LED and PCBs

On Thu, 16 Mar 2006 00:34:58 GMT, "Byron Covey"
wrote:

Roger:

Just lay out the "U" shape with a fine point marker, the go to work with a
1/2" diameter sanding drum in a Dremil tool. Rough-out the opening, sand

Actually they are rectangular notches about 1" deep and 3" wide.

into each corner, free-hand to within 1/16 of the three straignt lines, then
finish sanding by hand with a small sanding stick.

But.. that takes skill.

The whole procedure can be completed in less time than it took me to
describe it.

Actually I did the narrow ones very much like this. Rather than the
sanding drum I used a cut off wheel. You let it run along the surface
line (slightly undersize). It will create a grove which makes the
following passes stay true until you eventually cut through.

Narrow ones?

Backing up a bit here. When the horizontal stab is upright, the
elevators have slots on top about 3/8" wide cut to clear the hinge
arms. The under side of the elevators have the hinge bolt access slots
so you can remove the hinge bolts and then the elevators.
The elevator travel is limited to about 30 degrees nose up and 18
degrees nose down. When at rest it is also at the nose down limit and
the narrow (top) slots are barely visible. OTOH the access slots are
always visible from the underside even when the elevator is full nose
down.
With the elevator full nose up the hinge bolts are fully exposed.

My goal is to get the access slots straight, square, true, with
radiused corners so they will look like who ever did them knew what he
was doing.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


BJC

"Roger" wrote in message
.. .
On Wed, 15 Mar 2006 17:33:17 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote:


"Roger" wrote

Just finished redoing the leading edge of the one elevator
shell...again!. Looks pretty good this time. Now I need to figure out
how to set up a small router to cut out the hinge access points so
they look good.

I would use a jig, and a router bit to follow the jig. Make a big letter
"O", of whatever size and shape you need, tape it to the surface, and let
the non cutting surface of the bit follow around the inside of the
template,
using rotation to force it to the template. I hope this is clear enough.

That's pretty much what I've been thinking, but the leading edge
curves down and I having come up with a form to follow the edge.
My big router, which is way too big for this job has some bits that
have ball bearings on the shanks for roll along the guide.
I'd like to come up with something like that on a 1/4" bit and I have
some aluminum channel that I could probably form to fit the shape of
the elevator skin. I'd use 1" angle for the back of the cut and run
the angle full length of the skin which would make the cuts uniform.
OTOH it takes a steady hand even with a guide. :-)) It that bit,
bites it can make it through the guides and half way across the shell
in an instant. Then I'd be rebuilding more than the leading edge.
No, I wouldn't. that'd be the point where I called New Glasair and
ordered a new set of elevator skins.

Thanks,

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

My goal is to get the access slots straight, square, true, with
radiused corners so they will look like who ever did them knew what he
was doing.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
"Roger" wrote

Oh you mean your trying to deceive! ;-)
John

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 02:06:36 GMT, UltraJohn
wrote:


My goal is to get the access slots straight, square, true, with
radiused corners so they will look like who ever did them knew what he
was doing.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
"Roger" wrote

Oh you mean your trying to deceive! ;-)

Certainly! :-))

If I have to resort to jigs, machine tools, and plain old technology
to replace skill, I'll do so in a second...IF it's within my financial
means to do so.

Every one, or at least those who follow the directions just close the
elevators, horizontal stab, ailerons, and flaps on a flat table and
use weights. I weld up fixtures to hold things straight and then
clamp them together. Of course if I get too enthusiastic with the
clamps I could end up with very thin elevators.

Clamps are at the bottom row on the page.
http://www.rogerhalstead.com/G3_file.../glasair12.htm
except something seems to have gone wrong with the page and I can see
the photos for the bottom third. Looks like I'm going to have to call
the ISP as I've not changed anything. I probably just need to reload
some *stuff*.

Oh, to heck with it. I think I'll go to the airport and play.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

John

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 16:33:05 -0500, Roger
wrote:

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 02:06:36 GMT, UltraJohn
wrote:


My goal is to get the access slots straight, square, true, with
radiused corners so they will look like who ever did them knew what he
was doing.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
"Roger" wrote

Oh you mean your trying to deceive! ;-)

Certainly! :-))

If I have to resort to jigs, machine tools, and plain old technology
to replace skill, I'll do so in a second...IF it's within my financial
means to do so.

Every one, or at least those who follow the directions just close the
elevators, horizontal stab, ailerons, and flaps on a flat table and
use weights. I weld up fixtures to hold things straight and then
clamp them together. Of course if I get too enthusiastic with the
clamps I could end up with very thin elevators.

Clamps are at the bottom row on the page.
http://www.rogerhalstead.com/G3_file.../glasair12.htm
except something seems to have gone wrong with the page and I can see
the photos for the bottom third. Looks like I'm going to have to call
the ISP as I've not changed anything. I probably just need to reload
some *stuff*.

