E.O.L.E.R.

Doing Electronics - Part 1

2009-09-17T20:57:00.001+05:30

If you are studying electronics, you are ought to have fun (If you are not having fun, you are missing something!)! I am going to give you some ideas about how to get started.

What would you need

A multimeter

The most essential measuring instrument that Electronics Engineers use, I think is a multimeter. It is a great tool you might want to use when you are working on something!

You can get these for approx. Rs. 350. Try to get a digital one.

A breadboard or two

After that, for prototyping and experimenting and for HAVING FUN (Most importantly), you would like to obtain a Breadboard.

You can get these for about approx Rs. 80. These are actually connected dots where you plug in your components, and get ready for action. At the middle parts the holes are connected vertically, separated only by the canal between (The Canal is used for placing DIP ICs). And for the sides, each side have four equal parts, which are connected together, insert a wire, and do some continuity checks with you multimeter and you will get the idea.

A power supply

I myself recently broke my old PC and got the SMPS unit out. That is a great power supply, with lot of assorted voltages capable of giving me a lot of currents (Reminds me of childhood crayon packets).

I assume you won't be able to get one, so I would like to say that you should be get a 'Wall Wart', those plug in power adapters (I don't have any), to give you about 12Volts DC. Then you can regulate to the voltage you need with voltage regulators. There is a good reference of how it can be done here, it is pretty simple!

You can insert that power jack into something like this, or cut the wire to get the copper strands out!

Use a 78xx IC to regulate to specified voltages.

Like this:

These are the voltage regulator ICs, a very very useful one!

And then you just put them like this

The capacitor in parallel is there as you there might be some fluctuation in voltage, to keep the voltage more steady! Whip out a multimeter and check out the voltages there by attaching the probes to the points concerned. Be careful not to short the terminal, it might kill some component or the Power Supply.

At the input (The middle as the negative or ground, and the left most pin as input pin <24 Volts). You get near 12 Volts.

You get the output of near 5V at the right most pin w.r.t the middle pin i.e the ground.

And you have it. Your voltage regulator.

You can obtain a 78xx IC for Rs. 6.

7805 is for 5V output. 7809 is for 9V output. 7812 is for 12V output. Pretty nifty ICs those are!

Check out SparkFun's tutorial, they have a good tutorial for this voltage regulator section. There is a power supply section, check that out! If that doesn't help, email me! I will elaborate on that...!

Also whenever using any IC, check out it's datasheet.

Or for beginning low power circuits or digital circuits you can use batteries, two pairs of 1.5Volts batteries attached in series, making 6Volts. Get something like this.

And get a adapter, and use attach a single stranded wire at the end, to use it with breadboard. Make sure the positive and ground terminals are not shorted anyhow, they will blow the batteries. Cover exposed terminals separately with some sticky tape!

If you maintain the battery orientation then you will get positive power at the red wire. You can get these pretty cheap, Rs. 8 approx.

Keep in you workspace

Wires

Get single stranded wires, they are good for using with breadboard, otherwise you won't be able to get them into the breadboard holes. You can get them for Rs. 20 for a 1.5 Yards approx.

Short wire, derived from the longs wires

You will have a stock like this after you work for a few days! :D

Wire Stripper/Cutter

This things come real handy!

LEDs

These are not light bulbs (These are current controlled components), they have polarities, and when running them with voltages like 5V, do keep a current controlling resistance in series, like 330 ohms. How did I get this value? You need approx. 10 to 15 mAmps through LED, and LEDs has a .6V voltage drop, do the Ohms Law maths and you will get it. Always maintain polarities, LED are diodes. There is a notch to tell you the negative polarity. Attach them to right polarities. They are very useful for indicating circuit outputs, specially TTL outputs (LOGIC). Basics for using LEDs in circuits.

And then come the discrete components

Kids, do not keep them like this, I had to because my room was to be cleaned. Keep the stuff assorted, especially the resistances! You can get Re. 1 for 3 resistances of a certain value. Capacitors come in variety, but they are not expensive.

Electrolytic capacitors have polarities indicated by strip on their body, the strip side pin in negative.

And resistors have their colour codes denoting their values. You can also measure it with your multimeter, which you probably did you your basic electronics laboratory.

The other stuff

Switches

This is a Dual Pin Dual Throw (DPDT). This can be used as a switch! :D

Potentiometers

Also keep a paper cutting knife to clean component pins and a pair or tweezers to grab them.

You cannot mount all the components on a breadboard, sometimes you need to solder wires on their terminals. Soldering takes practice and patience. Here is a good tutorial. And another one. If you are having trouble with that get help from your local expert until I become expert enough to publish a tutorial on that.

For soldering you will need:

A soldering iron (Rs. 170 Approx) for a decent one, you can get one for less that Rs. 50 also. ("Tatal" in Bengali)
Solder Desolder flux (Rs. 10) (Some call 'Resin, "Rajan" in Bengali)
Solder (Rs. 10 for a reel) ("Rung" in Bengali)
Cotton Wool or Sponge (for cleaning the hot tip)

A soldering iron looks like this if you never seen one...

The tips get hot to melt the solder and then you get to solder the components.

If you did take a course on basic electronics, you probably know all these!

After reading this you know how to make a DC voltage source, go do some simple fun electronics!

What I wanted to tell you that you will be able to get started with building stuff at home with under Rs. 500. So next time you get some money, think of having some fun! You can find all the components here at your local electronics shop. I believe there you will be amazed that there are many electronics enthusiasts in your area you didn't know. They can give you a lot of tips.

Note: Use the internet for help whenever you can!

Top 5 Web Browsers and their Vital Features

2011-06-12T23:57:00.000+05:30

The very first thing we do, when a necessity for data arises, is open an internet browser and begin searching. There are a number of browsers having their very own distinctive features but right here we will talk about those browsers which have established a big consumer base and are continually on a move to allow a cleaner internet experience with insight into their main performance parameters.

