Search found 232 matches

by Garth
Mon Mar 20, 2017 4:34 pm
Forum: Online Shopping
Topic: Kid's books in Electronics and Coding
Replies: 3
Views: 12047

Re: Kid's books in Electronics and Coding

C++ for Kids (Code Babies) Board book – July 19, 2016 by Sterling Children's (Author) https://www.amazon.com/Kids-Code-Babies-Sterling-Childrens/dp/1454921595/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1489976276&sr=8-1&keywords=C%2B%2B+for+Kids This book looks simple enough to help give adults help in learning C so I...
by Garth
Wed Mar 15, 2017 4:48 am
Forum: PCB Design
Topic: 340+ ICs on one PCB!
Replies: 5
Views: 15644

Re: 340+ ICs on one PCB!

I suspect that was to fix problems after some debugging.
by Garth
Sat Feb 11, 2017 12:54 pm
Forum: Great video clips
Topic: Charging Laptop Bursts Into Flames Caught on Tape | ABC News
Replies: 1
Views: 8419

Re: Charging Laptop Bursts Into Flames Caught on Tape | ABC

It's too bad this technology is having such problems. Hopefully they'll eventually get worked out. It has a good energy- and size-to-weight ratio, but is about three times as expensive as lead-acid for a given amount of energy, is apparently not recyclable, and has been showing itself to be somewhat...
by Garth
Sun Jan 29, 2017 1:41 pm
Forum: PCB Design
Topic: 340+ ICs on one PCB!
Replies: 5
Views: 15644

340+ ICs on one PCB!

Posted on the AnyCPU forum, at http://anycpu.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=2315#p2315 : http://i.imgur.com/G76o0OV.jpg Holy mackerel!! It looks like about 340 ICs (counting the mezzanine) and there might be more ICs under the big ones! I've laid out a board with 500 parts, but much of it was analog, and...
by Garth
Thu Dec 15, 2016 6:11 am
Forum: The off topic lounge
Topic: Some History on Electricity
Replies: 2
Views: 12505

Re: Some History on Electricity

Those are very interesting, but I only scanned them quickly, because of the length. DC is obviously not practical, and Edison was apparently only thinking of light bulbs and motors, not planning ahead to vacuum tubes that would require hundreds of volts for their plates, or solid-state equipment tha...
by Garth
Mon Dec 12, 2016 2:33 pm
Forum: Generating Video Signals
Topic: Survey of Video Generation Possibilities
Replies: 21
Views: 49615

Re: Survey of Video Generation Possibilities

I just came across this page that shows a lot of small fonts that people have figured out for LCDs (or any other video), to get as much text of different kinds as will fit readably in whatever size of LCD you have: http://www.hpcalc.org/hp49/utils/fonts/ The picture at the right end of each post has...
by Garth
Mon Dec 12, 2016 2:26 am
Forum: Brads Projects University
Topic: soldering SOJ (& similar) parts without special equipment
Replies: 7
Views: 29182

Re: soldering SOJ (& similar) parts without special equipmen

What solvent / cleaner are you using after soldering Garth? After it's cooled to room temperature, I chip off most of the rosin with any small tool, preferably one that's not too sharp so it won't scratch the board, then finish with a Q-tip dampened with acetone to get the slight remainder of rosin...
by Garth
Tue Dec 06, 2016 6:54 pm
Forum: ADC with digital ports
Topic: How to transmit data from an analog multiplexer to an RS232
Replies: 1
Views: 22774

Re: How to transmit data from an analog multiplexer to an RS

The MAX232 and many other line driver/receiver ICs are for converting digital logic levels, for example from the 0-5V or 0-3.3V to the ±12V of RS-232. This is not a microcontroller. The RS-232 line drivers are inverters; so a 5V input results in a -12V output, and a 0V input results in a +12V output...
by Garth
Tue Dec 06, 2016 7:31 am
Forum: Brads Projects University
Topic: soldering SOJ (& similar) parts without special equipment
Replies: 7
Views: 29182

soldering SOJ (& similar) parts without special equipment

Since I just wrote this up elsewhere , I figured it'd be good to recycle while it's on my mind. A prominent member on that forum, "BigDumbDinosaur," has poor eyesight and asked me to solder the SMT parts to his hobby computer board. Here are the SRAMs, in SOJ-36 with .050" lead spacing: http://forum...
by Garth
Tue Nov 22, 2016 11:21 am
Forum: 10x8 LED Sign
Topic: Help wanted 74HC595 LED sign
Replies: 3
Views: 28736

Re: Help wanted 74HC595 LED sign

It's a little difficult to tell exactly what you have in the picture; but the general form of using a bunch of 595's for output bits is shown not far from the top of the "circuit potpourri" page of my 6502 primer, at http://wilsonminesco.com/6502primer/potpourri.html#22_SR_OUT . This diagram is from...
by Garth
Fri Nov 18, 2016 7:54 am
Forum: The off topic lounge
Topic: Edison Bulb Still Burning After 100-Plus Years
Replies: 5
Views: 16222

Re: Edison Bulb Still Burning After 100-Plus Years

You only got a matter of months out of the LED bulb? How many hours was it rated to? 15,000. It seems that the marketing on replacements for older lighting technologies tend to get carried away, over-optimistic, or think no one will keep track of the number of hours' service and hold them accountab...
by Garth
Fri Nov 11, 2016 5:10 am
Forum: The off topic lounge
Topic: Edison Bulb Still Burning After 100-Plus Years
Replies: 5
Views: 16222

Re: Edison Bulb Still Burning After 100-Plus Years

LED bulbs' electronics sure won't last that long, but I think the LEDs themselves would last pretty much indefinitely if designers used more LEDs per bulb and didn't run so much current through each LED. I replaced the fluorescent tube in our aquarium in the living room with an LED bulb (changing th...
by Garth
Thu Oct 27, 2016 7:52 am
Forum: The off topic lounge
Topic: long list of computer manufacturers, present and past
Replies: 1
Views: 10366

long list of computer manufacturers, present and past

I happened to come across this while looking for something else: long list of computer system manufacturers, and list of companies that have ceased production (many of which elicit some nostalgia) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_system_manufacturers The field several decades ago was n...
by Garth
Wed Oct 12, 2016 12:12 pm
Forum: The off topic lounge
Topic: Why so many engineers in the U.S.?
Replies: 2
Views: 11982

Why so many engineers in the U.S.?

Someone asked me recently why the U.S. has so many engineers and scientists compared to most (definitely not all ) other countries. I didn't immediately have a very good answer, but I suspect it has to do partly with being a major power in WWII and the Cold War, plus Kennedy's challenge to put a man...
by Garth
Sat Oct 08, 2016 9:32 am
Forum: Great video clips
Topic: Clueless iPhone users tricked into drilling into their iPhon
Replies: 7
Views: 17405

Re: Clueless iPhone users tricked into drilling into their i

I use RS-232 for the work bench, sending source code from the PC to my home-made workbench computer which compiles, assembles, or interprets, as appropriate, on the fly, in its Forth system, without stopping what it's doing. The host can be anything with a text editor and some way to "print" a block...