I did not believe they really died after the "Gods of War" album, still hoped they can be creative. Two days ago, I had this very clear while listening the brand new re-make of the "Kings of Metal".
Obviously, as long as death certificates are not shown, many will say they're still alive and kicking, face-melting, blasting, etc... As long as they cannot agree on the fact that they do not have anymore the balls to play heavy metal, and they will live with the most faked masks, they are dead as a 6 ft underground buried corpse.
R.I.P. the band I loved the most in the last 25 years!
PS: Do not get me wrong, "Gods of War" is the best album post Ross era.
I post my patch in their memory of the great times of the 80's. It's pretty worn out...
Mircea Blog - Electronics
My projects: PIC microcontrollers, analog and digital.
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Friday, February 14, 2014
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
HC-SR04 ultrasonic range finder (max 4000mm)
I built some time ago a "range finder" based on the cheap ultrasonic module HC-SR04 (max 4000mm). I wrote a small program in Mikrobasic and have the result displayed on a 8x2 LCD. All needed is here:
HEX, source, sch, brd (EAGLE), datasheet, pictures
A video to show how it works:
Youtube video
Note theconnections to 16F630 PIC:
The push-button triggers (by powering the assembly), so the distance is displayed. No consumption unless push-button is pressed.
More explanations, see these links:
http://www.mikroe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=53891
http://www.mikroe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=54466
Some pictures
Overview:
LCD display:
Inside the box (note the 12V battery wrapped in 3M band - I could not fit a 9V battery, and a 6V would not work as I have a regular 78L05):
LCD_D4 as sbit at RB5_bit
LCD_D5 as sbit at RB4_bit
LCD_D6 as sbit at RB3_bit
LCD_D7 as sbit at RB2_bit
HEX, source, sch, brd (EAGLE), datasheet, pictures
A video to show how it works:
Youtube video
Note theconnections to 16F630 PIC:
LCD_RS as sbit at RC5_bit
LCD_EN as sbit at RC4_bit
LCD_D4 as sbit at RC3_bit
LCD_D5 as sbit at RC2_bit
LCD_D6 as sbit at RC1_bit
LCD_D7 as sbit at RC0_bit
RA.5 is output for trigger input of the HC-SR04, RA.4 is input from the echo output of the HC-SR04. The LED on RA.0 is for testing only.
The push-button triggers (by powering the assembly), so the distance is displayed. No consumption unless push-button is pressed.
More explanations, see these links:
http://www.mikroe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=53891
http://www.mikroe.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=97&t=54466
Some pictures
Overview:
LCD display:
Inside the box (note the 12V battery wrapped in 3M band - I could not fit a 9V battery, and a 6V would not work as I have a regular 78L05):
UPDATE 2013/11/16: cod for 16F877a also available Source+HEX .
Connections:
LCD_RS as sbit at RB7_bit
LCD_EN as sbit at RB6_bitLCD_D4 as sbit at RB5_bit
LCD_D5 as sbit at RB4_bit
LCD_D6 as sbit at RB3_bit
LCD_D7 as sbit at RB2_bit
RB1=trigge
RB0=echo received
RC7 is output (LED) continuously ON.Saturday, February 16, 2013
4CH R/C system (encoder - decoder) - Home made style
DIY 4ch PPM encoder-decoder system. Encoder system displays on LCD the position (in percentage) of the lever and change symbol based on position (1ms to 1.4ms - DOWNWARDS or LEFT ARROW, 1.4ms to 1.6ms - "-", 1.6ms to 2ms - UPWARDS or RIGHT ARROW - for channels 1 to 3), shows position ("L", "C" or "H") for a 3 position switch (type (ON)-OFF-(ON)), and monitored value of the Tx battery (displays "!" under the battery recharge level).
I used a 16F677 (690) to create the PPM sequence based on the 4 measured voltages. The PPM signal is to be Tx via radio link to the decoder (12F635). The Red LED on the decoder is flashing when correct signal is decoded. It is mainly useless for the Rx system, but it is a visual indication for correct communication.
