UZEBOX AVCore

Topics regarding the Uzebox hardware/AVCore/BaseBoard (i.e: PCB, resistors, connectors, part list, schematics, hardware issues, etc.) should go here.
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havok1919
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UZEBOX AVCore

Post by havok1919 »

Heheh... I think I'll use "AVCore" that as the name for the 'stamp'. It has Audio, it has Video, it's the Core of the system... Gets out of the 'stamp' space, and distinguishes it from any Intel stuff. ;-) And the nearest google hit is a countertop manufacturer. No chance of confusion there!

Anyway, got the boards! Time to start sticking parts down. :D Fingers crossed...

Image

Image

-Clay
nubie
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by nubie »

Wow, they are beautiful :).

I am assuming the easiest way to pull RGB out of this is on the SMD capacitor just after the resistor network? Would it be fine to leave the NTSC chip in the circuit and powered? Or should it be disconnected/removed?

I am thinking of buying one for $30 because just the BOM and shipping from Digikey is around that price (without any sockets or power circuitry or SMD adaptor for the NTSC chip either). Cutting the NTSC chip yields a ~$20 BOM, but it would severely reduce functionality.

I am assuming you don't plan to solder these all by hand, one pin at a time :shock: .
CompMan
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by CompMan »

They look great. I hope you don't do them all by hand. That would suck.

Compman
havok1919
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by havok1919 »

nubie wrote:Wow, they are beautiful :).
Thanks! Hopefully they work as well... ;-)
I am assuming the easiest way to pull RGB out of this is on the SMD capacitor just after the resistor network? Would it be fine to leave the NTSC chip in the circuit and powered? Or should it be disconnected/removed?
Yeah, probably the easiest spot. I have four pins left open on the pinout, so unless anyone thinks of something else I'm going to run RGB out to those on the next version. If nothing else that allows for a Component output version (with some external opamp circuitry). It would also directly drive 'arcade' style CGA monitors-- just remove the 75ohm pulldowns on the resistor networks.

You should be able to leave the AD723 on/powered. Adding a load on the resistor ladder side might drop the levels going to the AD723, but if you aren't using it it's a "don't care" anyway...
I am thinking of buying one for $30 because just the BOM and shipping from Digikey is around that price (without any sockets or power circuitry or SMD adaptor for the NTSC chip either). Cutting the NTSC chip yields a ~$20 BOM, but it would severely reduce functionality.
I figured that would probably make sense for a lot of people. I suspect that RGB isn't terribly useful to most people (since we don't have VGA sync rate with separate H/V sync), but component out... I'm still kicking that around. (I could stick a couple opamps on the "top" side of the board and leave them as a loading option-- essentially we'd get 480i component output, but with both fields the same for 240 lines vertical resolution.) The opamps would probably be less than the AD723. If I can get one PCB that "does it all" it's not a bad option.
I am assuming you don't plan to solder these all by hand, one pin at a time :shock: .
Well, on these I might. I could do solderpaste screens, but that'd be ~$400 ($200/side for stainless steel) and then I don't want to use this particular panelization for production anyway. The saving grace is that although there's relatively a lot of parts, most are the same values, so they might not be too bad to hand-load. My manual solderpaste dispenser might get a workout though. ;-) We'll see how it goes. Maybe I'll order a proto-screen for ~$100 and paste 'em that way and just hand place the rest... Depends on how many people want them!

-Clay
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uze6666
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by uze6666 »

When I started the project I never though it would go that far! All these little Uzebox stamps....simply awesome!!!

Nuff said. :mrgreen:

Uze
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kscharf
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by kscharf »

Beautiful! When are you going to start selling them, and what's the price?
For those who are brave enough to solder their own how much for just the PCB?
Then I suppose we need a carrier board too.
havok1919
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by havok1919 »

kscharf wrote:Beautiful! When are you going to start selling them, and what's the price?
For those who are brave enough to solder their own how much for just the PCB?
Then I suppose we need a carrier board too.
I'll get one built up today and see if it works OK! I'll just hand assemble and sell a couple dozen for ~$29 to get the ball rolling and seed early developers. Then when I do a production run with 'rev 1.1' boards and automated assembly I'll probably move it up to a more BASIC Stamp like pricing of $35-39-ish (qty 1). (Otherwise I have no room to reduce the price on larger quantity orders. I won't know exactly until I get an official assembly quote on the fabs.)

If they work, I just need to get the PCB router setup to dice the panels apart and I'll have PCB's. (To keep the prototype PCB cost low I just did a process that gave me 30 square inches per "board" and didn't allow vscore or route to outline). I don't really want to have to kit out the SMT parts (too time consuming to count, cut, label parts on tape), but if you source your own parts I'd sell just the PCB. I could do bare PCB's for like $7.50/ea plus S/H.

Now that we've got a suitable source of the SNES connectors I'm going to cut my first baseboard design loose for prototype PCBs. The 'gamer' version (S-video, Composite video, line level audio, high quality audio filter, SNES connectors (optional NES connectors-- user populated), ISP header, power/reset switches, LED, and a little prototype/expansion header will probably run ~$20-25 (again, depending on my assembly costs). Add in a new wall-wart power supply and SNES controller for another $10.

I'll try to knock out another baseboard tonight/tomorrow with "everything" as a developer version. (MIDI, RS-232, prototyping area, svideo/cvideo, audio, SNES, NES, USB->serial, Ethernet, etc.) Not sure on price for that one yet.

-Clay
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kscharf
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by kscharf »

Just noticed on your other post that these also have a socket for a micro sd card. WOW!
You know, if you have a standard BOM made up and there is enough demand, Digikey or
Mouser could kit up the parts for you. It's a win-win for both the users and the supplier.
They assign a part number for the kit and a price, the users just ask for the kit and don't
have to order each individual part. The supplier gets the business and their cost for the
sale goes down since the order is reduced to a single line item.
Mouser has done this in the past for a few projects that appeared in QST magazine.
havok1919
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by havok1919 »

kscharf wrote:Just noticed on your other post that these also have a socket for a micro sd card. WOW!
You know, if you have a standard BOM made up and there is enough demand, Digikey or
Mouser could kit up the parts for you. It's a win-win for both the users and the supplier.
That's an interesting idea... I'll look in to that. I'm not sure if there's enough people out there that really want to hand assemble QFN's and 0603's, but I guess it doesn't hurt to look into it. ;-)

-Clay
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uze6666
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Re: UZEBOX AVCore

Post by uze6666 »

I'm not sure if there's enough people out there that really want to hand assemble QFN's and 0603's
I don't think either! Last week-end I tried to solder a microSD SMD connector...I felt like having Parkinson. I scrapped all 3 sockets I had ordered, and then reverted to a regular SD with no problems. Such kit would be good for a through hole part PCB, like Ladyada's. Much more "DIY friendly" IMHO. :D

Cheers,

Uze
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