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I got frustrated only getting 1 bar and slow connections inside my back office?, so I made a "Passive Fractal Antenna" 3G to Boost from 1 to 4 bars, my dslreports.com Mobile Speed Test went from 228kbit/sec to 2976kbit/sec. the antenna is easy to build and more importantly! it$ Cheap! total cost $20.00, The only thing to keep in mind is that since its a passive antenna it works better when you have the HTC HD2 laying on the Base input and in front of the reflector, The further you are from the base the less the affect? I put the Antenna as high as possible in my closet with one side 90 degrees perpendicular facing the closest Cell Tower (Find Cell Tower) and with the grounded reflector facing directly to the Cell Tower with a 10ohm transformer for matching.
The Antenna I made is purposely tuned for wide band but you can fine tune it for greater reception if needed, but the frequencies we are working with makes it too directional?
If people are interested I will put up a simple schematic with parts and description build list.
hd2shadow said:
If people are interested I will put up a simple schematic with parts and description build list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Why would you have done that from the start? Of course people are going to ask to see exactly what you did. I know my office is down in the basement and would like to have a better signal while down here.
would be awesome if you post a how-to on this...may give this a try.
T-Mobile USA recently boosted coverage in my area. I actually called in after experiencing better signal quality / speeds to give them kudos. Shortly thereafter, speeds dropped by two-thirds to around 0.3mbps. I have sneaky feeling they thought I was enjoying the newfound speeds too much.
Yes. Interested on how to do this!!
hd2shadow said:
I got frustrated only getting 1 bar and slow connections inside my back office?, so I made a "Passive Fractal Antenna" 3G to Boost from 1 to 4 bars, my dslreports.com Mobile Speed Test went from 228kbit/sec to 2976kbit/sec. the antenna is easy to build and more importantly! it$ Cheap! total cost $20.00, The only thing to keep in mind is that since its a passive antenna it works better when you have the HTC HD2 laying on the Base input and in front of the reflector, The further you are from the base the less the affect? I put the Antenna as high as possible in my closet with one side 90 degrees perpendicular facing the closest Cell Tower (Find Cell Tower) and with the grounded reflector facing directly to the Cell Tower with a 10ohm transformer for matching.
The Antenna I made is purposely tuned for wide band but you can fine tune it for greater reception if needed, but the frequencies we are working with makes it too directional?
If people are interested I will put up a simple schematic with parts and description build list.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
This is pretty interesting...but aw man..you screen protector is not so hot!!
Interesting...
I would have preferred that you did a series of speed tests and looked at the averages, since I have seen wild swings from one test to the next. But 228kbit/sec to 2976kbit/sec? That's pretty amazing.
I can basically see the concept of your antenna - so I guess the biggest question is: What wire did you use, and what does it do between the desk spiral and that diagonally zig zag in the closet. I sure hope your wife isn't tripping over it when she heads to the laundry room, LOL! +1 on the screen protector... Dude, the screen is hardened glass, and while I would cry if mine got scratched, I would be downright embarrassed walking around with that bubbled mess on top of my beautiful HD2.
+2 on the screen protector. Remove or replace it! NOW!!
SmartAs$Phone said:
Dude, the screen is hardened glass, and while I would cry if mine got scratched, I would be downright embarrassed walking around with that bubbled mess on top of my beautiful HD2.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
+3 on the awful screen protector he has.
But, that amazingly hardened glass CAN scratch. I watched the Youtube video of a guy trying to scratch it with a razor blade, and felt pretty confident I didn't need a screen protector. I had a half inch scratch in the center of the screen 2 days later. NO idea how it happened, but it my have been my keys the ONE time they were NEAR the phone.
Logically, I upgraded shipping on a couple PhantomSkinz so I'll never have to worry about that again.
Keys can scratch the absolute hell out of glass. My friend's ipod touch has a scratch running the entire diagonal of the screen.
service sucks in my basements im interested
I'd love to see the plans/schematics too, I know these types of antennas can work wonders, if implemented properly.
