Lowyat.NET: Latest topics by Nezs

Superlon vs Insulflex

Nezs — Mon, 07 Jul 2014 22:48:02 +0800

Hi,
I am thinking of choosing between these two insulators for air-conditioning. Any opinions?

http://www.superlon.com.my/?page_id=1212
http://www.insulflex.com.my/specifications...ifications.html

I can judge the physical performance of these two insulators from their website, but no aging test results..
Some contractor said superlon is better and vice versa.

Any opinions?

[WTB] Frameless Full Aluminium with Door Handle

Nezs — Sun, 08 Jun 2014 11:20:11 +0800

Hi, I am interested to install a full aluminium cabinet for my kitchen..

I would like to have a frameless aluminium doors, with handles..
something that looks like this..

For the entire cabinets, I would like all of it, including the front panels, inside and even bottom, to be pure white (like in the picture).
And particularly, for the panels, a glossy white finish.
That means, no metallic (silver) colour visible at all (except the handles of course).

Does anyone have any experience with such designs?
If yes, would you mind sharing with me your contractor details?
Or perhaps anyone can provide me with recommendations?

I would really appreciate all of your inputs!
Thank you very much!

[WTA] Plumbing and Wetwork contractor?

Nezs — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 15:06:47 +0800

Hello..
I am looking for a contractor to do plumbing and wetwork in johor bahru area, more specifically, around Taman Universiti.
Any recommendations and are they good? in terms good price with matching quality..

thank you very much for your inputs...

(WTA) A/C Powerpoint: Price include Copper Tubing?

Nezs — Tue, 03 Jun 2014 14:08:46 +0800

Hi guys.. I want to ask for confirmation..

Firstly, my info: i am staying around Taman Universiti, Skudai.

And my electrical quotation is as follows:

A/C RM 220
Plug Point RM 75
Loop Point RM 45
Lighting Point RM 40
15A point RM 90
Fan RM 60
Astro RM 150
Heater Point Dunno yet

I spent some time going through the quotes in in LYN and the price is only slightly cheap..
maybe around RM 5 cheaper than market price i think..
but i heard he is reliable.

My question is, for my Air-con point, the contractor said, it is only the wiring.. not inclusive of the tubing..
Is this normal?

thank you in advance for your inputs..

Cant get DVI-D port to work

Nezs — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 19:43:02 +0800

heya guys.. i got two VGA monitors and I wanna use dual display on my ASRock Z68 Extreme4 built-in graphics card.
I am planning to use one VGA and one DVI-D port so I am using an DVI-D (dual link) to VGA adapter to connect the second monitor:
[attachmentid=2527632]

The first monitor is connected directly to the VGA port. works fine but the second monitor is not detected i.e. it says no input detected.

The DVI-D port matches the DVI-D dual link pattern.

Also, the mobo supports dual-display and as far as i know, it auto-detects the monitors and auto-enables it.
Manual did mention that more than two is not possible though but this is not my problem so far.

Any ideas or suggestions?

Thanks in advance.

Code to check the age of a phone

Nezs — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 22:40:09 +0800

Hi..

i'm thinking of buying a second handphone and i know that it is possible to key in a code to see the details.. age of phone, usage, etc. My old phone seller showed me that info but didnt tell me how to get it.

any ideas?

thnx

Omnia vs X1 vs Touch Pro

Thu, 01 Jan 1970 07:30:00 +0800

Omnia vs X1 vs Touch Pro

Nezs — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 22:50:31 +0800

hi all.. here's my situation and i need some opinion about these phones. I'm going to quote the price from a singapore website since we dont have the price for X1 in Malaysia yet. Please take into account the price for the respective models.

1. Samsung i900 Omnia 16Gb version (SGD 888.00) approx RM2131
2. HTC Touch Pro (SGD 1068.00) approx RM2563
3. Sony Ericsson Xperia X1 (SGD 1198.00) approx RM2875

Prices and specs are available from SgMobile.

Which one would you get and why?

btw, anyone know if these phones can be used in Canada???

ty in advance!!

UTM.cls for LaTeX/MikTeX

Nezs — Fri, 29 Aug 2008 09:37:32 +0800

Heya,

For UTM students who wants to use LaTeX to write their thesis but
cant seem to find a template/class to match the format, there's some good news for you!!

