Mystery chip

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

This should have been easy … but I have failed to identify a small IC

It is very clearly marked, and I know that the gadget is a little remote trigger for an Olympus camera … but my searches have failed to find a data-sheet for what I presume to be the code generator.

The only reference I have found to BU3246F was a four-pin device !

MichaelG.

.

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

If you drop the ‘f’ (always worth trying as a last letter can be a batch or variant code) and search for BU3246 you get a tiny handful of results for online sellers…

It’s available for sale:

http://www.o2xygen.com/parts/BU3246.htm

I’ve asked on the ‘I take pictures of electronic components’ Facebook group.

Neil

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks, Neil

MichaelG.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

IMHO the remote controller will probably use a custom IC and I doubt anyone anywhere will have one on the shelf that you could buy.

These things rarely fail, do you know for certain that the IC is faulty and not the camera?

Ian P

 

 

[peak4Participant @peak4]

Which remote is it? Not enough buttons for an RM-1, so is it an RM-2 or something earlier?
Oddly Luton Cameras might be worth emailing, as they specialise(d) in Olympus before they became OM System/Digital-Solutions.

Bill

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

IMHO the remote controller will probably use a custom IC and I doubt anyone anywhere will have one on the shelf that you could buy.

These things rarely fail, do you know for certain that the IC is faulty and not the camera?

Ian P

 

 

Sorry, Ian  … I don’t understand the relevance of your comments

The controller ‘works’  [in the sense that I can see it using an infra-red camera]
I don’t have, and nor do I wish to have, the Olympus camera for which it was designed … I simply want a data-sheet for that chip.

MichaelG.

.

P.S. __ for Bill’s benefit… the controller is an RC-30

… it’s small and neat, and just a single channel.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

I replied because I thought your enquiry for a datasheet meant you needed to delve into the fob electronics.

On reflection my reply was probably more relevant than Neil’s (and you thanked him), not that this is a competition of any sort.

I should have said that being a custom chip finding a datasheet would be harder than getting the chip itself.

Ian P

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

No slight intended, Ian …  I was simply trying to clarify:

I want to understand the chip electronics, but not to replace it.

 

MichaelG.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

[  my first inadvertent “double post”  ]

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Just to put the thing in context:

http://t.hacquard.free.fr/site1/superzoom_en.html

MichaelG.

.

Edit: __ and, with thanks to that nice Mr Butkus

https://www.cameramanuals.org/olympus_pdf/olympus_superzoom_3000.pdf

.

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Self-Help is getting me there slowly:

http://www.seekic.com/newstock/BU3246F,BU3251AKS,BU326.html

 

but unfortunately the data-sheet link on that page appears to be dead.

MichaelG.

.

Note: __ I tried, and failed, to break  the hyperlink, because it is not https

[Nick Clarke 3Participant @nickclarke3]

Michael The picture on your link with the second broken link is for a device with many more pins, if it can be believed?

Nick

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Indeed it is, Nick …

good reason to continue my quest for a data-sheet

MichaelG.

.

P.S. _ for anyone “remotely” interested … here’s the other side of the board, just prior to me inserting two new CR1220 cells.

.

[Michael Gilligan]

On Michael Gilligan Said:

Self-Help is getting me there slowly:

http://www.seekic.com/newstock/BU3246F,BU3251AKS,BU326.html

 

but unfortunately the data-sheet link on that page appears to be dead.

MichaelG.

.

Note: __ I tried, and failed, to break  the hyperlink, because it is not https

On Nick Clarke 3 Said:

Michael The picture on your link with the second broken link is for a device with many more pins, if it can be believed?

Nick

That search for a pdf from Seekic appears to be looking for a generic “BUxxxxxx” chip, which might be part of a family, so with different numbers of pins depending on usage.
I have come across chips in the past where the output is simply coded by a set number of pins, with some fixed high or low to make up a simple binary number , e.g. 01001101 for 8 of the pins.
It’s a double sided circuit board, so it might be interesting to  see if some of the pins are just tied high/low.
I guess it could do with some sort of a spectrum analyser to read the embedded code in the IR light beam.

