Question about screen backlight resistor
EDIT #2: Alright, trying this again (really should try to stop asking questions and then immediately finding answers elsewhere)...I'm trying to dim the screen backlight of the camera. I've opened up the cam, taken out resistor R82, soldered wires onto the connection pads. I now need to solder in a resistor in series with a pot - however, I've seen values for this resistor ranging everywhere from 470 ohms to 500 k (thats 500,000 ohms, right? just checking). What's the right value? Also, as an asides, I still have the R82 resistor - if I bridge 2 solder pads with it, will it function as the above-needed resistor? Thanks, J.L P.S Also, while I'm at it...Are there any connectors leading to the LCD that are either unnecessary or can be piggybacked? I'd like to attach the LCD remotely without the fear of yanking out soldered wires, and 4 Ethernet cables would work nicely for this...if the LCD had 32 wires (as opposed to 33)

just use a multimeter to check it then get something which is a higher resistance or has a resistance of (whatever the resistance is and upwards) and yes 500 k is 500,000 (k is thousands)

Managed to figure out what needed to be done, got the resistor installed in series with a potentiometer, everything works now...Onto the next bit - does anyone know if there are any wires leading to the LCD that can be piggybacked or disconnected without seriously impairing the function of the screen? As I said, I'd like to have the LCD mounted separately from the body of the camera, with cables that can be detached so as to avoid ripping soldered joins - 4 Ethernet cables would be good for this, except they only provide 32 wires (the LCD needs 33). Anyways, any help would be appreciated - thanks

4 Ethernet cables? Why not a ribbon cable of some kind? IDE/UDMA cables have 40 or 80 conductors, I believe.

I was actually thinking HDMI - they're each 17 wires; x2, I've got the 33 I need. I don't particularily want a ribbon cable for this due to the application - it has to be flexible in all directions and hopefully somewhat unobtrusive (its going to be attached to a helmet, so...). The only major stumbling block in the way of me using HDMI is the prohibitive cost (oodles of cash for one cable) and the relative unavailability of female (receptacle-type) HDMI plugs (which also cost an arm and a leg). Thus, Ethernet would be best, if I can eliminate one of the wires

There are two GNDs and two VCCs. I don't know if the GNDs or VCCs need to be isolated. You could try hooking up the LCD with five cables to prove the rig works as planned. After you are satisfied it is working, try ganging together GNDs or VCCs using only four cables. If it works great; if not, use five cables or remove a single wire and use it as one of the GNDs (4 x 8 = 32 + 1 = 33.) So, what are you trying to make? Something fun I hope. :cool:

Wonder if you can find some UDMA female-female connectors. Would work pretty well with the round cables. On the other hand, I don't see why anyone would want to make those. Just try not to mix up one of the cat-6 cables. But if you do, tell me what happened. ;)

Hi Jlel12, going back to the brightness resistor, I'd like to turn off the LCD screen to save on battery juice, all I'd have to do is disconnect R82 right? (and put a switch on it with a resistor for those times I want to view the screen) Was R82 hard to find? thanx Tinhorn

Yep, it's that easy. You can even use a potentiometer with a switch built into it. Don't forget to serial a resistor with that, or you could destroy the backlight. Don't know where R82 is though. It might be different for different models of cams too. (220, 230, etc)

Tinhorn: Yep, that would work. Like CameraUser said, dont forget to serial in the resistor so you don't burn out your screen. I'm currently on the road, but when I get home I'll see if I can diagram out for you where R82 is on the circuitboard. Wasn't too hard for me to find, but as was stated above, its location may change depending on the cam. CameraUser, FRU swapper: Thanks for your suggestions and ideas; much appreciated. I'll try out ganging the GNDs - hopefully not smoking my cam in the process, hehehe. As to what I'm making...well, I think it's kinda fun. I got the idea from this dude's webpage (http://codeninja.de/borgcocker/) - decided I'd try the same with my marker. So far it's going pretty well - my cam's unlocked, with the backlight pot installed and the IR filter taken out. Eventually, I'm hoping to have the camera mounted on a scope (purchased today), with a bunch of IR LEDs (have already) mounted in flashlights under the barrel of the marker and, of course, cables leading from the body of the camera up to the screen, which is mounted on my facemask. Thus, I have to fret about having removable cables connecting the two parts - resoldering 33 near-invisible connections would suck, to be polite about it. Yeah, so thats my grand plan. Its not completely original, but then again, I'm a) on a pretty tight budget and b) not some psycho-brilliant German hacker dude (Off-topic, but if anyone knows what a datapod is, I'd appreciate the clarification). Again, thanks everyone for your help... Any further suggestions/ideas/whatever are much appreciated. J.L

