I have to take a break from the circuits and layouts and go back and verify a couple of calculations. I am referring to the Rset for the MAX7221. I need to be sure that this is going to be correct in relation to the 7-Segment units chosen - and also the discrete LEDs for … Continue reading Ohm my!
Getting Connected
The layout is now done and made the rather gutsy decision to send it off to OSHPark for fabrication. In hindsight, I could have done this cheaper in that I actually opted for a 4 layer board with the ground and power on the inner layers just to get them out of the way. I did … Continue reading Getting Connected
Branching out
I mentioned in the last post that I will be trying out the display modules. I found it easier to break away from the original TfaC Git Hub project and create a new one dedicated to the research and development for the display module. The new one is simply ClockDisplayModule. The first consideration I needed … Continue reading Branching out
Back to the Drawing Board
Well, not exactly back to the drawing board for everything... What has developed since doing the actual schematic is that the display module was treated as a black box. Now it is time to open this up and understand how this is to work. The beauty of this approach is that not knowing anything about … Continue reading Back to the Drawing Board
Wired for Action – almost
In the last post, I presented the initial ideas for powering the project. Now it is time to move on and start looking into the individual modules. I was impressed as to how quickly this part progressed since I had done the up-front thinking of the pin and port allocation. So much so, that before … Continue reading Wired for Action – almost
Module One – Power On!
In the last post, the basic device was layed out in terms of requirements, block diagram and a state machine. It is clearly not 100% complete but I don't believe that the whole project should be blocked, trying to model absolutely everything. As the project develops and matures, issues will be encoutered and design decisions … Continue reading Module One – Power On!
Rebooting Electronics 