Broad Ambition - The Model

[grendel]

the CNC router has bought a whole degree more of accuracy to this, suddenly I can cut accurate parts to 0.1mm, accurate holes through things, anything up to a size 270mm square, in wood brass aluminium or plastic, I see a whole new horizon opening up, things that I could have 3d printed can be carved out of solid blocks of wood, or soft metal.

[BroadAmbition]

Wiring, lights, doors

It’s all progress 

Griff

[grendel]

so, having realised what a useful tool the cnc router was, what else could i cut, a few months ago i had carefully measured the hull shape for a stand, at 2 spots, this still really needed checking, and i needed a low profile stand for the model while working on it, 2 birds and all that, so another session in the design software, and an early (9am) start to noisy work, the neghbours in the air bnb that next door has become had kept me awake all night with their incessant chatter, they were still going at 5 am when i woke.

the machine isnt that bad, its just a small hand router, but it runs for an hour or so making cuts.

anyway a hour and a half later i had cut out the supports for the hull, gone back and cut some bases to glue them onto, and cut those out too, talk about precise edges - crisp and sharp.

[grendel]

the brackets hold the model nicely (once I had rounded off the corners where planking meets keel, then came a feature Griff had told me was incorrect - the space above the forward cockpit steps, it has a cutout (there is a board that can infill over here) after that the bulbs were fitted into the cockpit lights- then tested on the power supply, I am liking the colour and brightness of these fittings.

at this point I spent a good hour and a half poring over the photo albums to fins one showing the helm switches, in enough detail to read, I had to go back to some pictures I took in 2016 to find the one that when zoomed I could read the labels - well I have to get the lights wired to the correct switches, dont I?

that has now been noted down, and the fiddly work in tight spaces will soon begin.

[Ray]

The lights look great, just the right temperature (I think that's the word I'm looking for) 👍

[BroadAmbition]

the space above the forward cockpit steps, it has a cutout (there is a board that can infill over here)

The infill board - We did away with a long time back. (Although it might still be in t shoreside locker)  It used to be for the tv to sit on which was the MK II location.  We are nowadays on the MK III location, finally cracked it, there won't be a Mark IV.

I'm due onboard the full size version this weekend, so if there are any photo's / measurements you require or any questions - Ring me.  You are welcome onboard too of course as per the norm

Griff

[grendel]

so not a lot to report this week, as I think through the wiring it becomes more complex, so I have been considering how to do it in simpler ways, this turns out that I need some parts and connectors I dont have, so those were ordered and I am awaiting delivery, I have figured that my new way of doing things will make the wiring easier for me and easier to follow, but more of that when I start doing it.

in the meantime, since I did the cutout in the forward roof, the lack of detail in the doorway was bothering me, so onto the removable step section, I added some sides going into the doorway, this is just cosmetic, and is only attached to the step section (which sits above the motor) so is removeable for access. i need to tidy it up slightly, but its basic form is there.

[BroadAmbition]

[grendel]

yes I have used a bit of artistic licence where the steps start, it makes lifting the rest of the floor easier. (as well as fitting around the motor underneath)

[Smoggy]

I see you have used some artistic licence with Griffs new mop, looks like a cotton bud to me.

At least there's spares for when it gets nicked again.

[grendel]

well the good news is that the postman delivered some of the items I have been waiting for, veroboard and connectors, this will mean I can start constructing the distribution board, basically I can set 2 strips on the veroboard as plus and minus, the plus will feed the switch panel which will then feed other strips on the board, feeds can be plucked from this using connectors going the opposite direction picking up the circuits from the switches.

veroboard consists of rows of holes connected by copper strips in one direction, the copper strip tracks act as a common rail from which power can be drawn, you can break the copper tracks by cutting them, thus isolating 2 sections of the same strip, by soldering the strips of connector pins to the board, it enables connectors to be plugged in and unplugged to connect or isolate certain circuits, each light can be wired to a seperate connector, and where 4 lights are present 4 connectors can be used to get the power.

[grendel]

for the eagle eyed viewer amongst you, you will see that the veroboard has 9 tracks, and my largest connector only 8 holes, there is reason behind this apparent madness, the switch panels have only 7 and 6 wires, one wire will be needed as a positive busbar, one as a negative busbar, the beauty of this is that if I create a test link that bypasses the switches (a connector with all 8 pins connected, I can feed all of the positive circuits from the positive busbar at once, yet not short out the negative which will be on track 9, so basically I can use these different connectors, just connecting the negative of the lights to one side, and the positive to the correct switched pin, ignoring the other spaces or if I run a bundle of wires to a mix of lights, I can connect to several pins for that cable loom. this gives me a versatile wiring distribution system that can be expanded in the future as required.

