faulty – Foxes Den

Gameboy Advance

Another one of Nintendos mass produced hand held gaming systems has arrived, with audio issues. It’s a Gameboy Advance, with no sound,so let’s try to fix it.

Here’s what the listing stated:

Gameboy advance console, complete with battery cover, all buttons works and powers on but no sound, has marks on screen and a few marks on shell and scuffs/indentations.

Photos of exact item you will recieve, FAULTY Uk buyers only. Has cover missing that the power light shines through on

EBay

I’ve purchased this as another addition to my collection of handheld retro gaming consoles. As usual it dosen’t work, and that sometimes keeps the cost down a little. This one has cost me £24:00GBP and I’m happy that that is a fair price for one of these units. Here’s a little about the GBA:

The Game Boy Advance(GBA) is a 32-bit handheld game console, manufactured by Nintendo, which was released in Japan on March 21, 2001, and to international markets that June. It was later released in mainland China in 2004, under the name iQue Game Boy Advance. Compared to the Game Boy Color it succeeded, the console offered a significantly more powerful ARM7 processor and improved graphics, while retaining backward compatibility with games initially developed for its predecessor.

The GBA is part of the sixth generation of video game consoles, competing against Nokia’s N-Gageand Bandai’s Japan-only WonderSwan. The original model was followed in 2003 by the Game Boy Advance SP, a redesigned model with a frontlitscreen and clamshell form factor. A newer revisionof the SP with a backlit screen was released in 2005. A miniaturized redesign, the Game Boy Micro, was released in September 2005.

By June 2010, the Game Boy Advance series including revisions, had sold 81.51 million units worldwide, massively outselling its competitors. Its successor, the Nintendo DS, launched in November 2004, was backward compatible with GBA games. GBA sales ended by 2010 after over nine years.

In 2008, the GBA was still Nintendo’s predominant handheld console in terms of market presence and global installed base. It was only in late October 2008 that Nintendo announced that the Nintendo DS had officially surpassed the GBA worldwide in sales. This milestone consolidated the definitive global leadership transition between generations,^[13]although in specific markets, such as the United States, the GBA was only surpassed by the Nintendo DS in sales in late 2009.

Wikipedia

Now just to reiterate. These units are now 25 years old, there were in excess of 81 Million of these units produced and they still command a good price today. Just consider how many of those units have been sent back into landfill, the figure is probably immense. But then again we produce many items en masse, and we have been just chucking stuff away for years. The figures must be mad.

Except for this one. It will be repaired, cherished and reused. And displayed for all to see.

This one has been advertised as having no sound. Just from viewing the sellers photos you can see there is an awful lot of staining around the speaker grill area, maybe some liquid has been spilled here and the speaker is damaged, or maybe the audio capacitor inside has blown. These are usually the two main culprits, but you never know it could be for some other totally different reason. Let’s not make assumptions, let’s see what turns up.

Assessment:

The unit has arrived all in one piece. The battery cover is in place, a little loose at the clip but I might be able to strengthen by heating and gently manipulating it.

Battery contacts show no sign of corrosion but are a little grubby. There are signs of good use but nothing really bad to be honest, all connectors and buttons appear to be doing what they should. The unit is in good need of a thorough clean, as it does look a little worn in that aspect. Screen has very minor scratches, nothing that will cause any issues. The little acrylic lens by the power light is missing and there is as stated, no sound even though we do have a picture and are able to play the games. In all aspects the unit is functioning, just with no audio.

This is a fair unit, it will clean up and if we can get the audio working we have a potentially very good unit.

It is dirty though, and a good clean will make an immense difference.

Repair:

The printer is on and warmed up so before we get repairing, let’s print a suitable display stand for this unit.

Display stand printing

Now let’s open up the unit and see what we have inside.

First there are seven tri wing screws securing the shell. Remove these and the rear of the unit just lifts off.

Next there should be three screws to remove the mainboard but there is only one. Someone has previously been in this unit and has left two screws out. Next we remove the ribbon cable that secures the screen to the mainboard.

We now have free access to both sides of the board and can put everything else to one side to start our fault finding process.

First things first, let’s check the speaker. With the multimeter it’s showing 8 Ohms so I’m happy that the speaker is ok. A quick check for shorts and not one capacitor shows a short, I plug in a set of headphones and I can hear sound, but as soon as they are unplugged there is no sound again. My attention is now at the earphone socket.

On close examination other is a considerable amount of battery acid contamination in the earphone module. This is strange as there is none evident in the battery contact area. A close look around shows some spots of contamination, however these are easily cleaned with some IPA. I have a feeling this may have been a previous issue and the person in here prior to me, has cleaned up, but given up on the repair.

I remove the earphone module, and clean the surrounding area.

A simple check here is to see if there is any continuity between the two tabs that occupied positions 4 & 5 as marked on the mainboard. This check is carried out on the actual module. If you have continuity between these two pins, then in theory the circuit is good, and the speaker should be working. My results here were negative as there was no continuity on this module between those points.

The way the earphone works is thus. Plug the earphone jack in, it opens up the contacts and by passes the external speaker. Remove the earphone jack and the contacts close, opening up the main speaker. If there are contaminants on the contacts, this can prevent continuity and hence there is no sound on the main speaker.

You can double check that this is the issue by soldering a small wire between points 4 & 5 on the mainboard in theory by passing the earphone circuit leaving the speaker circuit open and accessible.

And my suspicions were correct, this small video below was the result of bypassing this part of the circuit.

We have sound in the speaker

Looking inside the earphone socket it was easy to see this piece had a solid lump of contamination exactly where I was expecting to see it. I have no spares of these and to obtain one off of the auction sites is an absolute ripoff. I can order one from our friends in China but I’m looking at a four week turnaround here, and I’m inpatient and not willing to wait that long. I’m going to try and repair it.

I’ve gathered everything up that needs cleaning, buttons, connectors, screws, pads and the suspect connector, and dropped the lot into a small dish of white vinegar. White vinegar is great for removing contaminants and you can actually watch it fizzing away and working. I left these items bathing for about 30 minutes before giving them all a good scrub clean. On the earphone jack I “borrowed” a small bottle cleaner from the wife, it fits right through one side and out the other allowing you to get a really good scrub inside.

I also cleaned the outside thoroughly removing all signs of contamination, the tabs were gleaming when I finished. I then put everything I’d just cleaned in between two sheets of kitchen roll and put them in a cooling oven to dry off.

When dry I took the bottle cleaner again, inserted it back into the earphone jack, sprayed quite a bit of electrical contact cleaner back onto it and vigorously scrubbed again for the next few minutes. When dry, I took the multimeter and again checked for continuity across points 4 & 5 and a tone was heard. Continuity had been restored and the earphone contacts were now working. Plugging in a jack and then removing it confirmed that all was working as it should. It’s now time to put this jack back on the board.

Final touch is to put a tiny pice of clear silicon in place of the missing power light lens on the front of the case. Job done.

Time to reassemble this unit.

Result:

And here we are. The original unit has been thoroughly cleaned, it’s come up ok but is probably a good candidate for a case upgrade and a Capacitor change at some point. That’s just cosmetic though, what really matters is that this unit is now working perfectly, and it sounds just fine.

Fixed, cleaned, on its new stand with its fellow Gameboy counterparts

This unit actually came from a guy who restores these units, I guess he was just having an off day as to be honest, it wasn’t the most difficult issue to diagnose and repair. It honestly took longer to clean this unit than it did to repair it. I’m pleased that I’ve used all the original parts and just been able to do a proper restoration as such.

81 million of these units were produced, so this is just one in that 81 million, that has been saved again from landfill to be enjoyed for many more years to come.

Thanks for passing by. Always most appreciated.

Nintendo Gameboy color console

I’ve purchased a faulty Gameboy Color for my collection. It has no power, so let’s have a look and try to get it working again.

What the listing stated:

Very clean, but doesn’t turn on

EBay

Yep. It’s a Gameboy Colour to me, but as it was sold using the American spelling of “Color” then that’s what it will be addressed as, going forward.

I’ve been after a “Color” to add to my collection for a while now, but it had to fit my very strict quality requirements, in truth it just has to be faulty, and this particular example has met my conditions. I’ve paid £30.00GBP for this example and I’m happy with that, it’s a very fair price.

The good news seems to be that it is in a really good condition, it looks as if the battery door is missing, however they are freely available and this is not an issue should I require one.

These units are known to sustain power failures and the repairs are well documented. By now the unit is close to 30 years old and as time advances components start to fail, these include, but are not limited to:

Power switch failure: either a complete failure that requires replacement or quite simply a simple clean to remove years of tarnish and environmental gunk.
Fuse failure: there are two fuses F1&F2 that are known to fail, normally due to a short somewhere else on the circuit, but sometimes due to a power surge or incorrect addition of an incorrect power supply.
Via failure, small through the board connectors that are known to suffer with corrosion, requiring intervention with the addition of small wires to bypass the issue.
Capacitors – known to fail on a regular basis, it’s sometimes good housekeeping just to get these replaced as they are a contributing factor as to why other components such as the fuses also fail.
Worst case scenario: major corrosion or main board component failure.

