Hardware Hacking Projects for Geeks

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Battery holder for 10 to 12 cells
Speaker wire
DC power connector
Fuse and holder
D-size batteries
Tie wraps
Black electrical tape
Multi-meter

I've been using laptop computers for a long time, and one of the first accessories I end up buying is an extra battery. These batteries tend to cost anywhere from $100 to $200 and don't provide that much more operating time. I travel by air quite a bit, and the extra battery I carry often does not last even half the flight.

After some thought, I decided to build my own external laptop power extender that would run off of standard alkaline or rechargeable batteries. The battery pack adds anywhere between two and six extra hours of run time. With your laptop fully charged and this power extender packed for backup, you should have enough power to run your applications for as long as you wish on your next transcontinental airplane trip.

This project uses a set of ordinary alkaline D-size batteries to power a laptop computer.

You will assemble a battery holder and cable and test out the project. The battery pack you assemble will be customized for your laptop model. Before connecting it to another model, you will also need to check for voltage compatibility. When you've completed this project, the battery pack should power your laptop for two to six hours.

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This project uses a set of ordinary alkaline D-size batteries to power a laptop computer.

You will assemble a battery holder and cable and test out the project. The battery pack you assemble will be customized for your laptop model. Before connecting it to another model, you will also need to check for voltage compatibility. When you've completed this project, the battery pack should power your laptop for two to six hours.

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The power extender you build will be customized for your laptop. You will need to check the voltage requirement for your laptop and assemble a suitable pack.

Look on the bottom of your laptop computer and locate the input voltage specification. Figure 1-1 shows the location on an IBM model T20 laptop. The T20 specifies 15V DC input at 3.39 amps. (This may seem like a large number, but on average your laptop will not draw this much current.) If this information is not listed on the laptop case, look in the owner's manual or on the AC wall power adapter that came with the laptop.

Figure 1-1: Underside of laptop

If the input specification is in AC volts, this hack will not work. AC volts are specified with either the letters "AC" or a wavy line after the voltage specification.

Look at the back or side of your laptop and locate the external power jack.

The IBM T20 external power jack is a yellow plastic jack on the right side. You can see it circled in Figure 1-2. On other laptops, simply look for the jack into which you plug the AC wall adapter.

Figure 1-2: Laptop power jack

Look closely next to the power jack and you will also see its polarity. This will tell you how to wire up the power plug from your battery pack. There will be a small inset diagram similar to Figure 1-3.

Radio Shack has a large selection of power jacks from which to choose. Either purchase a few and use the one that fits, or take your laptop into the store and try out several until you find one that fits snugly.

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Plug your laptop into the battery pack. The laptop will show that it is plugged into a wall outlet while using the battery pack. This is because the pack is supplying power through the power jack normally used by an AC adapter.

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If the battery pack included with your laptop no longer holds a charge, you can open up the battery enclosure and replace the dead batteries. You will need to carefully cut open the plastic case and determine the type of cells used; you will likely find either NiMH or Li-Ion cells. Replacement batteries can be ordered from a number of suppliers, including Panasonic and Sanyo.

If you want to use rechargeable batteries instead of alkaline cells in the battery holder, you can purchase the batteries and a charger at Radio Shack.

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Item	Quantity	Notes
D-size battery holder	10–12 cells	DigiKey Part #220K-ND, BH4DL-ND
12-gauge twin conductor speaker wire	6-foot length	Hardware store
DC power connector	1	Radio Shack or DigiKey
Fuse and holder	1	DigiKey Part #F062-ND holder and F124-ND fuse
Tie wraps	5	Hardware store or DigiKey
Insulating electrical tape	1 roll	Hardware store
D-size batteries	10–16	Any alkaline or rechargeable batteries
Multi-meter	1

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An old Mac (the "all-in-one" beige box)
Plexiglas sheets
Fish tank accessories
A few hand tools
Fish
Other items listed in Exhibit A

One of the best-looking personal computers yet designed is the original Apple Macintosh. It not only had one of the most innovative user interfaces of its time, it also had a very unique and friendly-looking case design. This was a computer that bordered on "art." Well, that old Mac you once used is probably in the garage now or buried in some closet never to be powered on again, so why not turn it into something useful?

