Tuesday, May 7, 2013

Power Supply Digital WW

I needed a "digital" power supply (+5V and +3.3V) for a number of my small projects. I also wanted a low noise supply that didn't require building a power line interface. I did build one of those for projects requiring more power. You can read about that project at Power Up. The Power Up supply can deliver 800 mA per supply. The supply described here is only good for 150 mA per voltage and it runs a little hot at that current. So think of the 150 mA as a design limit with a more practical limit (longer life) of 100 mA or less. That is still plenty of current for today's low power designs. In addition the supply uses a Wall Wart (the WW in the name) for its AC power connection. No power entry construction required.

One more important point before you get started: the TI TPS7A4901 (data sheet) chip used for both regulators is a low noise regulator. This can come in very handy when powering precision crystal oscillators where you want to keep the noise down to maintain short term accuracy. It is not the lowest possible noise. But it is quite good for a one chip solution.

The design files (schematic, board layout, and parts list) for the board can be found at Power Supply Digital WW - design files. If you want to build one OSH Park has the boards for $11.00 each.

So lets start the build. First put the 22uF 6.3 V capacitors (C9 and C10) on the board. Then solder the U1 and U2 pins to the top side of the board. Next turn the board over and squirt some Chip Quick SMD291NL flux into the U1 and U2 grounding/heat sink holes on the back side of the board and apply your iron and solder to those holes (I use 63/37 tin/lead) until they are filled. That grounds the chips and also acts as a heat sink for them.

Now solder the rest of the surface mount components to the board. At this point I like to test the board because trying to work on the regulator chips with all the other components mounted is very difficult (read impossible) without removing parts. To do that testing you have to short out RV1 and RV2 and apply power to the chips. About 6 volts is OK for both chips because no significant power will be drawn - this is only a voltage test. The voltages should read about 2.9 volts for U1 and 4.9 volts for U2. If you don't get those voltages check U1 and U2 (the most likely culprits) for shorted or open pins. Since I plan to make a lot of these boards I built a pogo pin rig for this test using a bare board. The holes for the pins that go into RV1 and RV2 positions need to be drilled out (.040" - #60 drill) if you are using the Mill Max 0856-0-15-20-82-14-11-0 pogo pins to make your temporary connections. It will look like this with the board mounted on the test jig:
This is the test jig with the pogo pins:
I used brass washers between the nylon nuts to adjust the height of the jig.

Next mount all the 470uF 10 volt capacitors (C3 through C8). Now add in the transistors with thermal pads mounted loosely to the heat sinks. I used 6-32 by 3/8" screws and split lock washers to insure contact of the transistor with the heat sink is solid. Mount and solder Q1 first and then tighten the screw. Then Q2 followed by Q3.

Mount all the rest of the components and test the board under power. I used a 22 ohm 1% 3 watt resistor mounted on a power plug for the 3.3V section and a 33 ohm 1% 3 watt resistor mounted on the same power plug for the 5 V section. Anytime you want to test a supply under load just plug in the load. And that is all there is to it.

I wrote some more about low noise power at ECN Magazine.

Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.

Sunday, May 5, 2013

Space-Time Crystals

This is a little far afield from what I usually blog about. But I couldn't resist.

Physics team proposes a way to create an actual space-time crystal
Earlier this year, theoretical physicists Frank Wilczek, of MIT put forth an idea that intrigued the research community. He suggested that it should be possible to construct a so called space-time crystal by adding a fourth dimension, movement in time, to the structure of a crystal, causing it to become an infinitely running clock of sorts. At the time, Wilczek acknowledged that his ideas on how to do so were inelegant, to say the least. Now another international team led by Tongcang Li has proposed a way to achieve what Wilczek proposed using a far more elegant process. They have posted a paper on the preprint server arXiv describing what they believe is a real-world process for creating an actual space-time crystal that could conceivably be carried out in just the next few years.

Wilczek thought that it should be possible to construct a space-time crystal because crystals naturally align themselves at low temperatures and because superconductors also operate at very low temperatures; it seemed reasonable to assume that the atoms in such a crystal could conceivably move or rotate and then return to their natural state naturally, continually, as crystals are wont to do as they seek a lowest energy state. He envisioned a rotation with a ring of ions that flowed separately rather than as a stream, likening it to a mouse running around inside of a snake laying as a circle. The bulge would flow, rather than the snake itself spinning and would just keep on going, potentially forever. The problem was, he couldn’t figure out how such a crystal structure could be created in the real world.

arxiv paper

H/T DeltaV

Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Testing Telephone Cables With RJ11 Connectors


I'm working on a distributed I2C bus system that uses standard telephone cable and RJ11 jacks for interconnection. Plug and play - if you get the software right. That requires cables that are correctly wired. No shorts of course. But also no twists. Five volts should not appear on the ground connection. And vice versa. To do the testing I have designed a board with three resistors and six LEDs. I use a six volt battery pack of 4 AA cells with a built in switch to power the tester. The batteries should be good for about 120 hours of continuous use. If the cost of batteries irks you the tester can be powered by a 5V wall wart supply. Or a convenient bench supply. The voltage is not critical. Anything from about 4 volts to 6 volts will do. Absolute maximum current possible is about 35 mA at 6 volts. Normal current with a working cable plugged in and a 6 volt supply is about 25 mA.

