Adding internal USB-A female port

Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Posts: 9

Hola community, just thought i'd share some pics of my recent hack.
Let me first say that none of this would've been possible without y'alls hard work and deep thinking. I printed out 2 articles that served as my "destruction manual", and pretty much guided me through the whole thing.

Decided to go with USB-A female because thats what was laying around, didnt fit all the way in the case as I had hoped, but, it's wedged in there so nicely I havent found need to epoxy...feels very robust! My soldering leaves much to be desired, and in retrospect I should've turned my wiring around. Recent hardware hack worked like a charm, OPS continues to amaze, USB LIB did it's job and Juggles post really helped me a bunch!
Cranked up the resolution to 640X480 and am living large and in charge.

Many thanks to the bleeding edge!

Pics:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38127534@N00/sets/72057594082002866/

Kindof looks like a little flash!
Cheers, and again...my deepest awe and appreciation!
LostChocolateLab

edit:changed link to Flickr photo set-LCL

Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 15

Finally, someone doing a USB-A. Except I found a nice little spot on the side of the camera to put mine and have in all on the inside. Best part is that there is an little indent that is the same size at the female port so I already have a guide as where to cut

Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 15

Helpful hint... if you want a nice hole for your port and have unsteady hands try cutting out as much as you can without getting to close to your hole and then file the rest away. Takes longer but you get nicer edges

Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Posts: 9

Ye, i'm very happy with the USB-A, even without epoxy this port is STURDY!
I just went through a minor bricking which resulted in the constant plugging/unplugging of my cable during it's ressurection...and it handled the test like a champ!

Thanks for your tip on the fileing, i'll have to try that! (unsteady hands and a dull razor, indeed!)
Where are the pics from yours?
LCL

Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 15

Not completely done yet myself actually. I don't have alot of time to put aside for any projects so progress is slow. I have almost finished with modding the case. I have everything ready just need to strip the wires and do one more dry fit and then I can start soddering the wires to the board and then do the final construction. Looks like with everything, and I mean from setting up the soddering iron to screwing the casing back together, I have about 1 - 2 hours worth of work before I start working on the software part of it.

Joined: 10 Jul 2005 Posts: 5

C'mon, you can do better than that. Mine looks pretty stock.

Joined: 10 Sep 2005 Posts: 1119

Now, add a little spring loaded flap that covers the USB connector when it is not being used. You don't want navel lint collecting in your USB hole.

Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 15

texaspyro wrote:

Now, add a little spring loaded flap that covers the USB connector when it is not being used. You don't want navel lint collecting in your USB hole.

Now that is an idea... but how would I rig the spring? Maybe a flap that snaps into place instead...

Joined: 26 Aug 2005 Posts: 193

cast a rumber male plug ......

like on mini-b connector of digicam.... or minidisc player. it may work Very Happy

Joined: 10 Sep 2005 Posts: 1119

Basically a coiled spring with ends that come out perpendicular to the coils. You install the spring along the shaft of the hinge. Crank in a few turns of torque. One spring end touches the camcorder body, the other end touches the door. Arrange the twist so that the spring unwinds to seal the door against the camcorder. To be really effective, the door should have an o-ring or piece of foam to make a better seal.

Even easier way. Make the door out of steel. Install a magnet in the camcorder case. Oooh, I like it. Oh, so CENSORED.

Joined: 23 Oct 2005 Posts: 15

andreq wrote:

cast a rumber male plug ......

like on mini-b connector of digicam.... or minidisc player. it may work Very Happy

Think that is a little out of my league

Joined: 03 Oct 2005 Posts: 12

Man, oh, man, you guys have WAAAAYYYY too much time on your hands! Laughing

javascript:emoticon(' Laughing

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Joined: 07 Nov 2005 Posts: 2

Here is mine. I put mine on the side too...

http://www.flickr.com/photos/spyndle/50895953/

Joined: 11 Nov 2005 Posts: 1

Man thank you, helped a whole lot. Just started doing it today, and you set it all in front of me, thanks again.

Joined: 01 Dec 2005 Posts: 1

why not use the female-B connector instead? yea its a little wider but smaller overall, plus you wouldn't need a male-A<->male-A, you could just use any standard usb cable that comes with most printers and external devices. OR use one of the mini usb connectors that you see on regular size camcorders (usually you get Firewire and USB, but the usb is very tiny) That would be perfect.

Joined: 25 Oct 2005 Posts: 9

Quote:

why not use the female-B connector instead? yea its a little wider but smaller overall, plus you wouldn't need a male-A<->male-A, you could just use any standard usb cable that comes with most printers and external devices.

Totally, this would've been the obvios choice, but I had the A connector and other cabling handy...and I seem to have escaped the need for epoxy by wedging it in between the housing and circuit board, it has held up VERY well for me for the past month.

I'd like to just run a cable from a male-A out the bottom for my next one, we'll see. ;)

Happy hacking!
LCL

Posted: Tue Dec 20, 2005 5:48 pm

I put a USB-B connector on the side. It took me all of maybe 10 min. In fact from the time I opened the package to the time i could import to the computer it was about a half hour. I used B because they had them available at school.

Joined: 12 Jun 2005 Posts: 215 Location: Cambridge, MA

zeratul1320 wrote:

I put a USB-B connector on the side. It took me all of maybe 10 min. In fact from the time I opened the package to the time i could import to the computer it was about a half hour. I used B because they had them available at school.

Pictures, and/or a step-by-step? I have B connectors (molex samples) and will eventually get my workbench unearthed ... as I have been saying for many months now ...
Wink

Joined: 05 Aug 2005 Posts: 1554 Location: jacksonville, fl

1 open case
2 remove pcb
3 solder a wire to each usb line on the pcb
4 cut the back wall of the case's connector hole so the wires can go back into the case
5 drill a 1/4 or so size hole in the center of where you want your usb port to be in the case
6 use a knife to shape the hole into the shape and size of the usb port
7 solder usb connector's pins to the 4 wires coming from the pcb
8 glue, epoxy, hot glue, or otherwise affix the usb port into the case
9 put pcb back into case, making sure the wires from the 10pin port to the usb port aren't pinched or in front of the mic or lens
10 put the back of the case back on
11 test the port to make sure it works before screwing the back on
12 fill the 10 pin hole on top of the cam with hot glue or epoxy since you won't be using it. just keep in mind it's hard to open the case when you do (optional)

Posted: Wed Dec 21, 2005 1:36 am

personally i use a m100 cable, so i dont ned to redo every camcorde that i get