I also found the user manual for the superzoom series of cameras, but failed to come up with a service manual, which is why I suggested Luton Cameras; I doubt they would have a full chip datasheet, but it might say how the IR remote should work in terms of its coding to the camera.
For dating purposes, I think the range started in the early 90’s

The dead link still resolves to the same page when viewed via an Asian VPN address

Friendly reminder: This website is temporarily inaccessible.
Reason 1: According to the relevant regulations of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), you have not completed the filing process.
Reason 2: According to the relevant regulations of the MIIT, your current internet service provider is not Hangzhou Netcom.
Reason 3: Your website may contain inappropriate information for dissemination. Please contact the website administrator.
This page is a default prompt page. If your website has any of the above issues, please address them promptly.
To file a record, please log in to the Hangzhou Netcom Proxy Filing Management System.
Thank you for your cooperation!

My Korean isn’t too hot; the above translation came from Opera Aria AI extension.

p.s. at least one link suggests that the chip was made by ROHM semiconductors so it might be worth dropping them a query

Also, I did try Arcgive.org, but out of 10K plus hits for Rohm, only two contained documents containing BU3, and neither were the right series of chips

Bill

[SillyOldDufferModerator @sillyoldduffer]

Difficult one:  the chip may have been a special made for Olympus by Rohm Semiconductor, and is now obsolete.  One of a pair, the receiver being in the camera.   The receiver’s type number might reveal all.

The chip could a fixed circuit, but I suspect it’s a microcontroller programmed to send signals understood by the camera.   The signals are probably straightforward, and could be investigated with an oscilloscope.

Depends what Michael needs the datasheet for: if wanted to build another remote, easier for me, who has the kit, to analyse the signals and emulate them with an Arduino.    If the chip and it’s datasheet are unobtainium, then replicating the chip’s output is the only option.

Ditto, if the goal is educational.   Starter for 10, pressing the button probably causes the chip to put a DC voltage on the IR LED,  then the DC voltage is modulated with a 38kHz carrier, and the carrier is modulated with a sequence of pulses.   In the camera, the receiver selects and demodulates the 38kHz carrier.   The sequence of pulses is checked and, if recognised by the camera, the shutter is operated.   Thus the camera ignores sunlight, which isn’t modulated,  and other remotes unless they send the right sequence of pulses.   How good the camera is at ignoring other remotes depends on the requirement.   TV IR receivers are fussy, a basic camera might not be.

There are lots of Arduino projects and instructables on the web, plus firms selling easy to use IR modules.  This example may be of use.

(https://forum.arduino.cc/t/olympus-camera-ir-control/7845)

Dave

Interesting: edit wouldn’t let me add a link until the third attempt.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thanks, Bill and Dave

I am aware that the code can be read, and will be building one of the many available circuits for that purpose in due course … My interest in this particular little remote [which I picked-up cheaply somewhere, ages ago] is that it’s very compact, and ‘feels good’ in the hand.

When I opened it up to check what cells it used, I was pleasantly surprised by the build-quality and my curiosity was aroused when I saw that chip.

Evidence to-date implies that RC-30 remotes are all identical, but I did wonder if the chip was programmable.

… It’s not important: There are plenty of more pressing matters for you to all concentrate upon.

MichaelG.

 

 

[Neil WyattModerator @neilwyatt]

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1068002327711442&set=gm.2290602687795720&idorvanity=253864931469516

 

Unless the issue is a ‘shorted leg’ by the transistor, this is probably less bother than reverse engineering:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/353154717358?chn=ps&mkevt=1&mkcid=28

Neil

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Neil

Michael has explained that he only wants the datasheet.

Ian P

[Michael GilliganParticipant @michaelgilligan61133]

Thank You, Ian

MichaelG.

[Ian PParticipant @ianp]

Well I feel better now that I realise this new forum is getting more like it used to be!

This thread is following on in the tradition of yesteryear in that it continues to garner replies either long after the original question has been answered (rightly and wrongly), drifted way out to a new area, the OP has lost interest, or everyone gets bored.

To be fair, Michael did not actually ask a question, he just said he could not find a datasheet and we all jumped on the bandwaggon

Ian P

PS. Having had some dealings with camera manufacturers (not Olympus though) I would say 100% that there will be no datasheet for that device (programmed as it is) for that remote fob

[Ian P]

On Ian P Said:

Well I feel better now that I realise this new forum is getting more like it used to be!

…

and we all jumped on the bandwaggon

…

 

Yes, I think that’s probably the very essence of this forum, Ian

People of good will … who like to contribute what they know [whether or not it is entirely relevant]

… and it’s all the better for that.

MichaelG.

 

[Author]

Posts