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Last minute circuit changes
03/04/2016 at 22:33 • 0 commentsI just realized while building refining the powersupply circuit that having the batteries connected to the load at all times would be a bad idea and to solve it I would need another relay on the PSU-board. But my Attiny84 is out of I/O-pins.
The solution I came up with is combining the homeswitch with the radio triggerpin, since the homeswitch in any case will only be used when reconnecting the line and be unused 99.999999999% of the time.
This will require some minor modifications to the CPUboard.... or major, I will figure this out later.
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Built some PCB's
02/10/2016 at 17:45 • 0 commentsI have spent the last few nights building some PCBs.
First I did the CPU/Motordriverboard and a small board for motor resistors and the home microswitch.
Last night I built the radioboard and even without an antenna attached it appears to trigger on me turning off my soldering iron.
I'm going to play around with the radio tonight and make a good algorithm for triggerdetection.
All that is left to build now in the electronics department is the combined powersupply/UPS.
I will upload some pictures of the PCBs later on
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DSL connection with pogopins tested
02/02/2016 at 20:55 • 0 commentsWorks flawlessly! RIP 193.216.1.10
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Actuator demo video
01/31/2016 at 18:21 • 0 comments -
Finished mechanics, just electronics left
01/31/2016 at 16:51 • 0 commentsToday I finally got some time off and was able top print some parts for mounting the microswitch for home position and for securing the pogopins. The sparkgap ended up being over 50mm on each lead. All that is left now is to figure out how to power it and make it run on backup power during storms and build all the electronics. I also want to make it top off the backup batteries by itself. I think i should run a test by connecting this to my DSL now and see if it syncs up at the correct speed.
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Linear actuator working and video
01/14/2016 at 23:32 • 0 comments -
3D Printing PITA
01/13/2016 at 00:29 • 0 commentsThis is just a note to self: If printer fails make sure extruder temp sensor did not shake loose before reprinting the same part 4 times in a row.
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Printed dolly and the threads work nice
01/10/2016 at 22:36 • 0 commentsPrinted the dolly today, the threads needed some force the first time but now runs really smooth.
The entire project is now classified as a stepperdriven linear actuator opereated high voltage switch.
What is left now is the rest of the assembly, PCB and function definitions.
I want it to disconnect if the mains power go out. I want battery backup and a charging circuit.
And of course it will disconnect when sensing thunderstorms on the radio, stay disconnected for a set amount of time after last radio activity, same with powerloss.
I also want a couple of buttons to override. Maybe throw in a display to display timers and lightningcounts.
I want to cram all this into a Attiny 84 or something, use some MOSFETs to power my overpowered stepper motor.
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Change of mind
01/05/2016 at 23:46 • 0 commentsI may have changed my mind about the servo. The idea of using a screw that moves a dolly with pogopins to and from the connection point seems less likely to cause bad connection for the DSL line.
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Started PCB layout
01/03/2016 at 00:48 • 0 commentsSource circuitry: http://www.techlib.com/electronics/lightning.html