In use the supply polarity doesn't matter. If you use the supply conventions shown the green power good light comes on with power and if the cable is good you get two green lights in addition. If the cable is reversed you get a green power good light and two red lights. If you reverse the power supply red will be the power good light and two additional red lights will indicate a good cable. Various other faults will give you different light combinations which you can work out from the schematic. You will also find the parts placement and parts list with the schematic.

The only thing that needs special attention during assembly is LED orientation. I used a 5V supply and some clip leads along with two 150 ohm resistors (one for each clip lead) to probe the LEDs before mounting them.

The boards (I2C Simplest Cable Tester 31 Oct 2012) are available from OSH Park for $2.45 each plus shipping.

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Power Up

This is a continuation of my Power Up article posted at ECN.

You can buy boards for this project at Dual Positive Power Supply boards. They cost $12.45 each. The documentation for the board - schematics, part placement, and parts list can be found at Dual Positive Power Supply documentation (a zip file).

First off when it comes to assembling the board - mount all the surface mount resistors first. It will simplify your construction efforts considerably. Next mount the heat sinks and regulators.

Install the regulator by mounting it temporarily to the heat sink (which you have already soldered to the PCB) with a 6-32 screw and then solder the regulator in place. This insures that the holes match up. Then remove the screw and bend the regulator away from the heat sink so you can apply the thermal grease to the regulator. Now permanently mount the regulator with the lock washers and 6-32 nut. be sure to do this before you install the 10,000 uF 16 volt filter capacitors. You can mount the regulators after the capacitors are installed but it is a bit more difficult.

The heat sink holes are just a little small for the 6-32 X 3/8" screws I used to mount the regulators. Do not use longer screws or they will punch holes (or at least rub against) the filter capacitors. You do not need to drill out the holes as the aluminum of the heat sinks self taps easily even with non self tapping screws. I used a split lock washer under the screw head to make sure everything stays tight and a toothed lock washer on the back side between the heat sink and the nut. It is good to do as much as you can to keep your power regulator in firm contact with the heat sink. Don't forget the split lock washer or the screws will extend into the capacitors.

The regulators chosen do not need the protection diodes on the board. I installed them anyway so you can see what they look like. They are a must if you choose to use an LM317 regulator instead of a LM1117 part.

The parts list contains every thing you need to put the power supply in a case. But the parts in the list are only suggestions. You can modify the project as your needs dictate. That is the beauty of just buying a board and populating it as your requirements dictate.

If you have any questions leave them in the comments.

Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.

Friday, October 5, 2012

A Parallel Port Break Out For the STM Discovery Board

I have been doing some work with the STM Discovery Board. It features an STM 32F407 ARM processor than can clock at 168 MIPS peak. A real screamer. And at less than $15 per STM is practically giving them away.

But the pin out of the board is a little odd for doing parallel port projects. So I decided to rectify that by designing a little interface board that puts the pins in a more regular order. The STM Discovery plugs into the interface so if you want to use the Discovery later with a different interface all you have to do is to unplug it. The connector is a Samtec SSW-125-01-T-D. Digikey has it in their catalog but they don't currently stock it (bug them). You can get it directly from Samtec.

Here is the schematic and here is the parts list. Both in pdf format.

OSH Park is selling the boards for $4.90 each.

Engineering is the art of making what you want from what you can get at a profit.

Friday, August 3, 2012

ATtiny10 Test Program

Friday, July 27, 2012

Wednesday, May 2, 2012

Load Electronic Small 555


You can read about the purpose of this board and how it works at ECN Magazine - Low power, low-cost testing.

To order the files for this design ($6.00 US) Click the button below.

Files include
1. Schematic - png double normal size
2. Schematic - design file Tiny CAD format
3. Bill of Materials - Open Office format
4. Gerbers - board size 1" by 3"

A Free Gerber Viewer
The Free Board Design Software I Use - FreePCB

This is a license to use the files to make up to 12 boards. If you want to make more contact me. Please note that you agree to make 12 or fewer in your message when you order. You may not resell the boards. If you want to do that contact me.

And the usual disclaimer: we do not warrant these files as fit for any purpose what so ever.

You might like the board service mentioned here for small quantity production. There is no NRE.

Not available in Illinois (we don't collect sales tax)




Wednesday, December 28, 2011

SEPIC Converrter

Here are a couple of videos on the SEPIC Converter. A design derived from the Cuk Converter. Below the videos are links to some design resources.





National SEPIC design notes. Of course National is now TI. This is probably the simplest design note on the subject I have seen. It is a good place to start for a tennis court estimate of design requirements.

Switching Power Magazine - Analyzing The SEPIC

Maxim AN1051

Linear Technology Spice Circuit Simulation may prove helpful.

Monday, February 15, 2010

Resource Sites

Here is the first one: Joel Owens.

