Phil Green Posted October 30, 2014 Author Share Posted October 30, 2014 Ok lets try for some numbers. Who would be up for a commercially made, drilled & tinned PCB for the 7 channel encoder with S/C mix? It would be very much like the one above, and probably cost round about £6 (guesstimate) A good break-even number is 25 boards. I'm not asking for an actual commitment, just looking for likely numbers. If it looks favourable, I'll do it Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DJC Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 put me down for 1 Phil, Been an interesting project From an original Forum posting about Arduino pressie to a full blown working system covering 90% of every day modellers requirements all within 4 mths. What's next someone building a full blown NEW system based on Taranis sticks, switches and sliders housed in an Eddystone box. Great project Phil, it is a credit to your ingenuity. Dave C Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Thieleman Posted October 30, 2014 Share Posted October 30, 2014 Posted by Phil Green on 30/10/2014 00:08:00: Ok lets try for some numbers. Who would be up for a commercially made, drilled & tinned PCB for the 7 channel encoder with S/C mix? It would be very much like the one above, and probably cost round about £6 (guesstimate) A good break-even number is 25 boards. I'm not asking for an actual commitment, just looking for likely numbers. If it looks favourable, I'll do it Cheers Phil Hi Phil, As said count me in for 2 at least. Cheers Pat Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XK50 Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Posted by Phil Green on 30/10/2014 00:08:00: Ok lets try for some numbers. Who would be up for a commercially made, drilled & tinned PCB for the 7 channel encoder with S/C mix? It would be very much like the one above, and probably cost round about £6 (guesstimate) A good break-even number is 25 boards. I'm not asking for an actual commitment, just looking for likely numbers. I would take three boards off you, Phil. Best wishes, John Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kamikazi Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Hi Phil I would take two boards from you if you go ahead with them Thanks Tony Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sparks Posted October 31, 2014 Share Posted October 31, 2014 Hi Phil, Could you put me down for two boards as well. Cheers, Richard Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted November 8, 2014 Author Share Posted November 8, 2014 Since I'm so pleased with way the 12-channel Reeds emulation encoder PCBs have turned out, I have actually placed the order now for a trial run of 24 pro-mini encoder boards, so they should be here in a week or so. The layout is pretty much as per the previous post, but with the ground-plane, maximum copper method. I'll post a couple of photos when they arrive. Passing these on at cost means they will be a fiver each plus postage. This has been quite an investment on my meagre income so I'm hoping everyone comes good! Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Thieleman Posted November 9, 2014 Share Posted November 9, 2014 Hi Phil, Please count me in for one 12 ch reeds encoder board. Cheers Pat Edited By Patrick Thieleman on 09/11/2014 00:13:25 Edited By Patrick Thieleman on 09/11/2014 03:51:25 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted November 19, 2014 Author Share Posted November 19, 2014 No problem Pat. The 12ch reeds boards are nice, well pleased with them. I've done 6 so far, plenty left. Re the Arduino PCBs, sorry I've not forgotten anyone, I'm still waiting for them, not heard from the chap who makes them, but he's a gem and I'm not going to buzz him as he does it on the same basis as me, just a bloke in a shed. Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted November 22, 2014 Author Share Posted November 22, 2014 An update: I've had an email from the PCB chappie. Apparently he was half-way through the first sheet when his dust extractor caught fire and went bang! Anyone who's ever witnessed a dust fire will know it can be very scary! Now he's back in business with a new extraction system but the fire has caused a bit of a back-log, so he's sending 8 for now and the rest in a few days. I want to try one out first, most of the first 8 are reserved but the rest will be here soon. I ordered 24. Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted November 30, 2014 Author Share Posted November 30, 2014 The first panel has arrived, and they're really nice! the rest are to follow mid next week. Shaun has one and I've made up another. Where I've used header sockets, Shaun has confidently soldered the Pro-Mini straight into the board. I'll fit mine into a suitable tranny, maybe my old DigiAce or something, then report back: I need to update the document that's presently on the Singlechannel Archive to reflect the new PCB, its very similar to the one I did earlier (its based on my foil) but has max copper and uses the groundplane for all the negs. The component layout is the same. A bit neater than the original Veroboard I think! Cheers Phil Edited By Phil Green on 30/11/2014 12:57:32 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted December 9, 2014 Author Share Posted December 9, 2014 Good news! the rest of the boards have arrived! However we're going away for a weeks holiday in Germany, so will sort them out on my return. Could anyone wanting a board or two please email me on philg @ talk21.com as I'm finding it hard to coordinate all the different forums and PMs etc! If you recall I guessed at £6 each, in fact they worked out at £5 each, so plus postage (they should go standard letter post) that wasn't a bad guess. As long as costs are covered I'm happy, I don't want to make anything on them. Ta v much Phil Edited By Phil Green on 09/12/2014 00:09:58 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted December 20, 2014 Author Share Posted December 20, 2014 Back from Germany now, so I've started sending the boards out, this is what I have so far: Richard G x2 John M x3 Dave C x1 plus a chip, awaiting your postal address Dave Al Straub x2 plus buzzers Pat T yours have been sent Alex C, sent Tony? Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Avi Oron Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Hi Phil I rely enjoy your post , I would like to build one can I used a trunigy 9x module instead of the frsky ? thanks sorry but English isn't my native ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Thieleman Posted December 22, 2014 Share Posted December 22, 2014 Thanks Phil. Almost can't wait to get back home. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted January 27, 2015 Author Share Posted January 27, 2015 I've been asked a few times for details of the adapter for the Arduino Pro-Mini to permit programming via ICSP and a USBASP. Its really easy, the adapter is little more than a couple of header sockets, a small square of veroboard and a 6-way header. The hardest part is splitting the tracks between the ICSP pins, cutting a 'V' with a craft knife works. The USBASP I use comes from [here] (the 5v one) Programing via ICSP has advantages including removing the bootloader, releasing some memory and giving instant startup. Edited By Phil Green on 27/01/2015 00:23:01 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted February 12, 2015 Author Share Posted February 12, 2015 Ok that batch went quickly! so I've a few more requests, enough to warrant collecting promises for a second batch. These are done at cost, there is no profit - £5 + postage, say £6 if its a UK address. Was there anyone who wanted one from the first order but didnt get one? Or any new requests? I've 5 or 6 requests so far, plus I want a couple, the batch is for 24, so if anyone wants one of these PC boards please email me on philg at talk21 dot com (using @ and . of course) rather than keep bumping the thread. Ta v much Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted July 24, 2015 Author Share Posted July 24, 2015 Just an update Most of the third batch of commercially milled boards are gone, thats over 70 to date so these have been really popular & thank you to everyone who has had a go. Remember I've done these boards at cost, which was £5 for the bare PCB, plus the Arduino itself and all the connectors, buzzer, and bits & bobs. Recently however some of the lads have been using this commercial board which is fully populated with everything but the Arduino for £1.63 delivered. With a £2 Nano thats a complete working "7ch+s/c mix" encoder for under £4. I cant make them for anywhere near that money, so I wont be ordering any more of the milled PCBs. Anyone who wants to pursue the milled boards can get a batch made up by Marek who has the cad files, minimum order is 8 I believe, PM me for details. Here's a pic of Glyn's ACE conversion using one of the cheapy boards: So I'm guessing this will be the standard PCB for retro-refits now, and I've updated the "7ch + S/C mix encoder" document to include this board, its item P16 on the Archive page of www.singlechannel.co.uk There are no software changes at all, but a couple of very simple hardware mods have to be done to the new board, its very straightforward. Cut one track, see to the left of the orange hoop and in-line with the centre pins, then add a BAT42 ppm diode, add a short wire bridge and the buzzer. Easy peasy Cheers Phil Edited By Phil Green on 04/01/2016 11:34:46 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john michel Posted December 27, 2015 Share Posted December 27, 2015 hello Phi good project did you test new version 7 ch ? It work ok ? Buzze only warring throtle lock ? .can you add adc to measure Battery ?. thi is TX very easy to Diy . Great . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted December 27, 2015 Author Share Posted December 27, 2015 Posted by john michel on 27/12/2015 06:04:11: hello Phi good project did you test new version 7 ch ? It work ok ? Buzze only warring throtle lock ? .can you add adc to measure Battery ?. this TX is very easy to Diy . Great . Hi John, did I test it? yes, scores of them have been built over the last year or so, and I'm on my 4th batch of PCBs for it. Read a few build threads here: S/C website, propo section The buzzer is used for throttle lock, inactivity timer, etc. All the ADC channels are used so yes you could add a battery monitor but you'd lose a channel. Me & most users dont feel its necessary, these sets use so little current a small lipo lasts forever. Yes, its very easy to DIY. Cheers ( & a happy new year! ) Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted January 4, 2016 Author Share Posted January 4, 2016 Just to clarify the buzzer thing John... The buzzer is normally a two-wire device but in this case a transistor has been added to buffer the buzzer drive. Once wired like this it can be considered a 3-wire device as per the previous diagrams: Here’s how I make up the buzzer assembly (buzzer and transistor buffer), you may come up with something better. First, with the buzzer positive at the bottom, the leads are kept parallel whilst being bent to the left along the surface of the buzzer: Next the 2N3904 transistor is laid flatside-down with its emitter touching the buzzer positive, then soldered: The leads are cropped to the edge of the buzzer and sleeved servo cable soldered as follows: black to the buzzer neg, red to the collector, white to the base. Theres no wire to the buzzer negative. Add a similar length of sleeving over the emitter/buzzer negative: Next heat-shrink the sleeving, making sure it remains pushed up against the transistor body. Then add an overall sleeve covering all the connections: When connecting the assembled buzzer module, red is positive 5v, black is negative and white goes to D6 on the encoder (all from the Arduino D6 header) For the cheap ebay boards, theres another alternative, though electrically identical, which is to mount the buzzer and transistor directly on a header plug. As before, first add 2N3904 flat-face down, solder emitter to buzzer pos (longer lead): Add the 3-pin header socket to buzzer neg, collector & base: Cover the transistor area with hot glue. Heres the buzzer mounted directly onto the D6 header, see how D7 & D8 are still accessible: So this ebay board option is very neat and works great, it comes fully populated with everything except the Arduino chip itself, yet its cheaper than the bare boards I've had custom-made! It takes a Nano rather than a Pro-Mini. Small negatives are that it has no built-in buzzer (hence this post), it needs two very minor, easily done mods on the underside, and its slightly larger than the Pro-Mini PCB. It runs the same "7ch+s/c" encoder software with no need to change anything. On the other hand, I do have another batch of my milled Pro-Mini boards - they cost more but are smaller, need no mods and have the buzzer built-in. Cheers Phil Edited By Phil Green on 04/01/2016 11:12:34 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
john michel Posted January 8, 2016 Share Posted January 8, 2016 Hi Phil about set dual rate . I think should setup separate each channel instead setup all . What do you think about this ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted January 8, 2016 Author Share Posted January 8, 2016 Hi John, again there are not enough analogue inputs to add a rates pot for every channel, with the published sketch every analogue input is in use. There are spare digital inputs so you could have fixed-rates or even use digital inputs to apply the rates pot (or not) on a per-channel basis. Remember its a very simple encoder intended for refitting 1970s radios, there are others (Patolin, Mstar, etc) which are far more complex if you need full computer-radio facilities. As far as I'm aware though the single-channel escapement emulation mix is unique! Cheers Phil Edited By Phil Green on 08/01/2016 09:43:55 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Thieleman Posted January 11, 2016 Share Posted January 11, 2016 Hi Phil, Any possibility to use magnetic hall sensor for the stick? What would be needed to that? I have a nice SS stick waiting for a home. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Phil Green Posted January 11, 2016 Author Share Posted January 11, 2016 Hi Pat, I read the datasheet and it seems these are a direct replacement for the standard pots, and so should work ok. They connect identically to a pot, ie pos one end, neg the other, wiper to the hall output. Of course you'd need to go through the stick calibration again.. How do these sticks incorporate trims though? is it integral to the one hall device, or is it a separate pot, or even another hall device? All I can suggest is that you try it, it cant do any harm. Let us know how you get on as I'm interested to know... Cheers Phil Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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