Mozilla Firefox

Firefox has emerged as a well-liked web browser for it permits a quick and reliable browsing experience to users. It comes with various noticeable features and add-ons to facilitate the customers' experience with the internet. Its latest version is Firefox 5.

Ease in Utilization : Means to open numerous sites concurrently (Tabbed Shopping), one click on bookmarking, spell verify, Restore Classes, Easy Scrolling, Password Supervisor are a few of the many features that make it extremely easy to use.
Security : In terms of offering Security, Firefox scores the best compared to different browsers. It is Anti Malware, Anti Phishing browser that allows Non-public Searching which helps in safety of private information. One may customize safety settings with regard to passwords,add-ons, etc.
Pace : Firefox permits a quick searching experience and with its latest version, the speed is definitely going to increase.
Supported Configurations : Firefox is out there for Windows (Vista and XP), Mac OS X and Linux.

Why Firefox?
The wide selection of extensions that Firefox gives attracts folks to use it as their browser to have an excellent expertise over the web.
Google Chrome
Though new within the field, however Google Chrome has pulled off rather well not as a result of it comes from Google however due to the simplicity in its usage and fascinating features it presents to the users. Also Chrome is fast and secure to use.

Ease in Utilization : Chrome is particularly designed to allow ease of use. It has much enhanced Tab features which take Tabbed Searching to the next stage and make it organized and convenient to use. It additionally offers the required tools whereas keeping the interface uncomplicated.
Safety : Chrome ensures a high degree of security to its users and sends warning signals to point the presence of a suspected website. It assures to protect from malware, phishing schemes, viruses, etc. It makes use Sandboxing expertise allowing each tab to run independently. This helps, in case a tab develops some downside, it won't affect the functioning of different tabs.
Speed : Chrome is much quick to load and permits a speedy experience.
Supported Configurations : Chrome is out for Windows Vista & XP and Mac.

Why Google Chrome?
Primarily for its simplicity and excessive pace, Chrome seems the suitable choice.
Internet Explorer
Internet Explorer, ever since it was introduced has enjoyed huge popularity and has kept itself updated with launch of new versions. It's nonetheless the widely used Browser but competitors in the market has led to a decrease in its market share. Nonetheless its rapport is powerful with folks nonetheless utilizing IE 6 though IE 7 & 8 have long made their entries. Although Microsoft has provide you with the most recent IE 9 Beta which boasts of support for CSS 3 selectors and improved efficiency of JavaScript however right here we are going to talk about IE 8 because it presently has maximum share.

Ease in Utilization : Web Explorer 8 permits a significantly better tab experience and facilitates those who open several tabs simultaneously. It's fairly simple to use as one can discover all the required instruments without a lot effort.
Safety : IE eight comes loaded with helpful Security measures comparable to InPrivate Shopping and SmartScreen Filter. While the former helps forestall disclosure of personal shopping classes, that's, it does not save the history if the mode is activated, the latter affords protection against phishing and malware.
Speed : In comparison to its earlier variations, IE 8 takes less time to load web pages and subsequently permits sooner experience.
Supported Configurations : Windows Vista, XP and 7.

Why Web Explorer?
Safety features of IE 8 make it favorable.
Opera
Opera is a perform rich internet browser and an internet suite that comes with useful in-constructed instruments, however still it occupies a small market share. Its latest version is Opera 11.

Ease in Usage : It is fairly straightforward to make use of Opera with its in depth Tab features and skill to customize as per the wants of the users. It affords several options to make searching a friendly experience.
Safety : Like Firefox and Internet Explorer, Opera allows Personal Looking and thus helps in securing personal information. It additionally gives safety in opposition to malware, phishing, viruses and pop-ups.
Pace : Opera is fast pace browser however it poses compatibility points with some websites.
Supported Configurations : Is appropriate with Home windows (XP and Vista), Linux and Mac OS X.

Why Opera?
The excessive degree of customization that Opera offers makes it appealing as an internet browser.
Safari
Safari is a product of Apple that gained instantaneous recognition especially among the Mac customers and accommodates all the necessary features supplied by different browsers along with some new ones.

Ease in Usage : For Mac users, Safari affords glorious experience. It could take a while to get used to it for non Mac customers but general it's easy to use Safari as a browser.
Safety : Safari allows Personal Looking, protects in opposition to malware, viruses, phishing and also offers Parental Controls.
Velocity : Safari is a fast browser which loads pages faster.
Supported Configurations : Windows and Mac.

Why Safari?
Safari is best for Mac users.

Having seen the usefulness of various Browsers it is time to check their popularity when it comes to usage by the users. You'll be able to refer to this link - http://w3schools.com/browsers/browsers_stats.asp.
This was our effort to make you familiar with the top web browsers, out of which you'll be able to select the one as per your requirements related to use of Internet.

What's new in Adobe Dreamweaver CS5

2011-06-13T00:03:00.000+05:30

These are the latest addendum(s) to Adobe's Latest version of Dreamweaver CS5 (Creative Suite 5) :

BrowserLab Integration
The Browserlab Integration feature of Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 means that you can see your website in many alternative browsers. This characteristic lets you to carry out cross-browser testing of your website.

It will allow you to see how your live pages will seem to your users. You'll be able to evaluate the completely different internet pages by stacking their snapshots
Easy methods to construct an internet site by CMS - CS5 is the answer
A great new function of Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 is that now it has a CMS support for WordPress, Joomla and Drupal. Now you would not have to go searching to study ways on how one can make a website by CMS because you'll get everything in the CS5 solution. If you are not proficient in coding, even then you will be able to make fantastic websites.

The code enhancing process also has turn into simple with the code hinting function in the CS5 package. You will profit considerably through the use of one other great characteristic of CS5 which shows the syntaxes of various features of PHP.

