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9-Nov-17 4:46

Hi All,

I may have regaled you in the past with tales of woe in testing electronics and software. But today due to my own error I thought I had killed a Mega2560 Arduino board when interfacing to a set of optocouplers, the magic smoke escaped (cue swearing) due to a lack of coffee error 24 volts got shoved to a digital input Unsure | :~

, magic smoke escaped & a hole punched in the top of the Atmel...Leave for a long period of time, check when not having thirty plus things to do. The tough little son of none is working mostly, OK inputs 22 & 23 are not working, but hey... Cool | :cool:

lopatir9-Nov-17 5:38

lopatir

9-Nov-17 5:38

So they did implement the HCF instruction (Halt and Catch Fire)

Installing Signature...
Do not switch off your computer.

glennPattonWork39-Nov-17 6:29

9-Nov-17 6:29

not HCF, more HRS (Holt, Relase Smoke) Laugh | :laugh:

Marc Clifton9-Nov-17 5:39

Marc Clifton

9-Nov-17 5:39

Cool.

I once took a chip and attached it to the 24VDC output of the transformer used to power my slot car racing set. The top blew off, exposing the IC. That was snazzy, seeing the inside of the chip. Smile | :)

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lopatir9-Nov-17 5:45

lopatir

9-Nov-17 5:45

Marc Clifton wrote:
I once took a chip and attached it to the 24VDC output of the transformer used to power my slot car racing set. The top blew off, exposing the IC. That was snazzy, seeing the inside of the chip.

somebody got bored cutting the legs off spiders and setting the cat on fire

Installing Signature...
Do not switch off your computer.

glennPattonWork39-Nov-17 6:33

9-Nov-17 6:33

I remeber back in my school days using an OP-Amp (probably a 741) with some PLC (Prog Logic Controlers) and a few missteps later a loud crack and a perfect circle appear in the top of the chip...nothing on the insides, I'm guessing the wafer was on a circular base...never foound the top. Sigh | :sigh:

Gary Wheeler9-Nov-17 6:46

Gary Wheeler

9-Nov-17 6:46

In a college lab I managed to reverse Vcc and ground on a 1489 RS-232 driver chip. When things didn't work, I fingertip-tested each chip to see if they were warm. When I got to the driver, it had reached the melting point of the plastic. It took a year for me to get sensation back in the tip of my index finger.

Software Zen: delete this;

Foothill9-Nov-17 9:22

Foothill

9-Nov-17 9:22

I don't know why but your story reminded me of the time I was giving an instructional lab over the inner workings of the cabinet for a AN/SPS-67[^] navigation radar and I got my finger too close to the 530 VDC transmit trigger pin while it was active. I tell you, my head felt fuzzy all day and my arm hurt for a week after that Laugh | :laugh:

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glennPattonWork39-Nov-17 11:30

9-Nov-17 11:30

Similar thing in College, I had built this over complicated circuit to analyse waveforms the simulation worked (PSPICE...) the actual hardware didn't. so I pinky around the board find a transistor where I put it down wrong and got a huge blister on on my finger and left a finger print on the darn thing!

Mike Hankey9-Nov-17 7:05

Mike Hankey

9-Nov-17 7:05

Awesome

Neveer tried that experiement but good to know they're tough.

Someone's therapist knows all about you!

glennPattonWork39-Nov-17 11:32

9-Nov-17 11:32

I have named the board Deadpool as its a bit mangled but still working, with a freaking hole in it...

Mike Hankey9-Nov-17 11:37

Mike Hankey

9-Nov-17 11:37

I've got them so hot that you could barely touch, but never blowed a hole in one. Good to know they'really rugged.

Someone's therapist knows all about you!

glennPattonWork39-Nov-17 12:48

9-Nov-17 12:48

Left it too cool down, tried it after I had ordered another one too look busy, the little trooper was fine apart from two inputs I was using that had 24v across them. Atmels really are military spec... Wink | ;)

raddevus9-Nov-17 7:29

raddevus

9-Nov-17 7:29

Good story and very cool that you lost some pins but not the entire device.
I have a similar story related to a lightning bolt.
A few months ago we had a lightning strike about 10 feet from my garage and about 25 feet from the location of my arduino bluetooth garage door opener (documented here on CP Never Buy A Garage Door Remote Again: Open Your Door With Your Android Phone (via Bluetooth)[^] ).
We lost a wifi router, a cable modem and a PS4 had to be repaired.

My garage door special has no casing or anything and it began not responding to my bluetooth signal.
I noticed that it still powered up and all that, but it didn't work.
I put it back on the bench and found that the one pin (which I output on to activate the relay) no longer worked but the rest of the chip was entirely fine. I simply changed the code to use a new pin. Swapped out the relay input wire to the new pin and everything worked again.

Those arduindos and ATMegas are great stuff. Smile | :)

glennPattonWork39-Nov-17 11:34

9-Nov-17 11:34

Quote:
Those arduindos and ATMegas are great stuff. Smile |

Darn near idiot proof! MSP430's are similar, PICs will die totally from what I did to it (trust me I know)

raddevus10-Nov-17 5:53

raddevus

10-Nov-17 5:53

glennPattonWork wrote:
PICs will die totally from what I did to it

Interesting, did not know that.
So the atmega / arduino is actually more resilient than some others.
Didn't know if it was just luck. interesting that the chip designers may have created circuits that protect better like that in the chip.

glennPattonWork310-Nov-17 8:55

What C# tools do you recommend?

10-Nov-17 8:55

Possibly unfair to PIC, I remember a problems with a particular 16F658 batch kept me going for a couple of weeks.

Slow Eddie9-Nov-17 2:26

Slow Eddie

9-Nov-17 2:26

I am trying to convert my VB6 code to C# (Desktop programs). I am looking for tools that will help increase my efficiency and shorten the learning curve. Any suggestions? Other than "give it up!" Laugh | :laugh:

If everything seems to be going well you are obviously overlooking someone or something....

CodeWraith9-Nov-17 2:30

CodeWraith

9-Nov-17 2:30

This[^] is the traditional method of conversion.

I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.

Nathan Minier9-Nov-17 2:32

Nathan Minier

9-Nov-17 2:32

Resharper.

And don't give it up, C# isn't terribly difficult. Like an English muffin, it just has many nooks and crannies, and is infinitely better with butter(Resharper).

I would suggest a functional clone rather than direct conversion, though. It's unlikely that a VB6 program is structured in a way that will work well in C#.

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- Benjamin Disraeli

Slow Eddie9-Nov-17 2:42

Slow Eddie

9-Nov-17 2:42

Thanks, I will check it out. And yes I am actually re-writing a functional clone as you suggest. Sorry I did not make that clearer. The Program is around 400,000 lines of code. OMG | :OMG:

Nathan Minier9-Nov-17 2:51

Nathan Minier

9-Nov-17 2:51

No worries, just wanted to make sure you didn't end up down the rabbit hole Smile | :)

"There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies and statistics."
- Benjamin Disraeli

TonyManso9-Nov-17 6:51

TonyManso

9-Nov-17 6:51

Ed Aymami wrote:
around 400,000 lines of code

Imagine how rewarding it will be when you can finally "select-all, delete!" the VB code Laugh | :laugh:

On the other hand, you have different fingers. - Steven Wright