Jim writes -

I’ve mentioned before the importance of having the MintyBoost available during a major power outage last October in New England. This allowed me to have my toys working. But since the outage extended for a long time it was obvious I was going to go through a lot of batteries. Thus, the need to upgrade to the solar version.

Attached is a photo of my finished upgrade. It is quite a neat installation. I love it. Thanks Lady Ada.

From the mail bag…

Just letting you guys know that I bought the MintyBoost v3, and that it charges my Motorola Droid X. I bought 3 kits, one for me, and two for my friends who own a Samsung phone, and a BlackBerry phone. I’ll let you guys know if their devices charge, if they’re not already on the compatibility list, once they get around to assembling theirs. I want to thank Adafruit Industries for providing such a great and useful kit with very easy and clear instructions. Keep making more kits so I can keep buying them. Thanks, A Very Satisfied Customer

What did Mom solder up for you this holiday? Check out this awesome post on Reddit. Monkeyhoo writes -

Celebrated Christmas early this year – this is what my mom made me. Pretty bad ass, my phone dies all the time and I rarely have my charger with me. (imgur.com)

That’s our MintyBoost kit and best of all, we’re starting to see the celebration of making things get out to more and more places. Thanks Nick!

From the mail bag…

Hey guys, we’re looking at sending one of your mintyboost kits to space. Well, 100,000 anyway. We’re going to launch a weather balloon with some electronics aboard. We’re considering using the mintyboost to ensure the batteries don’t run out before recovery. But weight’s an issue. Can you tell me what the weight of the mintyboost is?

15.08 grams

Solar minty lives via the forums! Ransomhall writes -

I finally stopped playing around with all the parts (monitoring setup above) and wrapped up the 6V 3.7W panel, Minty, and solar lipo charger in a nice fluorescent blue acrylic housing. Along with a 6600 mAh battery, I can now charge the heck out of USB powered gadgets. See http://www.ransomhall.com/Pages/solbooster.aspx for more details of this build. I am going to create an Instructable for this and enter it in the Epilog laser cutter contest. I’ll post links when that is ready.

Prepare to become one with the Force, Jedi… Darth Maul style MintyBoost…

Ransomhall writes -

Thanks to this nice tutorial http://ladyada.net/make/solarlogger/ I’ve done a substantial upgrade! Now I can monitor and save the following data:
Voltage: Panel, Battery, Load
Current: Panel and soon battery (waiting on parts)
Temperature: battery, in case it gets too hot.

We have a lot of new folks to electronics making kits now, it’s great! – and with that there are a lot of tips, hints and check lists we are working on to better assist with questions in the customer support forums. Here’s one for the MintyBoost. The MintyBoost can power so many devices, used with so many batteries, cables, etc, etc in so many configurations we have a handy check list to help you when you need help making this kit! It’s a mini-FAQ our support team put together. Enjoy! Before you post about a MintyBoost issue… Read this!

A few folks (including us) have iPhone 3Gs units that sometimes say ‘Charging is not supported with this accessory’ - it appears to be a wonky dock connector… jsappo writes -

Hey everybody! I just encountered this same problem and fixed it! It’s a wonky dock connector straight up. I have outlined the entire process for fixing it.. Hit me up with any questions.

Makes sense, the 3Gs units are the only ones that have given us any problems.

Pete’s MintyBoost build with really nice photos!

Steve writes -

You’ve probably heard of those power bands that are supposed to boost your energy and balance …or something. You know, the ones that magically work really really well in every country except the ones with decent advertising regulations? Yeah, those. Wouldn’t it be cool if you could have a power band that, y’know, actually did something? Like, say, recharge USB devices? Yep, that’s right. It’s time again for “Build Something Weird With Steve”…

Read more.

From PenguinSix’s blog:

Last night members of the Hong Kong Hackerspace, aka Hong Kong Hackjam, got together at the Boot.HK offices to undertake a quick project to help victims of the Japanese earthquake and tsunami. With electricity out in many parts of Japan, the call went out from the Tokyo Hackerspace community asking for help in providing lighting, networking and other electronic supplies for victims of the disaster.

Here in Hong Kong we settled on the quick and easy (somewhat) task of building “Minty Boosts“. These are battery powered USB chargers that can be used with any AA battery to charge a mobile phone or other electronic device. The entire hardware is soldered together and throw into a candy or mint box, thus the name “Minty Boost”.

