Uni-Byte 0218 - Two quick EASY and VERY useful Projects

Two very quick and easy projects that will bring a lot of functionality and convenience to the lab.
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Dual Gang Potentiometers: s.click.aliexp...
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[@uni-byte]

PCB has been added to my projects on PCBWay. Follow the link tomy projects in the description above.

[@georgef7754]

Board will be useful. Thanks.

[@mikebond6328]

You teach the best tricks. Thank you.

[@uni-byte]

Thanks Mike!

[@andye2005]

To aid tight cables / grommets etc Get yourself a bottle of Hellermann Oil It's a bit expensive, but a small bottle will last a lifetime. It's main use is to help the installation of silicone sleeves with the three prong type tool. Just have a small tin with some sponge in it, and add a little oil to the sponge. Poke the end of the tool into it and that's all the oil required to ease the sleeve over the tool, and then onto the wire. (It's been about 10 years since I added any more oil to the sponge and it's still going strong) In your use case, just poke the end of the plastic connector into the sponge and the wire will slip in easily. It takes a while but the oil does evaporate off of the connectors. It's designed for the job and is much better than IPA.

[@uni-byte]

Hellermann oil! Absolutely. When I was an early teenager my dad had a side hustle installing sound/pp-studios and building patch bays. I earned good money doing all the cable dressing and soldering. I must have gone through a gallon of Hellermann oil in my time. I didn't know they were still around. Thanks for the blast from the past - I'll have to look them up.

[@alanvandusen76]

Love to see it on PCB way.

[@uni-byte]

Will do. I'll pin a post when they are up. Tanks!

[@darrenchapman7203]

Boards would be awesome, I just put in an order to pcbway a few days ago.. if only I had waited.

[@uni-byte]

Will do. There is always a next time, right?

[@JohnSchiavoneJrBSEERN]

Yes put it on PCBWay please

[@uni-byte]

Will do.

[@t1d100]

Hi, Bill. Nice projects. Thanks for sharing. Did you do a video on the Dual Pot PCB? If so, may I have the link? I have mentioned that, by teaching myself, I have ended up with gaps in my knowledge base... I have just learned the trick of putting a resistor in parallel to a pot to change the pot's effective resistance range. One might not think that use as very needful, because you can use a higher value pot and just not turn it up all of the way. But, I was designing an instrument amplifier and I needed to achieve precision control over the front end input gain, to limit the gain, absolutely. Otherwise, bad/expensive things could happen, down stream. I figured out that I could use whatever resistor values I liked in the circuit, because I could calculate in reverse to determine the needed pot value. Then, I could make the pot range to be any odd value, by putting a resistor in parallel to the pot. I ended up needing a 80 Ohm pot. That value is not manufactured. So, I will be using a 100 Ohm pot, with a 410 Ohm resistor across it. I think this might make for a very interesting and educational video topic, for you. I am sure that there are more details to know - more applications, pitfalls and rookie gotchas. Being a rookie, myself, I would be sure to watch. Cheers!

[@uni-byte]

HI Tom. No, I didn't do a video on it. I thought it would not amount to more than a minute or so. I discuss most of the reasoning in this video though. I could certainly put a "Pot potpourri" video on the "to-do" list. Thanks for the idea! In the application you had, were you using the resulting pot as a potentiometer or a rheostat?

[@t1d100]

@@uni-byte Rheostat. I'll email you some information. Cheers!

[@uni-byte]

@@t1d100 Sounds good.

[@GWorxOz]

What is IPA?

[@jerril42]

Isopropyl Alcohol

[@uni-byte]

@jerril42 got it right. It provides some lubrication to help get the strain relief/cover on, but then evaporates completely in a few minutes.

[@GWorxOz]

@@uni-byte I still don't get it. Isopropyl is a single word. It should be IA.

[@andye2005]

@@GWorxOz It's common practice to call it IPA rather than IA. Of course you might prefer the other liquid referred to as IPA. India Pale Ale ! 🙂 Andy

[@GWorxOz]

@@andye2005 Must be a yank thing. We don't call it IPA in Oz, that's a beer.

[@tomgiorgini9154]

that is not stackable looks more like an extension ability

[@uni-byte]

I guess. Semantics, but the end result is the same.