#My 1st PCB

1 messages · Page 1 of 1 (latest)

white rain
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I've never made a PCB before, and would appreciate it if anyone had a moment to take a quick look at my working draft. It's a simple button box for ballooning. I did the layout in Fritzing, but then converted it to KiCAD to see the 3d render.

The Pro Micro will mount to the bottom -- I just realized it's upside down in the photo. I couldn't locate a single rotary encoder with push button part in Fritzing, so there are unused vias for a dual encoder on bottom left & right that I'm not sure how to get rid of. I figured it won't hurt to just leave them unconnected? shrug

Screenshot_2025-01-04_at_1.10.47_AM.png Screenshot_2025-01-04_at_1.11.03_AM.png IMG_2106.jpeg 📎 Balloon.kicad_pcb
dawn saffron
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Ooh, nice! Let me have a quick look, and maybe others can also give it a glance.

Did you see the presets I made for the balloon? I was pondering making something similar too, its fun to fly with it but real switches for this make so much more sense. I was even pondering using some real valves and hall sensors but too many projects 🙂

The dual and single encoder footprints should be the same for the rest of pins so it will work.

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What is J1?

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super nice idea!

white rain
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I did see the presets. I actually went through and figured them out myself as well as soon as MF got 2024 support as a fun exercise. My plan is to put the box in a wicker-like 3d printed case to give it an authentic "basket-y" feel. 😄

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J1 is a dupont connector for an additional button that will be on the back of the case, and used for the red rope vent. Like where the R1 button is on a game controller.

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I used a 2 pin header in Fritzing, and it named it J1, and I didn't think to change it.

dawn saffron
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heh, fun idea: get one of those decorative small baskets and make a miniature with small 3d printed propane tanks an all 🙂

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with functional switches

white rain
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I've actually thought about making miniature cockpits. I don't have room for a full size simpit, but maybe a bunch of 1:10 scale mini cockpits for different planes would be a lot of fun I think!

dawn saffron
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heh yeah

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I kinda wish to fly the balloon in Vatsim someday 🙂

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this could be an amazing rabbit hole

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even better:

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I almost want to build it!

hazy ridge
white rain
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I have orange LEDs that will light with the burner. Can MobiFlight do a fade/flicker effect, or would I need some extra bits on the board?

I saw this recently that may be useful using 555 ICs and capacitors https://hackaday.com/2025/01/02/555-timers-bring-christmas-charm-to-miniature-village/

Hackaday
Tom Nardi
555 Timers Bring Christmas Charm To Miniature Village

The miniature Christmas village is a tradition in many families — a tiny idyllic world filled happy people, shops, and of course, snow. It’s common to see various miniature buildings fo…

dawn saffron
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"Glider 123, maintain FL 50, cleared to terminal area"

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"Cleared to terminal area, and I will try my best..."

dawn saffron
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but yeah, thats fun about electronics, a lot of different possibilities

white rain
bright mantle
white rain
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Boards came out great, moving on to the enclosure.

IMG_2152.jpg IMG_2155.jpg
dawn saffron
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ooh nice!

sturdy geode
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One tip for the next project - typically the GND tracks are thicker, to reduce voltage drops with heavy current devices.

autumn pilot
sturdy geode
# autumn pilot I belive there's a ground plane on the other side

The green renderings seem to show both sides, with thin tracks. Fine for switches and lower power LEDs, probably a bit noisy for 7-segment displays that don't clock cleanly (unless extra capacitors are fitted close to the driver chip).

The DIY737Sim low cost MCP struggles with five displays daisy chained.

pallid pilot