#general-tech

1 messages · Page 154 of 1

young ice
pine igloo
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let me get this this straight, you want to have a motor that goes quickly like everyone else, you want it to flow fast but not have much energy available to flow ?

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right ?

young ice
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guess that's one way of putting it

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sure

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this motor is from a cheap rc car i bought on amazon, so unfortunately i don't have a spec sheet for it

pine igloo
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they are usually built to not last long

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as I learned when I wanted to start on r/c cars and I thought that buying a cheap rc car for the motors and shell would be a good idea

tight briar
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oh hello!!

young ice
young ice
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feels kinda wasteful to buy an expensive car only to strip 90% of it out

pine igloo
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Just saying there are 1$ brushed motors with better performance with a datasheet

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If you can't find a datasheet especially for something in a mass-marketed toy it's really because they don't want one to be found...

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And I mean 20 years ago those motors wouldn't even last a 1 NiMD recharge. I doubt that changed

stray dune
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Has anyone done a write up on making a custom encoder with a bunch of magnets and a hall effect sensor?

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Also has everyone one seen this beautiful piece of work?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ip641WmY4pA

YouTube
scottbez1
DIY haptic input knob: BLDC motor + round LCD

Introducing the SmartKnob View: an open-source input device with software-configurable endstops, virtual detents, haptic touch feedback, and a round LCD.

Since you can't feel the detents through the video, make sure to turn up the volume so you can at least hear them, particularly the fine-grained detents toward the end of the video.

A brushle...

▶ Play video
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Absolutely wonderful

young ice
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i just haven't looked for one

haughty flare
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Which is better

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just react to which you think is best please

pine igloo
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so something like the last link would be the best in my opinion

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as it has the highest resolution

haughty flare
pine igloo
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There is no replacement for higher resolution

haughty flare
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particularly with a pi

pine igloo
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Really with any OS that isn't designed for low resolution. The user interface doesn't work

dire pike
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greetings, i hope i am in the right channel with this question, but i wanted to know if anybody can help me find an entry point to make an ESP32 based helper that gives me an visual indication when my phone is ringing via bluetooth or similar?

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i need to know if there is some base functionality wihtin bleutooth that allows me to do this or if i require an app on my phone for that

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nevermind, while phrasing my question i found better wording to search for and already found a proper project 😄

gloomy mango
minor crag
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hmm.. so I am attempting to design an FPGA to act as a stand-in for an old 8bit CPU and only that 8bit CPU... I have a Spartan VI dev board with 128 I/Os, I could put a socket or a header in where this chip is supposed to go, and use the spartan VI to test out an FPGA core for that CPU... but I'm also thinking of skipping that step, finding a smaller, cheaper FPGA chip that can handle the task, solder that to a dip-40 adapter board (or design one) and work on it from there, already installed

verbal aspen
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Lattice makes some nice small FPGAs, for example. However, one thing you might need to wrestle with is that old 8-bit CPUs might operate on higher voltages than modern chips, so a bunch of level-shifters might be needed on your adapter board too.

minor crag
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yeah, already aware most these FPGAs are lower voltage, while the 8bit CPU is 5v

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seems most the lattice stuff are 1.2v supply

delicate quarry
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Wonder if a CPLD would be enough for an 8-bit CPU...

minor crag
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maybe?

raw socket
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My episode of "Billy Buys Brooklyn" staring my robot RoboStool will air tomorrow (the 28th) on the Discovery Channel at 7:00 AM (yes, AM) Eastern, 6:00 AM Central, 8:00 AM Mountain, 7:00 AM Pacific. The episode is called "More Than Meets the Eye". The series is also suppose to start streaming on Discovery Plus that same day.

Robostool first appeared in "Transformers, Age of Extinction". It is built using many Adafruit components including two HalloWing M4 Express for the eyes.

robostool.png
minor crag
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but, I found some low cost FPGA chips that are probably up for the task, some altera brand ones

delicate quarry
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Just need some level shifters, then. Probably a small perfboard design...

minor crag
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need to figure out how many logic elements or gates something like a Z80 would need

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brb, i need food

verbal aspen
minor crag
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i think i may be better off developing a working core on the spartan vi I have and then port it over to something that is a better fit for the system, since I already have the spartan vi and I can power it separately for testing

verbal aspen
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Seems reasonable. Most implementations would be pretty portable to other FPGAs.

hearty karma
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That's an interesting Z80 implementation, as it aims to duplicate the actual logic (including, presumably, the 4-bit ALU originally used to save transistor count)

minor crag
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yeah, it'd be nice to see some of these old chips implemented into small, inexpensive FPGA cores that could be placed on a board with the same footprint as the original chips, to not only be able to restore some pieces of computing history, but also to facilitate the production of new devices

violet torrent
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I wanna build an 8 bit computer, are there any 8 bit CPUs still being made?

hearty karma
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I'm more interested in the less available chips like the 6530 in the KIM-1 and the ULA in the ZX-81. You can still get 6502, 1802, and Z80 CPUs today, but good luck finding a source for 6530s.

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The Western Design 65C02 is pin-compatible with the original, and has some additional flexibility (for example, you can clock it as slow as you like and it will still work)

violet torrent
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I just wanna make sure I don't blow lots of money if I break it

hearty karma
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A 65C02 is about US$10 these days in single quantities.

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An 1802 is all over the place, depending on provenance and features (the radiation hard space rated silicon-on-sapphire one is a few hundred dollars), but they're out there for US$4 or so.

gloomy mango
hearty karma
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The bizarre 1-bit MC14500B finally went out of production recently, but there's plenty of NOS stock if you want to play with one.

delicate quarry
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Woah, TI-84s use a modern Z80-compatible chip. Did not know that.

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Oh, wait, that's the newer versions, the original uses an actual Z80. So technically, an original TI-84 plus can be classified as a handheld Z80 Computer...?

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TI-83 as well... Guess that's a good enough reason to learn some Z80 assembly.

inner linden
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Western Design 65c02, not Western Digital 65c02.

violet torrent
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Either way, they make them still, from what I can see

inner linden
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https://xkcd.com/768/

xkcd: 1996
College Board issues aside, I have fond memories of TI-BASIC, writing in it a 3D graphing engine and a stock market analyzer. With enough patience, I could make anything ... but friends. (Although with my chatterbot experiments, I certainly tried.)
violet torrent
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of course everything is so much more difficult to find in Australia

hearty karma
gloomy mango
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I have a pair of 20MHz Z80s, made in 2010. 😁

deep sonnet
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Arduino IoT Weather Station Main Module 3D View 🥰

IMG-20220426-WA0094.jpg
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This is my project...😋

icy moth
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I’ve added the option of adding Stemma qt boards

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Huh, my picture isn’t uploading

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Had to take a fresh picture

pine igloo
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Like the team logo that says if it's a decepticon or an autobot or some other affiliation ?

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my college was cool with the TIs, a sticker worked for 7 years so you can resell it to new students

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lot of students would buy them just before the exam too so you could make an additional 10-15$ to give a quick tutorial on how to use it

minor crag
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Hmm, I found some Lattice products that may actually work for my application.. A Z80 takes about 2,000 LUTs, some of these lattice ones will do 5K, and handle 1.2v-5v.. the I/O count is pretty high for my needs, but of course, I don't have to use all the pins, some will have to be broken out for other tasks like programming and debugging.. the one I am looking at in particular has non volatile flash memory to store the information for the core for instant-on functionality... I may try to build a functional DIP-40 compatible FPGA based CPU out of one of these

hearty karma
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Note, while those I/Os are 5V-tolerant, they will not produce 5V signals.

minor crag
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i need to figure out a more convenient way to use the dev board I have when setting up that many pins with it.. since the chip I want to make a replacement for is a DIP-40, a 40 pin ribbon cable connector on the FPGA side to some 1x10 male dupont headers on the other side should work

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and I'll have to take the old chip out, and put in a socket.. although, I guess I could just put in some male headers

minor crag
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heh, found a ribbon cable that has a typical 2x20 female header on one end, but a dip-40 male header on the other.. perfect fit

violet torrent
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oh?

pine igloo
karmic obsidian
pine igloo
pine igloo
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yeah the ebikes here change speeds afaik as well

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btw #show-and-tell isn't an help channel it is to show finished project

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that's why I was suggesting it

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not to get help for your question

pine igloo
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even though at start I was just thinking to attach the motor to the tire

random cypress
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Seeking advice:
How dangerous and/or illegal is it for a landlord to let sewage stand in the garage for up to 2 weeks?

Yesterday my apartment building had a plumbing backup that caused the garage floor to be flooded with sewage. The landlord fixed the plumbing and bleached most of the garage floor, but not in the storage cubbies (one for each tenant, behind a makeshift door of cork board and padlock) because the locks are owned by the tenants. I urged him to bleach the cubbies ASAP and he said he'll do it in the next week or two. I want him to go faster -- aside from the smell, I am concerned about disease transmission and other health hazards that could come from having standing sewage in the garage (next to the washer and dryer btw) for an extended period of time.

How actually dangerous is this? And is it illegal?

outer brook
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Whether it's illegal depends on jurisdiction

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It is potentially quite dangerous

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Sewage can make people very, very ill

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If your jurisdiction has any kind of outreach for tenants, I'd contact them ASAP with your concerns and documentation if you can get any

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Sorry you have to deal with that

pine igloo
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also it probably conduct electricity very well

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also if you wanted to test some kind of chips like pollution/air quality etc now is a great time 😄

random cypress
random cypress
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I want to send the landlord a message that makes it clear how liable he is if he ignores it

outer brook
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Honestly, if you can afford it, just get a lawyer

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That's what they are for

random cypress
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lawyers are for lawsuits, I'm looking to make an expense-free veiled threat

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getting a case in tenant court would take longer than two weeks

outer brook
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They can make a not veiled threat that is based on legal knowledge

random cypress
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I don't need legal knowledge

steady gulch
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oh lawyers are for veiled threats, have not seen how big companies communicate ?

random cypress
outer brook
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I just think something on fancy letterhead would be more of a wakeup call

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Obviously if your landlord is willing to do this, they don't care what you specifically think

random cypress
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my landlord is generally good and responsive, I think he just doesn't get how dangerous this specific thing is

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he's not an adversarial landlord

outer brook
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idk, I would consider him one if he does this

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A lawyer protects you too

random cypress
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k. I really don't need more iterations of "get a lawyer," would highly appreciate not-that advice if anyone has it.

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sorry to get impatient on my own thread here but I'm pretty stressed out

outer brook
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Where do you live?

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If you don't mind

random cypress
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in the united states

outer brook
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It's going to be state dependent

random cypress
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I know, I'm not revealing that. refs specific to the state of your choice will do

outer brook
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Hmm, I'm not knowledgeable about tenant law to give refs that work for any state.

