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Author Archives: smackaay
Update time..
First off, something fun (if you’re boring like me) I decided to record data in my car overnight and through the daytime. From 12:00am to 7:00pm thereabouts. I recorded the data every 4 seconds with the following sensors NTC Thermistor … Continue reading
The Olimex Duinomite
A while back I was thinking about making a small board that would run it’s own OS and methodology for programming, similar to the computers of old such as the TRS-80 and the Commodore 64. Everything was on these machine … Continue reading
Many Dev Boards… what to do?
First, an update about the annoyo, it worked perfectly and maximized irritation while making itself difficult to find. Anyways, I just received my BeagleBone and I promptly thought to myself, what am I going to do with this? Then I … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects
Tagged arduino, arduino mega, arduino nano, arduino uno, beaglebone, chipkit
4 Comments
Another pic10f200 project, the Annoyo!
I had this cool idea for a prank at the office, a device that generate sound every 6 minutes. This device generates 4 different sounds at 6 minute intervals. The idea is that the sounds are short, familiar, difficult to … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects
Tagged annoyo, basic, diy, oshonsoft, pic10f200, prank, sound
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Building a quadrature generator with a PIC10F222
I need to start my new project with my digital RTJ gage and in order to do so I need to use the quadrature decoder chip LS7166. I could use the actual encoder I’m going to use for the project … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Work
Tagged circuit, electronics, microchip, microcontroller, pic10f222
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10f200 debouncing and a new compiler
I’ve noticed some people doing search terms for debouncing and I figured I would post my method of debouncing inputs from switches. Some people have a big thing with using caps and resistors and gates with hysteresis but I prefer to … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics
Tagged basic compiler, bounce, debounce, oshonsoft, pic10f200, switch noise
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Ugluino, the ugly Arduino powered robot
So, even though I’ve built a wide variety of crap over the last few years, all of them with varying utility, I’ve decided to build a quick robot. With oodles of free time and the feeling of having to go … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects, Programming
Tagged AI, arduino, arduino nano, microcontroller, pic18f2685, robot, Ugluino, youtube
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Some neat devices for the hobbyist
Ok, well, the year is coming to an end and I’ve seen a number of neat devices out there but here are some that I own. The next year coming up is a going to be an interesting year methinks … Continue reading
Posted in Personal Projects, Programming
Tagged arduino, arduino nano, cp2102, nRF24L01, PIR Unit, transceiver, ultrasonic
1 Comment
Well, the project is done.
I can’t say what it is because I’m sworn to secrecy but I finished another project. I’m simply posting it here for posterity. If you can guess what it is, you get an internet cookie!
RTJ Gage prototype update
Here we go, some images. The unit itself is a bit too heavy, doesn’t have stroke limits and is a bit ugly. It is but a prototype after all though. The next iteration should be more appropriate for a high … Continue reading
Pre-Christmas things I’m workin’ on!
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve posted anything (I think every post starts like this) so I’m gonna document a few things I’m working on right now. Things that are both for work and some things that are not. … Continue reading
Electronics lab on the cheap
Now, for those of you who don’t know me, I’m a total cheapskate. I hate paying good money for good things and wind up buying lots of crap for lots of money. Over the years I’ve seen the question asked … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics
Tagged agilent, electronics, exetech, extech, jameco, laboratory
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A test of GMHTML5
Well, let’s try it out, here’s an html5 program. see if it works. you need javascript enabled to see it. Tell me if it works! http://smackaay.com/gm/t1/index.html (update nov 9, 2011) http://smackaay.com/gm/t2/index.html
Posted in Other/misc
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Preliminary version of …. Game
Well, I dunno what it’s called but this is my new game. It is extremely preliminary… extremely! download it here booya grandpa!
Posted in Other/misc
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Stuff I’m playing with
Well, since I posted a bit of stuff yesterday I’m gonna post a couple of other things I’ve been playing with. Since I finally have a day off. may as well. The FPS I’m making I don’t know what I’m … Continue reading
Life keeps a changin’!
Well, it’s been a while since I’ve updated (which seems to be the standard intro for my posts) and I’;ve decided to state a little bit of what I’ve been doing as of late. LED colored vases as centerpieces Pretty … Continue reading
Posted in Other/misc
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Old photocopiers and you!
