A Trip to Radio Shack

Over the weekend I went to Radio Shack for the third time and got a lot of stuff.  This includes TWO 5v power supplies, one huge one that can supply a whopping 18 amps (!) and a portable 3 amp one.

I also got another box of stuff from Mouser, some new wire cutters, the giant plastic container for the computer, and other various things.

Those are mostly giant 800-point breadboards in the plastic container.

Left:  The huge power supply.
Right: The smaller one.

With my new soldering iron from the Shack, I was sure I would get soldering right. Of course, the tip managed to oxidize in the time it took me to strip the end off a wire.  I have completely given up on soldering at this point.

Now begins the search for a DIP-pin enabled pushbutton switch.

With a power supply, I can finally begin the construction of the CPU.


Right: A cute 14-pin DIP 7-segment LED display.  I have two.

A Soldering Iron, Part 2

I got another soldering iron.  Of course, the solder will not stick to the PCB.  Back to the drawing board for the regulator.

I recieved a heatsink compound, which I will not be using because the solder won't stick to the PCB!

More Mouser components are coming - a potentiometer for the clock control, a few more ICs, decoupling capacitors, 80 more LEDs, some more EEPROM, and a variety of resistors.

A Soldering Iron: Part 1

I have ordered another soldering iron.

Meanwhile, operations are at a standstill.  Things will be picking up, though, once I obtain a working iron.

Just some notes:

• The 5V regulator will be constructed using the "Manhattan" style of unmarked PCB building.  This will add some extra capacitance to ground, but I'm already adding 200 uF; what more can a few pF do?
• I just got what I hope is my last breadboard, bringing my total up to eight.
• I also received a huge plastic container to be used as the case.
• If anyone can find a place to get 24 gauge solid wire, please contact me in the comments and/or email me.

A picture of the COMPLETED regulator will hopefully be forthcoming.

Parts and a Broken Soldering Iron

All of the materials came Thursday.  Here are some pictures:

And this is what I will use to create the voltage converter:

Unfortunately, my soldering iron broke, so I have to get a new one.  Updates on progress will follow.