I will post pictures and plans/schematics as well very soon, next day or so, I just got back and need to do a few things first, Passive Fractal Antenna is not anything that is hard to do? you just need a roll of wire and patience.
toreone said:
but aw man..you screen protector is not so hot!!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
What a gem. Had to take a second look. Lol this is hilarious.please wait 2 seconds for an uncompressed image, or press Ctrl+F5 for original quality page
Think this would work to get a better WiMax signal?
Just wondering if anyone's come up with a good way to mount the Defy on a motorcycle yet? Can't find a dedicated mount for the Defy yet so am looking for other options...Waiting for delivery of a plastic holster which, if I could remove the belt-clip, I could probably attatch to a universal stem mount. Not sure about how much clearance there would be between the holster and the phone for any securing nuts/fasteners so just interested if anyone has rigged up something similar? Can't wait to get my hands on this phone as the IP67 spec makes it perfect for use as a motorcycle sat-nav!
(Sorry- unable to include pictures/links to the proposed holster and stem mount as I'm a n00b!)
Hello mate,
I bought a couple of the cheap mounts from China, they use the standard 4 holes at the back, which makes it perfect for sticking cable ties though to hold it on the handle bars (see image).
I put it on the other day and took it for a test ride about 15 miles. It held in, but doesn't stop me feeling a bit scared that the vibrations will make it fall out.
I bought the origional motorola mount, put a decent bolt in the stem hole and used thw standard screw on mount. Done about 150km within like that, listening to music and google turn by turn through my bluetooth headphones.
2 issues though, wish it had a lanyard strap for a safety latch just in case it comes free the holder. 2nd issue is tha capacitive screen with racing leather gloves...
Cheers. That looks promising but I'm hoping to mount it to my R1 which has clipons. I think a stem mounts the only safe option (hate to pay the £70 odd Motohaus are asking for it tho!)...See what you mean about the posibility of it coming out of the upper clip (the holster I've ordered clips in on all four corners so may be safer.) Maybe you could rig up something that would lock the upper clip down- a loop of strong fishing line or something similar...bit of a bodge but wouldn't want to test the phones ruugedness by slinging it down the road at speed!!
senergy said:
I bought the origional motorola mount, put a decent bolt in the stem hole and used thw standard screw on mount. Done about 150km within like that, listening to music and google turn by turn through my bluetooth headphones.
2 issues though, wish it had a lanyard strap for a safety latch just in case it comes free the holder. 2nd issue is tha capacitive screen with racing leather gloves...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Cheers. How did you secure the Motorola mount to the stem hole? Not sure how you'd be able to recess a captive nut or something similar within the stem itself? Ta.
I think the best idea maybe to try and fabricate your own, maybe get a small sheet of metal and fold the ends over so that the phone will slide in from the side only. Could then screw a ram mount bit on the back and attach to the bike that way. I'll probably try this when I can be bothered
The reason I got the defy though is because of it's ruggedness and because I go Dirt biking a lot and use the phone for Ordnance Survey mapping. I'm forever falling in rivers or big muddy bogs so I need to feel confident that it'll hold the phone in!
I used one of these
then got arount 5-8 rubber grommets like this
and pushed it through the stem hole. Its real tight!. Left a bit of of bolt out the top so the pivot locking system of the oem holder attaches to the bolt.
It looks pretty decent, nothing that ruins the looks of my 600rr.
I'll take some pics when Im in the garage next and post it up so you can see.
here it is, I'm going to wire it up to the battery when I find the right cables, needs to be removable since the bike does a lot of track days in race fairings.
Nice one- good job!
Might have to do something slightly different as I've got a steering damper mounted. Think I'll need to offset the carrier plate forward a bit...found site: telferizer.com that has stem mounts that suit various Ram mount parts so think I'll get something sorted. Thanks for the help!
