Ever wanted to see inside a digital camera? This one died on us a little while ago, the diagnosis being terminal CCD failure. Professional repair wouldn’t be cost effective, so I thought I’d have a go instead. Armed with a set of miniature screwdrivers that fell out of a christmas cracker, I carefully removed the body and lens to reveal its innards. Most of the pieces were cunningly interlocked, so had to be removed in a particular order to reveal the next screw underneath. I was aiming for the CCD image sensor at the back of the lens. I had to remove the circuit boards and ribbon cables to get to it as there was no way in from the front. About half way through, the flash unit fired! That came as quite a shock but, realising there must be some residual charge left in the capacitor, I cut the wires to it - very carefully. Eventually I got to the CCD - it’s to the left of the lens in the picture. Having got this far, I decided to dismantle the LCD display and anything else that wasn’t welded together. Now all I need is an instruction manual and some glue.
Friday, April 01, 2011
Reverse Engineering
Ever wanted to see inside a digital camera? This one died on us a little while ago, the diagnosis being terminal CCD failure. Professional repair wouldn’t be cost effective, so I thought I’d have a go instead. Armed with a set of miniature screwdrivers that fell out of a christmas cracker, I carefully removed the body and lens to reveal its innards. Most of the pieces were cunningly interlocked, so had to be removed in a particular order to reveal the next screw underneath. I was aiming for the CCD image sensor at the back of the lens. I had to remove the circuit boards and ribbon cables to get to it as there was no way in from the front. About half way through, the flash unit fired! That came as quite a shock but, realising there must be some residual charge left in the capacitor, I cut the wires to it - very carefully. Eventually I got to the CCD - it’s to the left of the lens in the picture. Having got this far, I decided to dismantle the LCD display and anything else that wasn’t welded together. Now all I need is an instruction manual and some glue.
Thursday, February 17, 2011
Guernsey beaches
It's not just me you know. Ellie has been 'posted overseas' for a few weeks in the Channel Islands, where I joined her for the Valentines Day weekend. She was working on Monday, so I went on an explore, walking from Vazon Bay to L'Islet on the north west coast of the island.
Well I thought they looked pretty!
Globetrotting
It's not all fun you know! Getting the call from the EU project team, to fly out to some distant land and help the locals implement UN resolutions. Here for an example is my lasting memory of Bangkok - the view from my hotel window. 
Apparently there are also temples like Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew, and the Grand Palace - none of which I saw, even driving to and from the airport. And instead of amazing and vibrant nightlife, I had a brief glimpse of one 'red light' area, next to a market selling just about anything you could want, as long as you don't mind counterfeit.
Next, came the call to visit the United Arab Emirates. We had meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and visited a market in Sharjah. That's 3 down, 4 to go with a possibility of another trip in 2011. More skyscrapers and tower blocks, and a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Inside the main dome was this amazing chandelier, and there were floral patterns on all the walls and carpets. No wonder I had to take my shoes off.
Back to Malaysia in January, and hosted by the Customs training academy in Melaka. You may know it best as 'Malacca', a small port overlooking the Malacca Straits with Indonesia on the other side. One of the smaller Malaysian states, I found it both friendly and charming. Its strategic position meant that it has been under Portuguese, Dutch and British ownership over the years, finally achieving independence in 1957 with the rest of Malaysia. It is a magnet for tourists at the weekend, but as you can see all the main sights in a day or two, it is pretty quiet during the week. We were pleased that, on this occasion, our hosts left us to fend for ourselves in the evening so that we could explore - and enjoy the local food. We ate fusions of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian, washed down with copious quantities of Tiger beer. We ate from street vendors and in back street bars, one of the highlights being an Indian meal served on a banana leaf. Great idea - no washing up. Although you can walk everywhere, there are lots of rickshaws around, gaily decorated with artificial flowers and with a sound system on the back, booming out Malaysian music. Must go back!
Apparently there are also temples like Wat Pho and Wat Phra Kaew, and the Grand Palace - none of which I saw, even driving to and from the airport. And instead of amazing and vibrant nightlife, I had a brief glimpse of one 'red light' area, next to a market selling just about anything you could want, as long as you don't mind counterfeit.
Next stop last November was Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia, altogether a much more interesting city. Same sort of view from the hotel, but of gleaming new skyscrapers such as the Petronas Towers - Completed in 1998 to be the tallest towers in the world, they held the distinction until 2004 when Taiwan built something bigger. Here's a picture I took one evening, together with a shot of me leaning over to take it. A Malaysian colleague is helping me.
Next, came the call to visit the United Arab Emirates. We had meetings in Dubai and Abu Dhabi, and visited a market in Sharjah. That's 3 down, 4 to go with a possibility of another trip in 2011. More skyscrapers and tower blocks, and a visit to the Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque. Inside the main dome was this amazing chandelier, and there were floral patterns on all the walls and carpets. No wonder I had to take my shoes off.
Back to Malaysia in January, and hosted by the Customs training academy in Melaka. You may know it best as 'Malacca', a small port overlooking the Malacca Straits with Indonesia on the other side. One of the smaller Malaysian states, I found it both friendly and charming. Its strategic position meant that it has been under Portuguese, Dutch and British ownership over the years, finally achieving independence in 1957 with the rest of Malaysia. It is a magnet for tourists at the weekend, but as you can see all the main sights in a day or two, it is pretty quiet during the week. We were pleased that, on this occasion, our hosts left us to fend for ourselves in the evening so that we could explore - and enjoy the local food. We ate fusions of Chinese, Malaysian and Indian, washed down with copious quantities of Tiger beer. We ate from street vendors and in back street bars, one of the highlights being an Indian meal served on a banana leaf. Great idea - no washing up. Although you can walk everywhere, there are lots of rickshaws around, gaily decorated with artificial flowers and with a sound system on the back, booming out Malaysian music. Must go back!
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