Is there a good way to learn electronics independently? [FPGA, prototyping, etc]

[Ichinisan]

http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/interface.htm
http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/
http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/PROJECT_FILES/

A friend sent me her Gamecube because it won't read games anymore. Her little girl loves it and they can't afford a Wii. I thought it would be an AWESOME project to replace the optical drive with an HDD or CF card, loaded up with homebrew emulator software and even backup images of their GC games.

Someone from Crazy Nation graciously posted all of that information linked above, so I'd only need to make a PCB, mount the components, and flash an FPGA.

I don't mind if I have to invest in something to make PCBs and program chips if the cost is reasonable. I plan to build lots of projects in the future. Of course, I'd want to learn the language of programming FPGA logic to make some of the things I'd like to make.

1.) Is there an affordable way to make PCB prototypes at home?
2.) Should I even attempt to learn electronics prototyping without formal training?
3.) Can you order FPGA's that are already mounted on a small PCB with points that are easy to solder? I have poor eyesight and I SUCK at dealing with SMDs.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[William Gaatjes]

http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/interface.htm
http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/
http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/PROJECT_FILES/

A friend sent me her Gamecube because it won't read games anymore. Her little girl loves it and they can't afford a Wii. I thought it would be an AWESOME project to replace the optical drive with an HDD or CF card, loaded up with homebrew emulator software and even backup images of their GC games.

Someone from Crazy Nation graciously posted all of that information linked above, so I'd only need to make a PCB, mount the components, and flash an FPGA.

I don't mind if I have to invest in something to make PCBs and flash chips if the cost is reasonable. I plan to build lots of projects in the future. Of course, I'd want to learn the language of programming FPGA logic to make some of the things I'd like to make.

1.) Is there an affordable way to make PCB prototypes at home?
2.) Should I even attempt to learn electronics prototyping without formal training?
3.) Can you order FPGA's that are already mounted on a small PCB with points that are easy to solder? I have poor eyesight and I SUCK at dealing with SMDs.

Thanks for any advice.

1. It is not expensive at all. Home kits are pretty inexpensive.
But perhaps you should research a more easy option. Let a professional pcb producing company make your pcb. It will be a little expensive, but you have the advantage you can buy it ready available. But you possibly will be needing gerber files. Because these are standard files that describe the design of the pcb.

2. A good way would be to practice a bit first. Start small, build confidence and move to bigger solder projects.

3.
That gamecube will probably will filled with SMD components.
But you must do a little research about flux.
It is the mantra of the yedi warrior equipped with a solder iron.

"Luke... Luke... Use the flux, Luke..." ()

Flux is your friend when soldering SMD. It is not really needed if you have a small point. But heaving flux around makes soldering quick and easy.
Everytime you ask yourself how did they solder those small ic's with 100 legs.
The flux will guide you and show it's secrets...

 

[Ichinisan]

3.
That gamecube will probably will filled with SMD components.

This I know. I've installed XenoGC chips in them with GREAT difficulty so I can boot homebrew. My eyesight has only gotten worse since then.

Thanks for the advice. Do you know if any of those files I linked to represent the PCB design?

 

[Ichinisan]

There's a .SCH file here:
http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/PROJECT_FILES/SCHEMATICS/

Is that an accepted standard?

 

[Ichinisan]

I guess my question is this: If I make the 2hr trip to Fry's today, what should I buy? Some kind of chip programmer? Flux?

I've looked before, but I can't even find a soldering iron tip that's nearly as thin as what I've seen pros using in YouTube vids.

 

[DanDaManJC]

im not sure if frys would have all the components you need. the consumer market for this scale of electronics is pretty small. frys would have a good soldering iron and other basics though.

that said, for parts, digikey and mouser are definitely the places to go to. checkout sparkfun.com too for some pre-made pcbs for specific projects.

 

[William Gaatjes]

I guess my question is this: If I make the 2hr trip to Fry's today, what should I buy? Some kind of chip programmer? Flux?

I've looked before, but I can't even find a soldering iron tip that's nearly as thin as what I've seen pros using in YouTube bids.

When looking at pcb manufacturing, i am sure that there are companies in the us that make pcb's on demand.

