Your project has come to a stand still. Your brain has come to a dead end... you can't remember that specific connection that'd you had once seen- which would be perfect for your application... it's all you need to get to the finish line...
It's a joint where 1 side rotates and the other is the base. An electronic signal, power needs to go through there but you can't just use a cable or wires... the thing rotates 360 degrees if not till infinity. A cable/ physical wire would wind itself till it'd snap/ break/ cause a short... you've seen it before- a electronic connector that incorporates itself into the rotating section. You know what it looks like, but not the name of it.... Google searching is frivolous.
No problem! Because to your rescue, we have the amazing resource which is Connector Book found at https://connectorbook.com/
You can search by image/ photo... by identification, by brand, by logo... and every and any electronic connection is contained in this extensive resource- there are even non- electrical connectors- on the lines of different RF connections as an example.
Feel free to leave a comment with your guess or if you've located the connection type I'd described above.
Wednesday, January 15, 2025
Sunday, December 29, 2024
Not exactly an SDR- Targeted towards the sub ghz ranges. Your 300s'mhz, 400s'mhz, 800s'mhz, lastly 900s'mhz are the general frequency ranges that the device is particularly geared for.
For those who lack the experience, may associate them to children's toys, garage door openers, "gadgets", key fobs... In fact, many technologies utilize some function or another that falls into those portions of the RF spectrum...
I guess partially due to Flipper, making it out to just an area to dabble in... splash about with the many modules ... but....that previous sentence up back there hinted at the powers that lie within- "key fobs"..."garage door openers"... for those with the necessity to do so, a tool such as this can find itself very useful...
We underestimate how much of the current infrastructure around us is utilizing such technology - to communicate "slow down, children playing"- even control traffic- many signs- entrances to buildings- elevators- gates- lighting- the sprinkler systems installed in city parks- car key fobs- I could go on... so, now do we have it drilled in our heads, if previously your bias was in the form of sub g just a place to dabble about- I hope its understood that some serious work is done with- there's no dabbling about when we can acquire control to so much around us.
It's no wonder why there is a "civilian" version, and then a version for "law enforcement", and another version where you have to be vetted in- either through credentials or have some one on the inside confirm your clearance.
You see, it isn't just the device that is the star of the show... the device is just that, now pair it up with the many years of insider knowledge, specifics, a catalog of frequencies, a knowledge base of all there is when it comes to sub g- the device is complimented with an incredible array of tools, which include a large and ever growing data base compromising of.... think of it as almost having that collection of keys, the janitor key set- the abillity to open everything and all- It is quite remarkable really.
The information, tools and the device surpas my amazement- and, I'm just a "civilian". Sometimes you can bump into some knowledge base where it's been left out in the wild for the public to see...only to be quickly put back away under lock and key.. there are reasons for the tiered capabilities. Think James Bond, but, JAMES BOND.
Some external links:
- From RTL-SDR - Reviewing the PandwaRF: CC1111 Based Transceiver for RF Security Analysis - Oct 2017
- PandwaRF On Github
- From the creators.
- APK Android app
- http://pandwarf.com/
- https://pandwarf.boards.net/
- Working with URH
- "Tools" by Lab401
- Android API
- On Tindie
- Android App on the Play store
- Inital load instructions
- Don't forget to:
- 12
Saturday, December 7, 2024
A world in alpha numeric....throw in symbols, dingbats and all... Which ever character the keyboard can type... what else? Plenty more...
This site is a mega resource for any ASCI related need.
With a image editor styled online application... where every feature you'd find in any other image editor, a photoshop- yet, not... though many features present. Where maybe an filter applied, or in some manner you media morphed- here it is transformed, as ASCI.
Page linking to ASCI Art Studio including more info: https://www.asciiart.eu/ascii-draw-studio
Direct link to application: ASCI Art Studio
Even have a live feed from your web cam/ or video source- where it's rendered, live, in ASCI- with many options to satisfy your desired styling.
