Circuit Break Podcast #136

Classy NASCAR Badgelife

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September 5, 2018, Episode #136

Stephen creates a new blog and starts documenting his projects and Parker pitches a SDR based car radio.
  • Parker
    • Wagon Chime Module
      • Experimented with brake clean and that seemed to not remove the finish
      • Any other suggestions?
    • Wagon Powered Mirror Module
      • Schematic complete and Board laid out
      • Used DRV8872 motor drives
        • SOIC-8 style package instead of SO-36 of the BTM7742G
    • Just another project to work on
      • Raspberry Pi – RTL SDR radio
      • Wood front panel
      • Tube preamp that runs off of 12V
      • Touch VFD?
  • Stephen
    • uTracer blog post by the Designer
    • New blog: Analogeng.com
    • Hickok 5055 power supply
  • RFO
    • How we built a connected custom PCB badge for the Kentucky Derby
    • Stephen’s Counterfeit Capacitor Problem
    • Capacitance Multiplier Video
      • Stephen used this technique before
    • Brandon Drury asks “What do we think of engineering paper that is green and looks exactly like graphing paper…but isn’t. All my professors require it this semesters and I’m exceptionally fond of you and Stephen making fun of your respective academic institutions. Ignore my request at your peril/benefit.”
    • From the previous podcast on 1D mouses
      • Tom Anderson has experience with a 1D mouse
      • Dials/rotary encoders for scrolling through terminal text

Visit our Slack Channel and join the conversation in between episodes and please review us, wherever you listen (PodcastAddict, iTunes). It helps this show stay visible and helps new listeners find us.

Wagon Powered Mirror Module REV 1 Layout.

Wagon Powered Mirror Module REV 1 Layout.

Capacitors for Stephen’s Hickok 5055 Power Supply.

Capacitors for Stephen’s Hickok 5055 Power Supply.

Poofing capacitor in Stephen’s Hickok 5055 Power Supply.

Poofing capacitor in Stephen’s Hickok 5055 Power Supply.

Rotary knob functions as a text scroller for terminals.

Rotary knob functions as a text scroller for terminals.

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!

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