Got my mini
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Jay Lash
Oct 20, 2011, 9:13:26 PM10/20/11
to Backwoods Logger development discussion
Yeah! My mini came in the mail today...WOW, it is really small. I
didnt pay any attention to the dimensions listed on the site.
One thing...The positive end of the battery holder had come loose.
Looks like the lead was cut too short and it was not into the via when
it was soldered. I desoldered the other end, carved away a bit on the
corner because the sensor was preventing it from seating and
resoldered the holder. Works like a charm!
Only thing I dont like right away is...it is really small ;-) The
text is very crisp but I still have to put my glasses on to read the
darn thing.
Ill poke through our parts room tomorrow at work and see what we have
for an enclosure.
Thanks Steve!
didnt pay any attention to the dimensions listed on the site.
One thing...The positive end of the battery holder had come loose.
Looks like the lead was cut too short and it was not into the via when
it was soldered. I desoldered the other end, carved away a bit on the
corner because the sensor was preventing it from seating and
resoldered the holder. Works like a charm!
Only thing I dont like right away is...it is really small ;-) The
text is very crisp but I still have to put my glasses on to read the
darn thing.
Ill poke through our parts room tomorrow at work and see what we have
for an enclosure.
Thanks Steve!
Steve Chamberlin
Oct 21, 2011, 12:31:13 AM10/21/11
to backwoods-lo...@googlegroups.com
Awesome! Sorry about the battery holder coming loose-- I did have some trouble soldering it, but I thought I'd gotten it in there securely.
Yeah, small and light was the design goal for the Mini. The 0.96 inch diagonal screen has a resolution of something like 160 dpi. Personally I love it, but I can see how someone else might find it hard on the eyes. Maybe you could work on a software mod to use a larger font as an option? You'd have to abbreviate some text, and reduce the number of lines per screen, but it should be doable.
My zero cost Mini case solution is a jumbo dental floss container. A plastic soap holder might also work, or a storm-proof match container, or a glasses case, or a generic "hard case"
Jay Lash
Oct 21, 2011, 7:20:06 PM10/21/11
to Backwoods Logger development discussion
Bad news, good news, good news, bad news....
Played with the logger a bit on the way to work this morning. Battery
terminal popped loose again. I fixed it good this time...Took a piece
of solid 24(ish) gauge wire, bent a loop around the terminal and
created an "extension" lead so I could get through the via and get a
good solder joint. This worked great.
Found an awesome enclosure for it in our parts room:
http://www.pactecenclosures.com/product-detail.php?productid=103&seriesid=57&classid=27
Printed the PCB picture and used it as a template to mark and cut the
display opening and drill for the buttons. Because of the thickness
of the plastic, I had to cut the opening for the whole display not
just the visible area (got a bit carried away with the Exacto). Even
then the buttons are just below the surface and tough to press so I
hit the button openings with a very large drill bit to create a bit of
counter-sink. Finally, I put a small notch in one corner to allow a
lanyard string to pass in and wrap around the screw post. Works
great!
The packing peanut holds the board up against the back of the
enclosure snug. Not exactly production-quality but it is what I had
around.
Pics of the logger and enclosure are here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/jjlash/BackwoodsLogger?authuser=0&feat=directlink
The second "bad news"...I hit the button to take a snapshot then to
view the snapshot. The logger showed "EEPROM sig OK" and hung there.
It would auto power down, and would power back up but still show the
message. It recovered operation when I pulled the battery but got into
the same state when I tried again. I did a System Menu | Erase All
Data and now everything seems to be working. Maybe something got
corrupted because a write was interrupted when the battery was making
intermittent contact.
On Oct 20, 11:31 pm, Steve Chamberlin <steve.chamber...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Awesome! Sorry about the battery holder coming loose-- I did have some trouble soldering it, but I thought I'd gotten it in there securely.