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Like I could get you details in my home state, but that's about it

random cypress
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your home state is perfect

outer brook
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sure one sec

gloomy mango
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Better off using the ol' Google.

icy moth
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You could contact the health department and ask about health code

gloomy mango
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And that

outer brook
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But individual cities even may have divisions of the gov't for this.

icy moth
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Honestly the best way to get an answer about the laws related to health and safety in your jurisdiction. Plus they would be the ones enforcing any health code violations if there are any

outer brook
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Yeah health deparment is a good bet

random cypress
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yeah, that's a great idea. I'll call them tomorrow, thanks

outer brook
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Any arm of the government may be able to direct you to the right arm

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You just need to contact that one person who's been in government forever and hasn't burnt out and can get you with the right folks

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But that's hard to do

icy moth
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One place I lived didn’t have fire extinguishers so I called the fire marshal. The complex ended up getting fined quite a bit for being out of compliance

outer brook
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Yeah that's pretty common

pine igloo
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My city(fire department) would declare the place not fit for human living and you'd be forced into an hotel at the landlord expense as per tenants law

vernal rose
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Is there virtual class I can pay for to learn CircuitPython? I do like the videos on YouTube and some of the written guides but I don’t always understand some of the terminology or nuances.

steady gulch
vernal rose
bitter gale
# random cypress Seeking advice: **How dangerous and/or illegal is it for a landlord to let sewag...

sewage carries diseases and emits gases that can be harmful to health in large quantities as well. let alone that if left for very long it molds. typically to take care of a situation involving sewage like that they have to strip drywall off the walls in the effected areas and then remediate any sewage and disinfect. the landlord may not realize the severity of the situation so it would probably be best to voice your concerns and reasons you have those concerns before proceeding to calling the health department or jurisdiction having authority but depending on his response after informing him of the issues that can arise then i suggest proceeding in another direction.

random cypress
# bitter gale sewage carries diseases and emits gases that can be harmful to health in large q...

Thanks for this. The more I read about it, the clearer it gets that leaving a sewage spill uncleaned for over a week is completely insane. I think what I'll do is call the health department and try to get information without giving them my address, then tell my landlord why it's so important to clean the place for real, immediately. I doubt he'll straight-up say no, but if he does, I'll rat him out. I don't want to go straight there because if I get on his bad side, he might start looking for excuses to evict me. But he clearly is quite miscalibrated on the safety here.

bitter gale
junior pivot
# bitter gale Youd be surprised at how many people are ignorant to the dangers of raw sewage. ...

Over the past year my basement has flooded due to stormwater overflow. While it's not raw sewage by any stretch, even stormwater can be a real issue due to both the fact that it represents runoff from e.g., agricultural land as well as any chemicals that are picked up by rainwater, and secondly, once your walls are wet you end up with often hidden black mold inside the walls. I've been instructed not to break open the wallboard to fix this unless wearing a proper hazard mask as the amount of mold spores can be overwhelming. So even seemingly clear water represents a hazard once in one's home.

random cypress
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Should I push hard for bringing in a professional? This is the garage, it doesn't have drywall. The landlord bleached the floors himself (other than the cubby area which still has fe ces (really no way to say that one without getting censored)). If he comes in tomorrow/soon and bleaches the remaining floor, is the area still dangerous?

bitter gale
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Not likely if it’s bleached. Would have to call a remediation company to make sure tho as i dont deal with remediation

bitter gale
random cypress
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nice, thanks

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I posted this note on all my neighbors' doors, is the advice I gave dangerously wrong?

unknown.png
bitter gale
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I wouldn’t say it’s dangerously wrong but if the fabrics can be washed then they just wash and not discard those with a disinfectant

random cypress
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nice, thanks. I'm happy to have it be wrong in the over-cautious direction

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in practice, no one is storing clothes down there. maybe a blanket, but i doubt it

junior pivot
outer brook
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Maybe I'm naive but I feel like one of the costs of renting out property is you know, maintenance of said property.

random cypress
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The landlord is acting in good faith, and I realize that's not at all a given as far as landlords go. Great idea to suggest bringing in a professional to check afterwards

bitter gale
junior pivot
# outer brook Maybe I'm naive but I feel like one of the costs of renting out property is you ...

Sure, and I'm not saying that the landlord isn't responsible for 100% of the costs. But they're also human and have their own bills to pay. And their property is a huge investment for them, for anyone. So offering to split the cost might be a nice gesture if you can afford it. You could call and find out what an inspection would cost and maybe split it 60/40 or 80/20. Point is to demonstrate good will on both sides.

random cypress
bitter gale
random cypress
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I suggest we not get deep into a discussion of the ethics and social issues surrounding real estate and landlord/tenant relationships. Many (including myself) have strong views on this highly political topic.

outer brook
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Yeah it can easily stray

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Good call

pine igloo
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Hey all 👋

junior pivot
# bitter gale This is part of owning a property and renting to people. You own the asset and y...

I don't disagree. What I'm suggesting is that the landlord may choose to deal with this however they might choose, and if you're not happy with that you can rat on them to the local council, but creating a bad relationship with one's landlord serves no one. If it turns out that the inspection costs $150 and the landlord balks at that, you might offer to pay a portion as an act of good faith.

But I agree that renter/landlord discussions often go down a rabbit hole. I was just adding a suggestion to try to keep one's landlord on good terms.

bitter gale
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Didnt think of it as politics.. just general discussion but either way we can leave it at that

random cypress
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Thanks so much @bitter gale and @junior pivot for sharing your expertise and suggestions... and for helping me feel sane. Hopefully I'm over the hump of this mini-fiasco.

outer brook
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Not a fun situation to be in

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Hopefully it all works out with minimal drama

bitter gale
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Info is everywhere these days. I dealt with a sewer job today so its all kinds of nasty. Hep c is the biggest concern tho

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But thats a contact virus

outer brook
bitter gale
outer brook
bitter gale
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Iunno. I am goin to sleep tho so im out

outer brook
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Night

junior pivot
junior pivot
# random cypress Thanks so much <@194663383537156096> and <@828135237744984114> for sharing your ...

Yeah, I completely sympathise. My house (which I own, not rent) flooded last March and then repeatedly maybe a dozen times since then. Emotionally it's my biggest investment, so threats to it are pretty hard to bear. I ended up with golf elbow due to the frantic bucket work trying to get the water out, until I bought two sump pumps and ended up digging a trench in my back lawn to try to coax the water away, measures I'm not sure will work until we get some serious rains this coming winter. I had musical instruments and other things damaged, got a partial payout from the insurance company, blah blah blah. Nothing I would ever recommend to anyone.

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'night

heavy yacht
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Hello everyone, I have a question about the RGB MATRIX + real time clock board, my question is what would be the right outdoor display for this board ????

delicate quarry
# heavy yacht Hello everyone, I have a question about the RGB MATRIX + real time clock board, ...

All of the RGB matrices in the store should be visible in daylight and nighttime. I don't think any one in particular is explicitly more weatherproof than the next, though, so you may have to enclose your display in a clear weatherproof setup of your own to use outdoors. There are others on Amazon or AliExpress that should be compatible and are explicitly rated for outdoor use, but I can't make any particular recommendations myself.

Just avoid anything with NeoPixel or Dotstar in the name. Those are for direct microcontroller interfacing.

heavy yacht
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I have an outdoor display and the image comes out crooked.

s.jpg s1.jpg
heavy yacht
icy moth
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The solution to your off line output issue

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Gotta solder the E line jumper

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Or something very similar anyway

delicate quarry
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Is it? I thought it might be a HUB75 pinout issue, but that there doesn't look like a 64x64. Certainly similar symptoms, though.

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Worth a try if you're handy with solder.

icy moth
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It’s the best shot I have at helping lol, seemed similar enough. Could be wrong 🤷‍♂️

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It all hinges on the displays being identical in how they address combining two smaller displays

delicate quarry
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Actually, I think it's a matter of adjusting the software configuration. https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-rgb-matrix-plus-real-time-clock-hat-for-raspberry-pi/driving-matrices#testing-the-examples-2982010-30 shows some of the args you can adjust depending on your matrix layout. I can't say which settings would work for you, but certainly play with them some and see what works best.

Adafruit Learning System
Adafruit RGB Matrix + Real Time Clock HAT for Raspberry Pi

DIY your very own Times Square sign

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@heavy yacht

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Can't tell from the picture whether that's chained 32x32s or a single 32x64, but between --led-rows --led-cols and --led-chain you should eventually get what you want.

icy moth
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JPs setup was using two 64x64 connected together which is what it looks like for the 64x128 matrix being used by bano310

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But hard to say for sure 🤷‍♂️

delicate quarry
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It's 32 high, I can count them in the picture haha

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Looks longer than 64, actually, so probably chained matrices....

icy moth
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Yeah looks like it disappears off image

primal mango
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I am Amazed that Adfruit's Hdmi to Mini Hdmi does indeed work as a passthrough my stuff I've got from Adafruit from mouser came fast

outer brook
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Does anyone know why the EAGLE files for the 12 neopixel ring use WS2811 but the product page says they use WS2812B or the SK varieties?

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The actual board I received seems to use a 4 pin variety of LED

delicate quarry
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Is there possibly another version of the board that uses WS2811 instead of the independently packaged NeoPixels?

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I think it's more likely to be WS2812 if you're seeing a 6-pin footprint, but the numbers are all commonly interchanged in product advertisements.

icy moth
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The dotstar can have 6 pins I believe

delicate quarry
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They all have essentially equivalent functionality at the end of the day, but the technical details get onfusing the deeper you dig.

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Dotstar, yes, but unlikely to find it on a 12 "NeoPixel" ring haha

outer brook
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Is the pinout between WS2812B and SK6812 identical?

delicate quarry
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IIRC yes?

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Is the library part WS2812B or WS2812?

outer brook
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2811

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Here's what it looks like in adafruit's board

unknown.png
icy moth
outer brook
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So I should get a specific library for it?

icy moth
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You could copy the ws2812, change the pin mapping and rename to sk6812

outer brook
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Hmm OK

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I'll find the datasheet for the 2812 and compare it to the 6812 I have open

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thx

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I'm confused, why do sometimes these LEDs come in a 6 pin package, and sometimes they come in a 4 pin?

icy moth
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Beats me. Probably one is easier to use on LED strips

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6 pin would be really easy

outer brook
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One is def more annoying for me!

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Or rather

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having both is more annoying

icy moth
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I prefer the 4 pin over the 6

outer brook
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And LED sellers besides adafruit being weird and having bad websites is annoying

outer brook
icy moth
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Less pins to mess up

outer brook
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And easier to do high current traces

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low and behold! All the footprints on heckin' SnapEDA are 4 pin!

icy moth
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😬

outer brook
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If a part on digikey is sold in packs of 10 and they have 61 in stock...do they have 610 in stock?

icy moth
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Yeah

paper kelp
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I have a Feather 32U4 RFM95 LoRa with lipoly battery. If I connect the board to an OTG cable and connect the OTG cable to an OTG-capable smartphone, will the lipoly battery on the feather charge as well as transfer data? 🤔

sage current
twin mantle
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Wireless keyboard adapter came apart, what's a good place to find a replacement part (outer metal shell)

IMG20220429081337.jpg
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And it's just a case right, no need to solder or anything I just need to superglue?

twin mantle
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@ me pls

pine igloo
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if a fpga can do whatever an arduino does, why should I pick an arduino over fpga besides cost?
which in the end for hobby prototyping it might even be cheaper working with a fpga over an arduino

icy moth
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Well, FPGAs allow you to create a custom IC so to speak. This means that the limitations of a microcontroller pin isn’t necessarily there. Granted, fpga design is considered more advanced than programming microcontrollers so the barrier to use tends to be higher

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Plus many fpga have DOS only software which can be a hindrance to some peoples technical situations

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I’d argue that getting an Arduino or any microcontroller is a logical first step whereas getting an fpga is a step you’ve taken after you’re comfortable with electronics

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With all that said, there are not many cases where an fpga would be cheaper in both money and time spent than using a $20 microcontroller dev board

delicate quarry
# pine igloo if a fpga can do whatever an arduino does, why should I pick an arduino over fpg...

Cheaper, no, but the costs are pretty comparable these days. With reverse engineering of ICE40 toolchains, you can finally get FPGA dev boards for around the same price as an Arduino, now that you don't necessarily have to pay that proprietary premium.
Arduino is still, by far, the better entry into hobby electronics, due to its complete documentation and widespread community support. Given 5 or 10 years, maybe the ICE40 FPGAs will catch up to the point where you can download whatever library-equivalents like you can with Arduino, but today it's still far better to start with Arduino as a beginner.

icy moth
pine igloo
icy moth
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They have become more popular, it’s true

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Renassis (spelling it wrong) recently announced super cheap fpga that they would be launching

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By recently I mean like the last year or so

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Renesas lol

delicate quarry
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6 years ago, you would have had to pay huge amounts for licensing the tool chain to even program an fpga, an impossible amount for anyone that isn’t selling product in production volumes.

