OOTOYA - A Japanese Restaurant

Tonight I had a dinner at Ootoya Esplanad, a Japanese restaurant.


They cooked using charcoal.


Ice green tea. Very similar to green tea in Japan.


Hot green tea.


Katsudon pig with rice, 200 BHT.
Served with bottle gourd soup, pickle cucumber, and Miso soup.
I was too full to had another ice-cream. :'(


Pickle cucumber. Not too sour.


PS. All photos, except the brochures, were taken by hTC Touch Diamond Pocket PC.

[See all photos]

Low Voltage Setting for PIC microcontroller

My Slave Flash didn't fire with camera's flash, don't know why.
So I developed a new flash controller using PIC microcontroller.

But the problem is,
PIC 16F628A will work on at least 4.3 volt of power supply.
2 cells of rechargable battery can only provide up to 2.4 volt.
After asking on Pantip's webboard, I got the answer from Professor.
I should tried setting Brown out reset=Disable, and it works!!!
It works even at 1.7 volt. :D

To set Brown out reset=Disable in Mikroelektronika mikroC,
Click on Project -> Edit Project, then place checkmark on BOREN_OFF.
If you don't use crystal higher than 4 MHz, you can remove checkmark on HS_OSC,
and place checkmark on XT_OSC to reduce power comsumption.

Panasonic DMC-FZ18 1.05 & 1.08 Firmware

I bought Panasonic DMC-FZ18 in the middle of 2008.
It's 1.04 firmware at first.
Then I upgraded to 1.05, and now it's 1.08. No problem found yet.

*** Warning!!! ***
You MUST check your current firmware version before upgrading.
- If it's newer or the same as here, don't upgrade.
- If it's older, then it's up to you.


Firmware version checking
http://regex.info/exif.cgi
Take any photo at the smallest size. Then upload to this website.
You'll see your camera's firmware version.


Blue Band testing
http://fz18.ruudabeln.nl/blueband.htm
Most FZ18 cameras sold before June 2008 have the Blue Band problem.
Only Panasonic service center can fix it.


Panasonic DMC-FZ18 firmware 1.0.5
http://rapidshare.com/files/160871066/fz18_firmware1_05.rar
Upgrading procedure is included.


Panasonic DMC-FZ18 firmware 1.0.8
http://rapidshare.com/files/160873300/fz18_firmware1_08.rar
Upgrading procedure is included.


WARNING! - DO AS YOUR OWN RISK!!!


***** Firmware_History *****

<Ver 1.08>
* Improved horizontal noise, in starry sky scene mode / manual exposure mode.
(The noise may appear when shutter speed is set to around 15 sec. by the camera.)

<Ver 1.07>
* Improved blue band may appear on a picture taken slightly and
need three components change on the MAIN PCB.

<Ver 1.06>
* Improved detecting speed faster for the face detection.
* Improved AWB function.
* Improved the date information may not correctly printed (PictBridge).

<Ver 1.05>
* Improved detecting time faster for the face detection.
* Improved an over ISO sensitivity gain.
* Improved out of focus at 1m, in the tele-macro mode.


*** If you see a yellow "!" instead of Lumix logo when turning off ***


After finishing the procedure, when you turn off the camera a yellow "!" insted of the lumix logo will appear. It is dued to the world factory setting to be not setted. It's not vital for the camera functionality but is "noisy" for me :P

To remove it do the following and BE CAREFUL NOT TO SELECT NONE(JAPAN) or (P)NORTH AMERICA settings (when asked) because this change will not be reversible, even with a new firmware update ! (your camera will be JAPAN or NORTH AMERICA FOR EVER !). You will understand it reading on.

BACKUP ANY PICs FROM THE CAMERA INTERNAL MEMORY OR YOU WILL LOOSE IT !

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

• Step 1. The temporary cancellation of initial setting:
Set the mode dial to “[ P ]”.
While keep pressing [ AF macro/Focus switch ] button and “[ Upper arrow Cursor ] button” simultaneously, turn the Power on.
• Step 2. The cancellation of initial setting:
Set the mode dial to “[ Playback ]”.
Press [ AF macro/Focus switch ] button and “[ Upper arrow Cursor ] button” simultaneously, then turn the Power off.
• Step 3. Turn the Power on:
Set the mode dial to “[ P ]”, and then turn the Power on.
• Step 4. Display the INITIAL SETTING:
While keep pressing [ MENU ] and “[ Right arrow Cursor ] button” simultaneously, turn the Power off.

