Forum - Recent Threads

Where can I find electronic circuits classified by “difficulty level”?

AlissonOliveira17 — Wed, 14 Jan 2026 18:13:45 GMT

Greetings. I am a researcher currently developing a study on the measurement of difficulty/complexity in electronic circuits. I am looking for books, scientific articles, instructional materials, or datasets that present sets of electronic circuits accompanied by some indication of difficulty, complexity level, or pedagogical classification, even if such indication is subjective or approximate. Any reference would be welcome, including classic textbooks, lecture notes, datasets, academic repositories, or materials used in technical or university-level education. If you are aware of works that organize circuits by difficulty level, or that could be used as a basis for comparative analysis, I would greatly appreciate your help and recommendations. On my ResearchGate profile, I have published some works on complexity measurement in other domains, such as industrial property patents and C programming language source code, which may help contextualize my research approach. Thank you in advance for any help or references you may be able to share.

Seeking Feedback for Kit on Upcoming LED Design Challenge

rscasny — Fri, 14 Feb 2025 18:57:33 GMT

Hi All.

As the new year moves on, so does element14's scheduling of new Design Challenges. That's what I want to talk to you about today. Specifically, an LED-focuses challenge.

We haven't done much with lighting/LEDs (although Tariq may have when he managed Project14), but I have a sponsor who is interested in such a challenge. So, I'm exploring here how to make it work, both in terms of your interest in this activity, a propose challenge kit, as well as any theme it would cover.

In this discussion, I wanted to do a few things. For starters, to share with you the parts the challenge's sponsor would like to see in the design. Now, that does not limit us from adding parts to the kit. The next thing I want to do was flesh out the challenge's objective. Let me start with the parts. There's just a few of them:

1315050930002 LED, AlInGaP, InGaN, Red, Green, Blue, SMD, 120 °, Round, R 13mA, G 13mA, B 13mA

More Info

1313210530000 LED, AlInGaP, InGaN, Red, Green, Blue, SMD, 120 °, Dome, R 5.5mA, G 5.5mA, B 5.5mA

More Info

1312020030000 LED, AlInGaP, InGaN, Red, Green, Blue, SMD, 120 °, Square, R 5.5mA, G 5.5mA, B 5.5mA

More Info

1312121320437 LED, AlInGaP, InGaN, Red, Green, Blue, SMD, 110 °, Square, R 20mA, G 20mA, B 20mA

More Info

Click on this link to see the manufacturer's documentation for these products.

Here's a dual wire diagram for the product:

So, the above is kind of bare bones. I expect that there will be much more in the kit depending what the challengers would like to do. Now, what element14 would also include in the challenger's kit would depend on what you would want to do. A few random thoughts about it are:

Creative Lighting
LED Indication
LED Alerting
LED Alarming

The sponsor calls out what they see as the leading applications of their LEDS. They are:

Appliances
Industrial Control
Smart Lighting
Gaming
Decorative Lighting

Now is a good time for a poll:

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

So, I've offered a lot of information to chew about.

Just for myself, I think it would be fun to do something along the lines of Creative or Decorative Lighting. I would need to include prototyping gear, as well as a kit of support components. Enclosures I would probably not provide since many of you have 3D printers and have that capability; I also would probably not offer any test equipment as part of the kit, but you can always wish for it! I'd probably like to see some PCBs designed and built, with whatever solution you have available.

Now, if you were more interested in something more practical, the designs would require a larger and probably more extensive kit. I'm thinking industrial control panels etc.

Thanks you for participating in the element14 Communities activities.

What Do you think? If you have the time, please vote in my poll and/or leave a comment.

Authenticity Service for Refurbished Parts

henry.tran3 — Wed, 06 Nov 2024 17:59:16 GMT

I'm part of the operations and maintenance team at my company. We are looking to purchase units for our systems. The issue is that our systems are old and we can only find refurbished parts, and due to security requirements, we need to perform tests on refurbished units to confirm their authenticity. Are there any vendors that are able to provide that service or know of someone who can?

Seeking your Feedback on Proposed Kit and Prizes for Single Pair Ethernet Challenge

rscasny — Fri, 04 Oct 2024 17:02:00 GMT

Hi All.

