Joe's Hobby Electronics Blog - Joe's Hobby Electronics

Changing standards

20/2/2016

When I started PIC programming 15+ years ago hobbyists used to build their own PIC programmers and as such, came out with their own ICSP (In-Circuit-Software-Programming) interface connection pin-outs which they would adopt for their own designs. I don't remember giving my own pin-out much thought and it was probably based on the easiest way to route tracks on the PCB with influences from Everyday Practical Electronics' and the late John Becker with his TK2/TK3 PIC programmer projects. In those early days, you only needed 4 wires to establish an ICSP connection.

When the 18F devices started to become available a requirement for a 5th wire was added and so the 4-pin connector needed to be expanded on. For me, I opted for a 6-pin connector and my current personal standard came into existence, and that's what I'd stayed with ever since.
I always use 6-pin Molex connectors for my ICSP connections and as I bought a life-time supply of them cheap several years ago, I've no intention using anything different; at least for the majority of my projects. The Molex connectors are keyed so it's impossible to make a reverse connection.
However, over the years a standard has started to be adopted based on the Microchip PICKIT2 and PICKIT3 programmers. These programmers also use a 6-pin connector but have no reverse polarity protection like that offered by the Molex connectors, though using the Microchip standard you are less likely to damage things if the connection is reversed.

So the question is, do I keep my standard or change ?

I could adopt the Microchip standard really simply. My home-built custom programmer has standard 9-way D-type connectors as it's interface and it would be a simple matter of creating a new programming cable that matches the Microchip standard. A couple of years ago somebody asked me to look at a PIC project they created that used the Microchip standard and I did quickly make a different cable for my programmer... and I've never used that cable since.

Changing things at this stage feels like change for change sake. My current configuration works really well for me and I have no real incentive to change. But changing standards are an unfortunate way of life. In the software programming world it became common practice to adopt variable naming standards, only for this now to be frowned upon when using some programming languages.

Maybe if I wait long enough, Microchip will change their standard and fall into line with mine.
One lives in hope :)

PICKIT2 and the 18F25K22... again

14/2/2016

In June 2012, I wrote a blog article on how to update the PICKIT2 to support the 18F25K22 PIC device. This is easy to do and just requires updating the local software device file, and I provided a link to the page on the Microchip site where you could download the required updates. Unfortunately, and I suppose not surprisingly really, Microchip seem to have pulled the page and the programmer is discontinued. It was replaced several years ago with the PICKIT3.
However, I for one still use my PICKIT2 all the time, and the internet is awash with them for sale, so I've included the required device file here.

When initially installed, the PICKIT2 PC software will probably only support the 18F25K20 device.
To check, select "Device Family" from the top menu of the PICKIT2 programmer software and then select PIC18F_K
Now select the "Programmer" top menu, and then "Manual Device Select" near the bottom of the list.
On the main screen, a drop-down list will be available next to "Device". You will see that whilst the 18F28K20 device is shown, the 25K22 device is missing.

Exit the Programmer software.

Locate the folder containing your PICKIT2 software (mine is here: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microchip\PICkit 2 v2)
In the folder you will see a file PK2DeviceFile.dat
This is the device parameter master list. Rename this file to .OLD

pk2dfupdate-1-63-146.zip
File Size:	22 kb
File Type:	zip

The above .ZIP file contains a replacement .DAT file.

Rename the file in the .ZIP file to PK2DeviceFile.dat and place it in the PICKIT2 folder above.

Restart the PICKIT2 software and hey-presto, you now have support for the 25K22 device as well as many other devices.

New digital thermometer clock firmware v8

31/1/2016

I was contacted a couple of days ago about the possibility of changing my digital themo clock to also show the date.
It sounded like a quick change and as the RTC chip does have the date available, it seem like a quick project for a rainy afternoon.

It actually took a lot longer than I thought as I had to also make provision for setting the date, including the year. Then I found I needed to restructure everything and as I made changes, more and more of the code needed to be updated. It's almost been rewritten now.
The new firmware is available on the project page for those that want to try it.

I took the opportunity to make a couple of other changes.
I've removed the need for the crystal on the PIC; the one for the RTC is still needed of course. It wasn't required as the PIC's internal timing is good enough and I needed an additional output pin to connect to my debugger. You can leave the crystal in place if you want and it shouldn't cause any issues. However, you now have two free I/O pins to play with if you need them.

The interrupt called display routine has been completely re-written and is now tiny compared to the original. It causes a lot less flicker and the display runs brighter as a result.

Problems accessing this site

9/1/2016

At some point, Weebly, the cowboys who host this site, did something that broke all the sites internal links. I've repaired these as best I can but if you do happen to spot anything that's broken, please drop me a line.

Sorry for the inconvenience.