O.K. I think I understand. You wish to mount the imager (camcorder) to the scope or barrel and have the display (LCD) mounted to your mask as a HUD . Correct? Regardless if it is original or not it will be challenging and it will be yours. 8) I can think of two different approaches. 1) Mount an IR laser (don’t use if it can potentially damage your opponent’s vision; read and heed the warning label!) on the barrel and use the IR capable camcorder to see the laser splash on the target. Though, the camcorder may not be sensitive enough to see it. 2) Use a M200 camcorder with the removable imager and lense assembly. It may be easier and lighter to attach the to barrel.

Yep, thats the general gist of it (sorry if the description was confusing). Glad to hear you like it, though. Hmm...I'll check out the IR lasers - never heard of them before. Could definetly be useful for targeting, though. My biggest problem at the moment (asides from building the thing) is producing enough IR light at a sufficient distance to make the night-vision feature worthwhile. If anyone's got any ideas for this that would be mountable on a paintball gun, I'd appreciate them though. As for the M200...That'd definetely be more convenient for mounting and use. I'll see what happens with my 230 - if it doesnt work or I brick the camera, I'll check that out.

Distance with the LEDs is a serious problem. I haven't thought of a good solution yet and I don't think anyone else has. Most IR illuminators have dozens of LEDs, and some lots more. Try googling around. BTW, the m200 lens assembly is tiny, I'd seriously recommend that, especially since the number of wires to solder is actually less.

Re: Question about screen backlight resistor
EDIT #2: Alright, trying this again (really should try to stop asking questions and then immediately finding answers elsewhere)...I'm trying to dim the screen backlight of the camera. I've opened up the cam, taken out resistor R82, soldered wires onto the connection pads. I now need to solder in a resistor in series with a pot - however, I've seen values for this resistor ranging everywhere from 470 ohms to 500 k (thats 500,000 ohms, right? just checking). What's the right value? Also, as an asides, I still have the R82 resistor - if I bridge 2 solder pads with it, will it function as the above-needed resistor? Thanks, J.L With my M230 i'm reading a 47ohm resistor for R82, and after fitting a 220ohm series+1kohm potentiometer i'm not getting anywhere near the original brightness... uhm... any clues ?

lights out
as for the lcd backlight, and the increase of battery life... it can be done much more easily that the resistor route you guys are considering.. my cam is the model 200, so it may be different now, i've been out of cvs cams as a hobby for a while, but saw this and thought i'd chime in.., as i successfully made an on/off switch for mine. the switch i used was as crappy as possible (from a dollar tree radio) so, i removed it when the switch crapped out, but it worked great the way i wired it up... i had a post about it , but it was at least a year ago; i just tried to find it, and couldn't..so...briefly, here is the gist of it: the resistors and everything on the board can stay intact, as the ribbon cable for the lcd itself is discreetly piggybacked with a SEPARATE ribbon which supplies the power for the backlight itself, in a simple loop circuit. this requires removal of the lcd to see, and it is taped with orangish tape giving the appearance of a single ribbon. the lcd itself will come off of the reflective silver paper piece and the black plastic 'tray' that it sits in, which makes the process much easier.. dissecting the two ribbons is delicate work, but not so delicate as to need special tools.. i used the standard "pen style" soldering iron to desolder it, while helping the ribbons apart with an xacto blade...and the same iron to attach tiny wires to break the circuit with a simple open/closed switch. i even reused the orange tape to insulate the two solder points so everything would fit tidily back where it came from.. putting a rheostat, etc., ought to be able to give you dimming effects if need be, i was quite happy with the backlight off, but the lcd still on and functioning. this had a noticeable effect on battery life, particularly when it would get bumped "on" while in a pocket. i had photos up, but i don't remember the address, a search of old posts might find the older more elaborate explanation, but i t might be gone now.. if anyone wants more detail, i will take the cam apart and retake the pics...or make a video.. hope this helps.. messing with components on the board is beyond the capacity of many on here, but this way requires nearly no excessive case mods, special tools, etc., and works 100%.\ to toggle the backlight on/off..