 3mm and with much care for not the drill do not run outside of the acrylic, do the holes to case the leds.

Weld the 08 leds in series, reminding whenever the larger leg of a led goes soldier in the smaller leg from other led. The distance from holes and of the leds, it will regulate with the size of the acrylic, therefore if a led do not reach the another, weld among them, a thread piece.

To the end, it will have two threads tips, that should be connected in molex of the source, in the yellow threads (12 volts) and black (neutral). If link on the other side, does not have problem, simply the leds will not light, oughting to, in this case, invert the threads position regarding the phase and the neutral.

final Result:

**It would be thankful of someone can help in translation of some items that can have stayed “meaningless”

Hugs,
Darth

This guide is By. Darth_Invader (Original Post Can Be Found Here)

Used material:
01 HD
Double ribbon side
Acrylic 2 mm
Rotative tool
Cut disk
Fine drill
Soldering iron
Soldering folder
Blue led 05mm
Threads

Remove HD’s Screws and with the geared cover downwards removes her carefully and keep in a clean box.

Using hd cover as mold, cut 2 covers of acrylic, and one their vc had owed removar the center, letting an edge of 1,5cm

Using the double ribbon side pastes both acrylic one in the another

Prepare the led to to be inserted inside hd

Screw the new cover in hd

Weld the led threads in the alimentation molex of HD

Tips:
This modification although it seem simple should be executed with responsibility, if do not have safe, use a hd old, and do backup of your data before.
Let the whole material separated so that it have notave to waste time searching components.
Use a clean location.

Final Result:

Hugs,
Darth

This guide is By. Darth_Invader (Original Post Can Be Found Here)

Hey friends, today would like share with you a family’s revenue:

Modular PSU made at home!

I opened for psu and separated the cover:

I used the original cover to cut a new front for for psu:

I holed and I riveted the new front, keeping the old

Using a micro-rectifies, I did a cut to case the connector db25, and with the drill and a thick drill, I did 4 holes for the connectors Mic

I stretched the connector atx cables until the connector db25 and cut them letting a free time to weld them. (Hint: Use cables term-retractile or hot glue to isolate the cables after weld them)

I passed the cable atx inside cutting, I arrested with retractile term, (watch out to do not invert the cables order), weld them in the other connector db25

I repeated the operation, now with the cables molex

To improve the visual and the refrigeration, I changed for fan of psupor a colored, put a cover of acrylic and a second fan in the cover top, and I used lasergrill for the finishing.

Then it was alone to close the source, and it is ready! Modular PSU made at home!

Time expense:
06 hours
Money expense: (US$ 20 + PSU)

The Advantage of this modification in psu cables, is just that allows a better interior organization of the case, and consequently a better refrigeration, besides you have the option of only to connect the cables that is going to use, or it adapts them its way.

It is worth remind that it should pay attention in the order of the cables in the hour to welding them to do not occur any mistake, following this recommendation, there is not larger secrets.

Hugs,
Darth

This guide is By Faceless105 (original post is located Here)

hey guys I’ve been hunting around for a fan controller DIY. now of course theres a number of ways to do the same thing, but i did get someone to help me out that didn’t mind explaining why he chose this way as well.

dgrmkr of thebestcasescenario.com helped me out with this one..

What you need is a..
- a potentiometer between 5Kohm and more.
- a resistor, 20 or 30ohm@10W

and the wire diagram will be like this..

the parallel connected resistor will change the assembly resistance to it’s own so, depending on the fan, u can lower its speed/noise even to the point it barely functions.. cool, right?

the logic behind this is…
the principle is the same, but the availabilty of the parts made me choose this design. basicly, u want to add resistance (in series) to the +12V line before the fan + input to lower the voltage the fan sees. this translates almost linearly into lower speed. less voltage=less force for the motor to spin. the negative(black) wire is connected either straight to the fan, or to the third leg of the pot, which does nothing.. i prefer the direct method if the circuitry is not that complex..

basic physics say that when u put 2(or more) resistor in parallel, the final resistance is (1/R)=(1/r1+1/r2). so if u have on resistance far greater than the other (r1=30ohm, r2=10000ohm), when you invert the values you get one that is close to 0 (1/r2=1/10000=0.00001 ~0), u end up with the assembly having the resistance of the smaller one… voila! u can control the voltage!

in case of some commercial controllers, instead of using resistor, transistors are used to keep the final voltage steady, irespective of the load seen. in our case, who don’t know how to do that (yet.. hihi), we must calculate the R value based on the load of the fan(s) the controller sees. u can calculate this by… well, too much said.. what u need to know is that the more resistance, the less voltage, so using 20-30 ohm lowers the speed a litle.. using 100ohms may stop the fan completely… try things for your case, as resistors are cheap.

This guide is By PsY (original post is located Here)

How DO
Here is a guide on how to put a simple window in to a cd drive, the style and color can be changed but for the purpose of this guide I chose to do a square.