Replacement florescent tubes - fading over time

4/5/2015

I have a moveable bench light that has two 15w florescent tubes that I've had for several years. A few days ago one of the tubes started flickering and then refused to ignite. They are 18 inches long and I thought I would have a hard time finding them but actually they seemed quite common.

I've had "issues" with buying cheap unbranded long tubes from high street outlets so was a little nervous. I found a place on-line http://www.lampshoponline.com/ and was really surprised at how cheap they were. Because I've had problems before, I bought four branded tubes (£2.48 each) and a couple of replacement starters, just in case.

The tubes I bought were Philips T8 Triphosphor - Colour 865 Daylight which were the same specification as the existing ones - though the original ones seem to be unbranded.

After replacing the one faulty tube and switching on it was like looking into the sun and I couldn't believe how bright the new tube was compared to the other one. I'd never really thought about if tubes fade over time and just assumed they eventually burnt out. Anyway, I replaced the other old tube and I'm very impressed with the amount of light being produced. So I'm guessing the original tubes have been fading over time and I never really noticed.

So, don't know if this was something odd with the old tubes, or if they really should be replaced periodically but I've put a note in my diary to check them next year. Since I bought four and they are probably from the same batch, next year I will replace just one tube with one of my spares and compare the light output.

Breadboard wiring aid tool

1/5/2015

I received an Email from some kids at Stanford University in the USA about their Kickstarter project for a tool to aid with cutting wires and component leads to the right length when breadboarding.

I's a really nice, simple idea.
You can watch a short video presentation here.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1094241997/ohmkara-breadboarding-multitool-electronics-protot

Good luck guys.

Bat detector

25/4/2015

I've added breadboard construction details for my bat detector mentioned some time ago. Breadboard documentation software is getting better all the time and after a recent search I found a pretty good one to play with, but it's far from perfect. It's a pig for example to create new parts and whilst the existing library is pretty good but it's by no means complete.

Stepper Motors

17/3/2015

I've been neglecting the site and I apologise for that. Work has been really busy, I got suckered into building a website for somebody (actually suckered isn't correct as I volunteered though I didn't know what I was letting myself in for), and I've been working on some custom gizmo orders for people.

That said I've still had time to play in the workshop and I've got some projects to write-up that I think people may be interested in.

This last week I've been consumed with stepper motors. Well to be specific, trying to find some that are fairly small, powerful and cheap which is proving a challenge.

Ebay is awash right now with 5v steppers that are geared - model number is 28BYJ-48 rated at 5v.
I ordered several but I probably should have grabbed just the one first to experiment with.
Now they are nice steppers for the money. However they have a built in gear box that reduces the speed and means their maximum output speed is very limited. The gear box does mean they have a fair amount of torque though.

28BYJ-48 Available in 5v or 12v models

They would be great for clocks, robotics and even drive motors as long as you don't want your creation to whizz around the place to fast, but for my application much to slow.

However, they weren't a complete waste. Each motor was supplied with a little driver board. Now I don't use stepper motors often, and I've always opted for dedicated driver chips for them. However these driver boards are simply based around a ULN2003 Darlington driver chip. Each IC's contain seven Darlington drivers, rated at around 500ma and up to 50v. They even have the suppression diodes built in and are perfect for driving low current small steppers, motors, bulbs and relays.
It's one of those "why didn't I think of that" type of situations. You simply drive the IC from your CPU, and with four output lines you can drive the stepper in either direction and run in different stepping modes, all for peanuts. These IC's (or one of the many alternate variants) are usually easy to get hold of, and in the case of the ULN2003, you get three spare driver channels for other things as a bonus. I think there is an 8-channel variant which would be useful for a robot with two steppers.

So, whilst it turned unto a useful exercise after all it doesn't solve my current problem.

One solution that I've tried previously is using a modified radio modellers servo motor.
You open the servo and make a change (usually simple) to allow the shaft continuous 360 degree rotation.
However, whilst usually having masses of torque, servo's are rather large, expensive and quite noisy.
There are some micro servos available but they are tricky to modify for full 360 degree rotation.

So, back to searching Ebay.

Refurbishment of old PSU

4/1/2015

I've been sitting on a piece of equipment for a little while and my Christmas project was to get the thing working again, and then make some modifications. It's around 20 years old and it's had a hard life. When it was first plugged in to the mains, nothing happened. After some initial checks of fuses it was time to remove the lid and have a look.

A poke around the PSU showed mains going in, but nothing coming out, There was also some liquid residue on the inside of the case.

Anybody who's played with old equipment will probably have experience of PSU problems - specifically with the capacitors. Over time they break down as they dry out and that can cause all sorts of problems, from low or wandering output voltages, to spectacular bangs and flashes followed by clouds of the most foul smelling smoke.

