My Tronxy P802MA 3D printer started to act up so I set about replacing the hotend which I suspected as the main cause. I picked up a set of 5 hotends from Amazon. There is nothing special about these particular hotends except that they were low cost and had not only the nozzle but also […]
Read More Tronxy P802MA: Hotend ReplacementAfter the transformer in my Keithley 177 grenaded I set about designing a replacement power supply.
Read More Keithley 177 Power Supply ReplacementAfter picking up and repairing two Keithley multimeters I found it necessary to have a way to calibrate them. I have a DMMCheck Plus voltage standard but that is set to a fixed 5VDC, not very useful when the calibration procedure calls for 1.900VDC. Luckily I was able to pick up a used Analogic AN3100 […]
Read More Analogic AN3100 DC Voltage StandardI picked up two used Keithley benchtop digital multimeters from eBay that are in need of repairs. They were sold as working but as is often the case with eBay sellers who are unfamiliar with measurement equipment, they both have some issues that I intend to fix in this short article.
Read More Benchtop DMM Keithley 177 and Keithley 179 RepairIntroduction Base Convert PL-47710 Rev. A is a simple desk/handheld device to convert between hexadecimal, decimal, and binary. The unit features separate displays for each number base for easy comparison between the three bases. User input is possible using 16 alphanumeric keys and an input mode selector switch. The device is powered by 4 AA […]
Read More Base Convert Rev AInspired in part by the Hex Game from The Ben Heck Show but with the simplicity of the Microsoft Calculator in programmer mode, this project aims to create a handheld/desktop calculator for converting between HEX, DEC, and BIN base numbers up to 16 bit. I find myself during times of programing always checking my number conversions with the MS calculator. I would prefer to have a physical calculator on my desk since I prefer the tactile feel over an on screen calculator.
Read More Base Convert – The PrototypeI needed to generate a jarring sound for a silly reason. This project started like many other projects with a trash find, a PA speaker that was just begging to be rescued and reused. Slowly this project evolved from a simple weekend or two Arduino based solution to the four week solution that I present to you below. Like many of my projects I used this particular one as a learning experience for programing and embedding a microcontroller from the MSP430 family of microcontrollers. In between the start and end of this project I also learned about sound generation using PWM and train horn chords.
Read More Train Horn Synthesis with the MSP430FR2000