I recently bought a USB driven PIC programmer and some of the issues I found may be helpful to others.The particular model I bought was an ICD2 type device however some of the issues will be common to a number of these programmers.The ICD2 software performs a self-test and this showed that the programming voltage was too low. If you have a non-intelligent USB programmer then measure the voltage with a meter. Reviewing the Internet I found that a number of postings suggested that these devices need a seperate power supply. I built a regulator which provided 5V from a bench supply and fed that into the USB power wires. This worked fine however, as the USB lead was very thin, I wondered if it was simply suffering too much voltage loss.Replacing the poor quality USB lead with a high quality one allowed the programmer to be powered from the PC without additional power.Even with the new USB lead I found that itfailed to program most of the time. The fault was diagnosed down to the other leads supplied. The lead that joins the programmer to the board contains the ZIF socket uses the RJ11 plugs. The quality of the plugs and line was fine however the crimp was bad. Re-crimping the plugs solved the problem.Overall the quality of the programmer itself and the ZIF boards is very good but the leads are, at best, indifferent. Even with the lead issue, these Chinese PIC programmers are excellent value for money.
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Sunday, October 18, 2009
Solar Car Battery Charger - buy it now!
The Solar car battery charger is an Item that has literally stormed the market.The product allows you car's battery to charge on a regular basis while not in use. Have you ever gone on holiday and left your car to return to a flat battery? Well finally, something has been done.There are many units on the market from different brands, but when purchasing one don't go for the cheapest unit! For all regular deisel and Petrol engines, you require a unit that delivers 1Watt or 1W. This will keep your battery topped up while you are away! To Purchase a unit eBay: 1W car solar charger
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Orignal From: Solar Car Battery Charger - buy it now!
Guide to getting a DS Lite, XBox 360 or iPod for cheap
These days, you have to be extra wary of getting a good deal -sometimes, things seem a bit too good to be true: almost always this isa scam. This guide describes the ways in which you can find a brand newNintendo DS lite , XBox 360 and iPod video or nano for cheap (or evenfree) in eBay without any risk: Foreign PurchasesBe a bit careful with these. Sometimes,the price may be very good - but the P
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Orignal From: Guide to getting a DS Lite, XBox 360 or iPod for cheap
LCD TV
If you are buying off ebay consider the following:1. Is it real?2. Does the seller have any proof? IE Genuine photo and not a copied one!!!3. Search other similar listings and make sure you are not getting ripped off.4. Do not buy if you are not too sure.5. Check it out with the seller before you buy.6. How long has the seller been a ebay member.Hope you found my guide helpful.Johnnyclayton
Orignal From: LCD TV
Orignal From: LCD TV
Interconnects Jack type
2.5mm, 3.5mm and 6.3mm jack connectorsJack connectors come in three sizes (2.5mm, 3.5mm and 6.3mm) and are available in both MONO
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Orignal From: Interconnects Jack type
Postage cost's and rip offs.
Hi again..firstly...why do a lot of sellers think they can make a few extra quid out of postage ??somthing very lightweight sent second class for less than 50p, auction states 1st class
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Orignal From: Postage cost's and rip offs.
WARNING: The real truth about Fakes / Replicas and Ebay
Most shoppers have been tempted to fake it. It might be a football shirt, a pair of sunglasses or a designer watch or handbag, but we are all attracted to replica goods.And these days, it's so easy to buy a fake. There's probably a range of rip-offs on offer at your local weekend market. Some people go on a counterfeit shopping spree when they are on holiday. Or there's the internet, where several sites openly advertise the sale of fake goods.Take Watchreplica.co.uk, for example. It's a slick operation and boasts the use of genuine Swiss parts. You can pick up a "high-quality replica" watch for a fraction of the price of the real thing. I browsed the site this week and could have bought a replica Patek Philippe Twenty-4 Black Dial ladies watch for
Orignal From: WARNING: The real truth about Fakes / Replicas and Ebay
Orignal From: WARNING: The real truth about Fakes / Replicas and Ebay
XDisk MP3 Media Player
X Disk MP3 Player 1/2/4/8 GB MP3 Player Review I have always thought of myself as a generous reviewer, until I started working on this review, now it turned out to be a guide, because I can't add another review as the product is not listed in the review page (!) and you may found this product in many names. Well, of this product, I find it difficult to give even a single star. So, let
Orignal From: XDisk MP3 Media Player
Orignal From: XDisk MP3 Media Player
Microsoft Zune II
Like the writers of other Zune guides, I'm a convert from iPods. I firstly had a 30Gb iPod Video, which, like most folks, made me swoon when I first got my hands on it ! 'Oh just look at the lovely chrome backplate !', 'Oh, the satisfying clicking of the jogwheel !'. Unfortunately, this was before I had the iTunes experience... what a nightmare that software is ! Have you ever tried to get your stuff back off your iPod if it's been deleted from your computer ? I won't spoil your fun by telling you how much you'll love that particular experience... and your lovely chrome backplate will no doubt be scratched to hell by now too... And as for the joys of watching video in teenyweenyeyestrain-o-vision... well, nuff said. I also own a 4Gb 2nd gen nano, which I loved until it had juice spilled on it and now the jog wheel has seizures when you touch it... ho hum, that'll be
Orignal From: Microsoft Zune II
Orignal From: Microsoft Zune II
RAC 200 Sat Nav How Much to Pay
The RAC 200 satellite navigation is for sale NEW on the internet for only
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Orignal From: RAC 200 Sat Nav How Much to Pay
Eurovox Max V Price Fix ???