>
> Yeah, small and light was the design goal for the Mini. The 0.96 inch diagonal screen has a resolution of something like 160 dpi. Personally I love it, but I can see how someone else might find it hard on the eyes. Maybe you could work on a software mod to use a larger font as an option? You'd have to abbreviate some text, and reduce the number of lines per screen, but it should be doable.
>
> My zero cost Mini case solution is a jumbo dental floss container. A plastic soap holder might also work, or a storm-proof match container, or a glasses case, or a generic "hard case"
>
> http://www.rei.com/product/695993/coghlans-soap-holderhttp://www.rei.com/product/678278/coghlans-plastic-matchboxhttp://www.rei.com/product/783578/garmin-oregon-series-hard-case
>
> Yeah, small and light was the design goal for the Mini. The 0.96 inch diagonal screen has a resolution of something like 160 dpi. Personally I love it, but I can see how someone else might find it hard on the eyes. Maybe you could work on a software mod to use a larger font as an option? You'd have to abbreviate some text, and reduce the number of lines per screen, but it should be doable.
>
> My zero cost Mini case solution is a jumbo dental floss container. A plastic soap holder might also work, or a storm-proof match container, or a glasses case, or a generic "hard case"
>
Steve Chamberlin
Oct 21, 2011, 9:03:44 PM10/21/11
to backwoods-lo...@googlegroups.com
That looks nice! Great job with the case.
If you want the buttons to project further out of the case, you could replace them with buttons with a taller push-shaft. I did that with my Logger Classic: 15 mm tall buttons and a laser-cut plastic case. It worked out well, but if you're using it without the case, the tall buttons are annoying. Here's a photo, from the summit of Mt. Langley:
http://www.bigmessowires.com/logger_langley4.jpg
http://www.bigmessowires.com/logger_case_empty.jpg
That hang your described sounds like a software bug. Were you able to take snapshots successfully after doing a reset and erase?
Steve
Steve Chamberlin
Oct 21, 2011, 9:05:57 PM10/21/11
to backwoods-lo...@googlegroups.com
Oh, and you can probably take the screen protector off now. The glass is pretty rugged-- I've treated mine roughly for months, and there are no visible scratches at all.
On Oct 21, 2011, at 4:20 PM, Jay Lash wrote:
Jay Lash
Oct 21, 2011, 9:47:44 PM10/21/11
to Backwoods Logger development discussion
Yes, I took and viewed snapshots after the reset/erase. And, I did
take the screen protector off after the pictures ;-)
Taller buttons would work, though I kind of like the recessed feel.
Even the next/prev combination to unlock it is managable.
On Oct 21, 8:05 pm, Steve Chamberlin <steve.chamber...@gmail.com>
wrote:
take the screen protector off after the pictures ;-)
Taller buttons would work, though I kind of like the recessed feel.
Even the next/prev combination to unlock it is managable.
On Oct 21, 8:05 pm, Steve Chamberlin <steve.chamber...@gmail.com>
wrote:
> Oh, and you can probably take the screen protector off now. The glass is pretty rugged-- I've treated mine roughly for months, and there are no visible scratches at all.
>
> On Oct 21, 2011, at 4:20 PM, Jay Lash wrote:
>
>
>
> > Bad news, good news, good news, bad news....
>
> > Played with the logger a bit on the way to work this morning. Battery
> > terminal popped loose again. I fixed it good this time...Took a piece
> > of solid 24(ish) gauge wire, bent a loop around the terminal and
> > created an "extension" lead so I could get through the via and get a
> > good solder joint. This worked great.
>
> > Found an awesome enclosure for it in our parts room:
> >http://www.pactecenclosures.com/product-detail.php?productid=103&seri...
>
> On Oct 21, 2011, at 4:20 PM, Jay Lash wrote:
>
>
>
> > Bad news, good news, good news, bad news....
>
> > Played with the logger a bit on the way to work this morning. Battery
> > terminal popped loose again. I fixed it good this time...Took a piece
> > of solid 24(ish) gauge wire, bent a loop around the terminal and
> > created an "extension" lead so I could get through the via and get a
> > good solder joint. This worked great.