Over a dozen hackers and technology enthusiasts gathered last night to throw together some relief supplies that will be sent to Tokyo in the next day or two. Only a couple of the devices (mine included) ended up FUBAR, as is to be expected as some of us were not that experienced with a soldering iron. But many others were thrown together by are more hack-savvy members and were charging phones by the end of the night with great success.

Awesome to see hackers helping hackers (helping everyone). Hong Kong Hackjam, you guys rock!

NEW PRODUCT – Altoids Gum sized tin! Ever since Altoids discontinued the Gum version, its been hard to get tins. So we went and got a whole mess of them custom made! These tins are exactly the same shape and size as the old Altoids gum tins but they are blank and we got the bottom flattened instead of rounded (so it fits things better)

Outside dimensions are: 1.43″ x 3.35″ x 0.8″
Inside dimensions are: 1.40″ x 3.30″

Perfect for mintyboosts! Contains no gum (which is probably for the best as it was kind of gross tasting).

In stock and shipping now!

MintyStick! Andrew writes -

Finally, I have succeeding in producing my own variation on the MintyBoost.  I found inspiration on this post (http://forums.adafruit.com/viewtopic.php?f=15&t=18225) on the Adafruit forums.  It looks like a stick of gum, and I like it, because it’s single-sided, and because it looked like it would be pretty easy to make at home with my toner transfer setup.  I call it the MintStick, because sometimes I don’t like to spend a lot of time trying to come up with good names for things.  It’s version 3.0 to indicate compatibility with the MintyBoost 3.0 (since it ought to support the same devices).

Flashlight converted to contain the mintyboost.

It seems a lot of folks have iPhones and many of them like making and learning about electronics too! We’ve put together some of our picks of apps for the iPhone for that special person (or yourself) this holiday season that would like the gift tronic’ apps! Some of the apps are free, most are $0.99 cents. To give them as gift to the iPhone toting’ electronics person in your life you can give them an iTunes gift card. For today only the MintyBoost is is 10% – it charges the iPhone Use code IPHONE on checkout and get 10% off the MintyBoost kit!

Resistulator. What would a resistor value calculator look like if it were thought through — made a breeze to use, yet also helpful for learning the color code? Resistulator displays the stated resistance of both standard and precision resistors as you set each band’s color with a tap. A preference is provided if you’d like to be shown the terse value description used in many areas of the world.

Circuit Lab is an electronic circuit analysis tool based on the modified node analysis method. The analysis may be under DC conditions and under steady-state sinusoidal conditions (AC). Diodes (non linear devices) may be analyzed only under DC conditions.

Electronic Toolbox combines electronic reference material with calculation and conversion tools in one handy app. Whether a professional or hobbyist, the app gives users a collection of the most important electrical information right at their fingertips.

CapCalc will help you determine capacitance values and related capacitor codes. Simply enter one of either picofarad, nanofarad, microfarad or the capacitor code and CapCalc will generate the other values for you!

Bitwise is a binary comparing calculator for teaching and explaining how logic circuits work. Set the switched of the first and second binary numbers then choose a function for instant result. I made this app to help visually describe how binary logic works.

The Circuit Pro App is a utility application developed to assist electrical engineers and electricians with the task of sizing branch circuits according the National Electrical Code (NEC). This application finds the appropriately sized standard breaker size based on the input circuit load, which can be entered in either Amps or kiloWatts.

EE Basics contains a large selection of Electrical Engineering laws, equations, tables and reference material that Electrical Engineers may find useful during their work.

The elecPuzzles app allows you to test your knowledge of some basic electronic circuits. Perform the necessary calculations to solve problems presented to you.

With “Electric Circuits” you can learn the basics of a home circuit. You’ll learn by playing: every level brings up new components, making more difficult to create your “Electric Circuit”. It’s pretty basic and missing parts that we think would round it out, but it’s still fun.

Maxim Part Selector. The IC Selector helps electronics designers choose the right Maxim data converter (A/D and D/A converters) anywhere. The app doesn’t require a live Internet connection, so it can be used at the lab bench or anywhere else.

Digi-Key’s app for the iPhone and iPod Touch is the design engineer’s passkey to one of the world’s largest inventories of in-stock electronic components.

For today only the MintyBoost is is 10% – it charges the iPhone Use code IPHONE on checkout and get 10% off the MintyBoost kit! If you have any app suggestions, post up in the comments!