We’ll cross these bridges when and if we need to.

Here’s a little info about the Gameboy Color console:

The Game Boy Color(abbreviated as CGB or GBC) is an 8-bit handheld game console developed by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on October 21, 1998, and in international markets the following month. Compared with the original Game Boy, the Game Boy Color features a color TFT screen instead of monochrome, a CPU running at up to twice the speed, and four times as much memory. It is backward compatible with games developed for its predecessor. The Game Boy Color was released during the fifth generation of video game consoles and competed with Bandai’s Japan-only WonderSwan, SNK’s Neo Geo Pocket Color, and Sega’s North America-only Genesis Nomad.

The handheld is slightly thicker, taller and has a smaller screen than its immediate predecessor, the Game Boy Pocket, but is significantly smaller than the original Game Boy. As with its predecessors, the Game Boy Color has a custom 8-bit processor made by Sharp. The American English spelling of the system’s name, Game Boy Color, remains consistent throughout the world.

Wikipedia

So, for now, let’s not speculate on its quality and issues until it arrives, when we can then carry out a proper assessment of the unit that has been received.

Assessment:

The package has arrived. The battery lid is missing as kind of expected, I will get a replacement sometime, but for the moment I’ll probably print one out on the 3D printer, it’ll be a totally different colour as I don’t have a “Teal” coloured filament to use. The product label on the rear is also damaged but I can easily get one of these as a replacement, however it’s not essential and will only be of cosmetic appeal.

Missing battery cover and old product label

The front fascia is in a good condition with only a minor scratch on the screen, however there are a couple of dents and dinks on the body where it looks as if it’s been dropped or bashed at some point.

All ports, switches, buttons and sockets look ok and seem to be operating as such with no resistance or signs of stickiness.

All ports appear ok, there are a few dents and bashes visible

Again, the casing is in general fit to use, and in no way causes any issues with its operation when working. It is purely a cosmetic issue that i can address when the unit is finally working.

I have installed two AA size batteries, switched the unit on and it is most definitely dead. Repeatedly flicking the switch does nothing at all, so it is a situation where the unit will have to be opened up and further investigated. The assessment has not thrown up any other issues not already highlighted in the sales documentation, so in general I am quite happy with the outcome at this stage. let’s get inside and see what we can find.

Oops. Wasn’t expecting that. I’ve removed the six “tri” screws and as soon as I’ve separated the two halves, an amount of what looks like battery corrosion “crap” has fallen out as well.

With the two halves separated, I then remove the screen ribbon cable, remove three more screws and the main board lifts out.

There’s some good news here. The contamination looks as if it has been completely isolated to within the battery area, there is no sign of any damage to the Vias, or any other components on the main board.

Main board on both sides, cleaned with IPA

I have obtained the schematic diagram for this circuit board for checking continuity, and i’ve been able to confirm there are no issues with any contamination damaging any traces to the board. We’ve been very lucky here, dodged a bullet, to coin a phrase.

I have removed a set of battery contacts from the battery area, and replaced these with a new set that I have in my spares box. I could clean these, but it’s good to remove all items that were originally contaminated and very possibly contributory to the fault we have today.

I have also cleaned the front and rear of the main board with IPA just to ensure that if there was any issues with contaminants on the board, they’ve now been removed.

The switch has been tested electrically with a multimeter and this is working fine. The three capacitors have been looked over and seem to show no signs of wear or deterioration, they haven’t been properly tested though, so let’s now check fuses F1 & F2.

For reference: Fuse F2 protects the DC jack, whilst F1 protects the battery compartment. Using the continuity mode on the multimeter, a continuity through the fuse should present an audible buzz that let us know the fuse is complete and has not failed in any way.

I start on F2 and get a healthy buzz that tells me F2 is working fine. However fuse F1 is a different story, there is no continuity and there is no sound, I check again and can confirm that this fuse has blown, maybe this is a result of the contamination that was in the battery area?

I’ve now attached the bench power supply supplying a 3v input to clarify the fault.

Fuse F2 has a 3v supply on each side, however our suspect fuse F1 only has a 3v supply on one side confirming that this fuse has blown. Once this fuse has been replaced I can check the voltage supplies on the remainder of the board, especially on the DC-DC regulator board, that supplies varying voltages from 3v – 13.6v required around the main board. On the main board the voltage regulator can be recognised as U5.

A quick check for short circuits doesn’t show anything of concern, maybe when the fuse is replaced it may well open up some other issues, the fuses I will be using are “resettable” fuses. These fuses seem to be the standard now for these units. Most resettable fuses—known as Polymeric Positive Temperature Coefficient (PPTC) or polyswitches—reset automatically and do not have a physical reset button. Once the underlying overcurrent or fault condition is removed, you simply disconnect the power source to allow the fuse to cool down, then you switch on again, if the same issue occurs, there is an obvious issue present that needs investigation, as stated above, once the faulty fuse is replaced I will be able to check other areas on the mainboard for correct voltages.

Just for information the fuse that needs replacing is approximately 4mm in width. You can see the scale in this picture taken alongside a ruler.

Let’s get on with the repair.

Repair:

First off I’ve printed a replacement battery door cover. As stated earlier I don’t have any “Teal” filament so I’ve printed it out on a purple filament. For the purposes of practicality (holding the batteries in place) it will serve a purpose whilst carrying out the repairs.

I have a replacement fuse, this work will now have to take place under the microscope as it’s just so tiny, think grain of rice size and you will understand just how small this component is, and it’s amazing that a component so tiny can completely shut down a unit such as this.

The supplied fuse is even smaller than the one on the board. If the original was 4mm then this one is probably around 1-2mm it really is minute. Here’s a comparison of them side by side on the microscope base.

That said I’ve removed the old fuse, wicked away the old solder and applied some flux and a couple of new dabs of solder. Compared to these new fuses the solder looks massive, I can assure you it isn’t and is greatly magnified.

With the bench power supply providing 3v I’m able to use the multimeter to confirm that the fuses are both working, however there is another issue and I suspect it is something I discussed earlier, but omitted to heed my own advice, about good housekeeping. I’ll come to that in a second.

Power is getting around on the 3v rail and is not an issue. However at the Dc converter I’m not getting the 5v or 13.6v rail, so there is another issue. The new fuse has dropped out again, and this is good as it proves it works. I let it cool for 30 seconds and it is back up and working and I’m able to continue tracing the fault. The big capacitor C32 that sits beside the DC-DC converter appears to be carrying a short, it is probably this that has caused the fuse to previously fail.

And my good advice was to change these capacitors for good housekeeping purposes…..and I didn’t.

Guess what I will be doing next?

There are three Capacitors on the main board and below you can see what their primary functions are:

C32 (Main Power / DC-DC Filter): 100µF, 6.3V (Filters the incoming voltage; if faulty, the system won’t boot or will repeatedly reset).
C35 (LCD Display Filter): 22µF, 16V (Stabilises the voltage to the liquid crystal screen; if faulty, it results in a dim or washed-out image).
C38 (Audio Amplifier / Sound): 100µF, 4V (Powers the speaker and headphone output; a failure here is the leading cause of whisper-quiet audio).

Ok. Fortunately I have plenty of capacitors in my spares box so I was able to replace the three capacitors with no issue.

This done I then decided, prior to any reassembly to see if the power was now being distributed as it should, and I’m pleased to say it is. We have the full range of voltages now coming out of the DC-DC converter.

Now let’s get the unit reassembled, cleaned and then get some tasty pics taken👍

Result:

To finish it off and whilst the 3D printer was still warm, I’ve printed a simple brightly coloured yellow display stand to show it off on.

After a good clean the unit is now in a perfectly good working order. The fault appears to have been the faulty capacitors and battery contamination all probably combining to make the power fuse fail, a perfect storm if you like. The fuse and three capacitors have now been replaced to breathe new life into this game console. Cosmetically it’s still tatty and would probably benefit from a new outer shell and some labelling, however it works and to be honest that is all that really matters.

A small video showing the unit working

Looks different but it works, it’s just a patchwork quilt of a project

I wonder how many of these items just get thrown away because they don’t work? This probably took me about three hours in total with diagnostics and repair. Another piece of retro history restored, now joining my original Gameboy classic as part of my collection.

It’s been a pleasing little project, enjoyable and educational and it’s always good to hear the familiar beeps when it springs back into action.

Another one saved from landfill.

Thanks for passing by, as always it’s very much appreciated.

TTS IT00617 digital camcorder/camera

I purchased these three damaged Camcorder/Cameras for a very low price. Will they be fixable or just good for spare parts. Let’s see…

What the listing stated:

TTS IT00617 Digital Camcorder Camera

Full HD pocket camcorder that records in 1080P and can take 5 megapixel photos.

