A Better Relays Board Installed

It took me a little while to install he new relays board I made with Rectifier Bridge Diodes before each of the relays in order to cure that problem I was having with the SFX module I had put together. I had to do a fair amount of shuffling things around on my stock dash to make things fit right. (left).

You may recall from earlier posts when I was working on my Voice Projection Unit that I had the on/off button hooked up to a Step Relay that was located about where my new relays board is now. What I ended up doing was moving the Step Relay to the same location as the on/off button for the V.P. Unit and mounting it behind the panel that the button is mounted too (right). I also made up a small Rectifier Diode Bridge module with terminal blocks that I could easily wire up to between the on/off button to the Step Relay and mounting that in behind the panel as well. I like it a lot better now because when you press the V.P. button the loud click from the Step Relay is right behind where the switch is located and not on the other side of the dash like before, so in many way it makes more sense this way.

A Better Relay board

This is a much nicer relays board than my last one which was more for experimentation more than anything just to see if certain things were going to work the way I wanted them too. This new one I put together is better laid out, has more relays on the board and more terminals for the DTMF request from the Voice Box. The board is a little shorter than my old one width wise but a little higher height wise but given that it better made and has more on it I'll be able to work that under the passenger side of the dash a lot easier than my last set up. This new board also has Rectifier Diode Bridges built in before each relay so this will eliminate the problem I was having with switches that activated relays interrupting my SFX module when the relays were switched off. I'm a little fuzzy on how that works exactly but it works and it cured the problem so that is what counts. ;)

SFX Module Installation

I have a few of the SFX wired up in the car like the Turboboost sound, K.I.T.T.s introduction and the two Knight Rider themes (Narrated and Un-Narrated). The Turboboost SFX is connected to my switch pods Turboboost button and the other two or I should say 3 SFX are connected to my Space Matt buttons. The two Knight Rider themes are on the same SFX pin on the Adafruit board so they are hooked up to one button.

After hooking up those few SFX out in the car and giving it a test I did notice something unusual that happens, the SFX all play fine when the buttons are pressed but while the SFX is playing if you hit another button the SFX stops or seems to reset, which is odd considering I have not yet connected up the reset pin wire. I have a hunch that I may need to add in some rectifier diodes into my wiring scheme and see if that cures the issue. I think my SFX module might be getting some kind of signal backwash from the other buttons so I'm hoping that the diodes should correct that. I'll do some experimenting today and see. lol it's funny how things work awesome on the bench until you actually install it into the car along with all the other electronics and then discover annoying little issues like this ;)

Arduino Radar Project

I'll bet this data could be worked somehow in Unity to draw a working radar screen,

Adafruit Mini SFX Board With TDA2030A Amp. Module UPDATE

I combined the Optocouplers board for the button inputs for my Space Matt buttons by soldering it onto the other piece of Protoboard that I had already attached the Adafruit SFX mini and TDA2030A Mini Amplifier boards onto. I soldered the inputs for the Optocouplers to 3mm screw terminal blocks to make connecting the wires from my Space Matt buttons easier later on when I install this module into my K.I.T.T.

There are a few things left to do like add in the power regulator to convert 12V into 5V for the Adafruit board, right now I just have one 100 uF Capacitor soldered onto the board seeing how I had it on hand, I still need to add a 10 uF Cap. and a small ceramic 100 nF cap to go with the power regulator but those are minor details that just basically involve waiting for them to arrive in the mail. Now the Optocoupler board you see mounted onto my main board also sends a pulse for the DTMF tone request on the Voice Box through a wire that will be connected to the screw terminal block mounted on the lower right side of the board (above left). I have four more sound effects options that do not require a pulse to be sent to the DTMF because they will be wired to the Switch Pod buttons and they already have a tone request being sent from the Switch Pod buttons. So I'll see if I can squeeze in four more Optocouplers onto the board somewhere for those loose green wires you see sticking out of the left side of the main board next to the Adafruit module and see if I can also squeeze in two more 3mm screw terminal blocks, it's going to be tight but I think I can do it, if not then I'll just have to add in another side board with the Optocouplers on it.

