Beachmaster Files

[Olly]

Hi all, I know that there are a number of you who have expressed an interest in building this detector so to get you going I'm posting all the info I have to date.

The circuit description is mostly complete, but the 'build' part of the document is still very much 'Work in Progress'. Please bear with me, I'll update this as soon as I can.

In the mean time please note that this project is still in its infancy so issues and errors may yet still appear. Please let me know if you find any problems and all feedback will be gratefully received. None of this would have been possible without the pioneering work of the GURU's on this forum.

Beachmaster.zip

Regards

[MartinB]

Thanks Olly

[Olly]

Circuit Notes

I would have preferred to include this note in the first post, but can't figure out how to edit a post.

Regarding the 'Pinpoint' Pushbutton switch, the PCB was designed for a switch which has common as the center pin, in which case the NC pin should be closest to the bottom edge of the board. The switch I received has the 'NO' pin at the center so in this case the switch should still be mounted with the NC pin closest to the bottom edge of the PCB, but a small jumper wire then needs to be soldered across the 'NO' and common terminals.

Regards

[ivconic]

An execrise...

[Olly]

Nice edit, I do like the way you've added thermal reliefs to the plane connections.
I did consider these but figured the slightly better noise characteristics would be worth the increase in soldering difficulty.

[ivconic]

Nice edit, I do like the way you've added thermal reliefs to the plane connections.
I did consider these but figured the slightly better noise characteristics would be worth the increase in soldering difficulty.

I did on top but forgot to do on bottom layer, some of them!
Do you really think that so little copper missing will affect pcb S/N ratio?
...
Your work is certainly more meticulous and tidy and better.
My "scratch" is incomparable. I did it almost all manually, over the bitmaps.
I could import gerbers into Sprint Layout 6 though.
But this time I wanted to spend more time, so I made few bitmaps and used them to draw over.
Sprint Layout can automatically generate ground planes. Yet I did all manually by drawing.
So later I can remove some parts if needed and edit if needed.
But I do it purely as a hobby, to kill time in these boring winter days.
...
But there is another particularly absurd reason!
We have a colleague on the forum who is quite weak-minded and not quite on his own.
It is his habit that every now and then, for no apparent reason; convinces others not to use Sprint Layout in any way,
at any cost. It will be clear to you who he is, when he spots this post. Like a monkey when sees a banana through a fence;
such will be his reaction to what I have written here!

...
Joke aside, redrawing is my favorite hobby on winter afternoons.
And I was interested in your work, so I decided to do it.
...
BTW I forgot to say: GREAT WORK indeed!
Cheers!

[Olly]

I did on top but forgot to do on bottom layer, some of them!
Do you really think that so little copper missing will affect pcb S/N ratio?
...
Your work is certainly more meticulous and tidy and better.
My "scratch" is incomparable. I did it almost all manually, over the bitmaps.
I could import gerbers into Sprint Layout 6 though.
But this time I wanted to spend more time, so I made few bitmaps and used them to draw over.
Sprint Layout can automatically generate ground planes. Yet I did all manually by drawing.
So later I can remove some parts if needed and edit if needed.
But I do it purely as a hobby, to kill time in these boring winter days.
...
But there is another particularly absurd reason!
We have a colleague on the forum who is quite weak-minded and not quite on his own.
It is his habit that every now and then, for no apparent reason; convinces others not to use Sprint Layout in any way,
at any cost. It will be clear to you who he is, when he spots this post. Like a monkey when sees a banana through a fence;
such will be his reaction to what I have written here!

...
Joke aside, redrawing is my favorite hobby on winter afternoons.
And I was interested in your work, so I decided to do it.
...
BTW I forgot to say: GREAT WORK indeed!
Cheers!

Thanks for the positive feedback - much appreciated.

Sprint Layout looks very nice indeed, but I'm a Mac user I'm afraid so it won't run on my system. I use KiCad for all my hobby work and so far I'm quite happy with it as it seems to do everything I need and the price is right .

I suspect that as you suggest, the thermal reliefs won't really add any discernable noise, depending on the thickness and length of each relief trace they'll probably only add around 0.25 milliOhm to each connection point so I'm probably being a bit paranoid when it comes to the noise. I was mainly concerned about the grounding scheme for the front end and its 1000x gain where even a few microvolts of noise become millivolts after amplification.

If you'd like the KiCad PCB file to play with let me know and I can post it on the forum as well.

Regards

[ivconic]

I assume there are lot of members on forum to welcome that too.
Cheers!

[Olly]

KiCad files

In case anyone is interested, here are the KiCad schematic and PCB design files for the project.
These were saved with KiCad Version 6.0

beachmaster_kicad.zip

Feel free to adapt or amend these in any way you wish.

Regards

[ivconic]

[Qiaozhi]

In case anyone is interested, here are the KiCad schematic and PCB design files for the project.
These were saved with KiCad Version 6.0

[ATTACH]56651[/ATTACH]

Feel free to adapt or amend these in any way you wish.

Regards

Installed KiCad 6.0.1 on Linux Mint 20.3 (Una) with Cinnamon 5.2.7 desktop.
KiCad appears to have been greatly improved since I looked at it some time ago.

[ivconic]

Using original gerbers i ordered few pcbs at JLPcb.
But i picked regular post shipping, since any other option is with lunatic price, so i will wait between 45-60 days for pcbs to arrive.
I am not in a hurry, i will wait.
When pcbs are here i will assemble one and report here about my impressions.
Until than...

