Chapter 5 - Shopping List Update

I used to look forward to the occasional Amazon box that would show up on my doorstep. Not anymore... now it's boxes from Mouser or AllElectronics.

In addition to much of the stuff specified in Chapter 5, I also managed to squeeze in some extra components that I've been wanting to add to my collection. As you can see from one of the photos, I took this chance to throw in an order for a bunch of capacitors of various values. Some are used in the book, others are not, but I've learned that you can never have enough of them and the one you need will always be missing when you need it the most.

The two brown containers in the right side of the photo contain the speakers used in various experiments in Chapter 5... the rest of the stuff is described below. Note that I did NOT buy everything yet for Chapter 5. A couple of the later experiments call for some more components that I'll likely purchase locally when I need them. Those large purple things are capacitors... BIG capacitors. They look scary... and fun.

So, here's a partial list, with prices and part #s:

Mouser.com

NTE110A General Purpose Diode, Germanium - $1.57 each - purchased 2 (Exp 31)
2N2222 General Purpose Bipolar Transistors - $1.09 each - purchased 2 (Exp 30)
TEA2025B Stereo Audio Amp - $0.68 each - purchased 2 (Exp 29)

(That last one, TEA2025B, I could only find on Mouser.com - AllElectronics didn't seem to have any alternative to it - if anyone finds an alternate source, let me know.)

AllElectronics.com

26YL-100 Yellow Hookup Wire, 26AWG, 100' - $4.30 - purchased 1 roll
MW-26-4 Magnet Wire, 26AWG, 1/4LB roll - $6.58 - purchased 1 roll
SK-63 63Ohm speaker, 2.25" - $1.25 each - purchased 1 (Exp 27)
GM-858 Midrange Driver 60W speaker, 8ohm, 5.25" - $8.70 each - purchased 1 (Exp 29)
100R50 Capacitor, 100microfarad/50V, $0.30 each - purchased 2 (Exp 26)
2200R50 Capacitor, 2200microfarad/50V, $1.25 each, purchased 2 (Exp 28)
ATP-100K potentiometer, 100K, $0.75 each, purchased 1 (Exp 30)

Chapter 5 - Work Area and Misc

While I wait for my final shipment of parts to arrive for Chapter 5, I've read over the first part of the chapter covering the work area and reference material.

For a while I was working on my dining room table... certain looks from the wife made me realize that my upstairs office might be a better location. Luckily I had a second desk up there that I was able to clear off and use for a bit... but my ultimate goal has been to get my electronics stuff moved to a dedicated spot in my basement workshop. I've got a very good spot for a desk, and there's a nice power outlet right there for me to use to hookup a power strip for more plugs.

I've been collecting small plastic boxes for all my components... but I've also discovered that I'm building up my component collection faster than my storage boxes. Fortunately the author makes some good recommendations and I'll be paying a visit to Michael's or Hobby Lobby soon to see what they have to offer. Ideally I'd like to buy the color coded boxes - one color for resistors, one for capacitors, etc... right now my boxes are compartmentalized but might contain one bin of capacitors, one bin of potentiometers, another bin of gator clips... you get the picture. (My resistors are the only components I have that are organized properly in their own boxes.)

I've been on the lookout at Craigslist.com for The Desk. You know - the perfect desk. Low price (free would be great). Not too beat up. Drawers that work. Plenty of desk space. So far, nothing meets my requirements. I'll keep looking.

As for reference books - "Practical Electronics for Inventors" ... I had another electronics expert tell me that it's a great book to own in addition to the author's recommendation - so based on these two recommendations I grabbed a used copy for $26.00.

I already owned a copy of "Getting Started with Arduino" - personally, I found it too simplistic and skimpy for the price.

I also have had a copy of "Getting Started in Electronics" by Forrest M. Mims III - great book but still didn't get as much from it as I got from Make: Electronics. Everyone raves about this book (and his Notebook series) but I view them more as reference because I just didn't get much of an education from reading it straight through... maybe your mileage will vary.