Now you can easily develop the code in appropriate syntax because of this feature. You can also add code hints and syntaxes of your own.
Website-Particular Code Completion
Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 offers you site-particular code completion tips. CS5 permits you to utilize many features of WordPress, Joomla and Drupal
Clever coding help
The Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 offers you coding suggestions for varied frameworks like HTML, AJAX, and JavaScript. You'll be able to study while you build.
Adobe Business Catalyst Integration
You have one more glorious feature in Adobe Dreamweaver CS5. It permits the combination of Dreamweaver with one other Adobe service, the Adobe Enterprise Catalyst.

You can easily create and add nice-trying web sites even in the event you wouldn't have any programming background. Begin on-line promoting of your merchandise immediately

Enhancements within the following options of Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 have additionally been carried out
Improved CSS Inspection
Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 is providing one other nice enhanced feature of CSS inspection. With a single click on on the 'Inspect' button, you'll be able to change the styling of a selected element. Identical to you do with the FireFox add-on, the Firebug

You'll be able to easily view the CSS properties intimately without having to learn the code. This characteristic rids you of utilizing a separate utility for it.
Integration of FLV content
The characteristic of integrating FLV content into the online web page has been drastically enhanced. Combine the FLV recordsdata by a simple click

Adobe Dreamweaver CS5 is without doubt one of the finest net authoring tool. It allows you to either write code yourself or make use of the visible services for constructing the website.
Non-programmers also can create WordPress plug-ins easily.
This has been a brief abstract of what's possible with the new Dreamweaver CS5, if you want to really get on prime of all the new options you may wish to take into account discovering a very good Dreamweaver tutorial.

Most Popular Computer Programming Languages

2011-06-12T23:43:00.001+05:30

If you are a budding computer genius you positively wish to know what the most popular programming languages are. Regardless of what your mother might have instructed you, reputation does matter; a minimum of when it comes to program languages. If you are going to take the time to study a posh laptop software program and hardware programming language, it is necessary to know that the skills you are buying will probably be helpful in the true world.

Many surveys have been conducted in the effort to find out the most well-liked programming languages. These surveys also take into account components such because the functions written in that language, accessible jobs requiring expertise in the language, developers utilizing the language and number of Net searches for that language when the outcomes are put together. These are the languages programmers have to know now--the ones to study before you even think about getting a job in the field. Some are more necessary than others. C, C++ and Java are among the many most important. There are actually a whole lot of programming languages on the market, and numerous computer-related publications have tried to quantify what the five, 10 or 20 best are.

A number of the most popular languages that programmers have to know embody the next:

Ajax
C, C# and C++
Delphi
Java
JavaScript
Perl
PHP
Python
Ruby
TCL
Unix Shell Scripts
Visual Basic

Depending on which publication is conducting the research and who responds to the survey, these might be in any variety of combos on an inventory of probably the most popular. Some won't be included in some lists, and others could be at the high in a single listing and the bottom in another. All the programming languages on this cluster could be worth the time in case you are serious about studying them. If you are planning on going into a specific career area it is best to definitely learn about the specific languages that you'll want to make use of for that sort of labor as well. With the suitable programming language knowledge, there's no telling where your career can go.

An Introduction to Python

2011-06-12T23:38:00.000+05:30

Python is a kind of programming language that is interactive, object-oriented, and may be interpreted. Therefore, interested programmers or those who wanted to expand on their programming data base must partake in a python tutorial to ensure that they will study more associated techniques. This language has almost the same perform and form as other more fashionable forms of programming comparable to Java and Pearl. To get extra detailed data on this language and other important particulars, you possibly can check out the python tutorial below.

The interpreter Python is responsible for working the language that is processed. It can be used for producing mainly any sort of system, whether or not it's inventory administration, video gaming, or different systems. Certainly, it has loved a wide range of software within the fashionable world and so Python tutorial is a must.

This programming language was introduced within the late 1980s and early Nineties by Guido van Rossum. There is a development staff that is at present handling this programming language and offer Python tutorial for individuals who wished to be taught more of this programming technique.

You can access the Python supply code by way of the GNU General Public License. A lot of the Unix/Linux net hosts feature Python already put in onto the system. However, if you should not have the Python source code but, you may download it to swimsuit the operating system used.

You possibly can therefore take a Python tutorial to get an overview as to how this programming language works, or to get a refresher course. There are a number of potential sources of Python tutorial available on the web, so it could be finest to look at these options to get the information and knowledge you might want to know. Some of the Python tutorial accessible cover the following subjects: set up of Python, simple programs that may be finished with this programming language, loops and conditionals, variables, and script programs, error dealing with, file I/O, and beginners' information, among others.

Your Python tutorial will therefore start to cowl on how you can arrange the Python source code. Then, you'll be walked through the fundamentals of Python programming till you progress onto the intermediate Python programming information. As soon as the first two steps are coated, your Python tutorial will deal with Robust Pythonistas so you'll be able to embark on full initiatives utilizing this language.

Once the essential knowledge has been lined, the next logical step within the Python tutorial is introduction to the Python 3.0 version. If you will discover assets that provide video tutorials and modules, then it will be better to facilitate in the learning process. Select assets with a step by step guide to make it simpler to learn as you're increase in your information earlier than moving onto the more advanced forms of programming scripts.

There are certainly two kinds of programming that you will be taught via Python tutorial: primary and advanced. Throughout basic programming tutorial, you will find out about fundamental syntax, setting, fundamental operators, variable types, loop control, numbers, strings, tuples, and different associated factors. In superior programming tutorial, one can find out more about courses or objects, CGI programming, networking, sending e-mail, reg expressions, XML processing, further extensions, and plenty of more.

If you needed to be taught extra details on the python tutorial, you can take a look at PythonTutorial.Org and get an in depth info and explanation.

