TOMTOM GO LIVE 1000 problems

I was having a lot of problems trying to update the new series of TOMTOM GO LIVE 1000 series.
The MyTOMTOM web based software was unable to detect any updates.

I switched to google chrome (from IE 9) to see if this was a browser relater problem. Presto! everything works and I had updated to new maps within minutes.

Good job google (again)

My entry for 2012 AVC @ sparkfun

I am unable to make it to 2011 AVC, held at Sparkfun, USA headoffice. http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10435

AVC stands for autonomous vehicle competition. The idea is that the vehicle has to go aroud the Sparkfun headoffice, completly unaided. The vehicle that makes this route in the shortest time wins the competition.

I have started work on my entry for the year 2012

Update to 06/04/2011

I have bought a Remote control Audi R8 1:18 size. It runs of 3.6V NiCd battery, and 27Mhz RF.

To convert it to autonomous vehicle, I am going to be useing a 2AH custom lithium polymenr pack.

The motor control and brains are going to be provided by Pololu Baby Oranguatan controller http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1220

The sensor for location is goingt to be a GPS while the obsticle detection is goign to be done using either ultrasonic range finder or infrared.

Pictures to follow

ZT-180 My Wifi MOD

Here is my Wifi MOD

MY ZT-180 is the old RUBY 1.3 mother boards. These came with a RT2070 wifi module that uses a microstrip PCB antenna.

Possibly due to the mismatch of this chip antenna, the Module produces a lot of heat that results in repeated disconnets from the AP. Also the reception is very poor due to bad antenna design.

A lot of methods exist to improve the antenna recption. The way I did it was using a http://www.antennafactor.com/products/embeddable/chp-series-chip-antennas/  2.4 GHZ chip antenna that I already had with me.

Data sheet http://www.antennafactor.com/resources/data-guides/ant-xxx-chp-x.pdf
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whip_antenna
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monopole_antenna

 1. remove microsd card
2. open ZT-180
3. disconnect battery
4. Now as shown in PIC below, remove the capacitor, solder coax core and then shield. Avoid the shield touching the pad in the centre of the semicircles.

5. Use a copper tape of about 40x20cm and put it on a card. Use this as ground plane. Solder the shield on the antenna end of coax to the tape. Solder the antenna directly to the coax core on antenna end.
Cover coper tape with paper masking tape to avoid shortcircuit to other components in the tablet.

Android Tablet ZT-180 All I could Find

Received ZT-180 on 28-09-2010 from www.merimobiles.com Ordered on 21-09-2010, shipped on 26-09-2010

Received with battery fully depleted.

The first thing I wanted to do was to install the latest Firmware as I had head that the stock firmware installed on all ZT-180 was quite old and rubbish.

After going through a lot of links I found that If you want to install firmware then first thing you should check is what frim ware you have.

To do this ---> From the home screen find the settings icon.

Click Settings > About Device > Build Number

Find the string starting eng.2010 and the next four characters are the build number.

I found mine to be 0830 which was not that old and thus I decided not to install the latest version. Also , it turns out that there are no current drivers for WIN 7 64 bit for flashing the ZT-180 android tablet

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I have now updated to 0930. I had to use my WinXP netbook todo so

Some news. I have now updated the wifi antenna. To do this I have removed the first capacitor in the matching network and added a monopole antenna to it. Doing this I have incread the signal by 5-10db
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The list of internal hardware (as I build it and find more about it)


Zenithink Ruby 1-3 Main board
- USB link to a USB wifi module based on RT3070 wifi chipset
- EUP8057 Charge Controller for charging the 7.4V battery pack (marked 8057q on IC) http://www.eutechmicro.com/PDF/EUP8057.pdf
- FDS9435A Mosfet used in combination with EUP8057 for charging (marked PS9435S) http://www.fairchildsemi.com/ds/FD/FDS9435A.pdf
- Wolfson Micro Electronics Audio Codec Chipset  WM8988 http://www.wolfsonmicro.com/documents/uploads/data_sheets/en/WM8988.pdf
- Possibly LM3410 LED driver (marked p3410) http://www.national.com/ds/LM/LM3410.pdf
-Possibly LTC3451
- M4890 1W Audio amplifier IC

Zenithink Processor Daughterbaord

- DOESTEK DTC33LM85AL 18bit flatpanel display transmitter using LVDS. Datasheet http://www.doestek.co.kr/pdf/data/6.DTC33LM85AL_Rev.1.0.pdf
-RTL8201CL http://realtek.info/pdf/rtl8201cl.pdf
-2x Hynix 64x16ddr2 k 1GB DDR Ram
- 1x samsung k9gag08u0m 16gbit (2GB) Nand flash

ZT-180 My Battery MOD

Hello All
I was looking for a good battery to upgrade my ZT-180 but was very difficult to find. Finallly I have the battery and I did the MOD to the tablet.

