Electrical Engineering V2 - Developers

[url]http://e2e.ti.com/blogs_/b/msp430blog/archive/2013/08/25/back-to-school-sale-part-2-sa430.aspx[/url] Well that's a nice deal! Too bad you need a credit card...

Frequency ranges: 300 MHz to 348 MHz, 389 MHz to 464 MHz, and 779 MHz to 928 MHz Nope.

Took a peek into my PSU [t]http://i.imgur.com/fas4Nrm.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/NrOizkD.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/bfANR4l.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/vaNjLAa.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/wmjyEOu.jpg[/t]

Mail day. Fitted the IR emitters and committed the tape optic block to the main PCB. [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/ballsandy/Computer%20related/CGS_0218.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/ballsandy/Computer%20related/CGS_0219.jpg[/IMG] Was going to begin testing to ensure it's all good and realized I forgot to buy 47K resistors so nothing really works yet. :v: [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/ballsandy/Computer%20related/CGS_0220.jpg[/IMG] Time to wait another two weeks. :suicide:

Buy a big resistor selection pack, you can never have enough resistors.

[QUOTE=Chryseus;41986845]Buy a big resistor selection pack, you can never have enough resistors.[/QUOTE] Same goes with space to put the hundreds of resistors. :v:

[img]http://www.horizonhobby.co.uk/autoonline/j9trickbits/j9_pitting/j9_pitting_art/j9_medium_parts_box.jpg[/img] Perfect for resistors. And smaller capacitors.

[QUOTE=pentium;41986983]Same goes with space to put the hundreds of resistors. :v:[/QUOTE] They usually come either in seperate bags, or on bands. So you can easily write their value on the band and stuff them in the same bag

[QUOTE=DrDevil;41988207]They usually come either in seperate bags, or on bands. So you can easily write their value on the band and stuff them in the same bag[/QUOTE] I store them by the E12 series, 120, 1.2k, 12k, 120k, etc. Power resistors I keep in a separate container. I used to use bags but they quickly wore out and tried to escape. Also never pull them off the bands, you end up with glue on the ends which gums up your breadboard, cut them instead and use a lead former to get nice consistent results. Also try to memorize the color code it makes life so much easier. Keeping a bunch of common values is also a very good idea, I have a big stash of 100, 220, 470, 1k, 10k, 100k, 1M and 10M.

Can someone teach me electrical engineering in 10 minutes? I want to power some LED's to indicate power for my green house project. There will be two switches, one running on AC, the other DC at around ~12v. I've been experimenting with some LED's but have only managed to kill them. :( The AC switch will power an 85W light bulb and the DC switch will power a 12v fan. Also, if a rocker switch is advertised to run on AC can it run on DC as well? I have a lot of AC switches, but no DC switches.

[QUOTE=false prophet;41989685]Can someone teach me electrical engineering in 10 minutes? I want to power some LED's to indicate power for my green house project. There will be two switches, one running on AC, the other DC at around ~12v. I've been experimenting with some LED's but have only managed to kill them. :( [/quote] [url]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LED_circuit[/url] [QUOTE=false prophet;41989685] The AC switch will power an 85W light bulb and the DC switch will power a 12v fan. Also, if a rocker switch is advertised to run on AC can it run on DC as well? I have a lot of AC switches, but no DC switches.[/QUOTE] Yes.

[QUOTE=false prophet;41989685]Can someone teach me electrical engineering in 10 minutes? I want to power some LED's to indicate power for my green house project. There will be two switches, one running on AC, the other DC at around ~12v. I've been experimenting with some LED's but have only managed to kill them. :( The AC switch will power an 85W light bulb and the DC switch will power a 12v fan. Also, if a rocker switch is advertised to run on AC can it run on DC as well? I have a lot of AC switches, but no DC switches.[/QUOTE] You need a resistor to limit the current through the LED, for 12V a 1k (1000 ohm) resistor rated for 1/4W will work fine. As for switches, a switch that only gives an AC rating will generally work fine on DC as long as your load is not heavily inductive, a fan at 12V is not a problem.

