Chip with simple program for Toy

[Frnak McKenney]

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:33:06 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 07:21:04 -0600, John Fields
jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:57:22 -0800 (PST), Bill Bowden
bperryb@bowdenshobbycircuits.info> wrote:

[...]

The problem is to receive 32 or 64 cycle bursts of 36KHz from a hand
held IR remote control and output a DC level representing the time
duration of the bursts, either 890uS or twice that of 1.778 mS.

[...]

Skewing the topic a wee bit: Does there exist any kind of standard for
remote control signaling?

"The wonderful thing about standards is..."

Let's see:

1) Modulated IR is fairly popular, but there is a lot of 433MHz RF
out there as well.

2) The carrier frequency for modulated IR seems to be standardized on
56kHz. And 40kHz. And... well usually something in the 20kHz-60kHz
range, but Vishay's TSOP98200 general-purpose detector can handle
from 20-455kHz:

3) The protocol for modulated IR will be "RC5". Or one of its
variants. Or RC-6. Or RECS-80. Or Something Completely Different.

Assuming your main interest is in IR, here's a good place to start:

Consumer IR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_IR

and this looks like a useful Open Hardware gadget for experimenting with IR control signals ( I keep meaning to order one ):

USB IR Toy v2
http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/USB_IR_Toy_v2

Have fun... <grin!>


Frank McKenney
--
You'll notice that many of the mental illnesses that plague modern
Western children are problems of poor socialization: overactivity,
withdrawal, obsession, narcissism, rage, despair. ... Socialization is
the essence of a primate infancy: just as lion cubs learn to pounce and
bite, we learn to assert and submit, negotiate, empathize, and chaff.
... The nourishment humans require to grow up properly is not just a
matter of enough milk and green vegetables; it's taking in and finding
place in a shared, living culture.
-- Michael and Ellen Kaplan / Bozo Sapiens: Why to Err is Human
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney aatt mindspring ddoott com

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:46:52 -0600, Frnak McKenney
<frnak@far.from.the.madding.crowd.com> wrote:

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:33:06 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:
On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 07:21:04 -0600, John Fields
jfields@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:57:22 -0800 (PST), Bill Bowden
bperryb@bowdenshobbycircuits.info> wrote:

[...]

The problem is to receive 32 or 64 cycle bursts of 36KHz from a hand
held IR remote control and output a DC level representing the time
duration of the bursts, either 890uS or twice that of 1.778 mS.

[...]

Skewing the topic a wee bit: Does there exist any kind of standard for
remote control signaling?

"The wonderful thing about standards is..."

Let's see:

1) Modulated IR is fairly popular, but there is a lot of 433MHz RF
out there as well.

2) The carrier frequency for modulated IR seems to be standardized on
56kHz. And 40kHz. And... well usually something in the 20kHz-60kHz
range, but Vishay's TSOP98200 general-purpose detector can handle
from 20-455kHz:

3) The protocol for modulated IR will be "RC5". Or one of its
variants. Or RC-6. Or RECS-80. Or Something Completely Different.

Assuming your main interest is in IR, here's a good place to start:

Consumer IR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_IR

and this looks like a useful Open Hardware gadget for experimenting with IR control signals ( I keep meaning to order one ):

USB IR Toy v2
http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/USB_IR_Toy_v2

Have fun... <grin!


Frank McKenney

You'll notice that many of the mental illnesses that plague modern
Western children are problems of poor socialization: overactivity,
withdrawal, obsession, narcissism, rage, despair. ... Socialization is
the essence of a primate infancy: just as lion cubs learn to pounce and
bite, we learn to assert and submit, negotiate, empathize, and chaff.
... The nourishment humans require to grow up properly is not just a
matter of enough milk and green vegetables; it's taking in and finding
place in a shared, living culture.
-- Michael and Ellen Kaplan / Bozo Sapiens: Why to Err is Human

Frank, Thanks for the pointers. A recent death of a 20-year-old 55"
projection set has prompted "modernization" of the home theater, and
created all kinds of pain, agony, and proliferation of remotes :-(

I like your quotation. I opine you can send your kid(s) to daycare to
learn socialization (and/or dominance , or do like we did... have 4
kids who directly interacted with each other ;-)

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[John Larkin]

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:57:22 -0800 (PST), Bill Bowden
<bperryb@bowdenshobbycircuits.info> wrote:

On Mar 8, 5:51 am, George Herold <gher...@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Mar 7, 9:39 pm, Bill Bowden <bper...@bowdenshobbycircuits.info
wrote:


On Feb 23, 1:15 pm, John Larkin



Yup. 1m and 1M are both 0.001. 1meg is 1e6.