I pulled the PSU module and inspected the PSB underside. There were signs of corrosion on the board but a quick inspection of the rest of the equipment showed no such damage. This was unlikely to be water damage and so is a pretty good sign that one or more of the electrolytic capacitors have leaked.
The copper side corrosion was also under a bank of three electrolytic capacitors so I pulled them to have a look.

You can see the mess under C12. I've never figured out how the capacitor fluid manages to get through the PCB to attack the underside solder joints and tracks... but it often does. Corroded solder joints on the underside are a good indication that the component has leaked something.

A quick inventory showed there were six electrolytic capacitors on the board. Four of them were 1000uf at 35v. One was a small 100uf at 16v and a big 200uf beast rated at 450v.

This isn't my first time repairing vintage power supplies so I replaced all six. Only the big 450v capacitor could be classed as unusual and I do try and keep a few of these types in the spares box. I also used 105 degree low-impedance types for the 1000uf ones.

However, the other capacitors to consider replacing are the EMI suppression / filter capacitors. These capacitors are usually wired across the Live - Neutral and when they fail often go short circuit leaving a trail of stinky smoke and bits of capacitor housing and fluff all over the place.
Even if these capacitors are still intact, it really is just a matter of time before they fail. They may have already failed open-circuit. They only cost a few pence and take seconds to replace so you may as well do it now whilst you've got the equipment dismantled.

But this failure mode raises an important point.

You MUST replace mains side suppression / filter capacitors with at least the same voltage and X/Y class. The actual capacitance value is usually less important.
The voltage rating should be obvious, but the X/Y class can cause confusion, and getting this wrong can cause a future equipment failure to be fatal.

The circuit above shows a typical basic mains filter / EMI suppression circuit though they can be much more complex of course. It's also common especially in older equipment to find very simple arrangements consisting of nothing more that a single C-X.

Looking at the above circuit, C-X is wired directly across the Live and Neutral, and the C-Y capacitors go from each line to earth.

If C-X was to fail by going open circuit, then there would be no real harm done (other than a loss of effectiveness of the circuit). If it failed by going short circuit a fuse or breaker somewhere back along the power line should blow or trip. Annoying but in the end, no serious harm done.

I've had equipment where the chassis fuse keeps blowing because the X capacitor has failed short-circuit.

If one of the C-Y capacitors were to fail open circuit again, again no real harm done. However, if they were to fail by going short-circuit a situation could arise where the chassis is left at mains voltage.

So typically class Y capacitors are designed to fail by going open circuit.
Of course, an obvious question is why don't they just use Y class capacitors in both applications. It would certainly save a lot of mess and acrid smoke being released.
I suspect the main reason is cost. Y class capacitors tend to be more expensive. A secondary consideration is probably that if a capacitor has failed the suppression characteristics of the circuit have been compromised.

Of course, nothings ever simple and there are sub groups for each of the two capacitor classes and it's important to match or exceed the specification of the faulty one.

Subgroup                 Peak Service Voltage
X1                           > 2,500v and <= 4,000v
X2                           <= 2,500v
X3                           < 1,200v

Peak Service Voltage is not the components rated working voltage. The working voltage of these capacitors seems to start at around 275V AC so should be more than suitable in domestic mains equipment. X2 capacitors are very common in UK mains equipment.

Subgroup                 Rated Voltage
Y1                           <= 500v
Y2                           Between 150v and 300v
Y3                           <= 250v
Y4                           <= 150v

These capacitors tend to be supplied in rectangular plastic packages that can be soldered flush with the PCB. Once soldered in place, it would be almost impossible to push over without causing permanent and obvious damage to the package unlike regular ceramic disc capacitors.
They also tend to be self-healing and can often recover from a voltage spike, again unlike cheaper ceramic disc capacitors.

If it doesn't work, always check the simple things first

14/12/2014

Checking the obvious when something doesn't work is of course, well, obvious.

A friend recently asked to me look at a piece of kit that had been giving her trouble. It was intermittent and a swift whack or fiddling with the connections would usually bring it back to life but it had gotten to the point where it was unusable so she had sent it to repair When it arrived back it was completely dead and not wanting to fork out even more money or be without the device for an extended period of time, asked me to have a look.

It's a mains powered device and since UK plugs have a cartridge fuse inside, this is always the first thing to check. Unfortunately the fuse was fine.

I opened the device, couldn't see anything obviously loose or damaged so started checking the continuity of the mains flex from the plug to the device. A-ha. Both the live and neutral were intermittent, so it was probably a break in the cable some place.
I cut the plug off, disconnected the flex from the equipment end, and replaced it. When I came to remove the plug from the old flex to attach to the new one, I found that both the live and neutral screws were really loose. What should have been a five minute repair took around an hour.

Always, always check the simple things first.

On the plus side, the equipment looks nicer with a new piece of black flex rather than the grubby original white one.