Circuit Break - A MacroFab Podcast

Hosts: Parker Dillmann Stephen KraigGuests: N/A Figure 1: Non working Space Echo RE-201 Figure 2: A NuTube 6P1 straight from KORG. Figure 3: The constant current source Stephen is using for his NuTubes. The equation for the constant current is I ~ Vgs/Rs. Figure 4: Jig of Destiny 3D render. Podcast NotesParker really wants to get Josh's (the sound guy) Space Echo RE-201 working. There is a digital filter that simulates the effect though. See figure 1.Stephen received his  NuTube's from KORG this week. See figure 2.To run the tubes, Stephen is going to use a constant current power supply like on page 229 in  "Designing High-Fidelity Valve Preamps" by Merlin Blencowe. Stephen really likes this book. See figure 3 for the schematic.Parker has been working on the "Jig Of Destiny" which is a aluminum fixture that is designed to support the large 16" x 16" panels used for prototype builds at MacroFab. Test version was made out of 10mm x 10mm MakerBeam material. Production version will be machined out of 3/16" aluminum to be extra rigid. See figure 4 for a 3D render of the fixture.Parker's new board was completed by MacroFab today. It is a fan and system controller for his Jeep. Hardware and software will be open source as always. Picture of the board can be seen here.While testing the PCB board, Parker noticed there was a 0.03V over the power cables. Stephen calculated it out. See below for the calculations. The drop is most likely coming from the spring contact in the clip. Bolt.io has a nice article about hardware and startup jargon used in the industry. Parker and Stephen pick through it.Stephen and Parker rant about connector datasheets again. This time about connectors that need multiple parts to be used. Example of this would be connectors that have separate conductor pins.Amazon released a programmable version of their IoT Button.The MOnSter 6502 is a discrete level 6052 CPU. Parker thought it would be bigger. It has over 4000 discrete transistors.On the note of 6502 CPUs, there is a really cool visual 6502 online simulator.Stephen and Parker discuss where  debouncing a switch should be don

20 Maj 201643min

Hosts: Parker Dillmann Stephen KraigGuests: N/A Figure 1: SSPS front panel test layout. Miniature version of the real front panel to test physical placement and new parts. Figure 2: Two TPS65982-EVM booster packs. One is powering the other over USB Type-C. Parker was able to pull 20V @ 3.2A before his Re:load Pro overheated. Podcast NotesStephen is now almost done with the FX Development Board's final layout and enclosure design. He is also working on a new version of his  drop in replacement for opamps that will use a dual stacked PCB.Parker finished the  test panel for the SSPS. See Figure 1. Has all the critical spacing and parts on the board for testing. Parker wants to make sure everything fits before running the full sized version.A listener recommended we change the name to the Super Sophisticated Power Supply. Stephen thinks the Super Superfluous Power Supply sounds awesome.The TPS65982-EVMs are working great. Parker is doing loads of research into USB Type-C. He is currently waiting to hear back from Texas Instruments on getting a "USB2MANY" adapter board. Which is mentioned in the TPS6598x Utilities Tool User Guide. See Figure 2. Parker is using his Re:load Pro to test power transfer.Parker and Stephen want to build a cheap data logger for just voltage and current. These devices exist but it will be a good practice in cost reduction and layout design.Fairchild makes a $16 "flexible and compact solution for a blinking or breathing LED indicator". Part number  FAN5646S701X. Parker and Stephen think its a bit ridiculous to have a part this expensive and all it does it blink a LED in a fancy way.Octavo Systems has introduced a new "System-in-Package" which is basically multiple ICs into a single package. The OSD3358-512M-BAS is basically a Beagle Bone Black in one IC package. With this new IC Jason Kridner is working on the PocketBone which is a 2-Layer PCB that is only 2.17" by 1.38" that is a full fledge 1GHz Linux computer.Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro theme!