Yes, I discovered that. Also the LTspice default value for resistance
of an inductor is 1 milliohm and so the Q is too high. I'm playing
with a couple LC tank circuits for IR 36KHz use (6.8mH and 2700pF) and
need the rise and fall times to be only a couple cycles out of 32.
What sort of inductor Q would you recommend?

-Bill


Bill I'm not sure I understand your question.  But it will take about
Q cycles for an oscillator/ filter to either build up or decay back
down.

George H.


The problem is to receive 32 or 64 cycle bursts of 36KHz from a hand
held IR remote control and output a DC level representing the time
duration of the bursts, either 890uS or twice that of 1.778 mS. It
looks like a tradeoff between gain and response time. If the Q of the
LC circuit is low, the response time will be fast with low gain, and
visa versa. How do I approximate the Q of the inductor for a
reasonable compromise of gain and response time?

-Bill

Ballpark 10 maybe? Spice it and play around until you see what you like. You'll
need a detector and a post-detector lowpass filter, too.

Some digital processing would be cool, if you have the resources. Digitize at
144 KHz and do some I/Q stuff.


--

John Larkin Highland Technology Inc
www.highlandtechnology.com jlarkin at highlandtechnology dot com

Precision electronic instrumentation
Picosecond-resolution Digital Delay and Pulse generators
Custom timing and laser controllers
Photonics and fiberoptic TTL data links
VME analog, thermocouple, LVDT, synchro, tachometer
Multichannel arbitrary waveform generators

 

[Michael A. Terrell]

Jim Thompson wrote:

I like your quotation. I opine you can send your kid(s) to daycare to
learn socialization (and/or dominance , or do like we did... have 4
kids who directly interacted with each other ;-)

It's easier to herd cats.

 

[Bill Bowden]

On Mar 9, 5:21 am, John Fields <jfie...@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:57:22 -0800 (PST), Bill Bowden


bper...@bowdenshobbycircuits.info> wrote:
On Mar 8, 5:51 am, George Herold <gher...@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Mar 7, 9:39 pm, Bill Bowden <bper...@bowdenshobbycircuits.info
wrote:

On Feb 23, 1:15 pm, John Larkin

Yup. 1m and 1M are both 0.001. 1meg is 1e6.

Yes, I discovered that. Also the LTspice default value for resistance
of an inductor is 1 milliohm and so the Q is too high. I'm playing
with a couple LC tank circuits for IR 36KHz use (6.8mH and 2700pF) and
need the rise and fall times to be only a couple cycles out of 32.
What sort of inductor Q would you recommend?

-Bill

Bill I'm not sure I understand your question. But it will take about
Q cycles for an oscillator/ filter to either build up or decay back
down.

George H.


The problem is to receive 32 or 64 cycle bursts of 36KHz from a hand
held IR remote control and output a DC level representing the time
duration of the bursts, either 890uS or twice that of 1.778 mS. It
looks like a tradeoff between gain and response time. If the Q of the
LC circuit is low, the response time will be fast with low gain, and
visa versa. How do I approximate the Q of the inductor for a
reasonable compromise of gain and response time?

-Bill

---

Why not just count the number of cycles in a burst and assign the
length of the burst accordingly?

--
JF

Yes, could do that. But I want to roll my own input circuit and
receive weak IR signals from 10 feet or so using a regular IR LED. So,
the idea is to amplify weak signals and provide varying DC time
lengths to a processor for decoding. I realize there are (3 terminal)
IR receiver modules to do the job, but I wanted to roll my own using
tuned circuits.

-Bill

 

[Jamie]

Bill Bowden wrote:

On Mar 9, 5:21 am, John Fields <jfie...@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:57:22 -0800 (PST), Bill Bowden


bper...@bowdenshobbycircuits.info> wrote:

On Mar 8, 5:51 am, George Herold <gher...@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Mar 7, 9:39 pm, Bill Bowden <bper...@bowdenshobbycircuits.info
wrote:

On Feb 23, 1:15 pm, John Larkin

Yup. 1m and 1M are both 0.001. 1meg is 1e6.

Yes, I discovered that. Also the LTspice default value for resistance
of an inductor is 1 milliohm and so the Q is too high. I'm playing
with a couple LC tank circuits for IR 36KHz use (6.8mH and 2700pF) and
need the rise and fall times to be only a couple cycles out of 32.
What sort of inductor Q would you recommend?

-Bill

Bill I'm not sure I understand your question. But it will take about
Q cycles for an oscillator/ filter to either build up or decay back
down.

George H.


