Forum - Recent Threads

A 2 parter: does anyone know of a pwm controller that can work with 1.5v? and! Does this section of the element14 community remain active for like general flyback discussion?

Anthocyanina — Thu, 22 Feb 2024 11:01:02 GMT

Now that the time constraints have been removed, I want to keep working on my portable chaos toy. I started by taking apart the tiny transformer (the hot air station made this super easy) to rewind it with two symmetrical secondaries.

Now my goal is to power the converter with a rechargeable AAA battery, or if getting a low enough voltage pwm controller is not possible, a single 18650. So, does anyone know of a controller that can do that?

And well, my second question is if this section remains active in the community, or if this should be used only for the challenge and I should take my questions elsewhere?

Thank you!

Poll - Did You Increase Your Knowledge of Flyback Transformers?

rscasny — Mon, 29 Jan 2024 20:08:14 GMT

As I stated last week, I sent the final blogs to my judges. One judge has scored the final blogs. I'm just waiting on the other judge. The announcement should be made later this week.

I want to thank the participants of Experimenting with Flyback Transformers. It turned into a challenging program and an intense learning experience. I want to thank you for your time and some incredible blogs.

While I am waiting for the last judge to score the final blogs, I'd like to post a poll regarding how this program helped you increase your knowledge or even awareness of flyback transformers.

Both participants and community members can vote in the poll.

Thanks.

Randall

--element14 Community Team

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

how did you protect your lab setup?

Jan Cumps — Fri, 26 Jan 2024 18:29:18 GMT

Participants, now that the experiment is reaching its end: What safety measures did you take when dealing with mains voltages?

I'm starting a road test for a mains powered Flyback design. I'm looking for advice from the players that used their "real mains" to power the experiments.

Things I have at the moment

formal education to deal with mains powers
a handheld oscilloscope that's isolated and has safe connections
a high-voltage differential probe
a bench meter that can measure 10 A AC current, and is CAT III

Did you take other/additional safety measures?

Final Blogs are Due on Jan 25th - Experimenting with Flyback Transformers

rscasny — Wed, 24 Jan 2024 21:08:31 GMT

Just a quick reminder that any extra credit blogs and the Final blogs are due tomorrow, Jan 25th.

Randall

--element14 Community Team

Equation editor not working?

Anthocyanina — Sat, 06 Jan 2024 06:19:18 GMT

Hi. while writing my first blog, the equation editor appears to do nothing upon clicking ok after editing an equation. also, keyboard input doesn't appear to be allowed unless you click on one of the buttons. but when i edit them and click ok, while during blog writing, it appears as a rectangle that says "equation editor" and when i preview the blog post, it only shows the default buttons i pressed, but not the edits i made, like in this screenshot

i modified an = Sqrt(x) equation, clicked ok, but it still shows up as the empty defaults when previewing the blog post.

what should i do? does the blog writing site support latex?

thank you!

Extra Credit Blogs Are Worth Doing -- Experimenting with Flyback Transformers

rscasny — Wed, 20 Dec 2023 16:36:38 GMT

I wanted to give a reminder to all the participants of Experimenting with Flyback Transformers that it is worth writing the extra credit blogs.

We adopted a new scoring system. Each blog is individually scored. And it is a cumulative score.

Here's the scoring system:

The extra credit 5 blogs will also be individually scored, based on quality, with a 20-point perfect score based on a very high level of quality and thoroughness. A blog with more than one of the below characteristics would get an additive score, based on quality.

The following itemizes how these 5 blogs will be scored:

A blog that contains a decent unboxing or detailed photographs will get up to 20 points.
A blog that contains a deep-dive into the components will get up to 20 points.
A blog that contain a fair amount of information towards an actual experiment will get up to 20 points.
A blog that significantly helps newcomers to work with the technology will get up to 20 points.
A blog that contains a good quality video will get up to 20 points.
A blog that uses components in an application or prototype to test or experiment with them will get up to 20 points.

extending deadline by one week

Anthocyanina — Thu, 14 Dec 2023 22:52:48 GMT

Hi! I've ordered parts for the project, but the earliest they claim to be able to deliver is on the 12th of january. I would like to know if it would be possible to extend the deadline by a week to have the time to build and document the various circuits once the parts arrive?

Thank you!

What does "SP-E", "16/5" and "20/6" mean in the flyback transformer product titles

BigG — Sun, 10 Dec 2023 20:27:21 GMT

This has me perplexed.

Each product datasheet would have a title as follows: Model 063929 SP-E 16/5 Flyback Transformer, or Model 094929 SP-E 20/6 Flyback Transformer

So what is "SP-E" as it is also included in the EMC Filter Choke datasheets but not in the BA60951CS datasheet. In fact here the Filer Choke product 071923 also has "13/4" in the title.

Furthermore, the BA60951CS does not include any of these numbers either.

Any ideas?

Don't forget to tag your blogs with the tag "Experimenting with Flyback Transformers".

javagoza — Thu, 07 Dec 2023 11:50:46 GMT

The subject says it all, don't forget to tag your blogs with the tag "Experimenting with Flyback Transformers".

If you do not tag it correctly it will not appear in the summary lists of your competition blogs.

Good luck to everyone, what I'm learning is fascinating, let's see if I'm able to transmit it too.

Some Changes in How Blogs are Scored in Experimenting Challenges

rscasny — Sat, 28 Oct 2023 16:51:00 GMT

I am simplifying the requirements and changing the way the extra credit blogs will be scored, starting with the upcoming program, Experimenting with Flyback Transformers.

I'll describe the changes below.

Changes
I am dropping the introductory blog and the forum participation as separate tasks. Why? I just feel I was asking too much of a participant. I am still retaining the 5 extra credit blogs and the final blog.

New Scoring for Extra Credit Blogs
I think I was given some fair criticism on the way the extra credit blogs were scored. I was trying to streamline the judging process, but I feel a change in scoring is in order.

So, this is the system I want to adopt for the extra credit blogs. They will be scored based on the type of blog written, as well as how well all Blogs 1s, 2s, 3s, etc rank to each other.

Scoring for Type of Blog

Introduction blog: this type of extra credit blog describes the kit, performs an unboxing, and/or describes what types of experiments the participant will perform. Score: 20 points
Component or Technology Overview/Description: this type of extra credit blog describes the kit components, the supplier's product family, and variants in depth: Score: 25 points
Experiment Description: this type of extra credit blog describes an experiment, shows data, and/or comes to a conclusion regarding the experiment Score: 50 points
Tutorial - this type of extra credit blog would show the reader how to do something such as coding, circuit building, and/or troubleshooting with regard to the kit components.. Note: this could be an experiment; however, if the full force of the blog is educational or to provide a nice-to-know tip or trick, then it will be scored as a tutorial Score: 55 points
Building an application with the kit -- the type of extra credit blog would describe how the participant used the kit's components to build a project that illustrates an application. While this blog isn't a pure experiment, it experiments with the component through an application Score 45 points

Add-on Points to an Extra Credit Blog

Including a video will earn you an extra 5 points
Including a video that our element14 team promotes on social media earns you an extra 15 points (this would be a high quality video)
Including educational images that illustrate the experiment and are highly informative earns you an extra 10 points

Ranking Score

All the Blog 1's, 2's, 3's, 4's and 5's will be scored relative to each other. They will be ranked based on quality. The lowest ranking blog will earn 2 points. Each blog above it will score an additional 2 points. Example: for 5 participants, 5th place = 2 points, 4th place = 4 points, 3rd place = 6 points, 2nd place = 8 points, 1st place = 10 points.

The total extra credit blog score will be the sum of the type of blog score + the ranking score.