speed .... unlimited

random pick...un-posted.... out of many posts to be posted.

During last 2 or 3 years I had to travel lot between Colombo (where I study) and Bandarawela (my hometown), on Route 99, which is a “Class A” Road. Driving made me bored and sick because of low speed limits being a fan of speed. It hit me so hard, which made me to think further and even made me scribble this.

Read on,.. in this post; u’ll find howz the situation, where this issue is going, and some decent info on Radar Detectors, Jammers & other tips ‘n tricks. [specially for Sri Lankans.]

Road has been developed pretty good (than how it was) and there are many places drivers can maintain a safe good speed. But unfortunately, for the whole journey, from Colombo to Bandarawela the maximum speed limit is 50kmph!!! And that is same for many other roads in Sri Lanka. I was bored to hell; no wonder other drivers are same. And whats more, I've got ticketed twice on the last trip.

Well because of the speed limit anyone can’t fairly maintain, we can see more people tend to ignore the speed limits completely and do it in their own way. All they worry about are cops with Speed Guns (Speed Detectors). All the fines has been revised recently, so the fine for speeding is around Rs.1500/= (approx. $ 14 US). This value can be very low relatively to other countries but when we take it against Per Head Annual Income of the country, which is $ 1300 US (approx), the fine is 1.07%. Well then its worth enough to think about it.

As many people tend to drive over the speed limit which is too low to maintain, they have also found a simple way to avoid getting caught by cops. Most popular one is, drivers who has seen there are cops on the other side of the road, after driving pass them, signals incoming vehicles “hey there are cops ahead” by flashing their head lights (generally two blinks). This has become very common, useful and; say 70% success!!

But people can’t depend on that method because there can be occasions where no incoming vehicle to give the warning. And not every driver will be good (or is it bad?!!) enough to give the warning. So there should be more reliable way.

Rader/Laser Detector & Jammer!

What is a Radar/Laser Detector anyway?

Simply, Radar Detector is a device, which is designed to give you an early warning about cops with Speed Guns (Speed Gun/Speed Detector - the device which police uses to measure the speed of a vehicle).

Before we talk about Radar Detectors, we’ll see,

How Speed Guns works?

If you are familiar with physics, you should know about Doppler Effect. Speed Guns are based on this theory. When a Speed Gun aimed at a moving vehicle operates, it transmits electro magnetic waves (or simply radio waves) at microwave frequency or a laser beam at a certain frequency. Then it captures the waves/beam reflected from the moving object and calculates the speed of the vehicle by using formulas of Doppler Effect theory. Calculated speed is displayed on the LCD panel.

There are many Types of Speed Guns. They can be categorized by the type of operation or by the mechanism.

By mechanism: Radar (X-band, K-band, Ka-band), Laser, Photo (special case!), etc.

By operation, two types: Instant-On & Static.

Speed Guns which use;

Radar – Radio wave based Speed Guns basically comes in 3 types. X-band – which is old and very rare these days, K-band – most used speed detector around, Ka-band – latest and more accurate. (These are called Radar Guns)

Other types are;

Laser – Highly accurate and very quick. Can be aimed precisely at a certain vehicle among set of vehicles.

Photo – Un-manned device, which is fixed on highways, which automatically takes photos of speeding vehicles, including their license plates.

Vascar – A device which calculates the difference of a distance between the vehicle and reader. And then calculates the speed. Special advantage of these is they can be used on a moving petrol car and measure the speed of a speeder, where most other Speed Guns has to be kept stationary.

Pulse – A refinement of K-band, which can be used from a moving vehicle like Vascar.

Instant-On Speed Guns are kept on “hold” or “stand-by” mode and only activated when the cop sees a vehicle. So waves are transmitted at that moment, making it impossible for a Radar Detector to give an early warning.

Static Speed Guns transmits its wave/beam continuously where Radar Detector can easily detect wave/beam already spread in the environment, and give an early warning.

When I got caught, while the police officer writes the ticket, I sneaked up, I took a clear note of his Speed Gun, model and etc. ;) And then after a short research on internet I found this info.