In the meantime to make things easier for me to install this module when completed I worked out a diagram to illustrate where all the pin outs are located on the module (right). It's coming together though just a few more things to do and then I can wire it up for a test in the car before seeing about perhaps stuffing this into an enclosure to make for a nice install.

Adafruit SFX Mini Flash Sound Board with TDA2030A Amplifier Module

I have put together the Adafruit Mini Flash SFX Sound Board along with the TDA2030A Amplifier module onto a piece of Protoboard. Took me a little while to solder out the pins and Speaker connection screw terminal block so I could solder the pins onto the back of the board and add some more pins for where the speaker connections go. I relocated the original screw terminal block from the Amplifier board to just the right of the module on the Protoboard and then connected the two with some jumper wires.

Right now I am powering the Adafruit SFX board with a USB cable but I have some LM7805 power regulators on order so I can just wire in 12V and split a portion of that off to power the Adafruit board with the 5V output from the LN7805.

I also started to make my Optocoupler board for the Sound Effects that will be generated from the Space Matt buttons. Some of the sound effects will be generated from the Switch Pods and I will not need the DTMF request wire that I have worked into this board as the Switch Pods already send a DTMF tone request. But I figure just incase I ever re-purpose these little boards for something different in the future it might be a good idea to have the ability already on the little boards. Here is a diagram of how I have the Optocoupler board wired (above left). Some other buttons I may need to get a little tricky with using that 555 timer board to request the Monitor Activation Sound when I turn on the lower console buttons for either the GPS or LCD screen as they are latching buttons and the Adafruit SFX board just needs momentary connections to activate any of the sounds on the pins.

The Birth of a PCB

In many ways I am leaning to both appreciate and hate Proto-Board. I can see where it has it's uses but it sure is kind of hard to work with for a newbie like me on more complex circuits, lol and this is hardly what most would probably call a complex circuit. ;) This kind of thing always looks better on a nice printed PCB board and it makes putting the components onto the board a lot easier too, I realized this when I made the simple two LED flasher circuit that came in the electronics starter kit I bought on eBay as it had a simple small printed PCB board and soldering in the parts following along with the instructions was child's play compared to this ugly mess you see here (above left).

One has to admit that the printed PCB boards are so much nicer, cleaner and professional looking, even knowing where to solder your components onto the board is much easier to determine with all the tracks on the board clearly traced onto the board.

I have to give very special thanks Andrea lannaccone one of my Knight Rider friends on Face Book for doing this very awesome printed PCB for me. Andrea walked me through the simple process of how he creates these very nice printed PCB's.

The drawing of the circuit diagram can be done in applications like EAGLE, (left). Once you have your circuit figured out you then print your design onto a transparency.

Andrea shows the transparency here (left) with the 555 timer I.C. just dropped into it's correct orientation just to check for accuracy in the circuit design. Sometimes two transparencies may be required if there are any areas that may not be completely solid black or may have holes where the printer miss printed, can happen with transparent film from what I understand.

Next the transparency is placed over top of the Copper coated PCB board, some people use a picture frame with glass to hold the film firmly against the PCB. Andrea uses a product called "Presensibilzed" which is a PCB board with a special Photo resist ink printed over top of the copper coating on the PCB. The transparency will mask the areas of the board that are to be kept.

The PCB is them blasted with Black Light in a dark room for a certain amount of time. 
Next you have to wash off the excess Photoresist with a solution of water and Caustic Soda.
 The next stage is the Etching Bath which will remove all of the areas affected by the Black Light (lower left).

What comes out of the etching solution after all the unwanted Copper has been etched away is your final beautifully printed PCB board (lower right). From this point all that is needed to be done is drill in your holes with a fine drill bit for your components, solder them carefully into place and then you are done, out side of giving it a test run ;)