One thing I noticed on your schematic rev 0.3 R12 connected to lead 7 on the ASIC this part should be a magnetic bead it's an inductor. The one used on the Avalon board has 30 ohm resistance at 100MHZ it's probably .2 or .3 ohm at DC. Good Catch! thanks. I could not figure out what those "MB" resistors were all about. I guess I should have checked the BOM after they updated it. I'm currently looking at this part: http://au.mouser.com/ProductDetail/Bourns/MU1005-300Y/?qs=sGAEpiMZZMtoiMfofRG0LbhzMfk9mut9DLkB8NWOFVo%3dwhat do you think? |
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Stealing this list for my school.  Hope to get some Nanos / Quarter Sticks for students to work on. I know this a lot to ask but could you do a few videos on your build? That would be awesome for our students here at school. never did a video before. i would totally suck! I'll make one, if you do the video editing. Cut out all the boring crap make it interesting. Hehehe... deal... how you going to upload it to me? I can have kids work on that as well. We'll figure it out when the time comes. BTW, if you are setting up a group to build these, there are some things that can be shared. That will cut down on overall costs. The most important thing where each individual should have there own is a very nice pair of curved tweezers. Not just any tweezers, but good ones like I put in the DIY Setup thread. |
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Stealing this list for my school. Hope to get some Nanos / Quarter Sticks for students to work on. I know this a lot to ask but could you do a few videos on your build? That would be awesome for our students here at school. never did a video before. i would totally suck! I'll make one, if you do the video editing. Cut out all the boring crap make it interesting. |
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BkkCoins,
Are you sure the firmware can handle everything ok? It only has 1Kbytes of SRAM.
I'm about to order boards for the Quarter Stick DIY and I wanted to make sure.
thanks.
I believe so. Work so far indicates that it will be very close with a work queue of 4 items (192 bytes), and a 108 byte buffer for pushing work. So if it gets too tight for that I may have to drop to only 2 work items queued. Compiled with the USB stack it's using about half the RAM, without my code and work queue, (and 727 bytes with my code but no push buffer yet), but I also think that could be optimized and reduced a some if really need be (the stack seems a little bloated in C instead of assembly. I can't fathom why they didn't do it in assembly for something that could be included in every PIC - though maybe they expect their users to optimize their own versions). By slowing down the push-work a bit with a buffer switch mid-way, I could cut 48 bytes and keep the queue at 4 but I haven't gone over everything looking to optimize RAM. Also, I haven't tried the Pro XC-8 yet. Apparently it cuts down a lot of code space, though whether it can get much better at RAM use is questionable. I'll have a better estimate later this afternoon after I integrate in the "push work" assembly code. I'd code everything in assembler before giving up. You're a trooper. Thanks for letting me know. I think I will get some boards and sleep better at night knowing they have a better chance of working. After that, I'm hitting the code. FYI, I have access to a Pro XC-8 compiler; if you need me to compile anything let me know. What are your plans on sharing the source development? If you plan to keep it internal, that is fine. Would just like to know to avoid reinventing the wheel. |
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So... Just ordered first run of 10 test boards for K16. And SDS7102 Oscilloscope ordered today too, direct from China. They tell me it'll ship by EMS so it should only be about a week to get here if all goes well. So the way things are looking now I'll have enough to test PIC firmware in a few days. Should have parts needed for testing K1 boards when they arrive in a week, and maybe scope will be here for that. That gives me a week to play with that stuff and get kinks worked out before K16 boards come in, and then I should have everything here to get that scoped and functional. And if the planets align that will all be just in time for the samples to start arriving, and the real fireworks happen. To aid with inspection of test and assembled boards I'm going to order one of these USB Microscopes. It looks pretty nice for checking PCB traces and IC pins, and my eyesight is not what it was (as I realized while looking at some boards that I got yesterday). For $60 it seems like it'll be worthwhile. http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=2te13V_YsPUAnyone ever use one of these? BkkCoins, Are you sure the firmware can handle everything ok? It only has 1Kbytes of SRAM. I'm about to order boards for the Quarter Stick DIY and I wanted to make sure. thanks. |
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Wow,
Thanks for sharing. Definitely give it a try for the Avalon Quarter Stick prototype.