In this hack, I'll show you how to turn your old Macintosh into a working aquarium. You'll remove the electronics from the Mac and craft your own Plexiglas fish tank, customized to fit snugly inside the case. When you're finished, you'll have an aquarium and a new use for an old computer. Since you'll be removing all the components from inside the Mac, these plans will work fine even if your Mac is broken.

This hack is easy to complete and should take no more than a weekend to build, once you have all the supplies.

I would like to thank Jim Lower for providing the basic plans from his web site: http://www.techquarium.com/.

And, after some research, it appears that Andy Ihnatko was the first to build and document a Macquarium. He is a Mac pundit and runs this web site: http://www.cwob.com/.

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To create your Macquarium, you'll first take apart the Mac and remove the electronics. You'll then prepare the case, removing parts that would interfere with the fish tank and grinding down parts that would scrape it. You'll build the tank, using Plexiglas that you buy at your local hardware store. Finally, you'll assemble the tank, place it inside the Mac case, and populate it with your fish.

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The following steps walk you through the construction of your Macquarium.

The first thing you need to do is to carefully take apart your Mac.

Section 2.2.1.1: Remove all switches and screws

Begin by prying off the sliding programmer's switch with a screwdriver, as shown in Figure 2-1. (Keep in mind that not all Macs are equipped with this switch.) Save the programmer's switch, as it will be put back on later. Mac SEs have a different switch that pries up from the bottom side. The Mac Classics switch is part of the case and does not come off, so you will leave it in place.

Figure 2-1: Power switch

Now remove the battery door and the Torx screw behind it, as shown in Figure 2-2. (Mac SEs and Classics do not have a battery door, so there is nothing to remove here.) Save the battery door for later reattachment. Torx screws have six-pointed star-shaped sockets that require a special screwdriver, which can be purchased at DigiKey or perhaps a local hardware store.

Look at the back side of the case and remove two Torx screws from the bottom. You can see their location circled in Figure 2-3.

Figure 2-2: Battery door

Figure 2-3: Bottom Torx screws

(On older Macs, you will notice the "Hyperdrive" sticker on the back. This was one of the first internal hard drives for the Mac, with a cable that clipped directly to the processor. It was very cool at the time, but quite expensive.)

Look inside the carrying handle and remove the two Torx screws located deep inside. Their location is circled in Figure 2-4.

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If there are no leaks, install the filter plate and add gravel to the bottom of the tank. Install an air pump and fill the tank with water. Treat the water according to the directions on the treatment package. Add fish and enjoy your creation! You should have something that looks like Figure 2-69.

Figure 2-69: Completed Macquarium

Upon first seeing your new fish tank, most people will probably do a double take. They might even comment, "I don't recall the Mac SE having a color screensaver."

Clean and maintain the tank just like a regular fish tank. And don't forget to feed your screensaver!

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In this hack we concentrated on the Macintosh, but it is quite simple to use the same techniques to modify an old monitor. You will need to figure out for yourself how to take apart the case. Please be very careful when handling the electronics and the tube inside the monitor. Follow the same precautions as were described for discharging the Mac's picture tube.

You will have to design your own Plexiglas enclosure following the same methods outlined in this hack. Get a little extra acrylic plastic to practice with before starting on the final project.

These tanks can be quite striking when complete. Figure 2-70 shows a tank that fits inside a large monitor case.

