SMD Happy Face by Velleman

The SMD happy Face is a great kit to practice soldering Surface Mounted Devices (components are mounted onto the surface of printed circuit board).  I soldered these components by tinning one pad with solder, with tweezers applying the component and reheating the solder to mount, lastly, soldering the other pad(s) to connect the component to the PCB. As one can see in the first picture SMD can be very small. The 2 Transistor and 2 LEDs are size SOT-23 (2.9 mm x 1.3 mm/1.75 mm x 1.3 mm). The 4 Resistor are size 2012 (2.0 mm x 1.25 mm). The 2 Capacitor are size 3225 (3.2 mm x 2.5 mm). These components create a Astable Multivibrator Circuit or Oscillator producing a square wave. This makes the LEDs blink on and off. Below the video are a few links that I used as reference and for more information about this fun technology.

Top to bottom Resistor, Capacitor, LED, and Transistor.

One side of the resistor soldered.

Tinned Resistor pad.

Tinning Transistor pads.

Assembled Happy Face.

Surface-mount technology Wiki

Radio Shack SMT/SMD Capacitor Tutorial

Transistor Multivibrator

Transistor package

SMD code book

Bulb Dial Clock by Evil Mad Scientist

The Bulbdial Clock kit was developed by Evil Mad Scientist based on a design concept by David Friedman. The Bulbdial Clock uses 72 LEDs to cast 3 shadows (hours, minutes, seconds) for telling time (indoor sun dial). This kit includes a pre-programmed ATmega328p microcontroller, 20 ppm quartz crystal, power supply, resistors, capacitors, gnomon spike, and mounting hardware. The 72 LEDs are driven using Charlieplexing. In addition to the Bulbdial Clock kit, I purchased a Chronodot to provide battery backup to the clock. The Chronodot is pre-assembled and easily fits into sockets on the Bulbdial blue PCB. This was a fun and simple DIY kit to assemble and the folks at Evil Mad Scientist provide very detail instructions. Below my pictures I will display more links for reference. This clock looks wonderful above my fireplace.

This PCB contains the bulk of components including a ATmega328p microcontroller.

Blue LEDs added to PCB for minute hand and Clock face with Gnomon spike.

Adjusting the LEDs for a Gnomon shadow for second hand. 

LEDs in green Circuit Board before soldering for the minute hand. 

Unmounted red Circuit Board. 

Mounted Red Circuit Board

Adjustment of the hour hand.

Chronodot.

Black case.

Clear case. 

David Friedman's concept

Bulbdial Wiki

On the design of the Bulbdial Clock

MIcroView

http://kck.st/1qPfQee

Motion Detector Kit Model AK-510 by Elenco

The AK-510 is an Infrared Motion Detector. The Infrared Detector detects heat radiation. This detector can detect up to 10' away but Elenco recommends detection at 6'. The AK-510 circuit is made up of Amplifier, High and Low Filters. Sound Generator, Power Supply, and Infrared Detector.

Completed AK-510

  

Work Bench 2014

This is my Work Bench at the start of the new year. I am hoping in this new year to explore microprocessor design and programming; in addition, one or two robots based on Parallax and Arduino themed microprocessor. If I have time and money, I want to explore DIY mini-computers like Raspberry Pi or Beagle Bone. I hope this will be a great year of my viewers, my friends, my family, and my blog.

Fiber Optics Kit Model FO-30K by Elenco

There are three elements to the Fiber Optics Kit: transmitter, fiber-optics cable, and receiver. The transmitter is made up of a diver and source. The source is a light-emitting-diode (LED). The driver is a circuit that changes the electrical signal into a form required by the source. The fiber-optic cable in this kit is a plastic optical cable (in high-end cables glass is used). The receiver is made up of two basic parts: the detector, and the output circuit. The detector converts the light received by the cable into an electrical signal. The output circuit amplifies, and if necessary, reshapes the electrical signal.

The Basics of Fiber Optic Cable   

Transmitter

Receiver

Light in Cable

Demonstration

Metal Detector Kit Model K-26 by Elenco

The Metal Detector Kit is a basic Oscillator. When the transistor is turned on, it sends a current into the inductor-capacitor circuit. The inductor is made up of the winding red coil. This inductor-capacitor circuit has a resonance frequency in the AM radio band. Part of the energy in the inductor-capacitor circuit is feed into the emitter of the transistor, amplifying the signal and causing the circuit to oscillate at the inductor-capacitor resonance frequency. Metal is detected, when the magnetic field of the coil, comes into the presence of metal. The magnetic field can move easier causing the inductor-capacitor circuit to oscillate at a lower frequency. The video below will demonstrate this idea. 

Model K-26