RF Screen Display Experiment

I wasnt directly sure where to post this, but I figured it would be suited best for the helmet section. Awhile back, I had the idea of making the RF screen into something usable and cool. I instantly got the idea of using an old cell phone camera and sub-LDC screen for the RF. Upon leaving from my friend's old townhouse after helping him move out, he found his old cell phone which he didnt want. So came the perfect opportunity for me to try this. Its not an amazingly great camera for a cell phone, but this is really just a test to see if I can wire the curcuit board to control only the camera so that it feeds into the sub-LCD screen which will be inside the RF box, seeing that it works, and I can make a length of wire long enough to fit the length of the RF stalk. The camera intself is small enough to fit in the left side of the inside of the visor. Hoping everything works, I will go forward with building a custom RF box to house it.

I really hope this little experiment works, and I think it would be pretty neat too.

lol, Got so many projects going, dont know where to begin!

-tubachris

I think something like this has been talked about many moons ago. I don't think anything ever came of it though. Do some searching and see what you come up with. What they did then may help you now. Good luck and keep us posted on what you come up with.

I had this idea a while ago but I was going to use a cheap digital camera with built in LCD, the idea being it would not need much modification but the LCD wiring would be extended to allow it to be housed in the RF.

This would be excellent as it would still be a usable camera for those on-board Boba shots!

never_ending_fett said:

I think something like this has been talked about many moons ago. I don't think anything ever came of it though. Do some searching and see what you come up with. What they did then may help you now. Good luck and keep us posted on what you come up with.

Click to expand...

LOL, I think that discussion your talking about was a thread I started along time ago about utilizing the RF box.

-tubachris

Alright, well I just took apart the camera flip phone to see what I have to work with. Two things, I need to remove any non-needed parts for the sub LCD screen so that I can fit it in a housed box that will be the same dimensions as my resin BKBT box. Second, I need to find where I can get more of the gold curcuit connectors in the pic below. I need to be able to extend this throughout the helmet. Same thing with the camera at the left of it.



-tubachris

How difficult is it going to be to modify that so it fits? This does sound like quite an interesting idea.

I'm not exactly sure of any place to get plastic ribbon cables like that, if you're referring to them as the "gold circuit connectors"; you might have to try desoldering them from the board somehow and using a standard ribbon cable instead.

You might want to try BM's hollow RF and stalk. As for the gold circuit connectors, just use regular mini ribbon, as jeod66 suggested. The image quality doesn't need to be perfect.

Im not to knowledgable yet on circuit termonalogy yet, the ribbon connecter is detachable, it clicks onto the board. Would I have to order this kind of ribbon connector from the company that makes the phone, or can I get one from like a radioshack?

Also, under the screen, I found the companies name, display tech, they make all the LCD screens and such, found their website. It has link so that you can custom build a LCD screen to your specifications, and I think it would be cool to create something just for the RF. Got some work to do, but Im not completly sure of what to do yet.

-tubachris

tubachris85x said:

Im not to knowledgable yet on circuit termonalogy yet, the ribbon connecter is detachable, it clicks onto the board. Would I have to order this kind of ribbon connector from the company that makes the phone, or can I get one from like a radioshack?

Also, under the screen, I found the companies name, display tech, they make all the LCD screens and such, found their website. It has link so that you can custom build a LCD screen to your specifications, and I think it would be cool to create something just for the RF. Got some work to do, but Im not completly sure of what to do yet.

-tubachris

Click to expand...

If it detaches, that could make this a lot easier; if there are solder points you can just solder a cable into place after you pull out the connector. RadioShack doesn't have plastic ribbons like that (if I recall correctly, that is), and I honestly can't think of anyone that sells those for retail. My suggestion would be to (assuming you can solder to it) get a length of ribbon cable (with the correct number of conductors) and just solder it in place. Cable from a disk drive is probably too big; you could try a place like www.jameco.com for standard ribbon cable, because I'm not sure if the company would sell you it directly (since they don't like it when people open up their products, generally :rolleyes).

My other suggestion would be to try calling up the company and tell them that you're working on a special costuming project (and explain what you're doing), then ask them if they would be able to possibly send a length of conducting ribbon (or, even better, a complete sample unit). At any rate, it's worth a try to talk to them directly. What do you have to lose? Just remember that custom building something is likely to be expensive, especially sensitive electronics like this. Hope this works out for you, it's a great idea! :cheers