So a company that shares a parking lot with out company sells and distributes photocopier services. One day I was told about a whole bunch of photocopiers that were just sitting there. Deciding to take the plunge and rip through them the … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects
Tagged electronics, photocopiers, stepper motors
2 Comments
HipStreet E-Reader Review… plus some
Well, I was in the local Wal-Mart the other day and spotted this little device in the E-book reader section. It is the HS-M700-4GBBK version of this particular device. Here’s a shitty picture. It’s a reasonably well laid out device. … Continue reading
It’s been 4 years!
Yay! this site has been around and updated semi-regularly for four years now. Having just paid the bill for another 2 years, hopefully it’ll be around for a while longer. Looking back through this site I can see some of … Continue reading
Timer lamp, Part Deux
Anyways, as I promised, here is the almost finished. A couple days later than I said but, still, I did finish it for the most part. So Basically what we have here is a $20 lamp that’s been outfitted with … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects
Tagged Edmonton New Technology Society, ents, lamp, mains, pic10f200, timer lamp, unsafe
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The timer lamp Redux, Part one.
Well, in the vein of the spirit of the low-end microcontroller, I decided to make a timer lamp based around the PIC10F200. I did one years ago and it was based on a pic16f505 which is a low end MCU … Continue reading
A die, proper
Well, it’s been some time since I’ve made a die. This is a relatively simple one for a customer. I had some problems with alignment and some mixed up number on my part, but it seems to work adequately. As … Continue reading
From start to finish, a cutter.
We had to build a certain cutter for a customer and I figured it’d be neat to document the drawing and then the finished product. This is a cutter I designed and I think it turned out nice. And here’s … Continue reading
Posted in Work
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The new lab, again and a fish light controller
Nothing special in todays update but I figured I’d post a few things for the fun of it. First off I guess is my lab. I’ve been using it for a month or so. A little small, but at least … Continue reading
The magic of EDM machines
The other day we were asked to remove a section out of a valve. It’s not a huge valve but milling it would’ve been difficult all the way to the center so we put it on the EDM to blast … Continue reading
The underrated PIC10F200 (and 202/204/206 as well)
Sitting around looking through my collection of parts during a brief stint of illness I came across my stash of 30 or so PIC10F200′s. These were my entry into the world of microcontrollers. Granted I wasn’t very good at electronics … Continue reading
Little LCD tester
Well, after some playing around and getting my electronics feet back, I’ve finally rediscovered some passion. This little project is something I’ve wanted to do for quite some time. Basically it’s an HD44780 LCD tester. A very simple device but if you’re … Continue reading
Cheap chinese digital calipers and you
Some time ago I bought a bunch of cheap Chinese digital calipers and I was surprised to find that there is a port on almost all of them out the top. Now having looked up the format for both Starrett … Continue reading
A look at a small solar panel set.
A while back I had found a bunch of little solar cells on Ebay for cheap. I hadn’t really looked at them or tested them in any real way but today I wanted to see if they could power even … Continue reading
Happy 2011! uuh, I guess a bit late though.
It’s been well over two months since I last posted. Frankly, not a lot has happened in the meantime anyways. Work is going well and life is pretty good. That said, I’ve begun to regain my inspiration for electronics again … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects, Programming, Work
Tagged coolant, coolant nozzle, edm, general stuff, lab, refractometer, spider cool
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The new Haas Mill Features
The company I work for has recently purchased a Haas VF-5 40 taper machine to augment the capabilities of the shop. Seeing as they didn’t have one before, this will greatly improve the capabilities of the shop. The item of … Continue reading
Inside of a Yukiwa Rotary Table Control… and WTF!
So today I we got the power going to a brand new Yukiwa rotary table, unfortunately, it seems to produce dangerous voltages on the case of the actual rotary table itself… dunno why. Anyways, if anyone’s interested in seeing the … Continue reading
Posted in Work
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The finished result of an old project
A bout a year or so back I had designed an enclosure for a friend of mine. You can see the object here on an old blog post of mine. I’ve forgotten to take pictures of it for some time … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics
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Playin’ with the Canon G12
This weekend I just purchased my new Canon G12. What a delightful camera. It’s robust, effective and just small enough to fit in a pocket (A big pocket) I’ve been re-inspired to start taking photographs again since I have a … Continue reading
Posted in Miscellaneous, Photography
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Some changes, some improvements, some fun.
Yes, it’s been some time, again. Every post I make seems to say the same things. anyways. Here are some things I’m working on and also no longer working on. Viscometer No, nope and no. They bore me now and … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects, Work
Tagged assembly, chopper, cnmg432, edm, edm wire cutter, facemill, wire edm
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55g servo drawing.