Figure 2-70: Large monitor aquarium
To add some realism to your monitor/tank, you could add a blinking LED to the power lamp of the monitor.
In Chapter 15, How to Build an Internet Coffeemaker, you will hack together a web-based temperature and water sensor. You could easily use that hack with your new fish tank to allow you to monitor the temperature and maintain a satisfactory water level for your fish tank from anywhere in the world.
If you want to give your fish some company, you could mount the screen from an old laptop computer in the back and run a fish-tank screensaver. Any color laptop should work. Simply separate the screen from the base of the laptop, taking care to protect the thin connection cables between the two. Repack the main CPU board and keyboard in an enclosure behind the tank, and you are ready to go. If the laptop has a free USB port, you could even add a web camera and watch the fish.
If you want to be able to remotely feed your fish, an inexpensive fish feeder can be hacked to allow web-based control. The same mini-web server used in Chapter 15 could be used to trigger a relay that switches on the feeder.

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Item	Notes
A Macintosh computer	These plans will work without modification on a Mac 128, 512, Plus, SE, and SE/30 computers. With slight modification, the plans will work for Mac Classic and Classic II computers.
Plexiglas brand acrylic sheets	There are other brands that may (or may not) work as well. A 3' x 6' sheet of 1/4" Plexiglas costs about $45 at Home Depot and is large enough to make about three aquariums. Buy a smaller sheet if you like, but if this is your first time working with acrylic you may ruin a sheet or two, so the extra material could come in handy. Do not use Lexan—it may be harder to scratch or break, but it's almost impossible to glue together.
Acrylic solvent	Sold under various trade names and found at plastics supply houses; check your Yellow Pages under "Plastic Supply" for more info. Get both the liquid and thickened versions. You won't need a lot, so buy the smallest can and tube you can find. This stuff isn't really a cement or glue; it's a solvent that melts the acrylic pieces together. Once bonded correctly, the pieces will never come apart. It also creates seriously toxic fumes, so follow the warnings on the can and tube and avoid breathing the vapors.
A plastic squeeze bottle with a needle-like tip	Pick one up at the same place as the acrylic cement. Note: when you're done cementing pieces together, pour the remaining solvent back into the metal can it came in. The solvent will quickly evaporate from the plastic bottle, even when capped.

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802.11b network card
Computer (Windows, Linux, Mac)
A Primestar dish
Soldering iron
N-style RF connector
A chassis-mount N connector
Low-loss coaxial cable (optional)
A "pigtail" connector
Other items listed in Exhibits A and B

I've been using a wireless Ethernet card in my laptop for several years. The change from wired networking to wireless was an amazing shift. I was no longer tethered to a thick cable. I could wander around my office or my home and connect to the Web. However, in many situations I found that the range of the built-in antenna in the PC card was limited, and I desired additional range.

In this hack, I will show you how to build two different range-extending antennas for your wireless LAN card. The first design is made from a used soup or coffee can. It is inexpensive and easy to implement, and will send and receive a signal in one direction that's up to 16 times more powerful than the built-in antenna on your wireless card. The second design uses a discarded Primestar satellite TV dish antenna. It is highly directional and can theoretically send and receive data to another dish up to 10 kilometers away under ideal conditions.

This project uses the Lucent Orinoco 802.11b card, but any brand of 802.11b network card will do. Whichever design you choose to build, you'll need a "pigtail" connector that has the proprietary Lucent connector (for the PCMCIA card) on one end and an N connector on the other. The pigtail can be obtained from a number of online stores for $35 to $40.

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This project uses the Lucent Orinoco 802.11b card, but any brand of 802.11b network card will do. Whichever design you choose to build, you'll need a "pigtail" connector that has the proprietary Lucent connector (for the PCMCIA card) on one end and an N connector on the other. The pigtail can be obtained from a number of online stores for $35 to $40.

You'll also need to know the basics of soldering for this project. The construction of either range-extending antenna for your wireless LAN card can be completed in a few simple steps.

Before attempting either of these hacks, you need to be aware of the FCC regulations on maximum allowed power output from an antenna at the frequencies that the 802.11b cards operate. Read FCC part 15.247 at http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_00/47cfr15_00.html .