In July I had a discussion with you regarding my plans to launch an Experimenting with Single Pair Ethernet Challenge.

Back then, I just began thinking about the challenge's kit and was interested in getting your input on what a kit could include. I took that feedback and began looking at the kit and the costs, etc.

In this follow up discussion, I am listing below a kit I would like you to take a look at. BEfore I get into the kit, let me talk about the challenge a bit more.

There are a couple important things to achieve in this challenge.

I don't believe we have had a sponsored activity on Single Pair Ethernet (SPE). So, one important thing is to begin exploring and learning about SPE in this challenge. Unfortunately, costs and/or budgets limit what I can offer in the kit, but I hope what we can afford to offer is worth your time to participate.

Since this challenge is primarily sponsored (paid for) by Molex, we would like you to use the Molex parts in whatever you do.

So here's the kit below.

Take a look and vote in the polls or leave a comment. Thanks.

ANALOG DEVICES EVAL-ADIN1110EBZ Evaluation Kit, ADIN1110CCPZ, Ethernet Physical Layer Device, Ethernet MAC-PHY, 10BASE-T1L

User Guide

ANALOG DEVICES EVAL-ADIN1100EBZ Evaluation Kit, ADIN1100CCPZ, Ethernet Physical Layer Device, 10BASE-T1

User Guide

RASPBERRY-PI RPI4-MODBP-4GB SBC, Raspberry Pi4 B 4GB, BCM2711, ARM Cortex-A72, 4GB RAM

Datasheet

ANALOG DEVICES EVAL-CN0575-RPIZ Evaluation Board, LTC9111IDE#TRPBF, Raspberry Pi Platform

User Guide

DIGILENT 410-221 Pmod TMP2: Temperature Sensor

Datasheet

MOLEX 2209570104 Ethernet Cable, SPE Plug to SPE Plug, STP (Shielded Twisted Pair), Green, 1 m, 3.3 ft

and

MOLEX 2209570108 Ethernet Cable, SPE Plug to SPE Plug, STP (Shielded Twisted Pair), Green, 5 m, 16.4 ft

Datasheet (1m)

Datasheet (5m)

MOLEX 2209570001 Modular Connector, SPE Jack, 1 x 1 (Port), 2P2C, IP20, Through Hole Mount

Datasheet

MOLEX 2209570002 Modular Connector, SPE Jack, 1 x 1 (Port), 2P2C, IP20, Through Hole Mount

Datasheet

Should anything be added to this kit?

None of our challenges offer a totally comprehensive kit. Hence, no kit is perfect. But given the kit we are proposing, is there anything you feel should be added? If it is something that doesn't bust the budget, we would consider adding it to the kit.

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Proposed Prizes

Grand Prize

MULTICOMP PRO MP720025 US Digital Oscilloscope, 4 Analog, 100 MHz, 1 GSPS, 40 Mpts, 3.5 ns

Runner Up Prize

MULTICOMP PRO MP720011 US Digital Oscilloscope, 2 Analog, 100 MHz, 1 GSPS, 10 kpts, 3.5 ns

Finisher Prize

MULTICOMP PRO MP720782 US Oscilloscope, 2 Channel, 70 MHz, 250 MSPS, 6 kpts, 5 ns

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Seeking Feedback #2 - Expanding Design Challenge Kit - USB Camera, AC Adapter & PMOD Sensor

rscasny — Sat, 27 Jul 2024 16:51:55 GMT

This is a follow up to my previous poll/discussion on Seeking Feedback on Kit and Prizes for Design Challenge.

I didn't add the camera initially because I saw this challenge could be done in different ways. But I'm open to adding to the kit.

So, the challenge is using the Digilent Arty Z7 Dev board.

Here are three things that could be added to the kit:

USB camera

Poll

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

AC Adapter

Poll

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Sensors

Poll

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Seeking Feedback on Kit and Prizes for Design Challenge

rscasny — Fri, 26 Jul 2024 21:20:15 GMT

Hi All. I want to get some feedback on a Design Challenge I'm running.

It's the Eye on Intelligence Design Challenge.

It's an embedded vision challenge, using the Digilent Arty Z7 Dev board.

