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<div class="moz-cite-prefix">Here's the image --> <a
href="http://i.imgur.com/EeIByb5.jpg">http://i.imgur.com/EeIByb5.jpg</a><br>
<br>
That's a scan of Ye Olde-Fashioned Hand Drawn Electronic
Schematics. It's a pretty minimal setup, TBH, one USB port for a
powered (or not) hub, a simple (if a little clumsy) Mims-inspired
momentary-switch power on-off setup, and R-2R ladder DACs (and
some transistor based level-shifter buffers) to a VGA port.
Ethernet port is a bit weird -- it's really a Gigabit+POE
connector where I've tied the POE bits to ground and used only
half the transformer. (The GPIO ports to Ethernet LEDs are
strictly optional...) I'd LOVE the part numbers for your cheaper
parts -- the PCMCIA card slot I found was over $6 and the Ethernet
jack was IIRC like $14.50 (geez louise!!).<br>
<br>
You could actually build this on perfboard (like the crap at Radio
Shack). You'd need to have custom dongles for the card slot and
SATA port, and the USB port would be on a header -- but that's not
hard. Use a pair 80wire IDE cables from a (slightly) older
computer, cut them up to make a pair of 68wire cables, tie every
other wire to ground on both sides... use the leftovers for the
SATA connector in the same way. It would probably work OK-ish as
long as the video resolution didn't go too high...<br>
<br>
On 10/15/2013 10:58 PM, Christopher Thomas wrote:<br>
</div>
<blockquote
cite="mid:CAMs4gwu=xsY5C-PBbX8qknw0Q_TcQumzE-E653rYx_UDNKzrKw@mail.gmail.com"
type="cite">
<div dir="ltr"><br>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<br>
<div class="gmail_quote">On Tue, Oct 15, 2013 at 8:38 PM,
Christopher Havel <span dir="ltr"><<a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:laserhawk64@gmail.com" target="_blank">laserhawk64@gmail.com</a>></span>
wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> Just a little
something I cooked up ;) no pictures yet, but here's a
wall of text about it...<br>
<br>
I've got hand drawn schematics made up for an EOMA-68...
er... I'm calling it a Carrier Board for now (the PCB
that the CPU card goes into). This one uses only
through-hole components, and all but two (the PCMCIA
slot and, oddly enough, the Ethernet jack) are very
cheap. The idea is that someone like me who is rather a
bit of a dunce with the soldering iron can still put it
together in a dedicated weekend, if so inclined. <b>That
is, a person with fairly beginner-level hobby skills
can buy a fistful of parts and a CPU Card, etch a PCB
(or get one from somewhere) and after a few hours of
lead fume inhalation, has a complete computer in their
hands.</b> That's a huge gift, I think, to the Maker
community, not to mention the technically-inclined poor
folk out there (I *know* I'm not the only one!)...
seriously, it sounds like good stuff to me.<br>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>With the exception of the Through Hole components,
we're right there with you... here was my idea I am
currently in the process of building right now. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/carrier_board/">http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/carrier_board/</a></div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Regarding the Ethernet component, I have a Gigabit
Ethernet jack that has magnetics and is through hole that
is only $3. Also, I have a Hirose PCMCIA connector that is
ALSO very cheap ($3.69), and is through hole as well.
ALSO, it can be had for free from "NeedASample.com". The
board I mentioned above will be listed as opensource and
free to download and modify.</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> My two rules for
designing were (1) no surface mount anything at all
period end-of-story, and (2) use as many very standard
parts as possible. Every component can be had at Mouser
Electronics in single unit quantities.<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>My consideration to this would be, while Through Hole
is definitely easy, SMD is ALSO easy (within reason), it
is only perceived as complicated due to the size
differences. SMD components aren't necessarily more
fragile, and they are certainly manageable for the common
person. I have taught several high school classes and
freshman college courses on SMD soldering by hand with
commonly available tools. My most common recommendations,
1) Clean TIP, 2) Flux, 3) Steady but abundant heat
availability. Also, if soldering SMD, for passive
components, it's easier to stay within the 0805-1206
range, and TQFP/SOICS, QFN and BGA ARE doable by
moderate-average skilled people, but just require more
patience.</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> The Ethernet jack
has the magnetics built in, so it's (unfortunately) the
most expensive part on the board -- but I couldn't find
a through-hole Ethernet transformer... I've probably
also omitted some necessary things out of simple
ignorance (I have a hunch that there's more to the USB
connection than four wires, a power supply and data
feed, and the connector itself, for instance). I'm more
budding hobbyist with this stuff than anything else --
but hey, you gotta start somewhere, right? ;)<br>
<br>
The only thing I don't like is that it still requires a
custom PCB unless one wants to do some very creative
dongle-making... probably doable but it'll be very ugly
in a number of ways. That said, I'll be quite surprised
if this design cannot get away with using a single-sided
PCB -- meaning any shmuck who can get to eBay can order
the supplies to make the board at home if they want to.
(Sounds a little like me!)<br>
<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div>Most boards that require high current, or impedance
matching will need to be 2 layer at a minimum, and 4 layer
is recommended for the larger component counts. A simple
carrier board like you are describing has already been
made</div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div><a moz-do-not-send="true"
href="http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/micro_engineering_board/">http://rhombus-tech.net/community_ideas/micro_engineering_board/</a></div>
<div>, and it consist entirely of through hole components. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>The Second Revision to this board will be going out for
prototyping this week. Pictures and Details to follow this
weekend. </div>
<div> </div>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0px 0px 0px
0.8ex;border-left-width:1px;border-left-color:rgb(204,204,204);border-left-style:solid;padding-left:1ex">
<div bgcolor="#FFFFFF" text="#000000"> If anyone wants to
try reading my horrible chicken scratch I'll send out a
link to a scanned copy, otherwise I'll try and work up
the motivation to move it into my graphics software
(CorelDRAW X3), since, although I have a copy of Kicad,
I never really bothered to learn how to use it
properly...<br>
<br>
Any interest at all?<br>
</div>
</blockquote>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>There is TONS of interest, and the market is there. My
company, and others, will be releasing several iterations
very soon, all open source, and easy to purchase, build,
or assemble. They will be easy to send to places like
BatchPCB, SeeedStudio, or even your local hackerspace (for
those that can do 2 layer etching). </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>I have given 3 Presentations in the last 2 weeks, they
have all been received with very warm and interested
queries, with things like "Do you know what I could use
this for?! When can I buy it? Can I have this sample?! How
many can you sell me?" </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>Your ideas are very much welcomed, and if you like, I,
or any number of people on here, would be more than happy
to look at what you've got. Or you can post images to
imgur and include the links via a new topic thread to let
everyone see. </div>
<div><br>
</div>
<div>And if you have any questions, please feel free to call
or email me any time, or post a question to the list, and
someone should get back to you shortly. </div>
</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
</div>
And welcome to the list/world of EOMA and embedded ARM.</div>
<div class="gmail_extra"><br>
<div dir="ltr">
<div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">Christopher
Thomas</div>
<div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">
Firemoth Industries, LLC - Owner</div>
<div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small"><a
moz-do-not-send="true"
href="mailto:christopher@firemothindustries.com"
target="_blank">christopher@firemothindustries.com</a></div>
<div style="font-family:arial;font-size:small">
<span title="Call with Google Voice">cell: 214-458-5990</span></div>
</div>
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