Forums

2011-06-05T20:30:00.000+05:30

E.O.L.E.R. Forums

Terms Of Service

2011-06-05T12:50:00.012+05:30

Web Site Terms and Conditions of Use

Terms

Use License

Permission is granted to temporarily download one copy of the materials
(information or software) on E.O.L.E.R.'s web site for personal,
non-commercial transitory viewing only. This is the grant of a license,
not a transfer of title, and under this license you may not:
1. modify or copy the materials;
2. use the materials for any commercial purpose, or for any public display (commercial or non-commercial);
3. attempt to decompile or reverse engineer any software contained on E.O.L.E.R.'s web site;
4. remove any copyright or other proprietary notations from the materials; or
5. transfer the materials to another person or "mirror" the materials on any other server.
This license shall automatically terminate if you violate any of these restrictions and may be terminated by E.O.L.E.R. at any time. Upon terminating your viewing of these materials or upon the termination of this license, you must destroy any downloaded materials in your possession whether in electronic or printed format.

Disclaimer

The materials on E.O.L.E.R.'s web site are provided "as is". E.O.L.E.R. makes no warranties, expressed or implied, and hereby disclaims and negates all other warranties, including without limitation, implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement of intellectual property or other violation of rights. Further, E.O.L.E.R. does not warrant or make any representations concerning the accuracy, likely results, or reliability of the use of the materials on its Internet web site or otherwise relating to such materials or on any sites linked to this site.

Limitations

Revisions and Errata

Site Terms of Use Modifications

Governing Law

Privacy Policy

2011-06-05T00:42:00.002+05:30

We understand how important it is to keep your personal information confidential. The following privacy policy outlines what information we collect through our website, how we deal with it, and what we do to ensure it is secure.

Throughout this policy, we refer to your 'personal information' which means information which identifies you as an individual or from which your identity can be reasonably ascertained. Your address is an example of personal information.

The personal information we collect through this website usually comes from any comments or messages you submit to us. We automatically collect and record this information with our server logs from your browser. Generally, we obtain your IP address, cookie information and the page you requested.

Changes to Policies

In addition to the conditions of this privacy policy, there are occasionally specific and additional privacy conditions that pertain to specific sections of our site. These specific and additional provisions have an impact on your privacy protection so we strongly suggest that you assess them wherever they show up. If you find that the conditions of this privacy policy and those other specific and additional conditions contradict one another, the specific and additional provisions will prevail.

If we make any changes to our privacy policy, we will post them on our website so you are aware of them. It is recommended that you visit this website privacy policy from time to time to keep up to date with the latest version.

Security

We have numerous security systems in place and our aim is to protect the security and integrity of your personal information. Once we get possession of any personal information, we take reasonable steps to protect that information from misuse and loss and from unauthorized access, modification or disclosure.

Unfortunately, when it comes to the internet, nothing is guaranteed to be entirely safe. So although we make every effort to protect your personal information, you need to be careful because anything can happen.

Cookies

These days, it is not uncommon for sites to use "cookies" to identify and learn about site visitors. Cookies are miniature identifiers that work as a license plate because they help us to identify you if you visit our site again. These identifiers are sent from a web server and are stored on your computer's hard drive. We may set and access cookies on your computer because they help us to see how you found our website. Under no circumstances would we ever use them to get data from your hard drive, your email or any other personal information about you.

To ensure your privacy is secure, we do not use cookies to pass on or store any personally identifiable information about you online. You have the option of rejecting cookies by changing your browser settings but this can cause some web pages not to load properly and can result in denied access to certain information.

Use and disclosure of information

We share your personal information with a third party because they assist us with managing and hosting. We may also share your personal information with service providers that help us with:

consulting;
archiving;
auditing;
technology;
security services;
mailhouse; and
delivery

We do not disclose your personal information for our own benefit. The reasons why we may use or disclose personal information that we collect about you are:

if you provided it for a certain purpose;
to uphold our relationship with you;
if you have agreed to the use or disclosure;
for examination or for marketing use;
where a third party acquires, shows interest in acquiring, or makes inquiries in relation to acquiring, an interest in this website;
if we are required or authorized by law to do so; or
for website usage/user statistics

We also like to keep our site visitors updated on our services, progress and any other relevant matters. When we do this, we filter out the irrelevant information and invitations and only send what we believe is relevant for your company. If you would prefer that no contact was made, please let us know using the contact details set out below.

Links

Many websites these days contain links to external sites. Our site has links to the websites of other organizations which we believe could potentially be of interest to you.

We are not responsible for the content or practices of these linked sites. They are separate businesses and they have their own privacy practices which are not identical to ours. If you want to find out more about them, check those websites for their respective privacy statements.

Accessing your information

You have the right to request access to any personal information which we hold about you. All you need to do is use the 'Contact Us' set out below. Be as detailed as possible about which information you seek, so we can help you as soon as possible. In order to cover our costs of providing this information to you, an access fee may be charged.

Contact details

If you have any queries or concerns about privacy, or you would like to file a complaint about the way in which we have handled your personal information, you should contact us.

Contact Us

2011-06-05T00:31:00.002+05:30

Sitemap

2011-06-05T00:33:00.001+05:30

Using MinGW and Bloodshed DevC++

2009-09-08T19:44:00.000+05:30

If you are bored with that old blue screened IDE, Borland Turbo C++, then you can make use of some really good change for free. That is the MinGW compiler.

Why would you use MinGW?

Using MinGW is much more fun and easy, as you ge to develop your programs in Windows IDE (IDE: Integrated Development Environment)s. Windows IDEs feature code completion, auto fill etc etc. It will make your life a hell lot easier.

MinGW stands for Minimalist GNU for Windows. It contains a lot of compilers, like C, C++, Java, FORTRAN, Ada. The C++ compiler of MinGW is very robust and built in functions have great memory management. One Word... it is awesome!

I will show you how to install MinGW in Windows and use Bloodshed DevC++. I will be focusing on C and C++ development.

Installing MinGW:

You can always look at the references, at http://www.mingw.org/wiki/Getting_Started. There you can find a 'Automated installer' thing, download that.

Run the MinGW-<version>.exe. There you will find an option, download and install, choose that.

