Wave Bubble 2010 Moderators: adafruit_support_bill, adafruit

[cornz]

Yes, i read it.
And what I and others still stands....
ALL the parts are available.
They are NOT all from the USA, did you, for example, try mini-circuits european distributor?? I did!
Several of the other users on here have advertised PCB's for sale (for the first wavebubble) and you can always fabricate them yourself or contact a PCB company, several of which are advertised here.
One of the battery board IC's came from ebay (littlediode i think they were called). Some transistors in the VCO section also came from ebay. Now, i admit the sellers were American, but i had no charges to pay as the parts cost very little.
You have to be prepared to put some effort into this, i will help as much as i can but put some effort in yourself. I'm having enough getting my head around my own wavebubble without anyone elses...;-)

[wing23]

PCBs is no prob, I plan to make/order/alter them myself whenever the final eagle files are available :)
(and mayyybe there's some more info about an LCD addon by then)
battery isn't either, but well, all minicircuit parts are, also no source yet for tps79333, lm2731y, mic2514, lmx2433, lp2985aim5-2.5ct (at least I didn't find a source for the one with AIM5 in its name), sma j629
then I found only one source for lt1301cs8, ad8404arz10, mic2506ym for now,

I just searched for minicircuits europe, it directs me to the standard US website
I searched for a VCO ROS-2500+ but it still lists them in USD and no word about European distribution
(I didn't make an account yet, though)

also, I read that the minimum order limit is $100 USD ...

usually I have no problems ordering parts, but this time it's really something else :/
and I like this project and that people are working on it :)

[cornz]

Quite frankly i physically shudder when i think what this project has cost me.
£200 for a smd rework kit, £50 for a scope, £130 for the vcos for both wavebubble kits, $150 for the parts from digikey (now that i did have to pay charges) and all the other little parts, solder paste, liquid flux, etc etc. So its a seriously expensive project. Its not something to undertake lightly. I'm at the programming point on mine and a know *nothing* about compiling, commenting out et-al...So, you have to put a lot in..... Just go buy a cheap fixed frequency jammer, or search and build a proper "boy's toy"...
Its a real shame that we cant do a group buy for the parts.
It would probably work out no cheaper with minimum parts quantities etc but if anyone is willing, i'm game....Would certainly make it easier for people...

[Slowrider]

Hi All,

I have been reading the threads with great interest. I found the Wave Bubble PCB available for purchase on BatchPCB.com http://batchpcb.com/index.php/Products/26985 and it is presently imposable to make an international order as they have a bug in their system. So I too am interested in trying to find a set of boards.

Great read though, I am learning a lot.

[Awarru]

I am interested too in the boards but the link posted above is for the old board. Has erich81 finished his redesigned PCB's with the .BRD file that works in Batch PCB? If so where are the designs?

[erich81]

I am interested too in the boards but the link posted above is for the old board. Has erich81 finished his redesigned PCB's with the .BRD file that works in Batch PCB? If so where are the designs?

I have finished the designs, however I've been waiting till my solder stencil and parts come in to test the top board (I've built the Li-Ion board, and it works/passes all tests)

If you would like me to post the updated files now before testing, I'll do it within the next day or so, when I get a chance.

Thanks.

Edit: I've added the li-ion board, I can't find the signal board eagles, however I have the gerbers that passed BatchPCB's design check, and were run off. I'll attach those here. As stated, the lion board is fine, and I've E-tested the signal board, so it looks good both mechanically and visually. The only problem I have with the design is that where the switches are, the two front pads are missing. (contacts are correct). My solution for this is going to be to use different switches that I can panel mount in the case i'll put it in.