The problem is to receive 32 or 64 cycle bursts of 36KHz from a hand
held IR remote control and output a DC level representing the time
duration of the bursts, either 890uS or twice that of 1.778 mS. It
looks like a tradeoff between gain and response time. If the Q of the
LC circuit is low, the response time will be fast with low gain, and
visa versa. How do I approximate the Q of the inductor for a
reasonable compromise of gain and response time?

-Bill

---


Why not just count the number of cycles in a burst and assign the
length of the burst accordingly?

--
JF


Yes, could do that. But I want to roll my own input circuit and
receive weak IR signals from 10 feet or so using a regular IR LED. So,
the idea is to amplify weak signals and provide varying DC time
lengths to a processor for decoding. I realize there are (3 terminal)
IR receiver modules to do the job, but I wanted to roll my own using
tuned circuits.

-Bill

You have back ground IR to worry about, sun light contributes to ~50%
of IR out side. Being inside you have other sources that can saturate
the detector.

If you put a detector in operation in a linear state, you can see a
lot of this noise on the scope. If you have a scope with FFT on it you
can also locate or should be able to, signals from a remote.

I suppose one could make a regenerative oscillator with the IR
detector element as part of the circuit in the gain loop.

Jamie

 

[Frnak McKenney]

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:06:33 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:46:52 -0600, Frnak McKenney
frnak@far.from.the.madding.crowd.com> wrote:

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:33:06 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

[...]

Skewing the topic a wee bit: Does there exist any kind of standard for
remote control signaling?

"The wonderful thing about standards is..."

[...]

Assuming your main interest is in IR, here's a good place to start:

Consumer IR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_IR

and this looks like a useful Open Hardware gadget for experimenting
with IR control signals ( I keep meaning to order one ):

USB IR Toy v2
http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/USB_IR_Toy_v2

Frank McKenney

You'll notice that many of the mental illnesses that plague modern
Western children are problems of poor socialization: overactivity,
withdrawal, obsession, narcissism, rage, despair. ... Socialization is
the essence of a primate infancy: just as lion cubs learn to pounce and
bite, we learn to assert and submit, negotiate, empathize, and chaff.
... The nourishment humans require to grow up properly is not just a
matter of enough milk and green vegetables; it's taking in and finding
place in a shared, living culture.
-- Michael and Ellen Kaplan / Bozo Sapiens: Why to Err is Human

Frank, Thanks for the pointers. A recent death of a 20-year-old 55"
projection set has prompted "modernization" of the home theater, and
created all kinds of pain, agony, and proliferation of remotes :-(

You have my sympathy, especially as I'll bet our old friend Murphy has
guaranteed that all the remotes use "similar but incompatible"
approaches to signalling. <grin!>

Given your situation, I'd recommend one of two approaches to solving
your "reams o' remotes" problem:

1) DIY: Using the work of others like the LIRC Project
(http://www.lirc.org/), build a computer/microcontroller unit
capable of recording, storing, and transmitting-on-demand the
appropriate IR sequences. A Raspberry Pi or something similar
might make a good base for this. but don't forget that you'll need
a lot of buttons.

2) TMATP (Throw Money At The Problem): Buy one of these, and spend
the time you'd otherwise use in hardware and software development
on learning how to program a "super" record-and-playback remote"
like these:

Logitech Harmony Remotes (MSLP $80-350)
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/harmony-remotes

My sister Beth, using one of these ( I think it's the 650 ), has
her BlueRay/DVD unit, her TV, and a couple of other things I
forget all set up so that one "button" press turns on the TV,
turns on the BlueRay player, and tells the TV that it should
display video from the player.

Online setup (MSWin & Mac), backup(!) to your personal system.

All in all, unless you are really looking forward not only to the
hardware and software work, the documentation, and the retraining of
everyone who will be using your DIY gadget, I'd recommend option (2).
And if you really want to do it yourself, the Logitech programmable
remotes should give you some idea of what might be nice to include in
your own design. <grin!>

I like your quotation. I opine you can send your kid(s) to daycare
to learn socialization (and/or dominance , or do like we did...
have 4 kids who directly interacted with each other ;-)

...Jim Thompson

My Mom and Dad somehow managed to survive five of us... and we all
managed to survive them and each other. In her later years Mom would
occasionally worry about what she and Dad might have done better; when
she did, I'd point out that the two of them (plus an army of
kibitzers) managed to raise five children to adulthood, that none of
us had killed any of the others, none of us was in jail, and we were
all (reasonably) sane and working, which was a remarkable
accomplishment in itself. All the rest -- education via assorted
routes, grandkids, and such -- were pure gravy. <grin!>

Oh, and I recommend the book, if you have any spare time left over
from whipping your Consumer Electronics Devices into shape.