Haha thats class, some proper american chopper business there- would have looked better if you had fab'd a custom tank and integrated the mount in the tank
I bought a Universal RamMount for ~50€ a few days ago, I'll post some photos as soon as I have it
Update...
...Managed to pick up one of these http://telferizer.com/ off ebay and these Ram Mount parts to secure the phone http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000WJ90K0/ref=oss_product http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B002KO5XVU/ref=oss_product , http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B001QD8Q5Q/ref=oss_product , http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B000WJ90K0/ref=oss_product
Particularily like the phone holder as, having watched a UTube clip, I can be confident that the phone won't pop out over bumps in the road (got the suspension set up stiff for fast road/track use!) Hope this helps.
Can you not slip a couple of rubber bands over the ends of the bracket to keep the phone in place?
Simple solutions to complex problems
I'm sure there's loads of options for mounting the phone tho some better than others. My main concern is the phone coming out of whatever mounting plate it's held into- some of the car dock plates don't look too secure to me. Reckon rubber bands would help hold a clip shut but wouldn't do much for screen visibility! The RamMount plate http://www.ram-mount.com/CatalogResults/PartDetails/tabid/63/partid/082065077045072079076045085078052085/Default.aspx........comes with various length holding arms and can be set up to hold the phone as tightly as you like.
Different strokes for diferent folks I guess!
I bought the RamMount Fingergrip, have a look.
on picture #4 you can see an additional screw at the bottom of the 'fingergrip', that's because the defy is not big enough. But it's sitting very tight even with only the 'fingers' left and right.
I have a question: with RamMount Fingergrip, can you charge the phone or the micro USB port is hidden behind the finger?
Thanks in advance.
Quza said:
I bought the RamMount Fingergrip, have a look.
on picture #4 you can see an additional screw at the bottom of the 'fingergrip', that's because the defy is not big enough. But it's sitting very tight even with only the 'fingers' left and right.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
That's the same mount that I bought. I used the short "fingers" on all four sides (1 one each long side instead of 2) - instead of the large "endplates" suggested for the top and bottom of the mount plate. This holds the phone very well and it is still possible to access all of the buttons and sockets on the side of the phone...perfect!!
Can someone please post some pictures of the Defy installed in the RamMount Fingergrip? Thanks
lenoyy said:
Can someone please post some pictures of the Defy installed in the RamMount Fingergrip? Thanks
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'll be at my lockup tommorrow so will take a couple of snaps and post them up tommorrow evening.
Here's a couple of pics of the Rammount Fingergrip. Road tested it today and it seems very solid and gives full access to all buttons and sockets if you use the four small fingers...
So, we have probably all noticed that even compared to other phones the xperia line (and the Play in specific) seem to suffer from lower reception capability.
Putting them side by side, my Motorola Droid (A855, OG Droid 1) gets a better signal both in DB measurement and in bars. Same thing for WiFi signal. I'm guessing there is an issue with design of the antenna array in the device that causes for lower reception/broadcast quality.
I don't wish to shell out $300 for a cell repeater or $300 + monthly for a femtocell that will eat my internet bandwidth (which is pathetically limited). With that in mind, I went and started looking over the device, its teardowns, and its schematics. I was looking for something as a diversity jack for an external antenna. Now I noticed, next to the battery connector, there is a small semi-covered coax input. It appears that if you pulled off the rest of the sticker, or even if you just pushed a coax prong into there you could potentially be an antenna. However, it is not specifically labeled as such on the system board or the chassis, and the schematics were largely electrical diagrams and not system board schematics. Is there any answer for this? On pretty much every smartphone I have ever owned, there is an auxillary or "diversity" coax jack for adding an external antenna or doing signal injection.
Does anybody have any input on this? I would love to be able to boost my phone's reception quality, even if only in the car or at home (even if it means a custom modded case for ease of connect/disconnect).
Cant help you with your specific question but i can throw a tip.
- Switch your phone to GSM only. It will strengthen the signal. The downside is you are stuck with G/E data speeds (slower than H).
dsswoosh said:
Cant help you with your specific question but i can throw a tip.
