Hardware

[Ferret-Simpson]

So, since Broadcast TV is also on DVB-T, they catch me, I'm frooked. It's unlikely, but I'm not risking it. Save the USB port and use it for something else, the DVB-T will have better signal and be cheaper if you just use a £50 commercial USB adaptor.

[Da_Blitz]

thats.... a..... bit..... wierd......

anyway we will be using an LCD screen so eric van phreaking radiation should be low enogh that it cant be read from a distance, not to mention the metal in this case would help block the signals

not only that consider that you will be mobile.

also if you dont want it then dont order it in your final design, nice and simple that is if we put it in

[adf]

I hadn't really been able to conjure the right image....I keep seeing jackbooted tv police hauling off grannies from illicit tea n telly parties......  not rally an image one associats with england

[speculatrix]

I hadn't really been able to conjure the right image....I keep seeing jackbooted tv police hauling off grannies from illicit tea n telly parties......  not rally an image one associats with england
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TV licensing in the Uk is now no longer run directly by the gov't, but the people who do resort to many bullying tactics - they send REALLY nasty letters, usually with big red fonts saying "your house is under surveillance for not having a license", making it clear there's a GBP2000/US$3500 fine (maximum in small letters; in practise it's 100 - 200 for a first offence), and basically making people afraid to not have one even if (like me) you don't have an aerial/tuner nor want to watch the "idiot lantern".

Anyway, we're well off the topic now. Normal programming will be resumed...

[koen]

eric van phreaking radiatio
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"van Eck radiation" or "van Eck phreaking"

[Da_Blitz]

thanks for that, havent visited that topic in awhile

[craigtyson]

I hadn't really been able to conjure the right image....I keep seeing jackbooted tv police hauling off grannies from illicit tea n telly parties......  not rally an image one associats with england
[div align=\"right\"][a href=\"index.php?act=findpost&pid=140582\"][{POST_SNAPBACK}][/a][/div]

TV licensing in the Uk is now no longer run directly by the gov't, but the people who do resort to many bullying tactics - they send REALLY nasty letters, usually with big red fonts saying "your house is under surveillance for not having a license", making it clear there's a GBP2000/US$3500 fine (maximum in small letters; in practise it's 100 - 200 for a first offence), and basically making people afraid to not have one even if (like me) you don't have an aerial/tuner nor want to watch the "idiot lantern".

Anyway, we're well off the topic now. Normal programming will be resumed...
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It was quite funny when Michael Moor did a segment on TV Nation, he couldnt belive you can ultimatly go to jail for watching TV in the UK

[speculatrix]

back on topic, here's some really tiny GPS modules, or chipsets, is there room?

http://www.u-blox.com/products/a4products.html

you can buy them online too

[adf]

back on topic, here's some really tiny GPS modules, or chipsets, is there room?

http://www.u-blox.com/products/a4products.html

you can buy them online too
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GPS would be kinda cool...  if we had software that did something with it.  Any ideas on the software?  Given a phone for a persistant connection and a decent amount of ram & storage, something could surely be done---  but all that comes to mind is roadmap and google earth.  We talked about this earlier. I think it got kinda put aside for lack of a worthwhile application....

Maybe we should and lest get a list of possibly portable and already ported mapping/gps progs for linux?

On the other hand, other than street directions, I'd probably rather use a less expensive and less fragile system for my gps needs.  I don't really fancy navigating around fjords (we Do have them in Ak) in a small boat in the rain using my likely very water permeable PP.
Given, then that i have a real need (and own a couple) for rugged waterproof dedicated gps units, I'm at best lukewarm abou t this.   If we can get it to replace a tomtom, though.... that'd be a whole different story

[Da_Blitz]

all hail speculatrix

thanks for the link, if we can buy from them then i am happy to chuck it in without debate, if i have room it willl go in, if there is none left i will keep a serial port and a 3.3v/5v line free

i dont want maps for GPS, what i want is to know where i am in relation to where i should be, i like the idea of getting coords and getting there myself rather than following the maps, i can usually navigate the long distances quite well, its just knowing which building that tends to get me

all tomtom needs is gps, i cant belive the have a linux bassed product and dont sell it for linux PDAs, sure its a small market but considering the profit margin in GPS software and how easy it would be for them to do it (as they have already paid for development). i guess they just dont want to annoy microsoft and thier winCE PDAs

[morrijr]

I've a question which is kinda hardware based; what software is going to be used for the circuit design?  I had a quick hunt last night and the CadSoft EAGLE looks OK and there's a free version available (with a few limitations, mainly the dimensions and number of signal layers).

I was kinda hoping that as the device developed through component choice, schematic layout, board design I could follow along...

J.

Oops, forgot the link! http://www.cadsoftusa.com/

[Da_Blitz]

actually this is one of those things i hoped would never be raised.

i dont know of any good cad software that will do what i want thats free, i am looking into kicad (open source). i have used cadsoft eagle before and its good and most likly be what we will use for the final design, but you will need the full version to da any usefull work with it as this will be a multilayer board

if i could i would use protel DXP, i have used it before (and have been trained on it for PCB and FPGA design) and know it like the back of my hand, plus its auto routers are great. the problem is that it blows the budget for the progect by an order of magnitude

if you know of any good software post it here, order of prefrence is
good autorouter
runs on linux (optinal but recomended)
price (with prefrence for free)
open source

the auto router will make a huge diffrence in this project so thats why its on the list, if it runs under windows only that is fine, i have a spare windows xp licsence or two that i never use and just upgraded to a new AMD chip just because of the virtulisation tech (so i didnt have to reboot to work on this stuff) as the CAD software is normally unstable as it is when you install other apps

[Da_Blitz]

forgot to add that if we use egale it looks like i will have to buy the full profesinol ediion ($1200 USD) and for that price i think it would be worth looking into the protel /altium stuff

anyone know what the open video card guys use?

[speculatrix]

all hail speculatrix

thanks for the link, if we can buy from them then i am happy to chuck it in

all tomtom needs is gps, i cant belive the have a linux bassed product and dont sell it for linux PDAs
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FX: blush

Whenever I have some spare time (I've not had time for my Z in a couple of months what with holidays, building work at home), I've been trying to get tomtom to run on the Z, with some moderate success.

I want to be able to use my Z in three scenarios:
* as a handheld PDA/microlaptop (to replace my Palm T3) with lots of communications interfaces
* as a portable entertainment device when travelling by train or plane - mp3s, ebooks, video
* as an in-car mp3 player and ideally a navigation device

so, hence, it needs wifi + bluetooth, a good display, a reasonably fast processor, lots of storage. Built-in GPS nice to have instead of relying on a serial- or bluetooth-connected widget.

[Da_Blitz]

speculatrix, you really seem to want the same things i want in a PDA

anyway i didnt mean to push you at all, its more aimed at tomtom. if anything i belive our best way to get the software is to catch them in a GPL voliation then licsence the maps from them.

i doubght however that they violated the gpl in anyway  . if they did and we had acsess to the software then licsencing the maps would be a win win situation

would it be posible to reverse engineer the map format and work off that (that way they still make money  ) or do we offer up a programmer to them to Zed'erize tomtom (like what happened to quake)

actually in truth i havent tourched my Z in awhile as i have been upgrading the infrastructure of my network (dns servers web servers and such on my "slugs")