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Pimp my H2n


Tom Visser

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I don't have anything to show you at the time being, Vincent, other than my disassembled non-operable H2n. I'm going to build up my first unit with project board but would hope I could get some PCBs custom made to make it slick, and halfway decent looking. I can probably show you a dummy-loaded mockup of the finished product sometime late next week, maybe even with some level of operation!

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Just passing time, waiting for the rest of the parts to arrive.  In the mean time, decoding some of the switch logic.  Here is the top pattern selector.  There are pins labelled 1 to 5.  A rotary selector has a number of wipers with radial travel around the PCB and short pins together based on the position and activate XY, MS, 2ch surround, or 4ch surround as well as activate 1 of 2 LEDs.  Power for the LEDs are either supplied by pin 4 (MS) or pin 5 (XY) and are not switched mechanically, but by logic from the main board.

 

1 - 4CH surround or MS

2 - 4CH surround or XY

3 - C

4 - MS LED +

5 - XY LED +

 

2 channel surround would be enabled by simple floating all contacts so that they are open.

 

post-1336-0-67035500-1358275411_thumb.jp

 

post-1336-0-87121500-1358275418_thumb.jp

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You must be like a friend I had that designed electronic stuff for the photographic industry. He came up with some amazing things that were highly functional and usually very small and lightweight. He said that he could look at any electronic circuit and see the electrons flowing and credited that ability to all of the acid he'd taken.

 

He once had me test out a very small (cigarette pack size) battery pack for electronic flashes. It was extraordinarily fast and seemed to last forever. I had to give it back after a month because he called me to say that he'd imported the batteries illegally from a country he wouldn't divulge and that the US government considered them too dangerous for use...

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Ok, first attempt was a failure.  I sort of already knew this, as I couldn't get the PCB to fit with this button arrangement, so had already moved the output level buttons down to the bottom.  The screws you see are the wrong ones, as they should be countersunk, but should give you a general idea of what I'm going for.  I only have to get the front panel remilled, I think.  I'm a little bit worried about the overall depth if it will clear the battery holders or not, might have to make it longer too.

 

post-1336-0-18082400-1358380981_thumb.jp

 

post-1336-0-96861300-1358380989_thumb.jp

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Ok, so lots to adjust...  I'm going to move the paddle switch horizontal, to give me a bit more room for the push buttons.  Space inside is tight.  I keep banging my head against the lack of space, have to think in 3 dimensions with 2-D drawings.  It would be easy to give up and just make the box bigger, but I really appreciate compactness and efficiency, so hoping to keep it under control.  I did have to grow the box by 4 millimeters depth, though.  This time I'm going to order the PCB too.

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Hey Tom, what PCB design did you settle with? I recently heard about Arduino, which seems like a sweet operation and they make PCB boards for very cheap.

 

I'm currently using ExpressPCB.  It seemed to be a little bit more intuitive / polished than the Pad2Pad service, which is very similar.  I just want the EASY button - design something, submit the order, all-in-one.  If you need to do anything of any complexity, sounds like Eagle is the way to go and then take the exported Gerber files to the fabricator of choice.  That is probably cheaper in the long run, but I'm happy with ExpressPCB so far.

 

I'm familiar with Arduino and have one of their processors for tinkering around with.  They fab PCBs too?  I didn't know - how do you design them?

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Yes the case was designed with Front Panel Express software and manufactured by them.  I dream of the day that I can have my own hobby sized computerized CNC mill, but for the time being, the guys at Front Panel have made some great 1-off prototype cases for me.  It is quite expensive, though, one of the only negative things about them.  The other thing is that you can't get your parts anodized after it is milled, you can only select pre-anodized stock.

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Yes the case was designed with Front Panel Express software and manufactured by them. I dream of the day that I can have my own hobby sized computerized CNC mill, but for the time being, the guys at Front Panel have made some great 1-off prototype cases for me. It is quite expensive, though, one of the only negative things about them. The other thing is that you can't get your parts anodized after it is milled, you can only select pre-anodized stock.

Well that is stupid since I think most stuff is anodized commercially. Going to have to put some kind of rubber case around it then...idk if that'd even help.

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There is an app that I've used successfully in the past for PCB layout called Kicad

 

http://www.kicad-pcb.org/display/KICAD/KiCad+EDA+Software+Suite

 

it's free, cross-platform, and will export gerber files for uploading to any fab house, even print yours out for etching in your kitchen.

 

the downside, it's not very intuitive, but lots of literature online for getting started.

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Well that is stupid since I think most stuff is anodized commercially. Going to have to put some kind of rubber case around it then...idk if that'd even help.

 

I sort of get around it by selecting anodized side panels and extrusions, which won't have any cuts exposed to the outside, and then powder coat the front and back which would have had raw aluminum exposed if it were anodized... although I'd rather have anodized all around, powder coat is a fine compromise for me at the moment.

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