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This hack is quick and can be very useful. I put together a can-based antenna in about two hours. I then took it to a local café that offers a pay 802.11b service. After powering up my laptop and connecting the antenna, I slowly moved the antenna around, scanning for other networks. Within one minute, I had located another network and "borrowed" access instead of having to use the pay service.

If you are interested in using these antennas at other radio frequencies, the dimensions can be scaled appropriately.

It is quite simple to take an ordinary metal can and transform it into a directional antenna for your 802.11b network card in four simple steps. See Exhibit A for a complete list of materials you'll need.

Locate a metal food can that is between 3 inches and 3.25 inches in diameter. A longer can is better. Be sure the can is clean and dry, and that the open end is free from any ragged metal edges.

Drill a hole approximately 2.5" from the closed end of the can for the N connector. You can find this connector from DigiKey, Radio Shack, and ham radio stores. Depending on where you buy it, the exact dimensions may be different from those shown in Figure 3-1, so check the dimensions of your connector. Also drill several smaller holes for the mounting screws. Figure 3-1 shows where the connector will be mounted on the can.

Figure 3-1: Antenna connector location

Next, take the N connector (see Figure 3-2) and add a short piece of 12-gauge wire so that the wire sticks up 1.21" above the edge of the connector.

Figure 3-2: N connector (back and front)

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The Primestar antenna hack described here is the brainchild of Rob Frohne, who details some of the steps at http://www.wwc.edu/~frohro/Airport/Primestar/Primestar.html.

First, a little background. Primestar (a satellite TV company) was recently purchased by DirecTV (another satellite TV company), which is phasing out all the Primestar equipment. This means the dishes are being abandoned and are available for other uses such as the one described here. If you can't locate a Primestar dish, you may be able to use a DirecTV or other satellite TV system dish antenna. A little experimenting will be required to get them to work. Primestar antennas can be found at tag sales, local newspaper classifieds, or on the Internet.

It is easy to transform a surplus Primestar dish into a highly directional antenna for the very popular IEEE 802.11 wireless networking. The resulting antenna has about 22 db of gain (this means that the signal is amplified in one direction about 128 times) and is fed with 50-Ohm coaxial cable. Usually LMR400 or 9913 low-loss cable is used if the source is more than a few feet from the antenna. (See the sidebar on low-loss cable.)

The resulting range of your wireless system using two of these antennas with a line-of-sight path should be close to 10 miles at full bandwidth. I must stress the line-of-sight path, though. Leaves and trees weaken the signal significantly, so you will want to make sure that the path between antennas is clear. Even rain and fog can limit the range.

The long-range link you will create can connect remote homes to the Internet or allow retrieval of audio/video data from remote locations. Imagine being able to set up a web camera on the side of a mountain to monitor wildlife or connect to a hard-to-reach local network with full bandwidth.

In the following easy steps, you will construct and set up a highly directional antenna. See Exhibit B for a complete list of materials for this project.

Your resulting hacked dish should look something like Figure 3-5. You can see the can antenna at the bottom of the figure.

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Item	Quantity	Notes
Metal can 3" to 3.25" in diameter and 4" long	1	Metal soup or veggie can works well
N-style RF connector	1	DigiKey Part #ARF1005-ND
4-40 screws and nuts	4	Hardware store
12-gauge copper wire	3"	Hardware store
A "pigtail" connector that has the proprietary Lucent connector on one end and an N connector on the other	1	The pigtail can be obtained from a number of online stores for $35 to $40
Low-loss coaxial cable	20–50'	Time Microwave Part #LMR-400
Soldering iron

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Item	Quantity	Notes
Primestar dish	1	eBay or yard sale
Metal can about 4" in diameter and at least 8" long	1	Metal soup or veggie can works well
Chassis-mount N connector	1	DigiKey Part #ARF1023-ND
A "pigtail" connector that has the proprietary Lucent connector on one end and an N connector on the other	1	The pigtail can be obtained from a number of online stores for $35 to $40
Low-loss RF cable	20–50'	Times Microwave Part #LMR400 or 9913
Soldering iron
12-gauge wire	2"	DigiKey or hardware store

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A home PC with an AMD or Intel CPU
1mm thick sheet of copper
Fish tank pump
Vinyl tubing
Rubber bands
Other items listed in Exhibit A

Over the last few years, it has become a popular hobby to run your PC's CPU at a rate faster than the factory default rate. This practice is known as overclocking.

