http://www.dmcole.net Circuits, microcontrollers, LEDs, do-it-yourself style Wed, 09 Jun 2010 23:16:22 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Last July I wrote about using Adobe Illustrator to design the schematics I publish here and why I prefer it (you can read that post here). In recent weeks I’ve come to realize two things: despite a great deal of effort on my part, I can’t really design printed circuit ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/thoughts-on-schematics-and-software/ It’s been a few months since I last posted here ... I don’t think there are any constant visitors who’ve been bummed out about the lack of activity, but I apologize nonetheless. Since we last spoke I threw the LED matrix project out to the Do It Yourself Christmas community to ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/more-on-the-matrixarray/ For those of the opinion that I fell off the face of the earth, fear not: I merely got involved in non-electronics, such as dealing with a kitchen remodel and unwell pets. That said, I also focused a bit in recent months on my Christmas lights show and have documented there ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/christmas-lights/ So, I’m going to use Henne’s transceiver for an LED matrix. You coulda probably guessed, if you’d thought about it for a minute or three. [caption id="attachment_191" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Henne’s DMX LED matrix schematic (click to download PDF)."][/caption] Anyway, I fell back on my – ahem – process: first, draw the circuit ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/its-an-led-matrix/ If you’ve visited my automated Christmas lights page, the letters DMX won’t be unfamiliar to you. For those too lazy to click, it’s an electronic lighting protocol. Two wire. Used extensively in stage shows. And, in recent months, adopted by the DIY Christmas lighting community. [caption id="attachment_166" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Henne’s DMX ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/hennes-dmx-transceiver/ As can be seen from the dates between postings, I took an awful lot of time with this project – and yet, I never really accomplished my goal, which was to have five LEDs independently fading in and out like a candle, driven by an Atmel ATTiny13. [caption id="attachment_122" align="alignright" width="300" ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/digital-candle-%e2%80%93-version-2/ If you’ve visited my web site on backyard railroad illumination, you know about my fixation with creating light that flickers as though it were a fire (either from candle or a fireplace). [caption id="attachment_76" align="alignright" width="300" caption="Schematic of circuit to fade, flicker single LED (click to download PDF)"][/caption] The first solution to ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/digital-candle-%e2%80%94-version-1/ In 2007 I played around with the PICAXE, a microprocessor sold by a non-profit in the United Kingdom that comes loaded with a BASIC-like interpreter (you can read more about it here and here). I built some lighthouse beacons and a railroad crossing light using the device. It had one ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/taking-the-atmega8-for-an-introductory-spin/ It isn't that I was dying to have a blog — in fact, I've tried to stay away from blogging for years. A few months back it became clear that this electronics thing wasn't going to go away. I was, in fact, going to be building more circuits over time and ... http://www.dmcole.net/index.php/and-now-for-something-completely-undifferent-2/