I'm offering test equipment as prizes (digital oscilloscope, handheld oscilloscope, dc power supplies, etc.) Click on the link above to see the prizes.

I'm interested in getting feedback on the kits and prizes:

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Feedback Desired on Kit for Experimenting with Single Pair Ethernet

rscasny — Sun, 21 Jul 2024 16:29:43 GMT

Another program we have begun to plan for is Experimenting with Single Pair Ethernet (SPE).

SPE has not been widely used yet, so offering this program is a way to have element14 members experiment with it.

In developing this program, the first step is developing the kit. SPE has some specialized components. So, we wanted to offer some core components that may not yet be in everyone's shop of tool box.

So, I inserted a poll below to have members vote on their ideal kit for this challenge.

If you have the time, I encourage you to vote. I welcome your feedback. You can also make a comment below.

SPE Poll

From the list below, select your ideal kit for the SPE Challenge.

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Seeking Feedback on Kit for Upcoming Experimenting with Extreme Environments

rscasny — Fri, 22 Dec 2023 21:26:03 GMT

At least once a year, I try to do some activity along the lines of protecting electronics. In 2023, I launched Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors. In late 2021, we launched the Just Encase Design Challenge. As more electronics are employed outdoors and more IOT solutions are installed in remote locations in the open environment, the need to protect electronics is increasing.

In the challenge I am now planning, I hope to take the idea of "electronics environmental protection" to the extremes.

In brief, the challengers will be given a kit to build something -- anything. They will house their electronic-builds in a durable, IP65-67 enclosure. After doing those the things, the real fun begins.

We would like the participants to experiment with extreme environments such as hot & cold temperatures, light & strong water sprays, vibrations, dust "storms," etc. You get the idea. They will need to design a testing environment to simulate the extreme condition being tested and then put their protected-build in it. And write about it.

Feedback on Proposed Kit

For the remainder of this discussion, I will overview selections for the kit. I have three options each for:

Electronics
Enclosure
Display
Sensor Connector

Please vote for your preference of each kit component. Now, if you have an alternate suggestion, feel free to post a comment.

I would like the electronic-builds to be battery-powered since a lot of remote monitoring is battery powered. Take a look at the viability of that. If that doesn't work, I may then give special extra credit to those participants that have a battery-powered experiment. At this point, I am in the planning stage. Not everything is cast in stone, so to speak.

Of course, there other parts such as cables, other types of connectors, power supplies, sensors, etc. that I have not included in this preliminary kit. Go ahead and post a comment on the accessories you would like.

Thanks for participating in this discussion.

Here are the polls:

ELECTRONICS under consideration

MICROCHIP EV36W50A WFI32-IOT Board, 32bit, PIC

Datasheet

Raspberry Pi Compute Module 4 Lite and I/O Board

Datasheet

ARDUINO AKX00034 EDGE CONTROL BOARD

Datasheet

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Display under consideration

ADAFRUIT 2260 TFT Display

Datasheet

MIDAS MC42005A6W-SPTLYI-V2 DISPLAY, ALPHANUMERIC, 20X4

Datasheet

MIKROE-55 Display, Character LCD 2x16

Datasheet

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

ENCLOSURES under consideration

HAMMOND 1554VA2GYCL, Plastic Enclosure, IP68

Datasheet

HAMMOND 1590Z231GY Metal Enclosure, Small, Diecast Aluminum, IP68

Datasheet

HAMMOND 1555HF17GY Plastic Enclosure, Watertight, Industrial, IP67

Datasheet

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

SENSOR CONNECTOR under consideration

AMPHENOL MRDBG02L13000, Circular Connector, 2 Contacts

Datasheet

AMPHENOL MRDBG03L13000, Circular Connector, 3 Contacts

Datasheet

AMPHENOL MRD-BG04-L13-000, Circular Connector, 4 Contacts

Datasheet

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

UPCOMING - Have You Experimented with Flyback Transformers? If Not, Step Up and Participate to Win Big Prizes - Seeking Your Feedback

rscasny — Fri, 01 Sep 2023 19:26:35 GMT

Greetings to All!

I am preparing to launch a new Experimenting Challenge activity focusing on flyback transformer experiments.

