Impressive HB in Russian

Bruce Baxter, provided links via one of his notes on the "Homebrew_PCBs" list server that was very impressive, video narrative is Russian but, Homebrew is a universal language.

With permission, a copy of Baxter's original note/email text is provided here (normally, I would just link to the original note, but it contains many links that I want to capture here for future reference)

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> See this --à http://radiokot.ru/lab/hardwork/34/ Russian site, but with

> google translate is you will know everything.

Chris,

While Looking at your reference, I noticed the statement" "There is still everyone's favorite FGK-120".

I couldn't find any availability of the product in the US. However, from the photos of the Chinese marketers, I recognized it as a Tamerica LP-120 which is sold in the US for about $51. This is the laminator I use and it does a great job with toner transfer.

During my search for the FGK-120, I came across this URL,

http://easyelectronics.ru/izgotovlenie-pechatnyx-plat-videourok-nomer-dva.html

Although this is a bit off topic, The second video discusses a PCB tinning method using citric acid, boiling water and some metallic particles called alloy Rose. The process seems quite simple without any bad chemicals. A bit of searching identified alloy Rose as a low temperature solder (203-212 deg F) called Rose's metal or Rose's alloy composed of bismuth, tin and lead,

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rose%27s_metal

You can make your own,

http://www.angelfire.com/planet/skerjastrond/casting.html

or buy it,

http://www.mcmaster.com/#bismuth-alloys/=97u0jk

The McMaster-Carr product seems to have the lowest melting point (203 deg F) with

Bismuth = 52.5%

Tin = 15.5%

Lead = 32.0%

wikipedia-Solder has this to say about Bismuth alloys,

"Bismuth significantly lowers the melting point and improves wettability. In presence of sufficient lead and tin, bismuth forms crystals of Sn16Pb32Bi52 with melting point of only 95 °C, which diffuses along the grain boundaries and may cause a joint failure at relatively low temperatures. A high-power part pre-tinned with an alloy of lead can therefore desolder under load when soldered with a bismuth-containing solder. Such joints are also prone to cracking. Alloys with more than 47% Bi expand upon cooling, which may be used to offset thermal expansion mismatch stresses. Retards growth of tin whiskers. Relatively expensive, limited availability."

Based upon this, Rose's alloy may of limited utility for DIY PCB tinning. However, With the low melting temperature, it seems almost as useful as polymorph (friendly) plastic for prototyping parts .

Baxter

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UPDATE:

I have tried to obtain Bismuth from locations around Seattle, so far I have NOT located a source - Green (no-lead) Sinkers and Green Shotgun Shot has not sold well enough to stock it locally. Because of it's weight, an Internet purchase may be prohibitive for medium (e.g., 10lbs) quantities.

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UPDATE:


I now, have some Bismuth on order from Rotometals in San Francisco.

• http://www.rotometals.com/Bismuth-s/4.htm

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HomeBrew in Russian

I just added another Blog Link to the right side bar, "Easy Electronics" - it is written in Russian, but Hobby HomeBrew Electronic is a universal language - and Google Translates will help with the details.

After reading several of the posts, I think I will really enjoy this link.

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A Special Day

Today is a Special Day for many reasons, but three reasons are special to me.

• At one moment in time, today's time can be written as: 2010-10-10 10:10:10.1010, for a Geek this has to be a special point in time.

• This would have been my Father's Birthday (89) and in his honor each year I declare this day as Hero Day. My Father is my favorite Hero (see previous posts). I celebrated his Birthday today at 10:10:10.1010am local, he would have liked that, even without computers, he was very much a Geek of his time.

• Because I use Ubuntu for most of my computing needs, today is also special, because of the new revision of Ubuntu was released. Note: this new release was specially timed to coincide with this day of Oct 10th. Normally, release numbers reflect the year and the month, coincidently this year it ALSO reflect the month and the day! More than likely, this contrived coincidence will not happen again. Normally, releases come out about once each six months. The last release was Ubuntu 10.04, representing Apr 2010. But, maybe they will slip the scheduled release of 11.10 to November?  . . .  Nah.

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QRSS, WSPR on SDR

I could not sleep about 4AM,  so I got up to listen to my Softrock RX Ensemble SDR via MS XP, tuning to 10.1387MHz for both the LO and the Tune frequency provides the 1300 to 1600Hz audio signal for both the QRSS and WSPR decoders.