2″ TFT colour screen. Charges via in-built flip-up USB plug.

Cameras appear to be faulty. One has a corrupt screen, the others boot and show the camera feed but give a “card error” no matter what SD card I install.

EBay

The seller wanted £10:00GBP for these three camcorder/cameras but I was not prepared to pay that, for what potentially could be three pieces of junk, only good for parts. So I cheekily put in a £4:00GBP bid that was accepted straight away, the seller really wanted rid of these, I suspect they are junk, we’ll just have to wait and see.

TTS IT00617 digital camcorders – displaying their faults

From the information I can find that is available online, these units are handed out to children partaking in key skills programs within schools, to use when recording project work they are completing as part of the school’s curriculum. From what information I can gather, it appears these units were introduced around 2014, as that’s when the instruction manual is dated. They may only be around 12 years old but I suspect they have had a very hard life in those few short years. Hence they are very probably knackered, mistreated, and may well be just junk. My expectations for these units are now very low. The company that produces these units – TTS appear to be based in Nottinghamshire, near me in the East Midlands, and specialise in supplying ICT equipment to primary schools. Here is all the information I could find regarding these units.

The TTS IT00617 is a 1080p Full HD digital camcorder and camera specifically designed for educational and outdoor use by TTS Group. It is often marketed for use in primary schools due to its rugged design and simple interface.

Core Specifications

Video Resolution: 1080p Full High Definition.

Still Image Quality: 5.0 Megapixel sensor.

Display: 2-inch TFT colour screen.

Zoom: 4x Digital Zoom.

Storage: Uses removable SD cards.

Connectivity: Includes HDMI and USB ports for connecting to computers or displays.

Power: Powered by a rechargeable Li-ion battery, which is user-replaceable.

Key Features

Rugged Design: Built to be resistant and ideal for outdoor photography and video capture.

User-Friendly Interface: Often includes a built-in microphone and a touchscreen for easy navigation.

Educational Accessories: Retail packages typically include an installation CD, user manual, and necessary cables.

Google

I have managed to get hold of a user manual electronically, so I will download this and just go through the motions step by step when the units arrive. You never know one or two of them may just spring back into life if treated correctly. I doubt it, but it doesn’t hurt to have a little bit of optimism.

Let’s get an assessment done.

Assessment:

The cameras have arrived. I’ve carried out a very quick inspection and all three are dead to the world, so first things first, let’s try and get some power into them and then we can do a proper assessment. I must admit though, all three cameras are cosmetically in a very good condition.

All three cameras – two charging with red light visible

A switch on the side allows the USB charge port (also a data transfer port) to pop up and you just plug the unit into the socket of your choice, either a hub as I have, or into a port on your chosen computer device. When charging a red light shows on the rear of the camera at the side of the lens. This extinguishes once a full charge has been reached.

Two have reached a stage of full charge, one, the unit with the corrupted screen issue has not, and to check the battery, i have put this into one of the units that charged ok, to check if it is a battery issue or a unit issue.

It’s not a battery issue, in fact the faulty unit is charging its battery, so at least I know the charge circuit is working. It’s working in all units as I have removed all batteries and checked their voltages with the multimeter. The battery rating is 3.7v and they all currently hold a charge between 4.16v and 4.19v and that shows that they are all quite healthy.

All testing done, and now with an idea of the issues, let’s move into repair mode.

Repair:

The original posting stated that two of these units had “Card error” faults no matter what SD card was used, and one had a corrupted display screen.

I can definitely confirm that one unit does have a corrupted screen, and this is the same unit that was having the charging issues mentioned above.

You will see in the pictures above, that I believe the screen is actually ok, yes the output is corrupted, however the start up screen or the waiting screen show no such display errors. I suspect there is an issue with the actual camera module, so I will have to open this one up to investigate further. The on off button allows you to turn this unit on, however you can’t power off. You have to remove the battery to close the unit down. This is obviously another issue that requires further investigation.

The other two units with the “Card error” fault have each had a 1Gb SD card installed and no such error occurs. Well, to be honest, it actually only happened once, briefly on one unit, when I inserted a fresh card. It then asked me to format, which I did and then it was all normal, that’s all it required. I don’t know what type of card the seller was using, maybe they just did not format the SD cards, but as it stands the stated problem is non existent in these two units.

With the two working units I am able to video, and take still photographs, they are working fine, there are no issues and I will display a small video and some pictures below in the result section. Don’t expect quality, it really is quite a basic system. I need to do nothing to these two units now, as they are working fine.

We now need to turn our attention the one failed unit with the corrupted screen, and power on and off issues. I’ve opened the unit up and had to use my microscope on this one as there was nothing obvious on inspection.

I detached the ribbon cable and removed the screen, I then repositioned it and again turned it on with the same result. I’m confident the screen is ok, it now looks like it could be an issue on the board.

I’ve now started to inspect the components at a magnified level, as some of these components are honestly a quarter the size of a grain of rice, they really are minuscule. The on/off button appears to be ok, it is covered in a dollop of rubber gunk that they use during production to protect parts of the circuitry, it’s all over this board. Having located the camera, I’ve now started to do some testing on the components surrounding it, and there is a short circuit detected on a small capacitor, and the four or five other capacitors surrounding it. I removed two of these capacitors and the short still remained, and that’s when I noticed the chipset sitting directly above it.

On the screen I was now looking at an SPCA1628A-HL141 integrated circuit. This circuit is heavily used in cameras, digital video devices, and image processing equipment due to its image processing capabilities. And with the amount of failed components around it, I very much suspect this component is carrying the fault, it needs replacement, however as this entire unit has only cost me around £1:30, I don’t believe it’s financially viable to pay around £5:00 for a replacement chip, costing more than the combined three units. It’s just not worth it, and the gain from its repair would not match the outlay, it’s just not worth repairing.

Therefore this unit is going to be dismantled for spare parts, I have a battery, a battery control unit, a camera, an SD card holder, an LED screen and numerous other parts and screws that are far more valuable to me for future use. Very little will be wasted. What is disposed of will be recycled.

So we have one failure but we have two perfectly good working units. Two out of three ain’t bad. (I’m sure that’s a song!) – it is, Meatloaf – I believe, good tune!

Result:

So here’s a few pictures and a couple of small videos taken with the two working units.

Photos taken with the units, one in top left was taken with the phone of the two units

Small video of the two units playing back videos

The overall quality is between atrocious and very poor, but I guess for the purpose of school kids documenting activities it suits just fine. The video is on par with what you would have seen on phones of the Nokia era, maybe early to mid 2000s. The pictures in the right light settings are not too bad, but you do get more bad than good.

What can I use this for? God knows, it would be ok for doing a basic journal with, something to film a rehearsal situation with prior to using the good gear and doing it properly.

To be honest, I’ve a couple of young relations under the age of ten in Devon who might like these just to fool about with when they are out playing. At £1:30 per unit they couldn’t buy a decent pack of sweets for that, and this would cause less dental decay 😂

Anyway, it’s a good fix, more saved from landfill, so in my eyes the job is a good one👍

Thanks for passing by. It’s very much appreciated.

HP Jornada 540 Series PDA Pocket PC

I have two faulty pocket PC units that I can hopefully combine into a “Frankenstein” unit. Can we get at least one of them working again?

What the listing stated….mostly AI produced I guess?

Untested, no charger, docking station only by Hewlett Packard

32MB Jornada PDA 540 Series Pocket PC Windows & Docking is a highly functional device that comes with some amazing features. This device is perfect for individuals who desire a highly efficient PDA Series. The device is sold as untested and is compatible with the Windows operating system. The brand of this device is HP, which is a well-known brand in the tech industry. The PDA Series is HP Jornada and it comes with an installed memory (RAM) of 16 MB. The display size (pixels) and screen type are unknown, but it has a model number of 540. This device comes with a docking station that allows ease of use for individuals.

EBay

And this is my original old 540 (548) Jornada.

I just know this is going to be a challenge, and to be honest i will have two of these when this one arrives. This is the 16 mb version, released in Mid 2000, currently aged at around 26 years old. I’ve had a dead one sitting in one of my junk drawers for a couple of years now and I though it would be a good challenge to get at least one of them working again, another one of my Frankenstein projects if you must. I have no charger for these, the chargers are priced at a premium with the online pirate community, (Robbing swines!) so I will just have to make do. At least with the docking station that this unit has I have somewhere to start from. I suspect both batteries will be dead so I may have to use some jiggery pokery to get some power into their circuits to see if we can get any signs of life.

It’s safe to say at 0.5mA my old units 3.7v battery is very dead

But whilst we await the arrival of this unit, here is a little bit about this PDA:

The Jornada was a line of personal digital assistants or PDAs manufactured by Hewlett-Packard. The Jornada was a broad product line that included Palm-Size PCs, Handheld PCs, and Pocket PCs. The first model was the 820, released in 1998, and the last was the 928 model in 2002 when Compaq and HP merged. The Jornada line was then succeeded by the more popular iPAQ model PDAs. All Jornada models ran Microsoft Operating Systems that were based on Windows CE.

