2nd kit

working on this, as well as the transmitter and the other kit. Also working on my data v!z class and the pr0gramming language I am learning, along with this group. The group is fantastic. I had a blast and was so sad to leave. I'm the only girl (again) but I don't mind; they are very respectful and smart and I enjoy their company. Looking forward to hanging out with them again soon!

This one has a few "brains", as you can see by the chip. (PICs)

working on some kits

I'm working on two little kits, which (once I make sure they work) I can modify. I also was introduced to a language that is used in applications such as that in which I am interested in (r0bots and ge0spatial management and analysis in terms of cartesian control), so I will be learning that. Also halfway through a data v!z class. It sounds like a lot, but I also work full time, so everything has to find a way to cram itself into a time slot.
Somehow I haven't been sleeping these days, also.  I don't sleep a lot in general (five is enough for me). I keep getting to sleep around 3am, but I"m completely and utterly buzzed and excited. Last night was really fantastic; I"m meeting up with that group again tonight to learn more about this language. I'm also doing a workshop later on in the year that involves travelling a bit. So we shall see.

Meanwhile...a crappy image I took with my phone (hooray). First mini kit came in today. Expecting another soon, while listening in on a brilliant lecture about this pr0gramming language.

had to apply a tonne

of solder but it held the connections in tightly to the board.

More board stuff

We were joking today that other girls are Inst@gramming selfies, and we just take photos of our boards :)
One is a pot(entiometer), and the other is going to be a microphone/speaker system
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My layout for the Pot, a Switch and the power cables. I drew this one, while my partner was working on the other one, after we had planned the designs.

Other board for our speaker/mic set up

After it was dipped in chemical solution; etching revealed!

Testing out fitting my switch and pot. I need to drill the holes a bit wider so the switch and pot sit flat on the board

Another view of switch and pot. You can see there is a bit more for the switch to go

sw@p meet!

Went to an AWESOME Meet today! Such great people and I had a BLAST all the way. Best yet, it was on a company lot that builds @erospace stuff! The whole campus was HUGE..it reminded me of our University back home. I remember when they came to one of the campuses I was at, they were trying to woo us by telling us that they would even pay for our schooling if we worked for them.

Anyways, here are some pics!


Haha..I remember this from Machining class! Ah...threading screws after you tap them out...better get the right size! Must get back to machine shop soon, although I do love the wiring and c0ding stuff, also.

Helloooo daddy.....I always wanted one of those mics! Reminds me of Annie :)

Power supply...I know; HUGE. This is an oldie for sure.

Old resistors. OMG they are TINY TINY TINY in comparison now. IN-SANE. I totally tripped over this also.

Just a FRACTION of the beautiful campus. It was hot but we had a beautiful sea breeze passing through.

another one

 I shouldn't have packed it all the way to the edge but this is a first try. Will try to simplify this circuit.

A new one for a Simple Amplifier system

Basic schematic

 Close up of schematic.

 Trace layer

 Pads

Silkscreen layer

 Full set up. I had to rotate the caps vertically

continuing

Here is the actual board drawn out.
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This would be the etched out copper trace for the board (I included the pads but the round holes
would not necessarily be there and the lines might be thicker depending on the board.
I still have some parts to figure out (and figure out how to import more stuff, etc), but it's fairly
intuitive.

Here are the pads on another layer. They could be on the etched layer, though, depending.

Here is the silkscreen layer. Here is where you would have the parts labelled with designation

 This is the last one showing all the parts put together

I started playing around

With the Schem@tic version of the programme we are learning.
Here goes. This was our circuit. Nothing fancy. Two jumpers. Note instead of the switch on the actual circuit, we used a jumper. However, we do intend to put the switch back in there (will take about 5 minutes to do). The programme is very easy to learn, very much like E@glec@d. It was very intuitive.

boom

Circuit completed. We ended up replacing the switch with a jumper, because at first our circuit didn't work, but I ohmed it out and it turned out that the resistors were switched, therefore providing too much impedance for the LEDs to light up. So we just switched them and tadaa..all worked out.
I'm going to do a virtual version of this board this weekend using a new programme they taught us (which is similar to another that I know), as well as my other online (c0mputer) programming homework (which is actually not due for a week so I could do that over the course of the week, which would be better) and start working on a new board. Trip to electronics store...it calls. My friend and myself decided we were going to get obnoxiously girly s0ldering irons just to piss off people since we are the only females lol. She said she was looking at getting a leopard print one, and I said I'd get an electric pink one with L!sa Frank stickers all over it. Awesome!

more board stuff!

So we started with a schematic, made our etch and then proceeded to Sharpie it out on a real board. Then we used the chemical (Fe2Cl3) to etch away the copper and leave behind our trace. From there, we used a drill press to drill holes into the board. From there, we started putting in the components based on the board we designed and then finally, we will test it to see whether it works.
We just got to the part where we are putting in components today. Then s0ldering and then testing.
This is the first of our boards in progress...