Then you will choose which compilers you wish to install. g++: It is C++ compiler, Objective C (gcc): The C compiler (Not recommended for C programs, doesn't support ANSI), g77: FORTRAN Compiler, Ada: Ada compiler, Java: Java Compiler. MinGW base tools are compulsory. Occasionally you might need MinGW-make. So download that also. (Tick those you need, it would take about 20 megabytes for mingw-make, mingw base tools, g++ and objective C compiler)

After you do that, there will be a prompt that will tell you where to what compilers you wish to install. I would recommend you choose a simple path, like <system_root>:\mingw\. (e.g. C:\mingw\)

Then the prompt will download the whole thing and install the whole thing.

It will download some .tar files which you can open with WinRAR, in the directory the file executable was. And a MinGW-make-<version>.exe. Keep those files for future use. You might want check in MinGW-make is installed by going to the Control Panel > Add or Remove Programs. If it is not installed, run mingw-make and install it in the path where you installed mingw.

Go to My Computer > Properties by right clicking on it.

Go to the Advanced tab.

Click on Environment Variables.

Then in System Variables, there is a variable named Path.

Edit that, and add the bin folder path in the mingw directory (<system_root>:\mingw\bin\ i.e where you installed mingw, the sub directory called bin, like C:\mingw\bin\) separated by a semicolon from the other paths.

That will enabled the Windows Shell (Command Prompt) to evoke the compilers directly from the shell

You can test it, by opening command prompt and then type in g++, assuming you installed the g++ compiler, of gcc if you installed Objective C compiler.

It will appear like this...


D:\>g++
g++: no input files
D:\>gcc
gcc: no input files

Then it means that you have installed it correctly.

I would recommend you to use g++ (The C++ Compiler) for compiling all the C and C++ programs.

You can compile programs from the command line also with 'g++ <source_filename>'. It will produce a a.exe file which is the compiled program. You can use 'g++ -o <program_filename>.exe <source_filename>' to produce a .exe file of your choice. You can always replace the names it with the path for both files. Type in 'g++ --help' or' g++ h' for full command line parameter list.

You do not need to download every time you install MinGW. Just extract all the .tar files in some directory, where you would like install MinGW, and the run mingw-make.exe, and install that in that folder where you are installing MinGW. And that will do it. And do not forget to add the mingw\bin path to the Path variable of system variables.

The best part is the MinGW comes with the standard library of C and C++.

Installing Bloodshed DevC++

Download Bloodshed DevC++ (3 megabyte for the non-mingw version), the non-mingw version as you installed mingw earlier. You can also download the version with MinGW, and not install MinGW separately. But you lose the fun and some key points.

Just install it plain like you install any other program.

Run a program baby!

Fire up DevC++, from Start Menu or anywhere, create a new file, type in a Hello World program. Do not forget the getch() and conio.h. And remember, here main has a return type int, and add return 0 to the end. Like this,


int main(){
printf("Hello World!");
getch();
return 0;
}

Save it (.cpp format recommended for C and C++ files, it will take C++ as default) and from Execute menu, Compile and Run. Ain't it FUN in Windows!? Now you even listen to The Beatles while you are programming and change song without minimizing the whole IDE.

If there are any errors they will be shown in the bottom. Just like old times in that blue IDE.

If you are using a internet service which bills you for the data you transfer, I would say you would need near 25 megabytes for the whole thing.

ENJOY!

P.S. Any suggestion for this guide will be highly appreciated. This is my first guide, so I might have missed many aspects.

Note: You can compile any C program with C++ compiler and extension. So go on with .cpp format and g++.

Annoy-o-tron

2010-02-05T03:23:00.000+05:30

A very late update. I thought this will circuit would be Fun enough. So posting it.

It's works...

Now here is the schematic of this circuit, you can easily implement it on a breadboard.

You might wanna use Potentiometers as those variable resistors. Just solder two wires with two consecutive terminals of a standard potentiometer. Something like this available in my area. If you find any breadboard mountable potentiometer, use those! You need a 470 Ohms, and a 100K for this circuit.

[caption id="attachment_91" align="alignnone" width="600" caption="A potentiometer"][/caption]

You can use any speaker you want. I used an old speaker salvaged from an old PC cabinet. You can use any small speaker you want, anything smaller than the half of your palm. :D

I suggest you use 4 x 1.5 V AA batteries for supply (Vcc). Or anything you may like. To make it safe, I suggest you keep it near that 6V DC, greater than 4V. Do not hesitate to use your multimeter all the time you feel it's need.

Build the circuit and have FUN! Feel free to experiment with the values and components.

This 556 timer is actually two 555 timers in one integrated circuit. If the circuit doesn't work at the first power up, then turn the potentiometers. R2 is to control the beep time and R3 is to change the pitch of this annoying sounds.

P.S.- No offense, you may already know it. GND is the negative of the DC voltage source. :)

Doing Electronics - Part 2

2009-10-15T20:37:00.000+05:30

Let's make a simple circuits, which has visible cool transient appearance. Actually I built this NE555 Timer circuit first and had a lot of FUN and learned many great lessons. I suggest you do the same.

Electronics Club has a nice tutorial for using breadboard, thus, as they have it, I won't be detailing on making circuits on breadboard. Check the tutorial here. I would recommend you read this, with the IC Pin Numbering Section. This tutorial features a 555 Timer in Monostable mode. I will be giving circuit for an astable mode.

NE555 costs about Rs. 7, you might be able to get these in your local electronics shop.

This schematic is made on EAGLE PCB Layout Designer. This is a Cool Software to check out!

[caption id="attachment_116" align="alignnone" width="371" caption="NE555 in Astable Mode"][/caption]

I built this circuit on a breadboard, (VCC should be about 6V)

You cannot see the battery connection here, because I didn't connected those there. I use the side bars for Power terminals, the bottom row is for VCC, and the above for GND. Remember to check the polarities you connect. The 6V supply should be at the +ve terminal of the Battery and the GND should at the be -ve.

