Get your Geek on and control your grow room with Arduino!

Timezone

Well-Known Member
I think I'll hold off on the scope for now. Is this really needed and for what?
No, I wasn't saying get one,

Just checked on Amazon and found the same tester. Comes in an acrylic case so they want more money for it. I don't feel like getting PayPal to use Ebay so put it on my Wish list at amazon.

This kit you mention, is assembled except for the case. i.e. no soldering required, as was the oscilloscope I bought. Not real kits where one soldiers components in place. One just has to figure out how to assemble the case. That's why I mentioned it.
 

spek9

Well-Known Member
No, I wasn't saying get one,


This kit you mention, is assembled except for the case. i.e. no soldering required, as was the oscilloscope I bought. Not real kits where one soldiers components in place. One just has to figure out how to assemble the case. That's why I mentioned it.
The link to the tester I recommended was the actual link I used to order mine. It requires no assembly either, but there's no case. I simply wired up three 12" lengths of wire attached to alligator clips to make connecting them to components a little easier.

Kits that require assembly can get quite overwhelming for people just starting out. Many have very tiny soldering locations that require at least some decent experience.
 

Timezone

Well-Known Member
It's going to be some time before I can design a circuit if ever but I'll plod along once all my stuff is here.
Take a look at circuito, run the ~40 second video, and try it out by running the app. As you add components, you will instantly get a detailed bill of materials, wiring guide and test code for your electronic circuit. I've used this several times and I like everything except the limited number of components.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Drive safely and hope the Mega and the LM443Z chip you needed, are there.
Got those! Plus the powered USB3 hub with the Getting Started with Sketches book for the Arduino and my car manual came in from Haynes too.

Popped into the electronics store in town and picked up a small 47 x 71mm PCB to solder my components to for the colloidal silver circuit. Once I figure out how to use the breadboard that came with the Arduino kit I'll set it up on there first then test it and solder it up on the PCB. Got a project for the weekend and didn't pick up any vodka. ;)

Have to hook the Arduino up and see if I can get it ready for playing with too.

Why is it you can never put back the stuff you get in these kits and have a hope of shutting the lid? :D

:peace:
 

Timezone

Well-Known Member
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spek9

Well-Known Member
Why is it you can never put back the stuff you get in these kits and have a hope of shutting the lid?
LOL. Wait until you've done it for 10 years :)

Here's a picture of one of my IC/sensor unit test hardware platforms. The Raspberry Pi runs the unit tests for the low-and-high level software I've written for each piece of hardware attached, including the Pi itself. There are several ICs (ADC, DAC, digital potentiometer, Arduino Metro, an ATMega328P, several various OLED displays, RF serial transceivers, stepper motor, GPIO expanders etc. The tests run any time I make a single change to any of the various software modules. This ensures that I catch any problems that crop up while updating or adding features to the software.

The shadow boxes I made to store the platform have plexiglass windows, but they're not in place here. There's also a pine cap like the sides that are removed as well.

unit_test_platform.jpg
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
Cool, trip uneventful otherwise I hope.
Did you see this from an earlier post:
Glad to hear it. This should keep you busy for awhile, LOL
Little icy on the highway and in town it's like a skating rink by

There's a whole weekend just to figure out how to use the thing that puts it all together for you. lol

I'm bookmarking all these links too on my PC. I'll have to copy them and stick them in an email to myself then go to my email on the Pi computer and open/save them there too. Thinking I might buy into that FireFox sync stuff and my phone can have them too without all the fussing around with emailed links.

Lots of reading to do.
 

ChiefRunningPhist

Well-Known Member
I use the oscope anytime I need to see what's going on exactly. If I'm generating a PWM signal I'll want to look at the oscope to see what the waveform is doing, ie how fast (frequency or Hz), or what the duty cycle is, ect.

