To pour copper in free areas, use the "polygon" tool. Draw a square round the outside of the board. You need to rip up the tracks though and then redraw them, so do it at the beginning.
Mind you, some of the components get to that angle, with tired drilling.
I am still planning a XYZ drilling bed. I have some 19" equipment slides that are remarkably good running. There is virtually no play in them, it's a bit of a shame that they are so long, but beggers can't be choosers. I doubt if I would need 20" PCBs but I could do 8" x 12" as a max, for future proofing/meglamania.
To pour copper in free areas, use the "polygon" tool. Draw a square round the outside of the board. You need to rip up the tracks though and then redraw them, so do it at the beginning.
Hello Dr_Acula
Thanks for your tip. I managed to pour copper without redrawing the tracks. This is how:
1° Give the track representing the ground the name "GND"
2° Draw a polygon around the layout
3° Give the polygon the same name "GND"
This way, it is not necessary to draw the polygon before the tracks. However, once the copper is poured, it becomes impossible to add a new track across the copper area.
FreePCB demands that it is named. There are obviously some orphaned islands here and there which can pick up a connection as long as the copper clearances are kept down. This looks cute but allows for solder whiskers to lurk about. I just love the thought of better ground stability, and less Ferric Chloride being used.
My Father used to build his projects a bit at a time by milling out the tracks, with a dental burr (and drilling the holes ). This way he could run a progressive test on the next bit ...
I don't feel too comfortable with the small clearance between tracks and copper area. I fear solder bridges. I would prefer to enlarge that space even if it leaves more areas without copper, but I don't know if it is possible.
I haven't tried anything with EAGLE yet but on FreePCB you can set those distances.
I usually leave them around 25mil or so, if I want to get lots of inter pin ground ties then I can go down to 10mil or as with the ESR meter I had them set for 40mil just in case the inputs did get the 400V treatment.
I found the way to modify the distance between tracks and copper. When you click on "Polygon", you can see the menu for polygons. It can be modified there but as soon as you start drawing the polygon, this menu disappears.
When the polygon has been drawn, rename it to the same name as your ground track. Then click on "Ratsnest" to make the copper appear. If you have orphan areas or if you want to change the clearance between tracks and copper, right-click on the edge of the polygon and choose "Properties". You have then the opportunity to modify "isolate" which is the isolation around the tracks. You can also mark "Orphans" to pour copper in the free areas without any relation with GND. (see the attached photo)
Right angle bends in tracks are best avoided. You have one, apparently. I used to be fluent in French (having attended the Lycee Francais de Londres), but I've forgotten most of it, otherwise I'd have clarified it in your native language.
I made the little PCB (which I call "VGA plug") and soldered the components. It took me a while because I had to wait for the 240 Ohms resistors to come from Hong-Kong. These arrived this morning. Unfortunately I can't show you a photo of the plug now because I forgot my camera the last time I went to see my daughter in Brussels (190 kms from here).
I was anxious to plug the monitor in and to try a little demo. I had a run with all these demos:
All the demos gave the same result: two white lines on a blue background
FemtoBasic Version 3.009
No keyboard present
As far as I can judge with this simple screen, the picture is very stable. The colour is saturated and plugging the VGA near the basic board or at the end of the 25 cm flat ribbon doesn't make any difference.
Before I build a new Basic Prop Module including the VGA and keyboard connection, does anyone know of a VGA Demo program which doesn't need a keyboard ?
I have never had any 240 Ohm resistors, I just use 270 ones instead. Or 220 if the stocks are low, as long as they all are the same values as each other There has not been any problems yet. There are sone output arrangements that actually match to the 75 Ohms that is actually required but this is only really required for long cable runs.
I am sure that you should have got much more, from those Demos than just lines and background. I will fire some of them up on my "DemoBoard" over the weekend.
I am sorry for the trouble with this "FemtoBasic". I simply forgot to change the Top File in the Propeller Tool, so that I was always compiling FemtoBasic and not the last uploaded VGA-Demo file.