13 Maj 201633min

Hosts: Parker Dillmann Stephen KraigGuests: N/AFigure 1: SSPS front panel layout. Traces to come soon. Figure 2: Inconsistencies in the LTST-C171CKT datasheets.Podcast NotesStephen is still working on customer fixtures but managed to get some progress on the FX Development Board. Stephen has been working on the documentation to get the Crowd Supply fundraising going. Still need to prototype the enclosure.Parker has been working on the SSPS front panel design. See Figure 1.Parker is going to use Omron's B3W-9000-RG2C illuminated switches because it has a Red and Green LED and allows for custom key caps via printable transparencies.The Bourns' PEL12T-4226F-S1024 RGB Encoder will function to adjust the power on the supply. This is a 2-bit encoder with a clear shaft that is illuminated with a RGB LED.Instead of 74HC595s, Parker is going to use a STP16CP05 LED driver. The IC is a 16-bit constant current sink driver. He chose the TSSOP-24 package because it has a thermal pad to heat dissipation.Parker hasn't decided on whether to go with a USB 2.0 Type B connector like most industrial devices or go with the new Type C style. He is going to try the TI TPS65982 which is a USB Type C controller and power switch IC. Has a $30 evaluation board,  TPS65982-EVM.Operations at MacroFab found a datasheet inconsistency with a Lite-On LED. P/N: LTST-C171CKT which is a house part at MacroFab (MF-LED-0805-RED). Both datasheets are identical except one drawing is  anode marked and the other is  cathode marked. We checked our stock and the LTST-C171CKT's are cathode marked.Atmel is removing the  full-swing crystal oscillator from there entire MEGA line of IC's. Parker thinks it is weird that they are changing the tooling for such established MCUs.  Hackaday article about the topic.Interesting topic on the ECE subreddit on  "In your opinion, what makes someone a "bad engineer?". Parker and Stephen talk about engineering ethics.Parker thinks this video of a power transformer starting up is an awesome sound effect. This brings Parker talking about the best sound effect ever, which is the tractor beam shut down sound in Star Wars. Which rivals the

6 Maj 201635min

Podcast NotesOur guest this week is Dustin Holliday, a Production Line Engineer at MacroFab, INC. Dustin programs the My200 paste jetter, the My500 pick and place, and the Rhythm Selective Solder. See Figure 1.Stephen is working on a customers test fixture and is using the Parallax Propeller. He really likes how it is easy to route the package since each pin is just general I/O and you can change around the pin definitions.Parker is almost done with the first test fixture article. Should be out soon.Parker has also been testing the ESP-12E WiFi module which uses the ESP8266 IC. Seems that some USB ports don't provide enough power even though they enumerate for 500mA at 5V. The ESP-12E is on his  Prop Dev Stick Bit Flicker. Code is a port of Bylnk written by Roy Eltham. See Figure 2.On the Prop Fan board Parker has been working on he needed to read an analog signal without a ground reference. Instead of setting up an isolated supply and an isolated data buss he is going to try an isolated opamp. Part number ACPL-C870-000E. Have to compress the 0-14V input range to 0-2V with a voltage divider but Parker isn't looking for high resolution.Stephen and Parker are probably overly excited about the fact that Digi-Key now has pictures for categories on the connectors page.Another  ink to circuit board project via paint pen project. This pops up every 6 to 87 months but this time they solved some of the technical issues but not all of them.The Current Source, an engineer out of Florida sent us a crappy Kickstarter idea! He calls it the "Microprocessor Launchpad" and it is basically a DIY kit for making your own microprocessors from scratch. Included is a sheet of metal, micro drill bits, some bond wire, and a sharpie. Stretch goals include silicon wafers and a hack saw to cut out your die.

29 Apr 201640min

Podcast NotesStephen built a power supply for an old school tube microphone for Josh. Josh does the recordings for the Podcast. See Figure 1 for the schematic.Microphone is a Sony C37 tube condenser microphone.Parker has been working on an article for the blog about designing and building simple test fixtures for low to medium volume production runs. See Figure 2.Parker has also been working on code to run a large VFD display. Part number is CU40045-UW1J. This is for Parker's fan controller for his Jeep. See Figure 3.Blunty released a really cool video of a tour of the Nvidia Silicon Failure Analysis Lab. The equipment is pricey! They can pinpoint the exact transistor that fails on the die.Microchip released the PICDEM Lab II. Parker used a PICDEM Lab I for developing the MacroWatch REV 1. Stephen was watching the video about it and the recommended video was about Dave Jones ragging on the PICKIT 3.Desktop Siege Cannon that uses flash paper to make a fireball. Should we design an ECE version that uses electrolytic capacitors charged in reverse polarity to cause them to rocket out the barrel?Big Clive took apart a USB soldering iron that actually works! Parker thinks with USB 3.1's higher power rating of 100W a serious soldering iron could be designed.Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro theme!

