Electronics and Embedded Programming V3 - Developers

Right, I ordered everything, an Arduino and a SHITLOAD of components.

[QUOTE=ROBO_DONUT;35980483]Eh? Is this right? Very few of my metal-film resistors have the blue coating.[/QUOTE] I don't think I've ever seen one without the blue coating.

[QUOTE=Staneh;35980887]Right, I ordered everything, an Arduino and a SHITLOAD of components.[/QUOTE] Congratulations, you're now hooked into dumping every single penny you own into this hobby. Welcome to poverty and an awesome hobby.

[QUOTE=chipset;35981295]Congratulations, you're now hooked into dumping every single penny you own into this hobby. Welcome to poverty and an awesome hobby.[/QUOTE] My pocket money got raised from 50€ to 70€/month, now I can buy 40% more stuff every month :v:

Well, I get a whopping 24 euros a month pocket money.

Yet another awesome board etched. [url=http://crap.q3k.org/f4ae3e7d7b1452a5856e69c2cf4e3cdbab32e3f4810aebbc2e843fb940ff8111.jpg][img]http://crap.q3k.org/0ae938219ef4e8dee355c543be843bd41fa9fb653a0768ce27f5f38fce3fa023.jpg[/img][/url]

Brilliant job! Did you use the toner transfer or photo-resist technique?

That HAS to be photo-resist. No way you can get those smooth tracks with toner transfer. I never got them that good with toner transfer. Easy enough with photo resist, though.

It's not impossible, it really depends on the DPI of your printer aswell as the toner quality.

Is that pre-coated laminate board? I need to get some myself, the spray on photo-resist I'm using at the moment is very difficult to use, so far I've only managed 40mil~ traces.

[QUOTE=masterburner;35982800]That HAS to be photo-resist. No way you can get those smooth tracks with toner transfer. I never got them that good with toner transfer. Easy enough with photo resist, though.[/QUOTE] Toner transfer on an ordinary copper board. With a laminator instead of an iron, though. Etched in sodium persulfate.

[QUOTE=q3k;35981719]Yet another awesome board etched. [url=http://crap.q3k.org/f4ae3e7d7b1452a5856e69c2cf4e3cdbab32e3f4810aebbc2e843fb940ff8111.jpg][img_thumb]http://crap.q3k.org/0ae938219ef4e8dee355c543be843bd41fa9fb653a0768ce27f5f38fce3fa023.jpg[/img_thumb][/url][/QUOTE] What ICs were you going to put on that monster?

[QUOTE=DrLuke;35981382]My pocket money got raised from 50€ to 70€/month, now I can buy 40% more stuff every month :v:[/QUOTE] I still get pocket money even though I have a full time job as a software engineer. My Dad keeps forgetting to cancel the direct debt. :D

[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;35983086]What ICs were you going to put on that monster?[/QUOTE] It's not an IC, it's a [url=http://www.technexion.com/index.php/products/arm-cpu-modules/ti-sitara-am3517/tam-3517]TAM-3517 system on a module[/url], and a PIC for USB-Serial (cheaper than an FT232).

psssh... pics... AVR master race represent!

[QUOTE=DrLuke;35984286]psssh... pics... AVR master race represent![/QUOTE] Hey, I'd use a Mega8 with V-USB any other time, but this is actually full speed USB 2.0, less hacky, comes preprogrammed with a usb-to-serial converter, and cheaper (it cost me ~6PLN, so ~$2) than any AVR with hardware USB.

I've bought an atmega32u2, but I still have to create a board for it. I want to use LUFA with it. [url]http://www.fourwalledcubicle.com/LUFA.php[/url]

[QUOTE=DrLuke;35984952]I've bought an atmega32u2, but I still have to create a board for it. I want to use LUFA with it. [url]http://www.fourwalledcubicle.com/LUFA.php[/url][/QUOTE] If you want one, I have [url=http://crap.q3k.org/9195e60814f3c675081e2d1686ef3890a3610dad5d8799aa4d0da2a1084585f1.png]a 32U4 dev board design[/url] that I built and use daily, but it's a bit ugly in places and you'd have to fix it up, especially take care of awkward via placement. And I bet that if someone spent enough time on it, it coul dbe made into a single-sided board.

[QUOTE=q3k;35983085]Toner transfer on an ordinary copper board. With a laminator instead of an iron, though. Etched in sodium persulfate.[/QUOTE] Alright then, very nice result. :) Could you tell me what type of paper you've used? My tracks always stay "hairy" after removing the paper (glossy photo paper). I've also used a laminator back when I didn't have my photo resist setup. I just pass it through a couple of times. Works way better then an iron.

