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  1. foTONICS

    FPGA circuit design prerequisites

    Thanks for your response, I took a motors class in school too and found it pretty interesting. What you said about motors exploding those IC's, I have a friend in space engineering and he's constantly frying his beaglebones trying to use them to drive motors. I don't think I can count the amount...
  2. foTONICS

    FPGA circuit design prerequisites

    Hey all, Just wondering. I've always been interested in FPGA design, VHDL, and programming microcontrollers with C. I'm wondering if I have the right background to possibly do freelance FPGA work in the future. I went to school for electronics engineering technologist (3 year program). I work...
  3. foTONICS

    Help Getting Started with PIC Microcontrollers

    When I first started learning microcontrollers someone pointed me to http://www.gooligum.com.au/shop/PIC-tutorials He does an amazing job teaching you the ins and outs of programming and the microcontroller hardware, he even has dev boards that you can by so you can follow along. The website...
  4. foTONICS

    Help Getting Started with PIC Microcontrollers

    I was going to say that I had to go the same route because MPLABX didn't allow me to create a project for my PIC18F44K22 (it wasn't in the list of choices) but I just saw that it's in there now, so either it was added or I missed it. Anyways, the point is that I've resorted to compiling stuff...
  5. foTONICS

    questionable RS-232

    no I don't think there is problems. I don't use this signal, I just happened to be probing it with a scope and saw how rounded everything was. just goes to show how not everything is textbook examples
  6. foTONICS

    questionable RS-232

    I was probing an RS-232 connection at work and came across this waveform. At first it looked okay but as I zoomed in I noticed there were no nice clean transitions, is it normally this rounded or is this waveform being distorted by something?
  7. foTONICS

    Wireless trigger for LEDs and buzzers

    So I started up the hardware side of things. the NRF's work off of 3.3V and since I don't have a P/S this became an issue. I (luckily) managed to find a LM317 so I was able to put together something that works. The breakout board on the NRF's are absolutely retarded, they are not in the least...
  8. foTONICS

    Wireless trigger for LEDs and buzzers

    okay so i have finished what I hope is a working RF link between the two NRF's. I have been pouring myself over datasheets but am happy to announce that I am going to go home, wire something up, and see if they start talking. Here is the transmitter code // THIS CODE IS INTENDED FOR USE WITH A...
  9. foTONICS

    Wireless trigger for LEDs and buzzers

    I also figured it would probably be a good idea to go ahead and test the RF link before I started testing sensors so I'm just going to send an LED signal back and forth, then I'll move on from there
  10. foTONICS

    Wireless trigger for LEDs and buzzers

    I was referring to IR. I might just end up doing what you mentioned of having the diodes on either side of the hoop in between where the net hooks into the goal to help avoid interference.
  11. foTONICS

    Wireless trigger for LEDs and buzzers

    would it be possible to have the emitter and detector side-by-side and use the basketball as the reflecting surface to bounce the signal back?
  12. foTONICS

    Wireless trigger for LEDs and buzzers

    Hey everyone, just a little update. I had taken a break from this mostly because I needed to experiment with the sensor I was using (ultrasonic) and I don't really have the equipment to test it at home. I lack a P/S so I just ended up using an old 120VAC/12VDC converter and ran it through a...
  13. foTONICS

    Using Vref as the input to comparator module

    ooooooooh I get it now. I was confusing myself. I was under the impression that the Vref output and the Vin- of the comparator were different pins. Selecting the appropriate register bits will make the connection internal right? I just have to make sure I don't use that pin for anything or else...
  14. foTONICS

    Using Vref as the input to comparator module

    I have a PIC16f627a uController and I want to use the comparator module. One input to this comparator will be a signal from a sensor and the other input will be from the Vref pin on the uController itself. The datasheet mentions that when using the Vref pin I should use a buffer (like a 741...
  15. foTONICS

    Help Getting Started with PIC Microcontrollers

    I second this, I'm currently writing code for a PIC16F627a to communicate via SPI with 2 wireless transceivers. The PIC16F627a doesn't have build in SPI hardware so I am coding all of the protocols myself (with help from KrisB of course). In addition to the SPI communication I will also be using...
  16. foTONICS

    Help Getting Started with PIC Microcontrollers

    I program my PIC16F627a's with nothing but a PICKIT2 and a breadboard. I mean you will need some hookup wire and a resistor or 2 but it's not that difficult
  17. foTONICS

    Create Memory/RAM

    +1 for the FPGA tips, I purchased this book (follow link) http://www.amazon.ca/VHDL-Starters-Guide-2nd-Edition/dp/0131457357 This book is, obviously, heavy on the programming but it also teaches about RAM/ROM, addressing, half/full adders, ALU's, and everything else that could be used to build...
  18. foTONICS

    attempting to fix my broken laptop charger

    I unsoldered the wire that goes from the 19v side to the laptop. I then used the multimeter to check for a short where the cord used to be and I found an intermittent short (The 19Vout side on the charger).
  19. foTONICS

    attempting to fix my broken laptop charger

    UPDATE: So I checked continuity across the + and - wires on the DC side and my multimeter beeped. I removed the cord and the two lines still beeped but I couldn't get them to beep all the time. This makes me think there is an internal short somewhere. this brick is packaged pretty tight so I'm...
  20. foTONICS

    attempting to fix my broken laptop charger

    So I have an Acer laptop with your typical charger (120VAC in/ 19VDC out) that connects the laptop to the wall. This morning it stopped working. Using a multimeter I tested the connection between the wall and charger and got 120VAC. Then I checked the end that goes into the laptop and got...
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