DIY PC Boards

I've been into designing PC Boards for some time, but always used a permanent marker and drew the traces... after etching it definitely looked DIY. So I thought I'd try photo etching. After some research I bought some single sided copper clad, MG Negative photo resist film, and some MG Negative developer. That has sat on my work bench over a year now. I never got around to getting a UV lamp.

 I looked further and found that a UV specific lamp is not necessary. Here is my exposure lamp:












This is 15$ work of parts: 1/2" PVC, 10" clamp light, 6500K Daylight CFL bulb.

I cut a piece of copper clad and applied the photo resist film. I wanted to run it through my laminator but it appeared too thick. I grabbed our iron and set it to NYLON and ironed the film on. No problems. I downloaded some PCB artwork and opened it in GIMP (love that program...)  I inverted the image since it is for negative photo resist, and I flipped it horizontal. I have some transparency sheets designed for inkjet printers. These are for making window clings.  I printed the PCB Image on the transparency and let it dry. I then applied the cling to a piece of glass from a picture frame. Since it was printed in reverse, the image appeared normal when viewed through the glass.  I placed the glass over the copper clad.  I'm optimistic since the ink is directly against the PCB Material so there SHOULDN'T be any shadows due to the thickness of the transparency.

I covered all but 1/2" of the PCB with black cardboard and did an initial exposure of 10 minutes. I moved the cardboard 1/2" every 5 minutes after that until all the PCB was exposed (about 30 minutes total.)  I could immediately see the image on the PCB.  Using the MG Negative developer I developed the board with great results.  The exposure is 5 minutes on the left side and 30 minutes on the right.  I'd say 10 - 12 minutes would be about right:

I'm excited about etching this to see the results.  I'll either use the MG Ferric Chloride or the muratic acid / hydrogen peroxide method to etch this. I may try the vinegar / hydrogen peroxide / salt solution to see how that works.  This looks like it will give good results.

CD Robot In Progress

Well, I've been working on a little robot. It will be very basic. It is made out of CD's and is controlled by a PIC16F690. The source code is in process, being written in HITECH C.

Here are the pictures showing the progress:

I started with a couple of CD-Rs for a chassis.

Next I drilled 4 holes in the top and bottom CD-R.

I installed a caster on the rear of the chassis.

4 standoffs were installed in the bottom CD-R.

Here is one of the servos before installing the wheels.

I purchased the wheels and servos from Solarbotics. The parts I have ordered from them in the past seem to be high-quality, and I would hightly recommend therm.

Here is the chassis with the servos and wheels installed.

The motor driver kit from Solarbotics is well documented and assembles easily.

Here is the driver installed on the chassis.

It's beginning to look like something! Here the top has been installed.

The breadboard has been installed. I am going through the programming now with the PICKIT2, a demo board, breadboard, and the PIC16F690. The code is comming along nicely. Hopefully it will be loaded and operational soon.
I'll keep following the project.  Also, I have a SOLARBOTICS BRUTUS BOT in process as well. This will be controlled with an Arduino UNO.

Click here for the SOLARBOTICS website.

Christmas on CD

A new CD for Christmas!
My wife, Lori, emailed me and said that her work had given them bad printable CD's. They were asked to make them into Christmas ornaments. She asked me if I had any ideas. Really? Me? Oh heck no... well...
If you look at my Facebook page you will find a video of my creation: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=2083814074365

I printed a wreath label to keep it festive. I drilled 4 holes in the CD and installed 4 LED's. On the back is a PIC12F675 programmed to flash several different patterns on the LED's. Also there is a 9V battery taped to the back. Her work loved it! I guess it was left on all week so it was running 24/7. It now needs the battery replaced but should last longer if they shut the switch off... (did I neglect to mention the nifty toggle switch sticking out the front?) That was their favorite part of the CD! Lori has named it her "MORnamant."

Robots to Be

Just what I need... another facet of electronics. I have been looking at PICS for some time now. But I have taken the plunge and ordered parts to build a robot or two based on the PIC micro. I will be using the PIC16F690. I have downloaded and modified some HITECH C code and am awaiting some parts to arrive. I originally was going to build something similar to the BRAM using CD's. I still plan to. But as I was surfing through the Solarbotics (www.solarbotics.com) website I found their BRUTUSBOT chassis kit which is based on the Tamiya tank chassis. So, one of my robots will be a tracked robot. Too cool. I am planning on getting the basic robot up and running, adding IR and ultrasonic sensors, and installing a wireless camera. The camera will transmission will be decoded on the laptop and the images will be sent over HAM radio via SSTV. Maybe someday I'll delve into ATV as well. But that's getting ahead of things!

Working FM Satellites

Wow, working the FM satellites is a blast! It's been some time since I posted here; busy schedule with family and work. But the Satellite Antenna is finished and works well. The FT60 mounts right on the boom and it looks fairly professional if I say so myself. My first contact was near the end of April. I copied a call on AO-51 and responded. It was N9ML. I thought I was talking MILES away. Turns out I could have talked to him on our local repeater! But it was my first satellite contact and I was thrilled. I've had numerous other Satellite contacts. during this time it appears AO-51 is no longer in service. I use AO-27, and SO-50, as my main satellites. QRZ.COM logbook lists my satellite contacts. I have talked to Montana, and I believe my longest one was Ozark, MO. I do have an audio clip on my ham website: www.qsl.net/kb8m. I'll post some pictures here as well.

Improving My Satellite Communications

Just received my aluminum rod today from McMaster Carr (www.mcmaster.com) and am ready now to do final assembly of this antenna. It is a dual band 2M/70CM handheld that my FT60 will mount directly to. It is looking pretty good. It was shown in a May 2008 QST article. Here is the article link from Gatorradio.org:

http://www.gatorradio.org/Manuals/Dual_band_Yagi_Article_FT60_QST_2008_05.pdf

Anyway, I have it painted and just need to cut and install the elements and radio mount. I'll hopefully try it out in the next week. But it definitely looks promising!

Michigan QSO Party, de KB8M

It was a fantastic evening. I was busy all day and didn't get started until about 8pm but what fun. I think I am the only station in St. Joseph County that takes part in this. It's fun being a station everyone wants, and when they hear me the pileups start. I made over 130 contacts in less than 3 hours, including one from Rhode Island. Only one more state for my WAS award!. I am definitely looking forward to next year.