Normally, the audio would be decode by additional processes like ARGO (1300 to 1400Hz) for QRSS, and the WSPR program (1400 to 1600Hz) for WSPR. To re-route the audio to those two programs requires an additional sound card, or a "virtual audio cable" (VAC). SDR and the two decode programs can run concurrently, assuming WSPR is configured for receive only. The SDR audio bandpass filter makes it very easy to select the desired signals.

I do not have VAC and my second sound card was not working, so I slowed down the SDR audio water fall, and averaged two adjacent scans, and then was able to visually decode "KC7VHS" on QRSS. Several other QRSS signal were seen, but I was not able to decode them. Also, WSPR signals were seen, but obviously I could only observe.

My gaol is to reestablish my QRSS Grabber and report WSPR Spots with this receiver (at yet another location), but time for; an antenna installation, and a disk replacement tasks, are holding up progress. The computer system will be Ubuntu, as it provides multiple virtual X displays that the decode programs can run in. ARGO requires it's own unobstructed window as it uses "screen scrapes" to obtain images that are published by an Internet Grabber Server. Pop-ups makes using MS Windows to run ARGO some what difficult on a remote system, especially when the desire is to have more windows displayed than space on the screen.

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More QR Code

Here are just a "few" QR-Codes that I found via Google, they are apparently everywhere, if you know where to look.

http://www.google.com/images?hl=en&expIds=17259,17315,23628,23670,25834,26328,26569,26751,26762&sugexp=ldymls&tok=wJPNdc6pYq78MMGEUwH2Bw&xhr=t&q=qr+code&cp=2&um=1&ie=UTF-8&source=univ&ei=pSSgTOTxMZSisQOYrP3VAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result_group&ct=title&resnum=7&sqi=2&ved=0CFsQsAQwBg&biw=1059&bih=705

All of the above very long URL is contained in the following QR-Code image.

The Above URL

The reason that I started noticing QR-Codes, is because QR-Codes are the method of choice for sharing data; contacts, URLs, Apps, and more, between the Android Smart Phones. One phone displays the QR-Code, the second scans the first phone's display and decodes the results , effectively transferring information.

Using a "Bar Code App", any QR-Code can be decoded, regardless of  it size, location, and display device, assuming that it can be seen via phone camera. The image can be on a small stamp, or the side of a blimp - if it can be photographed, it can be decoded. Apparently, QR-Codes are used extensively in Japan, on everything from small products, to large Billboards and Neon signs.

If you have an Android Smart Phone, you too can easily read the above code and jump to the web page. Note; maybe other phones can do the same thing? For Android, see the app:

http://market.android.com/details?id=com.google.android.apps.reader

There is a Google Chrome Plugin that coverts any URL line to a QR-Code, which makes it easy to share an arbitrary page to a phone. Other online apps can be used to decode QR-Codes for any PC.

https://chrome.google.com/extensions/detail/bcfddoencoiedfjgepnlhcpfikgaogdg

So, . . what does this have anything to do with Ham Radio? . . . Well, a lot, . . . as my new HTC Android Phone also contains several good Ham Radio Apps;  like EchoLink,  Exam Test Questions, APRS, CW Trainer, GPS Maping and a lot more. Oh, by the way, it can also receive and place phone calls  :-)  !!!

This mode of image communication may have a place in Ham Radio. Maybe a new form of QRSS or MEPT??


Update, yes it has now been done, See:

http://www.swharden.com/blog/2010-11-11-deciphering-qr-code-from-radio-spectrograph/

I plan on creating a QR-Code image for the back of my van, but so far, I have not thought of a good choice for content :-)

So, who will be the first to decode the secret word in the QR-Code of my previous post ???

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Update


Link to some QR Code history (thanks to, Colin - G6AVK):

http://www.adams1.com/stack.html

-- Home Page: https://WA0UWH.blogspot.com

For The Geek in Me

For all of the Geeks - here is todays post:

As you can see by the time stamp below, I have been up, much too late.

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UPDATE

I did not expect a QR-Code reply :-), but At 12:13AM, Jeff - KO7M, Replied with:

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In PIC Heaven

OK, I am now in PIC Heaven.

Long ago, I have used the Microchip 12C509 for many projects, but it is time to update.

In an attempt to find a PIC for some future projects, I ordered and received a few of the most popular.

• Microchip - PICkit-2 with a PIC16F690 Evaluation Proto Board ~ $40.00

• ATmel  - Arduino Duemilanove Development and Evaluation Board ~ $30.00

• Solarbotics -  Ardweeny Backpack  (a small Arduino compatible) ~ $10.00, Requires USB-to-6Pin Programming Adapter ~ $14.00

• Texas Instruments - MSP430 Launch Pad, Development and Evaluation Board = $4.30 with shipping at Mouser (how can they afford that!!!)