Now all the VGA demo files are working perfectly, except "VGA_Tile_Driver_Demo3" for which the sceen stays black.
I confirm the 25 cm flat ribbon doesn't make any difference in the quality of the picture. All the colours are really brilliant.
I feel very happy with these VGA demos. This is the first time I make a microcontroller working with a PC monitor. I am sure you all know what sort of feeling I have. I am really enthusiastic to go further. Thanks a lot for helping me to progress.
With regards to a keyboard, a lot of them will run on 3.3Volts, but some want the proper 5Volts. I see that you put 5Volts into the 3.3Volt reg, on your board, all should be well, for the keyboard supplies, as long as that 5Volts stays at 5Volts.
I cheated on one PCB, assuming that the 3.3Volt PSU would do all that was needed, then I picked up the usual 9Volt PSU lead. Fifteen pounds worth of blown chips later ....
You are right. The next step is to implement the keyboard. The Keyboard connector could go on the future main Prop board, but it could also go on a daughter board connected to the ribbon cable. Most of the schematics connect the keyboard to P26-27. So this connection can be permanent. However, it is not the same for the mouse. The demo board connects the mouse to P24-25 but your DracBlade has a second serial connection instead of the mouse. So the mouse should be on a removable plug. By the way, is this second serial necessary to run your soft ?
In the matter of the SD Card, it should be as close to the Prop as possible, so it has to be on the main board. That's all right, but what about the Ports to use ? You use P12-15. Are these pins generalized? the schematics of Pullmol, Cluso, etc.. are not easy to find in the forum. In other words, should I permanently connect the SD socket to P12-15 or use a 4 pin header so that it can be changed ?
_____________________________________________________________
Hello Toby
My new schematic will have 2 regulators: 5V and 3.3V
So I will have to supply 9 to 12V.
For the first board, I didn't realize the danger to directly supply 5V without using a regulator. It is true that it is easy to take the wrong DC adaptor and supply 9 or 12V to the system.
Yes, I would use pin 12 to 15 for the SD card, otherwise you have to change a lot of software.
No, you do not need the second serial port (unless you want to network boards like I am). I would put the mouse on those pins (my current design has jumpers so you can use mouse or serial port).
Pullmoll is using the standard dracblade. Cluso has some quite different pins/software.
I am designing a new board - it is the same as the design you have but adds some new parts - 4 analog outputs, 11 analog inputs, a D25 standard parallel port output (13 outputs, 5 inputs), and a watchdog chip to reset the propeller if it stops working.
Dr_A used switching regulators, rather than ordinary linear ones. The only advantage is the lower heat dissipation, 7805 etc do just as well as long as the input voltage is kept down and reasonable heatsinks are fitted. I have only used linears and have never had to put on much in the was of metalwork, the "spread out" Dracblade I built just has the regs bolted to the fibreglass, with the bolts going through to the GND plane. This is version of the Mk2 so the whistles and bells that Dr_A has added since would bump up the heat load. The "memory" board has one heatsink shared and never gets above warm. Some old KBDs might take more power though.
The thoughts of both regs coming off of the incoming volts was to off load the power drop on the 5 Volt reg, but with switchers it would be best to give the reg a good amount of headroom. I run from a 9 Volt switch mode (with or without regulators "cough")
The first serial port is via my "prop to '232" adaptor, the second is available, via the same, on the board but I have never used it, Dr_A put that on for his networking experiments and debugging.
The SD card software will allow you to chose othe pin locations, just by changing a few parameters which are pretty obvious in the listings. A Dracblade will run with them on other pins as I have done on the memory experiments, I pushed it over to P20-P23 by restricting the VGA to just P16-P19. It would be best to get an original running before shifting bits around.
I just realised there is an error in that schematic - I can't share an input and output on the last 138 line. But - there might be another solution that uses 10k resistors and no HC244 and the 'inputs' are enabled all the time but signals going out of the propeller override the weak signal coming in via a 10k resistor.
I use switching regulators as I will be running many of these boards from batteries. It doesn't really matter which you use. Switchers don't need a heatsink, and the input volts don't matter as very little energy is wasted as heat.
