Very soon I'll have time to build a cute nice hub for CN2.2 Smile
However, I need a solidified part list before I can start ordering and building.

Parts list. with suppliers and price:
[parts list coming soon, this was posted at midnight]

The planned design:
[design coming soon]

Finally, I'm planning to build and sell some of these. Due to the ridiculous shipping costs, I plan to order more than 1 case at a time. If you want one of the hubs, and are serious about paying and getting one, tell me via reply. Price is TBA, and you will have to pay shipping. (I'm not Amazon or Walmart, so no free shipping here!)

Hub buyers:
None yet!

@KermM: Part of the design process will require a very big render of the CN2.2 logo, in color. SVG is best, but if you didn't use SVG for the logo, simply resize it. (Of course, the redraw resize, not the pixel blurry resize.) Guess where that logo will be? Smile
Sounds awesome! Are you building a simple hub, a link LED hub, a sockets + cables hub, a spliced cables hub?
KermMartian wrote:
Sounds awesome! Are you building a simple hub, a link LED hub, a sockets + cables hub, a spliced cables hub?


LED, breadboard, socket, cables connected together kind of hub Smile
No spliced cables though - but I'll use wires and solder to make connections.

Exact specs coming soon!
alberthrocks wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
Sounds awesome! Are you building a simple hub, a link LED hub, a sockets + cables hub, a spliced cables hub?


LED, breadboard, socket, cables connected together kind of hub Smile
No spliced cables though - but I'll use wires and solder to make connections.

Exact specs coming soon!
Sounds good. I think you'd be better off with perfboard than breadboards, personally, both for the sake of cost and robustness. Also, be sure you take into account how long the cables need to be to comfortably reach link ports.
KermMartian wrote:
alberthrocks wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
Sounds awesome! Are you building a simple hub, a link LED hub, a sockets + cables hub, a spliced cables hub?


LED, breadboard, socket, cables connected together kind of hub Smile
No spliced cables though - but I'll use wires and solder to make connections.

Exact specs coming soon!
Sounds good. I think you'd be better off with perfboard than breadboards, personally, both for the sake of cost and robustness. Also, be sure you take into account how long the cables need to be to comfortably reach link ports.

Ack! I meant to say perfboard... Razz
(I usually think breadboards as perfboards since the "bread" part makes me think they're brown = the real perfboard... Razz )

How would the connections work? Just make them touch each other? If that, perhaps I could just get short wires, and link each lead to another. (Correct me if I'm wrong, or better yet, explain if I seem clueless!)
Yeah, you just put the lines in parallel. You might as well plant them in parallel on the perfboard so that it will be easy to tap in the link lights.
OK, got that.
Now for some specs planning:
Enclosure Specs:
Length: 6.5 in
Width: 2.875 in
Height: 1.130 in
(http://www.polycase.com/item/sl-73p.html)

Questions for everyone:
1) How many ports should there be?
2) There will be 2 LEDs, and they will be green. Any other colors, or is that fine with everyone?
3) Should there be any ports on the back, or all in the front?
4) Should there be a very simple manual included? Stickers? (Apple esque Razz)

Questions for electronic hackers:
1) Is there a trustworthy, reliable perf board seller? Paypal is preferred, but not required, esp. if it costs more.
2) Is there a trustworthy, reliable LED, resister, transistor, wire, and 2.5 mm socket seller? Paypal is preferred, but not required, esp. if it costs more.
3) IIRC, perfboard is simply solder and wire to connect. Is that right?
alberthrocks wrote:

Questions for everyone:
1) How many ports should there be?
2) There will be 2 LEDs, and they will be green. Any other colors, or is that fine with everyone?
3) Should there be any ports on the back, or all in the front?
4) Should there be a very simple manual included? Stickers? (Apple esque Razz)
1) I'd say at least four.
2) Green sounds fine to me
3) Maybe one on the back for future gCn-ness? Smile
4) Stickers would be cool; dunno if a manual is strictly necessary.

alberthrocks wrote:
Questions for electronic hackers:
1) Is there a trustworthy, reliable perf board seller? Paypal is preferred, but not required, esp. if it costs more.
2) Is there a trustworthy, reliable LED, resister, transistor, wire, and 2.5 mm socket seller? Paypal is preferred, but not required, esp. if it costs more.
3) IIRC, perfboard is simply solder and wire to connect. Is that right?
1) Radioshack has them. They're not that cheap, though
2) Not sure on this one
3) Agreed, very simple.
KermMartian wrote:
1) I'd say at least four.
2) Green sounds fine to me
3) Maybe one on the back for future gCn-ness? Smile
4) Stickers would be cool; dunno if a manual is strictly necessary.

1) I'd like a specific number though, since I don't know how many would fit nicely on the front. 6-8 perhaps?
2) Sounds good Smile
3) gCn has a back port??? Surprised And how would I connect? Parallel connection?
4) Stickers are a maybe, if I find a good site for it. And the "manual" is a single sheet of paper (small paper, like the ones you'd find in regular electronic boxes.
KermMartian wrote:
1) Radioshack has them. They're not that cheap, though
2) Not sure on this one
3) Agreed, very simple.