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Only in recent years have we had access to open source tool chains and free software to mess around with without the backing of a corporate or academic engineering budget…

icy moth
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ICE40lp4k board I’m working on

image0.jpg
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Validating a design before wasting parts on the feather sized version lol

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The ft232h chip to program it is more expensive than the fpga itself

pine igloo
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and that's explains why I do also see more and more university courses that do revolve around fpga...

thanks

icy moth
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Passes power on test. Voltage rails look great

D52A9873-85E1-4578-A79E-F5B299F16DAA.jpg
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Now to test USB

umbral iron
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is there's like an LCD Controllable Blackout Panel but with some pixel resolution?

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I've heard you can unsandwich an lcd is some way to make it see trough, like like...

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I want to make a pair of glasses influenced by Ruiz Brothers' "3D Printed Electronic Sunglasses". But with some extra functions

icy moth
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Okay, so I crossed the usb lol.. good thing I tried before soldering the fpga to the board

eternal dagger
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I don't suppose it's possible to add some items to an order I placed two hours ago, is it

icy moth
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Probably not

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You might be able to place another order and then email support@adafruit.com to see if they can put it in the same package

eternal dagger
#

I was in such a hurry to complete the Pi4 sale before they ran out of stock, I wasn't able to add everything I wanted, heh.

#

Because our shipping system is automated, we cannot add or remove items from existing orders. If your order hasn’t shipped yet, we may be able to cancel and refund it. Then you can create a new order with the updated item list. Please contact us if you would like us to cancel your order.

If we cancel your order we cannot guarantee that the products in your original order will still be in stock when you decide to place another order.

Yeah that's that

outer brook
#

Better to get your hands on a pi 4 and just eat the cost, I think.

#

Bummer

midnight sentinel
#

hi i am a noob in programming i hear that python is good to start did anyone know how to start and whats the best course in yt + sry for my bad eng.

icy moth
outer brook
eternal dagger
#

There are about a trillion Python books and courses but I can't recommend one. I think Youtube is probably the worst possible way to learn programming though

icy moth
#

Some people learn through videos, it’s just another learning style/Avenue

midnight sentinel
icy moth
#

I learn by doing it, messing up, researching for a few hours, and then having an epiphany hours after the fact

icy moth
#

Plenty of coding YouTube’rs have tutorials where they show you on screen what they are doing.

#

If you learn by copying or through visual demonstration, it’s great

midnight sentinel
eternal dagger
#

I mean, that's the same as reading

icy moth
#

Some people need to visually see others do it

eternal dagger
#

In any case, the visual learning thing has been pretty comprehensively debunked

#

Anyway I'm not a teacher, not my place to tell people how to learn lol

midnight sentinel
eternal dagger
#

Mmm

midnight sentinel
#

so i go to adafruit.com and all the project i see there i with using a mechanical product so if i need to lern python i has to lern how to use the mechanical product?

hearty karma
random cypress
#

Can a car cigarette lighter provide enough current to fast-charge a micro USB phone? I have a Samsung Galaxy S7, I used to think fast charging meant 2.4A but I've come to suspect that's not correct. Or that somehow the cigarette lighter charger I currently have, nominally 2.1A, is falling back to the non-fast 1A.

pine igloo
#

@random cypress Old school car sockets were just fused there was no 'rate' at all. ;)

#

Whatever was plugged into it didn't have a reliable means to determine what sized fuse it was.

Quick google says 10 Amps on those accessory sockets.

icy moth
#

Remember to check your USB lines folks lol

E3A0B13B-36CD-46F2-B882-EAAC9ED4B03E.jpg
prime adder
#

My beef with learning through videos is it’s hard to skim over crap I don’t want to consume

#

With text I can pretty quickly jump to parts I need

#

Not to mention copy and paste 🙂

pine igloo
#

I won't generally watch a video and don't understand when that's all someone has to recommend a thing to me with. ;)

#

If that's all you got, I can wait. ;)

#

so thought experiment, how fast would my table fan need to spin for the wind coming out of it to be supersonic ? Wouldn't I freeze to death?

#

Always wondered if the 3 or 5 speed fan thing is a safety limit or because of the motor etc

#

I can see that generally stronger fan that can cool a warehouse are a lot bigger, so I assume it's not a speed thing but radius of the fan thing

tawny lantern
#

What's everyone up to?

hearty karma
random cypress
#

And they do appear to exist.

haughty flare
#

So far, my prototype works

20220430_030511.jpg
#

I had a few things wrong, such as the display not having power and a trace going over a through hole it wasnt supposed to, but i managed. The next batch should be perfect.

#

Just need to write some code to test everything

haughty flare
#

And now im having code issues. It wont register that there are libraries. Great. Probably need a new feather

umbral iron
#

and by the way, what's the deal with Nokia 5110 display? I see it almost everywhere and it seems more consistent than Nokia itself

hearty karma
junior fern
#

Good afternoon, good people! Which channel should I point myself toward if I'd like some help troubleshooting my PiGRRL2 construction?

haughty flare
haughty flare
junior fern
outer brook
junior fern
#

oh....so....that sucks

#

how do I ensure that it's not overlooked by someone that can help me then?

#

which channel should I post it in?

#

(since it could fit in many)

hearty karma
outer brook
#

Or library

junior fern
#

yes, it's a PiGRRL2 and dammitsomuch! That's just my luck because I was hoping to deliver the finished product to my sister's kids tomorrow x(

outer brook
#

Pof

#

Oof

#

Sorry

#

I'd recommend trying the forums. It's the official support mechanism

junior fern
#

ok. Happen to have the link to them? Googling questions just kept bringing up the WOEFULLY inadequate troubleshooting portion of the tutorial I was working off of and I didn't see the forums anywhere

outer brook
junior fern
#

Much obliged, @outer brook !

outer brook
#

Any time

pine igloo
#

So my ceiling lamp is moving by itself for seemingly no reason

#

any ghost detection chip to suggest?

#

and maybe earthquake ?

verbal aspen
#

The USGS has a good earthquake site, so you might check if there was a recent one in your vicinity.

junior fern
#

psssh! Detection? I think it's obvious that your ghosts are Lionel Richie fans that are Dancing on the Ceiling

pine igloo
#

also I did the dinosaur test

#

and the glass of water didn't vibrate

steady gulch
# haughty flare Im running the code off the feather on my pc and its saying the libraries dont e...

what libraries ? what code are you running on your PC ? Circuitpython code doesn't run on your PC unless you have a device that supports Blinka, and installed the appropriate libraries with pip, can you tell us more about exactly what the problem is ? What errors is there ? What libraries is it about ? Are you talking about running the code or the IDE trying to be helpful by analyzing your code ?

tropic trout
#

hello

haughty flare
hearty karma
coarse whale
#

Long shot - anyone have a view on when the new ESP32-S6 will be available ? looking forward to 5G and Wifi6 on my micro controllers.

#

Forums suggest some folks have been playing with ESP32-C6-DevKitC-1 6+ months ago, but I cant seem to find them anywhere.

#

I tried searching Adafruit and Digikey #the-great-search for the devkit, but nothing came up.

haughty flare
hearty karma
#

As this appears to be a software problem, the hardware doesn't matter much. For the IDE to find and use the libraries, they have to be where it is looking for them.

icy moth
rough edge
#

? showtimes

icy moth
#

?showtimes

worldly shaleBOT
#

Desk of Ladyada - Random hacker times
JP's Product Pick of the Week - 4pm ET Tuesdays
3D Hangouts - 11am ET Wednesdays
Show & Tell - 7:30pm ET Wednesdays
Ask an Engineer - 8pm ET Wednesdays
John Park's Workshop - 4pm ET Thursdays
Deep Dive w/ Foamyguy - 5pm ET Fridays
FoamyGuy's CircuitPython Stream - 11am ET Saturdays

rough edge
#

Thank you

minor crag
#

hey, what do you guys think of the Khadas Edge V Pro SBC?

#

I bought a tone board a few years ago, but I don't use it anymore... if I got that over a Pi, the combination of the two would be great for multimedia and gaming

karmic obsidian
#

The Desk of Ladyada - Pink PCBs, USB PD Sink & Serial Chips https://youtu.be/_QL6-sIWDwY

YouTube
Adafruit Industries
The Desk of Ladyada - Pink PCBs, USB PD Sink & Serial Chips

On this week's Desk of Ladyada we're celebrating spring - the tulips and cherry blossoms are blooming all over NYC this weekend. We took some cute spot-color pictures with the KB2040 for an upcoming freebie promo. We also got some samples of CH9102 which work great as replacements for CP210x which is good because we've had some difficulty gettin...

▶ Play video
split willow
#

Does anyone know of a library or tutoral to drive a neopixel strip from a computer without a controller? Looking for something directly from serial port or USB

heavy yacht
#

Hola buenas a todos, alguien sabe como puedo corregir este error?

eager bramble
#

At first I thought it was because I was on a VPN, but I disconnected, and still the same thing.

#

I kinda sorta really want that gorgeous pink LP.

#

OK. So some discoveries, because I am stubborn... If I search for frequency, I can add it to my cart. BUT if I go to the page linked from the front page, adding it to my cart DOES NOTHING.

steady gulch
#

oh yeah it works from the product page (the "click here for more details" link) but not the "feature" page (/frequency)

steady gulch
cloud walrus
# split willow Does anyone know of a library or tutoral to drive a neopixel strip from a comput...

This may of interest https://learn.adafruit.com/circuitpython-neopixels-using-spi/ft232h-example?gclid=CjwKCAjwgr6TBhAGEiwA3aVuISKh4lX-9TAs_rSx01rDu_hJN3cDESaIMaOKWPUAOLeeZ2vgV_7y0BoC5ucQAvD_BwE I'm not sure what you are actually looking for. Neopixels require a controlling computer since they need a stream of correctly timed data to drive them. The FT232H may allow you to do this with your computer via it USB interface, but the computer will be the controller.

young ice
#

just found one of the only lines of arm MCUs that are actually in stock

#

the microchip sam L11 series

#

they have a cortex-m23 @ 48mhz with up to 64k of flash and 16k of ram, available in packages of 24/32 pins

#

this would be perfect for a project of mine but unfortunately it doesn't have usb :(

#

would be a good replacement for something like the samd09 used in the seesaw though

uneven meadow
#

noooo one of my neopixels on my magtag broke

#

😩

#

not sure what happened honestly jchfgv last i saw it they were all on and one seems to have just disappeared

#

little scared of smds but i might try putting a new one back on

hearty karma
icy moth
#

Ah wait that is the one listed lol Nevermind

ripe steeple
#

Not sure where to ask this. What can I use to flash different firmware to the Bluefruit LE UART friend?
I have the following but not sure if it would work.

20220502_084812.jpg
pine igloo
#

sorry if I don't reply fast, I am searching for the specific guide I saw some time ago

#

nvm i cannot find it

#

do you mind ordering a board (either designed by me or, like, a digispark/trinket mini?

delicate quarry
# split willow Does anyone know of a library or tutoral to drive a neopixel strip from a comput...

There are ways to handle this with a serial port, but it's not easy nor recommended for beginners (or in general). https://adanbucio.net/2017/07/31/how-to-drive-neopixels-from-a-pc-without-a-microcontroller/ is probably the closest match to what you would be looking for, but it does need additional hardware. If you have a good USB-UART converter or other logic components already on-hand, this might be the way to go. However, in the absence of one, you're likely better off getting a small microcontroller like a Pi Pico or a QtPy...