Jornada 540 series

The HP Jornada 540 series, including models 545, 547, and 548, was released in July 2000. As one of the original Pocket PC platforms, it featured a 12-bit color display, 32MB RAM, and USB connectivity running Windows CE 3.0.

The Jornada 540 series was one of the original models of Pocket PC, when the platform was first announced. Sharing the Operating System, CPU and memory card slot of the 520 series, it featured a 12-bit display (originally advertised as 16-bit display) and USB connectivity. Two models were made available that were identical except for the amount of RAM. The 545 had 16 MB RAM and the 548 had 32 MB RAM.

Wikipedia

Assessment:

The old one I originally had is in fairly good condition, only displaying age related wear and tear. It has its original touch pencil, and is pretty much all there. Its battery (a 3.7v Li-ion) is very dead though (see pictures above) I have no means at present to see if I can charge the battery.

I have however found a charging alternative that will not break the bank. I have found a chap in Germany called Edgar, that runs a business selling cables and peripherals for older units, as well as more up to date systems, his shop is in Hannover and his company is: systemhauszakaria.com. I have managed to get a USB charging unit called a System-S USB Charging cable, that has the connectors required for this unit, and being a USB cable I can use a suitable plug for the mains supply , if required.

The cable includes a data transfer cable that also fits the unit, however my main task is to try and get some power into these units.

Let’s give it a go.

I’ve used the new lead, left the unit on and monitored it for about 90mins, and it does appear to be taking a charge. An Orange light indicates that charging is taking place.

The unit displays as 100% charged with the charging lead in. when disconnected it drops to about 50% but within a couple of seconds it shows as 100% again, this could be a time delay of some sort whilst switching to the battery circuit.

At this point I thought it would be worth getting the back off again, to check the battery charge. If you remember earlier in this post, this old unit that had sat unused in my desk for the last couple of years and when last tested the battery was dead at about 0.5mA. However this is a transformation, as when the battery was now tested its voltage was 4.09v. Now, a 3.7v Li-ion battery such as this should have a max charge voltage of 4.2v, so in theory this battery is in quite good condition considering its age. There may be a little deterioration, however considering this battery is possibly 26 years old it’s held up very well.

The unit will be left for a while to see how the charge holds. 10hrs later, untouched and off charge, I can confirm the power is still indicating 100%, this pleases me as it shows the battery is still good and has a good life inside of it. Very pleasing for what is potentially a 26 year old battery.

The new unit has now arrived and I’m surprised it got here after being posted in a couple of old carrier bags, no padding just a couple of old bags. I suspect the seller wanted it off his hands, they probably had little faith in it ever working again.

However, despite this, the actual unit appears to be in quite a good condition. It’s free from dinks and scratches and both the unit and the charging cable appear to be in a good order.

Now, the good thing is that both these units have their original touch pencils. This cradle has a cable connected to it and a USB socket, however that USB socket is for data transfer and not charging. To charge, the new System-S USB cable has to be connected in line. The cradle will then charge. And it looks as if it is doing just that.

This time i have connected the new unit and cradle to a Power bank charger to see if this works, and it appears to be doing just that. It drained the power bank quite quickly, it only half charged, I’ll have to put it back on the household power tomorrow to fully charge it and check its battery capacity.

Tomorrow has arrived and the unit has been on charge for a couple of hours and it is indicating as fully charged. Back on the bench with the back off I can confirm the battery charge is reading at 4.08v so it is pretty much the same reading as the other unit.

New unit and cradle with power bank charger

These two units are both of the 540 series however the newer one that came with the cradle has only 16MB of memory (The 545) whereas my older one (The 548) has 32MB of memory. It appears that HP created three variants in the 540 range and I now have two of them. The 545 had 16 MB RAM and the 548 had 32 MB RAM, the one that escapes me, the 547 was also a 32MB variant. (I’m going to have to get one now just to complete the set)

Repair:

Less of a repair and more of a resurrection to be fair. I said it would be a Frankenstein project, and that’s exactly what it has been. Both units have charged well despite my concerns, they have been charged in a monitored environment and neither are showing signs of overheating, irregularities or any battery swelling or other issues. The battery management system on both batteries seems to be doing its job, and doing it very well.

I’m going to use this section to test some of the functions, to look at the installed program package and at the same time monitor battery usage along the way.

And as with all my projects, a thorough clean of the units is going to be carried out, it’s just got to be done.

But first I’m going to leave these units for a few days to see if the batteries drain.

Three days later it’s good to see that when turned on, both units are holding a similar, slightly discharged reading that is to be expected. I’m pleased at this, and it appears that both batteries are holding out well and working very well after a long period of inactivity.

Left again for a couple of more days and both units are now prompting me to accept that the UK has now turned to daylight saving time, (as it has) and this is another good sign that shows that all is working as it should be.

What am going to do with these units? Please don’t ask me that as I just don’t know. I’m probably just going to use them for note taking, maybe for a to do list for my work room, but in reality they will probably just get stored in a sealed bag with some silica bags to keep them dry, until I either move them on or find another use for them.

The package originally installed on these units consisted of the following:

Microsoft Pocket PC Suite: Pocket Outlook (Calendar, Contacts, Tasks, Inbox), Pocket Word, Pocket Excel, Windows Media Player (for audio/video), and Pocket Internet Explorer.
HP Productivity Tools: HP Home Menu, HP Task Switcher, HP Image Viewer, HP Backup, and HP Emergency Backup.
Third-Party & Utilities: LandWare OmniSolve Calculator, Developer One CodeWallet Pro (for passwords), AvantGo (for offline web browsing), and PeaceMaker (for infrared contact exchange).

One item I wanted to test is the infrared transfer ability between units. I’ve made a small file within the word program, set one unit to transmit on infrared and the other to receive. On sending the file, this task worked fine.

The transfer worked however both units have to be within a very close line of sight to do so, it just shows how much file transferring has moved on within the last 25 years or so. We have been spoilt.

These units are both working fine.

Result:

There are many uses listed for these units online including MP3 players and television controls. However, I think using as a to do list for my workspace is probably the most appropriate usage for me. I need organisation in my life, so what if I’m using technology from quarter of a century ago.

Why not?

Two perfectly good items saved from landfill.

Small victory, and that’s good enough for me.

Many thanks for passing by. It’s always very much appreciated.

PS5 DualSense controllers

When the youngsters of the clan, drop surprise repairs on you at family gatherings.

It’s great when one of the youngsters of the clan come up to you at a family gathering and greet you thus, “Oi, uncle Dave, have a look at this for us will you?” and then they just disappear into the crowd as I’m now holding a couple of items I’ve never been exposed to before, in this instance a pair of Playstation 5 Dual sense controllers. (I had to google to find out what they were!)

Apparently they don’t work, or are having difficulties, and it’s now down to me to find out what’s wrong.

Now I’m not a gamer in the true sense of the word. I like, and have repaired and own a good few hand held devices that have been featured within these blog pages, but I do not own a console, I never have. However I’m lucky in that I know a few people who do have these consoles, who I can go to and test how they are behaving, but the good thing is that these controllers can also be tested without a games console and just require a computer with a USB port, and I do have one of them, a clever move by the manufacturer me thinks.

First thing I did here was to plug them in to a USB supply to charge the onboard battery. Each one has a 3.7v rechargeable battery that should give between 6-12 hrs of activity depending on how vigorously the unit is being used. When charging it glows on and off orange until it is charged and then the glowing just stops. Both these units took about 2.5 hrs to fully charge, and they seem to both be holding a good charge seeing one of them, the black version has not been used for some time.

Let’s get them connected up to a PC.

A simple good quality USB cable is the communication method between the controller and the PC. Next, you go to the address: https://dualshock-tools.github.io and here is where you will be doing those checks on the controller that sits in your hand. Seeing I don’t really know what’s wrong with the controllers I have been trusted with, I think this is the best place for me to start my investigation as the site does do some good, and thorough testing.

I have two controllers to check so I start by plugging in the Black controller, clicking connect on the screen gets access into the memory of your controller and all the firmware detail and build date is displayed in front of you. Cool!

Just under where this information is displayed we enter the first series of tests, a bank of 8 basic function tests that check all bells and whistles (as such) are operating as they should. This Black controller passed all these tests with flying colours.

The checks are thus:

USB controller: here the connection is tested a simple pass or fail
Buttons: all buttons have to be continually pressed until they turn green on the screen, a simple pass or fail
Adaptive trigger: the system puts a resistance on the two triggers representing various triggers on guns and switches experienced in various games, if there is suitable resistance here the result is a pass.
Haptic Vibration: this tests the vibration motors in the controller, if it’s working then it’s a pass
Lights: all lights on the controller are cycled through displaying the whole range. Simple pass or fail
Speaker: a tone is played through the built in speaker, a simple pass or fail.
Headphone jack: a simple test of the plugin headphone jack – pass or fail
Microphone: a simple test by blowing in the on board microphone checks if it’s working, a simple pass or fail.