[Olly]

Using original gerbers i ordered few pcbs at JLPcb.
But i picked regular post shipping, since any other option is with lunatic price, so i will wait between 45-60 days for pcbs to arrive.
I am not in a hurry, i will wait.
When pcbs are here i will assemble one and report here about my impressions.
Until than...

Good luck with the build, looking forward to your feedback.
I do apologise that the 'build' section of the document is still very incomplete, but I am working on it alongside my other commitments and hopefully I'll have an update before you get your boards back.

The 'safe' way to build the board is to assemble and test each functional section in sequence. This is how I built my first one, but I quickly realised that it became increasingly more difficult to solder in the SMD parts once they were surrounded by the larger leaded components. Having gained confidence that the first one worked, my process for the 2nd board was quite different and I fitted all the SMD parts first and then fitted the rest of the components before I proceeded to test and adjust.

I would recommend using a good quality liquid flux and a decent magifying lamp for the SMD assembly. My eyesight isn't what it used to be but luckily I have a nice stereo microscope which is pretty invaluable.

Regards

[ivconic]

Good luck with the build, looking forward to your feedback.
I do apologise that the 'build' section of the document is still very incomplete, but I am working on it alongside my other commitments and hopefully I'll have an update before you get your boards back.
The 'safe' way to build the board is to assemble and test each functional section in sequence. This is how I built my first one, but I quickly realised that it became increasingly more difficult to solder in the SMD parts once they were surrounded by the larger leaded components. Having gained confidence that the first one worked, my process for the 2nd board was quite different and I fitted all the SMD parts first and then fitted the rest of the components before I proceeded to test and adjust.
I would recommend using a good quality liquid flux and a decent magifying lamp for the SMD assembly. My eyesight isn't what it used to be but luckily I have a nice stereo microscope which is pretty invaluable.
Regards

Thanks for the tips.
Coincidently i just came back from a friend who is running pc&laptop service. He is using hot air soldering station(s) for several years. I don't have one yet, so i am planing to buy one soon.
So i went and visited him to talk about that, to consultate and hear his opinion and experiences.
Several years ago i serviced his first soldering station, Gordak 850+. Today i saw 2 new ones, Baku 909 and Baku 852.
Baku 852 is broken. It died suddenly for not so obvious reason, according to his words. Also according to him; Baku 909 is pretty sh..ty one too!
I was interested in his story so i suggested him to open Baku 852 and to try to see what is the problem.
So we spent few hours dealing with that soldering station.
It turns out it is indeed very bad design, actually a s.it for the price.
The heather burned out. Also the pcb is not giving proper outputs.
Also... where the heck is the temperature sensor???!
We dismantled the handle completelly, trying to locate the "sensor".
Yes, the heathing wire was burned, alright. But the "sensor" is not existing at all??
Black and Red wires that comes from the station and through the PVC pipe... are leading nowhere, actually just shorted in the handle?
So... the temperature that is set and seen on the LED display is not real. It is not "read" by sensor but most probably it changes accordingly to the potentiometer position.
Or... both of us are that ignorant and unable to recognize any temperature sensor inside the handle.
So when you see "300" degrees Celsius on the LED display; actually it is not accurate, it can be 260.. or 340... ha, ha, ha! Made in China!
According to his words he bought another handle with heather, brand new, and replaced the old one. On first switch ON; it wont working, acting the same as with old handle.
So we tried to measure the heather resistance on new handle... no resistance at all. Probably broken too?
Also we triend to measure the "sensor" on new handle, shorted too.
Ha, ha, ha!
That's for the Baku 852.
As for the more expensive and more "luxury" Baku 909 (2in1 and more features) the main lack is in fact that there is no air compressor inside large box, the fan cooler is mounted in handle!??
And also showing "temperature" not measured with no sensor at all.
So... total disaster! Wasted money! Job not done. Or partially done with lot of problems... with such soldering stations.
So now i'm in a big dilemma about what to buy? We don't have good and wide choice here on local market.
Mostly (99%) are made by Baku. Prices are "hot" comparing to what i saw inside two of those.
Gordak is not easy to find anymore, it is old model, today considered as real "Merzedes Benz" among those cheap hot air soldering stations.
I am still considering myself a hobbyist. And my budget is quite modest. I don't have conditions to import some better tool from reputable brand.
Nor is easy to import such stuff. Taxes are high.
So... considering all; most probably i will buy the cheapest one here. To be prepared in advance to worst possible scenario.
On the other hand, for almost 2 years i am using ordinary Baku soldering station 936D model, last week i replaced only a handle with heather.
I am pretty much satisfied with the quality of work it provides me. Not bad at all. Two handles with heathers in 2 years is not bad at all.
And 7-8 tips so far. The tinest ones. For precise soldering.
And i do work on daily basis, not too much, but almost every day for hour or few.
So... they are not bad in making ordinary soldering irons and stations... but they sucks big time in making hot air solderind stations.
As fot the liquid flux... it is alright. I can obtain here few brands and few grades of quality. No problem about that.

[gurdal]

Hello master ivica,
I have been using the device on the connection for years, it seems there is no problem.
I don't think you need expensive equipment.
Best regards
https://www.gittigidiyor.com/yapi-ma..._pdp_637215724