Adan Bucio's Blog
adanbucio
Controlling NeoPixels from a PC without a microcontroller.

From the moment I got some WS2812B leds in my hands, I wanted to build a led matrix that I could control from my computer. But almost every single project that I found on the Internet used a microc…

split willow
split willow
split willow
pine igloo
#

sorry for your time loss

delicate quarry
#

If you want Python control, you're probably better off with a Pi Pico or MCP2221A?

#

Not sure if MCP2221A actually drives neopixels, actually.

#

FT232H could do it with its SPI?

icy moth
#

Yeah

#

Given how cheap a qt py is, $5 for a controller is pretty good

#

Add SPI flash on back of the samd21 version and that would probably be enough

#

$7.50

#

It went up

split willow
#

The main thing I need is I need to be able to send data from the computer to the lights. I want the lights to change based on system load. So whatever I pick would need to be able to be controlled from the PC

icy moth
#

Any circuitpython compatible microcontroller should work then

split willow
#

From the options I've looked up so far (thanks everyone for the suggestions) the FT232H is probably the simplest option

icy moth
#

Sure, FT232H is a great options

split willow
#

Although, because I need to do this on multiple computers, it might be cheaper to get a strand of dotstar LEDs instead of neopixels

hearty karma
#

The SPI port will work better with DotStars anyway

#

However, the option of an inexpensive microcontroller will work with either, and it wouldn't be too difficult.

delicate quarry
#

Pi Pico is definitely the cheapest option, and easily programmed to accept a serial input over a USB COM port. Better compatibility with RGBW NeoPixel varieties, and easy to code with Arduino or CircuitPython?

split willow
#

If the pi pico shows up as a USB drive with circuitpython I can write text files to the volume and read them in a loop from the pico. That's probably the easiest (for me) option. Thanks!

obtuse onyx
#

Sooo Q: Are we having a Winter-Spring Adabox, a Summer Adabox, and a Fall Adabox, so 3 in total this year??

icy moth
#

Has adabox been announced?

obtuse onyx
#

Or a W-S Adabox and a S-F Adabox??

obtuse onyx
#

But I think one's coming soon in a month

icy moth
#

Oh I didn’t even see the announcement

obtuse onyx
icy moth
#

Yeah, says 37 days

obtuse onyx
#

hehe it said 26 yesterday

#

The timer is getting longer instead of shorter

stable cloak
#

What's the best way to connect a featherwing to a feather on a breadboard while still having access to the SWD port? Should I just place them side-by-side and jumper the required pins?

delicate quarry
# stable cloak What's the best way to connect a featherwing to a feather on a breadboard while ...

The feather is on the breadboard? If you have a breadboard setup, the SWD pins should be underneath the feather IIRC, so you should ideally solder wire to the circular pads and bring the ends out before mounting the feather into the breadboard. From there, you should be able to directly stack the featherwing on top if you soldered in stacking headers. https://www.adafruit.com/product/2830

Stacking Headers for Feather - 12-pin and 16-pin female headers

These two Female Stacking Headers alone are, well, lonely. But pair them with any of our Feather boards and you're in business!What do they do? They stack. Put the headers through your ...

stable cloak
delicate quarry
#

Alternatively, a featherwing doubler with header pins to reach down into a breadboard (or two) underneath.

#

Depending on which featherwing, you could also put the feather on top of the featherwing, too. Stack order doesn't matter haha.

stable cloak
delicate quarry
stable cloak
delicate quarry
#

Two might be enough, but three will definitely clear the ethernet jack.

agile cloud
#

Quick "starter" question... I have some circuit python code I've written for many different adafruit boards. I'm trying to move it to a RPI4. what "hardware" do I define for a headless Raspberry Pi? Import adafruit_pyportal doesn't work. Where do I find the CircuitPython docs to explain everything available? Oh, there IS a Raspberry Pi Matrix portal Hat with clock attached to the RPI.

deep sonnet
deep sonnet
icy moth
#

But I have a Stemma qt connector to add sensors and whatnot to it 🙂

delicate quarry
#

I'd be surprised if the adafruit_pyportal library worked on devices outside of the PyPortal, but I also don't really have any experience with that particular device or library personally.

proud mesa
#

I am error

pine igloo
#

tank kit say that motors will only run with batteries and with the switch on while the microcontroller/sensors will work with batteries/usb cable

#

how are they doing that ?! Didn't know electronics could detect the "kind" of power it is getting

hearty karma
#

It could be the battery connection goes straight to the motors and to the rest of the electronics through a diode, so power can't go "the other way". Or possibly, the motors draw so much current that USB would go into overcurrent protection?

pine igloo
#

overcurrent is a good point, I shouldn't mess with it then

#

but it sucks a lot because it make it much harder to use since I have to pre-program moving....

#

or code compatibility with the Standard Cheapest of the Cheap Arduino Kit Remote (SCCAKR) (usually without a datasheet because we don't want to be associated with our products)

#

I bought a 50 feet data usb-c cable just for that but I guess it won't be of much use since motors don't work on USB...

agile cloud
hearty karma
#

numpy can be problematic. I wonder if it's worth using Anaconda?

lilac badger
#

Anyone know if there is an adapter that do m2 ssd male to 2x m2 ssd female ? For my laptop???

pine igloo
#

opinions about thermowire vs electrical tape like 3m super33 for temporily attaching wires together and can be deattached later ?

delicate quarry
# pine igloo opinions about thermowire vs electrical tape like 3m super33 for temporily attac...

No idea what thermowire is, but you should look into wire nuts or joints for temporary connections instead of tape. https://www.adafruit.com/product/3786 or https://www.adafruit.com/product/866 are both much stronger than tape, and can be used for temporary or semi-permanent connections.

2-Pin Wire Joints (3-pack)

These are the easiest way possible to connect two wires - no if's, and's, or butt's! Well, actually, these are often referred to as wire butts 'cause you 'butt' two ...

Snap-action 3-Wire Block Connector (12-28 AWG) - Pack of 3

These are like the fancy electronics equivalent of the wire nuts electricians use to bind wires together. They are a lot easier to use as well! Each block connector has a metal block inside ...

pine igloo
#

I don't know the correct name but it is to join two wire, you put a big plastic(?) transparent sheating around it available with many colors

#

then heat it with say a low-temperature blowtorch until it shrink and cover the wires

#

ah heat shrink tubing I think is the correct word

delicate quarry
# pine igloo ah heat shrink tubing I think is the correct word

Usually you would solder the wires together before applying heat shrink, as the shrinking pressure isn't enough to maintain solid continuity by itself. It's fantastic for providing insulation and strain relief, but generally used for semi-permanent connections.

#

Unless you don't mind cutting and splicing wires, in which case solder and shrink is great. I am running out of that particular size of shrink tubing, though...

random cypress
lilac badger
#

I'm trying to install a 1tb instead of my 120gb ssd. But It seems I can't find a way to do it. I tried cloning my ssd to an external hdd so I could start over usb and then clone back to my 1tb but it keeps giving me errors

#

so I am doing a "forensic" clone

#

will take forever !!!

#

lol

random cypress
#

Lol

#

What is forensic?

lilac badger
#

bit by bit

pine igloo
#

I guess an hard drive contains evidence of crimes and they are doing a clone of it before they check what is on it as the good practice says to do in evidence forensic

random cypress
lilac badger
#

maybe, first time I'm doing it

lilac badger
#

took 25 mins

pine igloo
#

oof just seen a video of a cap blowing up sending acid 6 feet in the air from the top

#

I'm scared now

#

it even linger for a couple dozens of second

undone hare
#

I know adafruit is all about python but is there a channel for .net nanoframework on your hardware. I am using a Metro ESP32-S2 Express.

delicate quarry
cold pebble
deep sonnet
#

Our project is updated day by day😉... Now V0.2 has arrived... Say shortcomings and comments.😌😌

IMG-20220503-WA0155.jpg
#

Photo from Arduino_classroom {+/-}

IMG-20220503-WA0154.jpg
hearty karma
pine igloo
#

do you know of an example offhand or brand?

young ice
#

TIL that atmel makes usb 2.0 high speed capable mcus

#

and that they're actually in stock somehow despite the chip shortage

#

(see: atsams70)

#

pricy though

icy moth
pine igloo
#

What chips shortage ? Full shelves of them at my grocery store 😄

#

also chip shortage even affect obsolete DIP packages chips ?

#

I mean if it's a material thing the answer would be yes. But if it's a fab size/semiconductor die process then no because if my DIP chip only have 4 logic gates in it while the cheaper SMD one has 512 surely the DIP one doesn't one a 5 nm die size otherwise it could fit 512 gates

#

I might be old school but I'd rather they remove chips in a couple of products that never needed them in first place like coffee machine, cars etc and cut on chips that remove right to repair

hearty karma
# pine igloo do you know of an example offhand or brand?

Adam Savage did a YT video on them a while back. Here's one source: https://wirefyshop.com/products/solder-seal-wire-connectors?variant=21193546006607

Wirefyshop
Solder Seal Wire Connectors Kit

High quality Solder Seal Wire Connector kits for a wide range electrical applications. Use in marine, automotive and home electrical wiring. Wirefy offers a large assortment of solder seal wire connectors at a very affordable price. Get your solder seal electrical connectors today!

hearty karma
pine igloo
#

how about cutting down on chips in the future ? I mean cars worked perfectly fine between 1910 and 1980

#

We just had to use our muscles to set the climate control or roll down the windows

#

And it already costs ton of money to repair a car because a mechanic almost need 1 OSD computer per make/model + a 1000$ a month sub. Sometimes I'm scared my coffee grinder will be full of chips one day and will cost 6000$ to repair and someone with a doctorate in electronics

hearty karma
#

It's doable, but unlikely. There's market pressure for "convenience", regulatory pressure for engine monitoring and fuel economy, and economic pressure for quick time to market and inexpensive manufacturing. Happily, the regulatory pressures forced carmakers to standardize, I've been using the same engine analyzer for quite a few years, and there's no monthly charge.

outer brook
hearty karma
#

He likes them: I've bought some for a solar powered outdoor project but haven't tried them yet.

outer brook
#

Hmmm they seem nice, but almost too good to be true

#

Just gotta see if they are highV rated

hearty karma
#

I doubt they are, but I normally triple insulate any HV connections anyway.

pine igloo
#

That's my two reasons for learning electronics 1) So I am of any use in a post-apocalyptic world 2) If my coffee grinder has tons of chips in it one day I can make a simpler version from spare parts 🤣

outer brook
#

Yeah I was going to just use solder and multiple pieces of heat shrink

pine igloo
#

I expected computers to not work anymore, but I'm fairly certain ohm law will still apply and usually the smaller the electronics the more resistant to EMP, especially battery powered ones

hearty karma
#

My fridge broke in the middle of the night. I traced the problem down to its CPU board. I suppose I could have bought another CPU board for $90, but I repaired it (resoldered a couple of pins on a relay and replaced an underrated power resistor). As it happened, I didn't have the right power resistor, so I just made one up out of 8 smaller resistors. It worked fine for 12 years. It finally conked out again, so I replaced my power resistor bodge with an appropriate one, fixed a couple of other solder joints, it's still running.

pine igloo
#

Is it possible to make primitive resistors out of say epoxy ?

hearty karma
#

Unfortunately, the smaller the semiconductor junctions, the less resistant to EMP. However my vacuum tube electronics laugh at EMP anyway.

pine igloo
#

Yeah but bigger thing use more power so more energy left to damage them and more possible arcs to cause a runaway reaction

hearty karma
#

You can make resistors out of all sorts of things (iron wire, pencil lead, salt water, etc.) I doubt epoxy would be particularly useful.