[Smoggy]

Is this going to be radio controlled for motor and steering? It wouldn't take a great deal more to add remote control to the lights as well via one of the cheap fleabay rf switches.

[grendel]

yes Smoggy it is radio controlled, but after going to all the trouble to fit working switches on the dashboard, it seems a waste not to use them,

not a lot of progress today, I need to map out the connections required for the veroboard.

Added to that I have been playing with another new toy, I wanted to be able to print using PLA material, my current printer is mainly used for ABS, and to use PLA is a bit of a faff as after using ABS, the residue left in the nozzle can cause issues with PLA, so it is recommended to use a seperate extruder for this purpose, but at around £98 each it gets a bit expensive (I have actually worn out 2 nozzles so far printing ABS,.

for £139 I was able to buy a small printer, that can nearly print the same volume as my old one, and a friend who had recently purchased one recommended it - so I spent about an hour this morning putting it togeher (really easy on a scale of 1-10 for ease of construction, i give it a 9 (only because i had to put away the paper instructions and watch the video to get the orientation of one part) since then I have printed sme test prints using the material I have to hand (the same stuff I used forr the light fittings in the cockpit)

In fact as a test I printed a light fitting using the best quality settings (slightly better than the top quality on my existing printer) and I am happy to report that the quality of the finish is excellent (that came out slightly yellowed as that was the colour of the previous filament and I didnt run enough through to fully clear it.)

still more test prints are being run to see how things come out, but so far I am liking it- and all for only slightly more than the cost of a new extruder for my existing machine.

I have made notes of the circuits required and the connections needed for the veroboard, so when I get some time that will be a nice project.

[grendel]

this is the printer, currently running another test piece

[grendel]

wiring diagram completed, more connectors ordered as i need some with 2 pins and other configurations.

[Bikertov]

2 hours ago, grendel said:

wiring diagram completed, more connectors ordered as i need some with 2 pins and other configurations.

 

Can you not just cut down the longer connectors to 2 pins, or whatever you need ?

[grendel]

I can with the male connectors, but I needed more of the female ones to plug in anyway, so I have just ordered extras

[Bikertov]

Ah - that makes sense !

[grendel]

well after bright lights, magnifying glasses, tiny soldering iron and squinting a lot, the connectors are mounted on the veroboard. two cuts were made across the tracks to separate out some of the circuits. and the voltage regulator is plugged in, next stage once the connectors come in will be wiring up lights to work off the board, different circuits have been given different colours, with the positive being red and the negative bar blue (nearest I had to black) so you can see in the top left there are 2 red sections, one for incoming power from battery or solar panel, and the outgoing power at 3v from the voltage regulator for the LED's, by the end everything will be disconnectable by unplugging (i will need to label each circuit too.

[Bikertov]

A very elegant solution to powering all the lights etc, if I might say. 

[Smoggy]

Does the real BA sport a psychedelic hedgehog?

[BroadAmbition]

Some electrical connections / items deep within her wiring systems does sport somethings that are similar

Griff

[grendel]

not overly pleased with myself, I have managed while testing the power board to blow several LED's how did I manage this I hear you ask, I had tested the voltage regulator at 3v and it worked, unfortunately I didnt fit the one I had tested, but an identical one, and turned right down instead of 2.95 volts this one was 3.1V, this difference was enough to take out the LED, whether it was a surge in voltage as I connected or what, I dont know, what i do know is I have at least 3 LED's to replace now (future testing will be done with spare non installed LED's. the trouble is I had encased the LED's in superglue when fixing them into the fittings- the blue deck lights worked fine as they have a very slightly different voltage range (up to a fractionally higher voltage than the others, so it was always going to be a balancing act to get the correct voltage that allows everything to work (3v was that voltage) but 3.1-3.2V and some dont like it.

 we will get there, I am just upset I didnt test with spare LED's.

[Bikertov]

If the LED's are so sensitive, would it be a good idea to split the busbar and used 2 or 3 regulators spread across the LEDs, in case one surges and blows everything ?