Not cheap, But will have most of the stuff you need.
I am not sure this company sells to customers in general. Most of the time you need a company with ( i do not know what it is called in the US) a Chamber of Commerce number that is a wat to look up that you have a legit company.


For parts :
http://export.farnell.com/jsp/home/...sp/home/exportHome.jsp_A&_DAV=en_EX_DIRECTEXP

Mouser and digikey sell to customers.

When it comes to solder irons :
Weller is nice but expensive.

But i have some alternatives for you from amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...r+iron&x=0&y=0

If you do not solder much, perhaps this is a good alternative :

http://www.amazon.com/Aoyue-937-Digi...3998880&sr=1-5

When you have experience, you can use the hot air solder tool.
I am planning to buy the aoyue 852 model for home use. At the moment i can do everything i want on my work, but it can be handy to have the hot air heat gun at home as well.

http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_no...ue+852&x=0&y=0


When it comes to flux :
http://export.farnell.com/jsp/searc...nsearch_001&Ntt=flux&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial

Take much caution, you need good ventilation with this stuff. And wash your hands good after use.

This stuff works perfectly:
http://export.farnell.com/multicore...syringe/solder-paste-gp-syringe-25g/dp/149968
But it is only good for a few months, store it in a very cold place.
This is the farnell part number : 149968

The farnell site is being a bit difficult, i noticed.

 

[PM650]

There's a .SCH file here:
http://www.crazynation.org/GC/GC_DD_INTERFACE/PROJECT_FILES/SCHEMATICS/

Is that an accepted standard?

The files appear to be P-Cad format, .sch is just a convenient extension that a lot of pcb software uses. I imported the schematic in Altium and it shows up. If I attempt to load the schematic with the library (.lib) file, it also shows a nearly empty PCB and a schematic without symbols - I'm guessing you'll need to find someone with p-cad, or perhaps a newer version of altium.

 

[A5]

I opened those files in P-CAD viewer, and it's just a schematic with no PCB layout info. Since no .pcb file is provided, going from that schematic to a working PCB is a big step.

To answer your questions:
1) Making circuits at home is easy, but you can't make PCBs at home. Making a PCB requires a great deal of precision machinery and special materials - the start-up costs are pretty large.

2) When you say "prototyping" I assume you mean taking an electronic device from idea to working physical item. It generally goes like this Idea -> Circuit -> Layout -> Manufacturing -> Troubleshooting -> Circuit -> Layout ->... iterated until the thing actually works. In general, this is what a lot of Electrical Engineers end up doing. If you want to work with FPGAs, you need to learn VHDL or Verilog in addition to the above.

3) FPGAs have a lot of pins on them, and laying that out along with the support circuitry required is not easy. You probably won't find something pre-built that fits your needs. If you're serious about learning how to program FPGAs though, I'd start with a board like this:
http://www.xilinx.com/products/devkits/HW-SPAR3A-SK-UNI-G.htm
or this:
http://www.altera.com/products/devkits/altera/kit-cyc3-starter.html

Honestly, PCB design and prototyping isn't something I'd recommend learning as a hobby. It's one thing to learn how to solder and repair electronics (which is good to know and not too hard to learn), but design is a completely different animal.

 

[Modelworks]

I think you have the cart before the horse. I would not recommend anyone without prior experience to start with FPGA.

Start at the beginning.
How much actual electronics knowledge do you have ? Do you understand the differences in terms like CMOS, TTL , VCC, VDD, active high, source and sink ?

Start with something simple to learn the basics of microprocessors. A way to really easily get into the area and start learning is to get an arduino kit. They cost about $30, they are ready to use out of the box and the software to use them is free and easy to understand. They also have a large online community that can answer questions. After you get comfortable with that then move to bigger things.

All you need to get started learning is:
http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=666

A usb cable , and the software here:
http://www.arduino.cc/

Total cost shouldn't be over $40 and requires no programmer.


Making pcb at home is easily done. You need a laser printer, clothes iron, some copper clad boards, a drill + proper bits, solvent (I like muriatic acid + hydrogen peroxide).

http://www.instructables.com/id/Mostly-easy-PCB-manufacture/

Some people use photo paper, but if you have some old magazines, that paper may work better.
You cannot do complex boards this way but for small projects it works well.