Mavromatic reader, Michael, sent in his modern version of my 
NOTE: If you need Gigabit speeds, then you will need to pull Cat5e/Cat6 cable and follow all the standard wire pulling guidelines. We are going to derate the cabling, I have achieved 100Mbps speeds in this setup. In my wiring closet I have three Linksys switches. Two are 10/100Mbps 16 port switches and a single 8 port Gigabit (1000Mbps) switch. The Gigabit lines are terminated with RJ45 connectors directly to the switch. The 10/100Mbps lines are terminated to a Leviton Cat5 termination module (also found at Home Depot). Then a standard Cat5e cable bridges the connection to the switch. Since I'm using a Panasonic phone system I only need two pairs... the other two pairs were going to waste... so I decided to hook them up as another ethernet jack.
Lets start with the Cat5e jack. I followed the T-568A standard, which is supposed to be the standard for new installations. The jacks have both the "A" and "B" color codes on them to make it easier to wire. Strip back about 3" of the Cat5e cable, we are going to be using the Orange and Green for the ethernet jack. The colors will match up perfectly to the T-568A colors on the side... Green to Green, White/Green to White Green, Orange to Orange, and White-Orange to White Orange. Punch them with the Punchdown Tool and you're done. This jack will give you 10/100Mbps... you might want to label it differently or color code it if you also have a 1000Mbps jack.
For the telephone, we will use the blue and brown pairs. Wire up the Blue to Blue, White-Blue to White-Blue and Brown to Orange, White-Brown to White-Orange. Punch those down with the punchdown tool and you have a two-line jack/4 conductor jack.
In the final step, you will need to terminate all the lines on the Leviton Cat5 module. If you look at the photo closely, you will notice that the ethernet jacks are terminated Orange to Blue, White-Orange to White-Blue and Green to Green, White-Green to White-Green. The telephone jacks are terminated Blue to Blue, White-Blue to White-Blue and Brown to Orange, White-Brown to White-Orange. Once you get everything punched down, it's best to test with a real line tester device... if you don't have one... plug in a telephone in each telephone jack and a computer in the ethernet jacks. If they work you're done! If not... well, you've got more work, checking all the lines.
Here are what my jacks and plates look like. I'm not a big fan of screw'd plates, so I'm using Leviton's screwless wall-plates throughout. They are a snap to install... Enjoy!
In my previous post, I went over how I created a weatherproof Wi-Fi camera rig. I decided to write a separate entry about how I got Wi-Fi signal to the camera during the construction process of my new home.
This project was installed about a year and a half ago and has been functioning since. There have been times I needed to reboot the repeater throughout the year, so it’s not like you can install it forget about it (unless you buy commercial products, not a Linksys). You also have to keep an eye out for growing shrubs and trees, since that will limit your signal over time.
First up, you’re going to have to have access to an internet connection (DSL/Cable). I had the luxury of having my parents near by, so I didn’t have to deal with any neighbors trying to secure an internet connection during construction (check your area and see if anyone has their wireless wide open… you might just want to repeat that signal).
I hope this post gives you some ideas as how to easily setup an access point outside your home. Maybe you have a park across the way that you’d love to work at, but can’t because you need to be connected… this project can surely make it possible.
Lets begin.
The Parts List:
– A HyperLink 8db Compact Omnidirectional 2.4ghz Antenna or a HyperLink 8db Patch Antenna
– UPDATED: Use two Ubiquiti NanoStation loco M5, Ubiquiti PicoStation M2HP 2.4GHz 802.11g/n High Power Access Point or EnGenius Long Range 2.4GHz Wireless Bridge/Access Points as the Linksys WAP11
– 1 – 10″x10″x4″ PVC enclosure from Home Depot or Amazon.com
– Misc PVC parts for Antenna Mast attachment, PVC Glues, Silicon, etc (found at Home Depot)
– Automotive Grade double-sided foam tape to attach parts in box
– A few power tools… drill, screw, etc.
If doing Power-Over-Ethernet (not repeater mode), you’ll also need:
– Cat5e Connection Box
– Digital Multi Meter (DMM) or Volt Meter (to check cable resistance)
– Cat5e cable (outdoor direct burial type)
– New power supply to accommodate length of cat5e cable (or use PoE).
