Circuit Break Podcast #209

A Bad User Experience

Related Topics
Real Engineering for a Real Engineer

A decade after graduating college, Stephen finally did a differential equation for his job! That is some real engineering I tell you what.

Don’t Worry About It

Right to Repair is going global and Stephen might have solved his injection molded component's void by tweaking the mold design.

Beating the Heat

The PinoTaur has reached production status but not without supply chain issues..OF COURSE! Bonus discussion about thermal management for PCBA.

Other Resources

Circuit Break Podcast
Webinars
Videos
Tour MacroFab's ITAR-Compliant Facility

January 29, 2020, Episode #209

How do you remove flux and what to watch out for when you are cleaning your PCB assemblies? Parker and Stephen go in depth on this episode of the MEP.

Parker

  • Pinotaur REV2 is flipping a machine now
    • Light strips using APA-102C-260-NEW
  • Brew Cart welded up!
    • Gotta design a hoist to lift the grain in and out of the mash tun

Stephen

  • Simulation of the week
    • Bandpass with monte Carlo and gaussian tolerance
  • Fermentation controller
    • More Parts!
      • 40A Solid State Relay
        • BEM-14840DA
      • Tactile switch
        • 700SP7M1QEAP2BLKBLK
      • 4×4 tactile keypad
        • ADC reading?
        • RobotDyn Button Keypad 4×4 Module
      • 4×4 membrane style – kind of industrial
        • Yootop 2 pcs 16 Keys Matrix Membrane Switch Keypad Keyboard for Arduino

Rapid Fire Opinion

  • MagicWolfi from the slack channel asks
    • “How is it done in the factory and maybe some ideas what to do at home? This is painful if it is more than a few boards.”
  • The 5 best arduino projects
Ben and David with the PinoTaur system. Testing it in the depths of the wild wilderness of Wisconsin.

Ben and David with the PinoTaur system. Testing it in the depths of the wild wilderness of Wisconsin.

Brewery cart Parker welded up. Made out of 2″ 14AWG box tubing.

Brewery cart Parker welded up. Made out of 2″ 14AWG box tubing.

Stephen’s simulation of the week for band pass filtering.

Stephen’s simulation of the week for band pass filtering.

About the Hosts

Parker Dillmann
  Parker Dillmann

Parker is an Electrical Engineer with backgrounds in Embedded System Design and Digital Signal Processing. He got his start in 2005 by hacking Nintendo consoles into portable gaming units. The following year he designed and produced an Atari 2600 video mod to allow the Atari to display a crisp, RF fuzz free picture on newer TVs. Over a thousand Atari video mods where produced by Parker from 2006 to 2011 and the mod is still made by other enthusiasts in the Atari community.

In 2006, Parker enrolled at The University of Texas at Austin as a Petroleum Engineer. After realizing electronics was his passion he switched majors in 2007 to Electrical and Computer Engineering. Following his previous background in making the Atari 2600 video mod, Parker decided to take more board layout classes and circuit design classes. Other areas of study include robotics, microcontroller theory and design, FPGA development with VHDL and Verilog, and image and signal processing with DSPs. In 2010, Parker won a Ti sponsored Launchpad programming and design contest that was held by the IEEE CS chapter at the University. Parker graduated with a BS in Electrical and Computer Engineering in the Spring of 2012.

In the Summer of 2012, Parker was hired on as an Electrical Engineer at Dynamic Perception to design and prototype new electronic products. Here, Parker learned about full product development cycles and honed his board layout skills. Seeing the difficulties in managing operations and FCC/CE compliance testing, Parker thought there had to be a better way for small electronic companies to get their product out in customer's hands.

Parker also runs the blog, longhornengineer.com, where he posts his personal projects, technical guides, and appnotes about board layout design and components.

Stephen Kraig
  Stephen Kraig

Stephen Kraig is a component engineer working in the aerospace industry. He has applied his electrical engineering knowledge in a variety of contexts previously, including oil and gas, contract manufacturing, audio electronic repair, and synthesizer design. A graduate of Texas A&M, Stephen has lived his adult life in the Houston, TX, and Denver, CO, areas.

Stephen has never said no to a project. From building guitar amps (starting when he was 17) to designing and building his own CNC table to fine-tuning the mineral composition of the water he uses to brew beer, he thrives on testing, experimentation, and problem-solving. Tune into the podcast to learn more about the wacky stuff Stephen gets up to.

Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!

Related Podcasts

Dont worry about it

Don’t Worry About It

Right to Repair is going global and Stephen might have solved his injection molded component's void by tweaking the mold design.

A couple months ago

A Couple Months Ago…

Meta data for electronic components? Stephen talks about categorizing components to make it easier to get to that part that you really need.

Electronic wear items

Electronic Wear Items

Chip and component shortages continue! This week's episode covers Ford and GM automotive supply chain problems and EMMC wear chips for Tesla cars.

Real engineering for a real engineer

Real Engineering for a Real Engineer

A decade after graduating college, Stephen finally did a differential equation for his job! That is some real engineering I tell you what.

Beating the heat

Beating the Heat

The PinoTaur has reached production status but not without supply chain issues..OF COURSE! Bonus discussion about thermal management for PCBA.

Illuminati moment

Illuminati Moment

Is there a statue of limitations on open source hardware projects? This week, Stephen and Parker dive into what open source means for both of them.

About MacroFab

MacroFab offers comprehensive manufacturing solutions, from your smallest prototyping orders to your largest production needs. Our factory network locations are strategically located across North America, ensuring that we have the flexibility to provide capacity when and where you need it most.

Experience the future of EMS manufacturing with our state-of-the-art technology platform and cutting-edge digital supply chain solutions. At MacroFab, we ensure that your electronics are produced faster, more efficiently, and with fewer logistic problems than ever before.

Take advantage of AI-enabled sourcing opportunities and employ expert teams who are connected through a user-friendly technology platform. Discover how streamlined electronics manufacturing can benefit your business by contacting us today.