Ok, will that hold if you jump up and down every day for very long?
I must admit that I have no experience with high-end tapes so I dont have a clue, but I always looked and using tape has a 'ugly hack'

If thats the same stuff I've seen, its pretty damn strong. One of its uses is mounting skirt kits to cars...

Yup. That's the same stuff used for automotive. It's quick and simple, not that ugly as it is hidden.

I have given my base plate to a guy at my company that will fizz it for me, while I wait for him to get it done (Those guys at the Precision Engineering department works really slow ) I'm going to work on the 5 volt mod.

Im thinking of getting the DC-DC-stepdown pierreye linked to, a question though, if the 220 Volt powersupply in the HMZ box is a switched powersupply it can take damage from getting 5 volts from behind the power stage which it will it if fed it from the points PalmerTech showed in his picture.

My question is, has anyone fed this baby with 5 Volts, and did the PSU in the HMZ box hold? How many hours have you driven it in this way?

Here's another adjustable DC step down. A bit more expensive, but I use them and can vouch that they are quality parts.

http://www.dimensionengineering.com/products/de-swadj3

PS. Maybe you guys should consider creating a thread for specific mods. (ie. Sony HMZ Ski Goggle Mod)

If brantlew had tested the DC converter than I would put more faith in it than the china product. Important specs that I look at is DC voltage stabilization and over/under voltage protection. Haven't tested the DC converter yet.

Anyway, I had completed the ski goggle mod with 2 additional screw at the side for tilt adjustment. I should get a longer screw but current setup is good enough and very sturdy. The top part is still using double sided tape. Jump a few times and the hmz-t1 doesn't move at all.

I bought the one that pierreye linked to, gotta try
So no one have actually tried powering this of a 5volt source yet? Theres a possibility you can damage the switched PSU in the HMZ box

@pierreye: Looking good.

I tried to power the unit off the lab-PSU at work, and at the welcome screen the glasses and box used 1.4A = 7.84W @ 5.6V.
But I forgot to feed it with a HDMI signal while connected to the PSU and I guess the power usage can rise a bit when it has to process a HDMI signal.

My plan is to remove the 220Volt PSU from the box entirely and replace it with the DC-DC stepdown I bought from ebay, this way I can use a 12Volt DC brick when using the HMD for gaming, and a 11.1 volt Lipo battery when using it for FPV flying

Looking forward to your voltage mod. Anyway, I had ski goggle mark over my face after 2 hours. Did I over tighten the strap?

Hehe, maybe, does it have to be really tight not to tip over from the weight? You might have to add an extra strap over the head then :/
Is it better to wear than the stock design for long hours, not done with mine so havent tested

Loosen the strap and add a counter weight from the middle. Feel much more comfortable and no pressure on the face.

I wanted/needed the HMZ lenses/screens closer to my eyes, so the lexan of the goggles actually mounts to the other/opposite side of the two (built in to HMZ) mount points atop than you have it pierreye. It overlaps more of the top of the HMZ assembly of course, so to do this, need to either cut the HMZ plastic, or need a wider cutout up top in the goggle lexan -looking something like this to clear the HMZs curved plastic front piece/lip:
.....____________________
......\ ........Cutout .........../
.......!...........___...........!
.......!_____/...... \_____!

I opted for the latter, cutting the goggle "glass" to allow for clearance. This will move the screens/lenses closer to the eyes, the perfect clearance in my my case. Can just let the curved goggle glass sit "naturally" over the top of the HMZ unit (what I do), or opt to direct it between several bushing stubs that will move the screens a bit further away again (like the middle ground between the way I have it and the way you have it now).

This reduces the moment arm a bit too, brings the CG of the unit closer to your face/goggles, so could reduce counterweight needs (I don't use or need any). Other things you can do to lighten everything, but the above is mainly about getting the screens closer to your eyes. Very much wanted/needed in my case, don't know if you are happy with the lens to eye distance you have now or not.