22 Apr 201630min

Podcast NotesParker has been hard at work on the PinHeck Test Fixture. It uses over 160 pogo pins to test every single function of the PinHeck Pinball System. There will be an article about designing pogo pin style test fixtures for production in the next couple weeks.Stephen tested the Diode Compression opamp he built a couple weeks ago on the FX Dev Platform. Sounds great!Noisebridge, A hackerspace out of San Francisco, wrote an article about the large variety of fuse quality. Cheap and gray market fuses tend to not break the circuit and melt. Potentially catching fire. Something even as simple as a fuse should be tested in your product to ensure everything works correctly and safely.Arduino.cc released a new ARM build of their popular IDE. Users can now compile code and develop on their raspberry pi style devices. Parker thinks an Android version would be great to tweak and push code up over Bluetooth or WiFi.Semiconductor materials market fell 1.5% in 2015. Mainly from changing the die bond wires from gold to copper. Materials to make semiconductors are inexpensive. Labor and process driving the cost of semiconductors.Sleev is a Kickstarter that sells adhesive lined heat shrink tubing for $3 for 2 inches. You can buy the same stuff at McMaster for $5 for 4 feet. Goes to show that consumers will buy anything with a fancy graphic and video.Stephen thinks we should Kickstart the "SKRü".If listens have any silly ideas for Kickstarters let us know via twitter: Parker Dillmann, Stephen Kraig, MacroFab, INC..Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro theme!

15 Apr 201637min

Podcast NotesFirst Guest for the MacroFab Engineering Podcast! Trey German is working on a IoT platform using BLE and a small coin cell.Trey's device worked on the first revision! How often does that happen?Trey used a really cool side mounted RGB LED. Part number OVSRRGBCC3 by TT electronics.The widget Trey is working on is designed to be very flexible in its use. It is not so much a development platform as a flexible device.Trey used to be an engineer at Texas Instruments and was the Launchpad Application Manager. He will miss training and teaching people electronics but will be doing classes in the future.Stephen has begun working on the analog layout of the Super Simple Power Supply. He has finished designing the power block of the supply. We deem this the Energon Cube. See Figure 2.There is a really cool video about assembling the TR-1 which is the first commercially manufactured transistor radio. They used a ferris wheel of molten lead solder to solder the PCB and parts similar to a wave solder machine except a lot less OSHA compliant. Wiki link for the TR-1.Parker wants to build a vapor phase reflow oven. Sous vide for PCB boards!Trey, Stephen, and Parker talk about what kind of connectors they like and hate. Parker has a really cool pogo pin that works on 50mil spacing 2x5 J-Tag connectors. Part number 100803-011.Revolv is going to turn off the servers for the IoT home automation. This will brick consumer devices. Is the era of IoT bringing an end the concept of owning hardware?Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro theme!

8 Apr 201641min

**Podcast Notes*** Parker and Stephen continue work on the [Super Simple Power Supply](https://github.com/MacroFab/SSPS). There is a full on simulation of the analog section on MultiSim.* Stephen found a better way to control the analog end with two separate 16bit DACs. One controls the negative end and the other one controls the positive end of the ompamp. 16 x 2 Blast Bit Processing! * Parker is working on a ESP8266 development board for the Parallax Propeller called the [Bit Flicker](https://github.com/LonghornEngineer/Propeller_Development_Bit_Flicker). Will use the [blynk.cc]( http://www.blynk.cc/). This will enable the SSPS to be IoT enabled!* SAIM Servos arrived. Chassis should be finished by Monday. They past the built in servo "test" routine. See Figure 1.* Transistor Wars: The Vacuum Tube Strikes Back. [Vacuum channel transistor](http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/devices/introducing-the-vacuum-transistor-a-device-made-of-nothing) that switches as fast as 460GHz. No substrate for the gate and has a helium vacuum. * [What is truly a robot?](http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2016/03/what-is-a-human/473166/) Article states that people talk about robots in a broad fashion. Where “robot” is just used as a metaphor to describe the vast array of automation in the material world. Possible accepted definition of "robot" in academic circles has been: "Sense, think, act." Who is in control of the action? Is a pick and place a robot? See Figure 2. * [Gallium Oxide substrate for Power Devices.](http://spectrum.ieee.org/semiconductors/materials/gallium-oxide-power-electronics-cool-new-flavor) Has a huge electron-volt band gap of 5eV compared to gallium nitrite which is 3.4eV. Gallium nitrite was what the transistors in the [LittleBox challenge](https://www.littleboxchallenge.com/) where made of. Higher eV allows for a thinner substrate.For more info and pictures go to our blog!

1 Apr 201636min