#

Things that use more power can generally survive more power.

pine igloo
#

hum, cell phones most have some protection from ti then

#

I had an emp burst event affect my old xperia U and it died for a couple of minutes then was fine

hearty karma
#

I would expect cell phone power amplifiers to be fairly robust, but their CPUs less so

violet torrent
#

I'm... morbidly curious to see what of the stuff I own would survive an EMP, but I also don't want to sacrifice everything I own

pine igloo
#

The event was that I touched the bus door to open it when my cell phone in the same hand and static arced into it and the shock was a bit painful for me

#

It immediatly went off but 10 mins later it was like nothing had happened

#

I have to put it in a recycle box soon but it's still working so it kinda boggle my mind to recycle perfectly working electronics and I can't get over it 😄

hearty karma
#

That's a static discharge, not an EMP. They're both kinds of electrical overloads, but they're coupled differently and do different kinds of damage.

pine igloo
#

Local shop say I can "Recycle old, unwanted technology" but it's weird to throw away something that still works even if it's not of any use use to me nor salvagable

#

Like that xperia or my old printer with a minimum resolution of a 40x60 pixel blot of ink....

pine igloo
#

Like if I use a resistor rated for 100W if I only put 0.5W in it or fuse rated for 24V 50A like on industrial switchbuttons/vehicle dashboard controls ?

hearty karma
#

That listing had an assortment of sizes. Generally, a larger conductor will offer less resistance (this is why audiophiles like to use monster cables for their speaker wires). I normally derate components, so I'll use a 1 watt resistor even if it's only dissipating a little power: it'll run cooler and last longer. However, using an overrated fuse isn't a good idea: the idea of fuses is for them to blow first, to protect wires (and people) from unexpected current.

pine igloo
#

I'm not buying it for the fuse though, just because I need the industrial button / tractor button look

#

But I'm worried that since the terminal can handle much more than I can send to it the connection won't be made correctly and I'll never detect it was pressed

delicate quarry
#

Reasons to avoid oversized wires:

Cost
Weight
Size

pine igloo
#

I know they are conductive but isn't that what a leather glove or rubber glove does to protect against electricity? It slows down thing so you have time to get away/get a warning but doesn't give immunity ? it still conduct but much less ?

#

Just like air is a really good insulator but can't handle lightning

delicate quarry
#

You're thinking of heat conductivity, I believe.

pine igloo
#

so logically with a big enough mass of metal it could take a while for electrons to go throught

delicate quarry
#

Electricity flows through the path of least resistance, so a leather glove and its high electrical resistance greatly reduces the amount of current that is likely to pass through it.

#

Electron speed is not the same as current speed.

#

As the size of conductors increase, resistance decreases.

pine igloo
#

Probably true, I'm confused as to why high voltage gloves mention a protection of 70000 volts but nothing about current

#

I kinda see an insulator/leather gloves like a sponge, slow down electrons a lot but eventually there will be too many of them and they will pass

delicate quarry
#

Current is a function of voltage and resistance, and since the resistance of a physical object is generally fixed, a voltage rating is sufficient enough to determine whether or not it will protect your hand from an unsafe current.

#

I can't speak for electron drift velocity in this context, but I don't think that's how electricity works.

pine igloo
#

quora also seem to think that insulator slow down the flow of electrons (current) but doesn't completely stops it and current kills so I'm a bit confused

delicate quarry
#

For one, continuous current through your body is dangerous when it's at levels high enough to generate heat. If an insulator can convert current to heat faster than heat can accumulate within the material, it's not hazardous.

pine igloo
#

So if I have rubber boots and I stand on a line rated less than the rating of the boots theorically I could stand on it for hours, time doesn't make a difference ?

delicate quarry
#

Current kills when it passes through certain parts of the body. A strong shock through the tip of a finger is painful, but what really can kill a person instantly is when the shock travels through the entire body and stops the heart.

#

As far as I understand yes. It's risky for many other reasons, but the boots will protect you from the line voltage's potential current.

#

Although I think it also depends on the standard the rating is based on, as different governing bodies have different criteria for ratings.

pine igloo
#

so I always wondered if that would save me money even if the wires are bigger

delicate quarry
#

In any case, if there is enough current passing through a material, it could generate heat that can potentially cause burns, and it can melt or burn itself to expose you to shock, but the risk of shock itself is dramatically reduced when wearing insulating protective gear.

delicate quarry
#

As for raw hookup wire, the cost is almost directly proportional to the volume of copper in a wire (and type/volume of insulation)

undone hare
pine igloo
#

Last question, I'm very confused by this. The current and voltage it can handle are really high but some of them have leds to show they are on but I don't see anything about voltage drop in there

dfssfd.png
hearty karma
#

You can save money if the wires on the spools are useful for what you're doing. If you're using solderless breadboards, you need solid insulated wire of a particular gauge (neither too thick nor too thin). However, if you can grab a spool of suitable wire, it's dandy for breadboarding on the cheap. However, I have a spool of miles of 37ga magnet wire that's so thin it's very difficult to work with, and it's very hard to remove the varnish insulation without damaging it. I don't use that wire for much of anything, but I'm reluctant to throw it away.

pine igloo
#

All I can see in there is 6/12/24/120/240 V LED. Surely there is no such thing as 240V led ?

hearty karma
#

Those normally have an LED along with a current limiting resistor for the appropriate voltage (and some method for dealing with AC, in many cases).

delicate quarry
hearty karma
#

However switches are even more complicated than that: high voltage/high current switches use a different kind of contact material than low power ones. They're designed to have the arc clean the contacts. But they can slowly degrade over time if used with low power. Low power switches use a different kind of contact.

pine igloo
#

these one seems to use gold/silver contacts. I can screenshot that info here

delicate quarry
pine igloo
#

But I thought they would work because their operating current (resistive load) is 100mA

#

and their contact minimum resistance is 5 microohms

delicate quarry
#

In theory, as long as your source exceeds the forward voltage of the LED, you can configure the circuit for any voltage you want.

pine igloo
#

unfortunately I can't find that info for any idec switch or even how to wire them

#

seems they expect the user to figure this out

hearty karma
#

They might be "gold over silver" contacts, which are sort of dual purpose contacts. If used with low power, the gold makes them work reliably, if used with high power, the gold burns off, leaving the high power silver contacts, which work with high power. The drawbacks are the dual contacts are more expensive, and if you switch from high to low power, they can degrade.

pine igloo
#

ampacity is about heat management. voltage specs are fairly independent of current specs, as with voltage you have to worry about jumping a gap whereas current doesn't directly contribute to that (very much, comparatively).

#

So parts are rated for 89 volts to indicate that's the max; this should be respected.

If they're rated for more, they're rated for a lot more. The difference in specs is obvious.

hearty karma
pine igloo
#

These seems to be the only technical info I can find on their switch

specs2.png
pine igloo
#

Right so basically anything's fine so long as no short circuits happen.

hearty karma
#

I was able to find this on the datasheet

screenshot_1340.png
vapid wedge
#

how can I find the size of the screw terminals used in a given board

#

such as the dc motor + stepper featherwing?

#

found what I need to know

pine igloo
vapid wedge
# 
terminal blocks used to connect power &
the motors to the FeatherWing```
pine igloo
#

for the led pushbuttons like the LB series all I can find as that it uses 5V DC, but nothing about voltage drop or the max current like a normal led. digikey datasheet is just a catalog...

#

They have the looks I would like but it's my last try to ask here and understand if I can even use them without those huge 3-phase outlets voltage...

hearty karma
#

You can also use an external pullup (I normally use 10kΩ for this purpose)

delicate quarry
#

If it's a single voltage rating, there's probably a current limiting resistor built-in so you don't have to worry about anything else. It would have been nice if they mentioned how much current to expect from 5V, but industrial panel builders rarely care about those milliamp signals...

pine igloo
#

I guess that big switches like this also need to be mounted in metal or thick wood and probably need a good debouncing circuit

delicate quarry
#

If you give it 5V, it'll draw the right amount of current.

hearty karma
#

Hem's right, and the data sheet gives the details

screenshot_1341.png
pine igloo
#

yeah but without the voltage drop I have no idea if I can put 3 in series

pine igloo
hearty karma
#

If it's wired as a 5V LED, you can put 3 in series, and they'll want 15V

#

I went to the switch manufacturer's page https://www.apem.com/us/lbw-pushbutton-series-410.html and clicked on the "datasheet" link in the black "download" box on the right.

LBW series - Pushbutton switches

LBW - Pushbutton series is part of a full range of flush switches, pilot-lights, and selectors for aesthetic applications. Main features Separable contact blocs, up to 3 contacts 2 different shapes and 7 different colours; ring-illuminated...

delicate quarry
hearty karma
#

It also explains that the switches are available in your choice of gold or silver contacts.

pine igloo
#

I see

#

so if I put 3 in series from a gpio from a teensy or a grand central I'll probably need a relay to put 15V in them then ?

hearty karma
#

Or a transistor.

delicate quarry
#

Yeah. if you don't have that, you'll probably have to wire them in parallel.

hearty karma
#

Normally, however, I'd run the LEDs from 5V (and still use a transistor so the GPIO won't have to handle the full current draw of 3 LEDs)

#

And Hem's right: they'd be in parallel to run from 5V

pine igloo
#

It's for a joystick I mentionned about a year ago with 20-24 buttons and an ignition switch. The teensy/grand central provide enough gpios and a USB HID interface to work as a joystick

hearty karma
#

I remember. I pointed out that there are boards specifically made for such things (people build them into video game controllers), but using a general purpose board like a Teensy or Grand Central gives you lots of opportunity to customize it.

pine igloo
#

Yeah found the discussion, I guess there is something I seem to find very difficult with controller/ESC that you also seem to find very easy but I'm too new to this to figure what exactly

#

the one about racing you pointed out have an article that use a jaycar video game controller, but the leads/plugs seems to connect to product that only them sell. They are also in the US, so duty is going to be really high and a 9$ item from the US become a 60$ item

#

so I'm open to using one if it cost less than 20$ locally and if I know what these kind of boards are called so I can find one that isn't made by jaycar

#

FOr the ESC my issue is that you seem to know them really well but I'm worried about being stuck with a 800$ r/c if I can't figure it out - and anyway I can't afford that for a couple of months now that is more of a thing for next christmas

hearty karma
#

Jaycar is based in Australia, but I think they have a US site. The leads aren't really a problem, but I suspect you're better off with a generic board you can customize anyway.

#

The main proprietary part of most non-cheap R/C cars is the link between the R/C transmitter and receiver. After that, they generally use standard connectors and signalling.

pine igloo
#

the servo does the steering in an R/C right ? but if I turn 15% even when a servo some wheels will not rotate as fast as some others and so they won't get the same amount of PWM ?

#

and since the PWM comes out of the ESC I'd still need a way for the general board to interrupt it no matter what the remote says (ie: on the side of proximity detector with values near 1.0f)

hearty karma
#

There are a few ways to do steering. One is to use a servo to physically turn the wheels. The issue you mention about differing speeds is normally handled by a differential that routes the power the the wheels as needed, instead of having a separate motor for each wheel.

#

Having separate motors for each wheel is trickier because they generally won't match perfectly anyway, so even when going in a straight line, you might need to adjust the drive to each one to balance it, either using on-board direction sensing, wheel speed encoders, or both.

#

In my builds, I'll often just hook the receiver to a microcontroller and have it decode the signals and command the ESCs and servos. Then you can add software or hardware failsafes to cut/limit power in various situations.

