Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

MEP EP#260: A Couple Months Ago...Parker Homebrew going big Uncle runs a brewpub down in Alvin, Tx Going to help him repair and rebuild the brewery for post COVID Building more electrical boxes Chip shortages hit even as auto chip sales climb Ford and Fiat Chrysler are temporarily closing factories due to limited supplies of electronic components that are used in displays and transmissions Apple wants to make a self-driving electric car by 2024 VLSI Research report 4th quarter auto chip sales improved by 30% over the third quarter, reaching $6.2 billion Which is 11% above fourth quarter in 2019 Overall auto IC sales for 2020 were down about 6.4% from 2019 Tesla may be the best example of what happened in 2020, reaching sales of 499,000 new cars in all of 2020, an increase of 36% Stephen Searching for components kind of sucks sometimes. New idea for making this easier Connectors LDOs and other ICs Simple search removal that doesn't require that the engineer perform their own logic to reach the “perfect part” No More lists or excel sheets - Savable searches Watch out for datasheet marketing wank… TL052 precision voltage reference circuit MCP1501T-30E/CHY Opamp calls out max 80mA per channel and 160mA per chip...with low offset the best of all worlds! Circuit works well in multiple designs but new one craps the bed Got to pay attention to those charts - this is actually slightly worse than a normal opamp….. Solution is to transistor buffer

20 Tammi 20211h 1min

MEP EP#259: TroncreteParker Your C@$% Is Mine Now We actually brought up the security report on this device back in Oct 2020 on episode MEP 245: K-factoring A Gumbo Qiui, the China-based manufacturer of the device, which is aptly called Cellmate, did not respond to a request for comment Stephen Solar Freaking Roadways! First talked about on MEP EP1… “France building a huge solar roadway. This again?” Solar Roadway Timeline 2006 solar roadways is founded 2009 - 100k small business innovation grant from USDOT 2011 - 750k small business innovation grant from USDOT to make small “parking lot” This is what shows up in all the videos. 2014 Indigogo campaign raises 2.2mil - the highest at the time 2016 given an additional 750k by USDOT 2016 Jeff Jones Town Square 30 panels Supposed 60k install cost Wiki - .25kW per day Typical Home install 1.45kW/day According to thunderF00T ⅓rd of the energy is consumed by the LEDs and the remainder is in heat. 2016 France installs Wattway 5.2 million to build expected 767 kwh per day. $20/ kwh 13x the cost of rooftop installation. Only produced 409kwh/day 2020 December USA gets its first real solar road! Woohoo! City of Peachtree Corners in Gwinnett County, Georgia About the size of a typical Rooftop install but less than half as efficient 4 Solar roadways we can find in the world… only 1 has been declared a success. Dutch bike path 70-metre test bike path generating 3,000 kWh Looks to be a meter wide. 70 sq meters or ~760 sq ft Average house only needs ~300 sq ft of solar panels on a roof....

13 Tammi 202148min

MEP EP#258: Chainsaws, Wasps, Doom, and GloomParker PCBA Lead Times in Q1 2021 Supply chain disruption in 2020 started with the Lunar New Year and quickly extended into the COVID-19 2021 LNY falls between February 9 to February 16 COVID-19 Vaccines Logistic capacity being reserved for the vaccine distribution 10 Day service at MF will be the biggest hit. Guaranteed 10 day service will be disabled on January 13th and will resume on February 16th. On Dec. 31, 2020, the United States Trade Representative (USTR) allowed the exclusion for 2-layer and 4-layer printed circuit boards HS code to expire. Any orders for 2- and 4-layer products going forward or that have not yet been received into the U.S. will have a tariff surcharge if built in Mainland China. Other interesting PCB related things Copper – the price of copper has increased 68% YOY Gold – the price of gold has increased 22% YOY Resin – cost of epoxy resin has risen 40% since the recent fires at Epoxy Resins factories in China and Korea UL aims to put a security rating on every connected device Categorizes products according to an ascending five-level scale: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum and Diamond. For consumer level devices this could take hold if customers pay attention to markings. Do customers look for UL markings? If not who does? The seller/store? Stephen Covid-19 5G Chip Diagram NOW THIS IS NEWS! Is everyone getting more metal? Conspiracy theorists in Italy are warning the public about a ‘5G Chip’ they claim has been planted in COVID-19 vaccines However, the widely circulated image of the chip in question has been outed as a reworked schematic for the Boss Metal Zone pedal Best response to this : “Excellent. Reassured to know that 5G relies on op-amps and some 1n4148 diodes. Proper old school. None of that digital and microprocessor nonsense. I’ll take one in each arm.” Boss metal zone uses a very interesting gyrator circuit within a non inverting opamp configuration Dual gyrator to simulate two inductors to ground. Must be for filtering to get “the right shitty sound” A very interesting frequency response with multiple peaks One before clipping and two after - Interesting choice

6 Tammi 202157min

MEP EP#257: Viciously Different CreamsParker The ole ordered a 0603 and it was metric instead resulting in an 0201 imperial chip component. 0.6mm x 0.3mm = 0.024” x 0.012” 0201 imperial chip size only size that does not match the actual size Imperial 0201 is 24mil x 12mil... not 20mil x 10mil like the name implies Imperial 0603 is 60mil x 30mil 0603 metric is the only standard metric size that has the same size code as an imperial one! Does anyone actually use the metric sizing for chip components? Stephen Hardware v software - Features and their impact Hardware needs a lot of motivation to make a feature. It is slow and deliberate. Removing features is a big deal features by default cannot break the device unless extreme cases are encountered Software is "easier" to flip the switch on features. Have to consider all the ways this will break things. Kicad - Panelization Moving between layers has hotkeys - yay Middle mouse now by default pans and wheel is zoom Snap to points is huge Creating arrays actually creates arrays There are pluses and minuses to this. Ref Des is maintained! Changes to one board are not copied! Holes are not a function.....They are a footprint and therefore need to be created. Most tutorials suggest that Mouse bites be made a part.... Buying new machines Sometimes being an engineer is annoying but you still have to do it Learn from my experience Air Hose Solvent Power Cable If you are a machine provider also consider these things