- Switch your phone to GSM only. It will strengthen the signal. The downside is you are stuck with G/E data speeds (slower than H).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Sadly, with the US-CDMA variant and its firmware, I believe that is not an option. I'm specifically using the R800x. However, the board layouts are essentially identical.
I don't see the problem if you arnt getting any dropped calls. Wrap your phone in tin foil lmao
Sent from my XPlay using XDA App.
Deoxlar said:
I don't see the problem if you arnt getting any dropped calls. Wrap your phone in tin foil lmao
Sent from my XPlay using XDA App.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Well that is sort of the problem. I live in an area that its hills are filled with lead and other heavy minerals. Dead zones and limited signal zones are rampant, especially while driving. I _DO_ get dropped calls, and more importantly dropped data. Heck I even get dropped data from the router in the house through only one wall just a room away.
Basically if I can find out where exactly the aux/diversity port is for antennas, then I could design and fabricate a better back cover to either allow for external antennas, or to integrate better antennas into the cover (like the Thunderbolt sort of does).
Side note: Wrapping it in Tin/Aluminum Foil would make it worse, I believe (yes I have limited sense of humour).
you can easely remove the rubber in front of the coax port (atleast it definitly looks like a coax port). Would like to see a back case with better antenna in it (also being able to harbor an extra fat battery).
svenk919 said:
you can easely remove the rubber in front of the coax port (atleast it definitly looks like a coax port). Would like to see a back case with better antenna in it (also being able to harbor an extra fat battery).
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
The problem is that there are several coax ports. The one near the battery connector is the most obvious, but there are some more that are under the secondary cover or behind more stickers. Trying to find out which one is which or what they do is not easy. I have some basic electronics schematics, some teardown pics/video, and a really really sparse parts replacement guide, but not much else to go on.
Plug in an antenna and see if it improves?
svenk919 said:
Plug in an antenna and see if it improves?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
*laughs* I suppose that would be the easy/simple way to find out, wouldn't it?
I'll see if I can find a matching pigtail adapter and see if I can plug a big fat antenna into and see if the DBM improves for either Cell or WiFi. I wanted to see if anybody could confirm before I attempted to mod this thing.
Hey
I'd like to fix my crappy GPS antenna, can anyone here help me with that - I don't know how it looks like and don't know how to take the phone apart safely besides being careful not to yank the mic
Will only copper wire work?
Has anyone ever done this?
This device is notorious for it's bad GPS reception but there's not info on how to fix it and I'd sure appreciate any help.
Thanks in advance!
Software?
Hey, did you try some software changes, before you unassembly phone? I have an iOcean X7 Elite (same MTK chipset) and Uncletools with updated EPO was helpfull for me. Fix GPS max. 20 seconds. With serial antenna. Check XDA forum or google about GPS fix MTK chipset or tell me, I can write a fast manual how to do that...
i managed to make a new GPS antenna. i took a copper adhesive and made a copy of the original one.
now i get a fix but SNR is around 35.
then i closed the back cover and got 30 SNR.
so i put another 2 slice of copper (9cm long) on the cover (one is touching the GPS antenna) and now i got 35 SNR.
but it is not enough. we need around 40-42 snr with 1-2 satellites in order to navigate in the city.
can anyone post a new GPS antenna mod that we can use with a copper adhesive?
You are probably best off finding a microstrip "patch" antenna optimized for
one of the two main GPS frequencies 1.57542 GHz (L1) and 1.2276 GHz (L2).
You could also attempt to build one, like you did, but with optimized
dimensions. These could be very small, on the size of a penny.
THIS is the basics of Microstrip (Patch) Antennas. You should definitely
try that design first! However, I don't know the impedance (the length of W
in the figure below) needed for your device, so you'll have to do some
trial-and-error...
Within THIS rather technical document, there are several simple designs that
you may try to make with your copper-tape-strips.
Finally try Google "homemade DIY gps patch antenna".