So the trace becomes the underside of the board where you do the s0ldering. This is with the coppper, which was washed away by a mixture of the chemical and some hot water to hasten the process

The side of the board with the components; trace is below. Holes made with drill press

We spent

So today we spent the day continuing to s0lder, and start on the etching process. We're using chemicals to etch a real Fl!p Fl0p circuit that can work and alternate LEDs. Neato.
Here are some pics of the soldering, the etching process ( a board dipped in some chemicals; there was steam coming out so real time reaction) and a breadb0ard showing the size of the parts and how they might fit in the circuit. He attached them so we could actually see the circuit work.
I lurve this class! Real g33ks are really nice! I keep asking why and today's answer was "because they're too busy working to be A-holes". Um..thank you! I think I'll stick with these peeps, then!

 Board in some Ferr!c Chl0ride!

 A standard to which we are held. Circuit actually works at 9v

Life in s0lder land!

It's great! Here are some pics of two conductors with some heat shr!nk over it. Also, a board I started adding conductors to (front and back). Not that it matters much, but he said it was pretty much excellent on my s0lders (one of two in his class he said were kicking @$$). And boy is he @nal. He literally will walk around and say "that is terrible. Do it over". LOL. But he's fun and the class is VERY fun!
Sits nicely on the board and right amount of s0lder, etc. I'm def planning on buying an ir0n of my own (weird how I don't have one already, but we have at work so maybe I've been sort of lazy all this time). The people in the class are fantastic, and the teacher is fantastic. He's already psyched that he has me for three days of the week in Fall.
 It's really a LOT of fun. I can't believe one of the eng!neers told me the class would be boring and to just take d!gital and forget the anal0g stuff, and now I'm taking three anal0g hahaha. This is the foundation in my view; everyone wants to rush to just plug in things into an Arduin0 but fewer really understand how it all works or can modify it if need be (or build from scratch).
Apparently a lot of them (eng!neers in training) find that stuff "boring", but the BEST ones are the ones that know this stuff inside out, because well, that's a real skill and talent and you can make anything. There are people who have everything from an interest in guns, to computer hardware stuff to people who just like building stuff and physicists in the class. It's a really neat group.
Okey doke...

My solder and heat shrink

First solders

 More s0lders before I chop the ends off (ignore that front piece, which was a demo)

 S0lders from the other side of the board (the actual metal part must not be visible at all from this side; the insulated piece must sit on the board)

I'm actually

SO PSYCHED by this class. So psyched that I am taking two more of his classes in the Fall. How often does a teacher come into class and just say "okay, I have some stuff here...take it apart" and then just tell you where the tools are. We had to hack through the gear as cleanly was possible (mine was an old DVD player), take out all the boards or anything we wanted, throw away the excess plastic, and we're taking off components of the boards to make new things. Oh, we're also using noxious chemicals! Yayyyy!
We'll be etching our own board, drilling the holes and all of that by hand, and of course desoldering and soldering. So awesome and the FOUNDATION for all this digital electronics stuff. Everyone wants to use an Ardu!n0  and a breadboard to avoid soldering..blah blah blah etc, but the foundation is this stuff right here. If you understand these components and whatnot, you can make anything. It's also an extension of what I do at work, so it ties in nicely, and also with my c0ding classes (same kind of analytical and problem solving skills). I know what most of these components are already, but my interest is in designing them efficiently. He's also having a special class he only has once every three years, and he said he'd let us in. So I'm doing that, also.
Oh, and once again..I'm the only girl in the class. Not that that matters (so used to it!), but there was another girl in class and she got all weird when he said "take the board out" and decided she didn't feel comfortable and didn't want to try...I think she might end up dropping but oh well.

I've been noticing a lot of the female techies are kind of like that. They're the ones who enjoy the theoretical stuff, but the guys get all b@lls deep (no pun intended) and I think it is to the ladies' disadvantage when they don't try to hack and do that sort of stuff.  They just don't seem to stick it out. There was one girl in my class who said she wanted to do electrical eng and she hadn't taken a single milling class, a single board or electronics class; just her pre-reqs in math and physics, etc. She gave me this attitude, too, when I asked her if she had taken any of that stuff, like she didn't need to because she "just loved math". Umm...ok. I feel badly; those guys are going to smoke her, and I hate to say it but besides calculations (which yes, is needed in some jobs), it puts a person at a significant disadvantage if they don't have the hands-on skills. Not sure why the ladies shy away from that stuff.

Anyways..here are some pics.
Hacked out these boards cleanly, including a few motors. The main board was FILLED with caps..I've never seen so many on a single board!

Noxious stuff! I have to buy some this weekend!

View through my magnifying glass while desoldering

 Some desoldering done. You can see the holes where I took out the solder. More to come