My First Prop PCB Arrived yesterday
CassLan
Posts: 586
So I designed my first Prop based PCB, I created the schematic and layout in eagle, and sent the files off to GoldPhoenix.
These boards are not tiny..and I recieved 10 of them...delivered by 2 Day FedEx...for $99!!!!! No additional costs at all (setup, handling...etc).
Eagle was a bit tricky at first, but some video tutorials on YouTube helped.
Anyway, I had to "create" some of the parts in eagle and I screwed up on a couple things:
1) The PS2·Port Pinouts are mirrored, so they have to be soldered from the bottom (I miss read the datasheet which has top and bottom views)
2)·The 3.3V regulator has output and GND·swapped, which means you have to do some twisting of the·pins before soldering·(I have NO idea how I did that)
3) I wired one of the RCA ports intended for video unalligned to the neccesary 4 pin blocks (http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=816747)
Other than that, everything else works:
16 Digital Inputs
2 Relay Outputs
RTC w Bat Backup
Slot for uController PropNIC
Slot for uController SDCard Adapter
Slot for PropPlug
So although it wasnt a complete success, it was definately a learning experience..I will be having some fun with these.
Rick
These boards are not tiny..and I recieved 10 of them...delivered by 2 Day FedEx...for $99!!!!! No additional costs at all (setup, handling...etc).
Eagle was a bit tricky at first, but some video tutorials on YouTube helped.
Anyway, I had to "create" some of the parts in eagle and I screwed up on a couple things:
1) The PS2·Port Pinouts are mirrored, so they have to be soldered from the bottom (I miss read the datasheet which has top and bottom views)
2)·The 3.3V regulator has output and GND·swapped, which means you have to do some twisting of the·pins before soldering·(I have NO idea how I did that)
3) I wired one of the RCA ports intended for video unalligned to the neccesary 4 pin blocks (http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=816747)
Other than that, everything else works:
16 Digital Inputs
2 Relay Outputs
RTC w Bat Backup
Slot for uController PropNIC
Slot for uController SDCard Adapter
Slot for PropPlug
So although it wasnt a complete success, it was definately a learning experience..I will be having some fun with these.
Rick
1600 x 1200 - 686K
1600 x 1200 - 542K
1600 x 1200 - 535K
1600 x 1200 - 481K
1600 x 1200 - 540K
Comments
I like your method of using slots for SD card adaptor, etc. I wish I had gone that route instead of hard wiring everything.
best of luck,
Mark
So what is your master plan for this board?
OBC
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
New to the Propeller?
Visit the: The Propeller Pages @ Warranty Void.
The main reason for making the board is for an alarm device, not the kind that calls the cops, but for enviornments where there is a 24hour staff present.
I usually do this with LEDs and and wall plates...but with the low cost of mini screens and the fact that most of these cutomers have video displays at the desk, I just have the Names and status of the sensors displayed on a Monitor.
Its worked out well and at present there is no other product that does this that I have found. Plus, if a Sensor gets changed/added then all I do is edit the Text file on the SD card.
Rick
How many days from when you placed the order until delivery?
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
My Prop Info&Apps: ·http://www.rayslogic.com/propeller/propeller.htm
Are there metal cylinders in each via?
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
www.fd.com.my
www.mercedes.com.my
I emailed the files on Wednesday 6/10/09 9:20am
Got a DRC Approval on Wednesday 6/10/09 11:00am
Paid via Paypal Wednesday 6/10/09 11:15am
Got FedEx tracking info for shipment Tuesday 6/16/09 9:05am
Recieved Boards Thursday 6/18/09 10:12am
It was a 155 Sq Inch special, and they "step and repeat" until your order fills that area.
Actually I only should have gotten 8, but they sent 10 (I have read that they usually round-up one..but they don't say they are going to).
William,
Yeah they are all fully plated.
These are the guys that BatchPCB (Sparkfun) uses,·BatchPCB just waits until they have enough to fill a large panel to send off.
I looked at a bunch of reviews before choosing a manufacturer.
Here is one detailed review that really made me go with them:
http://www.nearfuturelaboratory.com/2007/07/18/more-pcb-stuff/
Rick
Post Edited (CassLan) : 6/19/2009 3:35:03 PM GMT
I have been using pcbexpress but it's getting a little expensive.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
·······
······· "What do you mean, it doesn't have any tubes?"
······· "No such thing as a dumb question" unless it's on the internet
········
FYI You should place a 0.1uF bypass capacitor for each chip and an extra 4.7uF tantalum for the prop chip.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Links to other interesting threads:
· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBladeProp, SixBladeProp, website (Multiple propeller pcbs)
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: Micros eg Altair, and Terminals eg VT100 (Index)
· Search the Propeller forums (via Google)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBladeProp is: www.bluemagic.biz/cluso.htm
I edited the post above yours while you where posting. It answers how I found them.
This is the pricing info for what I got:
http://www.goldphoenixpcb.biz/special_price.php
I have used expressPCB and been happy with what I got, but I did not want the "proto-board look". And if I had ordered with expressPCB, for the same $$ I would have gotten 2 boards.
I'm not knocking them at all, they make it really easy to do. But for the extra 2days it took me to learn eagle's quirks I have 8 additional boards and a library full of components for future board layouts.
Cluso,
Thanks for the heads up, I was as dilligent as possible with the caps by the voltage regulators...why the caps near the chips?