You’ll need to find an enclosure that will fit your access point. 
Most of the time, the case is bigger than the actual electronics inside… so if you are having trouble finding a case, you can always dismantle the access point/repeater, however, this will void your warranty. For my WAP11, I took some measurements and headed to my local Home Depot. I found they had a 10″x10″x4″ PVC box that looked perfect for this project.
I wanted the status LEDs to show thru the bottom of the enclosure so I had to remove the front of the WAP11. The photos above show how I did this. I took the front part and stacked it on the back of the WAP11. This gave me some support and the height was perfectly in the middle. I marked and drilled the 3 LED holes. I filled them up with clear silicon so the LED lights could still shine thru. I also attached some double-sided foam tape so I could secure it in the enclosure.
In the photo on the right, you can see the complete naked enclosure. My first attempt was to have a full outdoor Access Point. To do this, you need a wired ethernet connection and power. So I took the PoE (Power over Ethernet) route. That worked for about a year, but, because I didn’t used outdoor grade cat5e cable when I buried it, one day it suddenly stopped working. I think a rat ate it or it just corroded. If you are planning on doing PoE, then you’ll want to follow this guide and BE SURE TO USE outdoor rated Cat5e cable!! If you don’t want to deal with volt meters and ohm’s law, the check out Hyperlink’s PoE solution.
The 8db compact Hyperlink omnidirectional antenna I used has a mast attachment, so I bought a 2″ PVC pipe and cap and attached the antenna to that. I only attached one external antenna, so I’m not doing a true diversity system like the Linksys originally had. You can turn off the other antenna or keep it on… your tests may yield different results. Omnidirectional is great if you want to spread the 8db signal over 360 degrees. Sometimes you want to use a directional antenna. Let’s say the park you want to check email at is right across the street, and the the picnic table 30 degrees to the right. You could use a patch antenna and blanket just that area with a full 8db. So instead of an 8db (or whatever) omnidirectional antenna, which spreads that 8db over 360 degrees, you can give a 30 degree spread more of the 8db signal.
Total cost? Under $500.
UPDATE: So I had someone comment about power being a problem with most setups. So I got to thinking... why not use solar power to run the camera during the day and charge a 12v gel cell battery for night use. This will also solve the problem of someone cutting your power cord. I'm going to investigate this further. For now I'm thinking about a panel like this...
I've always been fascinated with time lapse photography. There's something about seeing things happen faster than realtime. When I was in the planning phases of building my house, I wanted to have a record from start to finish. I wanted to see the construction from developing the land, to the end product. One way I could do this was to mount a camera and keep it there recording the whole process, but that would give me about 1.5 years of realtime footage. The other option was to take snapshots during the day and then later turn those into a movie sequence. Doing something like this in the past wasn't very practical, but today, with Wi-Fi and Network Cameras you can do it fairly economical. I first asked a couple of my friends to see if they had any extra network cams laying around, that got me a Axis Cam, this is one of those IP camera's that can FTP an image to a server at a given interval. Once I had the camera, I had a few other challenges... first, how do I get the camera weatherproof? Second, how do I mount it and supply power and third, how do I get a WI-FI signal to the camera rig.
The first one was easy, I went over to SuperCircuits and bought one of their heated camera enclosures. That allowed me to mount the camera safely away from the weather... during extreme cold conditions, the heater keeps the electronics and window frost free.
Next, I had to convert a non Wi-Fi camera to wireless... I bought a Linksys WET11 wireless bridge and dismantled it (this voided the warranty). Next, I marked and drilled a hole on the side of the camera enclosure for the WET11's antenna. The WET11 fits perfectly in the case, like it was meant to fit inside.
With all that aside, I had to figure out how to power all the units. The camera, the WET11, and the heater. I visited my second home, Home Depot, and found a PVC enclosure that was big enough to fit my power supplies.
Next, I mounted everything on a 4x4" post, 16' in the air and ran an extension cord down the mast and plugged her in. After setting up the camera and the WET11, I was taking in a vantage point I couldn't usually see.
The house is pretty much done and I have thousands of snapshots that I can now turn into a nice timelapse movie. With the camera's original purpose fulfilled, I'm repurposing it to act as my fourth outdoor security camera.