I wanted to tell you about it before I launch it.

I'd like to give you some facts and let you see what I am thinking about during my planning stage with the sponsor.

I'd also like to hear your thoughts about what you might like included in the kit.

The kit will contain twelve different flyback transformers (Scroll down to see). I would consider adding things to the kit. I'd like to hear your suggestions. You can post in the comment sections below.

Of course, there will be some great prizes as well. Here are the prizes I am considering:

Grand Prize

Handheld Oscilloscope

NEW! Beagle V-Ahead

DC Electronic Load

For More Info

Runner Up Prize

Hot Air Station

DC Power Supply

NEW! Beagle V Ahead

For More Info

Finisher Prize

Heat Shrink Kit

For More Info

Before I get into the details, I thought it might be good to pose the question:

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Here's something to chew on:

A flyback transformer is a coupled inductor with a gapped core. During each cycle, when the input voltage is applied to the primary winding, energy is stored in the gap of the core. It is then transferred to the secondary winding to provide energy to the load. Flyback transformers are used to provide voltage transformation and circuit isolation in flyback converters.
Here's the parts the sponsor selected for the kit:

(A couple of images)

Here are the product pages. (Note: some of these are new products so all the info may still need to be loaded on the page.)

Product Description	See Entire Kit
PFBR45-ST13150S Gate Drive Transformer, 1MH, 2KV	See Here
PFBR45-ST13150S Gate Drive Transformer, 1.15MH, 4.5KV	See Here
BA60951CS XFMR, SMPS, FLYBACK, 2.5KV	See Here
SM13117EL Ethernet & LAN Transformer, PoE, 1 Port, 1:0.5:0.5:0.5, 350 µH, 1.5 kV, Surface Mount	See Here
063929 SMPS Transformer, Flyback, 250 mA, 44kHz to 132kHz, 4 W, 85V to 265V	See Here
063932 SMPS Transformer, Flyback, 250 mA, 44kHz to 132kHz, 6 W, 85V to 265V	See Here
093830 SMPS Transformer, Flyback, 650 mA, 132kHz, 8 W, 85V to 265V	See Here
063934 SMPS Transformer, Flyback, 370 mA, 44kHz to 132kHz, 9 W, 85V to 265V	See Here
094931 SMPS Transformer, Flyback, 1.8 A, 66kHz to 132kHz, 22 W, 85V to 265V	See Here
094932 SMPS Transformer, Flyback, 1.2 A, 132kHz, 22 W, 85V to 265V	See Here
071923 Choke, Common Mode, 0.28 A, 22 mH, Through Hole	See Here
093267 Choke, Common Mode, 0.5 A, 27 mH, Through Hole	See Here
D00413 Compartment Box, Clear, Plastic, General Purpose Storage, 35x125x230mm	See Here

Datasheets on some of the parts:

a. https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3742805.pdf

b. https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3774338.pdf

c. https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/2868806.pdf

d. https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3967078.pdf

e. https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3967079.pdf

f. https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3967080.pdf

g. https://www.farnell.com/datasheets/3967081.pdf

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

POLL-DISCUSSION - How Familiar Are You in Modifying An Electrical Enclosure?

rscasny — Sat, 05 Aug 2023 16:35:14 GMT

Electrical/Electronics enclosures often are modified for a particular installation. Sometimes, the engineer will do the modification, yet other times he/she will request a third party service provider or an enclosure manufacturer to perform the modifications.

Here is a typical list of enclosure modifications:

Holes
Cutouts
knock outs
Tapping and Countersinking
Pressed-in hardware (studs, standoffs)
Silk Screening
UV Printing
Special colors
Special length extrusions
Pre-Installed Accessories
Special Paint Colors
Non-Standard Sizes
Louvers
Alternate Handles
Add, Move or Delete Studs
Hinge Changes
Mounting Struts
Dimension Changes
Stiffeners
Windows
Shelves
Climate Control

POLL Question

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Seeking your opinion about an Experimenting with Flat Flexible Cables

rscasny — Wed, 19 Apr 2023 20:55:51 GMT

Launching an Experimenting Challenge can be a lengthy process. In general, we have a lot of meetings with the sponsor and a lot of brainstorming within the element14 team. Even choosing the prizes takes some time, with back and forth between us. Perhaps the thing that takes the most time is choosing the products. Sometimes I suggest products that I think will will work. Other times it's a collaboration between element14 and the sponsor. And sometimes we choose a product because it's something new; a good example of that is gesture sensors.