Here are what the gerbers produce, in case you want to know before using (please note on the battery board, I added a spot for a 2 pin JST connector, in case i used a battery that had one. This does not need to be populated if you're soldering your battery on like I did. the 2 pin JST connectors are available at sparkfun.com):

I'll work to redo the main board since I can't find the eagle files, and will post a set when i finish editing.

front:


back:

[erich81]

Quite frankly i physically shudder when i think what this project has cost me.
£200 for a smd rework kit, £50 for a scope, £130 for the vcos for both wavebubble kits, $150 for the parts from digikey (now that i did have to pay charges) and all the other little parts, solder paste, liquid flux, etc etc. So its a seriously expensive project. Its not something to undertake lightly. I'm at the programming point on mine and a know *nothing* about compiling, commenting out et-al...So, you have to put a lot in..... Just go buy a cheap fixed frequency jammer, or search and build a proper "boy's toy"...
Its a real shame that we cant do a group buy for the parts.
It would probably work out no cheaper with minimum parts quantities etc but if anyone is willing, i'm game....Would certainly make it easier for people...

I thought about the same, especially the VCO's and amplifier pieces, since they cost nearly 60$ by themselves.. From your currency it appears your in the Uk. I feel sorry for you, as it costs nowhere near that much being here. My totals so far:

100$ from amazon for Aoyue Digital solder station (works great, and I needed it for work anyway)
60$ for parts from newark electronics (newark.com)
10$ for parts from digikey (Newark is much cheaper, i only ordered parts from digikey I couldn't get at newark)
25$ for solder stencil
10$ for battery
8$ for solder paste

I still haven't ordered the VCO's yet but will once I build/test everything else. You know what it comes down to though, is the following:

1.) You get the experience of building it yourself, and learning a lot of electronics knowledge
2.) You build something that is programmable, COTS equivalent would cost probably 200$ or more
3.) You get to have fun!


The problem I have with the group buy idea is that you have to get people to seriously commit to doing it, else you're stuck with all the cost. I was going to do a group buy deal on boards, but theres no way to guarantee people end up paying.

[erich81]

Hi All,

I have been reading the threads with great interest. I found the Wave Bubble PCB available for purchase on BatchPCB.com http://batchpcb.com/index.php/Products/26985 and it is presently imposable to make an international order as they have a bug in their system. So I too am interested in trying to find a set of boards.

Great read though, I am learning a lot.

Those are for the original design, not this new design.

[cornz]

"The problem I have with the group buy idea is that you have to get people to seriously commit to doing it, else you're stuck with all the cost. I was going to do a group buy deal on boards, but theres no way to guarantee people end up paying."

What to do is make a reserve order for 10 boards from the supplier, but before that you make sure that 10 people have already paid you.
It means they have to trust you to do the boards but you wont lose a penny as you dont order the boards until you have the money to pay for them. I only ever did one group buy but thats how it worked.
The organiser had worked out all the postage costs and had calculated those into the equation, by the time he had ordered 50 pieces, the discount was enough to make the item cheaper for everyone of us.
But i suppose on a project like this, its quite a rare and unique item.
I'd be up for a group buy and would stump up the money first...

[Slowrider]

I am also Happy to Pay in Advance, including Paying Up front for Shipping to the UK. I assume PayPal would be the easiest option.

I suppose the other option would be to upload them to BatchPCB and allow people to Buy them Direct from there.

[cornz]

Utterly off topic i suppose, but during a moment of ethanol enhanced clarity, i asked myself a question. The wavebubble is a piece of hardware that will last a very long time. Windows will not (at least in its current guise). What happens in 5 years time. People will still have their wavebubbles but perhaps no way of programming them. Therefore, how about some form of keypad entry for frequencies???
Or am i talking poo???

[chankster]

Or am i talking poo???

Yes, you're talking poo :D

The WaveBubble doesnt rely on Windows. You just need software for your OS that is capable of communication over a COM Port. Although this guide is for the SheevaPort the software concepts for each OS are similar.

http://www.openplug.org/plugwiki/index. ... al_program

[cornz]

Or am i talking poo???

Yes, you're talking poo :D

Blame the Rum but thanks. I guess what i was trying to suggest is that if you are away from your computer you have the ability to program in a new frequency.

[chankster]

That would work, however I believe the original intention for leaving out a keypad and display is to keep the device small and battery efficient.

You could always build a small separate device to attach and reprogram.

[cornz]

"You could always build a small separate device to attach and reprogram".

No, sadly, I couldn't. ;-)