#

There are probably other ways to automatically cut power but I haven't looked in to them as much.

pine igloo
#

when you say decode to me it sounds like expensive DSP gear /high-bandwitch osciloscope/frequency analyzer from brands like HP or tectronic or b&k etc

#

Which I don't have at all

#

And with remote/receiver what seem the most difficult is figuring their frequency

hearty karma
#

It depends on the receiver in question, but it's normally either ordinary R/C PWM signals (you can do that with an ordinary microcontroller and a library like the PJRC PulsePosition library), or asynchronous serial data (most microcontrollers can receive that with a UART port)

#

You don't need to figure the frequency, that's done for you, as long as you have a matching set. Most modern ones use the 2.4GHz band, but there are others out there using other frequencies (and even infrared)

pine igloo
#

what does these signals looks like? Saw a video with the brand that make one of the most open ESC (hobbyking) and they are basically music notes

#

But unfortunately none of the r/c trucks I had in mind use hobbyking ESC

#

They even have a direct code for turning brake mode on and accelerate mode on so would work really well for what I have in mind

#

I just need to plan ahead because playing the 4 notes isn't instant

hearty karma
#

I sent you a link, they're just variable width pulses

pine igloo
#

in DM ?

hearty karma
pine igloo
#

Would be so great if I could find a fritz part for an ESC or joystick encoder....

#

then I could start working on it

#

I found an Quimat Zero Delay Arcade USB Encoder PC for 25$ but can't find a datasheet for it, only fragment of information like the pinout

#

I already know that everyone seems to clone those Seimitsu hardware or these other two japanese brands I forgot the brand name of

hearty karma
#

I thought you were going to use a Teensy or something. There ought to be a Fritizing part for that.

pine igloo
#

well adafruit has a parts library for fritzing and I have a grand central m4 express in a cart somewhere....

#

just need to know if I need 1 stemma qt cable for each thing I'll connect...

#

I mean if a big canadian adafruit reseller also had an open ESC or a joystick encoder with a datasheet I'd consider it

#

but since they don't the only option left seem to be a grand central...

hearty karma
#

There are a few options for reading what is essentially a bunch of switches.

pine igloo
#

yeah the problem seem to be more lighting the leds (essential to know the state of a control in a game like farming simulator) and the fact there are so many switches

hearty karma
#

One approach that may or may not work for you is a dedicated chip. I'm fond of the HT16K33 (available in a handy breakout board) that can control up to 64 LEDs and read up to 39 switches.

pine igloo
#

Not sure who linked it to me earlier but how does a featherwing power relay works ? It replace mains in their lamp video (I doubt so, can't make up watts) or you plug mains into the featherwing or whatever else source that would directly power the leds in my case ??

hearty karma
#

Oops, 128 LEDs, I misremembered

#

I don't think the power relay is your best bet for controlling LEDs. You're likely better off with an LED driver of some sort.

pine igloo
#

I have to fill a 100$ min order 😄

#

stemma cables only fill it 1$ at a time

hearty karma
#

Or the aforementioned HT16K33

#

But to try to answer your question, a relay is basically an electrically controlled switch, so you can use it anywhere you would use a switch.

pine igloo
#

I'm getting the grand central anyway the beefy cpu/memory is acttractive as a general project board

hearty karma
#

It's a really capable board.

pine igloo
#

and stemma will put off the need to invest in soldering

#

ah I have to remove the protective sleeve around a power cord and cut it to expose the 3 wires to plug it to a relay

#

was hoping for a relay that use a socket to plug to the wall and another to plug to the lamp kinda like the secondary power cord in my pc case.... oh well

hearty karma
#

There are Stemma pushbuttons, light up pushbuttons, and relays available too

#

Too bad the relay module (product ID 2935) is out of stock, it has all the mains wiring already done for you.

pine igloo
#

yeah not very comfortable having live 120V wires hanging out and resleeving them/ using those plastic thing caps

#

Would have prefer a socket

hearty karma
#

The Stemma light up buttons (product ID 5296) might be what you want

pine igloo
#

Ah just to backtrack a bit, relay aren't for the joystick things. Might just be interesting to have the option to control a bunch of things that use mains

#

I'll ask around at the fablab when I can if there is a way to make them safer, atm I think it wouldn't be a good idea to put bare wires in there. If something falls by accident it could cause problems, also no fuses etc

#

possibly going to have to use octocoupler(s) too or other high-power componentss

hearty karma
#

Here's one of my 8-channel optically isolated mains switcher modules

dimmer-triac-stuffed.jpg
#

You can also buy safety-rated packaged ones as "solid state relays"

#

Another advantage of solid state relays is they're easy to drive with microcontrollers

pine igloo
#

Basically I want to avoiod that situation like stack overflow mention: "As others have said, this should not be sitting on your table or on the carpet. Exposed 110V metal carrying 110V is dangerous, and the pins on the back side of the PCB, the exposed screws, and any stripped wires could also cause shorts or electrocution. On the note of A decent way to mains power to your device would be to add a panel-mount power connector like the IEC 60320-C14 receptacles commonly found on PCs, monitors, and TVs for power input:"

#

I worry about it falling off a table or an enclosure falling off and possibly sparking with something etc

#

and enclosure energization

hearty karma
#

Hence the appeal of power tails and the like. My first iteration I built into outlet strips so all the mains wiring was safely contained.

#

Another approach is remote controlled outlet modules (they're commercially available in a variety of control setups)

pine igloo
#

best if of course to replace the outlet (something I have done before) with a smart one, but not a nice thing to do in an apartment

#

and since it's expensive you'd have to put back the original ones to take the smart ones with you

hearty karma
#

Depends on your definition of "best". I've been very happy with plug-in switchable outlets.

pine igloo
#

well apparently I could buy a power tail 2 for 25$ including shipping cost that's almost brand new/unused

#

and in stock

#

they only have 1 (electronics recycler that sell the ones that still works)

hearty karma
#

That's a nice approach

deep sonnet
young ice
#

why are the markings on the 64mbit psram scratched off?

#

(product id 4677)

verbal aspen
young ice
#

yeah i saw that

#

still not sure why though

austere stone
#

are there any new repo codes for the ccs811 air quality sensor?

pine igloo
#

got my "dental" tools to help electronics (further one like the mirror on a stick is hidden under the red flap). At 7$ it's a no-brainer as I don't care about their quality and will never put those in my mouth

IMG_20220504_034356.jpg
#

most useful one is the mirror on a stick obviously but the different picks can help in various situations along with the one that is almost straight except for a very fine scratcher at the end

#

or help with soldering bridges. I can finally press those tiny arduino kit pushbuttons now 🤣

#

Got the idea from an electronics youtuber who was showing their tools when working on electronics/audio stuff

hearty karma
quiet osprey
#

Sorry if this isn't the best spot for this question - any recommendations for getting I2C + power & ground through the wall of a plastic tote? I'd like to mount one of the STEMMA QT temperature + humidity sensors inside a dry box for 3D printer filament. I don't need a true air or even water tight seal, just enough of a seal to limit how much outside air gets in. A few thoughts I've had - 1) A TPU split grommet that's a good snug fit around one of the various STEMMA QT cables. 2) A panel mount STEMMA QT connector (don't know if such a thing exists). 3) custom cables with STEMMA QT on one end and a CPC (circular plastic connector) on the other, with one CPC connector mounted to the tote wall.

Any thoughts, comments or suggestions? Thanks in advance and I hope everyone has a great day!

pine igloo
#

i wanna get into electronics but no idea where to start

#

any ideas

quiet osprey
delicate quarry
# quiet osprey Sorry if this isn't the best spot for this question - any recommendations for ge...
  1. A TPU split grommet that's a good snug fit around one of the various STEMMA QT cables.
    If it doesn't need to be absolutely airtight, you probably could use any elastic material to sandwich the cable. Whether that's TPU, or just a hole sealed with caulk and packing foam, I guess is a matter of what you prefer aesthetially and what you're more comfortable working with. The wires are pretty tiny, after all, so it shouldn't take much...
  2. A panel mount STEMMA QT connector (don't know if such a thing exists).
    Unfortunately it doesn't, to my knowledge. The original manufacturer certainly only has wire-to-board connectors for this series, and it's unlikely for third-party clones to offer a panel mount for something this small. Even a wire-to-wire would be extremely fragile, so probably for the better.
  3. custom cables with STEMMA QT on one end and a CPC (circular plastic connector) on the other, with one CPC connector mounted to the tote wall.
    You can use any panel-mount 4-pin connector, as there are plenty such options on Digikey or Amazon. Something like https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07B8DFKYX/ might be a bit overkill, but if you like the aesthetic and have a soldering iron handy, you can definitely consider using one of these with two halves of a Stemma QT cable to make your own I2C passthrough. I personally am a fan of this style of solution, though for this application I'd consider browsing for something with a smaller plug...
pine igloo
#

but i feel like thats too complex as a first project

delicate quarry
pine igloo
#

are there any easier projects

delicate quarry
#

There is a lot involved in low-level computing, but I find most people learn better with a practical example in front of them.

pine igloo
#

that are somewhat cheaper

#

simpler

delicate quarry
#

Specifically for an 8-bit computer, not to my knowledge, but you an certainly start with Arduino-based kits instead, if that's your preference.

#

https://www.amazon.com/Arduino-Starter-Kit-English-Official/dp/B009UKZV0A is a pretty safe kit, though it in itself has no direct relation to the computing aspect of electronics.

Official Arduino Starter Kit [K000007] (English Projects Book)

This kit walks you through the basics of Arduino and electronics in a hands-on way. You will be able to build 15 projects using components that let you control the physical world through different kinds of sensors and actuators. Comes with a 170 page project guide book. Includes over 100 components

quiet osprey
pine igloo
#

lmao

#

im reluctant to buy an arduino cus like

#

i wanna learn the BASICS basics

#

starting out with a microcontroller prolly wont teach me that

quiet osprey
#

True. A good text book like The Art of Electronics is the best intro to the basic basics that I know. Then again there's probably some great intros on YouTube.

delicate quarry
#

It really comes down to where you want to start and how deep you want to go. Technically, you can use C and code with direct register access instead of Arduino's C++ variant, but I did that as part of my Embedded Software course in college, so can't say I have guides to share for that.

#

Oh, @pine igloo https://www.falstad.com/circuit/e-index.html might be of interest to you. It's a free circuit simulator in your browser, so you can play with that alongside any other electronics resources you find. The examples included go pretty deep, too, from basic Ohm's law demonstrations to a recreation of the various parts of the original Pong circuit... I think there's an AVR simulator mixed in there somewhere, too.

quiet osprey
delicate quarry
# quiet osprey Thanks for the input. Lots of good info. I might have to hit up the Tyco or Amph...

I'm also a fan of these kinds of pluggable connectors, especially if you're not planning to make it necessarily weatherproof. https://www.digikey.com/en/products/detail/phoenix-contact/0707264/348293

0707264 Phoenix Contact | Connectors, Interconnects | DigiKey

Order today, ships today. 0707264 – 4 Position Terminal Block Header, Male Pins Green from Phoenix Contact. Pricing and Availability on millions of electronic components from Digi-Key Electronics.

quiet osprey
#

Cool. Phoenix Contact makes good stuff. Always been happy with their products.

delicate quarry
#

If all else fails, D-Sub connectors are pretty common and easy to install haha

#

More conductors then you need, but likely cheaper than the specialized connectors.

verbal aspen
#

There are also weatherproof RJ45 connectors and the like.

delicate quarry
#

Or panel-mount ethernet, if you plan to couple it with a nice I2C differential converter for extra range...

quiet osprey
#

Ha! Digikey - 4 position circular connectors. Only 31,000 to pick from

#

At that point I'll just stick a WiFi enabled feather or QTPie in the box with a LiPo!

