Electrical Engineering V3 - Developers

how do I get around to removing the metal gear on the right motor? [img]http://i.imgur.com/fIP30eO.png[/img] it just won't budge at all.

heat it up with a lighter and then carefully lever it off with a screwdriver. or use a dremel to cut a notch, then its easy to remove.

[T]http://u.limonene.net/IMG_20150702_161344.jpg[/t] I forgot how bright these power supplies are. Designers: don't put super bright blue LEDs in your products.

Blue LEDs make things run cooler...just ask science (cough cough Doppler cooling cough cough).

heating up the gear didn't do ass (used a blowtorch-like lighter), I'll try it with a dremel later.

[QUOTE=scratch (nl);48111917]heating up the gear didn't do ass (used a blowtorch-like lighter), I'll try it with a dremel later.[/QUOTE] Problem with heating up those small shafts is that you can't heat up the gear itself without heating the shaft at the same time, so they both end up expanding..

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;48109960][T]http://u.limonene.net/IMG_20150702_161344.jpg[/t] I forgot how bright these power supplies are. Designers: don't put super bright blue LEDs in your products.[/QUOTE] i had monitors with such LED's facing front... god damn, who built that... not even diffuse, just like a god damn led flashflight right into your face.

Electrical tape to the rescue!

[QUOTE=Cakebatyr;48117959]Electrical tape to the rescue![/QUOTE] My case had a blue power LED that required 12 layers to dim it enough so it had the same brightness as the green HDD activity LED. Goddammit NZXT

[QUOTE=Van-man;48117973]My case had a blue power LED that required 12 layers to dim it enough so it had the same brightness as the green HDD activity LED. Goddammit NZXT[/QUOTE] Fractal do it too, no HDD activity LED to match with, but a power LED that will illuminate a slightly darkened room. It's unplugged now.

I managed to BSOD my computer trough a rather odd way which fits in here: -change fan speed (not computer fan, like desk fan because it's fucking hot) -change causes a power surge trough my network (the same kind that caused my 3d printer to stop in the middle of printing because the controller reset) -this affected my computer's PSU, which in turn affected it's USB ports of which to one is connected an arduino nano (a fake, this matters) -it resetting caused the manually installed drivers (as FTDI-gate happened) to freak out so much my PC BSOD'd :v: like I said months ago: be sure NOT to fuck up on installing those drivers

[media][URL]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOkZCydRHBw[/URL][/media] Really interesting video.

[QUOTE=Chryseus;48102149]You really need to get yourself a set of resistors and caps, I always keep a bunch of common values on hand to avoid delay.[/QUOTE] I do however it's all for 1/4 watt resistors or lytic. The stuff you normally expect to use for small projects. Polyester and 1/2 watt stuff is generally uncommon for me to poke with. So I was on the coast and raided a scrap yard. [img]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/ballsandy/IMG_9598.jpg[/img] .....I feel like I should make this the on/off switch for something like my bedroom light. :v: Also, there was this......thing. [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/ballsandy/IMG_9603.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/ballsandy/IMG_9606.jpg[/IMG] [IMG]http://i11.photobucket.com/albums/a166/ballsandy/IMG_9607.jpg[/IMG] storage oscilloscope that saves to floppy, plotter control using raw X/Y data...fucking linear power supplies and to top it off it has that tacky fucking cursive writing for all the branding. What fucking hole did this crawl out of??

[QUOTE=papkee;48098610]Where can I get started learning ARM programming? I feel I'm competent enough with arduino and I need more power for a new project I'm working on.[/QUOTE] Surprised no one has mentioned mbed yet: [url]https://mbed.org/[/url] Ridiculously simple to use, onboard programmer, online compiler, very nice libraries You can of course migrate from the mbed platform to a "raw" installation of the ARM using their offline compilers etc. which transfer well from mbed projects

[QUOTE=Trumple;48123925]Surprised no one has mentioned mbed yet: [url]https://mbed.org/[/url] Ridiculously simple to use, onboard programmer, online compiler, very nice libraries You can of course migrate from the mbed platform to a "raw" installation of the ARM using their offline compilers etc. which transfer well from mbed projects[/QUOTE] Website is down / non existant

[QUOTE=Dolton;48124034]Website is down / non existant[/QUOTE] Yeah it seems to be down right now, never seen that before though, I've been using it for years [editline]5th July 2015[/editline] It's back [editline]5th July 2015[/editline] Oh no scratch that it's down again [editline]5th July 2015[/editline] It's on and off they must be working on it. Hopefully they updated the online compiler UI, it looked like Windows XP

Well, this is exactly how you don't package test equipment. 25 kg worth of test equipment and 6 pieces of foam traveling all the way from Israel to The Netherlands... [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/AngdwK8.jpg[/thumb] Took the thing apart to pull the display module out, fearing that the CRT would be ruined. [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/780gPJJ.jpg[/thumb] [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/Fh2PX8e.jpg[/thumb] Amazingly the CRT managed to survive all of that, so lets give it the smoke test. [thumb]http://i.imgur.com/xaGKXd3.jpg[/thumb] Man, this HP gear sure is built to last.