A multimeter is great but it only gives you the average values, for example in the states our mains is typically 120VAC, if you stick your multimeter probes in the socket it'll display something around 120VAC. The actual waveform though osscilates from -170 to +170 (approx), your multimeter just gives you the average, some give the RMS value (root mean square). Whatever mains is listed at, say 120VAC (other countries have different mains voltages), it's actually an RMS value. To get the peak or amplitude you'd multiply the RMS value by (2^(0.5)), or square root of 2 (1.414), so the peak of an RMS of 120VAC is actually 169.70V. The difference between the average and RMS is something not to get too worried about, RMS values are what get multiplied to calculate total power. Some components are more sensative than others to fluctuations. Knowing the amplitude or peak voltage of a waveform or seeing current spikes can allow you to pick components properly or add to your cct to mitigate. You can see if your triggering correctly, rising/falling edge. You can determine/see phase angle, they are pretty handy but a multimeter is needed just as much. Personally I use my multi more than I need to view waveforms at this point in my electronics journey lol
 

ChiefRunningPhist

Well-Known Member
LOL. Wait until you've done it for 10 years :)

Here's a picture of one of my IC/sensor unit test hardware platforms. The Raspberry Pi runs the unit tests for the low-and-high level software I've written for each piece of hardware attached, including the Pi itself. There are several ICs (ADC, DAC, digital potentiometer, Arduino Metro, an ATMega328P, several various OLED displays, RF serial transceivers, stepper motor, GPIO expanders etc. The tests run any time I make a single change to any of the various software modules. This ensures that I catch any problems that crop up while updating or adding features to the software.

The shadow boxes I made to store the platform have plexiglass windows, but they're not in place here. There's also a pine cap like the sides that are removed as well.

View attachment 4458106
Cool project, whats the laser for? Are those shift registers on the board under your yellow screen?
 

spek9

Well-Known Member
Cool project, whats the laser for? Are those shift registers on the board under your yellow screen?
The laser sits atop of the stepper motor. In that three-sided wood wall surrounding it are three photo-resistors (back from the face of the wood a half inch to keep it dark), one on each side, and one at the top. One of the tests swings the stepper from top, to left, to right, then top again. At each position, I take an analog measurement of the light intensity at the photo-resistor. When the laser is pointed dead-on, it'll be at peak intensity, and that's how I confirm that the stepper motor is at exactly the proper position for the number of steps the software told it to turn.

Under the digital volt/Amp meter (yellow OLED) is a real time clock board (sans battery), a shift register, and an MCP3008 analog to digital converter.
 

OldMedUser

Well-Known Member
OK, I think I have my little circuit all set up properly. Tried testing for continuity and got nothing but when I switched to diode test I got a reading of 1.266v so something's getting thru.

I drew it out by hand triple checking what I laid out on the breadboard and if it looks good the next step is figuring out how to get it soldered onto the PCB which has a different pattern of connections.

Hoping the professors give me a pass for my efforts and any constructive criticism is encouraged! :)

CircuitPlanShort.JPG

CSProto02.JPG

Got the Arduino set up with it's drivers and using the Sketch program played around with the timing of that annoying onboard LED then set time on at 1 millisecond and time off at 100,000 so I don't even see the blink when it happens. Programs like that can just be deleted off the onboard chip right?

On my way. Looks like a bumpy road ahead. lol
 

spek9

Well-Known Member
Programs like that can just be deleted off the onboard chip right?
Yes. Essentially, in very general terms, you delete (by overwriting) the old sketch when you upload a new one.

As far as moving off of the breadboard, take your time. Remember that the rows on the breadboard are connected together, which is unlike the protoboard. I'm sure you have many spare boards, so strip a bunch of wire, and do a bunch of test soldering before you start soldering real components to your prototype. Ensure you get some practice with connecting the through-holes together where components need to be in the same path.

Solder your components to the board in order. For example, get the LM334 in place. Then do a resistor, then connect the LM leg to the resistor by soldering the through holes together (if you don't use the pre-connected holes). Then do a continuity test from the LM leg to the far end of the resistor to ensure solid contact between the components. Do this for every solder joint. It's easier to find now than it is after you've done everything and you're scratching your head as to why it won't work.