Thanks, Toby and Dr_Acula, the regulators are much clearer to my mind now.
I think I will try an ordinary 7805 1A for the 5V. I have SPX1117 for 3.3V. This is a 800mA low drop regulator in SOT-223 package. In this case, the best way is probably to put the 3.3 regulator after or behind the 5V one.
I just realised there is an error in that schematic - I can't share an input and output on the last 138 line
I saw on the schematic that it was written "This signal does an input and an output" and I thought this is very clever but I didn't understand how it worked.
________________________________________________________________
@ $WMc%
I think I will have to leave or at least to reduce my bandolier because a lot of bullets will already have been fired on the basic board.
Comments
Here is the layout of the small adapter for the VGA cable, using Eagle.
I didn't find the way to pour copper in the free areas.
I will not be on the forum until Sunday night. Have a good weekend.
Have you tried to place components, with EAGLE, at non 90 degree rotation angles. I would probably only use 45 degrees though.
FreePCB lets you pour at any time, it only sorts it out at CAM file generation time.
Here you go - see attached.
I am still planning a XYZ drilling bed. I have some 19" equipment slides that are remarkably good running. There is virtually no play in them, it's a bit of a shame that they are so long, but beggers can't be choosers. I doubt if I would need 20" PCBs but I could do 8" x 12" as a max, for future proofing/meglamania.
Thanks for your tip. I managed to pour copper without redrawing the tracks. This is how:
2° Draw a polygon around the layout
3° Give the polygon the same name "GND"
1° Give the track representing the ground the name "GND"
2° Draw a polygon around the layout
3° Give the polygon the same name "GND"
That is brilliant! My copper fills have been floating. Much better to make them GND. Thanks++
My Father used to build his projects a bit at a time by milling out the tracks, with a dental burr (and drilling the holes ). This way he could run a progressive test on the next bit ...
I usually leave them around 25mil or so, if I want to get lots of inter pin ground ties then I can go down to 10mil or as with the ESR meter I had them set for 40mil just in case the inputs did get the 400V treatment.
I found the way to modify the distance between tracks and copper. When you click on "Polygon", you can see the menu for polygons. It can be modified there but as soon as you start drawing the polygon, this menu disappears.
When the polygon has been drawn, rename it to the same name as your ground track. Then click on "Ratsnest" to make the copper appear. If you have orphan areas or if you want to change the clearance between tracks and copper, right-click on the edge of the polygon and choose "Properties". You have then the opportunity to modify "isolate" which is the isolation around the tracks. You can also mark "Orphans" to pour copper in the free areas without any relation with GND. (see the attached photo)
In case you didn't notice, there is one 90° trace bend on lower right. Else looks good, especially with the 'pour'.
Sorry, I didn't catch what you where saying and I am lost. Could you whisper some explanation in my poor French ear :eyes:
My god ! I was completely blind !
So blind that I couldn't understand the phrase of Harley until you precisely put your finger on the error. :freaked:
Sorry for that.
I made the little PCB (which I call "VGA plug") and soldered the components. It took me a while because I had to wait for the 240 Ohms resistors to come from Hong-Kong. These arrived this morning. Unfortunately I can't show you a photo of the plug now because I forgot my camera the last time I went to see my daughter in Brussels (190 kms from here).
I was anxious to plug the monitor in and to try a little demo. I had a run with all these demos:
VGA_640x240_Bitmap_Demo
VGA_Demo
VGA_HiRes_Text_Demo
VGA_Text_Demo
VGA_Tile_Driver_Demo2
VGA_Tile_Driver_Demo3
VGA_Tile_Driver_Demo_-_Archive__[Date_2006.11.12__Time_03.56]
Before I build a new Basic Prop Module including the VGA and keyboard connection, does anyone know of a VGA Demo program which doesn't need a keyboard ?
I am sure that you should have got much more, from those Demos than just lines and background. I will fire some of them up on my "DemoBoard" over the weekend.
Now all the VGA demo files are working perfectly, except "VGA_Tile_Driver_Demo3" for which the sceen stays black.
