Sub Projects
Introduction
I wanted to make a remote that could rest in low power and send 433Mhz RF signals.
Goals
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Learn how to make a PCB. |
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Hand place and solder PCB parts. |
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Learn more about hardware development, hardware debugging, and hardware problem solving. |
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Learn more about power consumption and power saving. |
Parts List
Total Cost: ~$300
PCB Schematic
PCB
End Product Mock Up
Testing to see how the buttons would feel.
Mock up what the final design will look like to figure out if it will feel okay?
Test how good this would feel in hand. Aka 3D print and hold and pretend to push buttons. Felt like a function remote, so I ordered PCBs and components.
Build a PCB
Hand soldered a PCB together.
PCB Fixes
Low power mode can only be woken up from a signal coming from 3v being pulled down to ground. Had to modify the board
Fix poor RF
Moved the antenna to not go over the ground and 3v planes. Antenna now sticks out the back
The hand soldering didn't look amazing. Could be poor connections.
Built a board with solder paste, solder mask stencil, tweasers, and a hot air soldering rework station.
Test New RF
RF is working great after implementing the chagnes mentioned above.
Build A Case
Remote shell design.
Button and circuit board in case
Push button to go in case, over the circuit board. Wider on the bottom so it can't move or fall out of the case once the circuit board is in.
Print and assemble board
Adding LED Diffuser
I made the case black and decided to add an LED diffuser that comes through the case.
LED diffuser, to go in case, over the circuit board. Wider on the bottom so it can't move or fall out of the case once the circuit board is in.
Button, LED diffuser, and circuit board in case
Touch Tunes RF
I decided to make this remote function for something. I decoded the touch tunes signals in order to generate my own on the fly for the different pins and information being sent.
Remote must be woken up from the sleep state before use. This remote will go back to sleep 10 seconds after the last use.
When you select change your volume area, the LED will flash out which area is newly selected.
Volume areas can be different areas around a bar such as the patio speakers, dining area speakers, or main bar area speakers.
There are 256 different pins. Each juke box can have a different pin. Once you find your pin, the Volume Up, Volume Down, Pause/Play, and Skip song will use your selected pin. This sends a volume up signal with every chagne of the pin so that the user of the remote can verify when they have the correct pin. Most Touch Tunes work on Pin 0.
How to find the pin of your juke box: Starting at Pin 0, cycle up pins using Pin Up - Fast. Once you pass a pin that interacts with your juke box, you can go back over that pin with Pin Up/Down - Slow to set your remote to the correct Pin.
Reset - Puts Volume Area back to Area #1 and the Pin Back to Pin 00
Testing to see if it works
IT WORKS!!
Incognito Vape Case
While at the bar testing the Touch Tunes function of the remote, Ariel Kuhm and I decided that it would be a fun idea to make the remote look like a vape. Many many people like to Vape Nation it up in the bars and the remote would go by unnoticed if it looked like something else. I took a couple days worth of SolidWorks training and got started on my model. This project worked so well that even friends thought I had picked up the Vape Nation hobby when they saw the vape case on my counter.
Left side picture is the vape I based the model off of. Right side is the finished model.
This case works out perfectly. It solidly holds the circuit board in place. When the nozzle portion is ripped off, it provides easy access to the battery.
The antenna fits perfectly in the vape nozzle area. Vapes have a coil to heat up the juice, which goes along perfectly with this incofnito case, giving all the more reason why someone could believe this is a real vape.