• Back on track

    Scott Alfter09/07/2018 at 04:10 0 comments

    Got a bit sidetracked with other stuff, but I sent the gerbers out for production maybe a week ago.  Today, I received notice from Elecrow that the boards are on their way:

  • substitute models

    Scott Alfter02/28/2018 at 06:51 1 comment

    The models I could find for the component output connector had the pins off to the side.  The CUI RCJ-32256 I've used in the past and the "Won Hung Lo" equivalents I have on order have the pins centered on each connector.  I ended up taking the model for a single-jack part from CUI and cloned it in FreeCAD to get three of them, 15 mm apart.  Apply color to match the Won Hung Lo connector (it has Y and Cb swapped vs. the order on the CUI connector), export it to .wrl, pull it into pcbnew, rotate and align it, and call it a day.

  • derp!

    Scott Alfter02/27/2018 at 18:54 0 comments

    Found a model for the S-video connector, added it to the render...and look at how it turned out!  This 3D rendering thing is turning out to be useful for finding mistakes.  Still not sending the board out to be made until the parts arrive, though.

  • fun with OpenSCAD

    Scott Alfter02/26/2018 at 22:42 0 comments

    Figured out enough to model the CXA2075 from the datasheet, with a workflow that goes from OpenSCAD to MeshLab to Wings3D to KiCad, as described here:

    http://www.sl-alex.com.ua/en/page/3d-models-for-kicad-part1-openscad

    I pretty much just took the example and modified the parameters to match up with the datasheet.  The trickiest part was colorizing the model in Wings3D, as its UI is a bit...um...unusual. :-|

    Once I had that done, I found that the footprint I created could use some adjustment, so I tweaked it, reworked the surrounding traces, and redid the board render.

    As another option for generating 3D models, I took a look at Regard3D:

    http://www.regard3d.org/

    It did surprisingly well with a small set of low-resolution photos provided as an example.  It'd be interesting to put a part on a lazy susan, spin it in front of a DSLR, and see what kind of models that method can produce.

  • ...and now we wait.

    Scott Alfter02/26/2018 at 00:24 0 comments

    I have most of the parts on order with various AliExpress vendors, so it's going to be a while before they arrive so I can verify that all of the footprints are correct.  I think I'll also need to shuffle the component outputs around a bit, as the connector I have on order is arranged Y-Cb-Cr, while the connector I used previously is arranged Cr-Y-Cb.

    Some components are missing from the component-side render because I don't have models for them to use with KiCad.  It's mostly the connectors that are missing, though the Sony CXA2075 (the chip that handles the conversion to S-video and composite) is also not rendered.