Frank
--
"We are stuck with 'technology' when what we really want is just
stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still
'technology'? A good clue is if it comes with a manual."
-- Douglas Adams / The Salmon of Doubt
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney aatt mindspring ddoott com

 

[Bret Cahill]

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/01/30/high-efficiency-solar-panels-usin...
graphic-film/

The new module continues to use silicon as the solar cell material.
łWith
the holographic optic a 20- to 30-times concentration of the desirable
wavelengths of the light makes a silicon needs reduction by over 90%
compared to the amount of silicon used in standard solar modules
possible,˛ explains Jost.

Some thing does not seem just right here. Is this real?
gr

This is not a major breakthrough. All they are doing is concentrating the
light with a holographic lens instead of an ordinary fresnel lens. Either
way a module with a concentrating lens has to be driven to track the sun.
They seem to imply that it costs less than a regular fresnel. The article
is
over-hyping an already over-hyped press release that was very badly
written.

I too plowed through. As near as I can tell, the technical core is that
the holographic lens focuses only those wavelengths that the solar cells
can use, allowing the cell temperatures to remain lower and thus the
cell efficiency to be maintained.

Joe Gwinn

Of course if that was all they were interested in they could also use a
variation of a low-E coating as found on thermal pane windows. It seems like
this is just a marginally cheaper way of doing what was doable before. You
would think, though, if the cost savings were significant, they would
emphasize that and try to quantify it.

I think it is incredibly misleading that they imply their invention is a
substitute for conventional solar panels that do not have to track the sun.

Feed lots are installing tracking ramadas for dual use of land. Cows
need to stay cool and tracking panels provide the most shade. Now
ranchers can sell their old PV and double their energy output with the
new PV.

One local lot stretchs for miles and could provide gigawatts at peak
power.

Not that tracking with servos is expensive and unreliable but non
continous tracking PV for consumers shouldn't be a big deal either.

A one dimensional concentrator with an east west orientation, i.e.,
solar thermal reflector trough, could be adjusted with the southern
horizon by a dedicated solar maintenance company every week or so much
like they do poolboy/water softener industry except heavy lifting and
tools wouldn't be necessary.

One person in a small car could maintain 10 - 20 megawatts.

Unlike solar thermal there's no reason not to go micro with
concentrator PV so these panels could be designed to be almost as thin
as the permanently stationary "maintenance free" panels.


Bret Cahill

 

[Wally W.]

On Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:00:08 -0700 (PDT), Bret Cahill wrote:

Unlike solar thermal there's no reason not to go micro with
concentrator PV

Other than:
Cost
Matching output with the demand curve
Complication of the electrical systems with automatic disconnects

BTW: Where do greenies propose we dispose of broken and worn-out solar
panels? Shall make the spent nuclear fuel dump large enough to
accommodate unusable solar panels?

<http://www.treehugger.com/renewable-energy/solar-panel-toxic-manufacturing-byproducts-product-disposal-needs-greater-oversight-report-urges.html>
many of the newest panels with higher rates of efficiency use
"extremely toxic materials with unknown health and environmental
risks."

 

[Jim Thompson]

On Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:26:42 -0500, Frnak McKenney
<frnak@far.from.the.madding.crowd.com> wrote:

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:06:33 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:
On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:46:52 -0600, Frnak McKenney
frnak@far.from.the.madding.crowd.com> wrote:

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 08:33:06 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

[...]

Skewing the topic a wee bit: Does there exist any kind of standard for
remote control signaling?

"The wonderful thing about standards is..."

[...]

Assuming your main interest is in IR, here's a good place to start:

Consumer IR
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Consumer_IR

and this looks like a useful Open Hardware gadget for experimenting
with IR control signals ( I keep meaning to order one ):

USB IR Toy v2
http://dangerousprototypes.com/docs/USB_IR_Toy_v2

Frank McKenney

You'll notice that many of the mental illnesses that plague modern
Western children are problems of poor socialization: overactivity,
withdrawal, obsession, narcissism, rage, despair. ... Socialization is
the essence of a primate infancy: just as lion cubs learn to pounce and
bite, we learn to assert and submit, negotiate, empathize, and chaff.
... The nourishment humans require to grow up properly is not just a
matter of enough milk and green vegetables; it's taking in and finding
place in a shared, living culture.
-- Michael and Ellen Kaplan / Bozo Sapiens: Why to Err is Human

Frank, Thanks for the pointers. A recent death of a 20-year-old 55"
projection set has prompted "modernization" of the home theater, and
created all kinds of pain, agony, and proliferation of remotes :-(

You have my sympathy, especially as I'll bet our old friend Murphy has
guaranteed that all the remotes use "similar but incompatible"
approaches to signalling. <grin!