And as stated the first controller, the black one has passed all of these tests. Impressive. The next tests are all centred around the two thumb pads, their return to centre position and their all around circular motion and their calibration.

The left pad was showing slightly off centre and I was able to make some minor adjustments via the program interface to correct this issue. The good news was that it is not a constant stick drift, and the mechanism does not require replacement, it is easily adjusted. With settings saved, disconnect the controller, reinstall it and re check the calibration and it should all be good. And it was. With minor adjustments made to this controller I am pleased to say it is working as it should, it is now repaired and will be heading back to its owner.

Now onto the second item, the white controller. I put this controller through the exact same testing protocol as the first one, all was going well until we got to the buttons section where this one failed. The down button on the left hand side of the controller is unresponsive, you can see this in the photos below

Failed button highlighted on Controller and screen

All other tests on this controller were fine. Again there was a little drift on the sticks that I was able to adjust and they are now both as central as they can be, operating well through their whole range. I will go through the repair and retesting of this pad in the section below the YouTube video that I have highlighted below.

A while ago, if your game pad was playing up, there wasn’t really a great deal you could do apart from replace the thumb controllers if you were experiencing issues such as a little stick drift (when a controller is moving on its own accord). A bad case of stick drift would require you to change the controller mechanism. However, some very intelligent people within the gaming community have put together a number of packages to test your game controllers, but the one mentioned in the video below has been a game changer as such, as it also allows adjustments to be made and saved and thus extending the life span of the components within, thus reducing the need to replace and dispose of those components prematurely. Have a look, it explains the testing protocols and checks them against other programs.

The whole testing procedure checked and compared with other testing programs

Repair and retest

It’s a simple enough activity to get inside of the controller, some clips, and four screws get you inside the package, getting beyond this though to the controller buttons where we need to be is a little bit more in depth. So here we go…

I’ve dismantled the controller as I said I would, initially the process requires four screws removing, after you first gently prise off the black decorative plastic surround as in the pictures below.

When you remove these screws the next task is to gently prise the two shells apart that then reveal the base of the controller

At this point the battery needs to be removed and that is a simple plug disconnection, the battery plate has a single screw in it that needs removing. Before you remove the battery plate there are four ribbon cables that need removing, if you don’t do these then you will probably tear them and need to replace them. Believe me, I have done this in the past and ruined the tiny microphone ribbon at the very front. It’s not expensive to repair, just an unnecessary expense. Don’t rush it. Another 3 screws removed and we can now take off the top cover and get to where we need to be.

Top removed exposing fault pad area to the left

As soon as the top was removed I could see the potential issue with the controller direction pads. The pads are a rubber base with a carbon pad that makes contact with the circuit board below. Sometimes a simple clean of these pads can be sufficient to regain a connection between the two, but in this case it was plain to see that the pads on both sides were both well worn and to be honest they both required replacement.

The two contact points ringed in red that were sufficiently worn

Normally a good clean with IPA will work

As stated I did give a clean to all contact points with a solution of IPA, reassembled and tested again with no change in performance, the fault remained. I will now need to purchase a new pad assembly and replace the film circuit board below them. Fortunately these are freely available and will cost no more than £6:60GBP to replace. And considering a new controller would cost at least £60:00GBP it’s worth the small investment to restore it.

I now just have to wait to receive these items and get them installed.

The items arrived just as in the photos above, and following the previous instructions to dismantle the unit, I have removed the old conductive film sheet and replaced this with the new one. I have also removed the silicone pads with the carbon inserts and these have also been replaced.

Now all I have to do once I have connected the ribbon cables is to get the outer shell back on the controller. Once this is done, I can log in and start the testing process once again, connect the controller to it and then commence a full test of its functionality.

And as you can see in the above photographs, this has been a successful outcome. Where the left hand side lower button had failed, the new conductive film has addressed the issue and this handset now has full functionality and is working as it should be.

Next I’m just going to do a re-calibration, to check that the sticks haven’t drifted in anyway. If we are in a good position, we can then class this repair as successful and then it can then be passed back to my nephew to carry on shooting aliens, and he can then continue his mission to save the world.

Result:

Two controllers have now been serviced and are both working well and within tolerance. They are about to be returned their owner so he can get them back into use, killing aliens and saving the world from a zombie apocalypse (or whatever he does with them)

Not having a lot of experience prior to receiving these two controllers, I was a little doubtful about where to start and what to check. However after reading up on them, and their operation, I was able to pick up a lot of advice and information regarding their manufacture and serviceability. I like to think that I’m well clued up on these items now as I can disassemble one in minutes, replace parts and reassemble without having any screws or parts left over ( Always a good sign 👍)

And to round things off I have now been given one of his friends controllers to repair as well, so I must be doing something right!

Thanks for passing by, as always it’s always very much appreciated.

Yashica 35 ME

An old Yashica camera from 1972 with a non functioning light meter. Time to get it back into a working condition.

I purchased two vintage point and shoot cameras, and this post is related to the Yashica 35 ME. Both cameras were purchased for the princely sum of £4:99GBP and that equates to roughly £2:50GBP each. Both cameras were sold with the following sales statement:

This bundle includes a Yashica 35 ME and Ricoh Auto 35, two vintage 35mm film cameras ideal for collectors or those seeking parts for repair projects.

These cameras are being sold as faulty and for parts or repair only. They have not been tested for functionality and may have issues with their mechanical or electronic components.

Cosmetically, both cameras may show signs of wear consistent with age and previous use, such as scuffs, scratches, or dust. No accessories, batteries, or additional items are included, only the two cameras as pictured.

EBay

Having purchased from this seller before, I suspect the cameras themselves are in perfect working order mechanically, but as one camera – the Ricoh, is from 1960 and now in its 66th year of existence, I very much suspect the issue would be with it’s Selenium light cell that is more than likely now very dead. The Yashica however is from 1972 and has a CdS light cell that could also be an issue, more than likely related to the old Mercury 1.3v battery that used to supply it. Either way, even without the light sensors both cameras are very capable of doing what they were built for, however you’d just have to use a separate light meter or use the “Sunny 16” rule. Let’s wait their arrival so we can asses the issue. You can read more regarding the types of light metering used on these two cameras by reading a recent post of mine regarding their differences Photographic light sensors in older point and shoot cameras

Some more photos from the seller:

Whilst we await their arrival here is a little bit about the Yashica 35 ME:

The Yashica 35-ME is a small, compact 35mm viewfinder camerawith auto exposure, made in Japan by Yashica, introduced c. March 1972.

It uses a 38mm f/2.8 lens made of 4 elements in 3 groups with a screw-in filter size of 46mm. The film speedis set using a ring around the lens, with the setting window on the bottom face of the lens. The metering system uses a CdS sensor with a sensitivity of 8 to 17 EV. The viewfinder has bright line frames with parallax correction marks for focus distance of 1.5 meters or closer. The shutter display scale is on the right of the finder has speed markings 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250 and 1/650 of second. Aperture scale is also displayed at 2.8, 4, 5.6, 8 and 14. The setting for the meter uses a pointer type indicator. Correct exposure is assured when the pointer is in the yellow areas of the scales. Also in the finder scale is over exposure, under exposure zones along with symbols of the selected zone focusing settings. The top plate carries the shutter release, hot shoe and frame counter.

Specifications

Lens: Yashica 38mm f2.8; zone and feet/metres scales

Shutter: Copal auto, speed set by metering, 1/30-1/650 sec.

Meter: CdS sensor

Film speed: 25 to 400 ASA

Flash: hot shoe, flash sync 1/25 of a sec.

Power: 1.3v mercury

Camera-wiki.org

It’s arrived, it has that familiar aroma of age old mustiness, but looks a nice item, in good condition for a camera that is now 50+ years old.

Assessment:

The case is quite tatty, but it does the job. The body is dusty but free of any dinks dents or scars. Inside the rear of the camera all is good, it’s clean and the light seals are ok. They will need replacing at some point, but currently they appear to be ok.

The winder works fine, the shutter fires and there is no sticking of the shutter leafs.

When you look through the viewfinder it’s a fairly clear view, however the exposure reading needle on the right is sitting firmly on the bottom of the scale. Moving the camera from light to dark makes no difference, the meter is not responsive. Let’s check the battery.

Repair:

The battery that was used is an LR44 cell rather than the old Mercury 1.3v cells that used to be installed on these cameras. They are hard to come by nowadays and people tend to go with the more modern LR44 cells that have a slightly higher voltage of 1.5v. They work, however some have stated that they notice a slight overexposure of about one stop, personally I haven’t really had issues when I have made these battery changes in the past. Each to their own as they say.

The battery currently in place was dead so I tried a new battery to no avail. When I opened the battery chamber again I then noticed some oxidation of the contacts, so a quick clean with some contact cleaner and they looked a lot different.