Recently, we were approached by a sponsor who makes flat flexible cables (FFCs) and would like to see element14 members experiment with them. There is a growing use of them, especially for space-constrained electronic sub-assemblies. And some of these FFCs have special characteristics such as EMI protection, hi temp environments, low voltage differential for signal integrity, impedance matching, and so on.

But designing an Experimenting Challenge means building the activity, the kit, and the experiments. That's where I like to ask community members. At face value, offering an Experimenting Challenge with FFCs seems like a hill to climb. Do we just send a kit of FFC's to the participants and see what they do? Or do we add in some other products to fill out the kit. (I did this with the Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors Challenge by adding a DFRobot SBC.) Of course, the more specific we get, the more specific (circuit count, length, & pitch, for instance) the FFCs would need to be.

But right now, I would like to toss around some ideas of how we could frame an Experimenting Challenge with FFCs. What should be in the kit? Types of experiments? Even, the kinds of prizes you would like to see for this activity. For myself, I see FFCs as a product we haven't talked about that much, but complements a lot of different kinds of electronics. I suspect that a lot of creative content and blogs could be created for this kind of activity.

Here are some relevant links:

Webpage

Essentials

If you have any thoughts about an Experimenting with FFCs challenge, I invite you to write a comment below.

Some polls

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Seeking Your Opinion on an Experimenting with Microcontrollers

rscasny — Wed, 12 Apr 2023 19:53:41 GMT

WE are talking about offering an experimenting with microcontrollers (MCUs) program. MCUs seem a little more complex than we previously offered in Experimenting Challenges. but I think they could work. WE are considering two boards to use:

STWIN.box - SensorTile Wireless Industrial Node Development Kit

Multisensing wireless platform for vibration monitoring and ultrasound detection
Built around STWIN.box core system board with processing, sensing, connectivity, and expansion capabilities
Ultra-low power Arm® Cortex®-M33 with FPU and TrustZone at 160 MHz, 2048 kBytes Flash memory (STM32U585AI)

Web page

For More Information

Discovery kit with STM32U5A9NJ MCU

Ultra-low-power STM32U5A9NJH6Q microcontroller based on the Arm® Cortex®‑M33 core with Arm® TrustZone®, featuring 4 Mbytes of flash memory, 2.5 Mbytes of SRAM, and SMPS in a TFBGA216 package
2.47" RGB 480×480 pixels TFT round LCD module with 16.7M color depth, with MIPI DSI® 2‑data lane interface and capacitive touch panel

Web page

Buy Now

Here are some polls to vote on:

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Seeking Your Opinion of New Scoring System for Experimenting Design Challenges #2

rscasny — Wed, 25 Jan 2023 17:19:17 GMT

This is a follow up to my original discussion that you can read here. I think it was a valuable discussion and provided me with a lot of good ideas. I appreciate everyone who participated in it.

My takeaways from the original discussion were:
1. Requiring a weekly time limit for support blog submissions was not desirable.
2. All supporting blogs should be individually scored, not an all-or-nothing scoring.
3. Forum participation should be included in the final scoring.

All these are good points.

My top two goals are:
1. Participants are doing a lot of work in these challenges. I want to make sure that everyone gets credit for all the work they have done. This is why I want to go to a point scoring system.
2. I want to streamline the judging process. It can be cumbersome for the judges when they are given 20, 30, or more blogs in one shot and then they have to sort it out and rank the participants.

I looked at all previous experimenting challenges, I found the following:

This is my proposal for a point scoring system for experimenting challenges only:

The introductory blog must be submitted in the first two weeks of the challenge.
The final summary blogs and the extra credit blogs must be submitted by the end of the challenge period (10th week) to obtain credit. There is no weekly submission requirement.
The introductory blog is mandatory. Worth up to 100 points.
The final summary blog is mandatory. Worth up to 300 points.
Extra credit blogs are optional. Each participant can submit up to 5 extra credit blogs (in addition to the 2 mandatory blogs) for scoring by the judges. Each is worth up to 20 points.
Forum participation is optional. But those who contribute to the forum can receive up to 25 points.