Let us know how it goes!
Here are some ideas:
Or perhaps this one?
E:V:A said:
You are probably best off finding a microstrip "patch" antenna optimized for
one of the two main GPS frequencies 1.57542 GHz (L1) and 1.2276 GHz (L2).
You could also attempt to build one, like you did, but with optimized
dimensions. These could be very small, on the size of a penny.
THIS is the basics of Microstrip (Patch) Antennas. You should definitely
try that design first! However, I don't know the impedance (the length of W
in the figure below) needed for your device, so you'll have to do some
trial-and-error...
Within THIS rather technical document, there are several simple designs that
you may try to make with your copper-tape-strips.
Finally try Google "homemade DIY gps patch antenna".
Let us know how it goes!
Here are some ideas:
Or perhaps this one?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I added 10/15 points just with this
i hope to be helpful to you
i already tried the microstrip gps antenna. it gives great results but when you close the cover... poor results!
chenrp said:
i already tried the microstrip gps antenna. it gives great results but when you close the cover... poor results!
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
If that is the case, you're probably doing something right!
The cover itself changes the properties of the antenna, usually they compensate this with a velocity factor. What happens, is that the antenna seem larger than it should be, when the cover is closed. Try to compensate by reducing your micro-strip dimensions by multiplying them with ~0.97. Microstrip and patch antennas have a very narrow band-width... (You'll have to be accurate to the mm.) Also make sure the antenna is not touching anything inside, when the cover is closed, as that would again change the properties.
GPS antennas...
E:V:A said:
If that is the case, you're probably doing something right!
The cover itself changes the properties of the antenna, usually they compensate this with a velocity factor. What happens, is that the antenna seem larger than it should be, when the cover is closed. Try to compensate by reducing your micro-strip dimensions by multiplying them with ~0.97. Microstrip and patch antennas have a very narrow band-width... (You'll have to be accurate to the mm.) Also make sure the antenna is not touching anything inside, when the cover is closed, as that would again change the properties.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I have three, two are active devices, with the receiver attached beneath, and require +3 VDC supply and RS-232 for data.
One is a ceramic patch from O.E.M Garmin, as supplied in their hand held units,
The third, is a patch used by old Garmin Flight navigator unit I used in my B-55 Baron. Its dimensions are 2-3/8" on a side, soI doubt you could fit this inside without difficulty, let alone altering the dielectric constant of the board.
But if you have a sizable space between the cover and the main board, you may be able to fit a small ceramic patch antenna that should work nicely, IF the feed impedances are similar.
he enclosed pics should give you a starting point though..
i managed to get 43 SNR! inside my house near the window.(with one stripe connected directly to the antenna contacts)
but i cant fit it inside the phone and still get above 35 SNR.
befano71 said:
I added 10/15 points just with this
i hope to be helpful to you
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
chenrp said:
i managed to get 43 SNR! inside my house near the window.(with one stripe connected directly to the antenna contacts)
but i cant fit it inside the phone and still get above 35 SNR.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
It's pointless to tell us what you get without also telling us what you did or have!
Please post the exact measurements.
E:V:A said:
It's pointless to tell us what you get without also telling us what you did or have!
Please post the exact measurements.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"but i cant fit it inside the phone and still get above 35 SNR."!
pointless to write how i did it if i cant put the antenna inside the phone!
I posted a picture.
Try doing as I did.
2mm aluminium tape 7cm long attached inside the cover like showed in the photo.
no need to dissassemble or cut or disconnect.
It seems wierd bit it worked for me and other w8s owners
connection to the antenna:
i disconnected the original antenna. taped an adhesive copper film to the antenna contact(in the board).
the film is very short, just enough to touch the back cover.
antenna:
on the back cover, i added adhesive copper antenna.
that way, we have a long antenna (should be ~9cm long) and is far enough from the phone so get better SNR.
see picture.