Latest other change I did was the turnbuckles. Goggles are meant to flex a bit to conform to different faces, even flex a bit bit just taking them on/off. My turnbuckles were mounted to the frame (rather than to the goggle glass as pierreye has it), which allowed a tad bit of flex, but this made the turnbuckles very hard to adjust on the fly depending on how the goggles were positioned. Could see the turnbuckles needed a bit of pivot room (ideally) to remove any stress from both the HMZ unit and the goggle frame. So, I dumped the turnbuckles and went with small ball links/connectors and threaded rods instead. On HMZ side, ball links are bolted on types, not meant to be removable. Goggle side ball links/connectors are the snap on/off style, easily popped off, given a few turns to adjust (while actually wearing) if/as needed. Once again, got all bits from a local RC shop.

Anyway, once new setup is worn, positioned on your face, still gives a 4 point mounting system just the same, new ball link setup just allows MUCH easier adjustment, things to flex/pivot to relieve any strain on any parts, allows the goggles to "adapt" to different faces more as they "naturally" would for best comfort.

Hope that makes any sense, will post pics to make this all clear if anyone is interested.

A picture is worth a thousand words

Manage to trim down the plastic further and mount the lens around 5 mm nearer to the eye. With some adjustment on the tilt, I manage to get very good focus. Still need the counterweight for best comfort but leave some mark on the face after 2 hours of usage.

Nice work!

I have trouble finding a nice AC-DC brick that has atleast 2A for a justified price, I'm thinking about picking this up. What do you guys think about the idea to skip the stock 220Volt PSU and go DC all the way?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/12V-3A-AC-DC-Ad ... 256c68c631

I wouldn't trust that ebay psu. Cheap PSU's have a habbit of failing in a way that takes whatever they are connected to with them.

Also, that brick is 12v. The HMZ-T1 needs 5v.

Personally, I don't think there is much reason to convert to DC input unless you will be using batteries.

5.6V to be exact, its going to be used with a DC-DC step down, 11.1 Lipo for FPV and 12V AC-DC for gaming

edit: the DC-DC step down is variable so I could as well use a 7 or 9V AC-DC adapter, but looks like the 12V versions are the ones most common to output more than 1A

edit2: Bob, in a DC-DC scenario thats impossible

I just tested the HMZ with the China DC-DC stepdown mentioned earlier and a 3A 12Volt brick and also with a 11.1 Lipo battery, works very well. It was a little hard tuning in 5.6 Volts on the stepdown, but once I got it right it was very stable, and since its switched it doesnt matter what input voltage I give it (12Volt from DC brick or 11.1 from Lipo battery) it will always output 5.6 volts.

@CyberVillain: Nice work. You have a ski goggle mod, right?. Does that fix the "sweet spot" problem by locking the unit into a stable orientation or do you still have issues with focus moving in and out at the edges?

Im ashamed to admit it but my HMD has been in a shelf for the last month, but, i have finally found a guy with a CNC rig that can help me fizz the mounting base for the optics, so this weekend I hope to come very far on completing this. I really want to try flying my AR Drone with this baby before winter

I have just tried it with a cardboard prototype base, (Still very stable) and I got focus right away, I didnt try it long enough to give a real review, but it felt very nice right away. Pierreye should have more info about this since he too have done the Ski goggles mod

Hi, i'm new.

I dont really understand why some peoples have comfort problems, because i use it one with light-blockers and i can play with it like 12h on 3D PC gaming.

Maybe it's because i have Serial model 200xxxxx ?

Or you have an unusual head shape?

Apparently there is a new 200xxxxxx version that has better sound and less pixelation overseas... also the weight is more distributed (can any one confirm this as I am just taking comments from another forum)? I called my local store (Canada) and they had not heard anything about this however they did mention that they are expecting to receive informaiton regarding an updated version for the fall? They told me to call back in a few weeks - here is hoping for a more comfortable design as well as 1080p... man oh man, this is going to make my final decision to order the st1080 that much more dificult lol!!!

EDIT - sounds like this is BS after reviewing the comments again - sorry!