Fist of all. The battery didnt come with a connector. So I opened up my tablet and removed the original battery. Then, I cut off the connector and soldered it to the new battery. The new battery is 4000mAH instaed of the 2500mAh original battery, but the new battery is longer and wider than the original, thickness is 8mm. It comes with built-in charge balance and protection circuit, so only needs charging using the two supplied wires.

So I put in the new battery and try to close the lid but the battery "holder plastic" on the bottom plate of the tablet did not allow the tablet to close. So with a help of a sharp blade and some cutters, I cut the excess plastic out of the way and  WOW, it closed.

I gave it some initial test and it surely seems to last much longer than the original. Howmuch longer I will not be able to know because I did not measure the original battery.

I am trying to include some pictures here, but not sure how they will actually come out to be.
Please note:
1. I have removed my internal bluetooth becasue it broke. So it may have been easier for me to fit the battery in
2. there is a slight bulge in the botton of the tablet as shown in the picture

Hope OK

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Hi Teslabe
I followed your test for battery life. I was running out of patience so I just charged the battery to 95%. Pushing in the last 5% of charge just takes too long.
Put brightness to 100%, volume to max, no Wifi (actually my wifi is broken),  and then ran a movie continously on it. It ran it for 5 hours and 40 minutes, that is very close to your results with your 4000mAH battery. I will now charge it agin to 95% and run same movie continously at 30% brightness and see if results are still close.

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http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Lithium-Polymer-4000mAH-7-4V-30WH-battery-/220715578720

OK
here is a quick "HOW TO"

1. Turn off table and Remove microSD from its socket
2. Open the ZT-180 http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=how+to+open+zt-180&aq=f
3. cut the old battery wire. Picture "battery 0"
4. solder the new battery to the connector - red to red, black to black. Use cable heat shink or insulation tape on the contacts. Picture "battery 4"
5. Cut the plastic edges on the base plate as in picutre "battery 1"
6. use thin double sided sticky tape , (most pound marts, dollar shops like places do them). stick the battery to the base plate as in "battery 3"
7. Plug the connector into the socket
8. before closing the case, do a quick check to see if the connections are OK, by switching on the tablet.
9. If all OK slowly close the tablet and see that it does not press hard on to any components or sharp edges etc. If its pushing on to something then use some foam tape to protect it. The battery is in a metalic looking pouch but it is not metal and can easily be punctured, resulting in excessive heat, explosion and expulsion of hazardous materail. So it is absolutly important to protect the battery from bending, breaking, or getting punctured etc. I.e, read up on saftey points. Again.. its very important
10. Relevant to point 9, I did not have wifi in my tablet when I did the MOD, so if you have wifi and its hitting the battery you wil have to move it slightly towards the edge.

11. The battery has built in protection circuit and charge balancing PCB so you dont need any extra circuits for it.

Any question/suggestions please do ask. I'll ammend the post accordingly

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Kebabish Original Glasgow

677-681 Pollokshaws Road
Glasgow, Lanarkshire G41 2AB
0141 423 9988

KO is a franchise and this is the same. However thier £25 family meal is quite good and can feed 4 easily and includes all thier chef special grills and kebabs etc.

It is fully halal and as far as I know they dont serve alcohol. Mostly friendly staff. If you do eat thier do try thier dessert "Kheer" becasue its different and much better than other keers I have eaten.


Environt is good, seating is plenty and has not been too busy a few times we have been there for lunch.

Review of Village Curry House Glasgow

129 Nelson Street
Glasgow G5 8DZ
0141 429 6727
Great Pakistani Menu, All Halal

Tested Sindhi Biryani, Afghani Biryani, Chicken Tawa, Bhindi (Lady Finger), Chapati and Kachuri

All tased great. It was a last minute decision to go to Village curry house. The choices were village or kababish. Sat nav said kabish was too far away so we decided to test Village Curry house. I was presuming it to be the same British-ised asian food with its bhunas and vindaloos. We got a very fortunate surprise as we walked in and found pakistani sweets in the corner, my favourite chapli kebabs (from north west of pakistan) under teh front counter cabinet. A closer look at the menu showed that the food was as close to desi food we may get in Scotland. The staff was very nice and helpful although the food prepration took a bit longer than usual (or may be we were too hungry).

this place is highly recommended to people wanting authentic Paksitani halal food in scotland. I really wish there was somethign similar to this in fife or dundee