Recently I found a broken HP elitebook 820 in the electronics junk at work. The notebook was already cannibalized for parts but the display still looked good.
eDP adapter for a notebook display
Category Archives: Hacks
Hacking things, re purposing hardware, software and other things
Electronic viewfinder (EVF)
(This is the English language version of this posting: EVF)
What is this all about? Many old video camera (VHS era) are equipped with tiny black and white CRT screens as viewfinders. It is exactly these this posting is about. Many of them can be hooked up to a BAS or FBAS (Yellow RCA connector). Such as CCTV cameras or a Raspberry Pi to be used as a tiny screen or with the magnifying viewfinder assembly you can put it close to your eye and have a much larger image.
I modified my Olympus Pen E-PL1 to take Infrared pictures.
A little info on what this means and some example pictures
Comparison of an Infrared picture vs. a RGB picture on the basis of a phtograph of Vienna by night. Pay attention to the fog in the distance. (Drag the vertical bar to compare the photos)
Continue reading I modified my Olympus Pen E-PL1 to take Infrared pictures.
Tinkering time: moving heads
I just bought 4 old moving heads. I paid €30 for all four :-D
Low-temperature cooker/Sous-vide controller
I bought a temperature controller and a temperature probe from DealExtreme to control the temperature of a water filled pot.
After using the controller for some time only with floating wiring I decided that it was time to mounted it into a proper case (As for myself an absolutely unsafe wooden box with mains voltage inside is okay). The pictures don’t need much description. The BOM is at the bottom of this page.
This setup can be used to cook meat, make nice breakfast eggs, soften wax (used when modelmaking things with wax) and (very important) cook perfect Weisswürste!
Continue reading Low-temperature cooker/Sous-vide controller
Dummy battery for a video camera
I have an old Sanyo Xacti video camera which I use very rarely. Therefore every time I need the camera the battery is empty. Since I use the camera mostly at home I built a dummy battery for the camera. This post is not meant as instruction but as suggestion how it could be done. 
Column stand
I had parts of an old Durst enlarger and a friend needs a column stand for her animation work. I bought a Manfrotto 323 quick change plate + adapter. After some cutting, drilling, thread taping and a really terrible welding job an arm to mount the 323 was made.
With this the 323 can be attached to the column with the necessary distance.
To ease working a bit further I made an foot pedal based remote shutter release + adapter for Canon SLR.
Mobile fireplace
After my mishap on Monday where my chair broke down my friends suggestet to make a BBQ. So I welded an old washing machine drum onto the remaining foot of my (former) chair. At first I thought this would make a funny flower pot. After a while I though “oh you, my creation … from here on out, you shall be … a fireplace”, grabbed some firewood and lit it.
Mondays: My chair broke down
Monday, Oktober 13th, 08:02 my chair broke down and I landed on my butt.
After posting the picture of my mishap on Facebook to the amusement of my friends, I got the suggestion to make a flowerpot with the remains of the chair.
Worklog: Conversion of an old tube radio into a Bluetooth boombox
I sourced an old tube radio from an good will store. Since it was defective I got it for free. Anyways, I have already striped the electronics inside so this does not matter. I am going to build a Bluetooth speaker box with the case. Bluetooth receiver, Class-D Amplifier, bass reflex loudspeaker, lead-battery, USB-charging port and a carry handle.
Continue reading Worklog: Conversion of an old tube radio into a Bluetooth boombox