Skip to main content ↑ ↓

Messages

This section allows you to view all Messages made by this member. Note that you can only see Messages made in areas you currently have access to.

Messages - t0mpr1c3

62
Hardware biz / Re: Tindie commission increase
I got an email saying commission has been waived this month, by way of apology for the botched rollout.

And the forum seems to have been down the last few days. The good ship Tindie is lurching a bit...
63
Hardware biz / Re: Tindie commission increase
When pretty basic things like the shipping calculator and photo uploads are still broken they don't need to be upping the commission by 80%.

I'm still using Tindie for now because I consider it a slightly more chic outlet than ebay, but the nuisance value of not being able to print shipping labels and worse integration with OutRight may trump that in short order if I have more than occasional sales.
64
General discussion / Re: Wr703n alternate serial pins
Please upload images to the site using the "Full Editor" option.

I also stuffed a couple of the serial header holes when hacking my router. I traced the track back a little way, scratched off the solder mask, soldered a very thin wire between the bare trace and an angle pin header, then covered up with hot glue. It's been fine since.
65
Project development, ideas, and suggestions / Re: Uranium glass wearable
Thanks that is worth a look.

Edit: I found a LiR2032 (3.6V rechargeable) with SMD tabs that I pulled off a motherboard a while back that will be just what I need, if it holds a charge. If not a new one is only $2-3. Charging it in situ means I will need a Vreg to drop the microcontroller VCC to 3.3 to avoid frying it with 4.2V from the charger. The active low push button will also have to be pulled up to 3.3V rather than VBAT. The active low LED output pins connected to VBAT will be protected by the voltage drop of the LEDs.
66
Project development, ideas, and suggestions / Uranium glass wearable
Anyone into wearables here? I am planning a present for my sister that will feature some combination of UV leds, uranium glass buttons/beads, and surface mount MSP430 value range microcontrollers.

Lithium coin cells seem like the lightest and cheapest power option, I suppose rechargeable LiPo is longer lasting and more environmentally friendly but seems a bit heavy for a pendant (as opposed to a clip-on, which I think she would be less likely to wear).

If anyone has useful links I would appreciate it. I have checked out Adafruit a little bit but otherwise this is new territory for me.
67
Project logs / Re: Wireless sensor node with MSP430G2553/NRF24L01+
Another home "improvement" project - automatic lights in the basement laundry room. We often go in and out carrying a laundry basket so it's convenient not to have to hit a switch. And once in a while it might save a bit of electricity turning the lights off when nobody is in the room. I have fixed up the PIR sensor in a blue PVC "new work" box in the rafters. From this position, it triggers immediately when the door is opened and retriggers when there is movement in the room. I am experimenting with placement because I am concerned that the furnace turning on and off might also trigger the sensor.

[attachment=0]

As with the furnace relay, the PIR sensor is powered from the door bell transformer. Once I am happy with its placement, I will hook up a Magic Mote to the PIR sensor, powering it from the sensor's own 3V supply which is broken out to the retrigger select jumper header. The Magic Mote will switch the lights via a relay board and handle the timing, turning the lights off after 5 minutes or so. There is some ambient light from a little window so I will probably mount a photodiode on the analogue pin to disable the lights if it is sufficiently bright. Lastly I will replace the existing toggle switch with a momentary switch that will manually override the sensor and turn the lights on for a full 15 minutes. And the NRF24L01+ module on board the Magic Mote will report everything back to the BeagleBone webserver so that everything gets logged on Xively.

That's the plan anyway. :)
70
Project logs / Wireless sensor node with MSP430G2553/NRF24L01+


I set out to design a wireless sensor PCB that could be inexpensively prototyped in quantities of 10. NRF24L01+ modules are exceedingly cheap (~$10 for 10), use very little power, and have sufficient range for most indoor projects. Low power MSP430 microcontrollers make an ideal partner for battery powered applications. I settled on the MSP430G2553, but the MSP430G2452 can be substituted whenever hardware UART is not required.

Read on

Github repo

I'm happy to donate a few pairs of these to the free PCB drawer.
71
Hardware biz / Tindie commission increase
I have a lot of goodwill for Emile at Tindie and his openness is to be commended but I have been very discouraged by the reasons behind the recent commission increase.

https://www.tindie.com/forum/topic/467/

Tindie seems to have scored a real hit with us makers, but it appears that to achieve the next round of VC funding will require a large step up in both volume and margin. I'm no businessman but I just don't see the strategy for the increase in scale.

I guess what I mean to say is, congrats to Ian for keep things small and nimble all these years.
72
Project logs / Re: holiday break project
Yesterday made a GoodFET v4.0. Soldered the QFP first thing before any coffee and my hand was just about steady enough.
74
Project logs / Re: holiday break project
Soldering up my MSP430G2553/NRF24L01+ wireless sensor nodes, blinking the LEDs, and hopefully attempting radio transmission later today, should interference from flying reindeer permit.
75
Project logs / Re: Relay Control Board on DP5031
Yes of course. I honestly think they are probably safer than some of the commercial offerings I have seen. But I have a 240V use case and they are not suitable for that.


( ! ) Fatal error: Uncaught exception 'Elk_Exception' with message 'Please try again. If you come back to this error screen, report the error to an administrator.' in /var/www/dangerousprototypes/forum/sources/database/Db-mysql.class.php on line 696
( ! ) Elk_Exception: Please try again. If you come back to this error screen, report the error to an administrator. in /var/www/dangerousprototypes/forum/sources/database/Db-mysql.class.php on line 696
Call Stack
#TimeMemoryFunctionLocation
10.01632444152session_write_close ( )...(null):0
20.01662575776ElkArte\sources\subs\SessionHandler\DatabaseHandler->write( )...(null):0
30.01662576552Database_MySQL->query( ).../DatabaseHandler.php:119
40.06052715312Database_MySQL->error( ).../Db-mysql.class.php:273