MintyBoost kit review @ t r o n i x s t u f f…

Today we are going introduce another useful kit from adafruit industries – their mintyboost kit. The purpose of this kit is to provide a powered USB socket suitable for charging a variety of devices, powered from a pair of AA cells. The mintyboost is quite a simple, yet clever design – the latest version is based around the Linear Technology LT1302 DC/DC step-up converter that we examined a few months ago – and can provide a full 5 volts DC at 500 milliamps, enough to charge the latest round of USB-chargable gadgets, including those iPhones that I keep hearing about. And unlike an iPhone, the mintyboost kit is licensed under a Creative Commons v2.5 attribution license.

Nice, caseless MintyBoost.

MintyBoost 3.0 works with iPhone 4 and more!

Make your own iPod/iPhone/GPS/etc… battery-pack and recharger! This project includes all the electronic parts necessary to build your own MintyBoost: a small & simple (but very powerful) USB charger for your iPod (or other mp3 player), camera, cell phone, and any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge. If you have a Nintendo DS/GBA or a PSP you can buy charger cables from us, too.

The charger circuitry and 2 AA batteries fit into an Altoids gum tin, and will run your iPod for hours, 2.5x more than you’d get from a 9V USB charger! You can use rechargeable batteries too.

New In Version 3: Provides 500mA @ 5V, tested and designed to work with all the latest iGadgets including the latest iPhones and iPods!, improved efficiency for high-drain devices, works much better with LiPoly battery mods.

Kit comes unassembled and is suitable for beginners. Some soldering tools are necessary but even if you’ve never soldered before it should be pretty easy. Read more about the project on the Minty Boost webpage.

Tested works with: iPods, iTouches and iPhones (including the latest 4G), PSP, DS..Please see a full listing at Minty Boost compatibility webpage to see if your device is tested to work before purchasing. Batteries and tin not included. If you live in an area that doesn’t have Altoids gum, you can buy a tin from us. You can also of course make your own case!

In stock and shipping immediately!

*Please make sure to read the project pages before purchase and assembly, some phones may require modifications to the kit to charge properly

Just to let you know that I bought a Mintyboost kit and it works fine with my HTC Desire – with an USB-A to micro-usb converter – Andy

MintyBoost 3.0 works with iPhone 4 and more!

Make your own iPod/iPhone/GPS/etc… battery-pack and recharger! This project includes all the electronic parts necessary to build your own MintyBoost: a small & simple (but very powerful) USB charger for your iPod (or other mp3 player), camera, cell phone, and any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge. If you have a Nintendo DS/GBA or a PSP you can buy charger cables from us, too.

The charger circuitry and 2 AA batteries fit into an Altoids gum tin, and will run your iPod for hours, 2.5x more than you’d get from a 9V USB charger! You can use rechargeable batteries too.

New In Version 3: Provides 500mA @ 5V, tested and designed to work with all the latest iGadgets including the latest iPhones and iPods!, improved efficiency for high-drain devices, works much better with LiPoly battery mods.

Kit comes unassembled and is suitable for beginners. Some soldering tools are necessary but even if you’ve never soldered before it should be pretty easy. Read more about the project on the Minty Boost webpage.

Tested works with: iPods, iTouches and iPhones (including the latest 4G), PSP, DS..Please see a full listing at Minty Boost compatibility webpage to see if your device is tested to work before purchasing. Batteries and tin not included. If you live in an area that doesn’t have Altoids gum, you can buy a tin from us. You can also of course make your own case!

In stock and shipping immediately!

*Please make sure to read the project pages before purchase and assembly, some phones may require modifications to the kit to charge properly

Mintyboost v3.0 works with the new Apple iPod nano with Multi-Touch.

Hardware trickery: Why Apple’s iPhone love Chargers – SPIEGEL ONLINE – Nachrichten – Netzwelt (Google translated) and here is the original in German…

Why are not actually any USB power supply with all iPhone and iPod versions, even if they have the right plug? Eine amerikanische Hardware-Hackerin ist dem nervigen Netzteil-Wahnsinn nachgegangen, hat den Grund und auch gleich eine Lösung gefunden – die sie als Bausatz verkauft. An American hardware hacker is annoying power-madness which followed, has the same reason, and also found one solution – which they sold as a kit.

Limor Fried has a penchant for quirky technology – and they like fiddles

I just got my MintyBoost V3.0, and love it!  I can confirm that it works on the HTC DROID ERIS, LG Ally, and the Motorola DROID.  Thanks for the great project!!! Will be trying out my Verizon MiFi 2200 soon…. – JW

NEW PRODUCT – MintyBoost 3.0 works with iPhone 4 and more!