And while I'm here, I have to thank my good friend Chris Smith (a fellow LEGO Mindstorms NXT robot enthusiast) for introducing me to Fritzing. If you are already familiar with it and using it, then you know how cool it is - but if you're not experienced with it, check it out... totally free and I can already tell it'll be a great tool for helping me document future breadboard work. Chris also pointed me to Drawdio - yet another project to add to my TO DO list... but 100% doable after having gone through Make: Electronics. This one should be a piece of cake.

My AllElectronics order is supposed to arrive tomorrow. I'm really looking forward to this chapter's experiments.

Chapter 5 - Shopping List

I've begun ordering some of the components for chapter 5... but not all. I'll try and get a detailed list (with part #s and prices) posted soon, but I did want to alert readers to the fact that I'm having some real difficulty locating a few items.

For Experiment 26, I ordered the wire (both hookup and magnetic) from AllElectronics - only because I was planning on ordering more small pieces from them and figured since I was paying for shipping, I might as well bulk up that order...

The magnets have been ordered for Exp26, too - a little pricey but I've always wanted some strong magnets anyway, so I ordered 3/4, 1/2, and 1/4" diameters, all in 1.5" lengths.

The TEA2025B audio amplifier IC for Exp29 stumped me - couldn't find an equivalent at AllElectronics and ACK Supply (my local supplier) doesn't carry them. So I ordered 2 of them from Mouser.com along with a small collection of capacitors, both polarized and nonpolarized based on the Exp29 requirements.d

None of my suppliers carry the Crossover Coil (see Figure 5-45 on pagee 253)- the author does state these are tricky to find and eBay did have 2 of them for $13.00 plus shipping. I read over the writeup there... I'll continue to try and find some inexpensive ones, but if not, I may skip that part of the experiment or substitute the coil wire as the author suggests... (but I get the impression that it won't work very well without the actual crossover coils...)

Chapter 4 - Experiment 24 Overview

I never got my Alarm System to work quite right back in Chapter 3... after re-checking the circuit board (this one was soldered, so any errors I made will be difficult to fix) I I still can't figure out why it doesn't work properly.

Experiment 24 is all about upgrades to that device. The author suggests using a 555 Timer chip to give a delay after you set the alarm (time to get out of the house)... as well as adding the keypad to activate and deactivate it with a code. Another 555 chip is suggested to add a delay before deactivation (to allow you to enter house and enter code before alarm goes off).

All three are great upgrades, but I've decided to move forward to Chapter 5 rather than go back and try to fix my Alarm System so these upgrades might (or might not) work. My intention with this blog was to perform all the experiments, but on this one I've read the text and understand what the upgrades will do... I may choose to come back and revisit this exercise when I'm done with the book...

I'd still like to see a fully functional alarm system with all these upgrades... so while I ponder doing it myself, I'll create a new contest here. I've got 2 more Maker's Notebooks as prizes. The first two readers who submit a video and a few photos of their upgraded Alarm System that works based on the Experiment 24 writeup will each get a copy. So, if you're working on the Alarm System now, set it aside when done and come back to it for Experiment 24 - you may win a Maker's Notebook if you succeed in getting it to work.

I'll be attending the WorldFest International Robotics Competition this week, so I'll start up with Chapter 5 this weekend. I've been looking forward to this chapter - it's got some very interesting projects to build.

Multimeter - one day deal

Just for today - a nice price on a good multimeter - I'll remove this post when the item is sold out.

http://auto.tooliday.com/

Components Pack 2

I received my Components Pack 2 today... very well done. I can't believe I'm seeing all those hard to find (or at least, slow to find and receive) parts in one place... especially the 5V regulators of which Radio Shack doesn't seem to carry more than 1 at a time. Grrr.

Anyway... rather than go through the pack, I took some video and threw together this little 8-minute overview. Questions about it? Just let me know. I'll be taking it with me (along with the book) to the WorldFest International Robotics Competition being held in Atlanta this week, Wed to Sat... if you're in Atlanta, come by the LEGO booth and say hello.

Chapter 24 - Exercise 23 Complete

The photos here show the circuit on page 219 (Figure 4-109). I'm not sure if I'll go forward with the enhancement described on page 220... I understand what it does and how it works, but wiring up this one took a bit of time (and mega-patience) and I'm a bit ready to move forward.

