I lost my FPP and E131 controllers to a power surge. THe Pi wouldn’t power up at all and I couldn’t get to the webpage of my RPM DMX brigdes. So is was time for an update.
Drama 1:
When try to connect toemy FPP in Xlights I persists on opening my Cisco AP. I can enter the actual IP address and see my Pii.
Drama 2:
When load the sequence that runs in Xlights when I connect my PC dirrectly to the controller switches, I get no Blinky Flashy.
Well I know exact where I have been, too busy with life to really do any Christmas lights. But with our recent move from Baulkham Hills to the outskirts of Nowra( about 2 hours south ( providing there is no Sydney traffic) I have a renewed interest in this hobby, so it is time to get all the old display items out, dust them off, and do a inventory of their condition.
Our new home is a fabulous corner block on the high side of the road. it is great, however the garden is way too dense to show most light. so the hedger will be busy for the next couple of years as we remodel the garden too. the home itself has grand entrance with two wings at 20 degree of so. the front path will be magic for mini trees and arches. And I still need to work out how and where to mount my Beth star. The roof is full of Solar EV and Solar pool heating panels.
Well it is great to be back!
Solder Side of PCB
3D view of DC filter Board
Component Side of PCB
PCB with the Resistors Loaded
PCB with all components loaded bar the Power Transistors
Sellers view of the Amplifiers
Read a really good article relevant to today!
Highlights include:
“But if Islam does stand for freedom of faith and coexistence, why is it that so many people who call themselves Muslims are in so much conflict, not just with non-Muslims, but also with other people who call themselves Muslim?”
“If you believe that Muhammad is your moral guide, then you have to accept that there was a peaceful character in Muhammad and that there is a warlord, a military man, a beheader, a man who sold people into slaves,”
“While the Western world now largely accepts a live-and-let-live ideology, it was not that long ago that religious intolerance was our norm, too.”
“Not only did we have the medieval Crusades but we also had the confessional wars of the 16th and 17th centuries.”
“Intolerance lived on in the 20th century in my birthplace of Ireland, where extremists like the late Ian Paisley denounced the Pope as the Antichrist as late as 1988.”
“No Indonesians or Muslims were killed in revenge attacks in Australia.”
“But a little over a year later we had the Cronulla riot. Disgusting as this event was, no-one was killed or seriously injured and police action was admirable.”
“But many self-appointed Islamic spokesmen give no credit to this liberal tradition.”
Read the whole article here:
I stumbled on to Kerry Wong web blog when I searched for some ideas on an electronic load. Kerry also references a tutorial on an Electronic Load for testing batteries by Dave of EEBlog.
Kerry uses a lm324 to drive 6x fets. As I am wanting a lower capability, I will be only be using 3x fets.
I am aiming at the following Specifications:
The heat sink is 100x50x15mm. I choose this one as it is easy to retrofit 2x 40mm fans.
My 20Watt Roll your own RGB Flood Lights take a lot of effort to build.
I purchased some 10Watt LED Spot lights from EBAY. They are reasonably made and very compact. I also purchased some LED Constant Driver boards from AliExpress.
The intention was to replace the 10Watt White LED with a 10W RGB Chip and then “blob” the Drivers.
I ended up creating a little 3Ch Constant Current Shield from my RGB Kitty Pixels.
Going trough display items, making sure they still work, replace the odd LED where needed etc, I very soon realised I still needed a SSR base controller. the old control centre had two such controllers, one my first design, a sub rack based 16 Chan LED DMX module, and the other was a RPM Grinch Dimmer. Having ditched the old control centre I very quickly decided I needed to roll an new solution, or repackage one anyway.
Internal View of 16Ch LED DMX Controller
Internal View of Quad Isolated DMX Splitter
A stack of Controllers
This year I am upgrading my control center.
Gone is the IBM ThinkCentre, the 192 Channel DC DMX sub-rack, the Grinch Dimmer, the USB DMX adapters and the couple of modified PC power supplies.
The new Cabinet contains 3x 350Watt SMPS and Falcon Pi Player will sit on top for the season.
I finally finished one of the outdoor Power Supply Boxes. It contains 2x 350W SMPSs in it and will be situated in the garden. The cabinet currently has a 12v computer fan to push air out of the box. Like all good computer fans this one makes a racket.
So I have set out to make a simple fan controller.
Design Requirement:
the Temperature measurement can be super easy using a thermistor is a basic voltage divider. I have Atmel ATTiny 13 what have ADC and PWM functions.
Update 1:
I scraped the Thermistor idea and went straight toe Dalas DS18S20. I have a number left over from a previous project.
Basic Schematic
Now for the PCB Layout too
PWM Fan Controller PCB Design
Partially Built Fan Controller
Lastly for the Code
Enjoy.
Update: Below are a several cooling options installed using this fan Controller.
Being an avid DIYer, I always find the need to bend up brackets, even if it is a simple 90 degree bend bar. Quite often a trip to the local hardware store will reveal suitable substitute brackets.
I stumbled on Swag Off Road 20 ton press brake. Kool, if only they were available here in Australia too.
They say “Necessity is the mother of all invention”. Watching the video a couple of times, got me thinking, what would it take to make a similar unit? So the long process of considering all sorts of solution starting to roll through my mind. Some got sketches, some didn’t make it that far. At one point I realised I don’t need a massive solution and the 20 ton press was probably a bit of an overkill not to mention where I would store it.
2 significant occurrences happened:
Having acquired two sets of jaws and a press, this is how I went about making my very own Bench Top Brake Press Bender.
As of today, the unit is built and tried. I have already planned a few modifications to make it better:
If I had my time again I would extend the inner shafts and tread the ends. This will enable a lock nut to be added to prevent the top and base separating.