[QUOTE=Chryseus;41997097]You need a resistor to limit the current through the LED, for 12V a 1k (1000 ohm) resistor rated for 1/4W will work fine. As for switches, a switch that only gives an AC rating will generally work fine on DC as long as your load is not heavily inductive, a fan at 12V is not a problem.[/QUOTE] How about the AC LED without affecting my light?

[QUOTE=false prophet;42000930]How about the AC LED without affecting my light?[/QUOTE] For running a LED on AC the same rule applies, choose a resistor value to limit the current, most common LEDs can tolerate a current as high as 20mA,to find the resistor value needed use R = V / I. You do however need to include a diode with it as LEDs cannot tolerate much voltage in the reverse direction, a 1N4007 will do the job. If you're powering it from mains then it's a better idea to use a relay, that way you can switch the lamp on with say a 12V signal.

I made a remote: [t]http://i.imgur.com/neE5EIn.jpg[/t] You hold down the nearest button (the learn button) and then press one of the other buttons, and it starts blinking at you so you know it's waiting. You press a button on your TV remote (or any remote!) and it learns the IR code and assigns it to that button. [t]http://i.imgur.com/vEPP1Sx.jpg[/t] The soldering is... eh. It was okay until I squeezed that ICSP header in :v: there are only 8 holes on the board that aren't covered now. [t]http://i.imgur.com/jb5QCOk.jpg[/t] Apparently the camera's filters pass infrared light, interesting! At the moment it's controlling the TV (on/off, change channel, volume) and the volume on the amplifier, but it's super quick to reprogram. Means I can use one tiny remote instead of two big ones. It works with Lego power functions motors too, so it can control a Lego RC car if you teach it the remote codes! Battery life should be 3 or 4 days (950mAh / 10mA) but I should be able to get that to a week or two. Spent a day learning how IR works and programming, and a day building the board and getting it all working nicely. Was fun! :)

I cannot rate you enough Winners.

What kind of battery is that?

[QUOTE=SubbyV-2;42006060]What kind of battery is that?[/QUOTE] It's an old mobile phone battery from a Sony Ericsson W302 I had lying around - I soldered a few bits of wire onto the board to make contacts and a retainer, you can charge it through the icsp. The code's really simple! I generate the 38kHz on the device with a timer interrupt, and I just sample the bit stream and record it instead of trying to learn all the diferent protocols. It's on my github if anyone's interested.

Guys I don't know what I'm doing :( Please send assistance [t]http://anotherprophecy.com/files/idkwiad.png[/t]

[QUOTE=false prophet;42007579]Guys I don't know what I'm doing :( Please send assistance [t]http://anotherprophecy.com/files/idkwiad.png[/t][/QUOTE] I rearranged your diagram a bit... you want parallel, not series. [t]http://i.imgur.com/kpRFRah.png[/t] Could you be a bit more clear about what your two different supplies are for? Or give us photos or something? And I'm assuming that thing is a buzzer and the squiggle is AC voltage :v:

I'm assuming the squiggly line is a fuse, and the thing that looks like a Goomba with pom-poms is an AC plug. No idea what the railroad crossing sign is for though.

[QUOTE=r0b0tsquid;42007680]I rearranged your diagram a bit... you want parallel, not series. [t]http://i.imgur.com/kpRFRah.png[/t] Could you be a bit more clear about what your two different supplies are for? Or give us photos or something? And I'm assuming that thing is a buzzer and the squiggle is AC voltage :v:[/QUOTE] Wiki'd some schematic symbols... [t]http://i.imgur.com/Aa1UuXN.png[/t] Supposed to be a fuse :( [t]http://i.imgur.com/ACnZQ11.png[/t] Supposed to be a light bulb [t]http://i.imgur.com/6FXbfbm.png[/t] Supposed to be resistor and led :( [t]http://i.imgur.com/BSCAXKU.png[/t] Supposed to be AC power source [t]http://i.imgur.com/WO8AB7h.png[/t] I invented this when I spilled some coke all over my face