Z-80 Programming Manual Zacks

Z80 Resources

Software Development Tools

Z-80 MCB

Z-80 Emulators

A page of Z80 Emulators.

I particularly like Z80-CPU-Emulator (V 5.2b) Full version, Z80 and/or CP/M 2.2 Emulator, By : Joan Riff

I have used the earlier version (3.10) it and it works well. The last time I used it on a PC I got a simulated speed of 25 MHz (IIRC). I tried it with my 2 GHz PC and I got an off the scale reading.

Here is a book I have used. I wonder if I still have my old copy?

Z-80 and 8080 assembly language programming (Hayden computer programming series)

I like the author of this book. I haven't read the book.

Math Toolkit for Real-Time Programming

EPROM Programmer Parts List

U1 - 74LS374
U2 - 74LS245
U3 - 74LS374
U4 - Device Selector
U5 - 4049
U6 - 7407
U7 - LM723

R1 -
R2 - 47K
R3 - 10K
R4 - 10K
R5 - 5K Trimpot
R6 - 4.7K
R7 - 10.0 K 1%
R8 - 2.80 K 1%
R9 - 100
R10 - 10K
R11 - 10K
R12 - 10K
R13 - 10K
R14 - 4.7K
R15 - 10K
R16 - 10K
R17 - 10K
R18 - 10K
R19 - 4.7K
R20 - 5K Trimpot
R21 - 2.0 K
R22 - 2.0 K

D1 - 1N4002
D2 - 1N4002
D3 - 1N4148

C1 - 100 uF 50V
C2 - 100 uF 50V
C3 - 4.7 uF 50V
C4 - 470 pF
C5 - 220 uF 10V
All other Cs .01 uF

Q1 - 2N2222 - plastic
Q2 - 2N3906 - plastic
Q3 - 2N3906 - plastic

Z1 - 1N4746A 18 V 1W Zener
Z2 - 1N4746A 18 V 1W Zener

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Parts List MCB

This is preliminary. Corrections welcome.

U1 - Z80
U2 - Z8440 SIO
U3 - 74LS244
U4 - 74LS244
U5 - 74LS245
U6 - 74LS367
U7 - 7404
U8 - 74LS14
U9 - 7474
U10 - 74LS32
U11 - 1488 - RS-232
U12 - 1489 - RS232
U13 - R pac 15 4.7K
U14 - 8255 Parallel
U15 - 8255 Parallel
U16 - 8255 Parallel
U17 - 9511 Arithmetic
U18 - 8253 Counter
U19 - 9513 Counter
U20 - 8279 Keyboard
U21 - EPROM
U22 - EPROM/RAM
U23 - EPROM/RAM
U24 - 2114 RAM
U25 - 2114 RAM
U26 - 2114 RAM
U27 - 2114 RAM
U28 - 74LS04
U29 - 74LS30
U30 - 74LS20
U31 - 74LS42
U32 - 74LS00
U33 - 74LS42

R1 - 4.7K
R2 - 47
R3 - 22K
R4 - 330
R5 - 1K
R6 - 1K
R7 - 1K
R8 - 4.7K
R9 - 4.7K
R10 - 1K

D1 - 1N4148

C2 - 220uF
C3 - .01 uF
C4 - .01 uF
C5 - .001 uF
C6 - .001 uF
C7 - .001 uF
C8 - .001 uF
C9 - 470 pF
C10 - 470 pF
C11 - 470 pF
C12 - 470 pF
C27 - 47 pF
C28 - .022 uF
C33 - 47 pF
C34 - 220uF

SW - Reset Switch

All Other Capacitors .01 uF Bypass

Thursday, January 29, 2009

Z80 Books

Here is a list of Z-80 books in no particular order

Assembly Language
Programming in Z80 Assembly Language

Z80 Assembly-Language: Programming for Radio Shack, Timex Sinclair, Adam, and Cp/M Computers ([A Computer literacy skills book])

Introducng Z-80 Assembly Language Programming

Z80 Assembly Language Programming Manual

8080/Z80 Assembly Language: Techniques for Improved Programming

Z-80 Assembly Language Programming

I like this one:
Z-80 and 8080 assembly language programming

The Z80 Microprocessor: Architecture, Interfacing, Programming and Design

Programming the Z80

Dr. Dobb's Z80 Toolbook

Math Toolkit for Real-Time Programming

8080/Z80 Assembly Language: Techniques for Improved Programming


Hardware and Interfacing

101 Projects for the Z80

The 8080, 8085, and Z80: Hardware, Software, Programming, Interfacing, and Troubleshooting

8080/Z80 Assembly Language: Techniques for Improved Programming

Z-80 Microprocessor: Architecture, Interfacing, Programming, and Design (3rd Edition)

Z80 Applications

Z80 Users Manual

Microprocessors and Microcomputer Based System Design: Second Edition

Build Your Own Z80 Computer

Microcomputers and microprocessors/ the 8080, 8085, and Z-80 Programming, Interfacing and Troubleshooting

Stuff For Sale

I have some Z-80 Master Controller Boards for sale. I'm working to set things up. When they are set up properly I'll be announcing prices etc.