Category Archives: Hacking

Ubiquiti airFiber 5X Teardown

I recently came across a malfunctioning Ubiquiti airFiber 5X radio, so I decided to take it apart. The radio’s case can be opened by removing six T6 screws on the back. The PCB can then be removed by unscrewing six … Continue reading

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MacBook Webcam Teardown

With the release of the mid-2013 MacBook models, Apple stopped using the standard USB video device class interface for the laptops’ webcams. On these laptops, the webcam connects via the PCIe bus, enumerating as a Broadcom 1570 device. Unfortunately, this … Continue reading

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Decoding a Midea Air Conditioner Remote

Last month, I purchased a 6000 BTU Midea window air conditioner (branded Arctic King WWK+06CR5) and thought it would be convenient if I could control it remotely. Doing so would involve decoding the remote’s IR signals; for this, I used a … Continue reading

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Amazon Dash Button Teardown

The Amazon Dash Button it an Internet connected button that allows ordering a single product from Amazon. Although it is not something I would ever use, I thought its guts might be interesting and bought two for a grand total … Continue reading

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Light Painting Wand

A digital light wand, used to paint images in long exposure photography, has been around for a few years, since the advent of cheap, controllable RGB LEDs. While there are freely available designs and code for such a device, I … Continue reading

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