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Everyone has these gizmos that beep, burble and sing at inopportune moments. I have watched a certain
yokel stand for hours by the roadside, poking incessantly at this thing and his cronies around him breaking
into laughter now and then. Yes, I am talking about the mobile phone, that modern man's accessory.

Nokia 1100. This is a GSM cellular phone with green display backlight and an integrated torch. I obtained
one, which I could take apart. It was in perfect working order before the operations began, in case you are
wondering.

The first thing to do was to pry away the (interchangeable) covers and expose the innards. The phone is held
together by six screws with oddly shaped slots. None of my tools would fit them. I didn't want to rush out and
buy a tool just to take apart this phone, so I heated the screws with my trusty soldering iron and after the plastic
case had softened they could be yanked out with a pair of needle-nosed pliers.

The six screws and my stock of small allen keys which did not fit them.

This is the plastic body of the phone. The six screws go into this. At left is the antenna, just an oddly shaped
piece of metal plate. Then comes the SIM holder and at the extreme right the vibrator motor with eccentric weight,
the microphone, charging and headset sockets.

A close-up of the circuit board. The other side was just plain, with just the keyboard contacts so I did not
bother to put that up.

The entire circuit board, component side. The other side has the keys. You are looking at the entire circuitry
of the Nokia 1100. At the extreme left you can see the led for the torch, sticking up.

This shield with shaped compartments fits closely over the component side of the circuit board. On the other
side is the label with the serial number and other information. That is the part you see when you take the battery
out of its compartment.

Finally, the front, the part which fits over the keyboard side of the circuit board. It carries the display, backlight,
and speaker. A small flexible circuit board is visible between the speaker and display.

No - it is not the world's largest paper clip, it just looks so beside the very smallness of the vibrator motor.

Re-Assembly

It was easy (and fun) taking it apart. But I had mangled the plastic taking the screws out and they wouldn't stay
screwed which means I screwed up. Right now the phone is spending time, Resting In Pieces (RIP) inside a plastic
bag. A trial assembly with rubber bands and cellotape did not reveal any obvious (electrical) damage so, if you are
curious about the insides of your phone, do not hesistate to take it apart like I did and post photos so that we all can
share in the experience.

Acknowledgements

Many thanks to my friend Mr. SRR. Oompah Tanh for donating this Nokia 1100 for me to take apart, just for love.

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