Simple Hands-free Camera Remote Hack
Jul 16th
Simple Hands-free Camera Remote Hack
You need to have a canon rebel XT for this to work. I needed to make a custom remote for my new camera. I wanted to use buttons that were easier to push. The Canon RS60-E3 Remote has two functions focus and shutter (but you don’t really need both for most shots). When you press the shutter, the camera focuses first anyway. The remote uses a 2.5-mm stereo jack.
We had an adaptive switch that I was also using to answer my phone (it is plugged into a wireless phone transmitter when not used for my camera – more on the phone project later.
We tried to use a splitter to separate the two functions but were unable to achieve that. We only really cared about the shutter so the other function may or may not be necessary, depending on what you want to do. If you really want to use both functions with your remote, you should see this article for example.
Hooking it all up
Basically, we had a 3.5-mm mono jack on the end of our switch. We didn’t want to cut the end off of our switch so instead we cut the end off of a random audio female cable we had laying around and used that as our 2.5mm to 3.5mm adapter. So, basically, we built an adapter because we didn’t feel like going to radio shack. If we didn’t care about the switch, we would have just wired the switch to the one side (seemed like either channel worked the same) of the mini 2.5 mm stereo audio jack (the small size like the cellphone jack size).
Parts need
- 1 Cable with 2.5 mm audio jack
- 1 Y-adapter that will fit your switch.
- 1 Adaptive switch – example TASH (or any switch with an audio style jack end (or else put one on and switch).
Resources
Where to get a switch:
Enabling Devices
TASH – Switchs
Adaptivation
Remote help:
MAKE – Make your own remote
Canon RS60-E3 Remote Pin-Out
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_plug
New Van
Jun 27th
I am so excited I just got a new Van. We had a 10 year old Ford Full-size Econoline Van with a Crow River Lift. It was getting old, and was also getting hard for me to get on the lift. So getting a mini-van with a ramp made more sense and seemed to be more space, I tired many different side-entrance ramped vans, they were all too small for my wheelchair. So we tired a rear-entry van, and we liked it.
The new van is a Town and Country Touring, with a rear entrance lowered-floor ramp which was done by Viewpoint Mobility. In the old van the wheelchair had to be strapped in, which was hard and time consuming. The new van has the EZ-Lock System which a plate attached to the floor and a pin is attached to the wheelchair. All you do you is drive your chair over the plate and the pin locks the chair in automatically, no more straps. Making life a little easier. If anyone else has a rear-entry or any other type of van, please tell us how you like it.
My Trip to Williamsburg
May 28th
I went to Williamsburg for one week with my parents. It was nice to get out of Ohio, I never really went to Virgina. I really liked how green it was compared to spring in ohio. It was also very warm, it reached 94 degrees one day. Getting around Williamsburg in a wheelchair was not bad in the historic area, if you stay on the road, cars don’t travel on the road. You can only get in a few buildings. And some have very steep ramps. I would recommend using the bus, they have very cool buses that kneel and a ramp comes down for the wheelchair. There is lots of walking if you dont use bus. I also went to Jamestown which just celebrated it’s 400 th Anniversary.
Geek Cruise 2007!
Feb 14th
I just got back from a wonderful vacation. I went on a Geek Cruise on Holland America to the Eastern Caribbean. I had a great time meeting some cool people including David Pogue, Eddie Tapp. and others. I also got to spend some time with some people from previous Geek Cruises such as Neil Bauman who runs Geek Cruises (Insight Cruises), Randall Schwartz, and others. I will add more pictures soon. I am trying to get back to normal as I came home to a blizzard!! I really miss being in paradise!
Pageturner
Jan 6th
For reading books, I use a GEWA Book Reader. I’ve tried lots of different machines. Many of the others rely on a sticky thing that sticks to the page. It works better than a lot of other ones because the things don’t have to stick to the page. The GEWA is different. Instead it uses a creative roller mechanism to turn pages. In addition to turning pages one by one, it has the capability to roll through any number of pages before flipping them all over at once. This allows faster movement through the book. It also allows backward movement as well. To control the page turner machine, I simply use a switch that is mounted on the desk.
More info can be found here http://www.zygo-usa.com/blv6.htm .
Hummingbird Sipper
Dec 11th
Being disabled and having very little use of my arms drinking can be a challenge, Calling for help just to get a drink can be frustrating for me or my caregiver. But this problem has been solved thanks to the hummingbird sipper. The hummingbird sipper is a very long straw, that allows me to drink on my own. The straw also comes with clip that goes on the cup to hold the straw in place. On the hummingbird sipper website their are different lengths and styles you can choose from. You can also buy a cup holder that can go on table.
HORI Separate Controller
Dec 4th
I have trouble using a regular controller, so I needed some other way to control the play station 2. So I found the Separate controller made by Hori Japan. The controller can separate into two parts. So its good if you cant bring your hands together. The controller also has one-handed mode good for same games. separate the control pad into 2 pieces: left control buttons & right action buttons.
Finding Very Useful: Fellowes Tracker Pointing Input Device / Mouse / Track-ball
Dec 4th
I wanted to share with others the benefit of finding a mouse alternative that may be a better shape, size, etc that may suit your needs. For me, I wanted a pointing device that was small and had easy to push buttons. This device is really a special joystick – it’s just that the “joystick” is actually a stubby little thing that your thumb fits nicely on as if it were a trackball. It is a nice flat shape that suite my hands well and allows for normal 2 button mouse tasks. It was originally designed to be used for presentations, etc, but it works great as a normal mouse. See the pictures to get an idea.
Cup Holder for Permobil Wheelchair with Existing Tray Mounting Hardware
Dec 4th
I needed a cup holder that would mount on my Permobil Chair-Man 2K. We realized that the OEM tray mounting arms could make great mounting points for many things, including a cup holder. So, we went ahead and built a cup holder that would just slide into the existing tray mounting holes. We hacked off the end from a broken cymbal stand that happened to be the right diameter pipe to snuggly fit inside the tray mounting hole. If we didn’t have random junk and misc scrap to pick from, we could have bought a new pipe or some bar stock that would fit. For the cup holder element, we used a peice from an old cup holder. All we had to do was drill the pipe and screw on the holder. Now we’ve got a simple cup holder that slides directly onto the wheelchair. Now, none of this would make life any easier if it weren’t for the Hummingbird Sipper straws that I found and so dearly love! For more info about the staws, see the post on that.
Recent Comments