• PJRC - Teensy USB Development Board - $18.00

Each Kit has a lot to offer; these are my initial reactions:

• Microchip - has a lot of supporting chips and I think they have be around longer. Multiple programs to install and/or download. This should be easy, but I am have a hard time getting anything to work.  The Docs and Examples refers to different PIC than received?

• ATmel Arduino - is VERY easy to program and it is quick to have something useful running. Just download one ZIP file and execute the main program.  The program contains links to read-only example files and a link to your project work space - very nice!

• Solarbotics Ardweeny - is very small and the same ease of use as the Arduino and can be reduced to just the chip. A 6-pin programmer is needed, that is - a special USB to Serial Adapter (now on order).

• Texas Instrument  MSP430 - Very inexpensive (evaluation board most function per $) - a little more difficult to program, but the chip has many built-in features, like on chip temperature. Two software packages are necessary to download and install; C and the Assembler. Demo code is a little difficult to find and set up - I will have to learn more.

• PJRC Teensy - USB Development Board - It has onboard USB for programming and data transfer (I have this board on order)

Each of the above can be reduced to just an inexpensive PIC, for inclusion into a final project. Most PIC's are less than $2.00 - $3.00, availability, support (i.e., demo code), and easy-of-use (i.e., programming) will be the deciding factors.

I will update this post as I learn more.

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Advancements DLP to PCB

It looks like there has been some major advancements for Mark's Direct Laser Printer (DLP) to PCB for homebrew hobbyist. See my previous posts.

Most experiments attempting to laser print directly onto PCB material evolves modifying the printer (cutting and removing parts) to straighten the paper (or PCB) path through the printer. Also, this normally requires the toner fuser to be removed, because it often contains slight "S" turns which is normally used to maximize heat transfer. Stiff PCB material will not pass through without modifications. A different method of image "affixing" is necessary.

In general; Jim KI6MZ's modification to the "carrier" makes for better image prints onto the PCB by grounding. As before the image is very fragile and require simi-melting in a 400 deg oven to affix the image before etching.

And now, Jim has also found a way to affix the image WITHOUT heat!

Jim suggests that the image can be affixed by placing the PCB with image in a container of Acetone Vapors for about two minutes. Removing it gently, air drying and it is ready for etch .

This sounds too good to be true, I am going to have to try this !!

Links to the details and thread are here.

• http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/Homebrew_PCBs/message/26822

I will report my progress using this method.

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WinradHD Running on Ubuntu 10.04 via Wine

Until recently I had been listening to my Softrock RX Ensemble on my one-and-only Windows XP Desktop Computer, all of my other computers have been converted to Ubuntu Linux.

Today I found out that "WinradHD" I/Q Decoder will run via "Wine" on Ubuntu 10.04. I have Ubuntu on my HP Pavilion Laptop, which has a Stereo Mic Input Jack (a surprise to me). The Laptop decodes the SDR I/Q signals very nicely, with a very low noise floor.

My initial test configuration used two computers; one (window XP) to changed the Ensemble LO Frequency via a USB connection, and the second (the laptop) to run WinradHD and provide audio output.

Then, via the Internet, I found the "usbsoftrock" deamon for Linux, which is a kind of driver/program for the Si570. It is like a command-line version of a combination of  "USB Driver", "CFGSR", and "SRDLL" as used on Windows XP, and  as previously described. Usbsoftrock runs on Ubuntu along with WinradHD.

Usbsoftrock allows changes to the Si570 frequency via a command-line command on the Ubuntu Laptop, for example:

$ usbsoftrock set freq 10.140

Status can be listed via:

$ usbsoftrock status

I need to find the magic to control the Si570 via "usbsoftrock" directly from "WinradHD" on Ubuntu. Using the keyboard to set a Frequency is not exactly fun.

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Note: A pre-compiled "usbsoftrock" Ubuntu package can be found as described on Steve Conklin, AI4QR web page and which was created by Jonathan, AF6YF (now N6JU) - Thanks Jonathan.

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USB Mini-B Connector Received

Just received the USB Mini-B connectors (P/N 538-54819-0572) from Mouser. Hopefully sometime soon I will have time to modify the artwork to include this connector for my Marker/Beacon/CW project. See previous post.