How about that! "The Problem" turned out to be NORTON's INTERNET WORM
CHECKER giving a false positive on an image, P4269091T.jpg which is
the image above the "Triangular rib setting in place" Caption. It not
only was creating a warning and blocking the image it was preventing
the page from loading any farther.

sheesh Just when I was laughing about their competition's screwed
up, up-date last week.

Ah, well, I have at least three other operating worm and termite
checkers and I can still leave the real time virus checking turned on.

So, just as a warning to NAV 2006 users, it does give false positives,
or at least in one instance

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


Oh, to heck with it. I think I'll go to the airport and play.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

John

On Fri, 17 Mar 2006 21:00:33 -0500, Roger
wrote:

So, just as a warning to NAV 2006 users, it does give false positives,
or at least in one instance

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com


That's not all Norton screws up!
I won't even consider using Norton any more, - ever since Symantec
took it over from Peter Norton, it's become a stinker - and it gets
riper every year. Support is non -existant. I remember when , back in
the early days of Norton Utilities, Norton DiskDoctor, etc, when you
had a problem you called tech support, and you talked directly to
Peter if his support guy didn't have the answer right at his
fingertips. Talked to Peter quite a few times in the early years.He
never failed to answer the question and solve the problem - at NO
CHARGE.
Now you pay the droids, and they STILL can't answer the questions and
make the product work.


Oh, to heck with it. I think I'll go to the airport and play.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

John

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clare at snyder.on.ca wrote

That's not all Norton screws up!
I won't even consider using Norton any more, - ever since Symantec
took it over from Peter Norton, it's become a stinker

I don't know how it is with XP, but it made Win 98 unstable, IMHO.
--
Jim in NC

On Sat, 18 Mar 2006 02:11:13 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote:


clare at snyder.on.ca wrote

That's not all Norton screws up!
I won't even consider using Norton any more, - ever since Symantec
took it over from Peter Norton, it's become a stinker

I don't know how it is with XP, but it made Win 98 unstable, IMHO.

I've never had a problem with it before. System Works allowed me to
upgrade to 98Se and even ME without a hitch. Of course it fixed over
300 and some problems on that latter upgrade.

It apparently wasn't a good week for antivirus programs. Their
competitor sent out an update that listed a whole bunch of apps and
files as viruses and trashed them. I didn't see that one in the news
papers, but it sure made the trade journals.

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

"Roger" wrote

It apparently wasn't a good week for antivirus programs. Their
competitor sent out an update that listed a whole bunch of apps and
files as viruses and trashed them. I didn't see that one in the news
papers, but it sure made the trade journals.

chuckle I can see where that might be a "problem."
--
Jim in NC

On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 22:29:24 -0500, "Morgans"
wrote:


"Roger" wrote

It apparently wasn't a good week for antivirus programs. Their
competitor sent out an update that listed a whole bunch of apps and
files as viruses and trashed them. I didn't see that one in the news
papers, but it sure made the trade journals.

chuckle I can see where that might be a "problem."

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it and if
you were on the receiving end, it was mainly confined to businesses
and corporations which means for the few who had problems it was
probably *expensive*

Roger Halstead (K8RI & ARRL life member)
(N833R, S# CD-2 Worlds oldest Debonair)
www.rogerhalstead.com

Try this mob:
www.futurlec.com.au/PCBService.jsp
Very cheap, have through plated holes, double sided and you get the board in
just over a week.
Happy flying and soldering.
Rob
Melbourne Australia




"Stuart & Kathryn Fields" wrote in message
.. .
I've used ExpressPCB where you layout your printed circuit on on your
computer (easy to use free software download) send it to them over the
internet, and for $63 get three two sided circuit boards with plated thru
holes. I've had and continue to have excellent service.
Stu Fields

From:
Subject: More LED's - Again
Date: Sunday, March 12, 2006 2:02 AM

To All:

The steady decline in the cost of ultra-bright green LED's (now about
two-bits each for a 100-piece baggie) has generated renewed interest in
the bug-eyed LED nav lights I described on this Newsgroup a couple of
years ago.

Unfortunately, that renewed interest has lead to some renewed problems,
one having to do with the lay-out of the circuit board, the other with
its fabrication. But the most serious problem has to do with the fact
that ham radio operators learn to solder shortly after birth, or even
before... according to some. Along with the ability to solder is the
companion knowledge of how to make a circuit board out of a bit of
substrate and a piece of string about... that long. But the main
stumbling block for non-hams appears to be how to make all those
teenie-tiny holes in the circuit board.

MAKING HOLES

It's pretty easy. You need a tiny drill -- somewhere between #70 and
#75. Then you need to spin it about 12,000 rpm. And you need to keep
it perfectly vertical as you make the hole.

The drill bits are no problem. Harbor Freight will sell you a
selection of solid carbide bits suitable for the task; simply pick a
size to suit the components you're using, such as the wire legs of an
LED or quarter-watt resister.