Rick
Leon
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
I trust that your right, I just dont understand why if the dc voltage has been smoothed out by the caps near the regulators.
Rick
You need a local decoupling cap for each chip to keep the chip outputs from having crazy effects (ringing, slew rate problems, etc...) and keep the supply line clean especially if you have 2 layer boards with thin or moderate size traces. Not decoupling the propeller will give your power rail a big AC ripple from the crystal.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
--Steve
Propalyzer: Propeller PC Logic Analyzer
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=788230
Leon
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Amateur radio callsign: G1HSM
Suzuki SV1000S motorcycle
Post Edited (Leon) : 6/19/2009 4:43:25 PM GMT
you need 100nF caps at pins because digital electronics have rapidly changing current needs resulting in noise on the power lines.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us and propmod_1x1 are now in stock. Only $30. PCB available for $5
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
As mctrivia said...shipping was included..and thats great...included shipping that is FedEx..even greater..but 2-Day from China..my god its unheard of.
Thanks to all for answering about the additional caps...wow, I can really see how parts could add up quick.
If you guys don't mind answering..is this the same reason why people do a large ground plane? Does it work toward the same goal?
Rick
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
--Steve
Propalyzer: Propeller PC Logic Analyzer
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=788230
no mater what you will need the caps. i find 0603 caps are very easy to solder directly across the pins on dip packages and 0402 caps work well on soic packages. good thing if you forget to add to circuit board.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us and propmod_1x1 are now in stock. Only $30. PCB available for $5
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
You should place a 0.1uF (100nF) ceramic and at least a 1uF tantalum on the underside of the pcb at the prop power pins to help ensure no problems.
Place the tantalum on the pins on the xtal side, taking care of the polarity. On my pcbs I have a 100nF at each end of the prop and thicker tracks with a power plane on the top and ground plane underneath. But I also made provision for a 100nF and a 4.7uF tantalum directly under the prop power pins. These are required to overclock the prop (>80MHz).
The placement of 100nF for each IC is a standard design practice. Larger traces for power and ground is also standard design practice.
Hope this helps.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Links to other interesting threads:
· Home of the MultiBladeProps: TriBladeProp, SixBladeProp, website (Multiple propeller pcbs)
· Single Board Computer:·3 Propeller ICs·and a·TriBladeProp board (ZiCog Z80 Emulator)
· Prop Tools under Development or Completed (Index)
· Emulators: Micros eg Altair, and Terminals eg VT100 (Index)
· Search the Propeller forums (via Google)
My cruising website is: ·www.bluemagic.biz·· MultiBladeProp is: www.bluemagic.biz/cluso.htm
Post Edited (Cluso99) : 6/19/2009 5:09:07 PM GMT
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
Gadget Gangster - Share your Electronic Projects - Sign up as a Designer and get a free 4-pack of Project Boards!
Jazzed,
The funny thing is that you have to submit the EXACT same files to BatchPCB as you would GoldPhoenix.
And BatchPCB has great tutorials on the nature of files they need to recieve and how to create them.
I just followed those tutorials and sent the files to GoldPhoenix instead [noparse]:)[/noparse]
Looking forward to seeing you again in Cali.
Not a dumb question at all, yes eagle outputs gerbers.
Here is a tutorial for making gerbers submitable to GoldPhoenix from eagle...tutorial is actually for BatchPCB who uses GoldPhoenix:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/tutorial_info.php?tutorials_id=109
I followed these instructions and got exactly what I was expecting.
Rick
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us and propmod_1x1 are now in stock. Only $30. PCB available for $5
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
@Nick, Eagle has a CAM processor, and BatchPCB for example provides a .cam file that provides correct settings for gerbers.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
--Steve
Propalyzer: Propeller PC Logic Analyzer
http://forums.parallax.com/showthread.php?p=788230
And not really a bad idea to get a price comparison.
But you know if you just wanted 1 or 2 of a small board maybe it would still make sense to use BatchPCB
I having been dragging my feet but the price seems more that fair ,, CassLan can you just send them a schematic or do you have to give them the circuit board layout as well??
The number of boards usually isn't a big deal for me since the first few prototypes always have issues... The turnaround time is the most important thing for me...
I would probably be better off if I took the time to learn Eagle, but I'm just too lazy!
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
My Prop Info&Apps: ·http://www.rayslogic.com/propeller/propeller.htm
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us and propmod_1x1 are now in stock. Only $30. PCB available for $5
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
Yeah, it is a bit intimidating and if you don't really know what your talking about it can be hard to even look stuff up.
But, the tutorials I mentioned helped me greatly.
You have to send them the Layout though, they dont even want the schematic [noparse]:)[/noparse]
I started by making the schematic in eagle and then when you switch to board mode it puts all the physical sizes out for you to move around with lines that represent the connections made in the schematic, as you draw out the traces these lines dissapear.
I 100% autorouted this board, thats the whole reason I wanted to use eagle to begin with, after the autorouting was done, I made minor movements to accomodate soldering but thats it.
I know some people dont like auto routing but to have it done in 20 seconds was cool.
Rick
you see that i usually have things very tightly packed and I also am careful about rf on traces.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us and propmod_1x1 are now in stock. Only $30. PCB available for $5
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.
▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔▔
propmod_us and propmod_1x1 are now in stock. Only $30. PCB available for $5
Need to upload large images or movies for use in the forum. you can do so at uploader.propmodule.com for free.