Make your own iPod/iPhone/GPS/etc… battery-pack and recharger! This project includes all the electronic parts necessary to build your own MintyBoost: a small & simple (but very powerful) USB charger for your iPod (or other mp3 player), camera, cell phone, and any other gadget you can plug into a USB port to charge. If you have a Nintendo DS/GBA or a PSP you can buy charger cables from us, too.

The charger circuitry and 2 AA batteries fit into an Altoids gum tin, and will run your iPod for hours, 2.5x more than you’d get from a 9V USB charger! You can use rechargeable batteries too.

New In Version 3: Provides 500mA @ 5V, tested and designed to work with all the latest iGadgets including the latest iPhones and iPods!, improved efficiency for high-drain devices, works much better with LiPoly battery mods.

Kit comes unassembled and is suitable for beginners. Some soldering tools are necessary but even if you’ve never soldered before it should be pretty easy.
Read more about the project on the Minty Boost webpage.

Tested works with: iPods, iTouches and iPhones (including the latest 4G), PSP, DS..Please see a full listing at Minty Boost compatibility webpage to see if your device is tested to work before purchasing. Batteries and tin not included. If you live in an area that doesn’t have Altoids gum, you can buy a tin from us. You can also of course make your own case!

In stock and shipping immediately!

*Please make sure to read the project pages before purchase and assembly, some phones may require modifications to the kit to charge properly

In this 7 minute video we explore “The mysteries of Apple device charging“. Usually device makers need to sign a confidentially agreement with Apple who want to say “works with iPhone / iPod” and never talk about how the insides work. If you don’t put these secret resistors on the data lines to you get the dreaded “CHARGING IS NOT SUPPORTED WITH THIS ACCESSORY”. We demonstrate how anyone can do this and make their own chargers that work with iPhone 4, 3Gs, etc. Video above, HD and (m4v).

We’ve updated our open source charger, the MintyBoost as well, today is its official release.

Want more details? See our article on Apple Charging with more technical info and schematics

Howdy!

I have read a of a few people having trouble finding the altoids gum container that fits the project so well. I did too. Looked in a bunch of shops all over Ventura and San Diego California as well as a bunch in the Philadelphia area with no luck.

I started looking around for alternatives but only found one possibly suitable and that was after I had finished making a container. The Wii gum container looks like it is the appropriate width though it has a significant amount of length that may need filling.

What I decided to go with was leather. I had a bunch laying about and decided to see what I could do. It turned out pretty good for a first rough run. I think I will make another with a good stain and better stitching but this has worked like a charm thus far.

RobotGrrl had an old robot kit lying around and she decided to give it an upgrade. She writes:

The missing parts to the TECHNOROBOT kit that I got at the explOratorium during the Stanford EPGY AI Program in 2008 have been found! This robot has been transformed many times, the first as an idea/prototype for an emotional line following robot, then a snowplow, and now it will be an XBee messenger robot!

The robot now uses an Arduino, and is powered off of USB. The motor is driven with the Adafruit Motor Shield (I plan to add more motors to the robot someday). The motor is powered from an Adafruit mintyboost.

photos here.

Nice work!

We are wrapping up our last round of testing for the next version(s) of the MintyBoost, we’re pleased to report it works with the iPhone 4g (we waited for the release to make sure) and it also works with the iPhone 3Gs and it appears all the “i” devices. We’ve also tested on PSPs, Kindles, Androids, Nintendo DS – and today as a final test we tested at the Apple store just to make sure it worked with the Nano since we do not have one in our testing collection (it works). On our 6/26/10 “Ask an Engineer” show we demonstrated reverse engineering the way charging needs to work on the latest Apple devices.

As we get closer to the MintyBoost release date we will make announcements and also contact any resellers who have stock left of the current version.

So – if you want to make solar MintyBoost, here’s how –

Pick up a USB LiIon/LiPoly charger – v1.1 and Lithium Ion Polymer Battery – 1200mAh. A 1200mAh lipoly will provide as much overall power (~4.5 Wh) as 2 rechargable AA’s.

Choose from either a 1W or 2W solar panel. Either will work, if you are using the smaller panel, we suggest removing R4 and replacing it with a 6.8K (or so) resistor which will keep the lipoly charger from trying to draw too much current from the panel.

Next up, you’ll need a mini-B USB cable to sacrifice. Use the one in the shop or find one in your room.

Follow the tutorial on our site for how to splice the solar panel into the USB cable.