The Pentium or AMD processor inside your PC runs its software based on an internal heartbeat known as the clock. The clock speed determines how fast your system operates. AMD and Intel shamelessly flog their products (for example, the Pentium 4 2GHz and the AMD K6II-400) based on this clock number. Many processors that have a similar megahertz rating are actually the same part with a different clock, potentially reducing your ability to overclock that particular processor.

Running the clock faster than what the CPU manufacturers recommend has certain side effects. One such effect is that the CPU gets hotter than it should. Many recently manufactured CPUs with clock speeds over 1GHz have a temperature sensor and circuit built in, which allows the CPU to monitor its temperature and slow things down if it gets too hot.

Many of the overclocking "pioneers" used big fans and metal-finned heat sinks to transfer the heat generated by the faster clock rates away from the CPU. These fans moved the air past the heat sink where a heat exchange took place. The fans were usually noisy, and the heat sink provided only limited cooling to the CPU. (The CPU in your PC probably has a heat sink built in already.)

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This hack is based on work from Rob Dickinson, who designed and built this very effective and inexpensive CPU cooler. All photos in this hack are courtesy of Rob.

The project is targeted at single Socket7 CPU computers, but with some careful planning it can be adapted to other types of processors. (A Socket7 processor looks like a square ceramic slab with many metal pins sticking out the bottom.)

You will construct this water-cooling system using a waterproof metal can connected to a water pump that attaches to your PC's CPU.

You can find most, if not all, of the necessary parts in your local hardware store. You will need a few hand tools such as a hacksaw, a bench vise, a pair of pliers, and a soldering iron.

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Putting water inside your PC can be risky. If the water cooling system you build has any leaks, the water will likely damage or destroy parts inside of it. Water and electricity are also a potentially dangerous combination, so take extra care when building and testing your work.

Before you start, you need to figure out whether your CPU and motherboard can actually be overclocked. First, determine the exact model and clock speed of the processor. This information is shown when your PC first boots up. You can also look under Control Panel → System Properties → General (see Figure 4-1). Next, check the motherboard manufacturer and model number by opening up the computer case and examining the main circuit board. Check this data against the lists of CPUs and motherboards found on web sites such as http://www.hardocp.com/ and the others listed at the end of this chapter.

Figure 4-1: Processor operating speed

You can also check for overclocking compatibility by restarting the PC into the BIOS screen. To do this, press the F4 key just after the PC starts up. Look through the various options for the one that lets you change the clock speed. Most Pentium and AMD processors rated for 200MHz-plus installed in the motherboard and made in the past four years can be overclocked. Search the forums in the web sites listed at the end of this chapter for confirmation of your hardware.

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Follow these six steps to build your overclocked PC with water-cooled processor.

The water block is a waterproof metal can connected to a water pump that is attached to the CPU in your PC. Water is pumped through the water block, which removes the excess heat from overclocking. You'll then need to test the water block for leaks and, finally, install it on top of the CPU and connect the water piping.

This specific water block was designed with a few simple rules in mind: the space inside of a PC is limited, so the system should easily fit; it should cool an AMD or Pentium CPU; and it should be easy to secure the cooler to the CPU.

In this step, you will construct a copper box that will be attached to the CPU in your PC using cotton thread. This box will pull heat away from the CPU and transfer it to the water that will flow through the box. You will need a sheet of copper, a 75-watt soldering iron, the copper tubing, and solder (see Exhibit A for more details on the parts you need).

