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mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

by Fluffdaddy
Holy poo poo someone made a tiny gameboy / color emulator based on an esp32: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLM4ZFmELpk

I've seen Doom running on it before so I'm not surprised it can handle games but it's a pretty cool project

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Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Hooking up a switch matrix to a freejoy. Diodes immediately before each switch, or after? Does it matter at all?

Cory Parsnipson
Nov 15, 2015

Bad Munki posted:

Hooking up a switch matrix to a freejoy. Diodes immediately before each switch, or after? Does it matter at all?

It shouldn't matter, as long as they both remain in series.

mobby_6kl posted:

Holy poo poo someone made a tiny gameboy / color emulator based on an esp32: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLM4ZFmELpk

I've seen Doom running on it before so I'm not surprised it can handle games but it's a pretty cool project

drat that's cool. The case looks exactly like the real thing too. And usb c charging. It's perfect. :swoon:

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


Cory Parsnipson posted:

It shouldn't matter, as long as they both remain in series.

Thanks, I couldn’t imagine any possible reason it would, which meant that if there was some secret reason, I’d feel extra silly for not doing it right.

taqueso
Mar 8, 2004


:911:
:wookie: :thermidor: :wookie:
:dehumanize:

:pirate::hf::tinfoil:

Splode posted:

I don't think the capacitor is the issue, there's probably something limiting the current into the device that results in the capacitor taking a bit longer to charge.
Given it is from the 80s, it may just be that way.

Thinking along the lines of the current limiting theory, which makes sense to me, maybe its got an NTC inrush current limiter? Or just a series resistor. These aren't great ideas for long battery life so it feels unlikely but as you said it is from the '80s. Possibly a soft start circuit, which could have a different small capacitor gone bad causing it to ramp very slowly.

I would blow Dane Cook
Dec 26, 2008
Probation
Can't post for 37 hours!
Here's the chess board pcb:

CarForumPoster
Jun 26, 2013

⚡POWER⚡

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

I have a little electronic chess game with a weird issue. The first time you flick the switch to turn it on after not having used it for a while it will take some time to turn on (leds lighting up, speaker beeping). If you turn it off and back on again right away it will then start up right away. It's like there's something that needs time to charge up in there. I replaced the only electrolytic cap on the board but it's still happening. Any ideas?


It's not a battery thing because it does it with the mains adapter too.

I would blow Dane Cook posted:

Here's the chess board pcb:




Prob because I'm a Mech E but that symptom indicates thermal induced closing of a crack. My guess is you have a cracked or cold solder joint that is in contact when cold, but with a very small surface area. This could be within the ICs as well. The heat from the device makes that surface area grow allowing it a bit more current. I'd look at the solder joints under a microscope and since its all through hole maybe try to reflow them. Can you measure the input current to test this theory?

Stack Machine
Mar 6, 2016

I can see through time!
Fun Shoe
Boards like that where the through holes aren't plated can have issues with pads lifting up and traces breaking even more than usual. This can be hard to see, but just powering it up and pressing on component leads or thumping/gently flexing the board can help diagnose this. If it magically starts working while you're pressing on the board in an area, you can usually repair a cracked trace just by bridging it with solder.

Cory Parsnipson
Nov 15, 2015

Bad Munki posted:

Thanks, I couldn’t imagine any possible reason it would, which meant that if there was some secret reason, I’d feel extra silly for not doing it right.

:same: Sometimes trying things out on a breadboard can help. Regardless that feeling follows me around a lot so I know exactly what you're talking about.

babyeatingpsychopath
Oct 28, 2000
Forum Veteran


Sagebrush posted:

It is also the same effect that makes the high-pitched whistle of a camera flash charging up, the whine of an old TV, and the buzzing and clunking noises in MRI machines, among many more sounds.

And I thought that transformers hummed because they didn't know the words.

:dadjoke:

A Proper Uppercut
Sep 30, 2008

Anyone have any resources/websites/kits or something of that sort for electronics projects for fun? I'm not really sure exactly what I would be looking for. Weird novelty stuff. Things that light up? Lights are cool.

namlosh
Feb 11, 2014

I name this haircut "The Sad Rhino".

A Proper Uppercut posted:

Anyone have any resources/websites/kits or something of that sort for electronics projects for fun? I'm not really sure exactly what I would be looking for. Weird novelty stuff. Things that light up? Lights are cool.

Velleman kits are the gold standard for that stuff in my opinion… although you can get other stuff for much cheaper. Find them on Jameco and everywhere else really. I built the led sound detector and the spinny led wheel with my daughter.

