The Makerphone Ringo is actually a very sensitive piece of tech.
My biggest struggle with Ringo were two very different topics. The battery and the antenna. It took a lot of work to get my Ringo to work as expected, but for all my troubles, Iāve realized it was worth it. I learned a lot about the Makerphone, and phones, and getting my phone to work, and maintaining my electronic device. Iāve had years of experience in hacking and such. However, nothing could prepare me to properly maintain this phone.
I wanted to make this a topic because of the issues Iāve had. I want to share all my hardware problems and how I solved them. I want to hear from others about their own problems with Ringo. Nothing will help us solve all these problems with the Beta iteration of Makerphone. I think we should work together to solve as many problems as possible before people even turn their phone on.
Iām not going to talk specifically about my antenna booster - there is a topic for that.
I will discuss my issues with the Micro B USB port and what my problems mean for me.
The USB port allows you to do two things. The first, is charge your phoneās LiPo pack. The second, is connect to the computer. You charge your battery directly from the Ringo controller. The excess goes to battery.
My immediate issue when getting my Ringo was plugging it in to charge. The port didnāt go in all the way. I was concerned by this. It was unusual because most devices hide the excess. While being unsure, it was too late when I realized I broke it. The V+ prong had fallen out. I tried hot glue. It wasnāt good enough. At some point, it caught on something in my pocket. The entire port came out. I spent a week resoldering wire to the V+. I covered the successful wire with hot glue. Lastly, after splicing croc clips to the USB wire, the clips cut my board up. There was contact everywhere. I couldnāt think of anything while my board was burning. I was immediately frustrated by the fact nothing would save this project. My wire is running out. I eventually thought of the hot glue again. I managed to cover the board with glue so it is properly insulated.
When you go to buy your next Makerphone, buy the unassembled kit. The assembled version doesnāt make me think itās ready to be called a āphoneā.
All I see now is a long expensive project. I had to drive an entire two states away to test my connection. Itās just not ready without all the extra work and precautions. Iāve had similar experiences buying TFT screens. Donāt forget to hot glue your work. Donāt forget to lock loose objects in place.
Thanks for reading and share your work here related to basic additions about Ringo we should all know about.