#

Hey, here we go. Four contact, panel mout, Glenair 802 series. Rated for 1,000' immersion in salt water. Only $1,038.71 each. That's a deal!

icy moth
#

Lol

pine igloo
#

what is a 100-150$ max at least semi-automatic tool to use to make 3 holes of different diameter accross the thickness? what if they are square holes instead of circles?

#

'punch'

#

'square hole punch' reasonable search term

hearty karma
# pine igloo that are somewhat cheaper

You can go a couple of routes. One is electronics learning kits like Snap Circuits or the "100 in 1 electronics project" sets. They'll let you pick up the basics, but only go so far. The other route is to get a solderless breadboard, a handful of components, some jumpers, and optionally something like an Arduino if you want to do things with software. Then work through tutorials to build and understand how components and circuits work. Then you can build on that (with the same breadboard) to work with digital logic gates and work up to breadboard computers and the like.

mental mica
#

well, this is annoying

#

the chip I need for a VFD project is only sold by 1 company because it's old-stock

#

which is fine, and they have an online order form

#

buuuuut their min. order quantity is 40 for a $6 chip

#

Currently wondering if I can call & get an exception, being a student

hearty karma
#

Allegro A6810?

main hemlock
# pine igloo that are somewhat cheaper

The Art of Electronics is good but extremely thorough. Some other books I found for a friend a while ago are: Make: Electronics by Charles Platt, and Electronics from the Ground Up by Ronald Quan

hearty karma
#

Also Getting Started in Electronics by Forrest M. Mims

mental mica
main hemlock
#

I also like the textbook Electronic Principles by Malvino. The latest editions are pricey, like any textbook, but there are numerous older editions you should be able to find. I find the author does a good job explaining circuit design, not just analysis.

hearty karma
# mental mica MAX6850

It's worth asking them. There are other VFD driver chips offered by the aforementioned Allegro as well as Supertex

main hemlock
#

My benchmark was "does this book do a good job explaining how to design a simple class-A amp?". Very few actually did.

hearty karma
#

Ah, Supertex was acquired by Microchip

humble thunder
#

okay, figured out something that was making me feel like i was going crazy while working on a project, but... turns out i wasn't as crazy as i thought, because it seems the 128x64 OLED FeatherWing's A and C buttons are actually wired backwards from what they should be, A is pin 9 and C is pin 5, instead of the other way around like the silkscreen on the board implies

mental mica
#

Currently contemplating a board design that'd have me soldering 8 TSSOP-28 packages by hand

quiet osprey
#

I worked for years with a lady that could do some insane hand soldering work. One time I screwed up a package foot print for a 200+ pin QFP and she managed to save my butt by bending the leads to where they would fit and soldered it by hand.

delicate quarry
#

You'd be surprised what's within the realm of doable with a soldering iron given the right supplies...

#

With a fine enough iron tip and proper pad placement, TSSOP shouldn't be very difficult at all for anyone who's done SMT rework before.

outer brook
#

Agreed, TSSOP ain't too bad

delicate quarry
#

Personally, I draw the line at QFN...

#

QFP isn't too bad, especially with flux and/or solder paste. Just carefully line up the pins on the edge and visually inspect for alignment before soldering the whole thing down.

#

I could probably manage QFN if I extended the pads enough, but it's not something I'd feel confident about.

violet torrent
delicate quarry
# violet torrent VFD?

Vacuum-Flourescent Display. Basically the CRT-equivalent of character LCDs. You might see them on older microwaves or VCRs...

violet torrent
#

Oh, I was very unclear as to what I was asking! I was curious as to what VFD was being used cause I find them cool!

#

60's to 90's tech is what I have the most of as a collector

delicate quarry
#

Ah.

split willow
#

I have a matrix portal m4 with 32x32 panel and trying to build something that has 2 way communication with a PC via USB (no wifi available) My current thoughts are I can use the ESP and communicate with it via serial but I'm not a great C++ dev so it'll take a bit for me to build and serial communication might be hard 2-way. Other option is use circuitpython and communicate via text files on the USB drive mount. I'm a better python dev but there seems to be fewer libraries available (eg no python sand demo). Are there other options I'm missing or things I need to consider?

delicate quarry
split willow
#

I think so. I'm not sure how I would sync the communication if I only have half duplex. My initial thought of writing/reading files on disk was the easiest way to transfer data I could think of

outer brook
#

RS-485?

delicate quarry
#

The M4 is single-threaded anyways for the most part, so I'm not sure what kind of sync you're looking for...

#

Send and receive are handled separately, and you could use asyncio to manage the sending and receiving of data asynchronously.

#

Is it alright if I ask what exactly you're trying to accomplish?

hearty karma
jagged vapor
#

idk if they are the chip you're looking for, but thought I'd offer

split willow
# delicate quarry Is it alright if I ask what exactly you're trying to accomplish?

I want to create something like the sand/pixeldust demo but each grain is a process on a cluster of computers. As I tilt the board it would move the sand on the screen and also the processes will migrate on the computers. I can do the process migration parts, but I don't know how to visually represent that. The matrix is only ever plugged into 1 computer but it will communicate with the others to get data about what is running where

split willow
minor crag
#

so, I am going to remove a DIP-40 chip and replace it with a socket.. is there any reason I shouldn't consider using female machine pin headers over a standard chip socket for this task?

hearty karma
hearty karma
hearty karma
minor crag
#

alright

#

so machine pin headers are better as a semi-permanent solution, and not a good idea if you intend on doing a lot of removing and reinserting different chips or components into something

#

i thought about using one of those test sockets, with the lever, but they might be a bit too tall

karmic obsidian
safe edge
#

Is there an Elon rocket model?

pine igloo
#

hey among all adafruit product anything that can fit a 1 inch diameter circle (ex-compass plastic box) powered by coin/button battery with at least 4-5 gpios ?

#

am I correct to think only itsybitsy and trinkets would potentially work ?

outer brook
#

Have you seen the QT py line?

#

I think it's the smallest

#

It has like...13 GPIO?

pine igloo
#

worried about heat because this would be on a keyholder in my pocket

violet torrent
#

The QT Py line fits the same form factor and GPIO profile as the Seeed Xiao, it's very small

delicate quarry
#

QTPY might just barely be outside that 1" diameter, due to its diagonals.

#

It certainly fits a 1" square, but a circle is tight.

#

It's probably worth noting a coin cell battery's nominal voltage is 3.0V, so it might be a bit low for most microcontrollers.

violet torrent
#

lemme check with mine

pine igloo
#

it's slightly more than 1 inch, according to measure tape, seems like 1.1/1.15/1.2

violet torrent
#

I have a set of vernier calipers so I can check diagonal

outer brook
#

I have the model open

#

One sec

pine igloo
#

it's a compass box so less than 4-5mm thick

outer brook
#

Diagonal is .79261

#

Per CAD

pine igloo
#

but I'm open to buying another one of these keyholder and putting another compass box under it to have 9-10mm

violet torrent
#

i measure exactly 1 inch

#

like, dead on

outer brook
#

Ah, wrong parameter

violet torrent
#

mine is in cm/mm, and it's 2.54cm

outer brook
#

Yeah, .99261

pine igloo
#

what about heat, am I going to see vent hole or I can sort of seal it ?

outer brook
#

If it's up against the metal (not great idea), you wouldn't need to worry about it. If you can find something that is electrically insulating but heat conducting to line it with, that would be ideal

pine igloo
#

nah it's a compass box so soft plastic backing

#

but I guess I could tape some aluminum foil back there throught an hole

violet torrent
#

Not sure you really need to worry about the heat generation from a microcontroller chip

pine igloo
#

or aluminium foil with thing cut lines in it to make it breath

#

was only worried because it would mostly be in my pocket in an almost sealed plastic box all day long

outer brook
#

AL foil against the MCU board is not the best idea

#

AL conducts electricity

#

So

#

Shorts!

pine igloo
#

ah I thought it would like an heatsink but yeah...

#

I guess the coin holder/button holder for the battery is an aftermarket part since it only seems to support usb power ?

outer brook
#

You can hack in external power

pine igloo
#

I guess this qualify as a wearable I guess....

violet torrent
#

I sincerely doubt you'll need a heatsink, just looking at an RP2040 (the QT Py variant I possess) it doesn't seem to get too hot, and it's temp ratings are much higher and lower than a human body could make it

#

You'll feel it before it'll break

outer brook
#

A heatsink wouldn't work well either

#

Heat sinks are meant to help get the heat elsewhere, they generally require a fluid

pine igloo
#

I just meant as in there is no ventilation, nothing to remove the heat

violet torrent
#

that's fair

outer brook
#

I agree with Z, they are likely correct that it's not a big deal

pine igloo
#

so it's going to marinate in its heat all day

violet torrent
#

it's basically going to probably be inconsequential

pine igloo
#

Just need to figure out a better solution than carrying a 4xAA battery holder now (which would probably produce uncomfortable heat)

violet torrent
#

Lots of people make wearable projects with microcontrollers and I haven't heard of anyone needing heat dissipation

#

I use 3xAAs to power my portable project and that's never produced too much heat

#

Adafruit produce a JST AA holder

delicate quarry
pine igloo
#

they all says 3.3V regulator, so I suppose I can put 3x1.2V in there or 4x1.2V or 4x1.5V and it level it down to 3.3 ?

violet torrent
#

I should find my 8xAA holder somewhere

pine igloo
#

I think there is a qt samd51 one, a rp2040 one and an ESC one not sure yet which one I'll pick exactly

delicate quarry
#

3x coin cell should work, if you design a holder for it.

pine igloo
#

I have a spare holder for 4xAA, problem with coin cell is they barely have any energy

delicate quarry
#

Don't use ESP32 unless you need the wireless capabilities. They tend to draw more current than the alternatives.

pine igloo
#

and I have 40 spare NiCd

#

that can still recharge 100 times or so

#

"Waterproof 3xAA Battery Holder with On/Off Switch" sounds less bulky and more safe if it rain/snow though

violet torrent
#

There should be a voltage regulator on board, and they should tolerate 4.5V on the 5V input (with a shottky diode to prevent backpowering when you plug in the USB port)

pine igloo
#

ok last question because I don't completely understand stemma

#

Space for 1 stemma connection, so 1 stemma sensor the rest I have to solder ?

qtpy.png
violet torrent
#

stemma sensors are able to be chained, it's why there's 2 ports on most sensors, cause each sensor is addressable on a shared data bus (I2C)

pine igloo
#

stemma provide ground/vcc and gpio to each other then ?!

violet torrent
#

VCC and GND are also shared yes

pine igloo
#

without me having to solder-wire it back to the 5V port on the qt py ?

#

oh nice

violet torrent
#

the gpio that is shared is just the i2c bus

pine igloo
#

finally a project that won't cost tons of money 🙂

#

also got new colored tapes for my polulu zumo robot so I can make more tracks/more stops etc

#

I only had yellow and black and now I have blue, red and green 🙂

mild thistle
#

What’s the difference between vcc and vdd?

violet torrent
#

So the double letter sometimes refers to the transistor use, such as BJT having VCC and VEE for Collector and Emitter; with FET having VDD and VSS as Drain and Source

#

VEE and VSS aren't necessarily GND, more just the negative supply voltage, but a lot of the time people tie that to ground instead of having it floating

mild thistle
#

Oh

#

That makes sense

violet torrent
#

Nowadays it's all a bit more complicated

mild thistle
violet torrent
#

Especially because of CMOS logic

mild thistle
#

Or maybe n channel I always get polarity wrong

violet torrent
#

It really depends on who is labelling it

mild thistle
#

Lol

hearty karma
#

I'll often refer to "the zero volt reference" instead of "ground", to make it clearer what I'm referring to.

violet torrent
#

I just had a read of the wikipedia page tbh

#

(it was an interesting question I didn't know the answer to, so i was happy to look it up)

mild thistle
#

I am going to make the april fools fluke keyboard in real life

halcyon hazel
#

I found a vintage Tektronix oscilloscope for $50. As a beginner, is this worth getting? I've been borrowing a scope for some audio stuff I've been working on and I've found it useful, so I'd like to have my own.

delicate quarry
#

If you're dealing with audio and have space/budget for it, probably? What model?

halcyon hazel
#

Tektronix 453

#

Yeah it's pretty big and heavy, and possibly noisy too. But I think I can manage that. Just seems like a good deal compared to spending $300 or more on a modern scope.