It has come to my attentionvia other ebay sellersof the Eurovox Max V , that the makers apparently set the price of this receiver for sale on ebay , this being approx
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Orignal From: Eurovox Max V Price Fix ???
Out of Pocket!
Icannot understand why sellers ask us to return incorrect items back to themat our cost.?If an incorrect item arrives
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Orignal From: Out of Pocket!
Bromley and Langley - What is the Difference?
NTL runs two different digital platforms called Bromley and Langley. Bromley refers to those areas once served by Cable
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Orignal From: Bromley and Langley - What is the Difference?
PABSDIRECT - PA Business Systems - Retford, Notts
would like to take this opportunity to write a quick guide on the above company - if you are in the process of, or are planning to purchase from them either direct or via E-bayNote that the below is my own experience (and it was a costly one) and may not relfect the general operations of this company. I STRONGLY advise looking at the NEGATIVE FEEDBACK this company has (and they have a lot!)This company mainly seem to sell REFURBISHED electrical products - I have no doubt that they do sell new also, but the 3 x products I purchased from them were all boxed, however one was broken, one was different spec (lower) to that what was listed, and the other was out of stock. The 2 x items delivered were clearly refurbed models (or at least had been out of the box, had multiple fingermarks etc and didnt have protective LCD plastics fixed etc) - they were advertised as 'NEW IN BOX' but sadly didnt meet that description!Note my experience also:1) I was expected to pay postage for the faulty item to be returned2) I never received replies to my E-mails regarding the different (lower) spec'd item that wase sent incorrectly3) I had previously checked that the 3rd item was in stock before bidding, but it never arrived with the courier (CityLink). The listing stated 'next day delivery if payment before 2pm. This was done, and I waited in for delivery - a wasted day as it never arrived.Eventually, I had to trawl through Paypal disputes to get a refund for the 'out of stock' item. This company were appauling in their communications about the problems I had.It may be that this company are listing and/or selling items that are due in stock (but they dont seem to know when thay will be arriving) - and making promises about delivery that they cannot honour.Of course, you make up your own mind, but expect your product (if it arrives!) - possibly not to be new (ie refurb) - and if anything goes wrong (check the negative feedback) you may then find that communications with the company is very bad, and you may have to go through E-bay/Paypal for any refunds/disputesI note that this company has also been mentioned (for poor customer service/products) in the Packard-Bell forums and are mentioned as 'to avoid' in other AV forums.Again, my (and others) experiences may have been just unlucky - but I feel that writing this guide may help others
Orignal From: PABSDIRECT - PA Business Systems - Retford, Notts
Orignal From: PABSDIRECT - PA Business Systems - Retford, Notts
21 Pin SCART Lead wiring
Thought this may be of some help.How a Scart is wired Pin 1 Audio output (right) Pin 2 Audio input (right) Pin 3 Audio output (left) Pin 4 Audio ground Pin 5 Blue ground/Chroma input ground Pin 6 Audio input (left) Pin 7 Blue/Chroma input Pin 8 Widescreen function switching (This is the pin the switches your TV to AV automatically)Pin 9 Green ground Pin 10 D2B input Pin 11 Green Pin 12 D2B output Pin 13 Red ground/Chroma ground Pin 14 D2B ground Pin 15 Red/Chroma Pin 16 Fast switching Pin 17 Composite video output ground/Sync output ground/ Luminance output groundPin 18 Composite video input ground/Sync input ground/ Fast switching ground/Luminance input groundPin 19 Composite video output/Sync output/ Luminance outputPin 20 Composite video input/Sync input/ Luminance inputPin 21 Common groundBlanking and switchingTwo pins provide switching signals.Pin 8, the function switching pin, carries a low frequency (less than 50 Hz) signal from the source that indicates the type of video present.0 V-2 V means no signal, or internal bypass 4.5 V-7 V (nominal 6 V) means a widescreen (16:9) signal 9.5 V-12 V (nominal 12 V) means a normal (4:3) signal Pin 16, the fast switching pin, carries a signal from the source that indicates that the signal is either RGB or composite.0 V-0.4 V means composite. 1 V-3 V (nominal 1 V) means RGB only. The original specification defined pin 16 as fast blanking, a high frequency (up to 3 MHz) signal that blanked the composite video. The RGB inputs were always active and the fast blanking signal 'punches holes' in the composite video. The SCART connector uses this to overlay subtitles from an external Teletext decoder.0 V-0.4 V means composite with a transparent RGB overlay. 1 V-3 V (nominal 1 V) RGB only. There is no switching signal to indicate S-Video. Some TVs can auto detect the presence of the S-Video signal but more commonly the S-Video input needs to be manually selected.
