Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

MEP EP#220: Blinky is 90% of Your ProjectParker Hoppes #9 for the printer seems to work well Will it hold up long term? Still waiting on fans for the printer and other various parts Jeep Fan Evolution Fabio and Roger on the MacroFab Slack channel has suggested the nRF Series NRF52-DK Arduino compatible Stephen Connector Woes JST style connectors A family big enough to have their own wiki Hackaday has a good article Looking at XH series 2.5mm RC battery pack connector CNC radiator 5 gallons of DI water with automotive antifreeze Warmed up after 3 hours of cutting Rapid Fire Opinion The Myth of the three capacitor values Could this be the next project for the MEP?

15 Apr 20201h 2min

MEP EP#219: Virtual Earth MixersParker Brewery Update Still bending tubes Going cheap and buying a roll of stainless steel tubing was a mistake Started looking into the Jeep Fan controller project again Evolving into a Body control module Investigating the best way to add wireless remote control? Pinotaur LED REV2 design is completed Using those APA-102C-NEW-260 Working on a motor controller add-on for the Pinotaur board Socketed motor controllers allow stepper or DC motor control Stephen Rotary switches Three datasheets and all are wrong… VAAPA: Variable Architecture And Parameters Amplifier CNC Update Working on greater accuracy Most cuts are within 0.005 but certain situations can make it up to 0.01 Got a O flute bit in. Feeds and speeds Analog tricks Clipping opamp in feedback Virtual earth mixer is no longer a virtual earth Rapid Fire Opinion Arrow Electronics launches European FPGA Developer Contest 2020 Entry via the Arrow European FPGA Developer Contest 2020 web page and choose from the following Intel FPGA development boards: MAX1000, CYC1000 or AnalogMAX /DAQ1/2/3 Projects can involve anything from software, special IPs/interfaces and soft cores, to board modifications, adapter creation, adding a PMOD/Arduino, creating an IoT device, and programming algorithms for AI/CNN

8 Apr 202052min

MEP EP#218: Like Old CheeseParker 3D printer upgrades Waiting on parts Brewery Printed the pump brackets Bending Tubes and mounting brackets tonight Stephen Frequency counter woes Found the led driver. It is not a pic like was suggested ZLG7289BS Translated the document Page 7 has a schematic that looks like it will help Rotary switching Doing it “right” this time Purchasing the switch before designing the board Part numbers STmicro website? Why? Dave Jones and documentation Rapid Fire Opinion Wanted: Practical App Note Suggestions Chris Gammel posed the question on the The Amp Hour subreddit

1 Apr 202057min

MEP EP#217: Frequency Stability DependabilityParker Reverse Engineering Tools? Calipers Edge profile gauge Dial indicator with radius gauge attachment Angle finder/gauge Good Scanner? 3D printer improvements for the Monoprice Ultimate Maker Stuff it already has Internal RaspPi running octoprint MicroSwiss metal hot end Enclosure BLTouch Better cable management Fixed print surface improvements Fan upgrades Switch to a faster bed heater? Lubrication suggestions? Stephen Hacking a frequency counter 2 new designs at work that are highly dependent on frequency stability 3156 Amazon wonder Where and how to read values Arduino solution? Simulation: Arbitrary sources Adding functions to your voltage and current sources VCA and controls Non-linear circuits Rapid Fire Opinion A NES Motherboard For The Open Source Generation All but two parts are readily available CIC lockout chip UA6527 cpu Reversed pulse wave from the original cpu NES Clones Reversed Duty Cycles - Why you should Reject them