You're probably wondering why I skipped the part on how I got Wi-Fi to the camera... that's going to be in a separate post, where I explain how I lit up my whole block with a Wi-Fi access point, signal booster, and a waterproof outdoor signal repeater (coupled with a 8db omnidirectional antenna). I live across the street from a park and it was a no brainer to also give it some Wi-Fi loving. Anyways, I'll try to get that DIY posted here this week or next. Stay tuned...
I've always been fascinated with time lapse photography. There's something about seeing things happen faster than realtime. When I was in the planning phases of building my house, I wanted to have a record from start to finish. I wanted to see the construction from developing the land, to the end product. One way I could do this was to mount a camera and keep it there recording the whole process, but that would give me about 1.5 years of realtime footage. The other option was to take snapshots during the day and then later turn those into a movie sequence. Doing something like this in the past wasn't very practical, but today, with Wi-Fi and Network Cameras you can do it fairly economical. I first asked a couple of my friends to see if they had any extra network cams laying around, that got me a Axis Cam
, this is one of those IP camera's that can FTP an image to a server at a given interval. Once I had the camera, I had a few other challenges... first, how do I get the camera weatherproof? Second, how do I mount it and supply power and third, how do I get a WI-FI signal to the camera rig.The first one was easy, I went over to SuperCircuits and bought one of their heated camera enclosures. That allowed me to mount the camera safely away from the weather... during extreme cold conditions, the heater keeps the electronics and window frost free.
Next, I had to convert a non Wi-Fi camera to wireless... I bought a Linksys WET11
wireless bridge and dismantled it (this voided the warranty). Next, I marked and drilled a hole on the side of the camera enclosure for the WET11's antenna. The WET11 fits perfectly in the case, like it was meant to fit inside. With all that aside, I had to figure out how to power all the units. The camera, the WET11, and the heater. I visited my second home, Home Depot, and found a PVC enclosure that was big enough to fit my power supplies.
Next, I mounted everything on a 4x4" post, 16' in the air and ran an extension cord down the mast and plugged her in. After setting up the camera and the WET11, I was taking in a vantage point I couldn't usually see.
The house is pretty much done and I have thousands of snapshots that I can now turn into a nice timelapse movie. With the camera's original purpose fulfilled, I'm repurposing it to act as my fourth outdoor security camera.
You're probably wondering why I skipped the part on how I got Wi-Fi to the camera... that's going to be in a separate post, where I explain how I lit up my whole block with a Wi-Fi access point, signal booster, and a waterproof outdoor signal repeater (coupled with a 8db omnidirectional antenna). I live across the street from a park and it was a no brainer to also give it some Wi-Fi loving. Anyways, I'll try to get that DIY posted here this week or next. Stay tuned...
UPDATE: Our friends over at Gizmodo wanted to see a few photos of the touch screen in operation... well, here they are! The interface is designed in Flash and communicates with a server I wrote in VB.net. The pocketPC interface I posted a while back is based on this full size interface. I currently have a pocketPC version, a 1024x768 version (for use with this touch screen and a 15" Viewsonic Airpanel V150) and a 800x600 version (for use with two 10" Viewsonic Airpanels V110).
Here is what my inwall 15" LCD touchscreen looks like finished and installed. In this post I have the complete parts list you'll need to build you very own.
Assumptions: You have an opening ready for a touchscreen, all the required wiring (power, VGA, Cat5e, audio/mic cables, etc) are all in place. You are familiar with wood working, drywall, and electronics (soldering, etc).
The Parts:
- 3M MicroTouch ChassisTouch LCD Screen. You can also convert a standard LCD screen into a touchscreen and mount that on a frame too.
- CanaKit CK122
- A Serial Data Transmitter (which converts serial over cat5e cable). If you computer is located near the screen, you can use a standard 9pin serial cable. I'm over 50' so I had to use this converter. (See part 1 for more info).
- A pair of Tiny Laptop Speakers (check out Digikey, I used a pair from an old iOpener device)
- A Microphone (Optional)
- Few feet of 4 conductor wire (alarm or telephone wire)
- Soldering Iron
- High Strength CA glue
- Wood and Woodworking tools (for the frame)
- Stain and Wood Finishing supplies (for the frame)
- Patience!
In my first post (DIY: Inwall 15
Here is what my inwall 15" LCD touchscreen looks like finished and installed. In this post I have the complete parts list you'll need to build you very own.
