PICKINI V4 - an easy to build, self adjusting PI detector

[useus]

would anyone be able to create the hex file for PIC16F73?


thanks!

[MartyJ1963]

Hiya Goaty,,,Yes, Be careful out there,,,I've witnessed a few bushfires too in my time and even the smallest are not to be taken lightly,,,I got stranded once while camping in Glenbrook National Park (Near Katoomba) back in the 70's, the Park Rangers had to rescue me and my friends, Lol. There was a little pond/lake/Billabong called Jellybean pool,,we had to wade and stay in that till the rangers came,,a bit scary at the time but at about 10 years old it was an excting adventure too.
Yes,,When I looked at the schematic I noticed the same,,R10 is 4K7 and not 470R,,I've built 4 Pickini 4's for my partner and me and several for friends and all have worked first time by following Bernards schematic and original layout so I'd place all the original components first and then if you want to do mods it should be a lot easier with a fully working unit. It's pretty sensitive with original specs,,I found a gold ring with a diamond with the first one I built,,I used a 3DSS Coil with it-350uh/16 strand 600v ptfe wire,,works great. Just a thought, maybe you could drill a hole through each of the MMBF170 Pads, cut some small pcb pins and solder the mmbf170 from the other side along with the through-hole parts? Let us know how you go though,,,and hope you and your family stay safe and tajke care concerning the bush fires, hope the services get it under control soon mate,,,Regards,,,Marty.

[Goaty]

I just took a look at the schematic I have for the Pickini 4 and it seems like the 'S' goes to ground but on the SMD pcb you posted it's 'G' that goes to ground,,,I posted you the datasheet for the MMBF170 (BS170 smd),,,don't know what to suggest apart from re-drawng the SMD board and try placing the MMBF10 upsde down in the same area? Regards,,,Marty

Thanks for confirming my suspicions Marty - I reckon if I 'flip the chip' for now I can blob solder it in place to test but it certainly looks like the board layout will need some mods. Progress on the prototype will slow as I run out of parts - I have more on order but they take many weeks to get here from China - I reckon our slow Customs processing has a lot to do with that.
OK on you being from Aus. I am in country Sth Aus - long way from Sydney. From what I have heard, it would not be a particularly good place to live nowadays with the traffic on the roads. Also, the bushfires on the east coast are pretty serious at the moment. My two boys are living in the Byron Bay hinterland but fortunately clear of the main fire areas for now, but still a worry.

BTW the circuit for this board is pretty much the original Pickini one. Also, another possible mistake spotted - resistor R10 is marked as 470 but is 4k7 on the original board and the parts list.

[MartyJ1963]

I just took a look at the schematic I have for the Pickini 4 and it seems like the 'S' goes to ground but on the SMD pcb you posted it's 'G' that goes to ground,,,I posted you the datasheet for the MMBF170 (BS170 smd),,,don't know what to suggest apart from re-drawng the SMD board and try placing the MMBF10 upsde down in the same area? Regards,,,Marty

[MartyJ1963]

@Goaty,,,Where about's in OZ are you?,,,I'm orginally from Dharruk, Mt.Druitt in Sydney,,,I was born at North Shore in 1963 and brought up in Mt.Druitt untl I was 14 in 1977,,,parents (Both British)won the lottery so they decided to uproot us and move back to England,,,never wanted to leave OZ cos' I loved doing Bushcraft and extreme survival,,tried doing it in England but it's not the same!,,,,Anyway,,less of that, Lol,,,I'm not really savvy on all the SMD parts as yet but I can take a look at the pcb you posted earlier,,,If you do manage to get a working SMD board and post your layout if I get some made later I'll still send you one or two (Free),,,,I'm stocking up on some pcb's for future use when Im bored/for friends/Winter projects etc,,I'm even remaking 8 different proven units I've already done at least twice for friends and also to keep in practise,,,I'll have a look at the lay and see if I suss anything,,Do you have a schematic for this particular board? Regards,,,Marty

[Goaty]

@Goaty,,,Me too,,,I recently got into SMD as well,,,it was diffcult at first but I really enjoy it now,,bit of a strain on the old eyes so I just do a couple of hours at a time,,,will you be updating the Pickini 4 SMD version when you've got it working? I don't mind ordering some from a pcb company later, and if you're based n the uk I could send you one (free),,,,hope your project goes well,,,keep us posted,,,Regards,,,Marty

Thanks for your kind offer but I am in Aus.
At this stage I am not sure about what I will do - a lot depends on how successful this build is. At the moment I am concerned about the orientation of the BS170 fet footprint. It seems to have the S & G pins transposed on the layout. I would appreciate it if you could let me know what you think. If it is wrong I think I can get around it by soldering it on upside-down but am wondering how Nick managed with the original. One thing I have noticed is that this layout is very similar to the original Pickini board as far as component placement is concerned.
Also, I am working on a programming socket for off-board programming of the sm pic chip. I will post details if it is successful.