Triple check that you're putting your components in place in the proper direction (diode for example). Ensure that you're putting the proper resistor in its required space.

The two long strips in the middle of the board are typically used for your + and - rails. Utilize them to minimize soldering. Utilize the already-linked 2 and 4 hole strips to your advantage. For example, a 3-hole strip can be used to interconnect the middle (from your picture's perspective) leg of the LM to the resistors. A two-hole can be used for the LM leg to power-rail. This minimizes the number of interconnections you must solder by hand by connecting the through holes (which can get awful messy and prone to failure).

Document the whole thing out on paper before you begin. More than once if you have to. The idea is to maximize the benefits of the board, and reduce the number of interconnects you have to solder yourself. Once you've drawn it by hand once, flip that paper over and do it again without looking, then compare the two. Are they the same? Good, you're on your way! Are they different? Do it a third time, then compare them all together and take the good from each one.
 
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ChiefRunningPhist

Well-Known Member
OK, I think I have my little circuit all set up properly. Tried testing for continuity and got nothing but when I switched to diode test I got a reading of 1.266v so something's getting thru.

I drew it out by hand triple checking what I laid out on the breadboard and if it looks good the next step is figuring out how to get it soldered onto the PCB which has a different pattern of connections.

Hoping the professors give me a pass for my efforts and any constructive criticism is encouraged! :)

View attachment 4458275

View attachment 4458274

Got the Arduino set up with it's drivers and using the Sketch program played around with the timing of that annoying onboard LED then set time on at 1 millisecond and time off at 100,000 so I don't even see the blink when it happens. Programs like that can just be deleted off the onboard chip right?

On my way. Looks like a bumpy road ahead. lol
Good work on getting arduino IDE installed. That's kinda meticulous but you'll not have to do again. Also, if you loaded the "blink" sketch, everytime you give power to the esp, the blink sketch will run. If you want it to stop then you'd load up a blank sketch or a new sketch. The esp runs whatever its been sent as long as it has power. If you want it to do something else then send it something else to loop, ie a blank sketch will loop nothing lol. You may need to have a few default lines, ie void setup () - void loop (), but you may not, I've never loaded a blank sketch, just loaded new sketches over old sketches.

Your LM334 is backwards. You've got the positive rail from the breadboard going into the negative terminal of the LM334. When you look at it with the flat side up, + is on the left, - on the right.
Screenshot_2020-01-17-08-37-56~2.png

Also I could be wrong, but it looks like your left resistor is a 43.6Ω resistor, but your right most resistor looks like a 436MΩ resistor, which is 10,000,000 greater, as opposed to "10×" greater. I could be wrong though its hard to tell.

That's also a zener diode (see attached for a typical diode used, the attached has a Vf of around 0.6V). The zener can work, but depending on the avalanche voltage, or zener size (1V, 2V, 3V,...ect), your 0.134V constant to determine your set current will change. It can't be over a 5V zener.

What is your zener value and what mA are you looking to produce? 3mA? It can go up to 10mA.

Depending on your Vin, or input voltage, and your Iout, or output current, your LM334 may get warm.

EDIT:
Insert Raspi where I've said "esp" if you're using a raspi...
 

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Timezone

Well-Known Member
Here's a picture of one of my IC/sensor unit test hardware platforms.
Clean layout, @spek9. Are you an electronics teacher or something? :)

I'm bookmarking all these links too on my PC. I'll have to copy them and stick them in an email to myself then go to my email on the Pi computer and open/save them there too. Thinking I might buy into that FireFox sync stuff and my phone can have them too without all the fussing around with emailed links.
Sounds cumbersome, isn't there a better way? How is your Pi connected to your pc? wired or wireless? There is a way to transfer the files back and forth between the two without emailing. I use RealVNC.

"Virtual network computing (VNC) is a type of remote-control software that makes it possible to control another computer over a network connection. ... It also interprets commands coming from the viewer and carries them out on the remote computer. VNC is platform independent and is compatible with any operating system."

