Winners Announcement: Ben Heck's Raspberry Pi Bitscope Mod!

Congratulations to  guillaume9433 you are the winner of Ben Heck's Raspberry Pi Bitscope Mod!

His DIY Test Equipment idea was a 0-24V 8A -5V +5V 2A Power Supply Made with Affordable Adjust DC-DC Converters.

He's replacing an oscilloscope he can no longer use with Ben Heck's Raspberry Pi Bitscope Mod!

guillaume9433 writes:

Hello , the first test equipment is the power suply . yes without energy, nothings to test.

So my DIY test equipment is a power suply 0-24v 8A -5v +5v 2A made with afordable  adjust dc-dc converters.

later i will post in DIY Test Equipment section schematic, charge tests and improvements.

An other thing, for test this i use a monstous fat and old scope (find at  the botton of shed):

It isn't possible to use this again, my wife don't love this living room embleshiment, so bitescope would be a great substitude

gramboymicro  writes:

I know this is several paragraphs long AND a picture, but it is a very in-depth analysis of my idea.

So, there are a lot of ideas for test equipment that I have. A Linux-based tablet similar to that of Microsoft's Surface Pro series? No, too casual. A Raspberry Pi-based clone of the GPD Win? Sounds cool. With almost the exact same functions? Oh no. Too unoriginal. Maybe we could redesign the clam shell idea for an RPi3 Portable and make it something great.

So we could keep the clam shell design and handheld form factor. But how original can we make it? Well, let's look at the inspiration, the GPD Win. IT has a clam shell design, a game-pad and keyboard and several built-in input methods. Multiple Input Methods. That's what this idea is based around. So lets think. Right now, it sounds like a fancy DS with an RPi3 inside. Another inspiration that came up (came up RIGHT HERE when writing this) could be the Nintendo Switch, and the versatility of it, and how there is the potential for so many accessories. But then we have to still think about multiple input methods.

The Switch's JoyCons come on and off, being able to be removed. And when removed, they can still be used as input devices, wireless or not. There's an idea. Attachable input methods that can be used wireless or through a direct connection. An Idea could be there is the camera, screen and speakers in the top-half, and in the bottom there is an open space for accessories. In the open space- at the bottom, there would be the 4 USB ports from the RPi3. Those could be used for accessories. Also in this open space, closer to the top, there would be standoffs where the wireless accessories could clip on. These accessories could include a trackpad, keyboard, game controller, and more. And Heck, why not place he GPIO header in the open space, by the USB ports. That way specially designed accessories could attach to the GPIO header, and those could be more Test-Oriented. Like LEDs, and other things. And the USB ports could be there to use Wireless accessories too. And while we're at it, make a space at the top of this space, a cut-out so you could have your accessory, say, a game controller, and a USB-wired connection, say, a keyboard, and have the wire run out from under.

Summary? Have a 3DS-esque Linux-based RPi3 Portable, with an area on the bottom to clip on accessories like track pads, keyboards, game controllers, and the GPIO Header available for LED indicators or other GPIO-based addons. Also, you can use the clip-on accessory, and still use another wireless input device in the hidden USB ports underneath the clip-on accessory.

But how could it be used? Server Maintenance, Testing Linux applications, RPi Project Parts, like LED Indicators, Power Buttons, and maybe even some of the things on the Bitscope, and much, much more. It is just an RPi3 in a fancy case, so the application is only limited by how you use it.

gpolder writes:

As a radio ham I would rather like to have kind of a spectrum analyser. Unfortunately these are real expensive. Now with the advent of software defined radio there are cheaper ways to monitor the output  spectrum of our home brew equipment.

I found a very nice idea at adafruit (https://learn.adafruit.com/freq-show-raspberry-pi-rtl-sdr-scanner/overview ) where a SDR-RTL TV dongle is used to display the spectrum between 25 and 1800 MHz.

I replicated that design using a Raspberry Pi with 7 inch display (like Ben used in the Bitscope project) in a Smart Pi Touch case. Here is a video of my project:

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It would be great though, to enhance this design with:

• an upconverter to cover the lower frequency bands (qrp-gaijin: RTL-SDR upconversion with diode-ring mixer: part 2).
• shielding the dongle to protect it from interference.
• adding BNC and/or N connectors.
• add selectable input attenuation (50 ohm).
• put everything in a nice case like Ben did for the bitscope project.

I'm really sure that Ben is able to create a great project out of this idea.

keuninckx writes:

So, using an Arduino, current clamps and some electronic parts, develop a device that can limit the current that's flowing into the grid coming from a grid-connected-inverter that is powered by solar batteries. The limiter should control an electronic potentiometer. Make it work for three phase grid. Each phase should be controlled independently. Also measure the power, generated from solar panels/ batteries, the power used to charge the batteries, the power sent to the grid from the solar panels, the power used from the grid, in a three phase system. With possibility to log the data and send the data to a website to visualize the data. All built around an Arduino or similar. Make it cheap to build but accurate and safe. Also use the weather forecast to do stuff like defining when to charge the batteries with a generator. So it is possible to go off-grid.

Workshopshed writes:

How about a servo and dc motor tester? For field testing motors or for understanding unknown motors

Servos

• How much current is drawn by a servo
• Which wire is which?
• Control to vary the angle
• Control to vary the PWM frequency?
• Pins to connect the servo

DC motor

• For a dc motor also the current is useful
• Control to try different voltages
• Speed and direction controls?
• Connectors screw terminals or a selection of standard RC connectors

For my purposes power via a mains adapter would be good but I suspect for the RC and Robot crowd would prefer battery power.

Bonus feature: USB control for long term testing with data logging

dirtyelf writes:

i have been working and interested in optics for a while now. the laser harp you made was one of my favorite projects, becasuse... well, lasers! i believe that optics and light in general is the way of the future. light computers will hopefully soon become a thing that everyone can own. ive recently designed multiple light spectrometers, which are essentially an oscilloscope for light, and thought that would be an excellent project for ben and the gang to tackle. the units i work with are probably a bit beyond the scope (see what i did there?) of the show, but i went and taught 3rd graders how to make a simple spectrometer out of a CD and cardboard. i think if you fell somewhere between a 3rd grader's spectrometer and a professional unit that would be awesome! i design the mechanicals for systems like this and have always wanted to learn more about the electronics behind them. it would be great so see ben design the electronic circuit needed to drive a detector, or photodiodes as well has have a scope for my own probing at home!

here is a great resource: https://publiclab.org/tag/spectrometer  the cardboard spectrometers on there are very similar to the ones we built with the kids

pro tip: make sure you allow for focus adjustments if you intend to include lenses in your spectrometer, this way you can optimize the performance of your spectrometer!

sherbieny writes:

Posted my DYI project:

Raspberry PI - Ohmmeter

ohiocomputerguy writes:

This build is amazing.  Would fit in perfectly with my idea for portable workbench.  The workbench includes a custom benchtop power supply,  a fitted space for the pi-bitscope, portable soldering iron, breadboard, custom helping hands and an assortment of passive components as well as a handy fold down magnifying glass.  Basicly an entire workstation in a 14" wooden box to take with you on road.  The attached photo is a mock up of what I have envisioned it to be.