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Thread: Modding my intellimouse optical?

  1. #1
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    Modding my intellimouse optical?

    I recently got one of those eluminix light-up keyboards, and it doesn't go very nicely with the red led's on my intellimouse optical. What I'm wondering is if you people think I'd be able to "mod" the mouse by replacing the red led's with blue ones and still have the mouse function? Or, maybe someone else here has already done it?

  2. #2
    They call me the Hunted foxyloxley's Avatar
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    By red LED's I take it you mean the laser reader in the base of the unit ?

    Short answer : NO.

    The laser works in the red light range :
    For the human eye, the visible radiations range from violet light, in which the shortest rays are about 380 nanometers, to red light, in which the longest rays are about 750 nanometers."
    Why would you buy a keyboard that lights up a different colour to your mouse, if it's going to p155 you off so much ?
    so now I'm in my SIXTIES FFS
    WTAF, how did that happen, so no more alterations to the sig, it will remain as is now

    Beware of Geeks bearing GIF's
    come and waste the day :P at The Taz Zone

  3. #3
    Senior Member Zonewalker's Avatar
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    well it would seem that people have tried and got it to work successfully

    http://www.taconuts.org/articles/2000/dec/3/page1.php
    http://forums.devhardware.com/archive/t-12021
    http://www.crapemail.com/mod/mouse/

    and this place has a few 'interesting' mods (not necessarily relevant to the discussion but interesting nonetheless!)e.g.
    http://www.metku.net/index.html?sect...heel/index_eng

    but personally I'd be inclined to agree with foxy to a degree - I'd say yes it is possible if your careful but you may lose some of the responsiveness of the mouse - like foxy indicates the optical sensor would only pick up light from a given wavelength range - and there are no guarantees that the LED would give out any liught in the relevant spectral range

    having said that..... maybe you ought to ditch the intellimouse and take a look at this one

    http://www.xoxide.com/xoliupmowfan.html

    - maybe search around for similar? I'm sure I've seen an intellimouse with blue light.... but I might have hallucinated that

    Z
    Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes

  4. #4
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    I was always under the impression that the red lights were simply led's because i've taken the mouse apart before and it does not look at all like a laser. But oh well, it's only a $25 mouse, I can always just buy a new one if I mess this up.

  5. #5
    Senior Member Zonewalker's Avatar
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    viper... LED's in mice are classed as CLASS 1 (or class 2 not sure) LED laser devices I think... not a laser in the true sense of the word but because they shine light at restricted wavelength and at specific intensities they can be considered mildly dangerous to your eyesight (lot of H&S beaurocracy bollocks if you ask me but hey... I wear contact lenses so what does that tell you).

    like I say evidently its possible but you might loose a little responsiveness in the mouse if you aren't careful.... be interested to see any pics if you do it though

    Z
    Quis Custodiet Ipsos Custodes

  6. #6
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    Alrighty, if I do it (which won't be for a while because I need a new soldering iron) I'll be sure to post some pics.

  7. #7
    They call me the Hunted foxyloxley's Avatar
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    Wouldn't it be easier to put red LED's / cold cathodes into the keyboard
    so now I'm in my SIXTIES FFS
    WTAF, how did that happen, so no more alterations to the sig, it will remain as is now

    Beware of Geeks bearing GIF's
    come and waste the day :P at The Taz Zone

  8. #8
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    Originally posted here by foxyloxley
    Wouldn't it be easier to put red LED's / cold cathodes into the keyboard
    Maybe...I just like blue better

  9. #9
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    Originally posted here by Viper2026
    Maybe...I just like blue better
    Hey Hey,

    It you're just dealing with blue, check out the low end creative optical mouse... .I didn't know creative even made mice until a month ago, but apparently they're getting into the game. It's your standard red on the bottom, but it's not visible from the top of the mouse, and they've put in a few blue LEDs on the top, so the scroll whell and the rest of the mouse appear blue.. and the best part is it was only $19.95 CDN.

    Peace,
    HT

  10. #10
    Supplies
    IntelliMouse
    Another LED
    Soldering Iron and Solder
    Mini Phillips Head Screwdriver


    All the supplies seem self-explanatory except for the LED. You can change the LED to any color you can find, (i.e. blue, white, green, yellow, orange, red...why?) but if the LED is not bright enough, then your IntelliMouse Eye will not be able to see the surface it is tracking, therefore it will not work as well. We went out and bought a Blue LED at a local electronics store for $4. The specs on our LED is as follows:

    LED Specs
    Forward voltage: 3.7 typ. 4.5 max
    Forward Current: 20mA typ. 30mA
    Brightness: 2600mcd
    Viewing angle (deg): 30
    Lens Color Clear
    LED Size 5mm

    We went with the 3.7volt hoping that it would be brighter then a 5volt. FYI we have heard of some people using a blue 5volt, and it worked just fine.

    http://www.taconuts.org/articles/2000/dec/3/page1.php



    Lasers are classified by wavelength and maximum output power into the following safety classes:

    * class I: inherently safe; no possibility of eye damage. This can be either because of a low output power (in which cases eye damage is impossible even after hours of exposure), or due to an enclosure that cannot be opened in normal operation without the laser being switched off automatically, such as in CD players.

    * class II: the blinking reflex of the human eye will prevent eye damage. Most laser pointers are in this category, with output powers of around 1 to 5 milliwatts.

    * class IIIb: can cause damage if the beam enters the eye directly or if the beam is directly reflected into the eye. This generally applies to lasers powers from 5 milliwatts up to several hundred milliwatts.

    * class IIIa: similar to IIIb, but with large beam diameters, such that the pupil will only allow a 'class-II'-amount of light to enter the eye. Lasers in this class are mostly dangerous in combination with optical instruments which change the beam diameter.

    * class IV: highly dangerous; even non-direct scattering of light from the beam can lead to eye or skin damage. This generally applies to laser powers of more than a few milliwatts. Lasers in this class are usually than several hundred milliwatts or more.

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