Given your situation, I'd recommend one of two approaches to solving
your "reams o' remotes" problem:

1) DIY: Using the work of others like the LIRC Project
(http://www.lirc.org/), build a computer/microcontroller unit
capable of recording, storing, and transmitting-on-demand the
appropriate IR sequences. A Raspberry Pi or something similar
might make a good base for this. but don't forget that you'll need
a lot of buttons.

2) TMATP (Throw Money At The Problem): Buy one of these, and spend
the time you'd otherwise use in hardware and software development
on learning how to program a "super" record-and-playback remote"
like these:

Logitech Harmony Remotes (MSLP $80-350)
http://www.logitech.com/en-us/harmony-remotes

My sister Beth, using one of these ( I think it's the 650 ), has
her BlueRay/DVD unit, her TV, and a couple of other things I
forget all set up so that one "button" press turns on the TV,
turns on the BlueRay player, and tells the TV that it should
display video from the player.

Online setup (MSWin & Mac), backup(!) to your personal system.

All in all, unless you are really looking forward not only to the
hardware and software work, the documentation, and the retraining of
everyone who will be using your DIY gadget, I'd recommend option (2).
And if you really want to do it yourself, the Logitech programmable
remotes should give you some idea of what might be nice to include in
your own design. <grin!

I like your quotation. I opine you can send your kid(s) to daycare
to learn socialization (and/or dominance , or do like we did...
have 4 kids who directly interacted with each other ;-)

...Jim Thompson

My Mom and Dad somehow managed to survive five of us... and we all
managed to survive them and each other. In her later years Mom would
occasionally worry about what she and Dad might have done better; when
she did, I'd point out that the two of them (plus an army of
kibitzers) managed to raise five children to adulthood, that none of
us had killed any of the others, none of us was in jail, and we were
all (reasonably) sane and working, which was a remarkable
accomplishment in itself. All the rest -- education via assorted
routes, grandkids, and such -- were pure gravy. <grin!

Sounds familiar. When we only had children, we often had extra
neighborhood kids staying for dinner. One's favorite phrase was,
"Hey, Mrs. T, smells good, what's for dinner?"

Now we have 8 grandkids. I just got back from watching the youngest,
a boy, 5 years old, at ice hockey practice... he's good, and is
already exhibiting the typical Thompson aggressiveness ;-)

The wife has been in Tucson for the past three days, assisting our
oldest daughter (51) and her oldest daughter (our oldest
granddaughter, 23) at selecting a bridal gown and the bride's maid's
dresses.

Oh, and I recommend the book, if you have any spare time left over
from whipping your Consumer Electronics Devices into shape.


Frank
--
"We are stuck with 'technology' when what we really want is just
stuff that works. How do you recognize something that is still
'technology'? A good clue is if it comes with a manual."
-- Douglas Adams / The Salmon of Doubt

...Jim Thompson
--
| James E.Thompson | mens |
| Analog Innovations | et |
| Analog/Mixed-Signal ASIC's and Discrete Systems | manus |
| Phoenix, Arizona 85048 Skype: Contacts Only | |
| Voice480)460-2350 Fax: Available upon request | Brass Rat |
| E-mail Icon at http://www.analog-innovations.com | 1962 |

I love to cook with wine. Sometimes I even put it in the food.

 

[emoneyjoe]

On Sun, 10 Mar 2013 12:00:08 -0700 (PDT), Bret Cahill
<BretCahill@peoplepc.com> wrote:

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/01/30/high-efficiency-solar-panels-usin...
graphic-film/

The new module continues to use silicon as the solar cell material.
ÂłWith
the holographic optic a 20- to 30-times concentration of the desirable
wavelengths of the light makes a silicon needs reduction by over 90%
compared to the amount of silicon used in standard solar modules
possible,² explains Jost.

Some thing does not seem just right here. Is this real?
gr

This is not a major breakthrough. All they are doing is concentrating the
light with a holographic lens instead of an ordinary fresnel lens. Either
way a module with a concentrating lens has to be driven to track the sun.
They seem to imply that it costs less than a regular fresnel. The article
is
over-hyping an already over-hyped press release that was very badly
written.

I too plowed through. As near as I can tell, the technical core is that
the holographic lens focuses only those wavelengths that the solar cells
can use, allowing the cell temperatures to remain lower and thus the
cell efficiency to be maintained.

Joe Gwinn

Of course if that was all they were interested in they could also use a
variation of a low-E coating as found on thermal pane windows. It seems like
this is just a marginally cheaper way of doing what was doable before. You
would think, though, if the cost savings were significant, they would
emphasize that and try to quantify it.