I leave the LED Colours to your choice I used high brightness green LEDs. You can use a 12 Supply in VCC, but it might just kill the LEDs. For 12V change R3 and R4 to 22o Ohms to get the current to safe limits. Remember to keep the LED current to near 10 to 15 mAmps, for safe and long operations. LEDs are not bulbs!

It looked like this:

Go build this yourself and have some fun. You can change the timings by changing the values of R1, R2 and C1. C2 doesn't essentially have to be 100nF, it can be other values like 10uF etc.

Output (PIN 3) High Time = 0.693 x (R1 + R2) x C1

Output (PIN 3) Low Time = 0.693 x R2 x C1

Study the 555 IC Datasheet and you will learn all the stuff you need to know.

Basic soldering and desoldering guide

2011-03-13T23:31:00.000+05:30

Soldering:

First of all, clean your PCB, components and even the soldering iron tip itself and make it free from dust and contamination. You can clean an oxidized pcb by rubbing an ink eraser over it. Components can be freed from dust by scraping them with knife and so. Now secure your components over the pcb so that it doesn't move during soldering. insert all components in the pcb and turn it over then move the legs of the components criss-crossed and cut the surplus leads. If your circuits contains semi-conductors, don't criss cross their excess legs as during soldering, they'll help dissipate off heat and hence protecting your semi-conductors. I won't recommend soldering ic's directly as they may easily get damaged due to excessive heat building upon them. Instead solder dual-in-line socket into which you can put integrated circuits easily. Parts like resistors heat up quickly so raise them a little above the pcb in order to make a good air flow.

You can easily distinguish between a good and bad joint by looking at it. good joints are shiny and smooth looking and will provide good connections between the component and the pcb whereas a bad joint is dull, irregular and won't provide a reliable connections between them.

Now tin your iron by applying a little solder to cover its tip. New bits should be cleaned immediately after cutting its packet to stop it from being oxidized. Now heat both the component to be soldered and its surrounding copper on pcb simultaneously up to 2 seconds and apply solder to the pcb without removing the iron's tip from it. Then stop supplying more solder when you think that's enough. Now remove your iron and put it back to its stand with precaution. Note that you should first remove solder then only remove your iron. This process shouldn't normally take more than 10 seconds unless its your first joint and you're very nervous. Believe me, there's nothing to get nervous about. Ensure that no part is moved until the solder cools and re-solidifies.

Troubleshooting:

Solder gets scattered everywhere forming tiny spheres except where I want it to be: This means that the area is exposed to dust/grease/oxidation, etc. Take the measures I stated above to clean it off.

Joint is irregular and grainy looking: This means that the component has been moved before the solder solidified.

When I remove iron, the solder forms spike like thing: This happens due to overheating of solder which results in boiling away of flux.

Desoldering:

Sometimes you make a wrong or bad joints due to which connections are either loose or no connection is made at all. Such a bad joint is known as "Dry Joint". It usually happens due to dirt or grease present on the PCB or components which prevents the solder from melting properly onto the parts, thus the solder forms tiny spheres instead, perhaps partially. Another sign of presence of dirt is that it takes a long time for the solder to cover the exposed area. Sometimes, a component fail to work properly too. Thus, sooner or later, it becomes necessary to desolder the dry joints to solder a newer and fresher coating of the same. You can use a desoldering pump or a desoldering wick for this purpose.

Desoldering pump: Firstly load the pump by pushing its button and then melt the solder of the faulty connection. Then bring the tip of the pump in contact with the molten solder and release the pump button. Hence the molten solder is drawn up into the desoldering pump. It usually takes two to three attempts to desolder successfully by using this way. It is a must have tool for our kind of PCB work.

Desoldering wick: It is also known by the name "Desoldering Braid". It is a wire mesh made of fine copper onto which a special chemical is applied by the manufacturer which draws molten solder into the wire and the solder solidifies afterwords in this wire. the best way to desolder using this is to put this in between the faulty joint and hot soldering iron tip. The hot soldering iron melts the solder beneath it and the wick in contact draws it. Now remove the wick first and the soldering iron second as if the soldering iron is removed first, the wick will solidify on the pcb and you will face difficulty on removing the wick, even sometimes damaging your PCB. I recommend you buy a reel of this(@ Rs. 3 to Rs. 5). This proves to be extremely helpful in difficult joints where desoldering pump requires several, several attempts.

Remedies for burns:

If you're not careful enough, you may receive burns due to the hot soldering iron. Take the following first aids if you receive one: Immediately remove finger rings and others before swelling starts. I then apply toothpaste to it without water and voila, the burns are gone withing 3-4 hours. But don't blame me if it does not work for you. Seek medical help if necessary.

A toy car autonomous

2010-03-02T00:58:00.000+05:30

I used an ATmega8 with TSOP and motor driver L293D. The good thing was that the inductive voltage boost protection diode is inside the L293D. That reduced lot of complexity in the part of PCB design. The rest was easy. I had a proxy sensor, so I didn't had to build that.

The construction is pretty much simple. No big deal.

Circuit Symbols

2011-04-10T19:42:00.000+05:30

The circuit symbols below represents one of the natural ways to learning electronics. When you are reading a book, magazine or circuit diagram and you come across a symbol that you do not understand, where do you go?
This is "crunch" time. If you don't understand a component, the whole operation of the project may be lost. That's why we have made the Library so complete.

The Circuit Symbols Library is the hub of learning.

Cool AVRs!

2009-10-05T18:44:00.000+05:30

These days it is I am spending my time with AVR microcontrollers. I am learning how to use it's features (e.g I/O, interrupts, ADC etc etc.). The twitter is the only thing I update these days!

:)

I will be posting a basic tutorial on programming and using AVRs after I gain some knowledge on these. It is pretty cool, if you cannot wait, Google out and do some research, programming these is easy!

:D

UART, ADC and timer interrupts

2010-05-10T23:49:00.000+05:30

It was an attempt to work with all three features, ADC, UART and interrupts on a ATmega16. This AVR chip provides a these very good features that are very useful. Reduces a lot of design complexity.