So Sri Lankan Police uses:

Manufacturer: Kustom Signals (USA)

Model: Falcon

Type: True Doppler Radar / Radio Waves

Measurement: Kmph/Mph

Band: K-band

Frequency: 24.15 GHz ±100MHz

Operation: Handheld – Instant-On (ohhh! That’s bad)

Beam Width: 20°

Speed Range: 16 – 320 (Km/h)

Operating Range: approx. <1200m

Operating Temperature: -30°C to 70°C

Hey, all these are just for information purposes, ok? No guarantee! Nor responsibility! (Ok, my hands are clean now!! ;) )

Well there’s another thing you need to know about Radar Detectors.

What are False Alarms and why?

Some times Radar Detectors give false warnings when there’s no speed guns around.. This is happening when device sees a wave which is similar to Speed Guns, but it’s from other sources. Major source is market store doors which open automatically using sensors. These doors also use K-band waves which Radar Detectors get fooled at. Solution for this is getting a better Radar Detector with advanced false alarm detection technologies.

Well, as we know a little about Speed Guns, let’s see what Jammers are.

Jammer: is a device which is designed to transmit counter waves/beam to a Speed Gun, which will “fool” the Speed Gun and force it to indicate a fake speed. Some Jammer models are “Always-on”, which eats up power and others are linked with a Radar Detectors and activates (automatically/manually) only when the Radar Detector gives a warning.

Jammers can be set to transmit a wave/beam which will produce pre-decided speed value on the gun, which can be set by the user. Other Jammers will send random irrupted waves/beam which will confuse the gun, and force to show an “Error!” message on the gun display.

Price & Purchase

Best brands for Radar Detectors are Escort, Cobra & Whistler. And there are many other good devices on the market. Many models are available to choose from with different performance levels and features. But always focus at your need and don’t decide only on the price because, in this case performance matters lot. Price of a good detector will be high as $ 90-200 (US) (Cobra XRS 9930) which will detect both laser and radar speed guns. Cheap ones are around $ 40 (Cobra ESD 6060/ Whistler XTR330) [Approximate prices]. I’ve seen used detectors for sale at online stores for low prices. If you just want to escape from normal K-band radar, a cheap used one will do. Radar Detectors comes with built-in Jammers or you can buy a Jammer separately.

I just don’t know a place to buy this kind of stuff in Sri Lanka. (If you know, plz email me). Ordering online, that’s the best way I see so far. Still this stuff is new to Sri Lanka I don’t think anyone will be checking and upset that u brings ‘em to the country.

So, finalizing; someone may use a Radar Detector to pre-identify the presence of a cop whose measuring his/her speed and use a Jammer to show a fake speed, and avoid getting a speed ticket for driving over-speed driving.

IMPORTANT!! : In many countries using Radar Detectors are prohibited and using Jammers are extremely illegal. (Sri Lanka… I have no idea... anyone?) And speed limits are there for your own & public safety. Everything in this post is for information purposes only. I do not hold any guarantee of information provided, and nor having any responsibility how u use the information. And I do not recommend anyone to break or walk though law enforcements. So think before what you do. And remember, when u r behind the wheel, it’s not only your life you are responsible of.

Be safe! Drive Carefully. Wish u all happy driving with no tickets!

flashbacks.... trying to grow up

Original Post: Wednesday, February 15, 2006

Dealing with a wet phone!

Ok, as i promised... here we go!

Well… as an essential gadget, mobile phones are the devices which are closer to us and share’s our lives than any other tech device. What ever we do, where ever we go it’s there keeping us connected, entertained and organized. Bla bla bla!! As a result there is more probability for your mobile phone than other devices, to accidentally get contact with water or similar liquids which will damage the non-water proof mobile device. Ouch! that’s gonna hurt!

I know no one of you would like to loose that smart gadget, which you have invested hardly-earned $$$. But accidents do happen. Then before you go to the doctor there may be first-aids you can perform, which will increase chances of survival of your device. This blog post (aint calling it a guide! U decide.) is all about that.