I think it is incredibly misleading that they imply their invention is a
substitute for conventional solar panels that do not have to track the sun.

Feed lots are installing tracking ramadas for dual use of land. Cows
need to stay cool and tracking panels provide the most shade. Now
ranchers can sell their old PV and double their energy output with the
new PV.

One local lot stretchs for miles and could provide gigawatts at peak
power.

Not that tracking with servos is expensive and unreliable but non
continous tracking PV for consumers shouldn't be a big deal either.

A one dimensional concentrator with an east west orientation, i.e.,
solar thermal reflector trough, could be adjusted with the southern
horizon by a dedicated solar maintenance company every week or so much
like they do poolboy/water softener industry except heavy lifting and
tools wouldn't be necessary.

A trough doesn't need adjusting, the
pipe at the focus can be longer, with an
insulation sleeve at each end that a sensor
causes to telescope to where the sun ends.


I am a proponent of more small scale
systems, and rather than water steam
power there needs to be factory built
systems that can power a home using
other working fluids. so that water stored
at 200 degrees can be the boiler pressure.

Too much is being done for power plants
and not enough for individuals.

One person in a small car could maintain 10 - 20 megawatts.

Unlike solar thermal there's no reason not to go micro with
concentrator PV so these panels could be designed to be almost as thin
as the permanently stationary "maintenance free" panels.


Bret Cahill

How many have you made?

I bought what was supposed to be
85 watts of cells with leads on ebay last
year, they were listed as broken cells,
and when they came, most pieces were
small and had no leads, too many small
pieces to bother with, it was from a
scrap barrel.

The point is, on silicon the things
are too brittle to touch.

Has any holographic cells been
manufactured in mass production
and tested, the efficiency claimed
depends on a new concept.

 

[Bill Bowden]

On Mar 10, 8:26 am, Jamie
<jamie_ka1lpa_not_valid_after_ka1l...@charter.net> wrote:

Bill Bowden wrote:
On Mar 9, 5:21 am, John Fields <jfie...@austininstruments.com> wrote:

On Fri, 8 Mar 2013 18:57:22 -0800 (PST), Bill Bowden

bper...@bowdenshobbycircuits.info> wrote:

On Mar 8, 5:51 am, George Herold <gher...@teachspin.com> wrote:

On Mar 7, 9:39 pm, Bill Bowden <bper...@bowdenshobbycircuits.info
wrote:

On Feb 23, 1:15 pm, John Larkin

Yup. 1m and 1M are both 0.001. 1meg is 1e6.

Yes, I discovered that. Also the LTspice default value for resistance
of an inductor is 1 milliohm and so the Q is too high. I'm playing
with a couple LC tank circuits for IR 36KHz use (6.8mH and 2700pF) and
need the rise and fall times to be only a couple cycles out of 32.
What sort of inductor Q would you recommend?

-Bill

Bill I'm not sure I understand your question.  But it will take about
Q cycles for an oscillator/ filter to either build up or decay back
down.

George H.

The problem is to receive 32 or 64 cycle bursts of 36KHz from a hand
held IR remote control and output a DC level representing the time
duration of the bursts, either 890uS or twice that of 1.778 mS. It
looks like a tradeoff between gain and response time. If the Q of the
LC circuit is low, the response time will be fast with low gain, and
visa versa. How do I approximate the Q of the inductor for a
reasonable compromise of gain and response time?

-Bill

---

Why not just count the number of cycles in a burst and assign the
length of the burst accordingly?

--
JF


Yes, could do that. But I want to roll my own input circuit and
receive weak IR signals from 10 feet or so using a regular IR LED. So,
the idea is to amplify weak signals and provide varying DC time
lengths to a processor for decoding. I realize there are (3 terminal)
IR receiver modules to do the job, but I wanted to roll my own using
tuned circuits.

-Bill


  You have back ground IR to worry about, sun light contributes to ~50%
of IR out side. Being inside you have other sources that can saturate
the detector.

   If you put a detector in operation in a linear state, you can see a
lot of this noise on the scope. If you have a scope with FFT on it you
can also locate or should be able to, signals from a remote.

   I suppose one could make a regenerative oscillator with the IR
detector element as part of the circuit in the gain loop.

Jamie

Yes, noise is a problem and generates false responses. But I've
noticed most all IR remotes use error correction where part or all of
the transmission is repeated. The Phillips RC5 format for example
sends the entire message twice separated by 100 milliseconds. So, if
you compare the first message to the second, most all errors are
eliminated. But I've often wondered how the automatic doors that
detect IR work to eliminate false responses? They must use some sort
of error correction.