GPS foil antenna.
chenrp said:
connection to the antenna:
i disconnected the original antenna. taped an adhesive copper film to the antenna contact(in the board).
the film is very short, just enough to touch the back cover.
antenna:
on the back cover, i added adhesive copper antenna.
that way, we have a long antenna (should be ~9cm long) and is far enough from the phone so get better SNR.
see picture.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You can use stained glass copper foil, they make several different varieties, and most have an adhesive backing, as well as natural copper and black oxide, but the black foil does not solder well, so stay with the natural copper for best results.
Did you match the feed impedance to the receiver? You need a proper load to cause the antenna to operate properly, and at 'L' band and higher, this matters even more-so.
Skin effects vary with frequency, and the higher you go, the more effect this has on any RF path, and can kill a receiver's ability to 'hear'.
GPS signals are already weak, and since 99.99% of the nation are not on the high accuracy portion of the 'L band, we are relegated to 1575.42
If anybody would like to attempt this mod, I would be happy to supply the foil, as I use the same material for rebuilding circuits, and have several rolls. Just send appropriate postage and I will send you more than enough to apply this modification to your device.
I guess you can Email me directly, or through XDA.
AECRADIO said:
You can use stained glass copper foil, they make several different varieties, and most have an adhesive backing, as well as natural copper and black oxide, but the black foil does not solder well, so stay with the natural copper for best results.
Did you match the feed impedance to the receiver? You need a proper load to cause the antenna to operate properly, and at 'L' band and higher, this matters even more-so.
Skin effects vary with frequency, and the higher you go, the more effect this has on any RF path, and can kill a receiver's ability to 'hear'.
GPS signals are already weak, and since 99.99% of the nation are not on the high accuracy portion of the 'L band, we are relegated to 1575.42
If anybody would like to attempt this mod, I would be happy to supply the foil, as I use the same material for rebuilding circuits, and have several rolls. Just send appropriate postage and I will send you more than enough to apply this modification to your device.
I guess you can Email me directly, or through XDA.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
theory and practice aside!
i calculated and learned about GPS L band and the results are not satisfying at all.
the only thing that really helped is the one i posted.
i put the iphone 4 antena and it work verry good
after few atempt to assembly my own antena without success i put the iphone 4 antena .
i get to 38 snr sometimes
this is what i have in a almost stormy day almost sea height with the help of the little alluminium strip.
just have to cut an adhesive aluminium tape, 2x70 mm and stick in in the back cover as shown in the picture.
put the cover back on and u'll see the sat levels growing 10-15% more than before.
maorhadad said:
after few atempt to assembly my own antena without success i put the iphone 4 antena .
i get to 38 snr sometimes
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
have you connected the iphone's antenna to yours? is there any connection there?
chenrp said:
have you connected the iphone's antenna to yours? is there any connection there?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Not my brother.
Just peeled the metal band that in the back of the iPhone 4, and stuck it in the back of my bewond W8 as seen in the picture.
before i did it id do that guide :
thlmobilestore.com/news/gps-fix
It helps a little but not enough.
After I stuck the antenna of the iPhone 4 that comes a high precision level and not lose reception when I move for a second under a bridge or something like that ....
Custom GPS tAntenna
Used kitchen aluminium foil, as befano71 suggested ["2mm aluminium tape 7cm long attached inside the cover like showed in the photo"]. Built in a hurry, and might not be with perfect measures, but these are results on a foggy, cloudy evening (I was leaning through a window of a building, hence some satellites are zeroed). GPS fix in <10sec ...
Custom made aluminium foil GPS antenna for THL W8S:
Before mod:
After mod:
Hi everyone,
I own a Priv and can't do without a keyboard. Seeing that (as of today) no new portrait slider has been announced, and modding the motherboard itself is unrealisitic, I've decided to find a motherboard and screen off a newer phone and sort-of slap them on a spare chassis I've got lying around.
Feel free to add suggestions and comments below, I need all the expertise I can get. Hit the like button if you're interested, so i can get a head-count. If you guys and gals are interested, I'll post pics as I go along.