Finally managed a perfect toner transfer thanks to Dylan (ddrl46) who suggested vinyl sheet, I bought the variety with glue on one side and stuck it down to some plain paper after cutting the amount I needed, then fed it through my laser printer and passed it 9 times through a cheap unmodified Texet LMA4-V laminator, soaked it in cold then hot water and it came right off with zero toner left on the vinyl, if you tried you could probably dry it out and reuse it. I've also tried HP glossy photopaper 200gsm which sort of worked but tended to not transfer fully on larger areas of toner (traces > 10mil), probably because more heat is required than what my laminator can provide, I've already order some 160c and 190c thermal switches to replace the KSD301 NC 115c and 145c that was in it. :dance: Now back to solving the mystery of why my mobo was dead on my bench but worked fine when sent for testing.

I've been wanting to make/order a pcb for months but have had no need to

I tried a larger transfer and it sort of worked except it failed to transfer at one edge and in a few small non-critical spots, I really think I need more heat or pass it through some more times (used 8 passes this time). [t]http://i.imgur.com/7HCdNsG.png[/t]

[QUOTE=Chryseus;48135662][t]http://i.imgur.com/7HCdNsG.png[/t][/QUOTE] Video -> Take Snapshot, FYI.

I got the boards I don't need back from fab, so I could see what the board quality is like from them (Dirty PCBs). Nothing complex. [t]https://i.imgur.com/JlEtUb1.jpg[/t] People kept telling me their silkscreen is shit, but it looks just fine to me. Only thing is that you can see on the solder pads where the flying e-test probe has touched down on the pads, fab probably got annoyed with inconsistent results so they're just jamming them in at full force. Admittedly, the silk screen doesn't look that nice under a cheap USB microscope, but for the naked eye, it's not bad. [t]https://i.imgur.com/EQHTK2Y.png[/t] $14 for 5x5cm 8-12 boards (I got 12), not bad.

How long did they take?

[QUOTE=ddrl46;48126397]Well, this is exactly how you don't package test equipment. 25 kg worth of test equipment and 6 pieces of foam traveling all the way from Israel to The Netherlands... Man, this HP gear sure is built to last.[/QUOTE] The legend always had it that when you bought surplus or old electronics form Israel it was generally stuff salvaged from IDF's shooting ranges. I once bought a video card form Israel that was full of sand.

[t]http://i.imgur.com/hGZ8oCr.jpg[/t] [t]http://i.imgur.com/Syk3hA8.jpg[/t] Success! :dance: Did 15 passes through my laminator and this time I sanded the PCB with sandpaper which 'apparently' improves the toner transfer, there is zero spread due to the low temperature then etched it with ferric chloride. My pads are a bit too small for hand drilling so I'll probably have to redo the board, I should just go straight to surface mount really, I got a bunch of BFP420 25GHz transistors for making oscillators.

Got an offer for a Laser [img]http://i.ebayimg.com/00/s/OTAwWDEyMDA=/z/EMIAAOSwLVZVi~B-/$_57.JPG[/img] £400.... is it worth it? It is a 160W diode laser, continuous duty. 780-1000nm

[QUOTE=Leestons;48141080]How long did they take?[/QUOTE] 06-21: Order received 06-23: At board house 06-28: Shipped 07-07: Here. 16 days. [editline]7th July 2015[/editline] ... I just looked it up, OSH Park was also 16 days. Professional boardhouse in America, 16 days, shitty boardhouse with free shipping in China, 16 days. DirtyPCBs is cheaper, for more boards, assuming you can fit into their size margin nicely. pffffffffff. I like the Dirty boards better, physically, too.

Great thank you, was planning on ordering something from DirtyPCBs, just need to think of something and learn how to design a board now.

[QUOTE=Leestons;48143838]Great thank you, was planning on ordering something from DirtyPCBs, just need to think of something and learn how to design a board now.[/QUOTE] Signal generators, can never have enough.

[QUOTE=Chryseus;48144471]Signal generators, can never have enough.[/QUOTE] I've thought about buying a kit a few times but always thought "I've never had the need for one, what would I do with it?"