New ghmicro.com site

[futz]

I finally got around to rebuilding (more like scrapping and starting fresh) my old http://ghmicro.com web-site. I decided to go with a CMS (Joomla 1.5) this time instead of hard coding the site. Makes updates and changes much easier.

It's still being worked on a little at a time. Sorry about the ads - I'm hoping to pay for my web hosting with those. Click on em if they're interesting to you.

So far it's mostly the stuff I've posted here over the past few months, reformatted for a site rather than a forum. I'm adding schematics to the projects as I get them done (two done so far). If you find errors, please let me know. It's mostly fairly newb stuff so far but I hope to post some slightly more advanced projects as I get to them.

If you have a project you'd like to see on the web, let me know.

 

[August Treubig]

Eatin' Copper

Hey Futz,

Are you going to get into doing your own circuit boards?

I started a while back working on single sided board or "sort-of" double sided ones. I.E. Traces on the bottom and wires for the top.

I am using the Eagle Lite for boards. Everyone is right, it has a fairly heavy learning curve. But the more you do, the better and faster you get at it.
There are a few good tutorials out on instructables.

For making the boards, I am using the blue Press n Peel stuff. There is some learning curve here. And I am still learning.

The eatin' part is using the hydrogen peroxide and muratic acid stuff talked about here on electro-tech-online. It will etch a board in 3 or so minutes. It is amazing

 

[futz]

Are you going to get into doing your own circuit boards? I started a while back working on single sided board or "sort-of" double sided ones. I.E. Traces on the bottom and wires for the top.

I did, years back, during my first go-round with electronics & MCUs (2000-2003ish). That MAX7219 LED display project is a double side board. I made a few of them. I just soldered wires through the board on both sides for vias and left the displays and sockets way up high so I could poke the iron in underneath and solder them. You melt some things a bit but it works ok. With no thru-hole plating you must plan very carefully when deciding what order to solder things in or you'll find you can't reach some pins to solder the top side.

I still have all the stuff, but haven't done it in ages.

I am using the Eagle Lite for boards. Everyone is right, it has a fairly heavy learning curve. But the more you do, the better and faster you get at it.

Ya, I use Eagle, and it IS funky. But after you use it long enough to develop the funky habits it's very very good.

For making the boards, I am using the blue Press n Peel stuff. There is some learning curve here. And I am still learning.

I use the photo resist method. I bought a **broken link removed** for it with a **broken link removed** and it works BEAUTIFUL!!! You can make perfect boards very quickly. Alignment of double-side boards is fiddly work to get right. The worst part is drilling. I use a Dremel and hand drill them (no drill press).

I use a laser printer to print the masks on transparencies. Once you have a good mask you can use it over and over. Just file it away somewhere safe for when you need it again.

The eatin' part is using the hydrogen peroxide and muratic acid stuff talked about here on electro-tech-online. It will etch a board in 3 or so minutes. It is amazing

I use good old ferric chloride. Works great. Plenty fast enough. Like you say, a couple or three minutes while gently agitating.

 

[August Treubig]

Interesting

I use a Dremel and hand drill them (no drill press).

Ouch.. I bought a Dremel drill press attachment. It works great. If you have one of the listed models, it works great. I have been getting bits from [FONT=arial, Arial, Helvetica]**broken link removed** They are a buck (US) apeice. They aren't new, but work great. I have some #65 and #70 along with some bigger ones. I only break one when I am not being somewhat careful.

[/FONT]

 I use good old ferric chloride. Works great.

Yea, but I have about $11 invested in chemicals, and I can make at least a gallon. I will run out of peroxide first, but it is like less than a buck for a quart. I use baking soda to neutralize it after use.

 

[futz]

I bought a Dremel drill press attachment. It works great.

Ya, if I do more boards I should get one of those. Would make things easier, probably.

I have been getting bits from Electronics Goldmine. They are a buck (US) a piece.

I just go to the nearest industrial supplier or auto supply that has numbered bits and buy em local.

 

[Gayan Soyza]

Hi futz I saw your site it was really nice.Good work.Also I must tell that your photography is superb.

Good luck.

 

[futz]

Hi futz I saw your site it was really nice.Good work.Also I must tell that your photography is superb.

Thanks Gayan. I try to make the pics as good as possible, given my fairly limited camera equipment. Takes some care in shooting and a bit of careful Gimp work to get them presentable.

 

[Pommie]

It looks good and as Gayan states, great pictures. How do you achieve the (I presume) long exposures? I have to use a tripod with good lighting and no flash.

Mike.

 

[futz]

It looks good and as Gayan states, great pictures. How do you achieve the (I presume) long exposures? I have to use a tripod with good lighting and no flash.

I have to use pretty tight apertures to get useable depth-of-field, so with my Canon A80 or A650 IS, long exposures (or a light box, which I've been meaning to build) are the only way to get it done. Typical exposures for these shots are around 1 second. And they're ALL hand held. I don't own a tripod. I use the two second timer and brace my arms against the table and don't breathe. Sometimes it takes 3 or 4 shots before you get one that isn't blurred from camera shake (even with the A650 IS's image stabilization). During the day I have a window for light, and above me is a fixture with five 15W compact flourescents. It's barely (not really) enough light.

No flash need apply for any photo I take, especially for macros. Flash just blows them out and makes them look like crap.

I need a light box. Think I'll tackle that tomorrow. Maybe dig out all those horrible halogens I used to use for work lights. Never liked the things for work. Too extreme and too fragile.

 

[AtomSoft]

Love the site futz. Will learn much from it. Thanks

 

[3v0]

The pictures are impressive and the site is nice too. Even with my arms braced I doubt that I could hold that still. Thanks for sharing.

I have to use pretty tight apertures to get useable depth-of-field, so with my Canon A80 or A650 IS, long exposures (or a light box, which I've been meaning to build) are the only way to get it done. Typical exposures for these shots are around 1 second. And they're ALL hand held. I don't own a tripod. I use the two second timer and brace my arms against the table and don't breathe. During the day I have a window for light, and above me is a fixture with five 15W compact flourescents. It's barely (not really) enough light.

 

[BeeBop]

Hey!
Looks Great!!!

 

[blueroomelectronics]

May I put a link to your site on my links page?

PS you can hook your Junebug to the Unicorn and the AGM1264F GLCD is compatible. You can always reflash the Unicorn firmware when you're done. Don't forget to remove the jumper for the GLCD.

 

[futz]

May I put a link to your site on my links page?

Certainly! Please do.

I just got the GLCD displaying something. I had to cheat just a little. It's just displaying junk still, but it's encouraging when it finally does something.