[QUOTE=masterburner;35989599]Alright then, very nice result. :) Could you tell me what type of paper you've used? My tracks always stay "hairy" after removing the paper (glossy photo paper). I've also used a laminator back when I didn't have my photo resist setup. I just pass it through a couple of times. Works way better then an iron.[/QUOTE] Dextrin-coated paper, or something of the like. It's called 'papier kredowy' in polish, and you can buy it here in Warsaw in every paper/craft supply store. It's ordinary A4 paper that has a glossy, wax-like coating on both sides, with a slightly higher gramature than ordinary photocopier paper. It's also dirt cheap. You can also use glossy magazine paper (seriously - it can be any page torn from one, even with tons of print on it, that just doesn't get transfered, only your toner does), which makes me think it might be the same type of paper. And to be honest, glossy inkjet photo paper is the worst thing I ever tried transfering from. Seriously, don't bother using it. And yes, using a laminator gives a ridiculously higher quality result than using an iron - and at a quarter of the effort. Some day I might do a write up on the procedures I use, as I keep getting asked about them quite a lot :v:.

My dad has a rather novel, if slightly less ideal way of making PCBs, he built himself a simple 3 axis CAM router and uses that to rout the copper off. It's more of a novelty than anything else though, it takes considerably longer than photo resist and the pitch is constrained by the size of the router bit and the precision of the device (which is pretty low, the threaded bar used to control the position is a bit on the thin side and flexes a lot). Some crap quality photos of the router: [img_thumb]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3798635/2012-01-14%2009.42.31.jpg[/img_thumb] [img_thumb]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3798635/2012-01-14%2009.42.52.jpg[/img_thumb]

If you've not seen it yet and have a scope: [media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xaELqAo4kkQ[/media]

[QUOTE=metallics;35989676]My dad has a rather novel, if slightly less ideal way of making PCBs, he built himself a simple 3 axis CAM router and uses that to rout the copper off. It's more of a novelty than anything else though, it takes considerably longer than photo resist and the pitch is constrained by the size of the router bit and the precision of the device (which is pretty low, the threaded bar used to control the position is a bit on the thin side and flexes a lot). Some crap quality photos of the router: [url]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3798635/2012-01-14%2009.42.31.jpg[/url] [url]http://dl.dropbox.com/u/3798635/2012-01-14%2009.42.52.jpg[/url][/QUOTE] My school will buy one of these next year, they want to switch from arduinos to creating their own PCBs for MSP430s

The talking electronics website is a goldmine of useful information [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/Testing%20Electronic%20Components/TestingComponents.html]Testing Components[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/TheTransistorAmplifier/TheTransistorAmplifier-P1.html]Transistor Amplifiers[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/CircuitTricks/CircuitTricks-1.html]Circuit Tricks and Ideas[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/ThePowerSupply/Page79PowerSupplyP1.html]Power Supplies[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/SurfaceMount/SurfaceMount-P1.html]Surface Mount[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/Inductor/Inductor-1.html]Inductors[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/FM-BugsIntro/FM-BugsIntro.html]FM Transmitters[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/200TrCcts/101-200TrCcts.html]200 Transistor Circuits[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/100%20IC%20Circuits/1-100_IC-Ccts.html]100 IC Circuits[/url] [url=http://www.talkingelectronics.com/projects/50%20-%20555%20Circuits/50%20-%20555%20Circuits.html]50 555 Circuits[/url]

One of the best Electronics sites on the net. Might wanna share these sites too: [URL="http://www.robotroom.com/"]http://www.robotroom.com/[/URL] [URL="http://www.societyofrobots.com/"]http://www.societyofrobots.com/[/URL] And don't abuse this list: [URL="http://www.dutchforce.com/~eforum/index.php?showtopic=13348"]http://www.dutchforce.com/~eforum/index.php?showtopic=13348[/URL]

[url]http://electrical-workbench.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/bipolar-transistor-switch-design.html[/url] My latest article, comments / ideas welcome.

[QUOTE=Chryseus;35995635][url]http://electrical-workbench.blogspot.co.uk/2012/05/bipolar-transistor-switch-design.html[/url] My latest article, comments / ideas welcome.[/QUOTE] Perhaps an article on buck/boost regulators?

[QUOTE=LoneWolf_Recon;35996567]Perhaps an article on buck/boost regulators?[/QUOTE] I've just sampled this bad boy: [url]http://www.analog.com/en/power-management/switching-regulators-integrated-fet-switches/adp2503/products/product.html[/url]

[QUOTE=DrLuke;35996787]I've just sampled this bad boy: [url]http://www.analog.com/en/power-management/switching-regulators-integrated-fet-switches/adp2503/products/product.html[/url][/QUOTE] I hope you realise that's in a tiny surface mount package

Yes, I do, I am going to give PCB etching another try