Exciting things are happening in our electronics lab: along with a great set of all-new classes coming soon (stay tuned!), we’re resuming office hours! Come hang out and get pointers on a new project, troubleshoot a repair, or check out the lab for the very first time.
I’ll be there on the second Saturday of each month starting in March from Noon – 2:00 (possibly joined by other stewards). If there’s lots of interest, we’ll extend the hours and/or do this more frequently, so don’t hesitate to come by and see what’s going on.
I have the worst timing when it comes to previous engagements!
I super regretted missing out on the last time Office Hours was a thing, so I hope y’all get enough interest to continue.
Side note: is anyone interested in taking on a paid 1-on-1 tutoring gig for diagnosing and fixing simple THT PCB’s? (plz DM me if so!)
I have a old Casio that I think should be easy to fix, but am afraid to break it any further. I have a few other repair projects I want to tackle, but getting instruction and advice from a human would be greatly appreciated.
That sounds like fun, I bet someone around would want to take that on (possibly @dalton.v who I think has experience with synths). Otherwise, definitely a great thing to bring by on open lab days! Hope to see you there.
@DanHawn I’d be interested in helping repair a Casio and will be around the shop a bit this weekend and next week. Just let me know when is good for you. Or we could all peek at it during office hours…
It was nice meeting you face to face last night @JohnWickham !
Once I left I realized I should have mentioned I’d love to see an intro to schematics/PCB design class.
I’ve been wanting to teach myself, but haven’t gotten as far as even picking a PCB design software. I’ve installed all the free options and tend to get stuck at finding/importing the proper libraries.
In the meantime I’ve been brushing up on the fundamentals of schematics and watching 101 level videos on Youtube until I’m ready to commit to a program. They all seem like they’ve got their pros and cons, and I’ve got analysis paralysis
If anyone has a strong opinion of what software is best for a n00b I’m all ears! I’m mainly interested in making eurorack synths and micro-controller based doodads for work. I wanted to pick a software that might look good on my resume, but if I can generate files for a PCB fab I don’t really care which tool I use.
I’d love a class like that too! I’ve done a little pcb design in easyeda and kicad, but only really simple things like sticking other breakout boards together with microcontrollers. A lot of the parts of the process I’m guessing my way through, so learning the process from someone with more experience would be great for filling in those gaps.
With the cnc machines at asmbly, simple 1 and 2 layer boards could be made in house too.
Glad to hear folks are interested in designing PCBs! This is one of the classes I’d really like to offer at some point.
Which CAD tool to use: I use KiCad, and would most likely run a class based on that. Being free and open-source makes the most sense for most makers, even if it isn’t the most impressive to list on a resume. That said, the fundamental concepts (schematic design, routing, generating files for a board house) are transferrable across platforms, like most CAD techniques.
In the meantime, I’d be more than happy to hang out for an hour or two and talk through KiCad with some folks. I’m by no means an expert, but I do have experience and think it’d be worthwhile (and fun). That would also greatly inform what’s important in a class.
Also, on fabricating boards at Asmbly: it may technically be possible, and would be a neat project if anyone were to take it on. I think the more likely approach is still acid etching with a laser-cut resist, maybe only CNC for through-holes. But I’ve never tried because small pad pitches and traces are hard to achieve yourself, so I opt either for through-hole parts on protoboard, or PCBWay and the like.
Thanks John! I’ll give KiCad another go. My first impression was that it’s more user friendly than most open-source software! (I’m looking at you Inkscape!)
I’ll plan on going to the next office hours, chatting a bit about pcbs is a good time and I’d like to learn a bit more about the electronics lab setup too.
Fun day in the Lab today for this month’s second Saturday office hours!
@Kenneth brought in an extremely cool project that integrates with a glucose monitor to stay on top of its goings-on. We got to talk all about different ways to miniaturize the parts to make it a more convenient every day carry.
We also took a look at a part of @DanHawn’s modular Eurorack synth setup that was in need of some repair. I think we tracked the problem down and replaced a couple damaged resistors, so I’m eager to see how it pans out.
Finally @tomthm came in with his awesome kaleidoscope. It’s got some beautiful vintage electronics & LEDs and he’s thinking about what a modern version of the circuit board might look like. I think that might be a really fun thing to work on as a group for anyone interested. I’ll be sure to keep everybody posted about that!
Thanks for coming everybody. See y’all next month!
That was such a fun hangout, it was great having people come in with various electronics project ideas throughout the session. Tommy’s kaleidoscope had some beautiful hand drawn circuit boards inside it, and the ASCII character molded LED housings and tilt switch were really sweet to see in action.
Looking forward to the next office hours, if anyone’s interested in poking at an electronics project of any complexity, feel free to swing by!