I have made a template/class for UTM thesis.
It is free and anyone who wants to use it, you may download it from my website.

I'm not being a wh*** or anything but i feel like the template/class would be useful to
LaTeX users but if they dont know it is out there, ready for them to use, most probably they
would just use MS Office.

here's the link where you can download the class from:
http://yungszen.googlepages.com/utmlatexclass

edited:
spelling

How to preserve Li-Ion batteries (updated)

Nezs — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:26:23 +0800

hi. i got some notes on how to preserve li-ion batteries. this matter caught my attention when i read a thread about incorrect charging methods for Li-Ion batteries.

http://forum.lowyat.net/topic/672760

if you have any questions or wish to add some info or correct any or my statements, by all means, please pm me. i'm glad to be of help and even happier to learn new stuff.

Anyway, I believe this is quite an important aspect since our handphones and notebooks are powered by Li-Ion batteries. To check what type of battery you are using, just remove the battery and checkout the sticker. Of course, dont forget to turn off your equipment first.

The type of battery, voltage output and maximum current is written on that sticker. If you have a battery without any sticker or printings, the sticker may have fallen off OR you bought a really cheap battery. Note, that is pretty dangerous to your equipment. It may be cheap but unstable voltage or current will degrade your experience and seriously affect the performance of your equipment. Hope you find this guide useful

Types of Rechargeable Batteries
There are 2 main types of rechargeable batteries used with electronic devices: Nickel based and Li-ion batteries. NiMH (older batteries) are prone to memory effect while Li-Ion batteries do not have any memory effect. If you are using NiMH or NiCad (nickel based) batteries, then you will have to worry about memory effect. Most modern batteries are made out of Li-ion and therefore do not suffer memory effect. This guide does not cover your liquid-filled batteries, such as your sulfuric acid car battery.

Memory Effect
Memory effect is an effect that occurs after a series of charging and discharging whereby the battery does not charge up to 100%. It would assume that the charge is full even though it is much less than that. For Nickel based batteries, you'll have to fully discharge it before charging to avoid memory effect. Li-ion batteries, on the other hand are not affected by full discharge.

Good Charging Practice
For Li-Ion batteries, do not do practice full discharge and full recharge often. Unlike Nickel batteries, this practice will damage and shorten the life-time instead. Li-Ion batteries prefers trickle charge or normal charging when it drops to about 70%-80%.

There are some myths about Li-ion batteries experiencing memory effect. This is not true. Over time, the practice of partial recharge or trickle charge, would "confuse" the charging and sensing system. As such, calibration to the sensing system would be needed or the charging meter would indicate a wrong battery status. This is sometimes known as the "digital" memory effect and does affect the battery cells. To avoid this, it would be a good idea for a full-discharge after 30 charges to calibrate the battery meter.

Additional Note
1. Trickle charging is the best for Li-Ion. Minimize full discharge/recharge cycles. However, trickle charging is dangerous if the charger does not monitor the voltage levels correctly. This may lead to overcharging.

2. Do not overcharge. Normally, your charger will monitor the charging. If, by any chance that the charger is faulty and overcharges, the battery cell will be permanently damaged.

3. Minimize deep discharge (over discharge). Li-Ion batteries are not meant for deep discharge.

4. It is good to maintain the battery cool. This prevents aging of the battery cells.

Trickle charging is an intelligent charging circuit that charges the battery around the rate of self discharge. Imagine having a "smart" water tap that monitors the water level in a leaking bucket. The water tap opens occasionally about the same rate as the water is leaking. This prevents the water level from dropping too low, or over flowing. Apply that same concept to the battery charging circuit.

Additional Links
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Memory_effect
2. http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=91846
3. http://www.batteryuniversity.com/parttwo-34.htm
4. http://www.laptopbattery.net/laptopbattery_chemistry.html
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battery_charger
6. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trickle_charging

-------- Q & A from forumers in LYN--------

Can u tell me best practice on handling new li-ion batt?I heard one must charge new batteries for 8 hours before using it.Is dat true?

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

If i don't remove the battery from my notebook while using ac adapter, will it cause damage to the battery? Im using the Li-ion type of battery.

Regarding the overcharged issue, if i charge my battery overnight during my bedtime, will the ac adapter automatically stop the charging progress for me after the battery is completely charged?

