Advice on Leo's BU0836X

[nosecone]

Hi all

I have just ordered Leo's BU0836X controller and 4 Potentiometer and looking for any do's and dont's when I hook the board up. I am new to cockpit building and a total novice when it comes to anything electrical so I dont want to fry the board or blow anything.
Another thing, what type of wire should I use to connect the pots the to control board. Simple questions I know

Regards

Rhys

[ian@737ng.co.uk]

hello rhys.......
BU0836X is pretty well bombproof. you are only working with 5vdc so dont worry too much about frying it. it supplies it's own power to the pots from the USB Bus.
biggest thing i see is newbies connect up the pots wrongly and things don't work. just pay attention to correct connection and you will not go far wrong.
re: wire, this is what i use. cheap as chips and works fine.
http://www.rapidonline.com/Cables-Connectors/Equipment-Wire/Equipment-Wire/16-0.2mm-Equipment-wire-(plain-colours)/62322
good luck and regards from wales.... ian

[Peter_Pilot]

Rhys,

One of the great things about these forums is that we can learn from other peoples' stupidity i.e. mine. I tried to fry my BU0836X and failed so I can vouch for it being bombproof. What I did was connect up a Hall sensor (three wires the same as your potentiometers) to the first three terminals at the top left (looking at the board with the USB connector at the top), I didn't notice that the first terminal is 5 volts and that I should have connected to terminals 2, 3 and 4 instead, the 5 volt label is tucked away in the corner slightly and I didn't see it in my excitement to try out my new kit. I fried a few pence worth of Hall sensor but more worrying was the message that popped up on my laptop computer screen that said a USB device was drawing too much current. The BU0836 and my laptop seem to have survived the ordeal fortunately. Note that there is another 5 volt terminal to watch out for a little further down at the hat switch terminals.

The lessons that I have learned are:

1. Never connect newly wired electronics to your best computer without preferably testing it somehow beforehand.

2. Carefully check all you wiring for silly errors before connecting power.

3. If you see the screen message that a USB device is drawing too much current then pull out the USB cable as quick as possible.

Good luck with your project I am sure you'll get on fine and have a lot of fun.

Best wishes,

Peter

[iwik]

Hi Rys,
Just one thing to note.Just make sure you follow the pic on Leos site for connecting the pots.You wont damage the board but you could burn out your pots if wired wrongly.The pic he shows is great for wiring it up.If youre unsure just ask.
Les

[KenK]

Hi Nosecone:

Some other things to do (not do?):D:D

1. Use 3 wire shielded cable for all Analog circuits (pots ,Hall sensors).

2. Avoid bundling Analog cables with power cables.Keep em separated.

3. Wire size isnt that critical for Analog circuits unless you have some really long cables.

4. You can use shielded wire from old data and audio cables. 2 kinds are available,wire mesh and foil. The foil is used on most industrial Analog circuits but if you use rule 2 it will work fine.

Regards Ken K

[Bjarne Horsbøl]

Rhys,

I didn't notice that the first terminal is 5 volts and that I should have connected to terminals 2, 3 and 4 instead, the 5 volt label is tucked away in the corner slightly and I didn't see it in my excitement to try out my new kit.


Peter

Hello Peter

Looking at this picture the first terminal is not 5 volt.

http://www.leobodnar.com/products/BU0836X/

terminal 1=ground
terminal 2=X
terminal 3= 5 volt
....

terminal 4=ground
terminal 5=Y
terminal 6= 5 volt
.... ect.

Has your BU0836X another layout ?

I am asking because I just made an order for BU0386X and would like to be sure!

Regards
Bjarne Horsbøl

[nosecone]

Thanks heaps guys for all your advice, Just the stuff I was after.
I might buy some very cheap pots and use them as a test bed before I use the pots I brought from Leo. The Kiwi dollar is quite strong against the pound so now was a good time to buy, althought still cost around $220 NZ dollars for the control board and 4 pots.

I am using real aircraft switches for the instrument panel that I plan to build.
Have tested the switches and they all seem to work.

Does anyone know if a trim switch can be hooked up to Loe's board. The cyclic I have as a trim switch on the top and would be great if I can hook that up

Regards

Rhys

[Leo Bodnar]

Has your BU0836X another layout ?
Hi Bjarne,

All BU0836X boards had the same layout apart from a spare/extra +5V terminal on the POV HAT block on current boards. I think this has caused the confusion as picture on the website is of the very first board I have made.

Here is the layout of current boards.

Thanks
Leo

[Peter_Pilot]

Apologies to all, yes my mistake (again), GND not 5 volts.

[Peter_Pilot]

By the way, now that I have managed to wire up my Hall sensor joystick properly and have removed the belt drives it works absolutely superbly well, I am really pleased with it and can highly recommend the combination of the BU0836X and Hall sensors.