The Easy - Easy Button Mod
Change the speed / pitch of the voice recording in the Easy Button. After removing
the cover, replace resistor "R1" with a value between 165K Ohms and 750K Ohms.
The value on the board is 250K to start. Choose a smaller resistance to get
a higher pitch / faster sampling rate.
Put it all back together and hit it because, "That was Easy"!!!!!!
The NOT SO EASY - Easy Button Mod
Sometimes, "That was Easy" just doesn't cut it.
The goal of any MOD is to allow the device to appear and operate as if it were never
modified. It would seem like there would be plenty of space inside of this
big red button... Unfortunately, it is actually pretty tight, as most of the space
is consumed by the parts that allow the button the be pressed.
I spent some time trying to figure out how to change the recording on the actual
easy button IC, however I gave up after finding the sampling rate resistor.
Still, there are some curious open pads on the PCB and a 10K resistor R2.
It seems like it would be possible to set this device into a record mode.
Basically, we are building our own sound recorder to fit in the space allotted (circle
2 3/8" with 3/8" button alignment holes). Our recorder will make use of the
"Easy Button" for all activities by multiplexing them via a panel of dip switches.
Sound clips will be input via an Analog In port - alternatively, you could use the
microphone port. Multiple tracks are also possible for a total of between
23 - 60 seconds.
Construction:
You will need the following parts:
|
Part |
Description |
|
ISD1730SY |
Winbond Voice Recorder IC |
|
100K Ohm |
Pull Up Resistor |
|
60.4K Ohm |
12KHz Sampling Rate Resistor |
|
650K Ohm |
Watt LED Current Limiting Resistor |
|
0.1 uF |
Capacitor |
|
0.1 uF |
Capacitor |
|
4.7 uF |
Capacitor |
|
4.7 uF |
Capacitor |
|
5 DIP SW |
5 position Dip switch |
|
3/32" Phono Jack |
Connection for Analog In Port |
The two small weights were removed from the sides of the Easy Button, and the associated
plastic was extracted. A board was cut out of general purpose component board
in a circle 2 3/8". The existing board was used as a template to drill the
4 button guide holes. The rubber pad type switch was also removed, for use
on the new board. After a dry fit, the components can now be soldered.
Using the attached schematic, you can make the connections
as you see fit (this is the tricky part, as there is limited space).
The switches and phono jack were mounted on the bottom (on the sides where plastic
was extracted).
Everything is all soldered and ready to go. Electrical tape and hot glue were
used to keep the wires in place.
Operation:
The full operation of the ISD1730 is discussed in the datasheet, however the basic
operation of what we have built is as follows:
Erase: Set the erase line to on. Single press erases the
current track. You must be at the first or last track in order to remove a
single track. To erase all memory, hold the button for 3 seconds.
Record: Set the record line to on. Set the FT
line to on (enables the analog line). All audio coming in the analog port
will now be playing through the speaker. Pressing the button will start recording
for the duration of the press, or until memory runs out. One of my favorite
audio clips is Timmy from South Park.
Play: Set the play line to on. Pressing the button will play
the current track. Holding the button will play through all tracks.
The track you stop on will be the new current track. This behavior allows
us to not connect the FWD track line.
Forward: Skips to the next track. This line is not necessary
since we can use the play feature to accomplish the same task.
Reset: We have wired up the reset line, and in most cases this
will not be needed. The chip is supposed to be reset on power up (i.e.: connecting
the batteries), however it seems to take a while to reset the chip after powered
down. It is also possible that the phono jack selected causes us to apply
a voltage to the ground line when plugging in the jack. At any rate, pulsing
reset seems to fix this problem.
PCB - Easy Button Mod
Since there were other uses for this circuit, the schematic was modified to allow
other uses while still providing the origional functionality.