They’re really fun when you’re learning to solder

Charles Ford
Nov 27, 2004

The Earth is a farm. We are someone else’s Ford Focus.
When I was young and got some money from Christmas/my birthday I'd get my dad to take me to Maplin to pick up some Velleman kits.

A Proper Uppercut
Sep 30, 2008

Well poking around on Jameco there's this 8x8x8 led cube thing that looks pretty cool but also really involved. But lights!

Some of the Velleman stuff looks pretty cool, just a lot to choose from.

Shame Boy
Mar 2, 2010

A Proper Uppercut posted:

Anyone have any resources/websites/kits or something of that sort for electronics projects for fun? I'm not really sure exactly what I would be looking for. Weird novelty stuff. Things that light up? Lights are cool.

BigClive built a board that just has a bunch of those slow fading color-change RGB LED's on it, which has a real neat effect after a few minutes because they're all internally clocked so they drift and eventually are all at different points in the color change, makes it kinda like a lava lamp. I built my own version of it for my mom for her 70th birthday out of 70 LED's (get it, I'm so clever :v:) and made a sort of light box for it with a translucent screen to meld the LED light together, so it looks even more like a lava lamp sort of thing. I can't find BigClive's version of it for some reason but it was pretty darn simple, just a grid of these slow change LED's each with a series resistor, all hooked up to +5V (in my case a USB power supply):

https://www.ebay.com/itm/203975280786

mobby_6kl
Aug 9, 2009

by Fluffdaddy
Maybe this would be more appropriate here than in the COBOL C thread... I screwed up the touchscreen controller on my Chinese laptop with a bad update and the support is pretty limited as one can imagine :v: So I have to fix it myself.

Basically it's an I2C device and stores touch configuration data (resolution, axis inversion, and a thousand other settings) on chip, which is what I messed up. I was able to fix the axis inversion but there are still some deadzones and other issues, so I think the best solution would be to get a volunteer to dump the configuration from their laptop, I found a datasheet from a related model and it looks like this, in my case it would be just from 0x8050 for the GT7382 model:


The communication is described like this. I assume the actual I2C details like setting device address or R/W flags or would be abstracted away by the drivers and libraries.




So looking at this I'm not 100% sure how to get the readout from the config registers, as reading/writing it isn't mentioned in any way, and I'm a bit apprehensive at just spamming various commands at it in case I mess it up even worse. Based on this, would it be really as simple as sending it the config register address and then reading? I.e., 0x50, 0x80? Some HID code examples make it look like it,

C++ code:
	// Toggle LED (cmd 0x80). The first byte is the report number (0x1).
	buf[0] = 0x1;
	buf[1] = 0x80;
	res = hid_write(handle, buf, 17);
	if (res < 0) {
		printf("Unable to write(): %ls\n", hid_error(handle));
	}


	// Request state (cmd 0x81). The first byte is the report number (0x1).
	buf[0] = 0x1;
	buf[1] = 0x81;
	hid_write(handle, buf, 17);
	if (res < 0) {
		printf("Unable to write()/2: %ls\n", hid_error(handle));
	}

	// This loop demonstrates the non-blocking nature of hid_read().
	res = 0;
	i = 0;
	while (res == 0) {
		res = hid_read(handle, buf, sizeof(buf));
	....
       }

Cory Parsnipson
Nov 15, 2015
I want to solder this TQFN chip to a pcb and I'm reading that you can't really hand solder this with just an iron.




(It's a MAX98357 class d amplifier)

Looks like two popular methods are to use a hotplate or a hot air rework station. I'm leaning towards getting a hot air station because it looks more versatile and I can also use it to desolder things. Is this the way to go?

Also, if I do spring for a hot air station, are there any recommendations for a good entry level one? I'm hoping to spend <= $100 if possible, but also I don't kill myself by getting something that doesn't have proper grounding.

Splode
Jun 18, 2013

put some clothes on you little freak

Cory Parsnipson posted:

I want to solder this TQFN chip to a pcb and I'm reading that you can't really hand solder this with just an iron.




(It's a MAX98357 class d amplifier)

Looks like two popular methods are to use a hotplate or a hot air rework station. I'm leaning towards getting a hot air station because it looks more versatile and I can also use it to desolder things. Is this the way to go?

Also, if I do spring for a hot air station, are there any recommendations for a good entry level one? I'm hoping to spend <= $100 if possible, but also I don't kill myself by getting something that doesn't have proper grounding.