Hopefully it will be ready in the next few days.
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In this thread https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=215488.0 I am discussing a plan for a distributed peer-to-peer bank / exchange that actually pays interest on all deposits (gold, silver, USD, etc) and IS NOT based upon any IOU or counter-party risks. It allows you to withdraw funds and all of this occurs at prices cheaper than depositing / withdrawing funds from Mt. Gox or even your local ATM. The idea behind it is difficult to grasp at first and is easily dismissed but once understood is amazingly simple and elegant. Because I want feedback and want to know what I am missing and what I haven't explained well enough to generate the interest and enthusiasm I feel it deserves, I am offering a 10BTC bounty to motivate people to tear my idea to shreds and save me $20,000. So here is the deal, I am putting my money where my mouth is and making a wager that I can convince you to be as excited about my solution as I am. If I am right then the time spent attempting to understand my idea would allow you to be an early adopter to a system that could replace bitcoin, if I am wrong and you are right then you will earn 10BTC for your time and we will have had a good debate regarding economics and technical details. Overall I am seeking to bring out bright and intelligent debate around my idea. I need to learn how to explain it in terms that is far easier for everyone to understand. I am willing to Skype or talk on the phone if it would aid communication. Sorry, Can't convince you not to. I've been so excited about this prospect for some time. If anything, i would like to be a part of it. The only reason not to is because the timing is not right. There's still a lot of infrastructure building going on, but that's your call. |
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I ordered 10 of the PIC16LF1459-I/SS.
If you having a hard time getting a hold of some for prototyping, Email me, I could part with a few.
Who ever is planning on doing bulk orders, might be a good idea to get the order in on these early to
make sure they put their manufacturing efforts into producing some sooner rather than later.
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Hello
I looked over your schematic it looks good.
I have two questions.
First the Avalon reset.
It looks like the PIC controls the reset. Can you guarantee on power up a low level on ARST until the PIC removes the reset?
Second question. Schematic says 10UF max input capacitance. Do you know the input capacitance of your design?
Good job!
Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback. The capacitance seen by the USB port should be 4.7uF, but probably a bit more. Won't know exactly until I have one in hand to test. Should work though as I've done other USB designs similar to this that have worked fine, but the DCDC converter is a first for me. I can't guarantee is will be in reset. How critical do you think it is? There will be a delay before the 1.2V signal will be ready; it will be in reset before then. I don't think the reset will be an issue..but who knows.. guess we find out when you get a chip to test. Well, I ended up adding a pull down. Better to have it and not need than not have it and need it :-) Thanks for pointing it out. |
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Regarding the sample chips. The actual status of distribution is: Batch 1 - 30 samples 3 burnin 3 flyonwall 2 BKKCoins + 4 wished 2 ryepdx 2 allten 2 evilscoop 2 terrahash 2 daemondazz 2 innovina 6 still open because the feedback of groupbuyers still missing Batch 2 - 30 samples 3 burnin + 1 wished 3 flyonwall 3 BKKCoins 2 ryepdx 2 allten 2 evilscoop 2 terrahash 2 daemondazz 2 innovina 5 still open because the feedback of groupbuyers still missing 3 for use of entitled groupbuyers When more developers and assemblers are coming and describe what use their project will have for the community and one can see (not absolutely me) that they know what they are talking about (so they dont want a chip for free only), more can be entitled to get a chip. There were already some users in the thread that wrote they want one and one wrote me via pm. Only missing is a description in the thread. By the way... i will ask the devs if they will need so many chips anyway. Unnecessary many chips dont make sense... so some other dev/assembler can be happy...  Wow, been digging around today to make sure I had some chips in hand when the PCBs came in and you already had us taken care of. Thank You! Two is good, more would be helpful, but beggars can't be choosers. |
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Update:
Schematic is complete
BOM is complete
Parts are on their way.
Board Layout is complete.
Ordering Boards and Stencil in about 5 days.