Keyboard & Interface:
In an ideal world, I'd be using the priv's existing (and exquisite) PKB which also has touch capabilities for scrolling and moving the cursor. Unfortunately I've not yet found the pinouts for that (and is more complex to interface). I have however found a website where a good soul published info and diagrams for a Q10's Keyboard and then connected those to an IC using a board with a Hirose connector (which he then connected to a raspberry pi project). My plan is similar. Since I don't know at which point in the motherboard I can make an input for a keyboard, the best strategy is to wire the keyboard's interface chip into the USB connections, as Android natively supports USB keyboards and mice. I can then use a microswitch (mechanical or magnetic) to disconnect the keyboard's signal when the slider closes.
If someone does know the pinouts of the Priv's connector, do let me know, it would be great to be able to use it!
Motherboard & Screen:
First thing that springs to mind, is that since the screen will be sliding a couple of inches, the phone off which I'll take the screen and motherboard needs to have a long flex-ribbon, usually found when a motherboard is on the top, and the screen connects on the bottom (such as the oneplus 5). This also means the charging port would also be nice to be a separate unit. I'm not too worried about cooling as there's a nice big metal slider frame to which all this will stick on, but failing that, i could also make a metal back with shallow fins to dissipate heat. The less features there are directly on the screen, the less things are likely to fail.
Requirements:
So the basic point of all this is to have the keyboard hooked up to the motherboard of a rootable system which can be easily modified. Phones like Xiaomi, Oneplus ... fit this bill well. First thing that springs to mind is a Snapdragon 8xx as performance is of course, vital. The camera also needs to work although the resolution is not critical. NFC, Fingerprint sensor, SD card slot, GPS with Galileo, Wireless charging and other niceities are highly desireable, but I might give some of them up to accomodate other things depending on how critical they are. Unfortunately not many flagships have 5.4" screens or less, so the metal slider will be modified to accomodate this.
I'll choose a nice, big battery and place it in the bottom, right below the keyboard as the CoG needs to be really low to make the phone comfy to type on without letting it tip over.
Finally, a plastic or metal cover can be modelled to fit all this, and will probably be cheap to make. If the screen is bigger than the frame, i'll also have to make a second cover around the border, secured to the main slider frame.
The Q10's keyboard has arrived. The connector seen in the middle with a black ribbon has 24 contacts (plus 4 contacts in the extremities which are not counted, probably used for grounding). By comparison, the Priv connectors (male on top, female on motherboard) has 20 contacts despite the priv's trackpad function.
For those of you curious about the BB Passport, I've had a quick look inside and the connector is identical to the Q10's keyboard, although it works like the Priv. Rather confusing.
I'll be mapping the pinouts once the PCB and connectors arrive, unfortunately that's gonna be a long wait as they have to come to Germany from the U.S.
I finally have enough parts to start putting the encoder together. It is an SK5126 keyboard encoder from Sprintek. At just 7 x 7mm with 0.5mm pitch, it was not easy to solder on, but definitely doable with a bit of practice and common sense. The chip itself is not expensive (15usd a pop) but being in Germany, I had to pay through the nose for shipping and shameless customs. Sprintek's sales dept. have been very helpful though. Once I wired the PCB to an old USB cable (and a couple of resistors & capacitors), it was very much plug & play. I'm pleased.
Now it's time to wait again for the next bit of PCB and female connectors for the keyboards... It's at times like these that I regret the EU not having a trade agreement with the US.
The adapter PCB and Hirose female connector for the keyboard finally arrived today, but that's where the good news ends. Unfortunately the seller did not solder them together so I had to do it myself. That's when an obvious fact hit me in the face: the connector's melting point is lower than the solder paste's melting point. The first connector simply folded in a mess of molten plastic under the hot air. I tried the reballing method on the second (and last) connector, which simply pulled the individual legs of the connector apart.