I managed to purchase 10 of the 1N4148 diodes from Radio Shack - they ordered them and it cost me $1.49 for a pack of 10... and took about 10 days to get here... boo. (I was told 2-3 days... another valuable lesson learned... of course, I didn't have to pay for shipping which would have been more than the 10-pack!)

As you can from the video, the circuit works. I like when you hold and release the button -the visual effect is fun to watch. I may come back later after the book is done and see about wiring up a pair of dice as the author has done... could be fun.

I recommend reading over this entire exercise a few times... there is a LOT to sink in. I really like seeing how the author developed the logic of the dice face (LO LO HI, for example) and how he created the circuit to operate in a fairly simple manner... if you were to look at that big, full color patchwork on page 221, you might think this is an extremely complicated circuit... don't let all those wires fool you - all the hard work is being done by the chips.

All in all, a VERY cool experiment and one I enjoyed. I'm going to go back and re-read this entire chapter, because I've been collecting a small list of circuits I'd like to wire up and many of them are going to require chips... lots of chips. So, I want to make sure I have a 100% grasp on this stuff... you should, too.

If any of my readers wire up two dice or move forward with the enhancement, please send me a photo or video (both would be outstanding) and I'll be happy to post an addendum to this one with a few of the best examples.

Still Alive... (great song, btw... name that game?)

One of my books that I'm writing had it's deadline bumped up by 2 weeks... so I've been working like crazy to get the last chapters done. This means I've had to ignore many of my other projects, including this one... so sorry.

I've got 2 chapters left to write by late next week, so I can take a breather now. I'm hoping to finish up Exercise 23 this weekend. Thanks for your patience.

Chapter 4 - Exercise 23 Update

Someone please double-check me on this, but I hit a roadblock this week when I realized I didn't have any of the 1N4148 signal diodes specified on page 214. I went back to my shopping list but couldn't find that I'd ever ordered them... I checked all the chapters' shopping lists, but didn't find this particular diode listed. Again, this may be spelled out in glaringly obvious large letters somewhere, but I don't have them in my parts pack, so I had to order them...

... and they haven't arrived yet. I didn't want to make a special drive to ACK for these but it's looking like I'm going to have to do so if they don't arrive by tomorrow.

So, apologies for the lack of posts, but as soon as I can get my hand on these diodes, I've got the rest of the circuit already breadboarded and ready to go.

If this is an oversight on my part, please tell me where they are specified... and apologies in advance to Charles if I'm just plain losing my mind.

Chapter 4 - Exercise 23 Part 1

I had to really squint to find my 7492 chip - the writing on this particular chip was so small I used my magnifying glass... not kidding.

I've read over the entire experiment and I understand how it's going to develop... so I started by building the first simple circuit. Don't make my mistake and wire it up with standard LEDs... I thought I had mixed in the special Kingston LEDs I ordered from Mouser with my standard LEDs...a bit of digging through the clutter after a few swapped out standard LEDs (small 3mm red that look like the Kingston LEDs) didn't work and I found a small bag with 10 3mm Kingston LEDs in it... put them in and... it worked.

I've included a video here showing it counting from 0 to 5 (binary)... I reordered the LEDs a little different than the one in the schematic so I could see them lighting up vertically.

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Spring Cleaning!!

As you can see from this photo, my work area has become a hazard area... looking ahead to Chapter 5, I can see a section devoted to getting one's work area organized... I'm going to be moving my electronics work area to the basement (in workshop #1) versus the garage (workshop #2)... I'm going to try and find an inexpensive desk at Goodwill so I can have a place to sit down versus standing... which is how most of my workshop is structured for...

I've also been collecting a few electronics projects here and there to start on once I'm done with the book... not sure if I'll post those at this blog or not - what do you think? Having a dedicated area will be nice... and getting my office back to normal will also be a welcome sight.

Chapter 4 - Exercise 22 - Completed

Exercise 22 is fairly short, but I can see a lot of uses for the ability to use a NAND or NOR chip to flip back and forth between states and keeping power applied to one or another part of a circuit.

The first video below shows my results with the 7402 NOR chip. The second video is with the 7400 NAND chip. The only differences between the two is how the pull-up (or pull-down) 10k resistors are wired into the circuit and the SPDT switch (whether it's pole goes to positive or negative voltage).

