Author: dyoung
-
Altium Industry Expert Article: The Art of Selecting Connectors
Check out this article I wrote about how to select connectors! The best part is this video I reference:
-
Altium Industry Expert Article: Should I Make, Find, or Download my PCB Symbols?
Check out this article I wrote for Altium’s Industry Expert Series about the options designers have for generating parts for their libraries!
-
e14 Project: Raspberry Pi 2 Laser Dog Watcher
My dog Penny is one of the best. She has the two critical commands of ‘come’ and ‘stay’ down pat so well that I can go for a run with her off-leash here in Denver. She’s gentile with our newborn baby, and she doesn’t destroy things. Her only issue is that she goes BONKERS for…
-
Using a Raspberry Pi 2 and ownCloud v8 to Control My Cloud Data
A couple years ago, I showed how to setup an ownCloud server on a Raspberry Pi. The system worked, but there were some performance hiccups. Most importantly was the ability for the system to handle large files and for the Pi v1 to take on the task in a speedy manner. I found myself using…
-
Rocky Mountain SMTA Brings its A-Game to the 2015 Expo at Mile High Stadium
Last week the Rocky Mountain chapter of the Surface Mount Technology Association (SMTA) held their 2015 expo at the United Club of Mile High Stadium (home of the Denver Broncos). The event, which was free to the public, brought together anyone related to the design, procurement, and manufacture of surface mount boards for technical sessions…
-
e14: EAGLE ULPs Every User Should Know
I love designing PCBs. It’s more than just connecting wires in a given area; it’s devising clever ways to make connections while controlling the design for things like EMC, switcher noise, signal integrity, heat dissipation, and many more. But the actual laying down of traces isn’t the whole challenge. The design needs to be accurately…
-
e14: Laser Doorbell in the Cloud!
Sometimes the notion of the Internet of Things (IoT) strikes me as silly; why would anyone want to connect their dishwasher to the internet? But still, I wanted to develop a hobby project that would explore some of the tech. I came across Xively, a service that can take data from a Raspberry Pi and…
-
How to Characterize a Switch-Mode Power Supply Design with a Tek MDO3000 Scope
Most of the designs that I work on require some sort of power supply design. The power supply rails are the foundation of a good design, allowing one to hit not only the desired voltage level, but also low noise, efficiency, and EMI specifications. There are many tests a power supply design goes through before…
-
Good Time to Upgrade the Scope? My Review of Tek’s MDO3104
I’ve been thinking about getting a new scope for a while. I currently run on a Tek TDS2024B 200mHz scope. It’s been a fine instrument for the last few years, but with the new mixed domain technology and my more regular use of digital technology, I thought now would be a good time to look…
-
Review of the new Fluke Connect System
These last couple of months CJ Gervasi and I have been reviewing the Fluke Connect system on element14.com. It’s a neat system where Fluke is using smartphones and tablets as an additional user interface. Note that they keep the standard user interface with knobs and buttons. But they added BluetoothLE in each of the instruments.…