A new battery back in place, and hey presto the light meter is now working.

I’ve given a good disinfectant clean. Buffed up the case to make the best of a bad thing, and it all looks good. The only thing I can do now is run some film through it to give it a final test. I have some old out of date colour film at home, so I will use one of these to run a test roll. As I stated at the beginning there is not really a lot that can go wrong with these point and shoots, and I’m confident that the only issue was with the exposure meter as everything else seems to be fine. let’s get that film run through the camera to check things out.

I’ve taken the film out of the fridge. It’s a roll of Kodak Gold 200ASA film, and it’s only 20 years out of date. I’ve tested a roll of this before, you can see that post here: 20yr old Kodak Gold.

The results won’t be anything spectacular, it will be grainy, it will have a colour cast and in fact might not even work at all. After this period of time the sensitively Will have dropped so I’m going to over expose this roll by one stop to attempt to compensate a bit. This 200ASA film will be exposed on this occasion at 100ASA. When I’ve exposed this it will be off to a local film developer- Classic photo supplies – for them to do the developing and scanning. Read this post regarding my rationale behind using this film: 3..2..1 – 20yrs out of date.

Result:

Well, the scans of the developed film have arrived back and it has proven a couple of things, one that the camera does actually work and two, that the film has definitely reached its limits, as the negatives show immense grain, and a colour cast due to the chemical structure of the film breaking down. I’m glad I only overexposed by one stop, I know that the recommended +2 stops would have been too much for this film. Below I have displayed a selection of pictures from this film, you can see the age related “colour cast” along with grain size if you zoom in. These aren’t the high quality pictures as the originals came back at about 30mpx each, and that would be far too high a resolution to show on this site, and I’d probably use up all of my photo allowance as well. So here are the greatly reduced results of those scans.

To be totally honest if you switch to B/W in editing mode, all the pictures come out fine and are completely presentable and maybe that’s the way to go with the next batch, don’t bother trying to get a good colour balance as that will never be achievable, just display in good old black and white, you can’t go wrong.

So the camera works, and this one will now be put aside until I decide how I’m going to move it on. It’s such a basic camera, the distance selections are questionable, but that’s just a remnant of the 70s technology behind it. It’s a good little point and shoot, but I do believe the likes of the Olympus trip totally outshone all other competitors in the point and shoot category.

Job done. Another old camera saved from the scrap heap, and given a new lease of life, and it probably took no more than 10 minutes to get it back in working order.

Thanks for passing by, it’s very much appreciated.

Canon power winder “A”

A very corroded Canon power winder “A” from the 70s

This is what it looks like externally, looks fine, but as this post goes on, you will notice a very marked deterioration in quality. It’s a horror story of battery acid contamination.

This unit is part of a bundle that was donated to me by my good friend Jon, see here: Cameras…i need more!

It was part of a Canon AE1 combo, the Camera i have previously posted about here: Canon AE1 35mm SLR, however the batteries within it had been left for such a long time that they had started to dissolve into the unit, leaving quite a restoration project behind. Here’s some history about this unit:

The Canon Power Winder A was originally introduced with the Canon AE-1 camera in 1975 but it also can be used with all the A series models (in fact, it is applicable to use the Winder A with the professional class Canon F-1(n) system SLR camera but without power rewind feature). It is an automatic film winder which greatly increases the automation and mobility of these manual focus cameras. Its exceptional versatility, due to its compact design provided by the principal control circuit built into the electronic circuitry with most of the electronic models such as AE-1, A-1 or AE-1 Program etc, and allows it to be attached to any models mentioned earlier and provides for its use without any special adjustments.

Winding Speed: Approximately 0.5 seconds.
Operation: When the shutter button on the AE-1 is pressed, the winder will function.
Shutter Speed Coupling Range: 1/50 to 1/1000 second for continuous photography. “B”, or 2 to 1/1000 second for single frame photography. (When the winder is set at “B”, AE photography cannot be performed).
Film Counting: Is performed by the frame counter on the AE-1.
Automatic Cut off Circuit: When the film roll is completely wound up or if the batteries should run out, the winder will automatically stop and the warning lamp (LED) will light up.
Power Source: Use 4 size AA batteries. (In normal temperatures they can take more than twenty rolls of 36-exposure film).
Attachment: Take off the winder coupler cover on the bottom of the camera, and mount the power winder using the tripod socket.
Size: 141 x 42 x 34mm (5-9/16″ x 1-5/8″ x 1-5/16″)
Weight: 3009 (including batteries) (10.9/16 ozs.)

Mir.com

I already have one of these winders on my A1 that I am currently repairing, however that’s away in storage at the moment until I get get my workspace back up and running when we eventually move home.

Im aware that these winders can take a max of two exposures per second if the lighting and conditions are right, meaning you could crack out a 36 exposure roll of film in under 20 seconds! They don’t do auto rewind either, you still have to do it manually, it would be a couple of years yet before that option became available. The red light on the case indicates one of two things, the battery is low, or the end of the roll has been reached, time to rewind!

They are quite reasonably priced if I wanted to buy one, but why would I do that? The purpose of this site is to repair and recycle, so that’s what I will attempt to do. It will be quite a task with this one I think.

Assessment:

As stated above, and from the outside, all looks well.

Outside, cosmetically, no signs of a problem

However there are a couple of giveaways that alert you to the immediate issue. Firstly there is an aroma, a kind of metallic musty smell that instantly alerts you to “Corrosion”. Secondly near the switch there are some “blue” granular stains that confirm corrosion.

We start to open up and find signs that all is not well

It’s pointless even putting batteries in here yet as they will not work, the damage is too extensive for the batteries to work. To be honest we now need to do a good clean and decontamination before we can even start to look at the extent of the contamination.

Repair:

First we have no choice but to get rid of the corrosion, this will involve brushes, a pencil grinder, and copious amounts of isopropyl alcohol. Let’s get started.

I attack the contact end of the winder with a sonic brush and some IPA. After about 10 minutes and multiple applications, using a small scraping tool i was able to remove the corrosion that had started to eat away at the chrome on the contacts, a small rub with some fine sanding paper restored the metal as best I could. I’m not going too over the top here as the corrosion could have well gone past this point into the internal workings, I’ll tidy up once I can get it working as it should.

The battery compartment was cleaned using a similar process. However the contact end that used to have springs mounted for the batteries, have all rotted and the springs have had to be removed. I will replace the springs later, it’s not required for testing purposes just yet. All this contamination and blue staining has to be removed completely, if you leave contamination behind, it can start to attack the unit again at a later date, take your time and ensure you get as much off as you can. Clean, clean and clean again. It’s a boring part of the process but essential for long term results.

With everything cleaned and left to dry, I put some power across the winder power contacts and nothing happens. No noise, not any sign of clicking or of any movement at all. Just as previously feared i think the corrosion has gone further. Let’s get it opened.

Leatherette removed to access internally

And as expected the corrosion has made its way inside, the picture above shows a wire at the contact point rotted due to corrosion, in fact the second wire fell off just after removal, the contamination has eaten the cables and is rotting the connections. The good news is that it seems that the issue hasn’t gone beyond these contacts.

I’ve now cleaned and polished the contacts at the rear in preparation for being re soldered, the issue here is that I may have to extend the cables slightly as they are quite short. This may aid my testing of the unit prior to reassembly, let’s wait and see.

I have now soldered both contacts back into position, without any extra wire, hell, it was really fiddly and I doubt it would be able to be opened again without these wires being extended a bit further. I have also thoroughly cleaned throughout the internal workings removing all signs of contamination. I have reassembled the unit and it now sits in one piece. I have taken a dentist tool to further scrape down the contact point within the battery barrel area.

Further cleaning of the contact in the battery barrel area

Using a little wire wool and IPA to clean the area I now have two good points of contact. Using the multimeter confirms we have continuity over the contacts that we didn’t have previously.

Reading the section above, you will remember that I had to remove the two springs on the battery case as they had totally corroded and broken away. I have some new ones but they are in storage, so for now I will just have to compromise until I can get to the new ones and solder them in place. Here I just obtained an old spring from a waste metal box, split it in two, added a small washer one end for the positive contact and just left the other as it was. Both springs were put in place, just being held there by the four AA batteries. As I stated this is purely for testing purposes and will be corrected once I have confirmed the unit works.

The battery holder was attached and then switched on. Nothing. Then I remembered I have to simulate the signal from the camera and this can be done by putting a metal short across the two raised pins at the power switch end. This worked, and the motor did its quick burst as expected. See the small video below.

The winder, now working. And shorting the pins to simulate the cameras signal

I’m pleased with this, as all the work I have done has been worthwhile. I just need to get the new springs soldered in place, give the whole unit a thorough final clean, ensure the leatherette that was removed is stuck back down and that the on off indicator is stuck back into place. And then we can put it onto the Canon AE1 to see if it works as it should.