A Dremel tool (or similar) is the handiest means of chucking the tiny
drill, most of which have a shank diameter of 1/8".

To hold it perfectly vertical you don't 'hold' it at all -- you make up
a 90 degree bracket and clamp, wire or glue the tool to the vertical
leg. On the horizontal leg you drill a 1/4" hole to accept a bolt
which you then chuck into your DRILL PRESS. There's a few picky-bits
to this method, such as using a bracket that is a true 90, and thick
enough so as not to deflect as you run the quill of your drill press up
& down. You need some method of preventing the quill from rotating of
course -- I use a simple wedge between the quill pulley and the frame
of the drill press head (big, old Craftsman floor model. Your mileage
may vary...) To keep from ruining the chuck in your drill press (which
was not designed to grab hold of threaded bolts) you put a barrel-nut
on the bolt.

Deal with all the tricky bits and the result is a shake-free,
carbide-tipped hole-maker that will give you a life-time of accurate
service (and already has, in my case... I used it to make the boards
for my first computer back in the mid-70's).

ELEVATION vs AZIMUTH

Azimuth is relative to the horizontal. Elevation means over-head. In
laying out the circuit board, asimuth is taken care of by orienting the
legs of the LED's. Since the LED's have an average viewing angle of 25
degrees, to provide adequate coverage the azimuth angle starts at 10
degrees and progresses in 20 degree increments. Of course, when you're
trying to provide full coverage across a segment of a sphere, your
LED's must be accurately oriented in TWO dimensions.

The key point here is that I chose to build the aximuth angle into the
circuit board.

The elevation angle is bent into the legs of the LED's using a simple
form-block, accurately printed via DeltaCAD, glued to a bit of plywood
and sanded to the line. To keep things simple, I abandoned the
variable height arrangement as described in my original post, other
than allowing a bit of overlap between one row of LED's to the next so
as to keep down the circuit board, which comes out about two by two
inches.

As a further simplification, I eliminated the left vs right bending
angles used in my original (2002) lights. Now all of the LED's get the
same set of bends relative to their positive lead. To accommodate the
change from left- to right-facing, I re-drew the circuit board.

MAKING THE CIRCUIT BOARD

The Old Fashioned Way was to start with a drawing then go to litho
film, then to a fine-meshed silk screen. Once you had the silk screen
you could whip out a hundred circuit boards in an afternoon... after
spending a month to arrive at that point.

Nowadays I simply print the circuit board mask onto cheap
glossy-finished color photo paper using a monochrome laser printer.
Here's why it works:

Laser printer media is a finely divided thermo-plastic -- a powder so
fine it is attracted to the electrostatic charge created by the laser.
The thermo-plastic material is transferred to the paper by heat.

This lends itself to making circuit boards because once the
thermo-plastic material has been transferred to the paper, it may be
RE-TRANSFERRED to the clean copper surface of a blank circuit board by
the application of ADDITIIONAL heat. In effect, you literally iron-on
the mask, solidly gluing the paper to the circuit board.

Now the trick is to get rid of the paper, which I'll get to in a
minute. But before I do, you should know that while using plain paper
is possible, the resulting transfer will show a lot of voids; plain
paper simply isn't a very good substrait for the thermo-plastic
material. But cheap color copier paper is. Color copier paper is
typically coated, giving it a denser, more uniform surface than regular
#20 bond. That slicker surface attracts a more uniform layer of the
thermo-plastic material; you end up with a dense, dark, void-free
pattern.

But it's gotta be CHEAP color copier paper because you want the stuff
to dissolve in warm, soapy water. High quality color copier paper is
some very tough stuff; it doesn't like to come apart. But the paper
HAS to come apart if we want to leave ONLY the thermo-plastic material
bonded to our circuit board. So use the cheap stuff. And soak it in
warm soapy water. Then scrub it with a tooth brush or whatever -- get
ALL of the paper off of the thermo-plastic.

Now you can etch the board in the usual way. And having etched it, you
gotta drill those zillion holes. Once etched & drilled, remove the
thermo-plastic, which you can do with MEK or other kidney-killer
solvent and a bit of steel wool.

The result is a bright copper circuit board, ready to accept components
and easy to solder. Once things are soldered and checked and and all
the errors corrected, give the thing a coating of clear finger-nail
polish (!) and you're all done -- a super bright nav light that will
never burn out (at least, not in your life time) that draws about a
quarter of an amp, meaning the wiring can be slightly smaller than a
starter cable.

-R.S.Hoover
-(KA6HZF)

PS -- Yes, you may have a copy of the circuit boards, if you wish. But
you could probably do better yourself -- except for the stern-light,
they're just rectangular 5x9 arrays. I don't have a web site and I
already get more email than I want so I'll try to find somewhere to
hang them. When I do, I post the information here... for all 385
subscribers of r.a.h. to read :-)