I don’t even understand how to use github, let alone this source hut thing. I’m an old and I’m not a programmer girly. I do use Linux exclusively though!

  • segfault11 [she/her, any]@hexbear.netMEnglish
    13·
    1 month ago

    1. download and install sourcetree https://www.sourcetreeapp.com/ , you don’t need to make a bitbucket account, just skip any steps that imply you need one. you can also give a fake name and email when prompted, those can be changed later (if you ever need to push changes to git repos)

    2. download and install kicad https://www.kicad.org/

    3. use sourcetree to clone https://git.sr.ht/~_410bdf/sphynx , location isn’t super important but put it somewhere you can find it

    4. go to “sphynx/Electronics/Boards/Lite/Lite Alpha 1” on your computer

    5. go to step 16 here https://www.build-electronic-circuits.com/kicad-tutorial and follow their instructions to either upload the “Lite Alpha 1.kicad_pcb” file if you are getting the PCB printed by oshpark, or the relevant .gbr files in the “jlcpcb/gerber” folder if using another vendor for PCB printing

    6. buy the parts listed in “Lite Alpha 1 Bill of Materials.csv”, it has URLs to specific ones

    7. solder the parts as shown in the schematic, which you can see when opening the .kicad_pcb file in kicad. be aware that some parts like diodes need to be oriented in a specific way, though others like resistors don’t

    8. test it on something before trying it on yourself

    idk sorry i couldn’t be more helpful, there’s a lot you need to know to build electronics and i don’t really have the time or energy rn to make a whole guide on it. it does not help that i actually don’t have experience with kicad since my electronics experience is with another program called eagle 😬 so i am just winging it there. fwiw there’s plenty of electronics guides out there written by people smarter than me, but this high level general outline should be enough to get you at least thinking of how something like this would be done. also guides on things like git, i recommended sourcetree because that’s what i use because i prefer to use a GUI app whenever possible, but it’s also possible (and some would say preferable) to use the command line version

  • Hermes [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    13·
    1 month ago

    It’s hard for me to tell what the authors current intended route here is. I think they want people to order assembled PCBs (green circuit boards with electrical parts on them) from JLCPCB (A Chinese PCB fab that caters to low cost PCB assembly). If you do this, you shouldn’t need to solder anything, as they assemble the whole thing and just send you some.

    PCBs are made of a sandwich of copper layers and fiberglass that connect electrical components as specified by a designer. These are the green boards you see in nearly all electrical devices.

    Assembly involves soldering electrical components (resistors, capacitors, and integrated circuits) onto specified places on the PCB. Some parts just sit on top of the PCB (Surface mount/SMT/SMD) these are generally smaller and easier to assemble, and are the most common type of part today. Through hole parts go through holes in the PCB that they are then soldered to, they are generally found in older devices, and you likely have to pay more for them.

    DISCLAIMER

    Personally, I wouldn’t order something like this without actual documentation and and available tech support from the person who made it. There is too high of a chance for stuff to go wrong, and without any EE background you are gonna have a difficult time parsing it and fixing issues.

    Ordering

    Download the 3 files from here:

    https://git.sr.ht/~_410bdf/sphynx/tree/main/item/Electronics/Boards/Lite/Lite Alpha 1/jlcpcb/production_files

    • The “GERBER” file describes the shapes on the PCB itself, i.e. where the copper is and what each layer on the PCB itself looks like. Think of it like a stack of images that show them what to produce.
    • The “BoM” file is a list of parts required to assemble the PCB, mapped with JLCPCBs internal part numbers.
    • The “CPL” file shows where each part should go on the board.

    Go to jlcpcb.com and make an account. Then go back to the main page, and hit the quote button. After that there should be an “Upload Gerber” button, select the gerber zip file to upload, it will take a moment to process, and the page will reload. You should probably select the “lead-free HASL” option for surface finish for obvious reasons.

    Scroll down and click the enable button to the right of PCB assembly, it should ask for your BOM and CPL files in order, upload them when prompted. Send a picture of the preview it gives so I can make sure all the parts are correctly oriented. If you don’t want to send it, or are asking in the future, the metal part on each part should be touching a metal part on the PCB. You should send a picture of the given quote here, as part costs may have been adjusted since the original design, and you don’t need to pay a $3 fee for each part.

    After clicking through that, it should just be like adding stuff to your cart and ordering like on any other ecommerce website.

    Addl. Info

    Possible other things you would need: https://hexbear.net/comment/6923121

    Feel free to ask any other questions you have about the process, I wrote most of this from memory. I haven’t ordered or worked with electrolysis machines, so I can’t be as helpful there, but I do have a decent EE background.

    Main post for anyone looking: https://hexbear.net/post/7682243

    Another similar project people mentioned: https://gitlab.scd31.com/stephen/hair-electrolysis-machine-hardware

    • tactical_trans_karen [she/her, comrade/them]@hexbear.netOPMEnglish
      1·
      1 month ago

      Thanks!! I should have specified I actual have formal EE training and I’ve actually made my own circuit boards. But it was so long ago that software wasn’t available and we made the circuit boards by hand using stencils and knives to cut out the film then etch away the uncovered copper. It was pretty fun!