***Official Electronics Thread of Officialness (it starts off with lots of Nixie Tube Clock goodness

Phate · 31 Jul 2013 at 15:15

Just wanted to say, found cable and the panel mount on ebay so have got those ordered and on the way for under a fiver

Will double check the connection on the back of the head unit before ordering connectors for the cable.

Thanks again!

Tealc · 31 Jul 2013 at 16:18

DEL 707 said:
Bump for this question again.
Got to drive my brother to the hospital on Friday so he can have a wisdom tooth removed, could do with something to read while I'm waiting.

What about 'Electronics for Dummies'? Those books usually cover the basics quite well.

d_brennen · 31 Jul 2013 at 16:27

My Arduinos cost me about £3 to make from scratch these days. If you don't mind a 10-20 day wait, FastTech have a good Uno R3 clone for under $10 delivered (£6.20ish) and a Nano for a little less

Phate · 1 Aug 2013 at 14:31

Does anyone know the official name for these connectors?

Saves me buying a plug I'll never use.

Thanks!
Jake

bulb66 · 1 Aug 2013 at 14:56

Where are you buying from?

This should find what you are after

"female crimp D-sub connector contacts"

J

Phate · 1 Aug 2013 at 15:14

bulb66 said:
Where are you buying from?

This should find what you are after

"female crimp D-sub connector contacts"

J

Bought the cable and jack plug from eBay. Thanks for the info - will get searching and order some up!

bulb66 · 1 Aug 2013 at 15:51

From a quick look on ebay it might just be quicker/cheap to buy the plug with connectors included?

Phate · 1 Aug 2013 at 17:05

bulb66 said:
From a quick look on ebay it might just be quicker/cheap to buy the plug with connectors included?

Not sure, haven't searched yet. If thats the case then I'll do that. It's probably why the guy originally bought the plug to be honest!

bulb66 · 2 Aug 2013 at 10:44

You might have to try a combination of the words, that's what Farnell calls them.

Can you post a picture of the thing your plugging them into as there might be a better option?

Phate · 2 Aug 2013 at 10:47

bulb66 said:
You might have to try a combination of the words, that's what Farnell calls them.

Can you post a picture of the thing your plugging them into as there might be a better option?

Not until tomorrow, it's going into the back of the head unit in my car.

I ended up browsing eBay while inebriated last night and ended up buying a plug with the connectors for £4.50 delivered.

So the whole thing has cost me £9.50 - I'm chuffed. An hour or two of swearing and soldering and I should have aux-in in my car. Official cable from Saab is £55...

dirtychinchilla · 21 Aug 2013 at 11:06

Morning electronics geeks (this is a term of endearment).

When I was at school we used to have these fantastic PCB holders whereby you basically put the PCB into a clamp, and it held it very securely upside down for you, not like those helping hands, which seem to take any opportunity to fall over.

Does anyone know either where I can get one of these holders, or have a recommendation based on what they use?

Edit: something like this, http://www.amazon.co.uk/Aluminium-R...TF8&qid=1377079650&sr=1-21&keywords=pcb+stand but perhaps a little less expensive?

dirtychinchilla · 21 Aug 2013 at 14:19

I ended up ordering one of these: http://www.amazon.co.uk/Mobile-Phon...F8&qid=1377090999&sr=8-10&keywords=mobile+pcb

Mr_White · 4 Sep 2013 at 13:06

It'd be hugely helpful if anyone knows where I might be able to get a relay like this one:

Thanks!

bitslice · 4 Sep 2013 at 13:25

Those two don't look connected to me, in fact the bottom one looks like a signal transformer.

I've seen relays like the top one, but without knowing the rating/voltage or even a code then I don't know what to say :/ it's the sort of stupid variation that white goods designers use.

Go mad and provide more info, like board, application, fault etc.

Mr_White · 4 Sep 2013 at 13:44

You were right about the white goods part, it's a PCB from a boiler, the relay is temperamental and the only option is a new PCB, so I was hoping to be able to find a replacement relay and at least try that first for a fraction of the cost.

Edit: I think I've been a bit stupid and posted a picture of the wrong part!

That looks more like it, no?

http://uk.farnell.com/omron-electro...L-EMCO-OMRON&gclid=CO6JuL7msbkCFTLMtAodTEgAZg

Looking at the right part might have helped, lol

http://imgur.com/a/Mfzyq

I've put some better pics there of whatever the other thing is, but I don't think that's the issue

Tealc · 4 Sep 2013 at 17:08

Looks like a perfect match to me. The other item does look like a transformer but the identification doesn't lead anywhere. I'd guess it's likely to be the transformer for the PCB and ultimately the provides the low voltage that activates the relay.

Twirlywoos · 29 Nov 2013 at 19:25

Asking on behalf of someone:

Where I can get a PCB printed, cheap? Around a 47mm x 65mm board.

Cheers

Dr.EM · 29 Nov 2013 at 19:59

OSH Park are supposed to be good for getting small numbers professionally done. I am planning to use them soon myself, iirc the minimum is 3 identical boards

Twirlywoos · 29 Nov 2013 at 20:35

Dr.EM said:
OSH Park are supposed to be good for getting small numbers professionally done. I am planning to use them soon myself, iirc the minimum is 3 identical boards

Thank You

I'll pass on the info to him. He did try Pad2pad which was meant to be $25 for three PCB's but when he designed his board and checked the price it came to $70.

Dr.EM · 30 Nov 2013 at 10:19

I think the prices on OSH Park are genuine and there aren't hidden costs, so that board (for 3 copies) should be $25. Hope postage wouldn't be much on something so easy to mail. Their quality is supposed to be top notch too.