Geez… too rainy to fish and too old to make love all day. May as well do a little project.
This little project is very simple but quite useful. Searching the forum for “opto isolator’ I see a lot of posts so I’m not going to go into a “how it works” dialog. For newbies to electronics: The opto isolator is useful for protecting microprocessors from high-voltage transients & is a simple way to connect Picaxe inputs/outputs to circuits that operate at higher/lower voltages. For example, If you have a Picaxe controller in your home & you want to run wires across your yard to another building or to outdoor field devices, it’s best to use opto isolators.
Since this board was used to connect Picaxe & other gadgets to old KeepSafer wireless transmitters, see attached .pdf page 3 to see how that was done. (Yes, I know I’m a pack rat, never throw away old tech)
I also included a bonus file that explains how to do circuit board fills in CorelDraw. Don’t know if any of y’all use CorelDraw, but it’s a wonderful tool for doing electronic and/or CNC projects. Only thing I don’t like is the price (the reason I don’t have the latest greatest version). I don’t know if the student version supports .ps/.pdf import/export. Anyone know?
Pretty much any PCB design app that can generate circuit-board artwork as PostScript (.ps .eps) or as a .pdf can be brought into CorelDraw & modified to your heart’s content.
For example, your buddy emails you a circuit-board .pdf done in DipTrace. You can then design an enclosure for the board in CorelDraw (the PCB is simply an object you can move around). Since CorelDraw supports multi-page drawings, an entire project (e.g. circuit schematic, PCB artwork, CNC work, software, etc.) can be saved as a single file.
Note: attached raw pcb file (kps_isol.pdf) in case anyone wants to try the Corel trick.
MCT6 Dual Opto: https://www.mouser.com/ds/2/149/MCT6-1011122.pdf
This little project is very simple but quite useful. Searching the forum for “opto isolator’ I see a lot of posts so I’m not going to go into a “how it works” dialog. For newbies to electronics: The opto isolator is useful for protecting microprocessors from high-voltage transients & is a simple way to connect Picaxe inputs/outputs to circuits that operate at higher/lower voltages. For example, If you have a Picaxe controller in your home & you want to run wires across your yard to another building or to outdoor field devices, it’s best to use opto isolators.
Since this board was used to connect Picaxe & other gadgets to old KeepSafer wireless transmitters, see attached .pdf page 3 to see how that was done. (Yes, I know I’m a pack rat, never throw away old tech)
I also included a bonus file that explains how to do circuit board fills in CorelDraw. Don’t know if any of y’all use CorelDraw, but it’s a wonderful tool for doing electronic and/or CNC projects. Only thing I don’t like is the price (the reason I don’t have the latest greatest version). I don’t know if the student version supports .ps/.pdf import/export. Anyone know?
Pretty much any PCB design app that can generate circuit-board artwork as PostScript (.ps .eps) or as a .pdf can be brought into CorelDraw & modified to your heart’s content.
For example, your buddy emails you a circuit-board .pdf done in DipTrace. You can then design an enclosure for the board in CorelDraw (the PCB is simply an object you can move around). Since CorelDraw supports multi-page drawings, an entire project (e.g. circuit schematic, PCB artwork, CNC work, software, etc.) can be saved as a single file.
Note: attached raw pcb file (kps_isol.pdf) in case anyone wants to try the Corel trick.
MCT6 Dual Opto: https://www.mouser.com/ds/2/149/MCT6-1011122.pdf