[MartyJ1963]

@Goaty,,,Me too,,,I recently got into SMD as well,,,it was diffcult at first but I really enjoy it now,,bit of a strain on the old eyes so I just do a couple of hours at a time,,,will you be updating the Pickini 4 SMD version when you've got it working? I don't mind ordering some from a pcb company later, and if you're based n the uk I could send you one (free),,,,hope your project goes well,,,keep us posted,,,Regards,,,Marty

[Goaty]

@F117
Thanks for the confirmation of the ICSP connections Bernard. That's how I interpreted it too. I wonder if Nick actually had it working the way it was?

@ Marty
I'm using an earlier version of the board layout at the moment but Nick's last version was the one in post #325. This is a little confusing as the zip file is pickini V4 4smd.zip but this contains the sprint file pickini V4 3smd.lay6 - there is a version in one of his earlier posts with the same name but contains un-corrected errors. All a bit confusing! I will have to cut tracks and add a link on my board to update it.
The tracks on this board are certainly very fine and proved difficult to etch - a commercial version would be a better proposition but I wanted to make sure it would work first. I used negative resist and a printed negative on oiled paper to make mine. It took a bit of scratching with a scalpel to clean it up for etching.
I must say I am enjoying the challenge of using surface mount components as it sure beats drilling hundreds of holes with a 0.7mm drill!

[MartyJ1963]

Nice little SMD board Goaty,,,I'm following your build with high hopes it works out the way you want it to,,,looking forward to your next posts,,,Regards,,,Marty.

[useus]

This design relies largely on a lot of built-in resources ( ADC, DAC, PWM, gated timer, comparator, ... ) of the 16F1824.
I provided the source code here http://users.telenet.be/willaert/MD/.../v4/Pickini4.c If you have the same resources on-board another controller, feel free to adapt the code for it.

I must immediately abandon the idea, pic16f648a has no adc.


I also have a 16f73 that could work but I can't work on the code.


thanks anyway!

[BC547]

Is it possible to use pic16f648a for this scheme?

This design relies largely on a lot of built-in resources ( ADC, DAC, PWM, gated timer, comparator, ... ) of the 16F1824.
I provided the source code here http://users.telenet.be/willaert/MD/.../v4/Pickini4.c If you have the same resources on-board another controller, feel free to adapt the code for it.

[useus]

Is it possible to use pic16f648a for this scheme?

[BC547]

From the 16F1824 datasheet:
- ICSP data = pin 13
- ICSP clock = pin 12
hard to see on this ( double sided ? ) layout - but following the green traces to the vias and then to the processor pins, it looks indeed like they are swapped.
The other pins: VDD, VSS and MCLR are OK.

[Goaty]

SMD pickini - Clk & Data pins

I've started building this board originally designed by Nick Holas -



I plan to fit the Pic and the ICSP pins so that I can program it with the PICkit 3 programmer before adding the other components but have just noticed that the Clock and Data lines seem to be transposed .
I would appreciate it if someone could check this in case I am just having a seniors moment or it is actually a mistake on the board.
I have a vague recollection that I have read somewhere that these pins can be transposed but could be imagining it.
If they are actually swapped it won't be a problem to change them as I have hardwired from the socket to the appropriate points on the board.

[Goaty]

@dbanner
All good. Thanks for the advice - I needed a bit of a shove to try Wine and the Sprint file viewer works well with it.
Now I plan to put Reptooyep's design aside for a while and try Nick Holas's as it has the ICSP connector and should make it easier to program the smd pic.
The tracks are very fine on this so it will be a challenge to etch it. Hopefully I can see what I am doing now after just having cataract surgery on my right eye.
Soldering smd components will certainly put it to the test.