static inline void startOpenTimer(DeviceCommThread *dev, QTimer *&t)
{
	if ( !t)
	{
		t = new QTimer(dev);
		QObject::connect(t, SIGNAL(timeout()), dev, SLOT(openDevice()));
	}
	// just a single-shot timer.  we'll know when to start it again...
        t->setSingleShot(true);
	t->start(1000);
}


class DeviceCommThread : public QThread
{
Q_OBJECT
...
};

void DeviceCommThread::run()
{
	fDone = false;

	startOpenTimer(this, fOpenTimer);

	int sleepBetweenPoll = 2;
	// keep the thread alive until we're supposed to be done
	while (!fDone)
	{
		QThread::sleep(sleepBetweenPoll);
	}

}