You need 3 of IRF510, they are the transistors. As usual you can get them cheaper from someone other than Radio Shack. A IRF520 would also work, there are lots of potential replacements.

MOSFETs are good parts. The RS version is a poor example, but good enough. When they are on they usually only have a couple of milliohms, which means they tend to stay cool to the touch even carrying a lot of amps. If it weren't for the static sensitivity they would be perfect. If you every try designing with them be aware they require 10V minimum to turn on completely.

Looking good from here.

I'm wrapping presents between posts.

 

Merry Xmas and thank you again, I did some shopping at RS and did pick up the IRF510's and a few other parts got some at walko electronics and some at BG. Good luck wrapping your xmas stuff lol. I have tried linking my express sch. schematic to express PCB but this is the first time I'm really using the program and it seems like i'm doing some thing wrong. I don't know if I have to place each component myself or If when linked it's supposed to do the placement. It does confirm that they are linked! Any ideas? Thanks Jim
P.S. Thanks for the thumbs up on the schematic

 

Don't know. I'm way behind you on drawing the schematic. There is one option that crashes, and I keep loosing my work. The plus side is I'm learning their schematic drawing program. I can modify their components to match my standards drawings.

 

OK, I've finished the schematic part. I modified the LED layout mentally, you may be able to figure it out. If not I'll post it for you.

This should translate into a PCB for a board fairly easily.

I'll attach the file to this thread if you want to use it.

 

Bill,
The schematic looks great and I thank you again you and ron also and you're led part got me a bit I do hope you can post that part lol. Thanks Jim

 

I notice you are one of those morning people. Disgusting!

I've updated the schematic to include power supply input wires, and added another capacitor while I was at it. I'll replace the file in post#47 instead of wasting space on AAC. I'll also include where I am with the PCB file, which isn't far. I'm currently putting all the outlines of the parts that will be use, and modifying the parts such as capacitors to what Radio Shack has. Feel free to take them and use them to work with (or play with). As I update the PCB file I'll replace the one there too. It will have to be .zip though, since the file type .pcb is invalid for an AAC upload.

It is funny, but the work I'm doing using Express may be wasted from my point of view. I make my own PCBs. So far I've used Paint to draw them.Express (in theory) is much better, but only if I can print the bottom of the board on my printer minus all the other stuff (silk side too). This is meant to make a PCB that the company will make for you, I'm not sure they mean for people to use it for DYI boards.

I'll redraw the LED matrix using PaintCAD and post it in a bit. Basically I took the last two rows, and instead of having 3 LEDs and 1 LED in the chains, put 2 LEDs per chain. Just balancing things out a bit.

Just for laughs I tried Eagle again, it is as nasty as I remembered it. The designers of Express were actually much better IMO, even with their several bugs. The ability to fabricate a part footprint is major, and the library management is much simpler. I'm probably still going to have to learn it, but I like Express much better.

 

OK, I've updated the schematic on post #24, as well as uploaded the PCB file on post #47. It should answer your questions about the LED changes, as well as show how to place components on the board. I custom built the electrolytics for Radio Shack parts, you may want to tweak them for whatever parts you have.

You can build this for about ½ price if you order from someone other than Radio Shack.

 

OK, I have hit a dead end. I appears Express PCB does not have a router. This is the only reason I would use a PCB program, I can make adequate board using Paint. It will let you lay out a board manually, and do a check on it, but that is it. If someone could correct me I would be more than happy to admit I am wrong.

I have a laid out board, I doubt it can go much further. Next step, I'm going to try to learn Eagle.

 

Bill,
Express DOES have a route function. It does not have an auto-router. I don't like autorouters anyway, they can do some really silly things.

You link the PCB to the schematic; that's how it knows what things should get connected together.

When you click on the line to start a trace and then click on a pad, it turns from red to blue, as does any other item that it's supposed to be connected to. Except for the +12v side of R3, as you showed the +12v symbol, but you didn't show a wire pad or connector for 12v. Forgetting these kinds of things will "bite" you in Eagle, too.

You must have some kind of connector or wire pad in order to get signals/power/ground connected to the board.

 

Look again, the PCB wire connection is there. It is shown on post #47, near the bottom of the schematic. The layout shows it too.

