Steve's Junk » mackaay http://smackaay.com A showcase of Steven Mackaay's stuff Sun, 11 Mar 2012 20:11:37 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 A quick post about my website. http://smackaay.com/2009/07/05/a-quick-post-about-my-website/ http://smackaay.com/2009/07/05/a-quick-post-about-my-website/#comments Sun, 05 Jul 2009 22:54:26 +0000 smackaay http://smackaay.com/?p=604 I’ve finally had some time to put together my website for my business. 8mtech.com is online and has most of the pages complete. I’ve decided to keep the layout very simple and I’ll eventually flesh out the theme a little better.

As an aside, my business cards came in, they were very nice. print100 based out of Hong Kong did a good job. $30 for 300 cards with corner cutting, matte finish and double-side colour. Very nice!

Anyways, if anyone wants a freelance inventor or a draft monkey, give me a call! :)

]]> http://smackaay.com/2009/07/05/a-quick-post-about-my-website/feed/ 0 Viscometer Project, coming along… http://smackaay.com/2009/04/21/viscometer-project-coming-along/ http://smackaay.com/2009/04/21/viscometer-project-coming-along/#comments Tue, 21 Apr 2009 07:50:05 +0000 smackaay http://smackaay.com/?p=558 I thought I would have nothing to post but I do I guess. I’ve felt the need to really expedite this project now that I am starting a business. I have done a few of the mechanical things associated with it after a major redesign. Today I have completed the design of the board and despite it’s sloppiness, I’m happy it’s done. Now to get it made.

Viscometer Board 3D View

Viscometer Board 3D View

Viscometer Board traces

Viscometer Board traces



Like I state in the description, I used the autorouter on this image, I may revise many of the traces so that ripple can be eliminated from IC’s by bringing the caps closer electrically to Gnd and Vcc. This week I hope to finish the machining side of the device, I’ll have to wait for bolts from Fastenal to arrive but it’ll be worth the wait. Here are some shots of the parts so far, note that the main block is made of phenolic, I love this material since it looks kind of like wood but is reasonably machinable.

Machining the block

Machining the block

Phenolic Block Finished

Phenolic Block Finished

Coming along, main block and holders finished

Coming along, main block and holders finished



Just for the record, here is the list of, well electrical features:

  1. 16 key Keypad for data entry, mostly for calibration.
  2. 16×2 LCD display for seeing alarms and viscometer output.
  3. 24V motor, PWM driven with TIP102
  4. Light interrupted sensors for top and bottom
  5. provisions for temperature sensing
  6. RS-485 Out
  7. Provision for an external RS-232 board, if needed
  8. TVS’ed to the hilt, hopefully this will prevent funny stuff from happening.

Anyways, let’s hope she all works out in the end.

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