Category Archives: Science

PCB Fabrication – Getting the hang of it

With my first PCB under my belt, I was ready to etch a board for something I really need. I took the lessons learned last week, and was able to produce a really nice result this time. This is a … Continue reading

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PCB Fabrication – been there, done that.

Well, I did it. I decided to tackle something simple for my first attempt at etching a circuit board. I wanted something with a low parts count, and that was easy to test. I decided on a voltage level shifter … Continue reading

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Sidereal seconds hand

I spent some time thrashing about trying to make sure that the circuit was producing the correct output. I decided to try the Hz counter on my DMM, to see whether it could give me an accurate enough reading. Hooked … Continue reading

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Sidereal clock, baby!

…well, I’d need an oscilloscope to confirm, of course. But I converted the Bresenham/Black algorithm to Arduino code, mixed in code from a Timer Interrupts tutorial from the web (I should link to that here), and loaded it up. Worked … Continue reading

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Sidereal clock circuit — progress!

I’ve been kicking around the idea of making an accurate sidereal clock circuit for years now. I’ve discussed it all before, but the basic idea is that I want to be able to create a circuit that oscillates at 32857.715Hz … Continue reading

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Working on my communication

I’m beginning to realize that most of the big electronics projects that I have right now are going to require a more serious level of inter-device communication than most of my previous stuff. Any kind of UAV/quad is going to … Continue reading

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Don’t let this happen to you

The world never looks quite the same once you’ve started using Arduino. … but you could change from “whip” to “puree” from your computer! Change speeds based on how mixed up the contents look… no, stop. 🙂

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CNC Build Day 1, Moving on up

I’ve decided to upgrade my trusty CNC machine to a larger unit. There are several small problems with the current machine, some by design, and some in my execution. By design, the machine has a 24″x48″ table, but it can … Continue reading

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Where you at?

Probably the most common phrase ever uttered on a cell phone. Competes with “You still there?” of course. 🙂 Anyway, back to the show. I built myself an Arduino-based GPS receiver last night. I used the GPS Logging Shield from … Continue reading

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Real sugar

Coke and Pepsi from Mexico are made with real cane sugar, not high-fructose corn syrup. They taste *totally* different. It’s a crisp, light, refreshing beverage that makes you realize that HFCS just tastes syrupy. I have been having trouble finding … Continue reading

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