25 Mar 20201h 5min

MEP EP#216: I’d Buy That For Five DollarsParker Python PDF Looked at peoples suggestions and none really did what I needed FPDF will do for now since I have made a template already Most suggestions are building HTML then converting to PDF which is fine but not really a good solution Zebra Printers ZPL or Zebra Programming Language ZT230 ZD420 My process so far for making a ZPL webapp thingy Zebra Designer 3 for Developers Makes the Template Push Template over to printer Use Variables for fields you want to “input” Zebra Setup Utilities Allows talking to the printer easily Zebra Browser Print SDK Makes a USB bridge to a local web server Web Server for Chrome Used to point to where your application is at Application is written in Javascript Stephen CNC is fully functional! Calibrated the three axis Ran cable “tubes” Set up spindle control Table surfacing 4 flute 2&1/32 in diameter surfacing bit 12,000 RPM 100ipm 0.005-0.01 DOC VFD EMC Pages 10-12 VFD cables are to have the shield (screen) connected at both ends This is an impedance thing Shield should be at least 80% coverage Foil and braid is best but most expensive typically Rapid Fire Opinion Is a $1 Power Supply Any Good? A pretty good overview of power supply tests

18 Mar 202044min

MEP EP#215: Just Another Meatloaf TitleParker Brewery Update Pump mount design completed 3D printed brackets Bending tubing this week! Need to finish the last bit of wiring in the electrical box Python PDF Creation Why do they all suck? Currently using fpdf Stephen CNC Update Moving...mostly Still need to get the X-axis moving Sprockets to weld on Will try rotational tig welding Midi to G-Code Motor Cable Igus 16/4 plus braided shield Chainflex Best way to attach the shield? Rack Mount Amplifier Replaced the transformer last week to boost the votlage Went from a 12:230 to a 10:230 ratio for a 20% increase Output changed exactly by 20%....go figure! Rapid Fire Opinion 3D printed forms for sheet metal pressing? Sort of Worked... Interesting to see the progress but it still required a mill to get a usable form With more experimentation and proper design of the part to be bent this could be a real option 3D printed tool punches as well

11 Mar 202056min

MEP EP#214: It is Probably SafeParker Just got back from vacation Have not worked on any projects since last episode Watched lots of old er James Bond movies Should we do a Spy gadget episode if we can get the right guest? Stephen Simulation of the Week: Behringer Model D Oscillator Core Lots of cool stuff going on Exponential converter Constant current capacitor Discrete opamp with discrete comparator CNC Update Base built and topped with a torsion box ¾” MDF construction Gantry is on but needs some love New Spindle has 80mm mount This does not fit on my current z axis Make a mounting bracket with leftover aluminum from previous project New transformer for rackmount guitar preamp Old configuration was to do a 115:12.6 transformer then feed that into a 12:230 to get back up to high voltage Simple math says 230/12 = 19.16 so, 12.6*19.16 = 241.41VRMS = 341.36VDC In reality I am getting 250V…. Hopefully with the new transformer ratio I will get closer to 300V which would be a 20% increase Rapid Fire Opinion Webinar Updates Wednesday at 2PM Central Link in the show notes to register Parker does runs a webinar on March 11th Sweat sensor finds stress quickly Future of smart watches? AutoDesk Eagle sales tactics

4 Mar 202053min

MEP EP#213: My CNC Will Melt In Your MouthParker Going to be doing Webinars for MacroFab. How MFs tools make you a better electrical engineer and supply chain manager Learning AutoDesk Fusion360 Getting pretty good Learning from Youtube and Stephen Can be almost as fast and proficient as Parker was in Sketchup Braze it 420 Learning to braze brass radiators and steel gas tanks Make sure there is no gas fumes! Stephen CNC Trying to buck the standard Jointer/Planer -> table -> electrical work -> table saw -> torsion box -> gantry restoration -> new spindle New 220V for the following Welding Brewing CNC machine Fermentation controller Audibles on some design characteristics Switches/encoders Probably going to go with wiring instead of all PCB mount Footprints for Solid State Relays Rapid Fire Opinion Raspberry pi 4 release fixes the USB problem This is being treated as a “design for manufacturability” change Lumped along with some silkscreen changes to avoid solder bridging and the SD card voltage switch moving Why not fully announce this? Chinese Tariff Exemption for 2- and 4-layer PCBs Valid until Aug. 7, 2020 Fisher & Paykel PCB Silkscreen Design The sad faces are where the hand insert components go If any sad faces are showing, the operator hasn't finished their job.

26 Feb 202058min