Well folks, in my continued quest to acquire toys to help with making both a fire control system and work on the "boat laser tag" I picked up some new toys (unfortunately sans manuals) today... (so if anyone knows of links to the manuals, I would love to have them...) I picked up a Phillips PM 5712 pulse generator (I can generate servo control signals with this and other signals from 1hz to 50mhz) and a Tektronix 485 oscilloscope.... fun times ahead
Can't help with manuals... but if you need help with basic operation, I should be able to help. What are you trying to do with them?
Couple of projects: A) Fire control system... I can simulate servo signals with the generator, which should allow me to do preliminary testing without rc stuff around. B) IR Laser tag for boats... I've found some components, now I just have to get them in (40khz IR transmitter/receiver) and see what signals I can send through them, and how to read them for starters... ideally initially the transmitter would take in a serial signal and transmit. the receiver would receive and send out a serial signal... what a person did with said signal would be up to them... again, this should help me test... I am starting to stock up for the winter electronics build session....
servo signal is PWM, make sure your generator can create PWM.... Note Saw tooth is PWM, but PWM is not saw tooth. Saw Tooth is PWM @ 50% duty cycle. Hard to say if cheaper servos will confuse faster sawtooth signals for higher duty cycles, but I assume not. PWM is digital form of analog signals, higher duty cycle will seem to analog components (like motors) as higher voltage. Saw tooth is 50%, meaning 50% of the time at rail voltage, 50% @ 0V. Assume 5V rail; the 50% average of 5V & 0V is 2.5; so a motor will run at the same speed as if it had 2.5 volts over it. At 60% cycle, the average is 3V... so a motor will run as if it has 3V over it. Here's the kicker, this is true no matter what frequency is used... assuming no component capacitance. So the moral is your servos will always fall to 50% stroke unless it gets confused due to capacitance. --- Not sure why you all want to use laser tag, The reason we all joined is to sink ships. Your o-scope will let you see what is being sent from your transmitter & received by your receiver. Have you chosen the tx/rx yet? Make sure you find a Rx with great angle of acceptance, otherwise it will be insanely hard to make a hit.
yep, the pulse generator only generates square waves with variable high or low time lengths at a given frequency. As far as the laser tag, while I am wholeheartedly for fighting with projectiles and sinking, I would also like to be able to make nicer looking ships without having to rebuild the superstructure. The idea behind laser tag is that you can have different shell caliburs for different ships, different results from hits, etc, and combined with a co2 based special effects system along with actually sinking the ship when sunk, would provide a way to get the more scale oriented folks into something similar (along with allowing us to play where BB/ball bearing wars would not be tolerated). Part of it is the thought that it would be a decent recruiting tool, and part of it is because it sounds like a lot of fun if done correctly... I am right now just researching, I don't plan on buying hardware till fall.
You can produce nice servo pulses with about US$5 worth of components that are stocked at almost any Radio Shack. Google "servo tester" with "555" & you'll find dozens of them. JM
I signal generator is a very required part of your electronic arsenal; however, I'm with John a servo tester would probably be better for this. I will watch laser tag from a distance until it becomes more mature.
I may end up buying one of them too... although the fire control setup comes first... then laser tag if it doesn't get pushed out by some other crazy scheme.
