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A Creative Webcam Go Plus modification
Hey - this is my first post here - and my first mod ever allthough the word "mod" in this case may not dare comparison with the other excellent "real" mods displayed in this forum.
Anyway, just wanted to share it
The goal was to sorta make the webcam lesser in size since creatives design takes up a lot of horisontal space when the cam has to lie down plus the USB cord sticking out in the back of the cam.
Well, this is not the ideal camera for this kind of modification since it's a detachable camera with built-in memory
(8 mb if I remember correctly) and a battery compartment for two AAA cells.
But nevertheless, this was the cam I had - it's been lying around unused for some time now.
Here's the work log for what must be one of the cheapest mods ever:
First I took the camera apart.
Had to break a few bits and pieces off the shell, but nevermind that - I wasn't going to use it again anyway.
1. Then lineup the rest of the project:
Dismantle all unnecessary components:
2. LCD display, snapshot LED, battery-wires.
3. Switch LEDS.
4. Rebuild the USB jack.
5. Mount the pieces in the new box.
Couldn't help taking a picture with the webcamera of it's own intestines...
If a webcam had feelings, then this would probably be a very morbid snapshot.
Obviously the picture is out of focus since the circuit board with the CCD and the lens
is too closely attached to the rest of the camera. It needs more distance to get a clear focus.
Then I was going to switch the LED's.
The Power LED was green and the Working-LED was red.
Since the new box was going to be red, I figured it would look nicer with a red Power LED, and
since the mod is not for portable use, the Working LED wouldn't be needed anymore anyway.
Heat up the soldering iron and off with the red LED which, luckily for this project (i'm lazy), already is mounted on a piece of wire.
Then off with the green LED which used to be at the lens-housing and solder the red LED onto the little circuit board.
Again a snapshot taken with the dismantled webcam.
Allthough it is out of focus, the red LED shines bright and fine.
Then the next part of the project:
because the USB connector is a heavy monster in a very large plastic shell, I decided to attach the USB cable directly to the circuit board.
Also, the large USB female jack takes valuable space in the box I was going to use.
That meant I had to get rid of the USB female jack on the board and strip off the USB cable.
The USB connector is off, but it took some bending and twisting while heating the solderings.
But off it came without any damage to the circuit board.
And then the stripped USB cable was soldered on where the old connector was attached.
This could probably have been done in a more solid way, it would only take a minor jerk on the wire to rip the wires off the board.
Well... I wasn't going to place the modded camera where this would be a risk.
Also, of course, I had already drawn the USB cable through the cable-hole in the new box, or else I would get problems with the connection later on.
An empty cigarette hardbox... This is the box I'm going to use as the new case for the webcamera.
The picture is from before I attached the USB cable.
Now it's ready for getting stuffed into the new box.
One last thing missing...
... need to cut a hole in the front part of the box and the lower area of the flip-top, else the camera lens won't fit anywhere.
That's it. Done.
Took about two hours or so to fit it all together.
Notice the LED at the top of the box, it lights up when the USB is connected to the PC.
The modified webcam seen from the front.
As you can see the flip-top of the box has been bend a little, but at least this case-mod is cheap and easy to replace...
Actually I was thinking about using a Coca-Cola can as the new housing instead of a hardbox, but I don't have the necessary tools
needed to open the can without damaging it. But when I get those tools, that is definately going to be the next modification.
It would look quite cool and natural on the table next to the PC monitor.
You can see the webcam in action at my other homepage, dava.dk in the About section.
Hey - this is my first post here - and my first mod ever allthough the word "mod" in this case may not dare comparison with the other excellent "real" mods displayed in this forum.
Anyway, just wanted to share it
The goal was to sorta make the webcam lesser in size since creatives design takes up a lot of horisontal space when the cam has to lie down plus the USB cord sticking out in the back of the cam.
Well, this is not the ideal camera for this kind of modification since it's a detachable camera with built-in memory
(8 mb if I remember correctly) and a battery compartment for two AAA cells.
But nevertheless, this was the cam I had - it's been lying around unused for some time now.
Here's the work log for what must be one of the cheapest mods ever:
First I took the camera apart.
Had to break a few bits and pieces off the shell, but nevermind that - I wasn't going to use it again anyway.
1. Then lineup the rest of the project:
Dismantle all unnecessary components:
2. LCD display, snapshot LED, battery-wires.
3. Switch LEDS.
4. Rebuild the USB jack.
5. Mount the pieces in the new box.
Couldn't help taking a picture with the webcamera of it's own intestines...
If a webcam had feelings, then this would probably be a very morbid snapshot.
Obviously the picture is out of focus since the circuit board with the CCD and the lens
is too closely attached to the rest of the camera. It needs more distance to get a clear focus.
Then I was going to switch the LED's.
The Power LED was green and the Working-LED was red.
Since the new box was going to be red, I figured it would look nicer with a red Power LED, and
since the mod is not for portable use, the Working LED wouldn't be needed anymore anyway.
Heat up the soldering iron and off with the red LED which, luckily for this project (i'm lazy), already is mounted on a piece of wire.
Then off with the green LED which used to be at the lens-housing and solder the red LED onto the little circuit board.
Again a snapshot taken with the dismantled webcam.
Allthough it is out of focus, the red LED shines bright and fine.
Then the next part of the project:
because the USB connector is a heavy monster in a very large plastic shell, I decided to attach the USB cable directly to the circuit board.
Also, the large USB female jack takes valuable space in the box I was going to use.
That meant I had to get rid of the USB female jack on the board and strip off the USB cable.
The USB connector is off, but it took some bending and twisting while heating the solderings.
But off it came without any damage to the circuit board.
And then the stripped USB cable was soldered on where the old connector was attached.
This could probably have been done in a more solid way, it would only take a minor jerk on the wire to rip the wires off the board.
Well... I wasn't going to place the modded camera where this would be a risk.
Also, of course, I had already drawn the USB cable through the cable-hole in the new box, or else I would get problems with the connection later on.
An empty cigarette hardbox... This is the box I'm going to use as the new case for the webcamera.
The picture is from before I attached the USB cable.
Now it's ready for getting stuffed into the new box.
One last thing missing...
... need to cut a hole in the front part of the box and the lower area of the flip-top, else the camera lens won't fit anywhere.
That's it. Done.
Took about two hours or so to fit it all together.
Notice the LED at the top of the box, it lights up when the USB is connected to the PC.
The modified webcam seen from the front.
As you can see the flip-top of the box has been bend a little, but at least this case-mod is cheap and easy to replace...
Actually I was thinking about using a Coca-Cola can as the new housing instead of a hardbox, but I don't have the necessary tools
needed to open the can without damaging it. But when I get those tools, that is definately going to be the next modification.
It would look quite cool and natural on the table next to the PC monitor.
You can see the webcam in action at my other homepage, dava.dk in the About section.