Before you begin construction of the water block, look inside your PC and locate the main processor. Look at the space around and above it. Make sure that you have 1 to 2 centimeters of space around it for both the water block and water tubing. You may need to modify the design presented here to accommodate your specific motherboard and CPU if you do not have this extra space. There are seven tasks you need to complete to build the water block.

Section 4.3.1.1: Task 1: Cut out the box parts from the metal sheet

Obtain a sheet of copper with the dimensions noted in the Bill of Materials. You should be able to purchase the material from a local hobby shop or online (http://www.onlinemetals.com/). Draw the design shown in Figure 4-2 onto the sheet.

Figure 4-2: Metal sheet cutting pattern

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Figure 4-26 shows a 650 MHz Intel PII system that has been overclocked to 1 GHz. Note the 1,000 MHz at the top of the screen.

Check the CPU temperature and core voltages from the BIOS. You should see that the cooling system keeps the temperature in the seventies to low eighties.

Figure 4-26: Overclocking results

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What you've seen so far is a very basic water-cooling setup, which can be somewhat clumsy for everyday use because it uses an open pan of water. In this section I describe how to add a small radiator and water reservoir, another method to cool the water. Space doesn't permit a complete step-by-step set of instructions, so I'll just give you some loose guidelines to follow if you're interested in pursuing the radiator on your own.

Purchase a standard automobile oil radiator from an auto parts store. These radiators are rather small and lightweight. Get a few different hose diameter adapters so that the input and output tubes from the radiator match the hose to the CPU cooler and water reservoir.

Because the system will become a closed circulation system, you need a way to prevent air bubbles from forming inside it. Air bubbles will disrupt operation and need to be removed. A reservoir will allow you to add water and bleed the system of air. A 4-inch-square underground plastic electrical box from a local hardware store should work well. You will need to drill two holes in the top and add brass hose barbs for connection to the water system. You can see a schematic diagram of this in Figure 4-27.

Figure 4-27: Cooling system with radiator and reservoir

If you do decide to add a radiator, note what type of metal it is made of. If the water block and the radiator are made of different materials, such as aluminum and copper, you have the basic elements of a battery. Over time, these two dissimilar metals will react through the water and begin to break down. There are several things you can do to prevent this. One, use de-ionized water. Two, add a small amount of Water Wetter from Red Line Oil Inc (http://www.redlineoil.com/), which will slow and prevent any corrosion.

As mentioned previously, it is important to ensure that the water-cooling block be in contact with as much of the CPU as possible. If you want to get a good thermal connection, you may want to use a small amount of thermal grease. This material is often called heat-sink grease and is available at Radio Shack.

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Below is a list of web sites with information about parts, water cooling, and PC overclocking in general.

http://www.premiumaquatics.com/

http://www.tomshardware.com/

http://www.water-cooling.com/

http://www.hardocp.com/

http://www.dangerden.com/

http://www.redlineoil.com/

http://www.onlinemetals.com/

http://www.petswarehouse.com/

http://www.overclockers.com/

http://www.overclocked-hardware.com/

http://www.h-oda.com/

http://mbm.livewiredev.com/

http://www.dworld.de/

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Item	Quantity	Notes
Copper board, 1mm thick, 30cm x 30cm	1	Hardware store
Copper tubes, 4mm diameter, 30cm length	2	Hardware store
Hacksaw	1	Hardware store
Bench vise	1	Hardware store
Pliers	1	Hardware store
12" x 8" x 3" plastic pan or automobile cooling radiator	1	Hardware or auto parts store
25-watt soldering iron	1	Hardware store
Solder	1	Hardware store
75-watt soldering iron	1	Hardware store

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Table of Contents

Section 2.2.1.1: Remove all switches and screws

Section 4.3.1.1: Task 1: Cut out the box parts from the metal sheet