Webcam to ASCI: https://www.asciiart.eu/webcam-to-ascii-art
Wednesday, October 30, 2024
Simulating Your PCB Online or Offline with Software
Simple/ Easy Project Completion
Effortlessly providing third party services resources to complete your project.- Wokwi
- ESP32/ Arduino simulator, and much more
- Simple to use
- Not as fully featured as others
- Claim to be: "World's most advanced ESP32 simulator"
- Free
- TinkerCad
- Large user group
- Many examples and large use gallery of projects
- Arduino heavy
- $$
- Target3001
- Feature rich
- Advanced
- $$$
- Free version lacking
- Pro tip! You can get a free "Maker" non-commercial version that isn't as restricted as the free version
- "Easy to use. All in one. Professional Layout CAD Software. Develop your next electronic design easily, all in one tool, all in one project-file."
- Altium Designer
- KiCad
- CurcuitLab
- CurcuitMaker
- Proteus
- EasyEDA
- Ansys
- Ansys Electronic Desktop(TM) design software- Great initial tutorial video familiarizing us on the software - https://youtu.be/UnGgmLyvH1Q?si=7ILuDLRUS0UIc1PP supplemental documentation from description of video ca be found here(Google doc) or
here (in case that link is broken)I'll add this in the near future... - FreePCB
Sunday, September 1, 2024
Recording infrasound used to be complicated and expensive. With the RedVox Infrasound app, anybody can now explore the inaudible sound field around them, and help build a global hazards and noise monitoring network.
Exciting piece of news hit the inbox today, August 28th, 2024- RedVox's wicked audio recording app "Infrasound Recorder"- though already a great app with a very complete spectrogram of the live audio, with record/ replay capabilities and AI sound description-
Now, all features of the paid version are also available to all, for free. What are the extra features? I am not clear on that myself just yet- this was a sticking point on actually paying for the paid app in the past... I just couldn't get what extra features would be available but will be exploring this side of things ASAP- I'll report back once I'm up to speed on these new offerings. I believe that the once paid for, now available to all features actually have more to do with after analysis of recorded infra sound... a quick read also mentions access to other audio display options and abilities to add/ incorporate other sensors. That does really spark my interests.. what kind of other sensors? And what kinda results can we accomplish putting it all together?
Why Did I Choose RedVox's Infrasound Recorder?
For some time now and with ever growing personal interests- I've grown to enjoy "audio"- to view it on a spectrogram or FFT plot...to see any patterns/" clusters". Discover the mysteries that may be hiding within which surround us-
Analysing the captured data- and in a relatively intuitive manner + a big bonus to a clean user friendly UI- pat on the back to the designer(s) of the Infrasound Recorder app- consistent on both IOS and Android- "futuristic", "modern", it actually shouts "RedVox"- very on brand.
So, when a moment in time those many moons ago that I'd started my interests in audio discovery came around... with plenty of digging behind me. And, through the many spectrogram apps and sound recorders available that I'd sifted through, RedVox's Infrasound Recorder was an easy, obvious choice to stick with (and only sometime later discovering the actual power of the whole service offering when paired with the online web analysis).
Features that I'd Been Looking for
...and all in 1 app.
Infrasound Recorder offered features that allowed for live spectragram, waterfall and FFT views of audio, functionality to record the audio/ along with the corresponding visual representations of the recordings/ saving and exporting these files/ and playback where we can, again observe the audio and visuals that'd been recorded/ saved. Many other app offered such features, but, none like Infrasound Recorder offered all of them, especially with all these features seamlessly and in a user friendly manner co-existing for ease of use. Sure there are a sprinkling of other apps that may offer features such as those in RedVox's Infrasound Recorder but, either they'd only have a portion of em or you required a PHD in physics and advanced math, algebra to u.se... very much so over complicated.
Long story, short... RedVox's Infrasound Recorder checked off a list of tools, features, and/or services that'd I'd had set out seeking for- many other apps scrolled through may have checked of 1 or 2... but, only a few others checked off the majority if not all of them- visual, live views of audio. Sase of recording/ playback. Adjustments to such things as sample rates and frequency ranges. Ability to save, export, post analize/ have access to all the detail that is presented in the live view- those had been the main features I'd had in mind at the time.
Saving and Re-calling Audio files Along with the Corresponding Media
Where Corresponding Media equals the spectragram and any other analysis data that may have been captured- Infrasound Recorder is that... it's meant for the capturing and analysis of audio- so, even though you may be able to do a certain thing/ whatever feature/ it may not be as straight forward as, say, a app that was specifically geared to do that- you can sense this when looking at the feedback left behind by others- some voicing their frustrations.
