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Christmas Star project

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My bad. I just went in program right after my post #19 and searched for 560 ohm arrays and the arrays look to be the best choice.
Found both the 1K and the 560 ohm. Need to look further for "basic" parts
 
Screenshot_20200820-073955_Firefox.jpg
 
Thanks have revised schematic and resistor values so all are 560 ohm. I need to search for the basic part. This schematic has C25512. Han't researched further. Have to go get my daily bike ride of 5 miles yet today, before it gets hot.
After inserting the arrays I decided to make several changes dealing with port connections.
 

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  • Schematic_STAR COPY2_2020-08-20_10-41-45.pdf
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I presume you've caught a lot of errors in cleaning up your schematic, like still having individual resistors plus network resistors to THE LEDs at the lower left.

Have you noticed the omission of pin 2 of your ICSP connector being connected to circuit Vcc? The PICkit will not like that.

Schematics are an artistic endeavor but the primary goal is to convey information about your circuit clearly to others if you are presenting it. This is why there are conventions and you shouldn't "do your own thing" when it comes to symbols like Vcc and ground. Somebody trying to understand your circuit expects these symbols, and if you use net labels instead of conventional symbols, it takes additional time to understand and decipher the circuit.

This may also lead to errors on the circuit board if you connect some grounds with a net label called "grnd" for example, and use the conventional ground symbol, which is connected to the GND net, elsewhere. They will end up not being connected on the circuit board.
 
I corrected the indivual resistor error.
Need to review the ICSP connections thanks
will correct the grounds. I checked using the DESIGN MANAGER and all looks good.
Laid out the pcboard but can't get/find a method of flipping two of the resistor arrays as well as including a copper pour. The "hot keys" appear to be disabled.. Will research futher.
Am getting frustrated and considering using Diptrace but not sure it has the CLP file?
 
"Flipping"? You mean rotating the part? Select it and press R.

To create a ground plane, select "copper area" from the tools menu. This defines the area by points. Make a large enough rectangle to cover the star. Click on the first corner, say bottom left. Move to the next corner, bottom right and click. Move to the top right and you'll see lines forming a triangle from the points you've clicked so far. Click on the upper right corner. Move to the upper left corner and you'll see the lines making a rectangular area (more or less). Click the point, then don't move the mouse. Press the [ESC] key to finish the area.

Any time you make any changes that might change the ground plane, press [shift] to rebuild the plane. Maybe it's [shift] [r]?
 
I used R to rotate but have two resistor arrays on the pcboard that need to be flipped. The ratlines are twisted together. Will attempt a screen shot.
 

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  • Schematic_STAR COPY2_2020-08-21_10-53-38.pdf
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Saying flipped again doesn't clarify anything. Maybe if you say FLIPPED loud and very slowly, I'll understand what you're talking about.
 
If you mean something like this to your resistor networks, go back to the schematic and swap the connections from end to end, then update the board.
twist.jpg
 
that's exactly what I just did and it connects as desired.
Placed the copper pour as ground.
Wish it had a pour to board outline? but it looks ok
Yesterday I found my next project
plan to use same Christmas Star schematic but use several green LEDs for the eyes
 

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  • sea hawk pic.jpg
    sea hawk pic.jpg
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The ground plane will work perfectly like that. If it bothers you, you can click point by point around the board outline.
 
If you're using those resistor arrays, you'll want to have them on the side the JLCPCB assembles; they're quite small, and it's easy to bridge their connections.
 
I have everything on the front side except the pic and the USB connector but that may change depending on total cost and if I only order a few assembled..
Getting frustrated using the EasyEDA but working through the frustration one day at a time.
 
Using new software always creates a few problems, but if you have the schematic cleaned up and complete, with all of the parts you actually will use specified, the rest should be pretty simple. If the schematic isn't 100%, except for minor edits like pin swaps for routing ease, whatever effort you spend working on board layout may be wasted effort.

It sounds like you already have a workable board outline in EasyEDA, so the rest is positioning parts and running traces. That shouldn't be all that different than what you been doing.

What are you having problems with?

And for the record, do notice you managed to post a viewable schematic on the first try without spending a few pages in the forum going over the process to do so with many unsuccessful attempts. EasyEDA actually is pretty easy to learn and use compared to other layout packages.
 
My issue at the moment is getting traces on the pcboard.
Tried auto router, no great success. See there is a new version of EasyEDA but our internet is screwed up over the last few days. Internet here in Ryderwood with Centurylink is maxed out at 10mbps. Lately even slower so new version is not happening yet.
Tried manual traces but doesn't seem to like 45 degree angles.
Will play with it more today so the jury is still out.
I have a board along with the copper layer and a few traces.
 
The auto router is crap. All auto routers are crap. Nobody in the real world actually uses them. (Did I get that right in the ETO way? Overly broad statements, made as fact?)

Why would you use an auto router for this board anyway? This should be about the simplest board to layout.

The picture shows the important details.

¤ select the wire tool from the menu

¤ select the desired layer from the layer menu

¤ when you are routing, select important parameters:

>> trace width (use wide traces, not the minimum possible)

>> Routimg angle: select 45°

>> Routing conflict: select block

This prevents you from routing too close to other signals, crossing another trace on the same layer or connecting points together that aren't connected in the schematic.

Click on the starting pad. Click where you want to change direction. At the pad you're connecting to, move the trace until a large white dot appears on the pad and click to finish the track.

Click the space bar changes the inflection of 45 degree bends. Say you want to go over, then up, but the program is trying to go up, then over, hit the space bar to make it hsve the other inflection.

One final hint. Say you want to see everything connected to Vcc. Put the cursor on some point connected to Vcc. Press H. Everything connected to Vcc will be highlighted. Press H again to turn off the highlighting.

Please take some time to understand this. It took me 45 minutes to write it when I should have been asleep.

EasyEDA routing.jpg
 
Actually, the way you've laid out the schematic will make it a pain in the butt to route this board, assuming you want a somewhat uniform arrangement of blue and white LEDs.

Why not alternate groups of blue and white LEDs instead of connecting the white to one side of the chip and the blue to the other. That makes for a lot of crossing tracks. (This assumes that you'll be able to sort it out in software.)

Whatever you do, don't mix colors on a shared resistor (refraining from comments about LEDs in parallel).
 
Ben thinking of re routing as suggested.
I presently have the top copper pour for grnd but going to place the ground on the bottom layer and then run my tracks manually. Looking at what I have the so called traces appear to be cutouts but I realize they are not (can see the grid ).
Thanks for the H tip. Will give it a try AFTER I redo my schematic.
 
The ground plane HAS to go on the BOTTOM. All you connections are on the top layer.

Traces will be red for the top layer and blue on the bottom.

It's easiest to do the ground plane towards the end.
 
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