A fun little exercise - be sure to use low current LEDs as the author suggests. I think I used mine although I made a mistake of not organizing all my LEDs I've collected over the various experiments and they're all mixed together... oops.

Chapter 4 - Exercise 21 - Completed

One thing I'm certainly learning through this process is that no matter how many times you check and double-check your circuit, you've missed something... that is, until it works. The author does a good job of warning us about accidental damage to many components, and my first thought is always "must be a faulty component" - I need to change that to "must be a faulty human."

The good news, for me, however, is two fold - one, my regulator wasn't damaged. But two, the 7432 chip WAS damaged. But the question is whether that damage came about because of my faulty wiring - I'll likely never know, but when I switched out my 7432 (after finding a wiring error - more on that shortly), it started working.

If you look at my picture closely, you'll notice a few differences in the circuit I built and the one on page 210. First, I didn't have a .33 capacitor, so I substituted a 2.2. I tested this before building the circuit and was able to determine that it didn't have any effect on the 5V regulated voltage...

Next, I didn't have two of the 0.01 capacitors so I took a chance and substituted two .047 capacitors for each... I wired them in parallel (opposite of resistors - parallel you add their values) and crossed my fingers that this substitution was okay.

Now - for the faulty wiring. Figure 4-95 on page 210 is fairly easy to follow... but don't make the mistake I did. I had that 10K resistor at the bottom going into the negative column, not the positive. Could that have damaged the 7432 chip? Who knows, but after catching and fixing this error, the circuit didn't work. I went back... carefully checked off each wire in Figure 4-95 and verified I had no shorts and that all wires were done correctly. They were (hopefully).

So next I wondered if it might be a faulty chip - luckily I started with the 7432 instead of the 555 chips... as soon as I replaced the single 7432 with a new one, circuit worked. I pulled it out, put in the old one (same orientation) and the circuit didn't work. Put in the new one... circuit worked. Hmmm... how about that?

I'm including a video below showing the circuit working... I actually soldered wires to my S1 because I couldn't get good connectivity by just twisting the wires into the ends.

So, many lessons learned... again. Check my wiring. It's likely MY fault, not a component. I really am not rushing these builds, but I guess I need to slow down even more... the errors are easily corrected... but also easily avoided if I put a little more effort into slowing down and verifying all my wiring first... I hope my readers are learning from my mistakes and avoiding the frustrations I'm encountering.

Chapter 4 - Experiment 21 - Failed Regulator?

I had such a great start with the book that I think all the gremlins are now starting to appear... I've got the circuit for Exercise 21 wired up but I'm not getting any voltage on the breadboard. I've taken multimeter readings of my AC adapter... 9 volts there. I've checked all my wiring... so now I'm beginning to wonder if I may have damaged the 5V regulator somehow? Anyone know how sensitive or rugged these little devices are? I've only got one, so I have no way of testing it.

I replaced the two capacitors as well... but no luck. I took a voltage reading across the larger capacitor (.33 in the book but I substituted a 2.2)... it barely reads 1V.

Any ideas? I really can't move forward either since a few of the remaining exercises rely on the 5V regulated voltage setup.

Chapter 4 Experiment 20 - Time to Move On

Okay, so I took some time away from this experiment, hoping that I'd be able to come back, find my mistakes, and get this circuit working. Well... no luck. But I'd like to try and explain a few things I did differently this time and a few things I was able to verify about the circuit - maybe this will help someone else trying to get this crazy thing working.

First, I totally rewired the entire thing. I found two errors in my wiring on the first try. This time around, I wired up each chip, double and triple-checked the wiring before moving on to the next chip. This worked well, and I was able to get the * button working and lighting up the LED.

After completing the wiring, the # sign would work and light up the LED... but this time I couldn't get the * button to light up - I took a voltage reading - I was only reading 1.0 volt across the LED - I tried different LEDs but no luck. I also tested my LEDs as the # button LED and they worked, so they obviously weren't burned out. My only thought is that they're simply not getting enough voltage. I think I'm using low voltage LEDs but I may be wrong. Either way, why would it initially light up but now now? And it doesn't matter anyway - even if the LED doesn't light up, pressing the * sends current to pin 8 on the 7408 chip, turning it on. The LED is just a visual cue.