Yeah I'd recommend hot air and solder paste. I got a cheapy $130 AUD hot air station and it's been fine - there is a model out there with a bad ground, I don't know which one so I bought one with a plastic chassis. The hot air station is generally handy, nicer for heatshrink than a cigarette lighter, and generally useful to make things hot (sometimes useful mechanically when things are stuck, or you want to heat up some old glue etc)

You can fix any shorts after soldering with an iron if you have a fine tip, but it is indeed not practical to solder QFNs with an iron.

csammis
Aug 26, 2003

Mental Institution

Splode posted:

You can fix any shorts after soldering with an iron if you have a fine tip, but it is indeed not practical to solder QFNs with an iron.

Practical no, doable yes if your PCB’s pads stick out a little past the package. I’ve handsoldered MSP430s in TQFN on a PCB that I designed and made sure would work for it…but like, a total of three of them over the course of a couple months. I’d never handsolder something like that at any sort of scale.

Rescue Toaster
Mar 13, 2003
I'm trying to find a simple overvoltage protection circuit and not having a lot of luck. Reverse voltage is easy enough with a p-channel mosfet (and a zener to protect the gate).

I mean... crowbar and fuse? That seems excessive, but the device being protected is expensive (and difficult to repair) so maybe that's the safest option. Normally it runs off 12v lead acid batteries or 8x AA's, but I want to be safe in case anyone hooked up a lovely unregulated 12v wall wart (which can hit upwards of 18-20vs, and ~16-17v is the absolute maximum it can survive). I guess in theory if they kept it hooked up while charging and the charger was broken or they used flooded lead acid and it did an equalize cycle it could get close to that too.

For the record I did not design the device, I don't enjoy that the absolute max is like ~4v higher than the working voltage either. I'd prefer not to implement an entire buck-boost regulator, because I'm not sure if the input is also a buck regulator and I always worry about the responses/oscillations when stacking them that way.

I thought about an LDO but the current draw swings wildly (100ma-3A) so once the regulator was in dropout, the output would swing wildly as the dropout voltage shifts due to current.

Rescue Toaster fucked around with this message at 17:57 on Nov 20, 2022

Skinnymansbeerbelly
Apr 1, 2010

Shame Boy posted:

Not sure if there's a dedicated thread but plenty of people post in here about it so it's fine if you wanna.

That sorta sounds like a transformer inside might have come a little loose, they vibrate a tiny bit normally due to a phenomenon called magnetostrsiction, and if the screws holding em' down back out a bit they can start rattling.

I was disracted by family stuff, but I finally got a chance to break out the JIS drivers (:cool:) and crack the case open, and the vibration is definitely coming from the transformer. I unscrewed the transformer mounting plate from the chassis, 4 screws, loosened it, and retightened, and I am still getting the hum. I did notice that the plate was mounted directly to the chassis: no dampening whatsoever. Is there some sort of bushing that I could throw at this problem maybe?

BattleMaster
Aug 14, 2000

mobby_6kl posted:




So looking at this I'm not 100% sure how to get the readout from the config registers, as reading/writing it isn't mentioned in any way, and I'm a bit apprehensive at just spamming various commands at it in case I mess it up even worse. Based on this, would it be really as simple as sending it the config register address and then reading? I.e., 0x50, 0x80? Some HID code examples make it look like it,

It does show how to read at least. My interpretation of the stuff shown here for reading a register:

Send start condition
Send device address
Send write bit
[Device sends ACK]
Send least-significant register address byte
[Device sends ACK]
Send most-significant register address byte
[Device sends ACK]
Send restart condition
Send device address
Send read bit
[Device sends ACK]
[Device sends least-significant register content byte]
Send ACK
...
[Device sends most-significant register content byte]
Send NACK
Send stop condition

You didn't post anything that says how to write to an address though. My instinct based on other I2C devices is that it's essentially the same but you send a write bit after the restart condition and then write bytes instead of read. But don't rely on that just in case.

longview
Dec 25, 2006

heh.

Rescue Toaster posted:

I'm trying to find a simple overvoltage protection circuit and not having a lot of luck. Reverse voltage is easy enough with a p-channel mosfet (and a zener to protect the gate).

I mean... crowbar and fuse? That seems excessive, but the device being protected is expensive (and difficult to repair) so maybe that's the safest option. Normally it runs off 12v lead acid batteries or 8x AA's, but I want to be safe in case anyone hooked up a lovely unregulated 12v wall wart (which can hit upwards of 18-20vs, and ~16-17v is the absolute maximum it can survive). I guess in theory if they kept it hooked up while charging and the charger was broken or they used flooded lead acid and it did an equalize cycle it could get close to that too.