>
> > Found an awesome enclosure for it in our parts room:
>
> > Printed the PCB picture and used it as a template to mark and cut the
> > display opening and drill for the buttons. Because of the thickness
> > of the plastic, I had to cut the opening for the whole display not
> > just the visible area (got a bit carried away with the Exacto). Even
> > then the buttons are just below the surface and tough to press so I
> > hit the button openings with a very large drill bit to create a bit of
> > counter-sink. Finally, I put a small notch in one corner to allow a
> > lanyard string to pass in and wrap around the screw post. Works
> > great!
>
> > The packing peanut holds the board up against the back of the
> > enclosure snug. Not exactly production-quality but it is what I had
> > around.
>
> > Pics of the logger and enclosure are here:
> >https://picasaweb.google.com/jjlash/BackwoodsLogger?authuser=0&feat=d...
> > Printed the PCB picture and used it as a template to mark and cut the
> > display opening and drill for the buttons. Because of the thickness
> > of the plastic, I had to cut the opening for the whole display not
> > just the visible area (got a bit carried away with the Exacto). Even
> > then the buttons are just below the surface and tough to press so I
> > hit the button openings with a very large drill bit to create a bit of
> > counter-sink. Finally, I put a small notch in one corner to allow a
> > lanyard string to pass in and wrap around the screw post. Works
> > great!
>
> > The packing peanut holds the board up against the back of the
> > enclosure snug. Not exactly production-quality but it is what I had
> > around.
>
> > Pics of the logger and enclosure are here:
>
> > The second "bad news"...I hit the button to take a snapshot then to
> > view the snapshot. The logger showed "EEPROM sig OK" and hung there.
> > It would auto power down, and would power back up but still show the
> > message. It recovered operation when I pulled the battery but got into
> > the same state when I tried again. I did a System Menu | Erase All
> > Data and now everything seems to be working. Maybe something got
> > corrupted because a write was interrupted when the battery was making
> > intermittent contact.
>
> > On Oct 20, 11:31 pm, Steve Chamberlin <steve.chamber...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >> Awesome! Sorry about the battery holder coming loose-- I did have some trouble soldering it, but I thought I'd gotten it in there securely.
>
> >> Yeah, small and light was the design goal for the Mini. The 0.96 inch diagonal screen has a resolution of something like 160 dpi. Personally I love it, but I can see how someone else might find it hard on the eyes. Maybe you could work on a software mod to use a larger font as an option? You'd have to abbreviate some text, and reduce the number of lines per screen, but it should be doable.
>
> >> My zero cost Mini case solution is a jumbo dental floss container. A plastic soap holder might also work, or a storm-proof match container, or a glasses case, or a generic "hard case"
>
> >>http://www.rei.com/product/695993/coghlans-soap-holderhttp://www.rei....
> > The second "bad news"...I hit the button to take a snapshot then to
> > view the snapshot. The logger showed "EEPROM sig OK" and hung there.
> > It would auto power down, and would power back up but still show the
> > message. It recovered operation when I pulled the battery but got into
> > the same state when I tried again. I did a System Menu | Erase All
> > Data and now everything seems to be working. Maybe something got
> > corrupted because a write was interrupted when the battery was making
> > intermittent contact.
>
> > On Oct 20, 11:31 pm, Steve Chamberlin <steve.chamber...@gmail.com>
> > wrote:
> >> Awesome! Sorry about the battery holder coming loose-- I did have some trouble soldering it, but I thought I'd gotten it in there securely.
>
> >> Yeah, small and light was the design goal for the Mini. The 0.96 inch diagonal screen has a resolution of something like 160 dpi. Personally I love it, but I can see how someone else might find it hard on the eyes. Maybe you could work on a software mod to use a larger font as an option? You'd have to abbreviate some text, and reduce the number of lines per screen, but it should be doable.
>
> >> My zero cost Mini case solution is a jumbo dental floss container. A plastic soap holder might also work, or a storm-proof match container, or a glasses case, or a generic "hard case"
>
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