Orignal From: 21 Pin SCART Lead wiring
Orignal From: 21 Pin SCART Lead wiring
Postage and packing rip offs: eBay ignores this scam
Most eBayers have probably come across excessive charging for postage and handling on eBay. The excuse given for this is generally that the charge is higher than postage costs in order to take account of handling fees, packaging, eBay and Paypal fees. To some extent this is true, as the Royal Mail become ever more greedy, and eBay take their 30% through listing, final andPaypal fees.However, fee avoidance through excessive postage is not accepteable. It is generally traders and online shops that do this, in fact many of them are Power Sellers and eBay do not appear to care, or rather make too much money from these characters to do anything about it. Although eBay markets itself as a community it is a business at the end of the day, here to make money and nothing more. After all, they wouldn't run this site for nothing. I have complained on numerous occasions regarding excessive postage, only to find that the same trader is selling the same goods at excessive prices a week later. I actually got so fed up with this I spent hours submitting numerous complaints about the same shop, only for it to be ignored.eBay have a handy get out clause for addressing complaints as they trot out the standard 'can't comment on individual cases blah blah' via email when a complaint is lodged. This effectively gives you no clue as to the efficacy of your complaint, or of Bay's honesty in dealing with it. By that standard, eBay obviously feel that
Orignal From: Postage and packing rip offs: eBay ignores this scam
Orignal From: Postage and packing rip offs: eBay ignores this scam
DMX lights, the basics
Before DMX:In the past disco effects were pretty much stand alone, they would either be just switched on or off, or have their own microphone doing their own sound to light. Of course, different effects in different places would pick up different sound levels, and they would all operate independently.Stage lighting was even more difficult, with massive "dimmer racks" by the side of the stage, and miles of wires connecting them to a lighting desk further back from the stage.The DMX solution:DMX uses a single cable to control 512 channels of light control. A simple dimmer might use a single channel per light to control the brightness. A scanner might use many channels for a single unit, one channel for each of: brightness, Gobo (pattern) selection, colour, X position, Y position, zoom, rotation speed, etc. etc. Even with 8 channels per unit you can still control 64 unit from a single cable.DMX Cabling:The official DMX standard is for a 5-pin XLR connector, carrying two seperate DMX channels (or two copies of the same signal allowing for a primary and backup).But most of the lights and controllers you will find on eBay use a 3 pin XLR, which allows the use of microphone cables (not officially, but over reasonable lengths it works fine). Watch out because there are two incompatible ways to wire the 3-way connector. For instance to mix Chauvut and Abstact equipment you need a cable with two of the wires swapped over.Each of the lights has an input and an output. You run a lead from the controller
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Orignal From: DMX lights, the basics
TomTom Maps for GO, One, and Rider GPS systems
If you are looking to buy maps for your nice TomTom GPS device (Go, One or Rider) stay clear from purchasing backup copies (SD-card, CD or DVD) of the available maps.BUY NEW MAPS IN SEALED PACKAGES ONLY(and only buy from reputable dealers)Product Code Device Code = Activation CodeEach original disk packaging comes with a product code this must be inputted at the TomTom website with your TomTom GPS's device code, TomTom then issue you with an activation code that will unlock the maps for you to use. Simply put: No product code = No mapsSecond Hand MapsFor the same reason do not buy second hand maps as TomTom will see this code as already in use and they will be questioning why you want an activation key especially if 10 other people have requested the same one.
Orignal From: TomTom Maps for GO, One, and Rider GPS systems
Orignal From: TomTom Maps for GO, One, and Rider GPS systems
Digital Switchover, Freeview et al.