The camera WILL NOT SHUT OFF and a selection menu will appear.
BE CAREFUL HERE, DO NOT SELECT NONE(JAPAN) OR P(NORTH AMERICA) OTHERWISE YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO CHANGE IT IN THE FUTURE !

The selection menu is made of 3 screens, choose the right option for your country following this list:

a) DMC-FZ18 (Japan domestic model) NTSC Japanese Year/Month/Date (DO NOT USE THIS ONE unless you have a japanese model)
b) DMC-FZ1P/PC/PL NTSC English Month/Date/Year (DO NOT USE THIS ONE unless you have an American model)
c) DMC-FZ18EB/EG/E/GC/GN/SG PAL English Date/Month/Year
d) DMC-FZ18EF PAL French Date/Month/Year
d) DMC-FZ18EE PAL Russian Date/Month/Year
e) DMC-FZ18GK PAL Chinese (simplified) Year/Month/Date
h) DMC-FZ18GT NTSC Chinese (traditional) Year/Month/Date
h) DMC-FZ18GD NTSC Korean Year/Month/Date

You can know which is the one for your camera looking for the following logo letters under the camera plastic case :

VCI = None(Japan) model
FC UL SA = P/PC models
V C E dve = EB/EF/EG/E/GN models
PCT = EE model
full model number (with suffix) = GD/GK/GT models
none of the above = PL/GC/SG models

I have an european model and I have selected the EB model without any problem !

That's all ! Other firmware versions are welcome !

Credit: http://www.flickr.com/groups/panasoniclumixdmcfz18/discuss/72157603940934243/

Mute System Volume on Shutting Down

1. Download NirCmd,then extract to C:\Program Files\NirCmd


2. Click Start -> Run, then type gpedit.msc


3. Go to Computer Configuration -> Windows Settings -> Scripts (Startup/Shutdown), then double click on Shutdown


4. Click Add button, type C:\Program Files\NirCmd\nircmd.exe into Script Name.
And type mutesysvolume 1 into Script Parameters.
Click OK and close the Group Policy window.


To unmute system volume, click on Volume at System Tray, then uncheck the Mute.
Or you can also press a Mute/Unmute function key on your laptop.

Mini Pre-microphone

Have you ever tried to use dynamic microphone with PC?
If you have, you'll know that it won't work.
So a microphone amplifier is needed.
And I've found one at Baanmooh, it's 200 BHT, very small.
The sensitivity can be adjusted.
It can operate at 0.9 Volt 0.8 mA.
If you use a 1.5 Volt 800 mAh button cell battery,
it'll last for 1000 hours, or 41 days!!!












[See all photos]

Power Amp Class-D

Today I got a power amp from NPE.
It's Class-D Power Amp 20W, 665 BHT

20 WATTS CLASS D Specifications 1. 20W at 8 ohms 16 Vcc 2. No Heatsink 3. Short Circuit Protection 4. Vcc 9-18 V 5. Imax 1.3 A at Po 20 W 6. Shutdown 1 uA

Can't believe that it requires no heat sink.
I used to do 2W power amp, it's very hot and have to use heat sink.
And also can't believe that it requires only 1.5A transformer.
Most 30W power amp requires 5-6A transformer.

But when I tested it to drive a subwoofer speaker, powered by very cheap 1A transformer.
It's soooo amazing!!!
After continuous using about 4 hours, no heat generated at all. Like it's not operating.
This very cheap 1A transformer is not enought to supply the AA battery charger.
But this power amp powered by that transformer can shake my door!

Class	Efficiency
A	25% (theoretical)
AB	less than 78.5% (theoretical)
D	80-95% (practical)

(Credit http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_amplifier)

[Sat 11 Oct 2008]
Finally, I put my power amp class-D in an (antiquated) box.
Althought it's looked uninterested, but it can shake the room, no heat generated.





If you want a subwoofer filter, try this. Subwoofer Filter

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