-Bill

 

[Bret Cahill]

http://cleantechnica.com/2013/01/30/high-efficiency-solar-panels-usin...
graphic-film/

The new module continues to use silicon as the solar cell material..
łWith
the holographic optic a 20- to 30-times concentration of the desirable
wavelengths of the light makes a silicon needs reduction by over 90%
compared to the amount of silicon used in standard solar modules
 possible,˛ explains Jost.

Some thing does not seem just right here. Is this real?
gr

This is not a major breakthrough. All they are doing is concentrating the
light with a holographic lens instead of an ordinary fresnel lens. Either
way a module with a concentrating lens has to be driven to track the sun.
They seem to imply that it costs less than a regular fresnel. The article
is
over-hyping an already over-hyped press release that was very badly
written.

I too plowed through.  As near as I can tell, the technical core is that
the holographic lens focuses only those wavelengths that the solar cells
can use, allowing the cell temperatures to remain lower and thus the
cell efficiency to be maintained.

Joe Gwinn

Of course if that was all they were interested in they could also use a
variation of a low-E coating as found on thermal pane windows. It seems like
this is just a marginally cheaper way of doing what was doable before.  You
would think, though, if the cost savings were significant, they would
emphasize that and try to quantify it.

I think it is incredibly misleading that they imply their invention is a
substitute for conventional solar panels that do not have to track the sun.

Feed lots are installing tracking ramadas for dual use of land.  Cows
need to stay cool and tracking panels provide the most shade.  Now
ranchers can sell their old PV and double their energy output with the
new PV.

One local lot stretchs for miles and could provide gigawatts at peak
power.

Not that tracking with servos is expensive and unreliable but non
continous tracking PV for consumers shouldn't be a big deal either.

A one dimensional concentrator with an east west orientation, i.e.,
solar thermal reflector trough, could be adjusted with the southern
horizon by a dedicated solar maintenance company every week or so much
like they do poolboy/water softener industry except heavy lifting and
tools wouldn't be necessary.

One person in a small car could maintain 10 - 20 megawatts.

Maybe a ladder . . .

Unlike solar thermal there's no reason not to go micro with
concentrator PV so these panels could be designed to be almost as thin
as the permanently stationary "maintenance free" panels.

The capital cost would be about 35 cents/watt with the maintenance
service getting a fraction of the income from the power.


Bret Cahill

 

[Frnak McKenney]

On Sun, 10 Mar 2013 14:10:13 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

On Sun, 10 Mar 2013 13:26:42 -0500, Frnak McKenney
frnak@far.from.the.madding.crowd.com> wrote:

On Sat, 09 Mar 2013 11:06:33 -0700, Jim Thompson <To-Email-Use-The-Envelope-Icon@On-My-Web-Site.com> wrote:

[...]

I like your quotation. I opine you can send your kid(s) to daycare
to learn socialization (and/or dominance , or do like we did...
have 4 kids who directly interacted with each other ;-)

...Jim Thompson

My Mom and Dad somehow managed to survive five of us... and we all
managed to survive them and each other. In her later years Mom
would occasionally worry about what she and Dad might have done
better; when she did, I'd point out that the two of them (plus an
army of kibitzers) managed to raise five children to adulthood, that
none of us had killed any of the others, none of us was in jail, and
we were all (reasonably) sane and working, which was a remarkable
accomplishment in itself. All the rest -- education via assorted
routes, grandkids, and such -- were pure gravy. <grin!

Sounds familiar. When we only had children, we often had extra
neighborhood kids staying for dinner. One's favorite phrase was,
"Hey, Mrs. T, smells good, what's for dinner?"

Now we have 8 grandkids. I just got back from watching the youngest,
a boy, 5 years old, at ice hockey practice... he's good, and is
already exhibiting the typical Thompson aggressiveness ;-)

The wife has been in Tucson for the past three days, assisting our
oldest daughter (51) and her oldest daughter (our oldest
granddaughter, 23) at selecting a bridal gown and the bride's maid's
dresses.

Congratulations. _That's_ a record to look back on. The heck with
this silly electron choreography nonsense; in the long run, it's the
people that matter.