For the record I did not design the device, I don't enjoy that the absolute max is like ~4v higher than the working voltage either. I'd prefer not to implement an entire buck-boost regulator, because I'm not sure if the input is also a buck regulator and I always worry about the responses/oscillations when stacking them that way.

I thought about an LDO but the current draw swings wildly (100ma-3A) so once the regulator was in dropout, the output would swing wildly as the dropout voltage shifts due to current.

Fuse and beefy TVS not good enough? Maybe not the most precise of clamping methods, but definitely common in older equipment, unless a proper crowbar was used.

If you want the de-luxe solution you'd be looking at surge stopper ICs, I've used this one before: https://www.analog.com/en/products/ltc4366.html
It can be a bit finicky to set up, but it's basically an LDO that operates in dropout until the voltage exceeds a threshold. There's a timer capacitor that kills the output after some time in overvoltage to keep the FET from exploding, and it's got an auto-restart feature.

They also make more fancy versions that switch from pass-mode to buck regulation as well.

ryanrs
Jul 12, 2011

What's a good non-China PCB fab + assembly factory for small hobbyist projects, like PCBWAY? I need some regional diversity in suppliers. Fancy US assembly places are likely too expensive for me. I'm looking for pretty basic single- and double-sided SMT assembly on runs of 2-10 boards. 0402 and QFN and other stuff I don't want to hand solder.

(not racist, but kinda lunar new year-ist)

ante
Apr 9, 2005

SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS
I've done a couple PCBA runs at domestic places.

For the low end, I've found that their prices, communication, and lead times all suck.

It's actually mindblowing how good PCBWay is.

I would only consider going domestic again if I need a complicated stack up, basically

Stack Machine
Mar 6, 2016

I can see through time!
Fun Shoe
Everybody I knew who did small-run prototypes in school used American Circuits/4PCB. They have a pretty good automatic DRC/DFM tool and you'll get a bag of microwavable popcorn with your board. It's a shame they're so expensive.

Cory Parsnipson
Nov 15, 2015

Splode posted:

Yeah I'd recommend hot air and solder paste. I got a cheapy $130 AUD hot air station and it's been fine - there is a model out there with a bad ground, I don't know which one so I bought one with a plastic chassis. The hot air station is generally handy, nicer for heatshrink than a cigarette lighter, and generally useful to make things hot (sometimes useful mechanically when things are stuck, or you want to heat up some old glue etc)

You can fix any shorts after soldering with an iron if you have a fine tip, but it is indeed not practical to solder QFNs with an iron.

Hmmm, I think I'm gonna go with this one: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08BK3M6YW. Seems to have the best reviews and comes with some nice accessories and features.

I saw some cheaper ones like this one with the plastic chassis (https://www.amazon.com/PROSTORMER-temperature-Efficiency-212-932%C2%B0F-Electronics/dp/B08VNYPL7H), but it looks kinda sketchy...

This other one looks pretty good too: https://www.amazon.com/Station-Soldering-Airflow-Adjustable-Desoldering/dp/B07T9KLHY5

csammis posted:

Practical no, doable yes if your PCB’s pads stick out a little past the package. I’ve handsoldered MSP430s in TQFN on a PCB that I designed and made sure would work for it…but like, a total of three of them over the course of a couple months. I’d never handsolder something like that at any sort of scale.

I was wondering about that. I suppose I could bodge it for the edge pins, but there's the thermal relief pad in the middle that I don't know what to do with.

ante
Apr 9, 2005

SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS
Hot air station is good to have.


You COULD put a through hole in the centre pad and solder from the bottom. I've seen that done. But just buy the tool so you don't have to do sketchy bullshit

Shame Boy
Mar 2, 2010

Skinnymansbeerbelly posted:

I was disracted by family stuff, but I finally got a chance to break out the JIS drivers (:cool:) and crack the case open, and the vibration is definitely coming from the transformer. I unscrewed the transformer mounting plate from the chassis, 4 screws, loosened it, and retightened, and I am still getting the hum. I did notice that the plate was mounted directly to the chassis: no dampening whatsoever. Is there some sort of bushing that I could throw at this problem maybe?

If you look up "vibration-damping washer" or "vibration-damping bushing" you can prolly find some, I know McMaster has a ton but they'll also charge you a ton for them so maybe shop around once you figure out what you wanna try:

https://www.mcmaster.com/rubber-washers/

I've used some of the washer-type ones before when mounting a motor to a big plate that would otherwise have just amplified the hell out of the motor's vibrations and it worked real well for that. Of course this assumes the annoying buzz is due to the transformer vibrating the case (which seems like a reasonable guess to me), I guess it's possible some of the windings in the transformer itself came loose and are vibrating and if that's the problem then I'm not sure what to recommend.

