test
test
Projects Projects everywhere, but I never post….
Again, it’s been ages since I have posted. There’s been a lot going on. I started a new job and have been studying PCB design, CAD design, and programming.
My new job has given me the ability to design and build a few test rigs. I design and make the PCBs and wire some Arduino/Python code to automate the testing.
I have also been working on some projects at home.
- I’ve been playing with an Elegoo Mars 3 Pro for both making models and building PCBs.
- Additionally, I built a new large-format 350×350 Voron-style printer.
- I have also upgraded my hobby CNC once again
Ugh
It’s depressing how many posts I start and never get around to posting. I have been making more Youtube videos than I would like due to work but I am to post more on both sites!
So stay tuned!
New year new machine!
With corvid floating about and all the problems it has caused I have been super busy at work building various boards to help fight corvid.
So I failed my plan to create projects/videos every month, over Christmas I was given a new machine by my lovely wife <3.
She got me a Chinese 3018 CNC, my main use for it will be to mill PCB *or MCP milled circuit board, I have been working in KiCad for the past year and had a few PCBs ordered from china.
Working as an engineer and building circuit boards as a full time job its really cool to see professional PCBs I designed to show up, and to my complete surprise the even work!.
I but some times I really want to be able to just design and make a simple PCB to test an idea before I order a PCB and wait 2-3 weeks, I have done the toner transfer-Iron-acid method to make PCB’s and it works fine but I find it to be such a pain to get everything set up.
I have ordered a few upgrades for the CNC and over the next few weeks, I will be installing them.
Planed upgrades
End stops.
The case for the motherboard.
New Spindle/milling upgrade
Bearing upgrades.
Raspberry pi 4 Repair
Astro wars retro repair
I came across a cheap retro 1981 Grand stand Astro wars console on ebay, I had a nice idea about reusing its shell as a new console, as the listing said the screen was cracked.
Looking at the console the front plastic lens is cracked so there was some hope for the VDF screen inside being ok, I hooked up my bench power supply and hooked some algator clips to the + and – leads on the battery connectors, i flicked the power button on the front and the unit seemed dead no noise nothing.
I removed the 7 screws holding the case closed and it reviled 2 pcbs a speaker and a VFD screen, the screen looked fine and had no cracks, I applied power and using my multiemeter I probed about on the first green power in PCB and I had no voltage, I then looked for shorts and found the 9+ and GND pins on the green board where shorted.
The board being a simple single sided board it could not have a short on this side of the PCB
Removing the black shield over the screen revels the main pcb, most of the brains are under the screen, I did some more voltage checks and I found that SO2 and NPN transistor had its Base and emitter shorted.
I have a large horde of random electrical components, looking at data sheets for SO2 and NEC N882P, I did some digging in my stash of transistors and I found a ST ED136 wiht the same specs as the old NEC part
After swapping them out and applying power the unit sprang to life, with the screen working fine, its still nice a bright.
Its pain to get a good photo of the unit working but as you can kind of see the space ships are displayed on the screen.
Not a tearribly hard repair but its another item saved from the scrap pile.
Hand held gaming Parts list
This is the list of parts I have used in the Raspberry pi Hand held gaming build Prices are only a rough guide, I will also be updating this list as I go so please don’t buy anything and think its going to be part of the final build.
I will Also try and make a build Log with more details regarding the parts used+
7 inch Capacitive Touch Screen Display Monitor HD IPS USB For Raspberry Pi
£26
PoweA (model 1428130-01)
£25
Raspberry PI 3 B+
£35
18650 Lithium Battery Shield
£6
Samsung INR18650-25R 2500 mAh
£15
PAM8403 DC 5V 3W+3W Dual Channel Mini Audio Amplifier
£0.99
Rotary dial potentiometer with switch 50K
£2.50 (for 5)
FPV HDMI to HDMI Adapter
£6 you only need the 2 ends as the cable is reversed.
20 pin 0.5mm pitch forward 15cm
£1.28 for 5
1200Mbps USB3.0 Wifi Adapter RTL8812CU IEEE802.11ac Dual Band 5GHz 2.4GHz
£10 ( not recommend)
WiFi Antenna RP-SMA Extension (note you just need the female SMA-RP end)
£3
Hex Standoff Male/Female, 10mm, M3
£8.50 for 50 (you need 8)
Flat Ribbon Cable
5 meters & £5
Raspberry pi steam link portable build
DIY hand held console
My daughter is now 3 and she always want to be with me, this makes PC gaming hard as my PC is in the basement man cave, and it’s not the most child friendly place with 3D printers,laser cutters and power tools.
I like the IDEA of the Nintendo switch, but not the console its self, I find the hand held aspect of it very unconformable to hold,but a hacked switch with steamlink/moonlight looks like a good idea for basic portable pc gaming.
Early this year I started some very basic ideas to build a switch clone using a raspberry pi 3+ then alien-ware beat me to it with there prototype hand held console, obviously they have the budget and R&D team.
