FDIM Buildathon 2019

Price: $50.00 - By Special Request. Please email
Picture of FDIM Buildathon 2019


Keeping with the bench instrumentation theme over the past few years, the FDIM Buildathon project will be test equipment related but a little different....

I have had a small 100Khz bandwidth oscilloscope for several years now. It was one of the first ones developed using a very fast and compact microprocessor to handle all the oscilloscope functions and a tiny OLED display. I thought it was very clever, bought one and promptly entered into an all night maker session and mounted it inside a tuna can. It was very cool but the display was way too impractical for me and my old eyes to use. This year, when I was in Albuquerque for the Rocky Mountain Division convention, I met up with the boys from Circuit Specialists. I have been buying stuff from them for a couple of decades so we hit it off. When I was NOT running around like a chicken with its head cut off (I hosted TWO Buildathons AND presented a forum talk) I perused their booth and ended up buying TWO oscilloscopes. One, a nice portable Hantek, to replace my Rigol which I reluctantly sold when I needed an infusion of cash and a little 200Khz pocket scope. I showed off the pocket scope to Chuck Carpenter, W5USJ, the next day as I detoured to Point Texas for a quick visit with Chuck on my way home from New Mexico.. He had just received a cheaper pocket scope that he had bought through Banggood. Those cheapir o*scopes come without a case and with either alligator or j-hook test leads. The unit from Circuit Specialists comes fully assembled in a very nice case AND with a real live oscilloscope test probe. Chuck now has both and prefers the new one. Even though I have a brand new Hantek scope and several more traditional analog scopes, I do like the little JYETech DSO Shell scope from Circuit Specialists and it is pretty handy to pack and take anywhere and everywhere I go! It does take some time getting used to the functions and selection process.

Later, while driving my sisters car from Maine to Florida, I started designing a neat little learning board to provide sample signals to measure while getting familiar with the little pocket scopes....and the O*Scope FUN! board was born. A couple of days later, while resting up at my sisters house, I had it all laid out and ready to go. But I have held back and re-worked the design a couple of times and think it is now ready....

So this year, the FDIM Buildathon with be a little different. We will build a simple little O*Scope FUN! board for generating nice predictable signals to measure while we learn how to use a pocket oscilloscope....a little build time...and a little learning time! The price is a little higher for this FDIM as everyone will leave with BOTH the O*Scope FUN! learning board AND a very nice JYETech DSO Shell pocket oscilloscope. The scope sells for $39 at Circuit Specialists but I have made arrangements with them to get them at a reduced cost in order to keep the Buildathon price at $50.



More details to be filled in later as the boards arrive from the FAB house and I get to work on the documentation. I have a preliminary board layout picture included with this listing but the design has changed. I am still in the process of redesigning it to reduce the time to build so we can have time to learn!



As usual, the Buildathon room only holds between 40 and 50 builders so there is a limit to the number of seats available. I will start the list and 40 and see where that goes...


***********************************

The Registered Builders are:

----------------------------------
CHRIS WALDRUP.........KD4PBJ
JOHN YOUNG..............WA8KNE
KARL KREMER...............K5KHK
MARTHA AUCHARD........W0ER1
GARY AUCHARD.............W0MNA
MARTY BOROFF.............WD9GYM
GLEN JOHNSTONE........NK1N
JIM FISHER.................AJ3DI
CHARLES AGOSTI...........KB8AXA
PHIL GRAITCER................W3HZZ


^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 10

SEAN ADKINS..................KH7RMG
MICHAEL GLENNON.......KB4JHU
RON EIKE...........................KA3PSO
DON SZENINA..................N8HDT
ROBERT BENEDICT..........KD8CGH
DAVID WILCOX.................K8WPE
ROBERT WALKER...............N4CU
RICHARD SCHWENKE......N8GBA
DAVE PALMGREN...............N8DP
PAULETTE QUICK...............WB9VHF

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 20

RANDY WOOD......................KE8JWB
ERIC BERMAN...................KC3GDV
WALT SCHUKNECHT.......N7IZM
CHRIS SCHUKNECHT.....N5ZIW
THOMAS GRAF...................WV8TG
JOHN EICHORN.................WD1P
DAVE NEW........................N8SBE
JOHN KUNZ.....................N8MCA
SCOTT McDONALD...............KA9P

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 30

DAVE RAJNAUTH.................VE3OOI
ERIC GUNTER........................KC2TXO
DAVE HUDELSON.................W8HUD
GREG TRIMBLE...................WB5NYO
JOE EISENBERG................K0NEB
MAC THOMAS..........................WT4BT
GARY MORTON........................M1GRY
TED JAHN..............................K4YLX
STEPHEN HAROLD...............K2SH
JAMES GESSNER.................K1YSO

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 40

JIM STAFFORD...................N4QO
BILL HULLEY......................K7WXW
HAROLD GARRON.................AC2BK
CHARLES BROWN...................W3CHB

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^ 45
GUARANTEED SEATING IS NOW OFFICIALLY FULL!
YOU CAN STILL SIGN UP ON THE WAITING LIST FOR A CANCELLATION
OR SIMPLY GRAB & GO WITH THE BUILDATHON PACKAGE AND BUILD IT
AT HOME AND SAVE THE POSTAGE...


STANDBY/KIT PICKUP LIST
----------------------------------
ROBERT WOLD.........................K6ZLY
GREGORY HANSON.................KI8AF
JOHN COVINGTON................W4CC
FRANK CATES.........................WA4EWL
RAYMOND RICHARD................
MARK PUPILLI........................
JOHN KITCHENS.......................

PICK UP AT FDIM
------------------------------------
JOHN HUMPHREY...................W4IM
DANIEL WALTER...................NM3A
WILLIAM RAVENAL................AI4VE
BRUCE HALL............................
MICHAEL SMITH...................
DOUG LEVAN............................
TOM DOOLEY............................
CHARLES OHRSTEDT....................
BILL KOSONEN..................KD8ZEG

SHIP TO QTH:
-----------------------------------------
DENNIS RAYFIELD......KI3F
BILL COLLINS.....................
ROBERT JANKA........................KM6BMX
JERRY JOHNSTON.....................

Please pay special attention to the names and calls below! They are volunteering their time & expertise to help make the 2019 FDIM Buildathon a success!

VOLUNTEERS:
------------
Graham Firth G3MFJ
Larry Howell AC8YE
John Poland N0WL
Rod Wallberg W8GRI
Michael Aiello N2HTT
Bill Fugate W8IYD
John Demuth K8CQA


Hope to see you there!
Rex W1REX










Documentation
  • Oscope FUN Ver5 Builders guide
  • FDIM Buildathon 2019 Schematic page1
  • FDIM Buildathon 2019 Schematic page2
  • Oscope FUN ver4 pcb
  • Ver5 Layout
  • Oscope FUN pads - stereo phones
  • OscopeFUN Experiments

    Related Links
  • SCOPE Circuit Specialists DSO Shell Oscilloscope.