If you have the time, please provide feedback below. Thanks.

RE: Seeking Feedback on New Scoring System for Experimenting Challenges

rscasny — Sat, 21 Jan 2023 21:25:12 GMT

Note: this discussion covers only the Experimenting Design Challenge Competitions

Greetings to All,

I would like to introduce a blog scoring system in addition to the judges I use to determine the top prize winners of the experimenting with components challenges (e.g, capacitors, inductors, vibration sensors, etc.).

I would like to get feedback on this proposal by members of element14.

Before I detail the change, let me explain why I am suggesting it? There are a couple of reasons:

Transparency: The blog will be scored on a weekly basis and the score posted in a table similar to what I used in another one of my programs. Here is an example of the table I had used in that program. Click here to see.
Strategy: With participants seeing the point totals of all participants, they can plan a strategy for achieving a point total to win.
Ensuring Participation Throughout the Program Period: Sometimes participants post their blogs at the end of the 8 to 10 week period, not giving me the opportunity to promote the blogs through the program period. In addition, giving participants a reason to post supporting blogs throughout the active period allows them to pick up points along the way.
Making Judging More Convenient: Our judges will receive the final summary blog to judge, which I think will make it easier for them to manage. Since the final summary blog can earn the most points, the judges' decision will have the most weight in the final selections.

What is the Judging/Scoring System In Place Now?

There is a two-blog minimum required to successfully finish the competition. There is no scoring system in place now. Currently, at the conclusion of the competition (usually 8 to 10 weeks), I forward all the blogs of each participant to the judges. The judges rank the blogs and select the winners of the top prizes. At the end of the judging, I notify the winners and write a winner's announcement.

What is the Judging/Scoring System That I Would Like to Introduce?

There will be no blog minimum, but each participant needs to blog to accrue points to win the top prizes. There will be three scoring types, as follows:

Introductory Blog: participant describes in detail what he/she plans on doing. Worth up to 75 points.
Final Summary Report Blog: participant describes in details what he/she did and proposed in the introductory blog. What experiments were conducted. What results were obtained? What were the takeaways, that is, what was learned. Worth up to 200 points.
Intermediary Supporting Blogs: these are blogs that support their experimenting program but are not the Introductory or Final Summary Blogs. Each weekly blog is worth up to 10 points.

The overall point totals will be posted on the table on a weekly basis.

The typical program timeline will be:

The up-to-75-point Introductory blog: Needs to be posted in Week 1 and Week 2
The up-to-10-point Intermediary Supporting Blogs: Need to be posted each week in Weeks 3 through 9.
The up-to-200-point Final Summary Blog: Needs to be posted in week 10.

Element14 will assign points for the Introductory and Supporting Blogs.

The judges will assign points for the Final Summary blog.

The members with the most points at the end of the program period will win.

What do you think?

Randall
--element14 Team; Experimenting Challenge Program Manager

Seeking Feedback on ADDITIONAL Parts -- Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors

rscasny — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 17:51:43 GMT

Since I last wrote about the Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors program I will be launching soon, we have been discussing what to include in the kit for this program. My original post described the program. My updated post spelled out what I wanted to include in the kit.

This post is seeking feedback on additional parts to include in the kit. They are:

132245 RF / Coaxial Connector, SMA Coaxial, Right Angle Bulkhead Jack, Crimp, 50 ohm, RG174, RG188A, RG316
242125-10 RF / Coaxial Adapter, N, Jack, SMA, Jack, Straight Adapter, 50 ohm
AD-SMAJMCXJ-1 AD-SMAJMCXJ-1 RF / Coaxial Adapter, SMA, Jack, MCX, Jack, Straight Bulkhead Adapter, 50 ohm
122192-15 RF / Coaxial Connector, TNC Coaxial, Straight Bulkhead Jack, Crimp, 50 ohm, RG174, RG316U
336209-13-0250 RF / Coaxial Cable Assembly, 90° AMC Plug to TNC Bulkhead Jack, 1.32mm, 50 ohm, 9.84 ", 250 mm

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

UPDATE Feedback on Experimenting with Waterproof Connectors PLUS a Poll on Test Equipment Prizes

rscasny — Thu, 20 Oct 2022 16:18:57 GMT

About three weeks ago, I posted a forum discussion called Seeking Your Feedback on Upcoming Experimenting Challenge -- Waterproofing Electronics. You gave me some great feedback (changing challenge prizes) and what to include in the challenge kit. This is a follow up to that discussion.

