
Related Topics
Current Conscience Comparator
How low can the power consumption of the Cat Feeder Unreminder go? Parker and Stephen discuss leakage current on this episode of the podcast!
The Infinite Finite Grid
Stephen and Parker continue the discussion of the voltage measurement. Can you come up with a way to measure voltage without precision tools?
Metric Knuckle
Is there a way to macgyver measuring a voltage without a multimeter? Is macgyvering even a word? Parker and Stephen discuss this for well too long.
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August 5, 2020, Episode #236
Parker
- Lead Forming Topic
- Tools
- 3D printed forms
- Best practices?
- Cat Feeder Unreminder
- Choosing a solar panel
- Solar Panels generally act like a current source across its useable power band
- Specifications that are important
- Power (Watts) – Max
- Current @ Peak Power
- Voltage @ maximum power point (Vmpp)
- Vmpp – Voltage @ open circuit (Voc)
- AEM10941 Solar Panel Chip
- Max V is 5V so open circuit can’t be higher then this
- MPP is set by 2 configuration pins
- Ratio between Vmpp / Voc
- Choosing a solar panel
Stephen
- Voltage References and dev boards
- MCP1501T-20E/CHY
- 0.1% initial Accuracy
- Low noise
- worst case 50ppm across -40 to +125
- Capable of sinking and sourcing 20mA
- AD584 Dev board
- 0.3% initial accuracy for the J version. The K version is 0.1%
- MCP1501T-20E/CHY
- Linear rail is shitty
- Got 300 mm of knock off chineasium linear rail
- Sounds like sand in the bearings
- Held vertically the blocks get stuck…
About the Hosts

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 began his electronics career by building musical oriented circuits in 2003. Stephen is an avid guitar player and, in his down time, manufactures audio electronics including guitar amplifiers, pedals, and pro audio gear. Stephen graduated with a BS in Electrical Engineering from Texas A&M University.
Special thanks to whixr over at Tymkrs for the intro and outro!
Related Podcasts

The Infinite Finite Grid
Stephen and Parker continue the discussion of the voltage measurement. Can you come up with a way to measure voltage without precision tools?

Metric Knuckle
Is there a way to macgyver measuring a voltage without a multimeter? Is macgyvering even a word? Parker and Stephen discuss this for well too long.

Current Conscience Comparator
How low can the power consumption of the Cat Feeder Unreminder go? Parker and Stephen discuss leakage current on this episode of the podcast!

The Heartbeat of Cats and LEDs
How do you know if an electrical component is inexpensive? When it says "Cost Effective" as a main bullet point on the datasheet!

Color Clashing Chip Consolidation
What is the worst thing about the Analog Devices and Linear Technologies merger? The incompatible color schemes of course.

Through Hole Manufacturing
Through hole assembly for PCBs might be great for low volume prototypes but how do you scale up that process? What design considerations are needed?