Digit Fast Track to DIY

VOLUME 05

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ISSUE 06B

TECHNOLOGY YOUR HANDY GUIDE TO EVERYDAY

JUNE 2010

To

DIY 20

DO-IT-YOURSELF Projects that will keep you busy this summer

DIY

LIGHT SENSITIVE LAMP CUSTOM PC CASE MODS REMOTE CONTROL FM TRANSMITTER BUG ROOM AIR COOLER TWITTER WIDGET ARCADE GAME CONSOLE ... AND MORE

Free With Digit June 2010

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A 9.9 Media Publication

Contents 1

Overclock your PC .................................................................................05

2

Make your own air filter .......................................................................12

3

Now play with digital dice ...................................................................16

4

Cellphone battery charger..................................................................21

5

FM transmitter bug...............................................................................26

6

Clap switch ...............................................................................................31

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Light activated switch ......................................................................... 37

8

Moisture detector...................................................................................41

9

Make your own cellphone macro lens ............................................43

10 Case Modding - How to use the Dremel tool .................................45 11

Case Modding - Make your cabinet side transparent ................50

12 Case lighting and cooling ...................................................................54 13 Building a transparent DVD Drive ....................................................58 14 Build a Custom HTPC ...........................................................................62 15 Compacting PATA cable......................................................................67 16 Make a portable air cooler .................................................................69 17 Setting up your own PC remote ........................................................ 72 18 Making your own retro gaming console ........................................79 19 Creating a cross-runtime Twitter desktop widget ....................85 20 Make your phone your PC remote ....................................................93

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FAST TRACK- JUNE 2010

Introduction

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nother year, another anniversary…we’re nine years old this year, and it’s thanks to you, our dearest readers, that we have made it this far. Every year, our June issue is special and this year is no exception. This time we decided to get down and dirty, literally as we worked on some home grown solutions for sprucing up everyday computing in some way. Yes, we’re talking about DIY’s, or do it yourself projects – to enhance, build, show-off, and optimise your computing and technology tools. There’s nothing like building something, seeing it take shape in your hands. And most of the subjects of our experiments are commonplace in most homes, although a few will make sure you get some much needed exercise checking out electronic shops around your locality. Regardless of the scope of the task, they’re all equal parts of fun and creativity. Throughout this fast track, you’ll come across projects that we’ve built from scratch in-house, and we even managed to document the entire process – complete with photographs illustrating the different steps, making it easy for you to follow our lead.

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And it couldn’t be better timed too. After all, this issue of Digit will catch you amidst your summer vacations. What better a period, to make use of spare time than summer? And if the monsoons hit early, you’ve got something handy to do. Most of the stuff we’ve done is pretty easy and while geeky and gimmicky, all our DIY’s are also practically beneficial – after all, what’s the use of useless eye-candy? There’s enough variety to entice the most variable of palates.

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15 Compacting PATA cable

What you need?

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Air flow and cable management is important but pretty difficult if you’re using a PC that has lots of PATA cables. If you’re using an older PC, and it’s running hot all the time, then this might help air flow a little bit. Now, you can go out to the market or find these compact PATA cables online but then often, they’re pretty expensive. We’ll show you how you can make your own PATA cables

Cutter, PATA cable, cutting board, duct tape or plastic sleeve

Steps

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1. Take cable, flatten the cable as much as A complete PATA cable possible removing all the curls 2. There is no absolute need to use a ruler, but carefully run blade from one node to the other. Take care not to force the blade through the cable or you might damage the cable. Use a cutting board or a bundle of papers under the table or you might scratch the surface you are using. Follow the same steps and cut all the fine strands of cables.

3. Twist the cables but not very tightly so as not to damage the cables in the process. Try not to put too much pressure 4. Use a tape to bind the cables together in the same direction in which the cables have been twisted. You can also use The wires separated after cutting them individually tapes of different colours to give a unique look. You might have to take the help of someone else to hold the cables while you tape the cables together.

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15 Compacting PATA cable

DIY Cable management

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Cable management is an equally important part of assembling and setting up your system. Better cable management allows better airflow across the cabinet, so all your components stay cool, last longer and perhaps perform better.

Cable management is pretty simple. Avoid Twist the cables carefully once they are cut running cables in front of fans and around important components. Opt for SATA drives over PATA ones. We've already shown you how to make thin PATA cables for cheap.

Start by using zip ties to tie up as many of the SATA cables together. Make sure that the cables lie as close to the edge of the motherboard as possible.

If your cabinet has spaces and holes for attaching the zip ties and cables to one end, use them. Do the same for all of the cables running to the power buttons and status LEDs. Certain cabinets have space at the back of the motherboard to run the power cables to the drives. Use this route as much as possible.

Power cables are more difficult to arrange than the data cables. If you are using a modular power supply, use only one set of 4-pin molex Tie the loose cables with a cellotape to hold the wires together connector or SATA connectors to power the drives you have. Disconnect all unnecessary cables such as the power cables meant for the second graphics card which you might use with SLI/CrossFire.

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16 Make a portable air cooler

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In this hot season, any small respite you get from the blazing heat is a blessing. In this DIY we tell you how to make your very own portable cooling solution. Once you make this device, it can be kept on your table, you can carry it on your lap while in a car, or basically use it anywhere and it'll provide you with a nice breath of cool fresh air. It's just what you need to take the bite out of a hot sweaty afternoon.

What you will need

Concept

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1 Standard 120mm computer fan 1 Thermocol cutter / blade 1 Plastic Tiffin box / tupperware box 4 Screws and a screwdriver 1 Power Source

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The idea is to cut out the lid of a plastic Tiffin Box to screw on a 120mm fan.

The Tiffin Box will be filled with Ice or cold water. The fan will be connected to a portable powersource, and viola it blows refreshing cool air!

Step 1: Take the lid of the Tiffin box and trace out the dimensions of the fan. Make sure that the lid is slightly bigger than the fan itself. Since plastic is transparent it's easily possible to place the fan under the lid to trace the outline. Be careful to mark the exact shape of the fan. The edges of the fan have a plastic borders so the shape you will be marking is not a perfect circle but rather a square with rounded edges. Just make sure there are no gaps.

Tracing the outline for the fan

Tracing the outline for the fan

Step 2: Mark out the positions of the four screws with a sketch pen.

Step 3: Before cutting out the lid, it's best to drill the holes for the screws.

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16 Make a portable air cooler

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DIY

Marking the spots for screws

Marking the spots for screws

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For this take a very small drill bit on a mechanical or automatic drill. If you don't have a drill, you can simply use a small nail to punch holes. Make sure the holes are of a smaller diameter than the screws that you will be using.

Once you've got the holes done simply use a screwdriver to screw in the screws. The screws will create a spiral path on their own and since the holes are smaller they will be fixed firmly in place.

Step 4: Begin cutting the outline that you marked. Use a regular cutter for this. Make sure that you get as smooth a cut as possible. If not you can always file it smooth.

Trace the outline before cutting

Cutting the lid

Step 5: While screwing in the fan, make sure you screw it in such a way that it blows air out not suck it in.

Step 6: The idea is that the fan is resting over a trough of cool water thus blowing cool air out. For this it has to suck in air. To ensure this happens make air vents on the tiffin box to let air come in.

Screwing in the fan to the lid

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