More on Alarm Panel Interfacing

I've Been Busy...

I haven't had the chance to update things for a while, but for those interested, I'd like to share some build pictures of my Alarm Interface.  And yes, it's working and in service, with a nice programming GUI. (Links at the end - code will be up "soon").

Teaser Render!

Stencil Success!

So I'd managed to knock up a pair of solder paste stencils, and now it's time for the moment of truth:  can I actually manage to lay down pastes and successfully solder some parts on?

Plastic Not-So Fantastic

In my last past, I made mention that I'd only intended to test the plastic stencil if the metal one failed.  Well, I got in-touch with my inner feminist and decided to start with the plastic stencil after all.  Why?  Well, the plastic sat flush with the boards, and I was thinking I'd probably not need the top frame in my Jig.

Sitting Pretty

Stencil Mania

Living in Australia....

...has a whole load of advantages, but one thing that sucks is that we are far from everyone else.  So once I've ordered my parts, I have to wait a while for the bits to arrive.  

And that usually gets me thinking.  Well, reading articles on the internet is kind of like thinking....

DAMN FINE DIY

There are some pretty talented and smart people out there, and I've recently read about some examples of DIY Solder Paste stencils.  Both of these guys have achieved some pretty impressive results, and with my upcoming projects, I started to think that the use of solder stencils might just save me some time.  

While I can hand solder SMD parts, and when set up I've been able to knock off over 100 parts an hour, it's bloody fatiguing.  Plus I have this hot air tool I picked up from eBay that I haven't tried yet either... so I began to hatch a plan.

However, rather than muck around with etching and all the drama that comes with using chemicals (e.g. negative WAF) I thought I'd give it a shot milling out a stencil at work.

Basic Protection

BASIC PROTECTION

For a recent project I'm working on, I wanted to add some basic IO protection.  The requirements for this were:

• As usual, it had to be cheap
• It had to be bi-directional.  The pin to protect was configurable as either input or output.
• Provide short circuit protection
• Provide over-volt protection
• Provide reverse bias protection
• It also has to be cheap