1) Anyone other than Radioshack? It's a good place though, but not very cheap. Razz (3 LEDS = $2??? Yuck.)
2) Mouser looks good, and my parents have consented to some ordering. Smile Any other suppliers though?
3) Sounds fun! Smile
A1) Sure, I think that would be fine. Personal preference, though
A3) Back port? What do you mean by "back port", physically on the back or "backport" like port to a lower-version operating system? And yes, normal parallel connection
A4) Fair enough
B1) There's no good brick-and-mortar stores with them anymore. :/
B2) Jameco, Digikey, Mouser, Sparkfun...
KermMartian wrote:
A1) Sure, I think that would be fine. Personal preference, though
A3) Back port? What do you mean by "back port", physically on the back or "backport" like port to a lower-version operating system? And yes, normal parallel connection
A4) Fair enough
B1) There's no good brick-and-mortar stores with them anymore. :/
B2) Jameco, Digikey, Mouser, Sparkfun...

A1) 8 then, if they fit! Smile
A3) Physical port on the back of the hub, which I assumed you meant.
B1) No good online retailers either?
B2) I'll take a peak at those sites.
A3) Doesn't have to be on the back; I just figured that would be a nice logical place for it. Smile
B1/B2) Those are the good online retailers. And *peek.
KermMartian wrote:
A3) Doesn't have to be on the back; I just figured that would be a nice logical place for it. Smile
B1/B2) Those are the good online retailers. And *peek.

A3) So is that a definite yes? Smile Are you saying just one port, or multiple ports on the back?

And my spelling sucks when studying. Razz
alberthrocks wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
A3) Doesn't have to be on the back; I just figured that would be a nice logical place for it. Smile
B1/B2) Those are the good online retailers. And *peek.

A3) So is that a definite yes? Smile Are you saying just one port, or multiple ports on the back?

And my spelling sucks when studying. Razz
I'm suggesting just one port on the back and letting the ports for the calculators be on the front, but again, that's a stylistic choice on your part. Don't forget that you probably want the gCn port (if not the others) to be a socket rather than a plug, although I haven't finalized the hardware yet.
KermMartian wrote:
alberthrocks wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
A3) Doesn't have to be on the back; I just figured that would be a nice logical place for it. Smile
B1/B2) Those are the good online retailers. And *peek.

A3) So is that a definite yes? Smile Are you saying just one port, or multiple ports on the back?

And my spelling sucks when studying. Razz
I'm suggesting just one port on the back and letting the ports for the calculators be on the front, but again, that's a stylistic choice on your part. Don't forget that you probably want the gCn port (if not the others) to be a socket rather than a plug, although I haven't finalized the hardware yet.


Ahh ok. In that case, I'll leave out the gCn port for now until you have solidified your design, and then will have a HW revision in the future to include it.

And all the ports on the hub are sockets, although plugs seem to be more convenient and doesn't depend on the users for cables. What do you think? Maybe it's possible to include both sockets and plugs?
Well, one the one hand having sockets gives you a very neat and self-contained design, but then it would probably be good to include several longer cables. Plugs and cables built-in, on the other hand, are more complete but non-removable and not as clean of a design. What do you think?
KermMartian wrote:
Well, one the one hand having sockets gives you a very neat and self-contained design, but then it would probably be good to include several longer cables. Plugs and cables built-in, on the other hand, are more complete but non-removable and not as clean of a design. What do you think?


Hmm... I personally prefer sockets, but now that you've mentioned it, it would seem that having plugs is a necessity for a majority. It does look messy though.

One possible solution is to have them in a mini compartment inside the hub, and it can be opened and used. Each cable inside is connected to each "port", and there would be holes in the compartment to allow the compartment cover to close, making it somewhat neat.

Another possible solution (although much more complex) is to have the wires be retractable. Each hole would have a mini lid on top. Opening the lid pulls out a wire, and the wire can be pulled out. Once done, the wire is disconnected, and it automatically snakes itself back in.

Any other ideas for doing that? Also, how would I do about creating those wires? (The ones from eBay aren't very cheap... $2 a wire = Razz)
Actually, $3 per cord, but keep in mind that you can cut them in half and extend them using three-conductor wire if you're not including sockets, which will make it $1.50 per plug. Smile
KermMartian wrote:
Actually, $3 per cord, but keep in mind that you can cut them in half and extend them using three-conductor wire if you're not including sockets, which will make it $1.50 per plug. Smile


...and you still haven't answered my question regarding implementation. Wink

Regarding cords, is there a cheaper place besides eBay and friends? Smile (What I'm really asking is that could I use something else besides TI supplied cords?)
alberthrocks wrote:
KermMartian wrote:
Actually, $3 per cord, but keep in mind that you can cut them in half and extend them using three-conductor wire if you're not including sockets, which will make it $1.50 per plug. Smile


...and you still haven't answered my question regarding implementation. Wink
What question have I not answered? How to make your own "wires"? There's no easy way to make your own unit-to-unit link cables unless you have sources for 2.5mm stereo plugs and 3-conductor shielded audio wire, and can get the plugs for less than $1.00 each. Then you'd have to solder and attach and all that. Were you instead complaining that I didn't answer how to make the cords retractable?
  
Register to Join the Conversation
Have your own thoughts to add to this or any other topic? Want to ask a question, offer a suggestion, share your own programs and projects, upload a file to the file archives, get help with calculator and computer programming, or simply chat with like-minded coders and tech and calculator enthusiasts via the site-wide AJAX SAX widget? Registration for a free Cemetech account only takes a minute.

» Go to Registration page
Page 1 of 3
» All times are UTC - 5 Hours
 
You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot vote in polls in this forum

 

Advertisement