About the design for the DIY Open Source "Quarter Stick" Miner:
There was a lot of redundancy added to the board. The rationale is it
is easier to fix a board cut too long vs. a board cut to short. This increases the
likelihood of the first revision working out. Decreasing costs is then just a
matter of not installing components that are not needed. The power supply
was designed to go easy on the USB port as well. USB ports were not engineered to supply
power 24/7 at their max current so this feature is important.
Heatsink is 28mmx28mm
Larger PCB with additional component spacing to be DIY friendly.
External Power feature added
I2c for interconnecting boards and using just one as the USB is now possible as well.
Total Board costs + Components looking to be around $12.00 (doesn't include shipping, taxes, Avalon chip; bulk orders of 1000+)
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First batch of 20 test boards just ordered. Expect to see them here in 10-12 days if all goes well. That's awesome! Great job BkkCoins. Are you referring to the single Avalon chip or the Klondike? -Allten This is the K1. The K16 I'm holding back a few days to check more. I already have a few small changes first. Oh, and as soon as I uploaded the K1 gerbers I noticed an issue. Doh! So I've updated and sent again which I expect should be fine as they won't even start making them for a few days. Did you find anything from my schematic/design useful? Your NOR + EUSART idea was a real life saver. I'm pretty confident it's going to be a good solution. Do you have any ASICs to test out your design? That is something I'm lacking. |
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First batch of 20 test boards just ordered. Expect to see them here in 10-12 days if all goes well. That's awesome! Great job BkkCoins. Are you referring to the single Avalon chip or the Klondike? -Allten |
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daemondazz and ProfMac,
Thanks for the offer. I'm really hoping to push this to the finish line ASAP.
5 to 10 days max.
Shoot me an email on what days you could work on it and at what times.
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Hello
I looked over your schematic it looks good.
I have two questions.
First the Avalon reset.
It looks like the PIC controls the reset. Can you guarantee on power up a low level on ARST until the PIC removes the reset?
Second question. Schematic says 10UF max input capacitance. Do you know the input capacitance of your design?
Good job!
Thanks!
Thanks for the feedback. The capacitance seen by the USB port should be 4.7uF, but probably a bit more. Won't know exactly until I have one in hand to test. Should work though as I've done other USB designs similar to this that have worked fine, but the DCDC converter is a first for me. I can't guarantee is will be in reset. How critical do you think it is? There will be a delay before the 1.2V signal will be ready; it will be in reset before then. |
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I had a look and didn't notice anything I would change. Next PCB design, I'm going with KICAD. Don't know how hard it will be to make it
work, but its open source.
I've found Kicad really slow and cumbersome to work with, and prefer Eagle. It's great it's open source and free. But if you already have a non-limited version of Eagle, I don't know if I'd change. I think I wasted a lot of time working around glitches and limitations in Kicad. And it still randomly exits now and then, so I have to be Ctrl-S paranoid. That said, I couldn't have done 4 layers without it and others can edit in 4 layers without paying. If you do change I'd recommend re-drawing rather than converting from Eagle. The conversion didn't go well as it mishandled size and position values such that it can only be edited without snap, ie. maximum resolution. It's very hard to get wires to connect as they have to be exactly on the same pixel. So best to do before laying out a board. I believe many of my editing issues probably originate from the conversion. A better conversion program is needed. Also, there are a couple tricks I worked out for doing the thermal pads/vias in Kicad. PM me for info if you do use Kicad. Thanks for the feed back. Maybe I don't want to rush into KICAD. Just interested in working in an environment where more people can get involved. |
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...
Ripple is not an alternate currency, although there is a currency built into it....
Interesting Paradox. BTW, can Ripple technology work without the use of the "built in currency"? No, because XRP is needed to facilitate transfers. and because ripple owners own a majority share (probably all) of the XRP in existence So, sounds like we wait until they "open" their "open source" code and we make it so it uses Bitcoin instead of ripple. that's assuming this technology can really accomplish what it claims to in a decentralized fashion. |
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...
Ripple is not an alternate currency, although there is a currency built into it....
Interesting Paradox. BTW, can Ripple technology work without the use of the "built in currency"? |
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