LED Fiber Optic Bouquet Modification

LED and optical fibers are a really good combination and this product really shows it. if you want to be a bit original about your presents - this is the way to do it. this product can be a really nice addition to the apartment's overall looks or to a single room's looks.

It is basically a plastic bouquet with plastic flowers in it combined with optical fibers that gradually change their color. There are 3 primary colors - red , green and blue. The other colors are created by a combination of the 3 and can be seen as purple , pink and even greenish-white.

The colors are gradually faded from one to another in a few seconds and frankly - it looks awesome in a darkened room. Add some calm music and it even makes an even calmer atmosphere inside the room , not mentioning romantic…

The flower's branches can be physically set and position in any way. I chose to spread them as much It can be for a maximum effect and appearance.

The only downside in this product is that it is battery powered. 3 AAA batteries power this thing and they run out of juice after approximately 12 hours. If you bought this product to be a permanent part of your view , the action of changing the batteries every day could present a real  hassle and it wouldn't be too long before one gives up on doing so and getting rid of this nice bouquet.

Well , not me . after changing the batteries for a few days in a row I realized something had to be done about it. so I found an old pair of PC speakers connected to an old power transformer that converts 220 volts to 1.5-12 volts. By connecting the bouquet to the wall's power socket I wouldn't have to change batteries every now and then, that is , power would be supplied constantly from the our home power grid.

 

Getting it done:

 

At first look I saw 2 main screws beneath the bouquet. I used a phllips screwdriver to get them out to reveal the inside. Getting the 2 main screws out made me able to get the bottom plastic part out of its position and to really analyze how this gadget really works.

After detecting the 2 ends that close the electric circuit with the batteries , I soldered the 2 ends of the power transformer's wires to these ends. The gadget is powered by 3 AAA batteries , 1.5V each , that means that runs on a voltage of 4.5 volts (1.5 times 3) , so I set the power transformer's knob accordingly.

   

 

How it works:

 

After examining the gadget a little bit I was amazed by how simple it works. the batteries power 3 powerful LED lights that are soldered very closly together in a triangle. each LED light emits a different color - red , green and blue. Over those 3 LED lights a big glass like bubble was mounted - in order to increase the LED light's effect by magnifying it's light particles\waves (that's another story….). the magnified light is being directed towards a concentration of optical fibers that were glued together and act as a "root" , spreading the light among the bouquet's branches.

 

 

The gadget has been working for over a year now constantly - and it looks great in the dark.

 

Pros:

 

1.       Beautiful ,  aesthetic

2.       Cheap and can be used a nice present

 

Cons:

 

1.       Runs out of power after some time

2.       The base is not heavy enough to make it stable , once little nudge and the gadget simple falls off

Price:

About 3$

 

Wall Power Plug to USB converter

If you are mobile , like me , you might like this simple gadget...

in today's world many mobile electronic devices are mainly charged via a USB connector and once a USB female connection is nowhere to be found and you really need that mobile electronic device of yours running and kicking, a "low bat phobia" begins.


More than once i found myself using this USB to home electricity socket converter charging devices that either came with no genuine home electrical plug charger , or either all the USB sockets in my laptop were occupied or even worse – the laptop was out of battery itself.


So untill someone intents a method of charging devices by air we'll have to settle for these kind of converters.
And besides...you can never know when a friend might need a helping hand charging his gadges...

 




Pros:


1.    Simple , light , easy to use
2.    Can be used anywere a wall electricity socket is present
3.    Increases "Service Survivability" of mobile devices

Cons:


1.    only 1 device can be plugged in and recharged

Price:


starts at 1.15$ at E-Bay

 

 

 

 

Universal Learning Remote Control

Simple, small and elegant. These are the main words I can use to describe this product. While the words are being typed in this article I have had already purchased 3 pieces of those remotes which work great.

I managed to duplicate an electro mechanic gate's remotes and my motorbike alarm remote easily and fast.

One problem though, well , initially I thought it was a problem, it appears when u try to program the remote to copy other's remote frequencies. every button on the original remote transmits on a slightly different frequency  (about 433Mhz+-) , when I tried to copy an original remote with 4 buttons , the second copy remote didn't recognize some of the buttons as fast the other buttons. Initially I thought the original remote doesn't work on the same frequencies so I bought a frequency meter off E-Bay , which helped me to determine that indeed both remotes work on the same frequencies.

I managed to solve the issue by moving the original remote slowly around the copy remote while the latter was on recognizing\copying mode.

Programming of the remote is really easy. First you have to initialize copying mode by continuously pushing both of the main big buttons at once for about 4 seconds until the LED between them lights on and off very fast. At this stage you should stop pushing those 2 buttons at once and after that the LED light turns off as well.

After that the programming stage begins. Get the two remotes as close as you can (in most cases a physical contact might be required to enhance the signal's strength) and start pushing the first button on the copy remote continuously until the LED lights on and off 3 times and turns itself off. After it is off , push the button on the original remote you wish to duplicate , continuously until the LED light on the copy remote lights itself up on and off rapidly.

Do the same process for the other buttons.

A note – the copy remote won't transmit until all buttons are programmed! So if you have a 2 button original remote you wish to duplicate, just program the copy remote twice , 2 buttons on the copy remote for every button on the original.

One more note – in some cases when it seems the remote doesn't work  - just hit in gently a bit  - the battery doesn't sit well inside some of these remotes for some reason…

Ohh yea , the price – 8.4$ a piece…

 

MultiPoint BT speakerphone

This product is just awesome! At first I was very skeptic about its abilities because up until I bought it I had known that any Bluetooth device can connect and pair to one device at a time. That is very true, but not for this little gadget, it can be paired to 2 devices, that is , cellphones – at the same time and get incoming and outgoing calls from one at a time.

 

While using one cellphone the other is disconnected, and after the call ends the device automatically connects the disconnected device back. Furthermore, it can be used while being charged-  unlike many Bluetooth devices out there. once the call ends , if the USB charging cable is still connected it gets back charging itself while standing by to get the next call from one of the cellphones.

Got it off E-bay , highly recommended if you use more than one cellphone while driving your car.