Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

MEP EP#308: Ghost of Projects Past DueChristmas Projects Tube Compressor - A Decade in the making Synchrotron phaser Tig Welding Parker's Mother’s Golf Cart Red Jeep Update Local Electronic Store Talk What local stores can you still buy electronic supplies and parts at? Are there any Radioshacks left? Electronic Parts Outlet Ace Electronics The MacroFab Engineering Podcast Christmas Project Ghost Names The Ghost of Christmas Past represents memory Ghost of Projects Past Due The Ghost of Christmas Present represents generosity and good will Ghost of project ideas The Ghost of Christmas Future represents fear of death Ghost of unused parts

22 Dec 20211h 24min

MEP EP#307: Sixth Annual MacroFab Star Wars Christmas Special - The Bad HunchLatest in Star Wars Media What has released since last year's Star Wars podcast episode 255? Star Wars Visions Ending of Mandalorian Season 2 LEGO Star Wars Holiday Special Bad Batch Does Audible count? Star Wars: Thrawn Ascendancy book 2 and 3 were this year Star Wars: The High Republic Upcoming releases you're excited for? The Book of Boba Fett Ahsoka when it finally comes out Mostly because it should have a live action version of Thrawn Parker StarWars Visions Ep 5: The Ninth Jedi asteroid grabbing trebuchet engineering exercise PDF of the document Stephen The battle of exegol is dumb…. PDF of the document Hyr0n Star Wars Visions episode 9: Akakiri Praise/Rant Lego Star Wars - Could you actually build… The stupidest spreadsheet ever TLDR: The only thing in LEGO SW Universe that could produce enough LEGO to build Death Star 1, is Death Star 1 Chris Technology in Star Wars What fictional technology do you think would make the most immediate impact on your life? How would you integrate it into your own work? Anti-gravity, repulsors (floating stuff) Vehicles are the obvious cool application Manufacturing? I worked in a foundry The heat from the hot iron and the refractory sand constantly wore down the bearings in the conveyor system If things could just float it would be amazing Droids How does anyone actually program these? In The Mandalorian it seemed like it wasn’t a simple task to reprogram IG-11 Anakin “built” C3PO but did he really build it or assemble it? In the series they say to “wipe the protocol droid’s memory” it seems like whatever the tech is it is easy to wipe memory but not easy to change programming Hyperspace Outside of exploration and colonization would this really make an immediate difference in day to day life Power Density

16 Dec 20212h 27min

MEP EP#306: Removing The BarriersBench Equipment for Hardware Development Lab Power Supply Oscilloscope James Lewis just made a really good video about Oscilloscope Bandwidth Check out podcast episodes #222 and #144 for more James Lewis! Frequency Generator Frequency Counter Multimeters Benchtop Handheld Digital Logic Analyzer Active Load RLC Meters Accessories Multimeter probes Non Slip Tips?

9 Dec 20211h 8min

MEP EP#305: Electron Congo LineThe Big Misconception About Electricity Veritasium YouTube video Is this really a big hidden secret? There is nothing incorrect but... Problems with the explanation Lack of context Doesn't go far enough on the explanation and would leave new hobbyist asking more questions then it answered Light bulb question at the beginning of the video How long does it take for a light bulb to turn on if the wires connecting it are a light-second long. Parker's quick "practical" answe “Instant” You are pushing the already existing electrons in the wire. An electron doesn't have to flow all the way around? Dave Jones' response? Does this damage Veritasium's image for Electrical engineers?

2 Dec 202152min

MEP EP#304: Cow FieldThis week Stephen and Parker where supposed to discuss bench equipment for development and testing but got distracted by talking about homebrewing beer and Maxwell's equations...

24 Nov 202159min

MEP EP#303: Tip Resurrection CreamBench Soldering Supplies/Consumables Solder What kind of Solder Alloy? Preferred Brands Get a datasheet! Flux core Diameter of the solder Flux Ensure compatibility of the fluxes you are using Flux cleaner Tip cleaner/tinner Brass sponge thing “Tip Resurrection Cream” Solder wick Solder pot Stephen forgot about this in last week's episode of solder equipment

17 Nov 20211h 4min

MEP EP#302: A 1 Dollar Chips MatterAnnouncements Thanks for everyone that donated and stopped by the live stream! We where able to raise over $5000 for the Texas Children Hospital Network! Molex 217175-0001 Tasty Type-C connector No data pins? Only power and the CC pins for doing the Power Delivery handshake Datasheet Non FCC switcher? ICL7660CBAZA-T Super Voltage Converters Power Rail Flipper/Inverter Charge pump voltage “flipper” uses only two capacitors At an input voltage of 5V and an unloaded oscillator pin the switching frequency is 10khz Reducing to less than 9khz only takes one capacitor Price Singles: $1.82 Bulk: $1 SMT Bench Equipment for Soldering X-tronic 440 died now I need to replace! Soldering Iron Thermaltronics TMT-2000S-SM Tips S75LR018A S75DS045 Hot Air Quick 957DW+ Microscope AmScope SM series Get a 0.5x Barlow lens Tweezer set Non magnetic stainless steel is what you want ESD? Aven is a good brand Snips/flush cutters Hakko CHP-170 are king

10 Nov 20211h 17min

MEP EP#301: Crispy CurrentsAnnouncements If you are currently enrolled in college we would love to chat with you. We have some ideas for future podcast content that you could perhaps help us with. Also, we would love to get to know our listeners more. If you have not already, please send a hello email to podcast@macrofab.com. Thanks to everyone who has reached out already. On Nov 6th, Parker is doing a 24 hour video game stream for the Extra Life Charity which benefits the Texas Children Hospital network. Last year our listeners helped him raise $2600 and he is hoping to double that this year! You can donate through the Extra Life page here. Or just come hang out his personal twitch channel and chat. Will be playing from 8AM on Nov 6th till 8AM on Nov 7th. Melted fuse Holder Revisit Fuse holder on the electric fan power line melted… on the battery side *insert shock emoji* EngineerBob from Slack/twitch chat bought the same kind of fuse holders and took one apart Suspected it was not a bad crimp but the blade receptacle inside is flawed for higher currents Connector is just flimsy brass and does not have the retainment force to handle high current Some google fu searching and EngineerBob and I found a solution! Delphi makes a fuse holder setup based on the Metri-Pack system Delphi 12033731 black fuse cover Metri-Pack 630 series connector 20-18 AWG 12066681 16-14 AWG 12033769 12-10 AWG 12085030 Metri-Pack 630 series pull-to-seat female terminals 20-18 AWG 12020516-L 16-14 AWG 12066614-L 12-10 AWG 12033997-L Getting Signals Around the Board DG series analog switches Multi Channel (1 to 8) switches that handle high voltage (44v) Easily controlled with TTL signals. Can be interfaced directly to a uC Bi directional Remove the need for mechanical solutions and greatly simplify routing Resistance ON is something to look out for The Engineering Mind? Should we expect others to have it? Problems in the workplace - how are they fixed? What do you do when faced with a problem? Hire engineers? Get it done attitude?

3 Nov 202156min