Laptop help - Freshman EE

GodoRS · 3 days

Get a used thinkpad, you'll end up spending a third of your budget and still have a reasonably fast, reliable, and well-built machine. Since they're such popular machines parts are cheap and easy to come by, and Lenovo provides service manuals on their website.

I've been using a T60 (2008 model) for the past year and a half and haven't had any problems running software for my coursework. With the money I saved on the computer I bought a bitchin' Intel SSD and 4GB of ram, people are amazed at how quick it is.

SugarWaterPurple · 4 days

Just search digikey for "AN7580-ND" and you'll find the panasonic chip. Otherwise click on "Linear - Amplifiers - Audio" from the product index page and use the parametric search to find an amplifier that's more suited to your needs.

The TDA1518BQ chip you linked to looks really good, especially at that price! You wouldn't have any problem using that chip, it's essentially a 2-channel version of the chip I used.

SugarWaterPurple · 6 days

any relation to reddrink?

I have no idea who that is, sorry =/

SugarWaterPurple · 6 days

Hah, that's a meter my grandfather used to have in his garage, it just measures AC RMS voltage. We have it plugged into the wall, it's more of a decoration than something useful :)

SugarWaterPurple · 6 days

Done and done: http://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/tsmjm/installed_some_speakers_and_a_diy_amplifier_in/c4pjxa3

SugarWaterPurple · 6 days

Sure thing: http://www.reddit.com/r/DIY/comments/tsmjm/installed_some_speakers_and_a_diy_amplifier_in/c4pjxa3

SugarWaterPurple · 6 days

It's super easy to build, the amplifier chip I used only needs ~5 external components to function. The reason I didn't bother posting plans is because the parts I used are not readily available, the voltage regulator is from the early 80ies and I was lucky to find the amplifier chip a local surplus electronics store. However, digikey has some nice alternatives for the amplifier (like this panasonic chip) and you could always use a laptop power supply instead of building one like I did.

Here's the schematic if you're really interested: http://i.imgur.com/CiBk8.png

And here's a picture of the ancient TO-3 voltage regulator: http://i.imgur.com/BNDXB.jpg

And a picture of the inside of the box: http://i.imgur.com/DTMES.jpg

If you have any questions feel free to ask :)

SugarWaterPurple · 7 days

The amplifier is very simple: the output of the transformer is connected to a 10A adjustable linear voltage regulator which powers a TDA1554Q amplifier IC. That little box will put out 40W into those speakers which is pretty darn loud for a little garage (my ipod at 1/3 volume is plenty loud).

SyntheticMagnetic · 12 days

Judging by the picture, it's solder. Like others have said, you just don't have enough heat (especially if it's lead-free solder). Get a higher wattage iron or use a blowtorch.

jammonk · 13 days

Wow that's shitty, thanks for the info.

jammonk · 13 days

That's good to know =/

Does the maintenance schedule use the 50K/5yr numbers or is this just you being cautious? If it's the former, I really wouldn't want to own a hyundai...

jammonk · 13 days

and if it has more than 50,000 miles or 5 years on it YOU WILL NEED a timing belt

Why does it need to be changed at such low mileage?

SwedishMuscleCarDude · 25 days

What episode is this from?

intisun · 25 days

You didn't buy the optional strengthening cross-brace, did you?

MUAHAHAHAHA.

wintershere · 26 days

I'm fat: "You should lose some weight"

No shit.

mctuckles · 28 days

Much like A1cypher said, speed is going to be the key to your success here. You could do the whole process in multiple steps to make it easier, starting by tinning the wire, then quickly tin one of the lugs, wait until it cools down, and finally solder them together.

pcpower · 29 days

That's really cool, thanks for the explanation!

Drew92777 · 29 days

So my if you ain't bleedin' you ain't brushin' mantra isn't entirely accurate?

pcpower · 29 days

Just out of curiosity, what's the point of using wax? Why not just use zip-ties or some kind of plastic wire loom? I've never seen anything like that before :)

superdude4agze · 1 month

I, for one, welcome our mutant chicken overlords.

nryan1322 · 1 month

Our device was pretty simple, when setting it up the panel needed to be lined up such that the axis of rotation of the panel was parallel to the north/south line on a compass (Ie. In the user manual we said something like "point the panel south" :P). Then the tilt of the panel had to be set such that it was relatively perpendicular to the sun. Both of these settings aren't super critical, you can eyeball them and the results you get will be pretty darn close to if you had set them up very precisely.

When the device powers up the user must enter the day/time/timezone and then it figures out where it should be pointing the panel. Throughout the day it keeps moving the panel to keep it in line with the sun. It's pretty easy to predict where the sun will be at any given time, "scanning" for it really isn't necessary :)

The data we stored gave us maximum available power at 10 minute intervals throughout the day. The angle was always fixed for a specific time (the angle is derived from the time of day) so there was no point in storing that data.

gregK · 1 month

I was hoping for some kind of racing game where you had to avoid a bunch of potholes and falling bridges... But that also looks fun.

nryan1322 · 1 month

Wow, the group I was part of for our final-year project built something very similar. We made a device that looked like this, and we had some software that generated graphs that look like this from the collected data.

I think you're on the right track with yours, keep is as cheap as cheap and small as possible. We had to work around that huge 10W panel which made things pricier and heavier. If you have any questions, feel free to PM me.

Good luck! :)

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