I log into both of my Pi s in separate windows on my pc, using one keyboard, mouse, and monitor. 3 in 1. I loaded VNC Connect onto the Pi and VNC Viewer on the pc. Makes it easy to transfer files.

Btw, does the Arduino IDE come preinstalled on the Pi4? The Pi 3 had it.

Lots of reading to do.
You're not alone there pal!

I use the oscope anytime I need to see what's going on exactly.
Exactly!

OK, I think I have my little circuit all set up properly.
I'm gonna check it out in more detail in a minute.
How many of those LM443Z chips did you get? ;)

I drew it out by hand triple checking what I laid out on the breadboard and if it looks good the next step is figuring out how to get it soldered onto the PCB which has a different pattern of connections.
What is your power source? Do I see 1-40 Vdc? Did you power it up while on the breadboard?

Hoping the professors give me a pass for my efforts and any constructive criticism is encouraged! :)
I pass you just for the effort... did I miss it or did you explain what this circuit is for? Especially in relation to the cultivation of cannabis...

Got the Arduino set up with it's drivers and using the Sketch program played around with the timing of that annoying onboard LED then set time on at 1 millisecond and time off at 100,000 so I don't even see the blink when it happens. Programs like that can just be deleted off the onboard chip right?
Cool and funny, the "set time on at 1 millisecond and time off at 100,000 so I don't even see the blink" part, at the same time. No worries with deletion, newer overwrites older.

As far as moving off of the breadboard, take your time...
Great write up @spek9. Btw, are you keeping a "grow log" @OldMedUser?

Good work...
Good catches @ChiefRunningPhist, I think. Let me look again.
 
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spek9

Well-Known Member
Clean layout, @spek9. Are you an electronics teacher or something?
No. I've just been into electronics for a very long time. I used to be a residential electrician, and I'm just good with all things electrical and DIY.

Most of my projects are for myself and for fun (home security, automation, GPS tracking systems for theft tracking etc), but I've done some large jobs as well. This past year I built a water purification system for a private 30-cottage vacation community. It included mixing and monitoring chlorine on a large scale, managing four 100 gallon tanks, pressure tanks, mixing tanks, pH levels, three under-water submersible pumps (from the lake), an ozone system etc, with remote monitoring and adjustments.

Used an Arduino Metro Mini inside the "pump house" that did all of the work. It was connected via cable to an ESP8266-NodeMCU-12e in a waterproof case on the outside of the building (communication between the two microconrollers was via serial) which relayed via WiFi to an access point on another building to a webapp hosted on the Internet.

I design and build random stuff all the time, and write my own software for the vast majority of all components I utilize.
 

Timezone

Well-Known Member
Nice boxes, looked like a display... how often do you change components or software? How are things wired on the back?

Most of my projects are for myself and for fun (home security, automation, GPS tracking systems for theft tracking etc), but I've done some large jobs as well. This past year I built a water purification system for a private 30-cottage vacation community. It included mixing and monitoring chlorine on a large scale, managing four 100 gallon tanks, pressure tanks, mixing tanks, pH levels, three under-water submersible pumps (from the lake), an ozone system etc, with remote monitoring and adjustments.

Used an Arduino Metro Mini inside the "pump house" that did all of the work. It was connected via cable to an ESP8266-NodeMCU-12e in a waterproof case on the outside of the building (communication between the two microconrollers was via serial) which relayed via WiFi to an access point on another building to a webapp hosted on the Internet.
Sounds like someone that might understand some of my programs. Real messes, but what's there, is working 90% of the time. The Pi hangs occasionally due to the Node-RED's display staying on all the time, but that's a Chromium problem I believe and something in my Python code that, under certain circumstances, causes the exhaust fan to come on while the CO2 is on. I really banged them out.

Isn't it amazing what these Arduinos are capable of, the ESP s and the Pi s too? Are you doing anything along the "Arduino controlling my grow theme"?