Used timer overflow interrupt for sampling the ADC data. Detected change, and sent it over to UART. The printf feature I used here was pretty useful. I used it to print characters over UART with printf statement. Reduced much of the coding complexity. Has a few macros to change the stdout stream for UART. Check out the technique here. I took a little to time to set up the ADC, but ultimately it was very easy to use with AVR-GCC. I uploaded the C code and the HEX code on drop.io. Take a look!

I used MAX232 for interfacing with the RS232 serial port.

Links:

AVR-GCC stdio.h standard I/O facilities: http://nongnu.org/avr-libc/user-manual/group__avr__stdio.html

ATmega16 datasheet: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/resources/prod_documents/2466S.pdf

The code and hex: http://drop.io/adcuartint

Starting with Microcontrollers

2010-04-15T20:15:00.000+05:30

Microcontrollers are a computer on a chip with in built prorgam memory and ROM to behave like a small computer. Here, in my area, there aren't many choices of microcontrollers other than AVR and PIC. There is also a few 8051 equivalents but they are not really very convenient to work with. I use AVR, recently working with PICs. My friends always ask me how to program a microcontroller. There are many good resources serving you with the nitty gritties of programming and basics of microcontrollers. I gave a list of link of some resources at the end this post. One of the very first problems you are going to face if your college doesn't have a dedicated programmer or you want to program microcontrollers at home, is the price of available programmer in the market (A programmer will get you program into the microcontroller). They cost nearly Rs. 2000 and more (Most of us at this DIY world doesn't have that much money to spend on a programmer). And there come the point if you can build it yourself. When you build it with components at less than Rs. 100, you will have a programmer that can program, but it won't have the features of a good programmer that you will find in the market.

The Market of Chadni Chowk in Kolkata has a pretty good choice for PICs, but not for AVRs. AVR is available in three flavors ATmega8(L), ATmega16(L), ATmega32(L) in common. ATmega16 and ATmega32 are almost the same chip with different program memories. And it would be pretty good if there were and ATtiny (also great chips) available, but I didn't get them last time when I searched. PIC has a rather better array, I myself got PIC16F628A, PIC18F2550 and PIC18F4550. And there are many more available, like PIC12F675 etc etc. So if you live near Chadni Chowk or can get stuff from there, these are you can find at most. (There is also AT89S52, though very popular and low priced, I won't recommend using that one, when ATmega is available, and priced pretty much the same, and you will get more support and convenience while using ATmega).

I will be talking about programmers now, as I was trying to make a programmer myself from the first semester, and ultimately succeeded in doing so in third.

First I tried to program some PIC microcontrollers. But I kept failing for a year or so. Few days ago I realized that I had a wrong circuit schematic for the programmer. :D

I tried my hand with AVR in the last semster (Third). While doing so I discovered that getting a program into an AVR is pretty simple and easy if your computer has a parallel port (Those wide 25 Pin ports that were used for old printers). In this post I will discuss AVR programming as it is so easy to start with. And it supports C language for programming, and the avr-gcc compiler that comes with WinAVR bundle is supported by Atmel's official AVR Studio IDE for AVR development in Windows.

You just hook some pins of your microcontroller(AVR) with a few pins of your microcontrollers and you will get your program into the AVR. It's that simple. Some people say you put a resistor across the terminals to make the programming more safer. It there is some miswiring, you might get the port dead. I am giving here a simple schematic of a AVR programming interface that I used these days.

You might wanna remove the resistors, as I did and put the circuit on a strip-board. Attach the other ends to the specific pins (Refer to the AVR datasheet for that). You will need a good 5V power supply. Use a 9V battery with 7805 voltage regulator, or you can steal 5V from the USB port, which I do. ;)

This is the setup for PonyProg programming software for Windows. You need this software to get the program from your PC to the chip. First compile it using avr-gcc or if you are writing the programs in assembly, then use assembler that comes with AVR Studio to assemble the program into a .hex file, which you will burn into the AVR. A link regarding this is given below.

Here the programming connection is not like the circuit diagram before. I use avrdude's 'dapa' interface for programming AVRs, and there the connection is customizable. The crystal is 16Mhz, you won't need it, ATmega has internal RC oscillators. Here I put it for my own speed requirements. If your AVR sometimes accidentally goes to RESET, hook the RESET pin of the AVR with a 10K Ohm resistor with the 5V supply. This will prevent it from going to reset while not in programming mode.

Here as you can see an ATmega16 hooked. The other chips I put there, they are not related with the circuit in any way, there are an ATmega8, a PIC18F2550 and a PIC16F628A.

You might also want to check out avrdude, it programs AVRs a lot faster and works really great. Though a command line interface but has a nice GUI frontend, AVR-Burn-O-Mat.

You will need,

Some hookup wires (Rs. 35 for 10 metres of Westex multicolored wires).

An AVR Chip (ATmega8 is available for Rs. 50 at Chadni Chowk).

A 5V Supply.

A breadboard if you are planning to build like the picture below.

A 25 PIN D Connector, or a 9 PIN D connector if you are planning to make a serial interface for programming.

My first AVR programming interface, pretty untidy...

For those who doesn't have a parallel port in there computers, they might wanna use a serial programmer. It works just like a parallel programmer, the only difference is that you will need 4.7V Zener regulator to adjust votlage levels, as the Serial port uses 12V; Or you might want to use a RS232 level converter, just to make the interface more compicated. And if they don't have serial port, they will have to use a USB programmer, which they can buy or build themselves. But building that needs a pre programmed AVR, that they have to program somehow. Or use a USB to serial/parallel converter. I have given a link for the AVR parallel and serial programming interfaces.

Tips:

Do not make the cable out of the parallel or serial port much long, it will make noisy connection and produce error on programming. Try to keep the cables and wires short, for lesser noise accumulation.

Always refer to the AVR datasheet.