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

Are these statements true?

Q Should I totally discharge, then recharge my Dell laptop battery occasionally to make it last longer?
A No, discharging and charging does not increase the life of a Lithium Ion technology battery.

Q Can a Dell laptop battery be "overcharged"?
A No, the battery is designed to stop using the charger when it reaches full charge.

Q When docked or AC adapter is plugged into a wall outlet, am I using my battery charge?
A No.

source: http://www.dell.com/content/topics/global....n/batteries_faq

» Click to show Spoiler - click again to hide... «

SPI using PIC16F876A (using C)

Nezs — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 17:28:55 +0800

Hi,

I'm trying to connect a PIC16F876A to a MAX6675 using SPI.
I think the initialization is proper and i've been rechecking the code
and circuit a few times but somehow it still doesnt work.
I manage to determine where uC hangs, in the while (!BF) statement.

CODE

void spiInit()
{
SMP = 0; // Input is valid in the middle of clock
CKP = 0; // Idle state for clock is a low level
CKE = 0; // Transmit occurs on transition from Idle to active clock state
TRISC3 = OUTPUT; // TRISC3(SCK) = 0
TRISC4 = INPUT; // TRISC4(SDI) = 1
TRISC5 = OUTPUT; // TRISC5(SDO) = 0
// SPI Mode and Speed
SSPM0 = 1; // Master Mode, clock = 20MHz / 16
SSPM1 = 0; // Master Mode, clock = 20MHz / 64
SSPM2 = 0;
SSPM3 = 0;
SSPEN = 1; // Enables the SPI

}

void thermoCurrent()
{
//unsigned char i;
unsigned char tempData[3];

RA0 = 1;
delay3();
RA0 = 0;
delay3();
RA0 = 1;
delay3();
RA0 = 0;
delay3();

while (!BF);
tempData[0] = SSPBUF;

RA0 = 1;

during the blinking sequence, it works well.. after that, it is suppose to wait for the SSPBUF to be full but RA0 doesnt go to 1, indicating it got stuck at while(!BF).
After checking with an oscilloscope, i dont see the CLK signal. Did i initialize wrongly? Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks in advance.

[addedon]June 17, 2008, 11:25 am[/addedon]Hi,

Managed to solve it with helps from some sifu at Microchip Forum.

Turns out to active the CLK signal, i need to send a dummy data before i can receive data. Sent out 0xFF and works fine now.

Thread close. Thank you.

Postgrad research in Rochester or Cornell

Nezs — Sat, 17 May 2008 11:07:23 +0800

Anyone have any experience doing PhD or MSc there?

I'm searching for a place depending on the field that i want to join. with my limited literature, I managed to narrow it down between these two universities, Rochester and Cornell. Both are very good universities but how are the lecturers there? anyone have any experience? like, can i finish my phd in 3 years?

Latest SETARA Ratings (May 16, 2008)

Nezs — Sat, 17 May 2008 10:57:34 +0800

WiFi keeps disconnecting..

Nezs — Sun, 11 May 2008 18:05:22 +0800

Hi,

I have a wifi router and a laptop. have been using for quite some time and was working flawlessly. yesterday, when i tried to copy over a large file, around 170mb, it disconnected. problem is persisting today... damn.. after retrying several times, then it worked. i can serve the internet, chat, bla bla bla.. just when transfering large files.

there are several possible causes, and i've tried to narrow it down.

1. the router.. each time during a dc, the wired comps are still fine. the router did not hang/crash. just the connection with the laptop is severed. i dont have another laptop to monitor simultanouesly during that event. i doubt it is any radio interference since WiFi is using 2.4GHz unless i have a bluetooth, which i dont. I dont think its a channel overlapping problem cause i cant detect any other wifi network around. signal strength is full, never drops below 4 bars. distance from router, about 10m.

2. driver.. i read that in another forum that is another common cause. i tried downloading the latest 2008 driver for my laptop network card, but it failed to install. stops at 57%. i redownloaded a new one but it still fails. installlation in safe mode fails. clean installation (uninstall and reinstall) using the old 2006 driver doesnt solve the problem.

3. mismatch security.. tested and it's not this. it cant have a mismatch security cause i have been using WPA-PSK (TKIP) all this while and it didnt give any problems.