Frank
--
Learning the craft of writing is bound up with learning how to
gauge what can be assumed versus what must be explained. ...
Every person who speaks and writes must make an estimate of what
can be left unexplained and what must be explicitly stated. Being
able to make such an estimate is part of our general communicative
competence, and it is therefore something all our children need to
be taught. Reading proficiency, listening proficiency, speaking
proficiency, and writing proficiency all require possession of the
broad knowledge that the general reader is assumed to have and
also the understanding that others can be expected to possess that
knowledge.
-- E.D. Hirsch, Jr./The Knowledge Deficit
--
Frank McKenney, McKenney Associates
Richmond, Virginia / (804) 320-4887
Munged E-mail: frank uscore mckenney aatt mindspring ddoott com

 

[passerby]

responding to
http://www.electrondepot.com/electronics/white-lede-strobe-circuit-link-120366-.htm
, passerby wrote:

etpm wrote:

... strobe white LEDs. As I suspected, and had confirmed
here and in the above link, the persistence of the phosphor is so long
that 100 Hz is about the best you can do.

Why can't a bright *red* (or any other basic color) LED be used? In fact, a
red laser diode can be used if you need more brightness, and these things can
be pulsed and still visible to a human all the way up to 100KHz and perhaps
even faster. Naturally, you would have to wait a few (thousands of) cycles for
the flashes to register in your eye if you're talking 10mks flashes.


--

 

[BeeJ]

on 4/23/2013, passerby supposed :

responding to
http://www.electrondepot.com/electronics/white-lede-strobe-circuit-link-120366-.htm
, passerby wrote:
etpm wrote:

... strobe white LEDs. As I suspected, and had confirmed here and in the
above link, the persistence of the phosphor is so long that 100 Hz is about
the best you can do.

Why can't a bright *red* (or any other basic color) LED be used? In fact, a
red laser diode can be used if you need more brightness, and these things can
be pulsed and still visible to a human all the way up to 100KHz and perhaps
even faster. Naturally, you would have to wait a few (thousands of) cycles
for
the flashes to register in your eye if you're talking 10mks flashes.

How about R G & B Leds in triads? Are there not some that include all
three together in one package? Steerable color types.

 

[passerby]

responding to
http://www.electrondepot.com/electronics/white-lede-strobe-circuit-link-120366-.htm
, passerby wrote:

spamnot wrote:

How about R G & B Leds in triads? Are there not some that include
all
three together in one package? Steerable color types.

Sure, if the OP really wants a *white* strobe. I was just curious what makes
white color so special for a strobe that it cannot be a coherent bright flash
of any color, really. Red may be a little difficult to pick up on a black
background but it all depends on the brightness. Besides, one can put a nice
reflective stripe on the spindle (I've a pen with silver acrylic paint - marks
anything and is reflective like hell) and either lower the required brightness
or increase the frequency of the flashes - whatever is required for the
application.

I think using bright blue makes it a little easier than white to pickup the
mark if the surface is small - blue makes little details stand out more. High
speed license plate readers are usually lit with blue(ish) - looks like almost
half the way to UV even. So, in reality perhaps OP might even benefit from
using a color strobe rather than a white strobe.

--

 

[BeeJ]

Sure, if the OP really wants a *white* strobe.

I think using bright blue makes it a little easier than white to pickup the
mark if the surface is small - blue makes little details stand out more.
High
speed license plate readers are usually lit with blue(ish) - looks like
almost
half the way to UV even. So, in reality perhaps OP might even benefit from
using a color strobe rather than a white strobe.

And tri-color would give any color the op wanted.

 

[John Fields]

On Fri, 19 Oct 2012 17:19:05 -0700, etpm@whidbey.com wrote:

See this link:
http://www.extremecircuits.net/2010/06/stroboscope-uses-white-leds_17.html
for a circuit to strobe white LEDs. As I suspected, and had confirmed
here and in the above link, the persistence of the phosphor is so long
that 100 Hz is about the best you can do. This may be fast enough for
me. That translates to 6000 RPM. For many of the things I want to
measure that would be OK. But there are some things I want to look at
that need higher strobing speeds. My CNC mill for example has a top
spindle speed of 7500 RPM. While I can already measure the speed with
a tach, which agrees with the speed reported by the control, I want to
see the tool sitting still.
Eric

---
Why not use a Xenon strobe lamp?

--
JF

 

[Ian Field]

"BeeJ" <nospam@spamnot.com> wrote in message
news:kl7pg9$n7f$1@speranza.aioe.org...

Sure, if the OP really wants a *white* strobe.

I think using bright blue makes it a little easier than white to pickup
the
mark if the surface is small - blue makes little details stand out more.
High
speed license plate readers are usually lit with blue(ish) - looks like
almost
half the way to UV even. So, in reality perhaps OP might even benefit
from
using a color strobe rather than a white strobe.

And tri-color would give any color the op wanted.

there is one tiny problem - the 3 LED chips can't physically occupy exactly
the same place inside the encapsulation, at a distance this is not
significant, but at close quarters there will be some divergence of the
individual beams - there will be at least some colour fringing round the
edges.