I design and build random stuff all the time, and write my own software for the vast majority of all components I utilize.
Very cool. I do the same things, only not at the component level. No more than I have too. There are sensors, modules, relays ( both coil and ss types) and wifi enabled SOCs and Pis, already built and assembled in neat little 5Vdc or 3.3Vdc packages, like Legos, waiting to be assembled.
 

TrippleDip

Well-Known Member
Found a place in Winnipeg that sells copper clad PC boards for not much. $10 will get me enough to do a dozen of the little circuits I need for my 4 component circuit. Then I need the circuit transfer sheets to print the circuit on then use an iron to stick it to the copper. Pack of 10 - 8.5 x 11" is $25. One sheet would make me a dozen boards. 500ml bottle of etching fluid is another $15 then shipping another $20 probably. I want to make one little board about 2x3" for fug sake!!
Some things I do when I need a quick board are:
  • Spraypaint the copper and just freehand draw the separations between the different nets.
  • For simple circuits like that deadbug style is fine, I reinforce it with hot glue or silicon if I'm worried.
  • You don't need the transfer sheets, you can do it with heat and magazine or photo paper - it will be frustrating trying to find a paper and toner that work, but give it a try you might get lucky with your toner.
  • Getting pcbs made is cheap now from places like jlpcb and pcbway. Recently got 40 boards for under 50c a board shipped and arriving in less than two weeks. Do your panelization yourself or they will charge you like $15 for that.
 

TrippleDip

Well-Known Member
If anyone has any insight or pointers, please do post, thanks.
You can add an sd card really easily with only a few resistors dividers to change the 5v to 3v and a zener diode to provide a 3.3v supply. 4MB should be fine if you just store the data you need and generate the table on the fly (see below). It also might be easier to just store the data you need rather than the whole chart; in my app a weeks worth of temp and humidity measurements from one sensor with one point for every five minutes takes up less than 4kB.

First glances looks like I'll need to have some java experience along with HTML and C/Arduino.
HTML is static content, to display dynamic content you would probably need java, javascript, or maybe php. If you really want to store the whole chart then you could run a php server and use prebuilt libraries to just display the chart. Your code would only really consist of adding data to the file. Alternatively you could just provide the data and let the user display it (through a static web page with javascript - I think javascript would be enough for your purposes).

I have used appinventor in the past to create low/no effort android apps, but a web page is more flexible.

I'm not sure exactly what you're building (you use the max595 to take over while the raspi cycles?)
It's just backup. If there's a brownout or some sort of program crash then the fans keep running and the lights stay on/off as required. (edit: see TimeZone's comment about the pi hanging sometimes) Basically I just want to move two clicky timers, three switches, two potentiometers, three thermometers (12 aaa batteries a year!) and one fan controller all to one box. Having it be able to adjust settings for me is icing on the cake.
 

TrippleDip

Well-Known Member
Primarily, I use my oscilloscope when I'm writing drivers and communication software for various ICs and devices. It allows me to verify that I'm clocking in data according to a device's datasheet specifications (I2C, SPI etc), that I'm manipulating a select pin surrounding the transferring of data (SPI) properly, monitoring and verifying signal timing, monitoring interrupt edge changes and watching for signal interference.

They're not required when first starting out in electronics. Once you get in deep enough and gain experience, you'll just naturally learn when one is needed (or will be of significant benefit).
Do you think you could give a recommendation on an oscilloscope that I can connect with a computer and use for fast (~2MHz signals)? I actually have one of those $20 one which claims it will read a 1MHz signal but I can't get the trigger to display it. I used to have one of the better handheld units but I don't want to spend $400 on a new one.

For my diodes, ceramic capacitors, resistors and other small things, I use hockey card books with the plastic pages with nine pouches per page. Each value of the component goes into a pouch, with a label.
This is fucking genius! I currently have parts in loose baggies (one per part #) organized into bags (one per device type and related devices eg the microcontroller bag has shift registers, dacs and crystals). I might have to upgrade now because it's a nightmare sometimes.
 
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