Oshpark Projects

4 x carriers are listed in the op.

Thanks, Warhawk and Dave_. Diptrace is nice I’ve been watching tutorials of both and I agree (Bare in mind that know 4/5ths of nothing) that the Diptrace is more user friendly. I like the proof reading function that checks for errors and un-connected leads and highlights them. I think I will experiment with Diptrace and see what I can learn. It looks like if you know what sensors, chips, resistors etc. as well as what pins you want to connect it will do the rest all you have to do is specify what size of copper poor and via’s you want it to use and then let it run. (Take that last statement with a very large grain of salt as I have less than 1 hour of experience and a lifetime of enthusiasm)

Eagle can do auto routing as well however from experience I can guarantee that you will want to manually trace the routs yourself. On boards such as LED drivers they don't get mind bogglingly complex so manual routing is easy to do. It also depends on how 'beautiful' you want your board to look. I can say this - automated routing will very rarely give you the best solution. You can also run design rule and routing checks in Eagle, do automated pours etc. I tried doing all that stuff at the start but the more I used Eagle the more I preferred the manual methods because of the control it gives you. It's almost as if I 'paint' the boards I make now. I do basic layout and routing and then 'free trace' every bit of copper. It's easier than it sounds.

Yeah, setting up the autorouter for the different trace sizes needed for power and signal traces etc. will take more time than routing such small projects by hand and will look way worse. :wink:
I find little use for them at all as you can only trust them with really unimportant stuff.

A plus factor for Eagle is the number of tutorials and videos out there.
Some claim the big part libraries are a plus, but they contain so many errors that one has to check pinouts and footprints anyway. To frustrating for my taste, I rather take the few minutes to make them myself then . . .
I think that for someone who hasn’t had any contact with any cad tools, eagle will be way more difficult to get used to than diptrace or other tools.
A new user should not need to battle an unintuitive user interface, the lerning curve is already steep enough. :wink:
But that’s a question of personal taste in the end. :wink:

I’d really like to see an OshPark tutorial. I’d like to order the parts and try it. However while Ordering a custom circuit board seems really cool, I am not really sure what to send them.

Which projects might be easier to start with?

Would like a single battery driver but don’t have to have that

How is your soldering on small parts?

If you use Eagle to layut your board, all you have to do is upload OSHPARK with your Eagle .BRD file and they do the rest… none of that tedious mucking around with gerber files…

Exporting gerbers is that tedious?
Oshpark has choked on some .brds. Gerbers get processed smoothly.

I have found that if it chokes on the first try, resetting and trying again usually runs it…that is if the .brd meets the “rules” requirement…

Yeah, you have to run the CAM processor, find and possibly rename a lot of files, zip them together, and upload the zip. Much easier to just upload the .BRD file.

When OSHARK barfs on an upload, it appears to be due to their server being busy (it runs Eagle to processor the .BRD or Gerber files) and a timeout watchdog kicks in. You then have to re-upload the file and try again. It can happen with .BRD and Gerber files…

Or use my CAM processor which produces 8 files. Zip all of them into one zip file and OSHPark will read them without any issues.

Please ignore my poor spelling.


EDIT: To use the above CAM processor put the downloaded file into the the 'cam' directory under your Eagle installation directory. In Eagle, click the CAM Processor button and then select File > Open > Job. The folder that opens should be the cam directory. Select 'Matt_Gerber_Generater.cam' and then once it's loaded, select the Eagle layers you want to include in each Gerber layer (or leave the defaults) and click 'Process Job'.

Please note that I don't use the dimension, tplace or bplace layers as I use the miulling layer to define the outline of my board, as well as tDocu and bDocu for ALL my silkscreen.

Hi Rufus, the OSH Park Project - 7135 is OK and tested. The hybrid(DD) version may need a re-design. Can be used as is if only using 4x7135, 8x7135(stacked) or any from 1 to nx 7135 that you can fit. Cheers!

Thanks Tivo, I’ll need a link to the board at Oshpark so it works like the others. I can’t access anything earlier than July 30, 2013 to create a link in the op. Do they dump older files? And would we need to save them somewhere to re-upload if necessary?

I think OSHPark doesn’t have a search feature on their shared projects.
Here’s the link: TZF082A LED Driver - AMC7135

Cheers! :beer:

Check to make sure this link works, should be a cart pre-loaded with the parts for the SRK FET board.

http://www.digikey.com/short/mn9wj


Genius idea! Rufus - this should be added to the OP I think.

EDIT: Links works too.

The big diode & inductor (must be used together), & big cap are optional. Depends on how low the low needs to be, and whether it needs to be dead silent or not. There's a range of inductors that will work also, 1.2uH gives a pretty big effect on dropping the low mode reeeeally low, but anything from .58 to 1.2uH can be used. The 1.2 is a good baseline choice that should work for 90% of folks.

Thanks tivo, done.

CC, that is an excellent idea and now in the op.

Awesome!

FET comes from the EBAY link (I already have 10)

Payday I will be ordering 3x FET SKR, 17mm, and more than likely the 15mm as well (need a link to the FET though)

I already have 10x Tiny13’s and control items (the diode, resistors, and cap)

But with that link, I know which ones to order if I need more of Tiny13 control components

I think I might also whip up 2x of the Texas Pyro 20mm Nanjg’s as well (I have 50 of those 3 leg diodes in his design)…might do a giveaway and find guys that have a good record of testing drivers and send them a few to test em out (I can build em but don’t have the setup to properly test and whatnot)

Wicked cool idea on the pre-populated cart…great job!

You want any of those 2502’s with your Tiny10’s? I should have 10 about when the boards arrive.