On / Off switch plate glued back in place

Today I have taken out the battery spring connector and I am about to put the new spring contacts in place. I’ve found even more corrosion behind this plate so this will need to be cleaned before reassembly.

More corrosion found behind the battery spring contact plate

I’ve now fixed the new permanent springs in place, they wouldn’t solder so I’ve had to use a combination of using the old clips that were originally there and weaving the spring though the holes where some clips used to be but had corroded away. Either way it has worked well and both springs are quite solid, and don’t look out of place at all, they probably look better than the originals.

With the battery pack contamination removed I can now reinstall the battery contact back into place.

I know that the pack works, and now the final touches have been added, this winder is now back into a good working order, and fit to go back to work doing what it was originally designed to do.

Result:

This is an item you can readily buy on the auction sites at a very reasonable, some would say even very cheap price.

The complete, cleaned and reassembled, working winder

Is it worth the repair you say? Well yes, it is. The trouble is, it is so easy to throw stuff away these days, that in reality, can be given an extended life and purpose for pretty much no cost apart from your time and patience. On top of that, getting these items apart and reassembling them is a great learning circle, and you can never stop Learning. You are preserving the past, and that’s always a good thing.

A very brief video showing it working

As you can see above in this small video I have taken today, here I have my Canon AT-1 with the winder attached, doing what it is meant to do and sounding so retro with that motorised winding sound. Don’t you just love it? I most certainly do.

Thanks for passing by. It’s always very much appreciated.

Canon Speedlite 199A flashgun

Can I bring a dead Canon 199a flashgun back to life? You betcha!

I love working with flashguns, but believe me they are highly dangerous and potentially deadly pieces of kit, once you get under the skin otherwise known as its protective casing. I inherited this one from a good friend of mine who is a professional photographer, the post regarding what he passed on to me can be found here: Cameras…i need more!

Now please do not go delving into the back of these things unless you know what you are doing. Yes they might only be powered by 6-9v of power from your batteries, however in the process of getting to the point where they unleash a lightning flash for your photographic opportunity, they have passed through a component called a flash capacitor, this component greatly amplifies the voltage from that measly 6-9v from your batteries up to what is now between 3-400v for the flash. Yes, you read right right, 400 VOLTS.

That can kill, and if it doesn’t, you have been very fortunate, but you will probably bear an entry and exit burn where you made contact with that very component. If it goes across both hands it’s probably going to go right through that pump in your chest that keeps you alive – your heart, and that can be fatal. You have been warned – take heed!

I must admit I’ve done something here I don’t usually do, and that is clean before searching for the problem. This unit had two or three old company stickers on it that I have now removed. I then gave it a quick clean and a buff and I must admit it has come up very well. I will give it another clean when i have finished, as well as a final polish with some cockpit cleaner.

Production of this flash unit commenced in 1978 for use with the Canon “A” range of cameras that were being produced around this time. It can also be used with some other camera ranges. Before we get into exactly what is wrong with this specific unit, let’s look at some information regarding the spec of this flashgun:

The Canon Speedlite 199A is a dedicated, thyristorized flash unit designed for operation with Canon “A” series cameras. The Speedlite 199A features a high Guide Number of 98 with ISO 100 film, three automatic flash ranges plus Manual and automatic bounce flash capability. The most powerful shoe-mount Speedlite in the Canon line, the 199A is recommended for use with the Canon A-1 or any “A” series camera with motor drive or Power Winder A due to its high power and very rapid recycling time.

Technical Specification: –

Type: High-powered shoe-mount flash; automatic, thyristor type
Guide Number: 98 (ISO 100, feet), 60 w/wide adaptor
Recycling Time: 10 seconds with Alkaline-Manganese batteries 6 seconds w/Ni-Cd batteries
Number of Flashes: 100- 1000 w/Alkaline-Manganese batteries 50-500 w/Ni-Cd batteries
Auto Flash Ranges: 3
Auto Apertures: (ISO 100) Red-f/2.8 Green-f/5.6 Yellow-f/11
Bounce:Yes
Flash Coverage: For 35 mm format, covers angle of view of 35 mm lens; covers 24 mm w/adaptor
Color Temperature: Daylight
Power Source: 4 “AV size Alkaline or Ni-Cd batteries
Dimensions: 3-1/8 x 3-1/4 x 4-1/2 in.
Weight: 1 lb., 1-5/16 oz.

Mir.com

Asssesment:

As you can see in the photos above, and as I stated at the beginning, I’ve gone arse about face on this one and cleaned it prior to diagnosing what the actual issue is. Please forgive me as I was in a cleaning mood at the time, and if I’m in that mood everything gets cleaned.

It runs off of four AA type batteries that fit in to a cassette that sits in the side of the unit. All contacts are clean and there is no sign of any battery leakage. You can see the cartridge in the photos above. The flash unit comes in a Canon branded leatherette pouch that is in absolutely perfect condition. Inside the pouch is a diffuser / wide angle lens that slides over the actual flash head. The whole unit looks fantastically clean and tidy, with no signs at all of any damage or wear.

Put the batteries in though, and turn on the switch. And nothing. It’s dead. Kaput.

With these old flash units you were always used to hearing that family high pitched whistle when you turned it on. That was the system telling you that the capacitor inside was taking a charge and getting ready for business. Over time, the capacitor can loose its effectiveness, it semi retires if you like, and on occasions it retires fully, it dies a death. I very much suspect this is what could possibly have happened here, I just hope ours is in a deep sleep and can be woken up.

So as we move on to what we are going to do, the only issue here is that it’s simply not accepting a charge, and we will then discuss the two options on how we may now breathe life into this geriatric flash gun.

One thing that always annoys me when I search for possible ways of approaching the repair, is the attitude of people who have grown use to us all being consumer driven, the attitude stinks. These units can be purchased for very small amounts now and they loudly advise,”Just buy a cheap replacement and throw that one away!” This annoys me as you well know, because that’s not what this site is about, if I can repair something, no matter how inexpensive it is, I will. There is no need for this continuous throw away attitude. It’s a good way to learn just how things work.

Rant over, let’s move on….

Repair:

One of the easiest and least invasive, and therefore safest ways to start investigations, to look for a remedy, is to first get a nice fresh batch of alkaline batteries. With these in place within the unit, turn the flash power switch on and just leave it like that for anywhere between 2-8 hours. It has been known in the past, to act like a trickle charge as that flash capacitor has not been active for god knows how many years, it kind of revives it. It sometimes works, more often than not it doesn’t. But it’s worth giving it a try. So here goes. If this doesn’t work then our only other option is to get the unit opened up and to replace that beast of a flash capacitor.

I’m just coming off of a night shift and will shortly be heading off to bed, what better time to try this method out. So I’ll see you in a few hours 👋

And so the wait begins. Fresh batteries in place and turned on at 06:20….

I’ve arisen from my pit about five hours later, and what do you know….

Well, it’s only gone and bloody well worked hasn’t it?

Sometimes it’s the simplest of procedures that can bring old equipment back to life, and when the fix is non invasive, going no where near those dangerous internal components, it can only be a good thing can’t it? And to think this was just placed in a box for disposal. Well it’s got a new lease of life now.

It really is working

I’m really pleased with this so let’s move on to the final stages and get this little beauty polished and presented.

Result:

And yes it is a result, a result of patience and perseverance and thinking outside of the box as they say, in office inspired corporate management speak.

In a number of these “repairs” it’s best to exhaust all other options prior to getting the screwdrivers out, just like a surgeon explores all options prior to getting the knives out. I’m in no way comparing myself to a surgeon, you wouldn’t want me anywhere near you with a scalpel! I’m just using it as a pretty poor comparison, so I guess it’s best I shut up now and just get on with whatever I’m supposed to be doing.

So that’s another little repair put to bed, and another piece of electrical detritus pulled from the arms of the scrap man. I always feel a great sense of accomplishment when I mange to get these old bits of kit working again. It frightens me to think just how much salvageable tech equipment gets discarded when it could quite easily have its life extended with the minimal amount of intervention.

My plan is to add this flash to my Canon “A” series collection as that is what it was originally designed for. And I may well add a link here, when I get to use it whilst testing any new “A” series cameras that just happen to come my way, as they invariably do, that require my attention.

As always, thanks for passing by. It’s always most appreciated.

Metz 45 CT-1 Flash gun

I was given a professional flashgun with a number of issues. Let’s get it fixed.

Now please do not go delving into the back of these things unless you know what you are doing. Yes they might only be powered by 6-9v of power from your batteries, however in the process of getting to the point where they unleash a lightning flash for your photographic opportunity, they have passed through a component called a capacitor, that greatly amplifies the voltage from that measly 6-9v from your batteries up to what is now between 3-400v for the flash. Yes, you read right, 400 VOLTS.

That can kill, and if it doesn’t, you have been very fortunate, but will probably bear an entry and exit burn where you made contact with that very component. You have been warned – take heed!

Here’s a little about this flashgun. They were manufactured circa 1979.