Okay, so scratch that... next thing I wanted to figure out what whether the 555 chip was sending any voltage to the LED when the * button is pressed... remember, you have to hold down the * button while entering the code... when I pressed the * button I got a 0.47 volts reading on my multimeter. But isn't pin 3 only supposed to send a pulse if voltage is dropped on pin 2? If I'm detecting voltage on pin 3, this would mean that the 7408 is sending a 1 to pin 3 on the 7404 (a NOT operation) which in turn sends a 0 (no voltage) to pin 2 on the 555 chip. Which means I'm entering the code correctly... so why isn't the LED lighting up? One of the pics shows me using my multimeter and getting a voltage of 0 on pin 3... I didn't have enough hands to hold down *, enter code, snap picture, and hold the probes... argh... so you'll just have to trust me that I got the .47 volts on pin 3...

Oh, well... I gave it a second try, but I think it's time to move on to Exercise 21.

Oh, and there's an unlabeled resistor in Figure 4-84 (I'll submit to errata if it hasn't already been done) - I think it's supposed to be a 10K to match the 10K resistors for the 1 keypad button and the 4 keypad button... I may be wrong.

So, this concludes my attempt at Exercise 20. When I'm done with the book, I may come back and give it one more try... because I hate to leave an exercise with doubts. Is it working? I think so... but I can't get an LED to verify... but I do get positive voltage on pin 3 when I hold down * and press 1, 4, then 7.

So... this leads me to my next contest. I'd like to reward a Maker's Notebook to the first reader who can upload a video showing this circuit working in all its glory... it doesn't have to be mounted to a computer, but it should show all the LEDs working as desired - it should show an improper code being entered as well as the correct code and all the LEDs lighting up as they should - especially the * sign as you hold it down and the UNLOCK LED when the code is entered. First person to post a video that clearly demonstrates the circuit working gets the Maker's Notebook. (Sorry, Charles - as the author, you're prohibited from entering the contest... )

I've got a few videos below to finish up and then it's on to Exercise 21... thanks for sticking with me folks - got a bit behind in "real world" work and had some family business that had to be attended to... but I'm caught up and ready to get back on track.

Components Pack 1

So, I got my hands on the Make: Electronics Components Pack 1. In my best Vader voice - "Impressive."

First off, the case - hands down, this is one of the nicest storage containers I've ever seen. I've asked MakerSHED to consider selling these individually - they're that nice. (If you agree, add your voice to mine and email MakerSHED and ask them to put them up for sale.)

The pack comes with an inventory sheet, complete with labels for the individual bins and what you'll find inside them. As you can see, this thing is packed - over 350 pieces. I really do NOT want to add up the cost of all the items I purchased that are found in this kit - for $99.00, I'm sure it'll make me cry a bit. Big man-sized tears. If you are serious about following through the book and performing the experiments for Chapters 1 and 2, you'll save a bundle by buying this pre-loaded components pack.

The bottom portion of the case holds many of the larger items - spools of wire, breadboard, AC adapter, and more. The kit even comes with pre-trimmed patch wire - with heavy 22 or 20 gauge end tips exposed. I wish I'd had these when I started! You also get a whole bunch of patch cables (with gator clips on end) - way more than I purchased initially. It looks like the team at MakerSHED really put some thought into what to include that would make the reader's experiences better.

The top portion of the case contains all the smaller bits and pieces -resistors, potentiometers, capacitors, and more. There's even an X-acto knife for trimming away the walls of the spare relay - YES, they included a spare relay just as Chapter 2, Experiment 7 requires!

You've got fuses, batteries, battery holders, those crazy-difficult-hard-to-find 6027 programmable unijunction transistors, and a whole slew of LEDs.

(And for those who pre-ordered, they've thrown in some extras that you'll enjoy... )

The first thing I thought of when I inventoried my kit was how easy this is going to be for me, as a parent, to introduce my son to electronics one day... (if he's interested). Then I realized that, if I were a teacher, this would be something to recommend to those students (and their parents) who show an interest in electronics. Finally, I realized how easy MakerSHED has made it to organize classes around this material - we've got the book and now the components kits - I have a feeling we'll be hearing about "Make: Electronics" classes popping up soon.

