X-mas shopping

So Trinity released some more stuff on clearance, and although I missed on the Trinity logo bags, I managed to score 3 Epic Motorsports Hauler bags at $18 a pop. Not too bad. That should get me by in terms of being portable with all my RC crap.

My dad got me one of those 2 channel micro helis for christmas. Managed to break the flybar and in term the main blade in 15 minutes.

Got some money as well, plus my best friend finished up my collection of Kevin Smith flicks on DVD. Post will be updated as more swag comes.

Goin Diggity?

Thinkin about going with the Diggity Designs XR18 chassis for my RC18T. Still waiting to go brushless on it as well, but that should be ordered this weekend. I'm really stoked to get back to Kranzels in January to start prepping for 1/18 Nationals in April.

LG CU500 Hacks

I obviously won't be able to take pictures of this, but I'll at least explain things the best I can. So about 2 months ago, I was swooned by the iPhone craze and after seeing my combat bot friend George Hotz unlock the first iPhone, it got me thinking about what I could do to my phone. I'm not ready to go knee deep and break the thing in half, but I wanted to see what type of movement there was for my fairly recent phone.

I have the LG CU500 flip phone, which boasts a nice 1.5 Megapixel cam (Can take up to 1280x960 resolution pics), bluetooth, and a basic mp3 player. Also it is one of the first phones from Cingular/AT&T that has 3G capabilities. 3G is their high speed data network. It's actually really good.

So what is there to modify?

Well, for one thing.. anytime I use a Java app such as Google Maps, Gmail, or Opera, it has a nagging question about permission rights. It becomes a PITA real quick. Also, I don't like some of the stock tones on the phone (whenever it completes anything, it has a lil happy tone).

So, I googled up a few things, and came across 2 relevant links:
http://comerford.cc/wordpress/lg-cu500-hacking-turn-off-confirmation-tones-and-more/
http://www.howardforums.com/showthread.php?t=981113&highlight=cu500

After buying an OEM data cable on ebay for a dollar and downloading BitPim, I was on my way to a better phone. I've modified the text message tones (can't be modified normally) so now I have all Simpsons style quotes. Currently I have Homer screaming about the Boogeyman. The Java nag has been removed as well. My phone is silent when confirming things as well. In the links there's a link to blank files to replace the confirmation tones.

It's a fairly easy to perform on your phone if you can pay attention. Otherwise your phone can essentially "brick".

Also, I haven't messed with it much, but dialing 277634#*# on the phone gets you the field service mode. Some nifty admin things that I'd prolly brick the phone if I messed with it.

Mini-Z club race rap-up

Another sunday of Dorks On Wheels racing came to a close. This week was a special one however. I finally got my mod car!!! My good racing buddy (and fellow Kutztown local) Larry hooked me up with a new 02 chassis for cheap, and with some help from Ed (swapped boards, stock for mod) I got the car at least to the point where it was running.

I've sanded the differential down, re-lubed it and installed back on. The PN disc dampener is really slick. I also LOVE the power the Anima motor has.

What it still needs:

• A good set of rims. The wheels that came with the Pan Car kit completely suck. I cracked one installing a bearing.
• Speaking of bearings.. A full bearing set. I forgot that I'm out of bearings.
• +1 and +2 Toe Out steering bars. Car definitely needs more steering, as it's constantly pushing no matter what spring I threw at it.
  
• Possibly -1 Knuckles? Haven't decided yet.
  
• PN Memory Antenna. I love the pink one I have on my stock car.

Speaking of my stock car.. I ended up smoking the board on sunday as well. Seems there was a short inside due to a cut in the insulation of the - side lead. Took out one of the 3010 FETs. I ended up running Ed's Enzo all day. I dropped out of the F1 class after the first heat cause it sucked at handling completely, and I wanted to spend time getting the Mod car ready. The F1's board has always been hokey.. It's like it has a natural 2-speed tranny on it. All of a sudden it kicks into high gear. I might try getting the FETs replaced.

Sooner or later I'll get a post up here of my Mods to my LG CU500 phone. That's all for now.

Introduction

Hey guys, I finally decided to make a blog for all my tech stuff... cars, bots, gadgets in general. I'll be putting up a few things I've done already within the next few days. Stay tuned.