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2 layersFilter discrete, the printed circuit board in 3D

DO NOT USE THIS PROJECT - WILL BE SUPERCEDED

Copper layers
2
Thickness
1.6 mm
Parts
31
Nets
16
Pads
67
Tracks, vias
160, 0
Pours
2
Routed
Yes
KiCad
KiCad 4
Created
26 Mar 2017
Updated
20 Apr 2018

Overview

Filter discrete is an open-source printed circuit board by cnlohr, from the cnlohr/esp8266lighthouse repository on GitHub. It is a 2-layer board with 31 parts on 16 nets, routed with 160 tracks and 0 vias.

It is built around the MMBT3904 and PMBT3906. Its parts include 16 resistors, 9 capacitors, 4 transistors and 2 connectors.

Main components

2

README

README.md

esp8266lighthouse

Project log as of 5/28/17

So, general summary / log for esp8266lighthouse: It works. Surprisingly well.

  1. If the base station is too close, it the signal quality gets pretty rough. Too close = 0.8 meters or closer. This may not be resolvable without a different opamp. I don't know yet.
  2. There are some corner cases that will cause the ESP to freeze. This is sad-making, however shouldn't be hard to troubleshoot.
  3. The algorithm I'm using to determine frequency seems SLIGHTLY dependent on strength. When pointed directly at the lighthouse and close, it seems to read slightly high (by about 10-15 kHz) When at glancing angle or barely visible, it reads spot on.
  4. The noise issue due to the ESP is really confusing to me. Arbitrary moving something or switching power plugs around drastically changes the performance of the system.
  5. The ESP8266 will draw ~14mA even in modem-sleep mode all the time if it is monitoring for a lighthouse. This is sad. I want to move to an FPGA, but because of the pinout on the ICE40 FPGAs and the fact they never put them in a reasonable package, PCBs for them cost about 10x what normal PCBs cost.
  6. Though I can precisely tell frequencies, I cannot simultaneously decode pulses. Each pulse must have about 2uS between them in order to be treated as different pulses. If we run lighthouses asynchronously, there will be some collisions. They will need to be ignored.
  7. The base stations CAN be run asynchronously and at different rates. It seems to me that if the lighthouses are operating at the same frequency, they cannot disambiguate asynchronous pulses, but, we should be able to.

Internal notes:

text
NOTES for transimpedence2/3
TESTS Performed with no C1, TSV992
Making R4 220k instead of 47k seeems to have little effect, but does make it worse.
Switching R1 for 47k just makes it appear drunk. There's some weird feedback thing going on.
    Like it tuned wrong or something.   Making it 10k quiets the signal a lot.
REMOVING C4 no apparent impact.

R5=10k, C5=10p -> R5=4.7k, C5=18p =>> Improvement.
Adding C1=1pF decreases amplitude a little bit but also cleans up edges.
Removing C6 seems to reduce amplitude slightly.

Far peak:
C1 none C6 none => .1238V noise, .998V Far Light
C1 none C6 1pF    => .1238V noise, .498V Far Light
C1 1pF  C6 none => .1135V noise, .358V Far Light
C1 1pF C6 1pF     => .087V Noise, .202V Far Light

Recommendation: Remove C6, C1.

Out of the following op amps...
TSH82, TSV992, AD8052, TSH22, TSH462,
TSV992 demolished.

Parts

31
QtyValueFootprintReferences
5100nC_0805C1, C4, C5, C7, C9
31nC_0805C2, C6, C8
38k2C_0805R3, R4, R15
210kC_0805R1, R2
21k5C_0805R5, R9
22k7C_0805R11, R16
233C_0805R7, R8
26k8C_0805R10, R13
2MMBT3904SOT-23Q1, Q3
2PMBT3906SOT-23Q2, Q4
1100pC_0805C3
115kC_0805R14
11kC_0805R12
1560C_0805R6
1CONN_01X03TerminalBlock_Pheonix_MPT-2.54mm_3polP2
1PDTerminalBlock_Pheonix_MPT-2.54mm_2polP1

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Questions

What parts does the Filter discrete use?

31 parts, built around the MMBT3904 and PMBT3906. The full list of its parts is on this page, with links to each part's symbol and footprint where PCBKit's library has them.

Where can I download the Filter discrete KiCad files?

From the cnlohr/esp8266lighthouse repository on GitHub, at the commit this page was made from: the board is filter_discrete/filter_discrete.kicad_pcb. PCBKit opens the board in the browser, with nothing to install.

Can I use the Filter discrete design in my own project?

Its repository states no licence, so its author keeps all rights: ask cnlohr before reusing the design.