If you've ordered the kit, let us know your own thoughts on the pack. And when I get my hands on Pack 2, I'll be sure to let you know my initial thoughts as well...

A slight pause

I'm heading out of town for a few days... I'm really behind on my "real world" work, let alone getting my exercises done for this book. I need a mental break anyway, so I'll get started again next week... just got a lot on my plate this week and next... but stick with me... I WILL FINISH this book!

Chapter 4 - Exercise 20

Well, I wired it up... tested it out... no luck. A few parts of the circuit work (such as the Power On LED and the keypad) but not really sure what's going on. As you can see, I didn't spend a lot of time keeping my wiring clean... it's ugly.

Even so, I double and triple checked my wiring and I think I got it all correct. My relay still hasn't arrived so I worked around it by inserting two pushbuttons (lower half of breadboard). I hold down one and that simulates the lower part of the relay being closed... releasing it and pressing the other button simulates the upper portion of the relay being closed.

At this point, I'm willing to go over it one more time (tonight) but I'm ready to move on to Experiment 21. I'll try and come back to this circuit when my relay arrives, but I've been stuck on Exp20 for a bit and am a little tired of it. My goal was to work through all the experiments... and hopefully have them all work. I want a 100% success rate, so I'll likely come back to this one on a weekend when I have some time. (And time is the limiting factor right now - I've got a new book contract that's starting up AND I'm finishing up the editing on another book and that's taking ALL my daylight hours it seems. Alright, enough complaining...)

If anyone has a good clear photo of their breadboard with Exercise 20 all wired up or even a video, let me know... I'd at least like to see if there's anything glaringly obvious that I've done wrong.

Chapter 4 - Exercise 20 Relay

I decided to cut open the dead relay I had purchased a while back (dead because any voltage applied to it doesn't seem to make the relay click)...

The top-down view is the one that I can best explain. See that white piece of plastic shaped like a T? From the picture's POV, pushing on the top arm of the relay pushes against the piece of plastic and that, in turn, pushes on the second relay arm (on the bottom). But it doesn't work in both directions... pushing on the bottom arm does not move the plastic and the top arm stays where it is... so I've just got to think this through and figure out how this relay works with respect to the circuit I'm building.

Chime in here, folks... it's been a long week and my brain's not firing on all cylinders. Anyone care to take a stab at explaining how this little relay works?

And by the way... the description for this relay is dual coil... is the 2nd coil inside the outer one?

Chapter 4 - Exercise 20 Update 2

Let me tell you - soldering up the keypad with the ribbon cable is tedious... frustrating... nerve-wracking... and somewhat fun. It looks very Frankenstein-ish and my multimeter tells me all the wires survived the soldering... one or two slight singes as I was putting on shrink wrap, but if I find a wire is bad, I can always make that one of the un-used code numbers, right?

The hard part (for me, at least) is soldering a 22 gauge solid core wire to a 24 gauge stranded wire... hard to make them stay together. Anyone have any suggestions?

Since I'm not going to cut into my wife's PC tower, I think I've come up with a possible variation of this, suggested by the author's text. I think it might be fun to build a box for my son that uses a combination of Exercise 20 and maybe Exercise 11. I could build a noise maker circuit and have it triggered if the code isn't entered properly... or maybe implement the magnetic switches for the alarm system into the box... if the lid is opened without the proper code, the magnetic switch is broken and the alarm sounds. I'll have to think about that...

So, while I wait for my replacement dual coil relay, I'll start wiring up the breadboard for testing...

Also, I had to hunt down the Panasonic DS2E-SL2-DC5V data sheet to understand what's going on inside... here's a link in case you're interested. Page 6 is what you're looking for, DS (2 Form C). I'm still trying to figure out how this thing works, so please chime in if you have an explanation... the more the merrier.

UPDATE: I just created a small circuit with a single LED - I plugged in the wire for pin1 (COM) to positive voltage... and connected the the LED to negative voltage. I then stuck each wire (except for pin 2 which doesn't have a function) into the positive side of the LED, pressed its corresponding button, and hoped it lit up. It lit up for each and every wire. So my soldering worked and the keypad works as desired. That made me happy. Video added below.