Charles Ford
Nov 27, 2004

The Earth is a farm. We are someone else’s Ford Focus.
All the same board except the last one, a four layer PCB with components (including large ICs) on both sides, and a couple of throughhole connectors.

In the US I've tried:
- PCB.NG - won't assemble throughhole (at least when I tried) though that's fine as it's not fiddly. Had warnings about BGA but everything worked fine. I got the impression this is just like a one man operation, like he wanted to buy some PCB equipment for himself and running a business from it is just so he can.
- Macrofab - had good prices, but they've gone up a lot and so I'm not sure. Will do throughhole if requested and are pretty prompt once the components arrive.

In both cases, I believe the actual PCBs themselves were fabricated in China, but I don't know the factory.

In China I tried (and suspect are the same factory):
- PCBWay - the PCB was fine, and the assembly (including throughhole) was entirely acceptable, but they used the wrong parts in a couple of places (there were two types of IC involved, 74244 class, but different types for different bus voltages) and they just had all of the same type so they'd work for a few minutes before burning out. They gave me a store credit I never used. I used them on a second PCB of similar complexity but singlesided and it was fine.
- PCBGogo - same website design and identical quality to above. In this case I used them to make a giant keyboard PCB for a DIY hardware keyboard (there's a picture in the aliexpress GBS thread). They contacted me to say the PCBs were so long they were warping (which was very slight, when I actually received them) but I told them it was fine (and it was), so overall I assume they're acceptable.

For both the US ones they had a fancy web interface where you see your gerbers, can confirm the position of the parts, and other such stuff, and in both cases I found them pretty buggy. Generally fine, but sometimes incredibly problemmatic, so really you're still relying on contacting support.

For the Chinese one(s) there is no real "UI", just a webform you fill in and it sends some person your files, which they review. They send e-mails asking for details/clarification/substitution of components and generally I actually find it a bit better than the way the US ones work. They seem to be able to get parts from interesting sources - one of my PCBs was assembled in 2020 or so and had the correct FPGAs, but datecoded to ~2010, with the pre-buyout manufacturer's logo on them, so I wonder if they were just in some box in China at some component broker's warehouse or something. The US companies seem to primarily just use Mouser and Digikey.

ante
Apr 9, 2005

SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS
Also worth noting I specify an exact BOM for my Chinese PCBA and they just order it all from Digikey, I don't allow substitutions. No issues.

ryanrs
Jul 12, 2011

Even for bullshit passives like resistors and ceramic caps?

Bad Munki
Nov 4, 2008

We're all mad here.


I’ve used oshpark before and while I have no idea how it compares, I had a great experience as a total newbie, but that was just getting the boards, I did assembly myself.

ante
Apr 9, 2005

SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS

ryanrs posted:

Even for bullshit passives like resistors and ceramic caps?

My last order uses 1,100 of one certain resistor value and it's costing me $2.20 total

ryanrs
Jul 12, 2011

It's not cost, I just don't want to look up a bunch of yageo part numbers and keep up with what's in stock this week.

ante
Apr 9, 2005

SUNSHINE AND RAINBOWS
0603 passives are pretty reliably in stock, and resistor part numbers are consistent. It essentially took me 20 minutes, once, and I don't really use more than 10 values of resistor ever

Shame Boy
Mar 2, 2010

Oh you think you're good at electronics huh? Name 10 resistors.

Splode
Jun 18, 2013

put some clothes on you little freak

ryanrs posted:

What's a good non-China PCB fab + assembly factory for small hobbyist projects, like PCBWAY? I need some regional diversity in suppliers. Fancy US assembly places are likely too expensive for me. I'm looking for pretty basic single- and double-sided SMT assembly on runs of 2-10 boards. 0402 and QFN and other stuff I don't want to hand solder.

(not racist, but kinda lunar new year-ist)

Just so you know, this isn't really possible. Every PCB fab house outside of China gets completely overloaded during Chinese New Year because everyone who would normally get it made in China looks around.

Sagebrush
Feb 26, 2012

Shame Boy posted:

Oh you think you're good at electronics huh? Name 10 resistors.

22 ohms
220 ohms
2.2 kohm
22 kohm
etc

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ryanrs
Jul 12, 2011

My other goal is to gain experience. I figure I will learn more by doing 5 boards at 5 different factories vs 5 boards all at PCBWAY.

I'm in the middle of a career move from software to electronics, so having experience with multiple vendors makes me more credible, I hope. What are EE job interviews like? Are you asked to draw circuits or is it mostly about software tools, or what?

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