I intend to use it for a R/C boat for pleasure, and yes it cost more than a ready-to-buy system.
NB: I agree the PICs are highly underused, but I had them getting dusty for about 3 years and had to give them a life too :).
PS: for curious guys, the noisy background is Helloween's "Straight Out Of Hell", a simple coincidence, no setup.
Sunday, October 28, 2012
16F88 Volt-ampermeter - LCD 2x8
Intro
As I experiment a lot in RC electronics, I really needed a way to easily monitor the voltage and the current drawn by motors while testing the power circuits.
I wanted to make my own volt-ampermeter to have it handy. The Internet is full of them, so there is really nothing new or innovative in my instrument, but here is my version.
It displays the voltage and the amps in the below format:
1st line: U = 12.34V
2nd line: I = 1.234A
Comps
I chose to use a 16F88 I had, a small 8x2 LCD (unfortunatelly no backlit, a cheap $3-4) and a small 2.5" by 3.5" by 1" ABS box (the type with a 9V battery compartment). The box height does not allowed the LCD to be installed inside, so I still have to figure out some screen protection shield. See figure 1 below:
I chose a rail-to-rail opamp as a buffer and signal amplifier. You can see the schematic below. No explanations needed. It is really minimalistic version, while all calibration is software (by means of calculate, implement and test - wasn't easy, but I tried to minimize the component count); I wish I would have put there 2 pots for the ease of calibration - I'd suggest you do it if you have a bigger box in your plan to build this instrument. See figure 2 below.
Note that the PCB I made allows for the PIC PCB (right side of the schematic) to be stacked on the V-A interface (left side of the schematics). The pot for the LCD contrast is soldered directly on the LCD so it is not shown in the schematic, while R/W, D0 to D3 are all grounded directly on the LCD.
Firmware
The Mikrobasic PRO source and HEX are here!
Notes:
Remember that 1A leads to 0.1V voltage drop only in the 0R1 shunt; 5A lead to 0.5V drop. I have not considered the drop on the power wires (and the drop is maybe more than in the shunt itself). Use short wires and make sure they're properly sized (AWG10 or 4sqmm I would recommend).
As I experiment a lot in RC electronics, I really needed a way to easily monitor the voltage and the current drawn by motors while testing the power circuits.
I wanted to make my own volt-ampermeter to have it handy. The Internet is full of them, so there is really nothing new or innovative in my instrument, but here is my version.
It displays the voltage and the amps in the below format:
1st line: U = 12.34V
2nd line: I = 1.234A
Comps
I chose to use a 16F88 I had, a small 8x2 LCD (unfortunatelly no backlit, a cheap $3-4) and a small 2.5" by 3.5" by 1" ABS box (the type with a 9V battery compartment). The box height does not allowed the LCD to be installed inside, so I still have to figure out some screen protection shield. See figure 1 below:
Figure 1 - Click to zoom in |
I chose a rail-to-rail opamp as a buffer and signal amplifier. You can see the schematic below. No explanations needed. It is really minimalistic version, while all calibration is software (by means of calculate, implement and test - wasn't easy, but I tried to minimize the component count); I wish I would have put there 2 pots for the ease of calibration - I'd suggest you do it if you have a bigger box in your plan to build this instrument. See figure 2 below.
Figure 2 - Click to zoom in |
Note that the PCB I made allows for the PIC PCB (right side of the schematic) to be stacked on the V-A interface (left side of the schematics). The pot for the LCD contrast is soldered directly on the LCD so it is not shown in the schematic, while R/W, D0 to D3 are all grounded directly on the LCD.
Firmware
The Mikrobasic PRO source and HEX are here!
Notes:
Remember that 1A leads to 0.1V voltage drop only in the 0R1 shunt; 5A lead to 0.5V drop. I have not considered the drop on the power wires (and the drop is maybe more than in the shunt itself). Use short wires and make sure they're properly sized (AWG10 or 4sqmm I would recommend).
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