One such frustration by others was the inability to save/ recall the audio- suprise suprise, you actually can do this. It's just a few more clicks then what the majority may be used to...- especially when dealing with larger files... those extra clicks add up- more clicks, more chance of user error- And, unfortunately, from my experience with the app- the app allows for continuous recording. Saving the file, you save the whole recorded file... but when it comes to recalling the file for review at a later date... Infrasound Recorder breaks the files out by date and then some. Year, month, day are the menu links that have to be clicked through... those being accessed through the main hamburger menu, in the Android device, this is in the top right of the screen
Automate
Reviews and Ratings?
Why so low?
The app, though a robust, clean, with many-a-features that some expensive pay for apps advertise- especially now with all of Infrasound Recorder being free to all- Something is a-miss... it's rating in the apps stores is low. From what I'd typed, it's all been positive. I have been giving it raving praise- then why? Why the low score? A quick skim through the comments/ feedback left behind, I cannot help to notice... and as some onr that came into using this app with 0 expectations, but left with all of which I had been looking for and more- I was sure to explore some deeper, when I could... there is still more to this RedVox than just a Audio recording app...reading the comments 1 can see the frustrations in the app lacking in this area... it's not meant for just recording and playing some time later..it's made to record and to provide reporting and analysis. Esplly when it comes to infrasound.
Why the Permissions?
So, the app isn't just for recording, saving and review of audio... that is 1 sticking point... the second is the types of permissions the app is requesting the user to let it have. Why does the app require my location details if all I am doing is recording audio? Again, this isn't just an audio recording app...some of the functionality of the app and services when analysing the recorded info at a later time require location....example being; determinizing direction of thunder and lightning..or discovering the volcano that has recently erupted- these types of results provided from the access to multiple user's recordings from locations far and wide- somewhat of a doppler style of direction finding. So, keep that in mind when freaking out on the permissions being requested- it is not for nefarious reasons. To get the full out use of all the service offerings from RedVox, you must login- but, that is mainly for the organizIng of your records along with the long/ lat data to be able to provide the reports that one can generate... and now, having al features free, w can set private if we don't want others to view or listen to recorded audio. This wasn't available in the free account in the past.
Si, if writing a review for the app, take all those items into consideration- and I am sure if others would have... then that rating woulda been much different. In a positive way.
Sunday, August 25, 2024
Making electronics such as semiconductors and pioneering advances in integrated circuits. Consistently Texas Instruments brings us innovation - in their "about me" they state this mentioning advancements "to make technology smaller, more efficient, more reliable and more affordable" – "Engineering Progress.", that is what Texas Instruments are about.
Wireless/ RF
Texas Instruments or TI with their many product offerings and solutions, many of which fall into the category of being wireless- that is what our modern world is now- involving many technologies, but today we are talking more in the area of RF or Radio Frequencies. Though these technologies have advanced, and our knowledge has grown in said technologies- still, limitations exist. One of them, when talking about RF is the range that your solution needs, and realistically, the actual range possible with the technologies being utilized.
How Far Can My RF Signal Transmit? Receive?
Sorry to burst your bubble, but, your goal of transmitting from your business to Timbuktu- 6,000km away- is... unrealistic/ unachievable... Or, is it?
Texas Instruments Provides us with a Great Resource
Well, Texas Instruments have put together a resource comprised of an extensive PDF- all about wireless... the many technologies and types... perfect companion for the many products they offer... for specifics, I'd read up on whichever data sheet associated to the item, but this document is more a learning on the theory- how these things work- in general... and yeah yeah yeah look at you... you already know all this. Actually, I betcha, even with all your knowledge, you'll discover something new- it is a really well put together source of information on wireless.
The Abstract of the PDF reads
" This application report addresses the parameters that affect the radio range. For identical radio settings, the range is highly dependent on the surroundings and environment. The link budget and the positioning of the antennas and their distance to the ground surface are major contributors to long range. A general specific range can never be specified or guaranteed for any type of radio communication unless the environment is well defined. Predicting a range is difficult and the excel sheet calculation [1] helps to calculate a realistic range that can be achieved for a known environment."
