Mike's Blog

Many months ago I backed the ElevationDock kickstarter project. It promised to deliver the iPhone Dock which Apple should have done. Originally it was scheduled to be shipped in April, but as with so many Kickstarter projects the actual shipping date was “slightly” delayed.

I received mine on the 20th September. Meaning the day before the iPhone5 launched. Since Apple changed the Dock connector to the new Lightning connector, the Elevation dock was basically useless as soon as you upgrade to an iPhone5.

Elevationlabs annouced several weeks ago that they are looking into providing an adapter supporting teh iPhone5, but they haven’t provided a firm date yet.

3D printing to the rescue. Within an hour I had a small adapter designed using TinkerCAD which allows you to “mount” your USB-Lightning cable into the ElevationDock.

It is not perfect, but it does the trick and and I am now using the iPhone5 in the ElevationDock.

If you have a 3D printer, you can find the STL file at Thingiverse.

I do have a second, slightly modified design of the adapter which allows you to use it with the MicroUSB-Lightning adapter.

Update 16/oct/2012:

I have received a high number of questions, through the comments on this page or through direct Email. The most popular question is if I do sell these adapters.
When I created the adapter, it was mainly for my own personal use, and I released it on Thingiverse for other people to be able to pick up the design and create them for themselves.
But clearly, 3D printers are still something rather rare, and only a small percentage of people have access to one. In addition, I do not think that there is any more precise date of when ElevationLabs will release a proper adapter for the Elevation Docks. The last thing I heard was that there it will be available in 40-60 days.

So where do we go from here?
Well, I did contact a number of people a while ago, and offered them the adapter for the cost of shipping.  But this was at the very beginning, when I only had a couple of requests. I have actually shipped those adapters last week, but since all of the recipients are based in the US, while I am based in the UK, I do not expect them to arrive before the end of this week.
Once I have received feedback from them, especially, if they managed to install it on their own and are happy with the outcome, I might offer a similar deal for very low cost, mainly covering my time, printing and shipping costs.

Oh yes, I have been using the adapter in two of my docks since nearly 3 weeks now, and I am still very happy with the outcome. It is not as “nice” as the modified 30 pin connector which is supplied with the Elevation Dock, as that one is allows for nearly friction less docking of the phone. The Lightning connector itself, as those who have an iPhone5 know, is not friction less, but still, docking and un-docking of the phone works nicely.

:ast but not least, there is the version of the Adpater for the MicroUSB-Lighting adapter  Due to the size of the adapter, one needs to find a very flat angled MicroUSB connector to be used. I have tried several so far, but in every case the overall hight of the combined connector is too high. If I find a better MicroUSB connector, I will give it another try, but so far, I have not had success.

One of the many Kickstarter projects which I spend money on was the Triggertrap. It is a rather different and very versatile remote camera trigger.

Beside the usual intervalometer features, it can be triggered by design through sound thresholds, light/laser and  many other methods using the additional auxiliary port.

Anyway, the one thing I did not like was the case. The connectors and switches were unprotected, leaving them open to be easily damaged when the Triggertrap is finding itself among everything else in my camerabag.

Well, 3D printing to the rescue. A couple of hours later, and I have a better lower part of the case.

If you have a 3D printer, feel free to go ahead and download the STL file from Thingiverse.