***Just to cover my ass, you do this at your own risk, although theres not a lot to go wrong you are making a big hole in something thats not supposed to have a hole in it so be warned *****

**NOTE** this mod requires that the cd draw be open at one point, this is easy to do if you have a test PSU, however if you don’t you may need to open it whilst it is connected to your pc then turn it off

Take one Cd Drive and open the draw using method above

Unclip the front draw fascia, this should just pop upwards and come off, also remove the main fascia of the drive (this is a good time to prep and paint these parts as they are not needed for the rest of this mod)
Also remove the 4 screws that secure the metal casing, these are normally on the under side of the drive, after this you should have something that looks like the pic below

Move everything to one side (being careful not to damage the lenses of the drive) all you need is the top part of the case that the window will be in.

Your next step is to plan your window, like I said I have done a simple square for reasons I will explain below however you may want to do a different design depending on the look you’re trying to get.
You may want to make a template on to card then transfer this on to the drive lid.

Next is the fun part, using your dremel and a grinding disc start to cut out your design, (dremel with flexi attachment is in the photo below) I used about two and a half cutting discs to cut around the design.

**NOTE** if you do not have a dremel ( go buy one there great) you got use a nibbler which is cheaper and used to make small rectangular holes in metal or you could go for the drill and file approach, however this may take you a couple of months.

After you have cut all around the design you should have something like this, if you have a rough sanding bit for your dremel you can use this to remove any excess metal shavings and to tidy up the edges, you may also want to take a fine file to them as well

the next part is why I did a square that covers most of the top section, CD drives have a small plastic part that stabilizes the cd when it spins if this part is not there the cd will probably shatter or get wedged in the drive, this is why you must save the circular part that is on the underside of the drive lid, you can do this by cutting it out in the same way you did the window. You should start with the top on the right and finish with the piece on the left of the pic below.

Your next step is cutting the plexi window, the way I did this was to have it cover the entire top of the drive, use the drive as a template and draw around it with a permanent pen, you can then use another grinding disk or ripsaw blade with your dremel to cut this window out, alternately you could use a band saw ( if ones available to you) or a jig saw, again after you cut out the required piece of plexi you can use the sanding bit with your dremel to sand the edges. If you have a blowtorch pen you can also flame polish the edges, this gives a nice finish with not very much work (practice on a scrap piece first though)

Once you have finished the plexi window you can start putting all the parts together.
for this part you need to bring the main drive back , the circular piece that you cut out is magnetic, it will stick to the drive motor and rest in the right position, if you cover the flat part of this with double sided tape you can position it on the drive then place the window on top.
line it up with the sides of the drive then flip the whole lot upside down, the circular piece should fall down and stick to the plexi, leave it for a moment to stick then carefully remove the plexi and push the metal piece down firmly.

Nearly finished
next you need to fix the window to the drive, this can require a bit of trial and error, I used more double sided tape (this stuff seamed to be strong enough by the way should be able to get a 2″ wide roll of high quality tape from any hardware store) and put a line on each side of the window.
(you could also use screws by drilling 4 holes in the corners and screw it directly to the drive however i did not have the equipment to hand for this to be possable:-) )

You will need to lower the window slowly in to place, feeling for when the magnet starts to pull, you should be able to line everything up nicely then firm down. I placed a couple of heavy books on top of the drive over night, just to make sure that the tape sticks well.

Thats just about it, you need to clip the fascias back on and place the screws back in. you should be left with a windowed drive.

**NOTE** the first time I placed the plexi on the drive I heard vibrating, however I solved this by re-aligning the plexi and pressing it down.

and there you have it, one spinning cd in all its naked glory ( use an old cd when testing just incase things start scraping)

hope you find this guide to be of some use

PsY

This Guide is By Faceless105 (original post is located Here)

I got a great 20×4 Character LCD from the guys over at http://www.basicx.com and after writing a review [link to review] I decided I would write a guide to accompany it.

The first thing I want to say is that I really loved this char LCD just because it was so easy to wire. I had an old Seiko LCD that ran off the HD47880 controller chip and after failing a few times it solder the 20 or so connections on the LCD alone; I gave up and stashed it away.

Heres a small list of materials you will need for this project.

20×4 Char LCD
Soldering Iron
Solder
Heat shrink tubing(some real small stuff)
Wire (I used 22 gauge)

In addition you will need the following items based on how you want to set this up.
-Internal connection…
Internal Com-to-serial cable
Male Molex Connector

-External Connection
Internal USB connector
DB9 Female connector
DB9 Hood (this and the connector can be found at most radioshacks)
Short USB cable
Cassette Tape Case
Can of spray-paint (this is of course optional, as you may like a clear look even better)

Ok now that we have those out of the way, let me post some info on the LCD I have. This is the RoHS BLUE SER4X20-BU LCD. This is $55 but well worth it.

Here are some starter images of the LCD.

And here’s a pic with it by a CD just to scale it for you all.

Now we can really get down to business….
The only place you even have to be a little concerned is the wiring. But since they provide the leads for each connection this is actually a real snap.