Get a parallel or serial extension cable, mostly the PC side parallel port is female, and serial is male. Notice that when you are buying the cables. Try not use make a cable yourself, you might end up getting too much noise and errors.

Use your ideas!

Do use Google!

For inspiration, think all the things you could do with microcontrollers! ;D

Do not play with the configuration bits of the chips. I destroyed an ATmega32 doing this.

Do not put high voltages on supply, this kills the AVRs, I did destroy a ATmega8.

When soldering always use a IC base, or kill a chip like me. ;)

Useful links:

SparkFun embedded electronics tuturial for AVRs, very good for beginning: http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/tutorials.php?tc=1

Making you own programmer serial and parallel, very good reference: http://elecrom.wordpress.com/2007/10/15/make-your-own-ultra-simple-universal-avr-programmer/

avrdude: http://www.nongnu.org/avrdude/

PonyProg: http://www.lancos.com/prog.html

WinAVR, the AVR C development suite for Windows: http://winavr.sourceforge.net/

avr-gcc Lib reference: http://www.nongnu.org/avr-libc/user-manual/index.html

AVR-Studio, default AVR development IDE for Windows from Atmel: http://www.atmel.com/dyn/Products/tools_card.asp?tool_id=2725

Some tutorial on beginning AVR programming: http://imakeprojects.com/Projects/avr-tutorial/

https://ccrma.stanford.edu/wiki/AVR_Programming

AVR C Tutorial: http://www.avrtutor.com/tutorial/thermo/welcome.php

AVR Home page: http://www.atmel.com/products/AVR/, try to get the datasheets for the different chips from here.

AVR Fan Site: http://www.avrfreaks.net/

Easy USB AVR programmer (USBasp): http://www.fischl.de/usbasp/

I have become a fan of AVRs, as it is so easy to program, you will become a fan also when you will get a taste of it. It is just the unavailability of USB AVR making me try my hand with PIC, as PIC18Fs have good USB support. For using USB with AVRs, I will need to handle the protocol all by myself, when using USB interface with AVRs. ;)

Maybe my next post will be on PIC programming interfaces, and how you can build yourself one if you have access to the Chadni Chowk market, at Kolkata.

The Fundamental Theorem of Programming

2010-06-16T19:47:00.000+05:30

I wrote it on another blog, please go there.

Interfacing LCDs

2010-07-24T16:49:00.000+05:30

I have been working on little stuffs these days and playing a lot of games on my new 9500GT and not posting anything on EOLER.

Recently I worked on interfacing a HD44780 based LCD (which is industry standard) using a 4-bit data bus. There are many library which is able to find but none was any good for my needs. Arduino lovers can rejoice as there is a very good and easy to use library for LCD interfacing. But Arduino is not very good for my work (though I modified it to work with my USBasp programmer). So I had to stick to AVR-GCC, and I had to write a few interfacing functions for my own purpose on ATmega8.

Interfacing a LCD is easy once you get the instruction and data functions written properly. And LCDs are pretty cool as you can get a 16x2 character LCD for Rs. 100 at Chadni Chowk and put it on your other cool gadgets and make those gadgets even Cooler.

This is my LCD in action with a few custom characters (The Smileys)

I found great help from these links:

A Guy from Berkeley wrote a few lines on interfacing LCDs

Ashish Derhgawen from Bangalore connected the LCD with parallel port

Ricky's World on LCD

The ALL IN ONE Reference

The HD44780 Datasheet

Let's start with how will you start working on it. First get the wiring right and carefully choose ports. I would recommend a 4-bit data bus it you are using a low-pin-count microcontroller as you will need other ports for other stuff. Note which pins you connect where. Get a hold of delay routines of microcontrollers. Assuming you went over the above links and can control microcontroller ports (If you are using a microcontroller).

Then check the timing diagram from the datasheet and send a few insruction and data to the LCD. You can find the details on link no. 3. First you need to give the FUNCTION SET instruction to set the data bus and all. Then you need can CLEAR the display and send additional instruction for more features like cursor and all. Remember to pull RS and E high before writing data and only E when giving instructions. I would recommend not to check busy state, instead just wait with delay routines. Set R/W pin to GND for that purpose, it will make life easier.

And you can also create custom characters on the LCD. Take a Look.

Happy Engineering!

Introduction

2009-09-07T22:51:00.000+05:30

This is the first post of this blog EOLER. This blog will be providing resources for engineering students studying specially in West Bengal. There has always been a lack of structure, system and resources online for Engineering Students of West Bengal. To fill up that big gap, we will be providing tips, tutorials and aggressively easy guideline for students.

We will be posting soon!

Though focused on West Bengal, all around the Globe is Welcome...!

Happy Engineering Folks!

Busy these days!

2009-12-22T04:26:00.000+05:30

I am having the Exams these days, and so I cannot update these stuff at a regular basis. And I am planning to do some study on PWM, Port Controls and Timer interrupts after my exams, so I won't be able to publish stuff on MCU I think as I would be busy doing these stuff.

Any one who is interested on getting started with MCU so use Google. There is loads of good stuff you can get a help from.

Being careless...

2010-12-13T22:57:00.000+05:30

I thought I would be able to update stuff in this blog. I thought this blog will reflect what I have been doing. But sadly the work I have been doing didn't leave me much time to think about this blog, to care about this blog.

I thought I would post component prices and all but I have moved to a particular family of micro-controllers, which is not readily available in the market here in Kolkata.

I waste too much time on online social networks and pretty much useless stuff. I suck at time management. And that is why I cannot maintain this blog. I am really sorry. I don't know if I will be able to make this blog whole.

I thought I could recruit people to write about what they are doing. But I couldn't find anyone.

Sorry... this initiative is kinda over (for now) ... :(

New people on the blog...

2011-04-16T17:47:00.000+05:30

Happy to announce, two more revolutionaries on the blog. Aakash and cyborg09. They will be posting about stuff too soon.

As for me, I may start posting again.

Your Name :
Your Email :
Subject :
Message :
Image (case-sensitive):