Finally, a MintyBoost will give you a USB 5V output! Connect the other side of the JST cable from the LiPo charger into the input of the MintyBoost.

Put the panel out in the sun and watch for the charging light to go on. then when the battery is charged up, the DONE led will be lit.

You can put all this in our new Altoids mint-sized tin!

Note: While it may most devices, this will mostly likely not work consistently with the iPhone 3Gs and/or the iPhone 4. We will have a new MintyBoost and MintyBoost “rechargeable” soon, if you need to support those two devices specifically hold off until you see these new versions of our kits on our site.

One of my favorite parts of the whole event was probably the Makers Shed. It was a physical version of the online store. If I were rich, I would have filled my car up with the interesting kits, books, and parts that lay in that hall. Instead, I came home with a few kits and books, including a Minty Boost kit from Adafruit. After having bought a 10-pack of altoids gum, I worked through the kit and was rewarded with a portable usb charger.

How do you keep an iPhone running for long periods of time when you are off the grid? You can’t change the battery in the phone, so carrying a spare isn’t an option. Devices like LadyAda’s excellent MintyBoost use AA batteries and can keep you going indefinitely, but unfortunately the MintyBoost and several other similar products don’t work with the iPhone 3GS. And anyway what I really wanted was a device that would take power from the high capacity 12V NiMH rechargeable pack that I use to power my portable ham radio gear. I could have re-purposed a charger meant for use with cars, but many of them use linear regulators and are therefore very inefficient, or aren’t compatible with the 3GS; plus they are overpriced. So instead I built a charger to suit my needs: the MintyBuck.

This is a somewhat confusing response to our email asking about the availability of some Altoids (photo bbum).

Dear Limor Fried,

Thank you for taking the time to let us know about your difficulty in finding Altoids® Gum. We appreciate hearing from you. As you might imagine, we take feedback like this very seriously.

We’re sorry to say that Altoids has been discontinued. We thought it was a great product – and, clearly, so did you. But, sadly, we’re occasionally forced to discontinue a product when there is low consumer demand for it over time, which is what happened with Altoids.

We all have our favorite products and can appreciate your frustration at no longer being able to enjoy Altoids. Thank you again for reaching out to us about this. We hope that you’ll find other Wrigley brands that you enjoy, both now and in the future.

Sincerely,
Janell ******
Consumer Care Representative

We’re not sure if this is correct and likely a scripted response for weird flavors of BIG RED that are no longer made, but wow – what a response if true!

Introduced in 1780, Altoids were originally marketed to relieve stomach discomfort. By the 1920s, the original cardboard box had been replaced by the more durable distinctive metal tins of today. The irreverent, quirky personality of Altoids has led Altoids Peppermint tins to be a top-selling mint in the U.S. Over the years the Altoids brand has expanded to include not only mints but sours, gum and sugar-free mints in miniature portable tins. For fun facts, ad viewing, games and ordering we invite you to visit Altoids.com.

We have plenty of mint tins for all our products and we also have many options and enclosures going forward (don’t worry about that) – we’re hoping someone from Altoids will see this and clear things up. However, if it’s true we just got a scoop! Adafruit electronics *and* candy gossip site!

This is a makerbottable altoid tin-like enclosure for MintyBoost XL found at thingiverse.com/thing:2144 Will presumably also work for other similar devices. It’s not necessary in the strict sense, but if you can’t find an altoid tin you have a ready replacement. Additionally, you can alter the files to print a design or logo on the lid (in relief and thin lines only, since the top of the lid is on the bottom of the print), and you won’t have to worry about insulating the board from the metal case.

The United States Computer Emergency Response Team (US-CERT) has warned that the software included in the Energizer DUO USB battery charger contains a backdoor that allows unauthorized remote system access. In an advisory, the US-CERT warned that he installer for the Energizer DUO software places the file UsbCharger.dll in the application’s directory and Arucer.dll in the Windows system32 directory. An attacker is able to remotely control a system, including the ability to list directories, send and receive files, and execute programs. The backdoor operates with the privileges of the logged-on user.

This is the best reason to pick an open source charger of any kind, like the MintyBoost (not batteries, just devices until the new version . The MintyBoost will not install software and not trojan your computer.

I just wanted to add that I just finished a stock build of Mintyboost v2.0 and it works with my Motorola Droid (Milestone) as well.

If you’re using the iPhone 3Gs with a Mintyboost we have added a note to the FAQ that has the precise resistor setup you would want to use if you’re going to mod your kit.

icebike from the Adafruit forums writes -

Just a note to say the MintyBoost charges my B&N nook eReader. Given the runtime claims from B&N are *cough* optimistic, the minty should come in handy when camping.