Summarizing the Experimenting with Waterproofing Challenge

The idea is pretty basic. We would give each participant a kit with waterproof connectors, a customized watertight enclosure (with holes drilled for the panel mount connectors) and a single board computer. Your challenge would be to put it all together. You would have to mount the SBC in the enclosure and wire it up. Then, perform experiments that test the waterproofing capabilities of the connectors and enclosure. Write about the results in some blogs.

Kit Version #3 --Current

Kit Version #2

From your previous feedback, I now want to pass by you the current version of the kit. Any feedback you have would be appreciated.

USB Type A

D-Sub

HDMI

Coaxial Cable Assembly

RJ45

Circular Connector

Enclosure

SBC

Poll: What is Your Preferred Test Equipment Prizes
Some of you had mentioned that you would like prizes other than consumer electronics. So, I collected some test equipment that I could consider as prizes. Vote on your most preferred one. If you have any other choices, please comment below.

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Thanks for the feedback and comments.

What Kind of Prizes Would You Like for Experimenting with Components Competitions

rscasny — Thu, 29 Sep 2022 16:51:03 GMT

I seem to be running more and more experimenting Competitions. Since they are popular with element14 members, I will continue to run more of them.

Up until now, I usually pick some consumer electronics as prizes. But I don't feel I should limit myself to that category of prizes. Test equipment has suggested. So, let me put it up for a vote.

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Seeking Your Feedback on Upcoming Experimenting Challenge -- Waterproofing Electronics

rscasny — Tue, 27 Sep 2022 16:49:44 GMT

I am preparing to launch in October an Experimenting Challenge focusing on waterproofing electronics, featuring waterproof connectors and a customized watertight enclosure.

I wanted to tell you about it. Give you some facts, and let you see what I have looked at thus far.

I also am seeking your input as a sort of wishlist. That is, What would you like (or should be) added to the challenge's kit in terms of electronics, single board computers, accessories, etc. Now's the time to provide me your input so I can determine my budget for the program. Of course, there will be some great prizes as well. (BTW, you can also offer ideas for prizes: grand, runner-up, third prize.)

Here's what I have:

Waterproof Connectors

The IP ratings of these connectors vary:

IPX4 – Protects from splashing water, no matter the direction
IPX8 – Protects when immersed in water over 3 feet
IP67 - "complete protection against dust over extended time" and "protected against short periods of immersion in water while under pressure between 15cm and 1m.

USB Type C	Micro USB Type B	D-Sub	Enclosure

Connector Datasheets

Micro USB Type B

Type C

D-Sub

Watertight Enclosure

Enclosure Material: Polycarbonate
IP Rating: IP68 - total protection against solid ingress and total protection against water ingress, up to and including complete submersion below one meter and for more than 30 minutes.
NEMA Rating: NEMA 4, 4X, 6, 6P, 12, 13
External Height - Imperial: 2.36"
External Width - Imperial: 5.51"
External Depth - Imperial: 5.51"
Note: I chose the size; however, feel free to suggest another size.

Enclosure Datasheet

1554 Series Enclosure

Customizing Watertight Enclosure

I am having the enclosure customized. The manufacturer will cut the holes for the connectors. So, it would be helpful to know what connectors you would like to use:

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

The Wishlist: Other parts to include in the challenge kit

Obviously, we want to mount a PCB in the enclosure. Cables and mounting hardware might also be needed. What is mounted in the enclosure can vary; that is, what is mounted within it can vary from participant, since the focus is testing/experimenting with the viability of these waterproof/tight devices. So, what to add to the kit, is based on your need, interest and/or creativity. But all participants will receive the same connectors and enclosure.

Your thoughts?