============================ Internal Instillation ============================

The first thing I did was take an old com port connector that I had laying around from an old AT motherboard. If you don’t have one of these laying around you should be able to get one from any local radioshack. They look like this,

The wiring isn’t very hard at all, only takes a couple of minutes. I’ll let you guys get out your multimeters to figure out which wire goes where. but to save you a little time, heres the wire diagram and a pic of what it’ll look like when your finished.

And now we both know that this setup looks pretty ugly so lets take it up a notch and make it into an external display.

The first thing you will want to do is locate an great enclosure. I used an old tape cassette case. I wanted mine to be black, but i think leaving it clear would look just as cool.

I just sat the LCD in the case and with a marker traced the frame of the LCD so i would know where to cut. So dremel out the space for the LCD and for pics to hold the cassette and hit it with some spray paint.

Next i took a USB cable that was made to be hooked internally to the motherboard. This has a 5 pin connector. I wired it so that theres going to be a power line coming in, ground and the signal. I will post a better pic of this later tonight. Then i run it to the DB9 connector and hood. From here the ground is connected as well as the signal. Anothe rwire comes out of the DB9 Hood and goes to the USB to provide power and grounding. I’ll post these pics shortly as i forgot to take them.

Then you have your finished product.

Bam..

EDIT: Heres a couple shots that I of it all wired up. I was going to take a couple shots of it running, but it looks like i have to resolder the data wire in the serial port.

For starters, heres the cord that i made, the power and grounding come from both the usb and serial.

and heres a shot of the lcd with the cable attached, i thought it looked real nice and clean so heres a pic, once i resolder a wire i’ll post some working pics.

** again, i’ll post some powered up pics real soon

This guide is By Faceless105 (original post is located Here)

This guide will explain how to have two power supplies turn on and off together while attached to one motherboard.

This will require some very simple wiring, and as such some basic tools and supplies are needed.
- Soldering iron
- Some sort of molex connectors (I got mine in the auto section of walmart)
- Solder
- Heatshrink or electrical tape

I’d like to say that I started this guide because I’ve just recently replaced my secondary PSU after it died of old age. It went peacefully into the night.

Here’s a shot comparing the two.

- the one that died was a 400w PSU that is a bit over 3 years. The new one with the nice black finish is 550w. And while I don’t need as much power since I’m running two PSU’s this one was at an awfully nice price.

The first task is to locate the 14th wire, this will be the only Green wire on the P1 connector (the one that powers the motherboard). Then along with any black wire since we need a ground, cut them in half at about the same lengths. Once that is done, strip the ends, leaving around a half inch.

Now take your molex connector, matching which side will connect to the ground and which to the power, give them a quick twist. Before you fix the other end of the ground and power, slide about an inch length of heatshrink over the ground and power wires. Now find the other side of the corresponding wires and twist them all together.

Once this is finished, grab your soldering iron and solder and using your best judgment, get enough on there to hold them together for life

Your results should look very similar to this (sorry about the blurry pic, this is the best I was able to do.)

Now slide the heatshrink over the bare spots in the wiring. To affix it, many people use a lighter, if you do this, just be careful not to singe the heatshrink. I ended up using a heat gun which is for the most part an over-glorified hair dryer, but I wont have to worry about singing anything with it.

Once you repeat this process with your other power supply your ready to roll. Because we wired them this way, once your two power supplies are connected together either one can be the primary one. All you have to do is plug the P1 connector into the mother board and BAM, your set.

Heres a few spiffy pics of what you might want to expect,

- this is my case with both power supplies mounted

- This is the custom back panel I made to mount the second PSU, not to big on appearances but I can deal with that.

- And finally this is a good reason to have a second PSU. I have 4 CD-Roms and two hard drives in there.

* A good practice on Dual PSU’s is to have one power all the critical components, MOBO, Harddrives, and the other all the seconday components like CD-Roms, Floppy, Ect. Now of course you’ll want to balance the consumption between them, but this is just a suggestion in the event that one does die one day, it shouldn’t do any real damage by shutting off.

** And on a final note, if you want to make a great test PSU with a hard on/off like the old AT ones, just put a jumper in pin 14 (the green wire), and connect it to any ground. Once you do this, the power button on the back of the PSU will function as the on/off switch.

*** now i know i said on a final note but i just thoguh up one last thing to mention that i dont think i covered before. i reccomend connecting the two PSUs though some sort of molex like i did, as opposed to wiring them directly together. and this is simply so that your able to easily reuse the PSUs individually in the future if needed.

I hope you all found this worth while, question or comments are always welcomed.

This guide is By Spyder09 (original post is located Here)

Well Faceless thought it would be cool to post some airbrush guides from my forum. So here we go.

To start off with I am no pro, but do know some stuff. Wink
Well to start off with there are several types of airbrushes. I will list them.

==================Types of Airbrushes==================

- Single Action(Great for beginners. And hobbyists.)
- Double Action(More for the advanced. Good for Artists.)
- Syphon Fed(Good for working with large areas.)
- Gravity Fed(Used for finer detail work.)

Depending on what you plan on painting will
impact on what type of brush you will get. For me
I am getting a,”Paasche VL Double Action Kit.”
It is Syphon Fed.