[Imc-makerspace] MAKEcation Family Challenge — Technojunk Teardown

[sean stevens]

I don't know if anyone has the time, but this could be fun to do with
some of the random things we have in the space.  The challenge runs
until 11:59 pm PDT 9/24.

http://blog.makezine.com/archive/2010/09/makecation_family_challenge_technoj.html

>From the link:
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Our last major MAKEcation initiative this year is a family challenge
contest, sponsored by Maker Shed, with some sweet prizes. Here's your
challenge:

    * Choose a piece of technojunk, some cast-off electronics that
you're willing to take apart (modem, cassette or CD player, printer,
VCR, scanner, answering machine, TiVo, etc.). DO NOT touch TV sets and
steer clear of any power supplies inside of PCs, TiVos, etc. TVs and
power supplies can hold dangerous charges inside of them long after
they're powered down! If you're unsure what the power supply is on
your device, look it up online.
    * Gather the family around (whomever wants to participate), take
the item apart, and catalog all of the parts you find. You'll need
good lighting and a magnifying glass to find all of the parts numbers,
manufacturer logos, and other identifying marks and clues. You may
even need to desolder some of the parts.
    * After you find out as much as you can from the parts themselves,
fire up a search engine and see how much you can find out about each
component. With some good digital detective work, you should be able
to scare up datasheets for most of the parts, and you may even find
circuit diagrams, parts lists, and repair manuals. If you do, still go
ahead and grab the datasheets for each component and delve deeper into
their functions.
    * With all of the data you've collected, and spending some time
studying the parts and the PCB, you should start to piece together a
decent picture of what does what and the basics of how the machine
works.
    * Once you know what all of the parts are, you'll likely think up
some good ideas for what other projects you can make from them. The
last part of the challenge is brainstorming these new project ideas.

...

The contest launches today and will run until 11:59 p.m. PDT on
September 24, 2010. Winners will be announced on September 29, 2010.
The prizes, provided by Maker Shed, are:

Grand Prize (1): A Make: Electronics Toolkit (valued at $110)
Second Prize (1): A Make: Circuit Breaker Leatherman tool (ES4) (valued at $36)
Third Prize (1): A 54-Piece Bit Driver Kit (valued at $19.95)

The next top 10 highest scoring entries will receive a Maker's Notebook.

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