The community always offered interesting ideas that often change what we offer in the kit or how we frame the challenge. So, feel free to post a comment with your thoughts.

Thanks.

Randall

--element14 Team

Apply button not visible

rsjawale24 — Mon, 04 Oct 2021 13:16:20 GMT

I tried to apply for the FPGA design challenge, however, the button for submitting and application is not visible on the page. I tried refreshing the page, still not helping.

Summer of FPGA

Delay box

torqued — Fri, 26 Feb 2021 15:08:10 GMT

I need some help building a circuit. This circuit would turn on then off two machines with one button press. I first press the momentary button to trigger the release of the first machine. But 1-10 sec (adjustable) after pushing the button the second machine is triggered to release. I would like to have the opportunity to the plug in more machines to do the same function from that one original button press. Any ideas that can help. Thanks

Status Please ---1 Meter of Pi - Design Challenge

skruglewicz — Sun, 20 Sep 2020 17:34:35 GMT

I'm new to the Design Challenge group and wondered if you could answer some of my question About the 1 Meter of Pi - Design Challenge

is there any decision on the enrollment of This design challenge and if I qualify for the hardware?

Applications Close (about 1 Month)

14th September 2020

Challengers Announced

16th September 2020

Selection was suppose to be on or around September 16? It is now September 20th!!!!!

I filled out my application and submitted it back in August 24, and have not heard anything?

It would be nice if you informed the applicants that took the time to apply, the status of there submission to the road test. Please let me know either way so I can proceed with Other projects.

Kind Regards

Stephen

How often is a Design Challenge?

hugohu — Sun, 16 Aug 2020 22:25:51 GMT

How often is there a design challenge?

I missed the current one and I'm wondering when the next one is.

Calling out for help on Embedded Design Challenge

yuricts — Mon, 11 May 2020 08:51:58 GMT

Hi,

I am calling out to people from Element14 or sponsors for some help/ideas...

We are organizing a master course on embedded systems where students will have to create their own Retro Game Console using an FPGA.

We expect 20 to 30 students enrolling in this course.

Our main goal is to have them work in a team of 4 students, design and implement a Retro Game Arcade system on an FPGA

We will be using the PYNQ-Z2, but from a learning perspective we will have them write VHDL/Verilog instead of using the PYNQ framework and Python.

The students will have to blog about their experiences.

They will need to define some challenges for themselves.

As they have already implemented a VGA controller, a challenge might be to implement an HDMI controller, SDRAM controller, ...

Creating a game controller will also be one of the requirements.

They will also learn to use petalinux and write linux kernel drivers.

So they are allowed to combine several parts, but they should work out some of the challenges.

One of the goals in the course description for which I need some help:

Moreover, students are expected to apply this knowledge to a real-world challenge. To do so, students will work with a real stakeholder. This can be an external client, an international competition or other leading authority who will validate the outcome of the students’ work.

This project will be in the first semester next year, students will be working in the lab one day in the week and are expected to spend at least another day on the project during the week.

Please let me know if you are interested in setting up a design challenge for this.

We might have to narrow down on some aspects...

Kind regards,

Yuri

active weigh ing of cable drum

malcolm51 — Sun, 09 Feb 2020 13:57:10 GMT

this ought to be easy but my brain doesn't seem to be working.......

problem.... a drum of wire or filament etc is mounted on a shaft (axle) supported at both ends........... what is the best way to continuously weigh and display its weight, in grams, as te contents are used?

weighing one end is simple but for an accurate reading both ends must be weighed at the same time for a single indication of weight.

solution could be electronics or arduino or raspberry pi

please help prevent me going nuts.....

Design for manufacture and the importance of component choice

duncannicol — Tue, 03 Dec 2019 10:56:47 GMT

Design for manufacture is an important but often overlooked aspect of PCB design. When choosing components the choice can have a significant impact on the overall cost of assembly.

The vast majority of components on a PCB are now surface mount, and it is often the connector that is the only through hole component on the build requiring a secondary wave or selective solder process.

There are a growing number of industrial device connectors that are available in THR (through hole reflow) or SMD (surface mount device) which can be automatically picked and placed during the reflow soldering process. The advantages are significant as result in the entire PCB being assembled and soldered in one process, saving time and money.