Well, let’s see what basic kind of dives a phone can take. Hmmm… It can be just dropping the phone in to your drink (Cocktail? Whiskey? Coke?), falling in to the pool with phone in your pocket, forgot to take out before putting pants into the washing machine, a bunch of friends throws you into sea water at beach with your phone in the belt, etc, etc… they may sounds funny… but u’ll never know till that happens to u! – let’s hope not ;) – Okay… lets categorize. If the device fell into pure water, I say; u r lucky! In swimming pools they add chlorine and other chemicals which will decrease our chances. If it’s a drink, that may contain different chemicals which will enhance conductivity of the liquid, that’s bad. And if its sea water or any other highly active chemical solution… man, it’s a worst day.

How does your device get damaged? Basically it’s not H2O which damages your phone. It’s the combination of H2O and electricity, which causing short-circuit and damage the electronic components. The conductivity of the liquid will depend on the chemical contents. Chlorinated water, for example will damage the device than pure water. And secondly the contact of liquid with your device may cause corrosion of the circuit board and components which will push your device to the world of dead, as the time passes. If its sea water, corrosion will be very high and we can hardly keep a hope.

OKAY! Let’s see what you should do at the first moment, which definitely affect the fate of your device a lot. The most important step is, take your phone out of liquid (do I need to say that?!) and remove the battery (and other power sources, if any) as soon as possible. Take out the SIM cards and any memory modules too. These will stop further power supply and reduce conductivity, which minimize risk of damages caused by short-circuit. I repeat, how quick you proceed this basic step will do change a lot between the chances of your phone, survived. So be quick!

Well… Boyz, then lets get into the real business. You should dissemble… yeah I said DISSEMBLE… the device!! (What on earth this guy is thinking!! OK, OK, I know how you feel!) Well then, before we talk about the dissembling procedures, let’s talk about pros n cons of dissembling the device. First issue is, it will void the warranty of your device. But u can see, it’s not a issue* because no manufacture nor retailer (to my knowledge) will give you warranty which covers damages caused by water/liquids. Second, will dissembling may cause more damage to the device? Well it’ll depend on how good are you and how lucky are you. I believe as it will take at least 5mins to take your phone to a mobile repair point or to a qualified technician. Dissembling it by your self, with care, will increase its chances of survival, as it’s a game of time where your chances are decreasing with the every second passed by while the internal components are with contact of water/liquid. The more it takes, the less chances you’ll have. So why don’t we give it a try, ha! [*:But if you have a phone insurance for the device, and if it covers losses due to usage issues, don’t dissemble the device. Instead, be proud of your self and enjoy thinking about the new device which u gonna buy with the insurance money.]

I guess you are lucky enough that you are reading this now, before a tragedy happens, and you don’t have wet phone in your hand, so you can be ready with necessary tool(s). So what do we need? Well in most cases we don’t want many tools. For most devices on the market, a universal mobile screw driver – Torx T6 will help. You will be able to buy it at your nearest tool shop or at online stores (eBay, etc) for price around $ 3. A must-owned too for a guy (even a girl) who exist in present time which all the tech gadgets. It’s better if you have mini set of Torx screwdrivers at least T5, T6 & T8. Buy a few and keep ‘em in your car cabby-hole, work-desk locker, hiking/safari/off-road backpack, etc. And u may need a small flat screw driver or similar thing (once I had to use a butter knife! ;) ), which you may hopefully find from that place, to help you taking apart housing and other components.

So, you have already removed the battery, SIM & memory modules. Ok let’s start stripping! Make sure you remember how they were fixed and how you dissemble, because you are going to assemble it back later. Now take apart housing panels. You may have to remove screws and un-fasten panels from notches with care. Check for any hidden screws behind logo stickers, etc. Removing the panel on the back, above the battery cover first will make things easy. Carefully take apart the main board and… remove any backup batteries on the main board if possible. We are talking about devices which took dives, not just a splashes, so I assume your main board wet with liquid. If our case is not “a dive in clean water”, give the main board a quick wash in to flowing pure water. Distilled water will be the best but tap water will do. By this, any chemical particles which are more conductive and helps corrosion will be washed away [especially if our case is sea water]. Actually though I mentioned it first, using clean water is the alternative. Best solution is to wash the main board and other components (keypad, housing panels, display unit – if can removed from board with extreme care, etc) with Iso-Propyl-Alcohol, which is also known as surgical spirit or rubbing alcohol, which you’ll find in any first-aid box. Slowly move the board in the solution for better wash off and let solution contact the liquid particles between small components. Using Iso-Propyl-Alcohol will wash away chemicals and make the board dry faster as it evaporates faster than water. Make sure all this washing procedure is very quick. Use a very clean brush to gently brush off the remaining solution. Keep the washed main board and components in flowing wind, under a fan to dry up. Don’t use any heat-guns or heat sources to dry up the main board n components, because heat may damage the electronics directly and increase chemical reactions. Though I say alcohol, don’t use booze as many of you may prefer! Don’t use any strong chemicals, such as Thinner, Turpentine, Detergents, WD40, etc etc. Better put phone back to sea water n drive that 10-wheeler twice over it!!! ;)