4. power related problems with the network card.. hopefully not.. but i'm plugged in to the grid so it's not low battery power.

tests conducted:
basic ping, works.. connection to other computer and internet works.. files and folder discovery works.. windows realibility test..

results from windows realibility test when the event occured:
Symptom: The user failed to connect to the desired wireless network.
Cause: The reason for the failure of the most recent wireless network connection attempt is: Driver disconnected while associating..
Details: The user attempted to connect to the wireless network with the SSID: {deleted for privacy}
Resolution: Confirm that both the wireless network adapter and the wireless network access point are using the same version of the 802.11 protocol.
Also, confirm that both the wireless network adapter and the wireless network access point are using the same encryption scheme.

from this result, it seems that the driver is the cause.. uninstalling and reinstalling the old driver didnt solve the problem. new driver cant be install, with admin permission or in safe mode.

the idea of sending my laptop for warranty is not a preferred option until i can determine the cause!!

anyone care to share their idea? and for god's sake, please dont suggest anything that i've done OR something that a previous thread have recommended... i really, really hate that and it's called SPAMMING...

something constructive is seriously appreciated. feel free to give me technical terms or advance tests to carry out. i'll try to understand your instructions and update with results when i am able too.

thank you in advance, for your help.

Add Events in Google Calendar in website

Nezs — Fri, 02 May 2008 08:41:00 +0800

hi there,

i have a problem and cant seem to find the answer. I am currently using googlepages and google calendar. So, i want to include my calendar into my site for my students to see and add events into the calendar. I know how to link the calendar in, using html coding but visitors cant modify my calendar. they can also see it. i want to allow them to change/delete/add new events. I understand the risk of spamming, etc. But i want still wish to implement it.

Is there a way to do this? or perhaps is there a way to do this securely, like requesting a password before logging in. (i can always give my students the password in class).

If google calendar doesnt support this feature, can someone else recommend me a good, free calendar service with this capabillity? preferably, i would like to maintain gCal since i'm using it quite a lot.

thank you!

Staring Income Tax

Nezs — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 17:50:34 +0800

heya,

i just started working this march. do i register this year or next? what's the minimum taxable amount per year?

thnx in advance.

VB6 and Vista

Nezs — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 23:25:59 +0800

Is VB6 compatible in Vista?

thnx in advance.

DVI-D and DVI-DL for BenQ G900W 19"

Nezs — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 17:57:53 +0800

I recently bought a BenQ LCD 19" Monitor. The connector is DVI-D and I know that the pin for DVI-D(single link) and DVI-D (dual-link) are different.

Here's the thinge... i want to confirm that my monitor is using DVI-D(single link) and not the double link. How do i do that?

According to wiki, the dual-link is sometimes written as DVI-DL. Is this term actually practiced in Malaysia or by the LCD monitor industry?

EDITED: Grammer correction. Added link to wikipedia

Looking: C Compiler PIC18 or BoostBasic manual

Nezs — Fri, 30 Nov 2007 18:34:36 +0800

1. I'm looking for a free/opensource C compiler for PIC18 series. I'm using PIC18F2450. I dont mind if it's Linux or Windows

I checked SDCC, CCS, IAR, Hi-Tech Lite, SourceBoost, CC8E, PICBasic. I used CC5X and dont like the free version that much. Free versions limit the memory usage, supported PIC, limited code lines, bla bla bla.. SDCC is open source but doesnt support my PIC18F2450. CCS C compiler is simply awesome but costs USD 200. The free versions (from MPLab IDE) only supports 12 bit opcode None of these free versions support my PIC

I would appreciate if you dont suggest me to change to 12 bit opcode cause i only have the PIC18F2450.

2. I dont mind trying out Basic language like BoostBasic but there's a lack in documentation. there's no syntax/command documentation. If you can link some for me, i would really consider using BoostBasic.

Thank you very much.

[addedon]December 1, 2007, 9:41 pm[/addedon]I found a student version of a C compiler but is limited for 60 days. Terms of agreement allows the usage of this compiler for commercial or educational usage. It's MPLab C18 C Compiler from Microchip.

The full, unlimited version is USD 495 = RM 1,666.417 (direct from Microchip.com). That's VERY expensive.

So, I just have to finish my programming in 60 days. Doable.