So, yeah the PDF document is an informative resource on wireless/ RF to further our understanding and foundation on said technologies and then we got a supplementary excel sheet... For crunching the data points. Helping determine the actual figures required for optimal wireless range -
TI Forum Post with general discussion and some user Q&A incase you, yourself have questions- they may be answerred here- also contains the excel file link in the first post: https://e2e.ti.com/support/wireless-connectivity/sub-1-ghz-group/sub-1-ghz/f/sub-1-ghz-forum/375556/excel-sheet-to-estimate-range-for-indoor-and-outdoor
TI Dedicated Page to RF-RANGE-ESTIMATOR: https://www.ti.com/tool/RF-RANGE-ESTIMATOR with links to the most unto date version(s) of the Range Estimation for Indoor and Outdoor excel file
[1] Direct link to excel file Range Estimation for Indoor and Outdoor: https://dr-download.ti.com/software-development/support-software/MD-Z2giRsrpoF/01.00.00.0D/swsc002d.zip
Video discussing the Range Estimation for Indoor and Outdoor resources from Texas Instruments:
Saturday, August 24, 2024
Mostly for me to remember, but Windows at times has a lapse in judgement with certain devices, DIY gadgets, peripherals that you maybe trying to connect to- for me, it was my HackRF(I have since stumbled upon a better way to start for the HackF if having driver woes- which I will cover in another post- but keep reading, since this is still good knowledge to know regarding driver issues)- no matter what, my PC could not recognize the HackRF/ or would recognize it, but as a keyboard. I required Windows to apply the correct drivers to the device so that it could be recognized for what it is... a...SDR. A HackRF.
Guessing What's Right... Making Assumptions. Getting it Wrong.
So, really what we see here is that when connecting that never connected before thing into your PC, Windows is making an assumption on what that thing is, and then applying the best driver that it thinks suites that thing...
From experience, and a general rule of life... "assumptions" aren't the best way of going about things... you may luck out here and there, but, overall you'll find yourself in the wrong. Needing to back track and to get the actual facts... General rule: Don't make assumptions.
Life lessons out of the way- Same goes here with Windows- it's attempted to apply the best driver, but, it just didn't get it right... it made an assumption, got it wrong, but, we need to get our device connected. We need to fix this...
The Program That'll Make Things Right.
That's where a program called Zadig comes into play.
A fairly straight forward program to take Windows by the hand and guide it in the right direction- help it along. To get the right drivers for the device you are attempting to use-
From the Zadig site:
Zadig is a Windows application that installs generic USB drivers, such as WinUSB, libusb-win32/libusb0.sys or libusbK, to help you access USB devices.
It can be especially useful for cases where:
- you want to access a device using a libusb-based application
- you want to upgrade a generic USB driver
- you want to access a device using WinUSB
A Fast "How To" Use Zadig to Re Install/ Update Drivers in Windows
(This is very high level and I strongly advise on seeking a more thorough tutorial for your specific need.... though, the following can give you a general sense of "how things work")
Long story short... your PC can't recognize your device.
Download Zadig. Connect device, and in Device Manager locate it. Right click on the device and click on Properties, then navigate to the tab labelled Drivers... delete drivers- Make sure you know what you are doing!
Have Zadig open and find the device in the drop down menu. You may need to add the device.....but most often, it is auto populated in that drop down. Select the appropriate drivers that you are going to force instal. Click the button that says "Reinstall Drivers".
As a good measure restart the PC.
If all went well, then, going forward(at least till the next Windows update where it will think it knows best and overrides this change and you'll not understand why you are having so many issues with the device since Windows did this on the low...and after hours of trying to trouble shoot you realize this fact.... but only after negatively impacting your mental health dramatically....)ehem..... if things went well then your device will be ready for your use.
Enjoy.
Oh, that "how to" is incredibly high level...and I require you to seek better information on the How To part of Zadig...because...again....this post was/ is more of a reminder or bookmark incase I've forgotten and having driver woes.....
Double oh... and that "better" way of getting your HackRF recognized.... post to follow shortly- so, check back.
Links: Zadig, Zadig GitHub