Update 30/11/2007 - More news on BBC FreeSat (at end)Digital Switch OverWith Digital TV now reaching about 70% of UK homes and Analogue Switch Off looming ever closer everyone needs to be aware of one very simple fact IF YOU DO NOT ACT SOON YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO RECEIVE ANY TELEVISION PROGRAMMESAnd if that is not clear enough, let me put it another way. It means;No BBC1.No BBC2,No ITV.No Channel 4.No Five.No more Doctor Who or New Tricks or Eastenders.No more University Challenge or Egg Heads or Natural World.No more Coronation Street or Kingdom or The Bill.No more Countdown.No more House or Shark or CSI or Law and Order.In short. Nothing.That's Right, Nothing!If you do not have some means of receiving Digital TV you will get Zip. Zilch. Nada. No TV at all just 24 hour snow on all channels.Here in the South West TV Region the analogue television signals will be switched off in 2009 so we have about two years to sort things out...People in the Meridian, London, Tyne Tees and Ulster TV regions have got it easy, they have until 2012 before they go Digital and lose their analogue signals.However people in the Border TV region better start worrying as they will be losing their signal next year!What Do I Need To Do?Well, that depends if you want to continue watching television on not.If you don't then just sit back and do nothing. All your analogue TVs, VCRs, DVD / HDD recorders will be turned into glorified snow machines because that will be all you will be able to receive on them! No TV, just snow...However, if you DO want to continue watching television programmes [and I assume the majority of you do] you will need to buy some digital TV equipment. Exactly what, and how much you spend, depends on a number of things;How many televisions do you have?Do they have SCART or S-Video sockets?How many VCRs do you have?Do they have SCART or S-Video sockets?Do you have any HDD / DVD Recorders?Do they have SCART or S-Video sockets?Do you have SKY / Satellite?Do you have a viewing card?Solutions.There are basically three ways of receiving Digital TV in the UK;Freeview using a Set Top BoxFreeview using a Digital TVDigital SatelliteThe Set Top BoxThese are, usually, little Boxes that sit on Top of your television Set [hence the name].Their sole purpose is to convert those new fangled digital signals coming down your aerial wire that your analogue televsion simply doesn't understand into good old analogue signals that they do. Nice and Simple.Pros:CheapSimple to connectOften have good AV connectivityCan [usually] control a VCR through SCARTRF Out [if available] can feed the same signal to another TV, VCR, UHF distribution amplifier etc.Cons:It's a separate box which needs its own power socketAs such it needs to be connected to the TV, VCR etc. by SCART / aerial lead etc.It needs to be visible for remote control operationSome can be complicated to be program for timed recordingsThe Digital TelevisionThis is the new generation of television. They only understand digital transmissions. Plug them into the mains, connect up the aerial and voila! Digital Television in all its glory!Pros:The simplest way of getting Digital TVNeat and convenient in a single packageCons:ExpensiveIf used with a VCR via SCART will only record the progamme being watched on the TVDigital SatelliteWhen analogue TV is finally switched off in 2012 there will be quite a large number of homes [including the whole of the UK Channel Islands!] who will not be able to get Freeview. For these people there may be no option but to go with Digital Satellite.There will be three options available;BBC FreeSatSky FreeSatSkyBBC FreeSatThis is a 'not for profit' consortium headed by the BBC and the other ITV companies are already joining up. The aim is to produce an alternative to Sky and all current terrestial TV channels have either signed up or have indicated they will sign up when their existing contracts with Sky expire.A Freesat STB will be required to view this service which will have its own EPG (Electronic Programme Guide). The boxes are to be manufactured by third parties and sold in shops and other retail outlets. This is the same distribution model that has worked so well for Freeview.The basic service is guaranteed to be Free To Air (FTA) with the only costs being a one off charge for the STB and installation of the dish. It is highly likely that the platform will be used to add additional Pay TV channels in the same way that 'Top Up TV' has been piggy backed onto the basic Freeview service.Current indications are that the service will be launched in Spring 2007 and fully operational by Autumn 2008 but as STBs are not yet available this may be subject to change.The fact that the BBC are fully committed to this service (which has the backing of their Trust) and the other terrestial broadcasters are interested in saving the fees they currently pay to Sky for the use of their service bodes well for the success of the FreeSat service. Additional BBC channels including quality HD content will be added as the service matures.When available, the BBC FreeSat service will most probably be the best choice for the majority of people unable to get Freeview.Pros:No ongoing subscription charges for basic channel package.Will support HDTV.Cons:Not yet available.Full channel line up not yet known.STB features and facilities not yet known.Sky FreeSatThis is the Sky service which allows you to watch Free To Air (FTA) and Free To View (TFV) channels carried by Sky for a one off charge. The charge is
Orignal From: Digital Switchover, Freeview et al.
Orignal From: Digital Switchover, Freeview et al.
The Great Big Digital TV Switchover Rip Off!
30/11/2007 Update (at end)The Big Digital TV Switch Over Rip Off!With Digital TV storming ahead and Analogue Shutdown getting closer and closer the pressure to upgrade your television equipment increases with every passing day. After all, no one wants to end up without their regular fix of "Eastenders", "House" or "The Bill" do they?Depending on how many televisions, VCRs etc. you have analogue switch off could cost as little as
Orignal From: The Great Big Digital TV Switchover Rip Off!
Orignal From: The Great Big Digital TV Switchover Rip Off!
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