The Metz 45 CT-1 is a classic, powerful handle-mount flash gun known for its “hammerhead” design, high light output, and versatile features like a swivel and tilt head. It was a popular and durable accessory for professional photographers.

Key Features

Guide Number: The flash has a high guide number of 45 metres at ISO 100, indicating powerful light output.

Exposure Control: It features an analog control display and offers five different “tele-computer” automatic aperture settings, allowing for easy exposure control in automatic mode.

Versatility: The flash head can swivel and tilt, allowing for bounce flash techniques to achieve softer, more flattering light. It also includes a built-in wide-angle diffuser.

Compatibility: The 45 CT-1 is a non-dedicated flash with a standard sync cable connection, making it universally compatible with many cameras, both film and digital (with caveats).

Power Source: It typically uses a rechargeable NiCad battery pack or a holder for 6x AA batteries.

Durability: Known for its robust, professional construction.

Google

Assessment:

To be honest on first receiving this unit, you didn’t know what was coming, but you could certainly smell it. Within the box the smell of battery corrosion was heavy. It’s a hard smell to describe but once you have dealt with it you know what’s coming, and this smelt really heavy.

The smell was coming from two battery pods that play in to the base of the flashgun arm. Thankfully they had been kept separately, and their spread of “Corrosion” was not able to get to the main unit.

The main unit itself had a problem in that the head was floppy, unable to be at any other angle than straight up or, flat down and nothing in between, and something was rattling about inside of it.

So bearing in mind my sermon at the start of this post, I gloved up, armed myself with my capacitor discharge probe and cracked the unit open.

Repair:

Straight in at the head of the unit and I went in search of my nemesis. The charge capacitor. And it wasn’t that hard to find. Sitting there all inoffensive and bright yellow, it was rated at 360 volts. As I had put a small load on it earlier to test its operation it was sitting there still holding a charge of 260 volts, needless to say I made sure this was discharged before I commenced any work in the area.

The “Knuckle” that the head pivots on is just behind the capacitor, so it made sense to discharge it.

The piece that was rattling about was relevant to the reason the head wasn’t able to pivot, it was once part of a rectangular washer that had a serrated side that would mesh up against the head that was also serrated to create a clicking action to angle the head at any point between zero and ninety degrees.

As parts for these had ceased production years back it was time to improvise.

Here is the setup as it was originally.

You will see a chrome bolt, that has a spring along its length that would have applied pressure on the mesh washer that is now broken, allowing the head to click into varying angles. To make up for this I have now added a washer on either end so the spring no longer gets depressed, and where the old mesh washer used to be I have now added two small “crinkle” washers that should now take over where the mesh washer was originally placed. the washer at the other end prevents too much compromise, allowing more pressure to be added at the securing end with out damage to the plastic frame.

Washers either end as well as two more internally

I’ve tried moving the head and although there isn’t the clicking now, the head does remain in position, whatever angle it is placed in. There is free movement around all axis, and the head stays where it is placed. I’m happy this has been repaired in that sense. Let’s get the casing back on.

The next issue is the corrosion issue. Below you will see before and after photos, all that was used here was an old tooth brush, cotton buds, tooth picks and isopropyl alcohol. And a lot of time and patience

Once these were cleaned, I used a multimeter to check their continuity and all seemed fine. A final clean with some antibacterial cleaner has left them looking and smelling a lot sweeter than when they first arrived.

A very brief video showing its operation.

One minute of unadulterated flashing

And with that, apart from a good old polish I think we are done here.

Result:

And doesn’t she look gorgeous after a good Polish?

This flash was really destined for the dump, and has now been given a new lease of life. Perfectly usable, in a very good condition and a lovely piece of photographic history. I’m so pleased with how this project has gone and so proud of myself for saving yet another classic item from landfill.

Thank you so much for passing by, as always you know it is very much appreciated.

Canon EOS 500N

A nice entry level camera, from the mid 90s, now back in working order

Here I have a very basic, entry level camera made by Canon. Produced between 1996-9 this camera is currently between 26 – 29 years old. These cameras don’t have the traditional identification number printed within the film spool holder that the older cameras had, hence the precise manufacturing date is difficult to confirm.

This is a camera passed onto me by a good friend and professional photographer, Jon, as can be seen in this post: Cameras…i need more!

I believe this camera was previously used by a large photographic organisation, to teach staff and students wishing to learn traditional 35mm film photography techniques. It was a training camera, at entry level specs.

It is a very good example of this model of camera, and despite its simplicity, low cost appearance and feel, it is in a very good condition cosmetically.

Here’s a little information about this camera:

The Canon EOS 500N is also known as the EOS Rebel G in the Americas or the New EOS Kiss in Japan. Sometimes it’s referred to as the EOS Kiss 2 as it followed the release of the EOS Kiss in Japan. This camera was released in 1996 and replaced the EOS 500. The Japanese version of the camera had the date back as standard. Its successor was the EOS-300 / REBEL2000 / Kiss III, released in 1999.

The body of the Rebel G is plastic, weighing 370 g (13 oz). The only colors available were black or a mix of silver and black. The Rebel G has an EF lens mount making it compatible with any EF lens. The viewfinder offers a 0.7x magnification, 90% coverage, center auto focus, wide auto focus and many more. The Rebel G shooting modes consisted of 6 basic modes, full auto, portrait, landscape, macro, sports and night scene. It also has 5 advanced modes, P, Av, Tv, M, A-DEP. These modes would continue on in the Rebel G series. The camera features a built in flash, and can shoot at 1 fps. The fastest shutter speed with flash was measured at 1/90 of a second.

A few new features include compatibility with ETTL type flash. It still has the same 1/90 of a sec sync speed of the previous model, but when equipped with a Canon Speedlight such as the 380EX, 220EX it can be used at 1/2000 of a sec. Focus has improved a bit as as a AF assist light is now available. Auto Exposure Bracketing (AEB) can be use from -2 to ++2 in 1/2 stop increments. The command dial now has an easier to access night scene mode. The body is able to use the BP-8 vertical grip that can also accept four AA batteries.

Camera-Wiki.org / Wikipedia

Assessment:

As Stated, this camera is in a good cosmetic condition with no sign of dents, dinks or wear. Considering this was a camera used in training I can only presume the students were extremely careful and respectful, or it was lightly used. Having worked with some of these students myself, i very much suspect, it’s more than likely going to be the latter option.

There is another such unit I have of this very same camera however that is damaged with a faulty screen that requires replacement and that will be dealt with in a future post. Meanwhile, let’s get back to this one.

There is an old ownership sticker on the rear and this is one of those old vinyl type ones that will be able to be removed, but just may take a little while, as they are brittle and break off into lots of little pieces that go everywhere.

The battery chamber is clean and there are no signs of contamination. The screen is clear and does not show any bleed, though I haven’t powered it up just yet.

The film chamber, back pressure plate and shutter curtain all appear to be in good order. Again I will further test this when I put some batteries in and run a dummy film to check transport.

The unit is quite grubby and dusty, the mirror is dirty and the prism is as well. initially all looks good. Batteries, and the dummy film might tell us something different.

Repair:

Let’s get that sticker off the rear, a little soak in IPA to soften things up, and then using a small plastic modelling spatula to gently get under the label, I was able to remove the sticker relatively easily. If I’d used the metallic option I may well have scratched the casing. I’m happy that this option has worked well for me. A final clean at the end with some car cockpit cleaner should bring the detail out nicely.

Let’s get some power in, and fire this unit up. It takes two CR123A 3v lithium batteries.

Batteries in, and everything lights up, all menus function and as stated earlier their is no bleed from the LCD screen.

I load the film in and it instantly winds the whole film on to the take up spool. Here on the display, you can see that this roll is 24 exp and it has wound fully on to the take up spool. I fire off these 24 exposures to check the shutter and that fires fine, film transport also works well and the final rewind of the film at the end also works. In a nutshell, this camera works!

I clean the prism and the mirror with a soft swab and you can just see the dust and dirt lift. A final brush over with a bulb blower completes this task. The internals are now clean.

It just needs a very thorough exterior clean and polish.

Result:

I’ve cleaned the exterior and used some ceramic cockpit polish to finish it off, I must admit it’s looking very good.

Here I have a nice little camera packed with features that will make a great camera for someone to learn the basics of traditional photography with. However, it’s remaining in my collection for the while.

From all angles a lovely clean example, operating just as it should

I’ve cleaned the camera throughout and used compressed air to finish the clean prior to sealing it from the elements. It’s yet another camera that I need to test, another one that needs to have a film put through it for its final test, however I am 100% confident of it’s capabilities and the fact that it operates just fine and all its settings, buttons and controls are doing exactly what they should. When I do get to put a film through, I will link to it here.

Another successful restoration and return to use of another old camera that had been put to one side. Not that this one really required a lot of attention, just a bit of servicing and tlc.

Thanks for passing by. It’s always very much appreciated.

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Jornada 540 series

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Specifications

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