#

Maybe if I get more into this stuff later I'll make that investment into a more modern scope.

vagrant gyro
#

were you borrowing a more modern scope? was it a digital storage scope? you mention "audio", so may be useful for that application, but those older, non-storage scopes can be pretty limiting

halcyon hazel
#

Yeah it's a digital scope. I don't know if it has storage but I assume it does.

vagrant gyro
#

for $50 - could just setup it up to display lissajous and let it be throwback art

halcyon hazel
#

I've just been using it to see the output audio waveform. I think even the old scopes can handle that just fine right?

vagrant gyro
#

yep. i'd think so. that's something that generally doesn't need storage. you're just constantly looking at the latest trace.

halcyon hazel
#

Alright, thank you

humble thunder
#

old analog scopes can also be used to watch some awesome oscilloscope art! lol

tulip bloom
#

Where can i get help with billing issues?

#

I tried emailing support but they stopped replying to me and didnt help

#

My address was flagged for fraud apparently and they wont ship to me

#

This is my first time buying from adafruit btw

solemn field
tulip bloom
karmic obsidian
#

hi scatman (pt from adafruit here)

#

@tulip bloom i can take a look, can you provide part of the email message so i can look it up?

#

time/date and/or something not personal i can search with

tulip bloom
#

I sent the first email at 11:48 am est today

#

Subject was “ Address flagged “

karmic obsidian
#

@tulip bloom if there was a previous order shipped to a location that was a chargeback or an issue, the address may not be ship-able to again

#

there are a lot of locations during the "pi shortage" we are not shipping to, since this is related to raspberry pi orders, that is probably why

#

so! @tulip bloom please try another vendor for raspberry pi units, there is a shortage and we're dealing with a lot of constraints and automated order attempts and everything

tulip bloom
#

But ive never ordered from you guys before my account literally has 0 order history. Is it possible to get the flag removed?

karmic obsidian
#

@tulip bloom since this is for a raspberry pi order, not at this time - we're dealing with a lot of automated attempts so for now, please try another vendor for raspberry pi units

tulip bloom
karmic obsidian
#

to be straight up, buying pi's is going to be tough

#

you are welcome to try another address, however - for the most part getting pi units is going to be tough since we're dealing with a lot of attempts for a small number of units - we're working on this to make things easier/better, but it's really challenging right now

tulip bloom
#

I had an order already and had even already been charged for it but because of the account flag it didnt let me complete the order

karmic obsidian
#

@tulip bloom you will not be charged for any order

tulip bloom
#

Yea i know it was temporary thats gone already i just included that part to show how close i was

karmic obsidian
#

yep, it's a giant challenge right now with thousands of people trying to get hundreds of pi units, right now there is a lot of this - you are welcome to try again to another location, however - it's going to be tough getting any pi units for a very long time

tulip bloom
#

Is there any way to check if the other address is flagged too? Or i just have to try again and find out

karmic obsidian
#

@tulip bloom correct - on checkout is how you'll know - i do not want to take up more space here in the general channel, but thanks for reaching out and i'm sorry about the pi situation, it's going to be like this for awhile 😦

tulip bloom
#

Ok thanks!

cold pebble
#

A number of items (all out of stock for some time) in my Wishlist have been marked "Maximum 1 per order" (never used to be marked that way). I have 2FA enabled.

#

Is that related to the Raspberry Pi protections, or just general supply chain / fairness? (only one item has relevance to Raspberry Pi)

main hemlock
cold pebble
#

Pixie Chroma (5409)

main hemlock
#

that's out of stock at the moment, is there another thing that's in stock?

cold pebble
#

floppy cable 5453, the rest are out of stock for quite some time or I'd have ordered them by now 😉

#

it's mostly out of stock items that newly have the 1 per order notice

main hemlock
#

I added that to an empty wishlist and don't see the max 1 notice. Could you send a screentshot?

#

I"m just trying to figure out if there's a bug and the "max 1" for some RPi thing is infecting the other listings

cold pebble
#

I tried deleting it and re-adding it andstill get the notice

Screen_Shot_2022-05-05_at_1.41.15_PM.png
main hemlock
#

does everything in the wishlist have max 1?

cold pebble
#

the only thing that doesn't is pushbuttons 5236

main hemlock
#

if you remove the rpi thing and refresh, does it change?

cold pebble
#

yes!

main hemlock
#

what was the RPi item?

cold pebble
#

Zero 2 W

#

if I re-add the Zero 2 W, the list is good again/still (except of course the Zero 2 W has the limit)

#

so I'm good, thanks, sounds like maybe retrofitting the limit was the infectious aspect

main hemlock
#

I think that out of stock things get that notice when there is a max 1 item that is oos. That seems like a bug. I'll report it

main hemlock
#

web folks say thanks and fix is in the works

pearl heart
#

Are there any smaller tft displays capable of running at 60fps? I have a 160x128 st7735 based display but I wasn't aware of how limited they are in terms of speed

humble thunder
#

i don't think Adafruit makes breakouts for the very tiny displays that aren't just SPI or I2C

#

which is likely where the slowness is coming from, that is... the interface to the display

lost lily
#

The Adafruit 320x240 TFT (2.8 in) supports parallel

#

(40MHZ SPI works well too)

humble thunder
delicate quarry
pearl heart
#

That's probably small enough

humble thunder
#

which is actually the exact product i think @lost lily was talking about too lol, the other side there is a high-speed 8-bit parallel connector, downside is that it requires a crapton of pins to drive, but it lets you drive the display far faster

#

oh, i linked the 3.5" one, there's a 2.8" one too

lost lily
pearl heart
#

12-13 pins is kind of a lot hahaha but a fair trade off

delicate quarry
#

40MHz SPI is not easy to achieve with most microcontrollers, even an ESP32 has heavy restrictions past 20MHz...

#

60fps displays on PCs are typically handled by dedicated graphics hardware peripherals, it's pretty hard for a microcontroller to replicate that.

lost lily
#

(just saying)

#

You obviously need to use the hardware SPI peripheral

#

And short connections

delicate quarry
#

Actually, 160x128 is pretty small, 60 fps should be achievable with even 10MHz SPI...? What is the default bus speed?

minor crag
#

hmm, I am looking at some of the new ARM based chips coming out this year, or have recently come out, and these things are getting pretty dang close to the performance of a full size PC

pine igloo
#

grand central gone from mouser/digikey canada 😢

pine igloo
#

big enough to fit a touch screen, a pi, lipo, holes for standard connectors etc

#

and grill for air circulation and for speakers

pine igloo
#

cheapest dvd player shaped object money can buy (got it for the enclosure)

IMG_20220505_195759.jpg
#

also removable power cord as expected/wanted

hearty karma
#

That's a nice little heatsink too

pine igloo
#

yeah and a big massive 400V capacitor in there

#

trying to ID it, it has three PCBs, one for mains, one for logic and one for front "basic/primitive display that only show time"

hearty karma
#

That's probably part of the power supply, those are nice capacitors

pine igloo
#

mains pcb

IMG_20220505_200727.jpg
#

saw one in the trash and liked what I saw inside (the dvd reader is enclosed too so nice place to put a lipo or other staff

#

and I don't know about used parts in dvd, so prefered to get something new that had never been powered on so the cap doesn't discharge on me or the laser...

#

costed me 18$, play 1080p dvd technically so very obsolete, but it's a very bad brand (ie: in-house for flea market) so the plastic gear in the dvd wear out after a few weeks, no anti-vibration for the tray etc

#

10uF capacitor, max voltage is 450V. Aishi CD11GH series

#

transformer is kinda cute (tape to hold the copper coils :rofl:)

IMG_20220505_202533.jpg
#

their is a 0.1uF safety capacitor (never heard of those before)

#

DIP-8 Relay on it: "device is offered in 36.9 mA Coil Current, the device has a 24 VDC of Coil Voltage, and Switching Voltage is 250 VAC 125 VDC, and the Coil Resistance is 650 Ohms, and Contact Current Rating is 10 A, and the Power Consumption is 900 mW.". I guess this is what give power to the second PCB not connected to power at 24VDC ?

hearty karma
#

There are a few kind of safety capacitors made, with different ratings for across-the-line (X class) and line-to-ground (Y class).

pine igloo
#

what I find weird is all these components ID printed on the board along with non-conductive white lines

hearty karma
#

The relay is controlled by 24V, but may switch some other voltage

pine igloo
#

I bet if I desoldered everything it would looks like a schematic

hearty karma
#

I do appreciate well done silkscreening

pine igloo
#

seem to be the cheapest of the cheapest components for a spec, most of them for for 2-3$ for a pack of 10 on ebay

#

but all seem salvageable, the DIP8 has a clearance of 1.5mm under it, enough to cut out the connection to the PCB and still have a usable chip if I really wanted to

hearty karma
#

There are various ways to unsolder DIPs intact

pine igloo
#

SMT Crystal Oscillator - 27.000 MHz on the non-mains PCB, motor driver ic chip (can't find a datasheet), cefeon flash chip (will need magnygying glass to see the model on any of these

#

they all seem smd with a lot of pins so unsalvagable

#

enclosure almost 100% excavated

IMG_20220505_210152.jpg
#

dvd back and hopefully nice motors and laser

IMG_20220505_210249.jpg
#

because of the pic above I know I can use hot glue in there 🙂

#

what is your take on the motor ? are they potentially reusable ?

#

Only 2 wires, seems easy to salvage

hearty karma
desert cipher
#

hah gonna love ksp reference

pine igloo
#

bah the heatsink is stuck to the chip over some kind of white paste

#

can't see the chip underneath, would have loved to know the used microcontroller. Also 64mb of flash memory on board which seem to costs 3-4$ which is good to know

hearty karma
#

Probably thermal paste. The chip is likely a product-specific one, not a generic microcontroller.

pine igloo
#

yeah seems it's a systems on board for dvd player/games on dvd

hearty karma
#

I took apart a karaoke player once and (aside from the video monitor) it was basically one huge integrated circuit inside.

pine igloo
#

yep the flash memory was in a socket though but I was able to remove it (DIP) but with a scratch and bent leg

hearty karma
#

I found a kid's toy with an SD card in it, but the card was glued in 😦

pine igloo
#

which shouldn't matter much but the brand isn't really sold on mainstream electronics resellers

#

so without the datasheet it's useless

hearty karma
#

I haven't seen DIP format flash in a while, other than serial flash.

#

If it's DIP-8, there are only a few common versions.

pine igloo
#

maybe you have better ones than me

IMG_20220505_215450.jpg
hearty karma
#

Ah, it is DIP-8. Most of those use the same Winbond pinout.

screenshot_1342.png
pine igloo
#

I expect it will have some sort of sector to prevent reading thought since these are highly-protected dvd reading devices

hearty karma
#

Honestly I'd be surprised if they even bothered, not that it matters, you'd probably just want to rewrite the chip with your own data anyway.

pine igloo
#

and they normally secure the chips so that someone can't make illegal/unregulated readers of DVD