On a related note, how many electronics hobbyists who read our blog have a Kindle, nook, Sony reader, or any e-ink reader?

A wood-machinable or printable enclosure for the MintyBoost. Designed to fit the Adafruit kit’s dimensions, with a vacuum formed lid that slides on for access to the batteries.

For many small projects, its cheaper and easier to DIY a boost converter than to buy a specialty chip. DIY converters are usually not as efficient but they’re quick & cheap!

The above schematic section shows how I designed a 30-60V vacuum fluorescent tube display driven from a microcontroller pin.
Tubes such as VFDs, Nixies, Decatrons, etc require high voltage to light the gas in the tube. In order to reduce cost, we use a microconrtoller to make a boost converter and avoid paying $5 for a seperate chip. We can do this because we don’t need a precision output and the current draw is mostly constant. The boost regulator is run open-loop there is no feedback resistor divider as it isn’t necessary as long as the input voltage is within a reasonable range…

The microcontroller runs at 8MHz so the 8-bit PWM output is 31250 Hz. The inductor and output capacitor is calculated below. The diode is a standard Schottkey type. The switch just has to be able to handle the max voltage plus some for safety. Note that this design is meant for ‘static’ output currents, not for variable current draw designs. There is no feedback and its very approximate! This is not for precision electronics!
The boost circuit works by connecting the power inductor L1 to ground that current can flow through it by turning on Q2. After a little bit of time, we disconnect the from ground (by turning off Q2) this means that there is no longer a path for the current in L1 to flow to ground. When this happens, the voltage across the inductor increases (this is the electric property of inductors) and charges up C6 . When the voltage increases to the level we want it to be (30V+) we turn on Q2 again which allows the current in L1 to flow back to ground. If we do this fast enough, and C6 large enough, the voltage on C6 is smoothed out and we get a nice steady high voltage.

The timing of turning off/on Q2 allows us to modify the output voltage. Normally there is a feedback resistor to the microcontroller but it is not here because we are running it open-loop. To drive Q2 we use the PWM output from the microcontroller and adjust the duty cycle to vary brightness.

These sorts of designs can be easily made with a 555, once you have the PWM output, connect it up to Q2! For this simple calculator, enter in the freqency, voltage ranges and current ranges and the duty cycle, inductor and current requirements will be displayed!

More on the calc page!

Today I was finished with a little project I have been working on. It took about two days of internet searching and ideas The result is a modified USB cable with a SE Fastport connector, I have tested it with my SE phone C510i and it works great with Mintyboost !! With one set of batteries I got approximately a 12 % increase of the battery life, it took about an half an hour to get that.

I just built a MintyBoost and it works perfectly with both a Flip Mino and a Flip MinoHD pocket video camera. The white light on the camera’s USB connector indicates that it’s receiving power…

Kelty got the idea for the solar-powered charger from the Minty Boost, a $20 charger powered by two AA alkaline batteries. It’s called the Minty Boost because it is also housed in an Altoids breath mints tin. But it had its shortcomings.

“The problem is, with an iPod Touch or an iPhone, the battery in an iPhone is so big that it will deplete the batteries [in the Minty Boost] and you’ll only get half a charge,” he explained.

To improve upon the Minty Boost, Kelty replaced the AA batteries with a rechargeable lithium polymer battery and added a small solar panel. The solar panel recharges the internal battery, which in turn recharges the iPhone.
“The idea is that you can leave this out in the sun during the day while you’re using your phone, or whatever device, and at night time, plug your phone into it and you’re good to go,” Kelty said.

I’m off work today (I was on vacation at the beach most of the week.) and I decided to tackle the MintyBoost kit that came in last week.

This was my first kit and my second attempt at soldering and it worked first try so I would consider that a big success. I had already put it all together before realizing that I didn’t have any pix of the underside of the PCB. Just as well, it’s functional but not pretty.

One thing I changed from the instructions was to use a dremel tool to make the hole for the USB port instead of using snips to cut through the top of the case. I think it looks better and it should be more sturdy.

Looking forward to more electronics kits, this one was a breeze. I need to resurrect one of my old laptops and move it out the garage. The kit instructions were online only and I don’t want to take my good laptop out to the garage amid the dirt/metal filings/sawdust. I ended up printing out the main soldering instructions.

Thanks LadyAda and Adafruit Industries for a great starter kit.