I'm sorry, I love the HMZ, but its got to be the most uncomfortable consumer electronic device ever built. I feel like they are going to force prisoners in Guantanamo Bay to wear this thing day in and day out playing episodes of Barney just for the hell of it. Its that bad.

Yupp totally unusable without modding...

Hopefully I can get my mounting based fizzed tomorrow, and after that it wouldnt be far until my ski goggles mod is complete.

The mounting base will look like this

Been using the ski goggles mod for one month plus. Recently just finished Alan Wake using HMD which is a good game. The mod does make the HMD easier to wear and get better focus (almost perfect focus from edge to egde). I believe part of the reason is with tilt adjustment you can get better focus compare to stock. But I still have the goggles mark over my face and need a counterweight to make it more comfortable.

Hi all,

just join and wanted to said big thanks to pierreye which help me mod my hmz (Helmet type) and i did some small adjustment to it and now i got a perfect hmz device that i can get almost 100% clear picture only a bit blur on the right edge but not so noticeable and hopefully in future we can get a better hmz that have bigger fov and maybe 4k display optic.

What kind of batteries are you guys using? Im thinking about getting this one

http://www.ebay.com/itm/7-4V-5000mAh-30 ... 4aa353e070

Its a 5000 mAh battery, so should give me about 2.5 hours (Only measured the current on the Sony at the welcome screeen and it used 1.5A so probably around 2A when processing a 3D signal)

Glad that you are happy with the HMD. In the future, I just want a unit with replaceable lens that can change the FOV depending on the needs.

I would get the energizer XP8000 or XP18000 (if you need to power your wireless receiver). I believe Energizer XP series battery come with built-in regulator that even at lower charge, it'll still output stable voltage before total cutoff when the juice run out.

Yeah, don't use that battery. It needs a balance charger, and is all kinds of dangerous unless you have it hooked up to a protection/regulation board like it would be attached to in an RC vehicle (The intended purpose).

The XP18000 is a bit more, but it is very well made, and known to work with a lot of different hardware.

Off course, charging it without a balancer is just stupid

I have a DC-DC stepdown, it can take a Voltage from 7.1 to 35 Volts and output 5.6 Volts (HMZ voltage)

edit: 100 Dollars on evil bay for the XP8000, i'll pass , is it an American product? Cant find it in Swedish stores

I looked on the specs for the XP 8000 mah and just a little warning, it has a maxium of 2A output, this is cutting it very close to what the SOny needs (The Sony specs says 15W = 2.67A)

Done some work on my mod, my friend has a little china made CNC rig, the precision isnt the best and his very unexperienced working with it so we did some mistakes, one fatal one that destroyed a drill and also made some damage to the mounting base, you can see the damage in the top left part of the mounting base.

Also found some design flaws, so going to do a V2 this week


The Regulator im going to use to make the Sony mobile requires cooling if the ampere is greater than 2A, I had some VRAM heatsinks laying around from a GFX cooler package, perfect fit

Very nice.

That is why you should use the XP18000, not the XP8000. You are right about that other battery, as long as you know what you are doing you will be fine, and it looks like you do! I am always wary of telling people to use them, I run a forum that has had several members buy cheap li-po packs, not protected or charged them properly, and then blown things up in flames.

Yea, lipos are dangerous, I always charge mine in a Lipo charger bag which is fire proof (And before I got a bag I used a saucepan with lid ), never had an indecent, knock on wood. By the way the XP 8000 and XP18000 uses Lipos so basically they are just a Lipo + balancer/charger + volt regulator in a kit. So you have the same problems there, but I guess the casing of the XP is fireproof so you dont need the charger bag...

Yeah, the casing is really nice. Having a variety of different voltage outputs at the same time is another cool benefit, and the battery meter is useful for knowing when your kit needs to be charged.

True, but you still need a regulator to get the 5.6 for the Sony. Nice with the meter, im planning to use a Lipo meter I have laying around.. But those are all valid points, but its an expensive product