30 Joulu 202050min

MEP EP#256: Color Clashing Chip ConsolidationParker Whats up with the Cat feeder unreminder? Still waiting on components to test with PinoTaur taking priority Email PDFs of wiring harnesses Jeep Fan Project Revisit Jeep Fan was a project idea to take sensor input from all over the Jeep and display on a VFD Universal Multi Gauge exist but kinda suck Rear view mirror has a screen in it Composite video? Stephen Negative in negative out SMPS Help from PhilG and Tom Anderson from the slack channel Need -5.5V that is derived from a -12V rail Cannot derive from a positive rail (would be easy) LTC3805 Design note 1022 Perhaps something is weird here. There were two app notes… now there are one… Current mirror solution for feedback voltage LT8302 is like 4 or 5 bucks in qty LT1070 Cool Chip - SSI2130 VCO core in a package Linear through zero

23 Joulu 20201h 1min

MEP EP#255: Fifth Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special - Neo JediParker SPACE TRASH in Star Wars Recently ESA commissioned the world’s first space debris removal ClearSpace-1 which will launch in 2025 Would space trash be a concern for the galaxy far far away? I don’t think the Empire cares all too much about space garbage since they just jettison everything before jumping to hyperspace as seen in Empires Strikes Back. If it was merely a case of if space was just big enough that dumping trash didn't matter then this wouldn't be a problem. The universe is “infinite” thus infinite space for GARBAGE! Maybe space trash ends up collecting into large space planets of trash like the floating trash islands on Earth’s oceans. In the legends or non canon StarWars literature you have the Squibs The imperials provided Squib salvage vessels with the locations of Imperial dumpsites so it can be collected Traveling through the planets CORE Boss Nass sends our heroes through the core of Naboo as it is the fastest way to get to the other side of the planet with the Trade Federation on the surface Could there be a water filled tunnel through the core of a planet to facilitate faster travel? Better call Elon and the Boring Company Limit on the depth of a liquid water ocean? Phase change diagram of water Liquid water transforms to solid ice around 92000 psi At a depth of 1200 miles the weight of the water would turn the water into solid ice given the specifications of an Earth size planet. Deepest point on Earth is 6.8 miles so James Cameron has a bit of ways to go Naboo has a radius of 7456 miles so water would pressure solid if Naboo was a “water core” world Stephen Star wars and the matrix are the same universe Perhaps a different version of matrix In the matrix revolutions and the matrix reloaded 6 different versions of the matrix before they landed on 1999 Faster than light travel Fundamental forces different The force is a glitch? Ancient religion - this was a method of understanding People could openly demonstrate their “force” because it had a religious aspect to it. Neo Neo exhibits all of the same characteristics of a jedi Amban phase-pulse blaster Jawa gets vaporized Three gigajoules of death-ray to entirely vaporize a person Jawa specifications

17 Joulu 20201h 40min

MEP EP#254: Ridiculous Relay RatingsParker PinoTaur updates REV 4 Automotive relays are not certified to run at the voltages we need G2RL-1A-E-CV DC12 Max voltage rating is 300VDC “Rated” current is 24VDC at 16A G2RG-2A-X DC12 Rated at 500VDC at 10A Looking at other relays used for this purpose in production machines… Am I missing something in choosing the correct relay? RGB Light string split into two Power current is the reason Foxconn Electronics hit by Ransomware $34 million ransomware attack Stole 100 GB of unencrypted files, and deleted 20-30 TB of backups. Bike rack as an inductor? Other normal items that could be seen/used as a electrical components Stephen The FX Dev board returns 2 versions of the fx dev board now exist ProtoBoard Protis 1 Both look like they ditched my ac power supply for a charge pump design Protoboard uses TC1044SCPA Charge pump to create a -9V from a +9V Not sure what Protis uses but it is likely similar FCC was a very big reason why I opted to do this Negative Voltage Inverter Both opted to not do the integrated soldered breadboard This was the reason the FX dev board existed! This helped make things very clean Roz Xmas gift

9 Joulu 202051min

MEP EP#253: Benjamin Jordan of AutodeskBenjamin Jordan A Computer Systems and PCB Engineer with over 25 years of experience in embedded systems, FPGA, and PCB design Is an avid tinkerer and is passionate about the creation of electronic devices of all kinds Holds a Bachelor of Engineering with First Class Honors from the University of Southern Queensland Currently Senior Product Manager for ECAD in Autodesk Fusion 360, and 16 years prior with Altium Recently licensed HAM radio operator Call Sign? Lots of Ham radio operators that listen to the podcast Do you still build and design PCBs? What EDA Tool do you use? History in the industry Eagle and Fusion 360 How they integrate Is the plan to change the name to Fusion PCB? Eventually one program? Layout from inside of fusion? The Future Of Eagle? Any juicy news? Trends in the EDA tools Twitter @jordanyte YouTube Schematica

2 Joulu 20201h 6min