Trip to Pasar Road

Today is a good day for me, even though I arrive a the shop in the afternoon. By now, they are asking me was I so late since I usually go there early in the morning. Ha ha.

Anyway, business is slow today, and so, we get to talk more about..... stuff. And then I get to see more about their.....stuff. And I am now, really hoping to get some money in. Why? Its simple. Circuit Boards. Normally, when you need to prototype a circuit, you do it on the stripboard. But the next stage after that is, well, the actual circuit board. And this is the problem.

You need to design and make one or a few prototypes before going full production. Really. Because if you did not, and there is a design mistake, you're talking about wasting a lot of good quality boards. Going to Pasar Road to get them do it for you could be very expensive or taking a long time since they could be oursourcing the job. And so, in the end, you have to DIY.

Two things I hate about making my own board is, one, you have to etch it yourself and this means dealing with chemicals which is toxic and permanently stains not only your clothes but the floor and everything around you. Second, you have to drill the holes out and keep replacing drill bits because they get blunt very fast by the fibreglass (since you're too cheap to by thos eultra expensive and brittle tungsten drill bits).

I do have some equipment but stopped after I *ahem* got married. And so, I think, its time to continue again.

This is a RM2,000 over UV exposure unit.

The difference between this and mine is that it
has a timer, the option to switch one or both
UV banks, and best of all....

... it has a vacuum pump to get the board and
the postive film to stick to the glass. Yes, this
one can do a double-sided PCB!

But I am not going to buy that since I already
have a 1998 Rm750.00 version. Anyway, a
quick one here. Once you expose the board
to the UV light, its time to develop the board

So, you add some developer chemical to the
water and shake the tub about until...... yes!

And this is the positive film for the PCB

And I am so in need of this etching tank. More
than 10 years ago, I wanted someone to do it
for me but afraid that the silicon sealant might
react with the etching solution and this will
make the tank leak over time. You do not want
this to happen when you're away. Trust me. So,
this model has the heater, agitator and comes in
a compact form. They're testing this right now
and so far, so good. So they might be bringing
it in a few months later.

But that's not the reason I was there. Just
getting to see it was a stroke of luck. I was
there because of the need to get a spotlight
which is not so hot until it heatrays a plastic
model to oblivion.

And so, a MR16 LED spotlight is just the answer.
Inside this are four 1watt Luxeon type LEDs and
the decorative metal enclosure is actually it very
own heatsink and air-flow vent.

You can use those normal MR16 connectors on
the LED spot but you have to remember, it can
only use 12 volts DC and not 240volts AC.

And I can tell you that it is very bright. Its like
having a brand new Krypton Torchlight.

OK, so now you're going to ask, why the yellowish
colour as this white LEDs are supposed to be pure
white? The answer is, I chose WARM WHITE and
not PURE WHITE. Yes, there are a lot of shades
of white in the LEDs now, from warm to pure to
slightly towards blue or yellow, etc.

After testing it for an hour or so, it does get warm. Not
hot but warm and this is on a ventilated area. I do not
want to test it overnight with no ventilation conditions
as I do not want to wake up with a fire in there. Oh, its
bright and this is the exact brightness you see when I
was in a room with no other lighting but a 6pm dusk
through the windows.

I noticed there is an extra reflector/lens in the
middle of the spot. And I think this is the only
reason why there is a whitish yellow core.