Upon putting the PCB of the Encoder and the connector next to each other, it's clear that part of the success i had with soldering the encoder chip lied in having a footprint with nice long exposed contacts which allowed the surface tension of the solder to pull everything in place. That could not work on the much shorter footprint of the connector PCV. I've ordered some more connectors, it's gonna be a long wait, though I've yet to think of a proper way to solder without melting the connector.
So I've finally had a breakthrough. Some new PCBs arrived from Hong Kong and after a few molten connectors, I've managed to perfect the technique enough to not get any shorts. From there on, it was pretty straightforward. I mapped the keyboard's pinouts (red pcb) to the correct Row/Coloumn inputs of the encoder (green pcb) using the thin wires. It looks a bit messy until i figure out in which position the PCBs will sit inside the chassis.
I'm tempted to also try mapping the Priv's original keyboard, unfortunately, that's tricky, as there's no info about it online. It has a 20-pin connector (as opposed to 24 on the Q10) which also transmits touch input via a Synaptics microchip. I'll try going through it with a multimeter, if i can at least map out the button-matrix, then finding out the synaptics output will be a tad easier.
In the meantime, another issue is on my mind. I've been looking at teardowns of various snapdragon 7xx and 8xx phones and it's clear that some components (mostly the prox sensors) on most, if not all models, are soldered directly on the motherboard, which makes it difficult if I plan on putting the screen on the sliding portion of the chassis and the motherboard on the fixed portion of the chassis. I'm going to have to rethink the whole idea. If i put a lot of components on the sliding part of the chassis, then i risk making the phone top-heavy and thick. Unfortunately I do not have the technology to change this.
There is probably going to be a compromise somewhere, and I need to decide where to draw that line before I order more expensive parts.
very (!) interesting idea(-s) !!
I am incredibly curious to see the outcome, afraid I cannot really provide any help.
it is a real shame that blackberry didnt even provide some use-at-your-own-risk stuff to boot unsigned code...
maybe you want to try shopping for parts in china directly, I almost never pay customs (value below ~€20) for stuff.
cheers!
elchmartin said:
very (!) interesting idea(-s) !!
I am incredibly curious to see the outcome, afraid I cannot really provide any help.
it is a real shame that blackberry didnt even provide some use-at-your-own-risk stuff to boot unsigned code...
maybe you want to try shopping for parts in china directly, I almost never pay customs (value below ~€20) for stuff.
cheers!
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Thanks mate.
I already buy a lot of parts from China, however 1 thing I couldn't find online from there was an easy-to-use, low power encoder. I had to get it from Sprintek in California. Their products are really good and the price is also good. Unfortunately i had to pay a lot of money for customs (which of course is not Sprintek's fault). The encoder chips themselves cost me around $15 each, the programming software is free and the chip responds right away as soon as you plug it into the pc. They also have a good after-sale assistance.
Kyle M. said:
Thanks mate.
I already buy a lot of parts from China, however 1 thing I couldn't find online from there was an easy-to-use, low power encoder. I had to get it from Sprintek in California. Their products are really good and the price is also good. Unfortunately i had to pay a lot of money for customs (which of course is not Sprintek's fault). The encoder chips themselves cost me around $15 each, the programming software is free and the chip responds right away as soon as you plug it into the pc. They also have a good after-sale assistance.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You are living in Hamburg, Germany?
Maybe try looking for parts at pollin.de
They served rather rare items for me some times...
Project continued on https://hackaday.io/project/168387-physical-keyboard-for-any-android-phone
I can finally update with some good news. After ironing out all the issues (most of which concern the pesky Hirose connector which connects the keyboard to the PCB), I took the 2 boards off the metal frame and made myself a little box from PVC sheets which I then glued to an old Xiaomi phone cover. The reason I am testing it this way rather than just building the slider I wanted to build is to prevent having to mod the Xiaomi phone while testing (I've grown quite attached to this phone despite having bought it cheap).
I have also put a small switch on the side which directly cuts off the power to the chip (this way it saves power and seems to work pretty fine).