[QUOTE=Chryseus;41988308]I store them by the E12 series, 120, 1.2k, 12k, 120k, etc. Power resistors I keep in a separate container. I used to use bags but they quickly wore out and tried to escape. Also never pull them off the bands, you end up with glue on the ends which gums up your breadboard, cut them instead and use a lead former to get nice consistent results. Also try to memorize the color code it makes life so much easier. Keeping a bunch of common values is also a very good idea, I have a big stash of 100, 220, 470, 1k, 10k, 100k, 1M and 10M.[/QUOTE] I store the entire E24 series in drawers, with 3 resistor values in each drawer. It's nice to be able to find the exact resistor you need from the entire E24 series in less than a second. :) [QUOTE=false prophet;42007579]Guys I don't know what I'm doing :( Please send assistance [t]http://anotherprophecy.com/files/idkwiad.png[/t][/QUOTE] I suppose this is what you want: [t]http://i.imgur.com/eHMiGSV.png[/t]

Errm, doesn't having a lamp kind of defeat the purpose of having a LED ? Tell us exactly what you want it to do.

[QUOTE=Chryseus;42009489]Errm, doesn't having a lamp kind of defeat the purpose of having a LED ? Tell us exactly what you want it to do.[/QUOTE] It clearly indicates that the lamp is on, are you even thinking?

I just bought: 2x 100W 8 Ohm Resistor 2x 100W 4.5 Ohm Resistor 1x 10W 100 Ohm Resistor I'm making a dummy load for amplifier testing, with a tap off point for a low powered speaker so I can hear what the amp is doing while its under test, without busting my ear drums Just need a big heatsink, I have a pair of processor heatsinks I might use.

[QUOTE=Tezzanator92;42010052]I just bought: 2x 100W 8 Ohm Resistor 2x 100W 4.5 Ohm Resistor 1x 10W 100 Ohm Resistor I'm making a dummy load for amplifier testing, with a tap off point for a low powered speaker so I can hear what the amp is doing while its under test, without busting my ear drums Just need a big heatsink, I have a pair of processor heatsinks I might use.[/QUOTE] Can you get an accurate picture of what it's doing with a 'purely' resistive load?

[QUOTE=Tezzanator92;42010052]I just bought: 2x 100W 8 Ohm Resistor 2x 100W 4.5 Ohm Resistor 1x 10W 100 Ohm Resistor I'm making a dummy load for amplifier testing, with a tap off point for a low powered speaker so I can hear what the amp is doing while its under test, without busting my ear drums Just need a big heatsink, I have a pair of processor heatsinks I might use.[/QUOTE] Heres a much cheaper way of doing it, you can also test much higher powers: Take a bucket of water, put the wires in with a current meter in series with one of them. Next, add salt until you reach the correct current. ???? Testing complete :) You could also take 2 wires with a speaker and move them around in the bucket so you can hear as the bucket would really act like a resistor.

I'm going to use one of the 8 and 4.5 Ohm resistors for a reactive load once I've found a design I like. The addition of a speaker is a little bit of an experiment, I'm interested to see how useful it is. At the very least it should be an instant indication if the amp is clipping early or if a channel gets progressively worse as the temperature climbs. The resistive load for me is more about giving me peace of mind that a repair I have carried out will be stable once it's out in the field. At the moment I have nothing except high power PA speakers to test with and I don't think my neighbours will like me much longer if I keep testing these things! The next project is a small audio-range line level sine wave generator,

[QUOTE=Chryseus;42009489]Errm, doesn't having a lamp kind of defeat the purpose of having a LED ? Tell us exactly what you want it to do.[/QUOTE] The lamp is enclosed in a light proof 3' by 4' box. So, the LED is just for convenience of not having to open it up.