Eagle and KiCad
I’m finally getting back into designing boards. I just ordered some test boards from OSHPark. Love that site and there low minimums and affordable pricing. I have been working with Wemos D1 Mini units and need to build a carrier board that supplies power and holds other components. I drew up the pin outline in […]
Orange Pi Zero and VGA
So… I learned a bit about RCA and VGA today. VGA is a component input, RCA is a composite input. What does this mean? RCA has the signal all on one wire and the devices that use it separate it electronically. This compromises fidelity, or information density which is why it’s great for 640×480 and […]
Orange PS revision
I had some time this evening to assemble a prototype for the power supply. It immediately drew 1amp and started to blow up a capacitor. Not good. I’m not completely sure what was wrong. The only deviation had been using a 1N5818 diode instead of a 1N5822 on the feedback circuit. I don’t think this […]
Hokey Pokey with parts
My boards from OSHPark arrived yesterday. They look fantastic. I was very tempted to put a bay-light together before bed. It’s my first round board. That’s when I realized I had not ordered the LM7512 12v voltage regulators. I made a quick check of the schemtatic and LED resistor calculator to confirm that I had […]
Parts are here
My parts arrived from Tayda this weekend. It’s always fun to receive components and check them in. Boards are shipping today and I should be ready to build prototypes for the power supply and LED projects. I also received my OrangePi One single board computer. It’s a $10+ embedded Linux PC. 1/2GB of ram, network, […]
Orange PS
I found a neat SBC called an Orange Pi. It’s basically a Chinese knockoff of a Raspberry Pi. Similar, but not the same. The problem is that it uses a stupid 4mmx1.7mm plug which is reasonably uncommon. A few folks mentioned removing the power connector and soldering in some wires. My eventual application is mobile, […]
Dispenserator: An Idea for an Arduino driven fluid dispenser
So I had this idea tonight to build a fluid dispenser controlled by an Arduino. The problem I want to solve is dispensing lubricant fluids in metered amounts for my RV. Houdini would like my RV, it’s very difficult to access the filler locations. It’s nearly impossible to add oil without spilling it. A funnel […]
3d Try Try Try Again
On the one hand, 3D printing holds out the promise of design it today, get it tonight. Somewhere along my toolchain I need to account for the shrink factor. Plastic shrinks when you heat it, extrude it, and cool it. ABS shrinks more than PLA. Fusion 360 (aka F360) thinks I’m working with Steel. In […]
3d printing
I decided to purchase and build a 3d printer. I acquired a Prusa i3 RepRap series open hardware kit from Prusa Research. Overall it’s a nice kit that leveraged the open manual based Dokazuki. For software I’m using Autodesk’s Fusion 360 which is free for Hobbyist and Startup use. Just click “download trial” and then […]
HotSocket a multi-chip programmer with ISP
I finished the 2nd version of hot socket tonight. I am including two ZIF 28 pin sockets. The right hand one will service ATmega328’s. The left one will service ATTiny 85’s at the bottom, and ATTiny2313’s at the top. The board still has a 6 pin ISP header to program units that are in the […]