Assumptions: You have an opening ready for a touchscreen, all the required wiring (power, VGA, Cat5e, audio/mic cables, etc) are all in place. You are familiar with wood working, drywall, and electronics (soldering, etc).
The Parts:
- 3M MicroTouch ChassisTouch LCD Screen. You can also convert a standard LCD screen into a touchscreen and mount that on a frame too.
- CanaKit CK122
- A Serial Data Transmitter (which converts serial over cat5e cable). If you computer is located near the screen, you can use a standard 9pin serial cable. I'm over 50' so I had to use this converter. (See part 1 for more info).
- A pair of Tiny Laptop Speakers (check out Digikey, I used a pair from an old iOpener device)
- A Microphone (Optional)
- Few feet of 4 conductor wire (alarm or telephone wire)
- Soldering Iron
- High Strength CA glue
- Wood and Woodworking tools (for the frame)
- Stain and Wood Finishing supplies (for the frame)
- Patience!
In my first post (DIY: Inwall 15
Let's face it, technology has been good to us, but it also has taken away many classic art forms. For example, before we had computerized vinyl cut lettering, we had classic sign painters. These people were amazing, they could paint numbers and letters perfectly... without stencils or templates. Before I started working for The Walt Disney Company I worked at a smaller web design firm that was located in the heart of Pioneer Square in Seattle. It's in the historic district so all the buildings have many classic elements that we rarely see these days. Remember the black outlined, gold leaf foil lettering on office doors? The ones that would read, "Private", or "Office". Those are the ones I recreated on my office door. Now, I'm not really into gold, so I used copper instead. You can use real gold, silver, platinum, or any type of foil leaf you can find. I thought it would be a great detail to add my address on the glass above my office door. My address is 326, but to make it fun, I made up a new address for my office. 326 1/2... it is.
In the following post, I'm going to show you my attempt at doing this classic lettering technique on glass... I hope it's something you'll try doing in your home or office.
Step 1: Creating the template -- Since I'm not a professional freehand sign painter, I needed to create a template so I can easily paint inside the lines. I decided the best way to achieve a perfect outline is by using today's technologies. Yup, the very ones that killed this technique, a vinyl cut lettering machine. I fired up Adobe Illustrator and found a font I liked. I chose the classic font, Clarendon. I adjusted it a bit (squashed it by a few pixels) until I got it exactly the right size and look. Next, I stroked the font until I got a thick enough outline and then converted the strokes to outlines. Make sure you check it out in "Preview" mode, the vinyl cut machines are like PC Board machines where they use Gerber files, so if you want an outline you need to have two lines (an outside and an inside), the machines can't read stroke widths.
Next, I emailed my file to my local FedEx Kinkos and had them produce a few templates for me on black vinyl. Remember, to tell them to remove the outline before they apply the sign placement masking tape, since that is where you will be painting onto the glass.
Step 2: Applying the Template -- Next, follow the instructions FedEx Kinkos gave you with the vinyl (be sure to clean the glass surface with alcohol before applying the template). You will also get a yellow applicator to help you remove any air bubbles. Make sure you get the edges a stuck to the glass then remove the placement masking tape. You will be left with the vinyl and an outline of the lettering revealing the glass.
Here is a photo of my placement:
The masking tape is removed revealing the outline and glass below:
Step 3: Painting and Leafing -- This part requires the most patience. I took an extra precaution and applied masking tape around the area so I didn't get any paint on any other areas. I used black Delta Craft Air-Dry PermEnamel found at your local craft store (be sure to also use the PermEnamal Step 1 conditioner) and applied it using a 1/4" wide brush. This is the only stuff I found that sticks to glass. I applied about 4-5 coats. Next, I ordered a copper leaf kit from Dick Blick and removed the inner vinyl from the lettering. I applied the leafing adhesive very carefully with a small tipped art paint brush. Follow the instructions in the kit. I applied two layers of leaf and then applied the included satin sealer. When that is all done, you can carefully remove all the vinyl.
The end result:
No vinyl cut lettering even compares to what this looks like. It takes you back to a time where people had talent and actually created things directly with their hands. If you end up using my technique or you have some photos of a similar approach, I'd love for you to email me some photos.