For anyone that needs the drawing for a 55g servo, here we go. It’s been some time since I’ve updated but never fear, more boring stuff is to be posted soon heres is a link to the actual PDF if … Continue reading
A quick review of the HPS10se portable Oscilloscope from Velleman
I ordered this device about a year and a half ago for about $130USD. When I got it, I wasn’t terribly impressed but overall, for the price it’s not a bad unit. I figured it’s be nice to provide a … Continue reading
Coolant mixture sensor (psuedo-refractometer)
A bit ago I got the idea of trying to determine the mixture of coolant vs. water by detecting both light occlusion of the mixture and the wavelengths blocked / passed. This initial device is just a rough prototype that … Continue reading
Long time no post. Machining and trying to get back on my feet.
Well, it has been some time since I posted, about a month and a half or so. There have a been a number of events that have occurred in that time that have both beneficial yet disappointing. I’m not really … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Programming, Work
Tagged dot peen, electronics, haas, machining, machinist, marking
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A crummy little servo tester and other minutia
The little servo tester Well, I needed a way to test all of these servos I got from EBay and I decided to spend a little time making a quick and dirty little board for doing that. It uses a … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects, Work
Tagged diy, FAT, File Allocation table, pic12f683, RC servo, Stormer viscometer, viscometer
5 Comments
Viscometer board proceeding, some RS232 fun.
Well, things have been proceeding apace, and I’m feeling pretty confident that I’ll have both versions done fairly soon. For debugging the device I’ve decided to create a kind of terminal, this allows one to directly access commands and see … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Work
Tagged diy viscometer, pic18f4680, process viscometer, prototype, rs232, Stormer viscometer
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One last kick at the can, Viscometer Style!
Well, since funding for the viscometer has fallen through for various, understandable reasons, I have decided to take one last kick at the can before I shift my focus on to other ventures. The last kick at the can? Two … Continue reading
Stormer Viscometer Grams to Oz-Inch Conversion
Trying to make sense of the standard stormer viscometer and methods that could be used to calibrate a device, I’ve been looking at the original stormer viscometer in order to get an idea of what ‘grams’ actually means in the … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects, Work
Tagged conversion, grams, krebs, oz-inches, Stormer viscometer, torque
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Grams to Krebs conversion formulae
After many a day scratching my head as to why I can’t get my viscometer to calibrate correctly, even assuming logarithmic and quadratic relationships, I find out why I have been having so many problems. Krebs units are in not … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Programming, Work
Tagged conversion, grams, grams to krebs, krebs, Stormer viscometer
1 Comment
Working on new viscometer head
Well, I’ve been designing some new stuff since having a little wind of inspiration. This head weighs in at about 700g and provisions have been made to allow an attachment to a handle and therefore a hand-held version could be … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Programming, Work
Tagged engineering, sensor, Stormer, Stormer viscometer, viscometer
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Quick post, a couple of drawings.
The chill is in the air, October is here. I’ve been pretty busy with the viscometer and some other things, however I drew a couple of objects just for future reference. I figured somebody might need the dimensions of either … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Personal Projects, Work
Tagged drawings, pdf, qy-2004a, stormer paddle
2 Comments
Getting closer to final completion
A long road behind and still some ahead, here are some pic of the viscometer in its state of completion. Now to implement the ModBUS protocol and finish up this project.
Posted in Electronics, Programming, Work
Tagged diy, diy viscometer, process viscometer, Stormer viscometer, viscometer
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Krebs to Poise Formula
Looking for a decent formula on the net for a Krebs to Poise conversion I’m left empty handed. I found a chart that had listed direct numerical conversions. Here’s the Best Fit value in the Quadratic form ax^2+bx+c=y y=0.00419037x^2+(-0.306745)x+6.40025 y=poise … Continue reading
In-Process Stormer Viscometer – Damn near complete
The viscometer is nearing full completion! YAY! To mark this occasion to mark the end of a long two years, I am placing a small gallery of the almost finished product. The only thing missing is the outside cover which … Continue reading
Posted in Electronics, Programming, Work
Tagged completed, diy, diy viscometer, paddles, pic18f4685, pictures, Stormer viscometer, viscometer
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Yay! They work!
Well, I got the power board and control boards done. They both work flawlessly. YAY! The peripherals seem to work too.
The Amp Hour Radio Show