I was hoping for something a bit easier to use. Guess I'll try it and see. Are you familiar with Express? Can it make a board layout that can be printed?

 

Look again, the PCB wire connection is there. It is shown on post #47, near the bottom of the schematic. The layout shows it too.

Hmm, I see that. Wonder why it didn't want to connect? I really haven't fiddled much with ExpressSCH/ExpressPCB. I have version 6.1.1 installed from back in 2007, but dropped it in favor of Cadsoft Eagle.

I suppose that ExpressSCH/ExpressPCB is a "good enough" tool for many folks that don't want lots of whistles and bells. My biggest objection was that the default color scheme was unpleasant for me to look at, and I didn't see an easy way to change them; just a personal preference.

Eagle is much more powerful, but the interface feels a bit quirky until you get used to it. You want to use ERC (Error check) in the schematic regularly; particularly before you generate a board from a schematic - and then use DRC (Design Rule Check) in the board frequently. If the board and schematic get out of sync, your life will be unpleasant until you get them back in sync.

I was hoping for something a bit easier to use. Guess I'll try it and see. Are you familiar with Express? Can it make a board layout that can be printed?

I've only helped a couple people with Express, and the last time was maybe six months ago or more. Yes, it can make a board layout that can be printed.

 

OK, figured out what's going on...
In the schematic, you labeled the AND gates as U4a, U4b, etc. - but in the PCB, there is only U4. Apparently, you can't use a suffix on the reference designator in ExpressSCH without ExpressPCB getting "lost"; it didn't know where pin 12 of U4d was because there was no part with a refdes of U4d on the board. I would've run into the same problem with U2a/U2b.

Eagle allows for reference designator (NAME) suffixes if there are multiple gates defined in a library model for a part.

 

OK, I have the circuit routed. Now to figure out how to print it.

I used a lot of jumpers (8 total) since I'm planning on a single sided board. Some of the routing is a bit questionable, but I think it will work.

Side thought, I probably need to enlarge some of the wires.

 

Hi.

What program to use for open fader.pcb and Fading.sch ?

Found it.

(Often I find it useful to have my eyes open while reading...)

 

Any ideas on how to flip the images to mirror images?

 

How about using GIMP and flip the layer/image horizontally?

Just a thought.

 

Bill,
If you highlight any part in Exp. PCB or Sch and right click the pop up gives you that option. Thanks Jim

 

Noticed that:

1. I find two components named U1

2. Cannot find J3A and J3B

But I guess it's really not THAT important.

 

Bill,
If you highlight any part in Exp. PCB or Sch and right click the pop up gives you that option. Thanks Jim

That is any part, not the whole board. To make DIY board you need a mirror image of the total board. It is also handy for the silkscreen (which is also used in the DIY process). I use the toner transfer process.

For the photographic method it would probably be OK.

Noticed that:

1. I find two components named U1

2. Cannot find J3A and J3B

But I guess it's really not THAT important.

Look again. Zoom up on the part, or print it out. U4 is there (it looks like U1 due to silk screen overlap). You are right about J3, it is not there, and it doesn't really matter.

If you go with the procedure, using a schematic linked to the layout, it will come up with an error if you have two components with the same name. The jumpers are not reflected on the schematic at all, and are outside the rules.

I could redraw this using the parts and text flipped, but at this point I'm basically done. For me it was a learning exercise, if there is way to flip the image as a whole I would still be interested. I don't see how gimp can be used with these file types, but wouldn't mind learning I'm wrong.

Anyhow, there is your board Jim.

 

Bill,
You have routed all of the traces on the top side of the board. Is this what you meant to do?

If not, you could send them all to the bottom of the board. Use the Select tool (arrow) on the top of the left menu, left-click and hold the button down at one corner of the board, and drag to the other corner. Then click the button on the top menu bar that has two down arrows over a green line, which will send all the traces to the bottom of the board.

You don't need to mirror the board bottom if you're using laser transfer.

Unfortunately, you used the default 0.010" trace width, so it's going to be hard to get a good transfer. I don't know any other way of changing the trace size than to select each trace segment one at a time, right-click on it, and select "Trace properties", then select a wider trace width. Don't think I'd go smaller than 0.030".