Patience! I know that feeling… urge you to fix things together and try out the device whether its working or not. But let it dry, may be two or three days. More you let it dry - more chances you have! See whether is there any dried alien particles visible on the components, if so gently brush them out.

“The” time has arrived. Assemble the device. Here you can have two choices that, you assemble it by your-self (what I would prefer) or taking it to a technician. If you are assembling it by your self; take your time to be careful enough, as there’s no real hurry. Make sure you put everything back properly in their places, and no spares left out! Charge the battery (if can test with a new/other battery - that’ll be better) separately using a rapid travel charger. Insert a test SIM module (a real test SIM, which is very cheap, or a working SIM which you can safely have some risk with) to the device. We’ll leave memory module to be tested later. Fix the battery in. And… Three… Two… One… Press the Power ON button!! If you are lucky, the phone will work exactly like before.

If you are not that lucky, common problems will be, display: dim/blinking/parts missing/ill-coloured/blank/etc, speaker mute, microphone deaf and so on. Sometimes it’ll take some time to turn ON. But if you are too unlucky… there won’t be any sign that device is alive. In both cases go to your technician, tell the whole story, and check whether if its possible to repair. Be sure you check whether the repair cost is worth doing it. For example, if the case is a dive in sea water, a expensive repair will be useless as most likely the device will give-up after few months due to corrosion. And for some devices, buying spares and repairing will cost the same, the price of a new device. And if you are under a phone plan, things will be bit complex to decide between buying a device separately to continue with the current plan or changing the plan. Discuss with your operator, as they may replace the device in to the plan for an additional cost.

This post was based on practical steps which compiles with what technicians do at repair shops. Dissembling a device is not generally recommended for normal users (which makes you a power user!) and has to be done with extreme caution. It will increase chances against un-avoidable odds. The good news is, according to many incidents and repair persons’ opinions; it is proved that more than 75% of wet mid-range devices survives after an accidental dive, if they followed the procedure as quick and accurate as possible. Use your own judgment! Hope you won’t have to use the content of this post. If you have to… Good Luck! :)

[Kalana – kalana.wijesekara@gmail.com]
[Special Credits to Hofo guys.]

posted by theKalana @ 3:44 AM

flashbacks.... the beginning!

Original Post: Sunday, February 05, 2006

Welcome to Kalana's iBlog

Well, guess u hav found a place to read some tech stuff n crazy software/hardware articles-over the edge,..and i keep my word to do my best to give u some thing sound cool enough and worth reading.

I guess you have already seen my homepage, probably the place from where u came here. If not check it out, as u can get an basic idea which kind of creature is this!

Ok boyz, lets get on to business. Almost every topic you will find at here will sound Sci-fi, technical, gadjematic, IT, numeral and technology or automobile related. If you find anything else, you are here on a special day. (like some tea?)

So what's up? In the next post I was thinking about talk something related to that smart gadget in the pocket, mobile. To be specific... How to deal with a wet phone?!!

.. be back.. to save your phone.. which took a swim!

posted by theKalana @ 3:44 AM

phoenix!

When was it... several years back.. when the engine was up and running... when things were more lite-in-weight... narrow in dimension... and when a second was much longer...

was running a so called personal website... and started working on a blog. and then... ran out of crude oil?? too much of cold wind?? frozen up.

2 weeks back... an urge to wake up... wheres dreamviewer... where are those cluttered text files with a random thought or a two.. ...

Im awaken. thekalana. .... from ashes.

www.thekalana.net
New blog: this!... thekalana.blogspot.com
Old blog: kalanaziblog.blogspot.com ... discontinued. posts moved to the new.