I confirm the 25 cm flat ribbon doesn't make any difference in the quality of the picture. All the colours are really brilliant.
I feel very happy with these VGA demos. This is the first time I make a microcontroller working with a PC monitor. I am sure you all know what sort of feeling I have. I am really enthusiastic to go further. Thanks a lot for helping me to progress.
I cheated on one PCB, assuming that the 3.3Volt PSU would do all that was needed, then I picked up the usual 9Volt PSU lead. Fifteen pounds worth of blown chips later ....
You are right. The next step is to implement the keyboard. The Keyboard connector could go on the future main Prop board, but it could also go on a daughter board connected to the ribbon cable. Most of the schematics connect the keyboard to P26-27. So this connection can be permanent. However, it is not the same for the mouse. The demo board connects the mouse to P24-25 but your DracBlade has a second serial connection instead of the mouse. So the mouse should be on a removable plug. By the way, is this second serial necessary to run your soft ?
In the matter of the SD Card, it should be as close to the Prop as possible, so it has to be on the main board. That's all right, but what about the Ports to use ? You use P12-15. Are these pins generalized? the schematics of Pullmol, Cluso, etc.. are not easy to find in the forum. In other words, should I permanently connect the SD socket to P12-15 or use a 4 pin header so that it can be changed ?
_____________________________________________________________
Hello Toby
My new schematic will have 2 regulators: 5V and 3.3V
So I will have to supply 9 to 12V.
For the first board, I didn't realize the danger to directly supply 5V without using a regulator. It is true that it is easy to take the wrong DC adaptor and supply 9 or 12V to the system.
No, you do not need the second serial port (unless you want to network boards like I am). I would put the mouse on those pins (my current design has jumpers so you can use mouse or serial port).
Pullmoll is using the standard dracblade. Cluso has some quite different pins/software.
I am designing a new board - it is the same as the design you have but adds some new parts - 4 analog outputs, 11 analog inputs, a D25 standard parallel port output (13 outputs, 5 inputs), and a watchdog chip to reset the propeller if it stops working.
Thanks for the infos about the pins and for your last schematic.
May I ask 2 questions ?
- Is there any reason why you use LM2575 instead of the more common LM7805 ? I have plenty of 7805.
- Why both voltage regulators depend from the main supply instead of putting the 3.3V regulator behind the 5.5V ?
I think the watchdog is specially useful for non attended systems. Otherwise, you just have to push the Reset button if the system crash.The thoughts of both regs coming off of the incoming volts was to off load the power drop on the 5 Volt reg, but with switchers it would be best to give the reg a good amount of headroom. I run from a 9 Volt switch mode (with or without regulators "cough")
The first serial port is via my "prop to '232" adaptor, the second is available, via the same, on the board but I have never used it, Dr_A put that on for his networking experiments and debugging.
The SD card software will allow you to chose othe pin locations, just by changing a few parameters which are pretty obvious in the listings. A Dracblade will run with them on other pins as I have done on the memory experiments, I pushed it over to P20-P23 by restricting the VGA to just P16-P19. It would be best to get an original running before shifting bits around.
Wrong picture one (and it's a XYZ) oops.
This pic is the memory experiment, PSU department.
I use switching regulators as I will be running many of these boards from batteries. It doesn't really matter which you use. Switchers don't need a heatsink, and the input volts don't matter as very little energy is wasted as heat.
I think your Gerber file didn't upload correctly. Shotgun shells and 30-30 cartridges are useless in a 45 cal. six shooter?
I think I will try an ordinary 7805 1A for the 5V. I have SPX1117 for 3.3V. This is a 800mA low drop regulator in SOT-223 package. In this case, the best way is probably to put the 3.3 regulator after or behind the 5V one.
I saw on the schematic that it was written "This signal does an input and an output" and I thought this is very clever but I didn't understand how it worked.
________________________________________________________________
@ $WMc%
I think I will have to leave or at least to reduce my bandolier because a lot of bullets will already have been fired on the basic board.