Proposed Community Project; Lab Power Supply from Notebook Power Adapter

So I’m using Win10 and KiCad6.

OK it would be most helpful if someone else can confirm the ability to open and view my schematic and pcb layout. I am pretty sure that the project folder should work as it is. If not, I can provide my libraries.

My hands have been unsteady since I began electronics at the ripe old age of 13.

All you need to do is include a file called say LICENSE in your distribution. There are various licenses you can choose from, some are mentioned here:

As hardware is different from software, open software licenses may not be totally appropriate, long story. Nonetheless I put a standard MIT license in most software and hardware projects I publish. Not that I care what people do with the information as nothing I do is novel. It also disclaims any liability for what people do with it.

Github even automatically scans the LICENSE file and tags the project appropriately so that it’s visible in the project summary page and can be searched via this tag.

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OK thanks.

Let’s try this. I fully expect that someone will figure out something that is wrong with my attachment below, and it seems to me that my posted verbiage should be adequate. But…anyway…how is this? I will edit/modify it if required but I draw a line before hiring a lawyer.
Digipot SEPIC License.pdf (38.6 KB)

Can someone try to help to figure out why @Lutz_Muller cannot open my project?

You don’t need to append your name and signature, as your name should be in the copyright header, which you left out. It should be:

Copyright © 2022 Robert M. Zwicker

Also while PDF readers may be very common, a text file suffices.

Well OK we will try again. Any of these file types are easily faked, but it seems to me that the .txt is the easiest to fake. So this does not make a lot of sense to me…

Digipot SEPIC License-2.txt (1.1 KB)

When Microsoft puts © on their documents, they don’t get their CEO to sign it. Or embed a NFT in the document, as seems to be the craze these days. Everybody knows who Microsoft is. Authorship is established by other evidence, if it ever comes to that, the text is just a notice declaring copyright. But it won’t come to that in your case since you are actually granting wide permissions. It’s just to reassure other people that they can use it as you intend.

And when you have finished you should include the file with the other files that it covers.

It sounds like you are in touch with a lot of stuff about which I do not have a clue. The legal stuff quickly causes my eyes to glaze over. I am marginally familiar with NFTs, and I like to joke that an old NY City subway token was a non-fungible token because it is “non-nutrient to fungus.” (phase from specifications for military equipment.) When the former USA first lady is discussing her own NFT, matters have really gone too far…

Just now as an experiment, I “hid” my symbol and footprint libraries in a temporary folder and then opened the project and schematic and pcb editors. Everything worked without issues until I went to add a symbol. So I think there is something on your end that is happening wrong…

Good morning, try to hide it all. Create a new folder and extract the files. Restart your computer. Call up KiCad and start your project, go to Eeschema on Run Footprint Assignment Tool and then the error message appears. Incidentally, I also get errors during the electrical test.


Yes, and there I have another question: I don’t understand these two things at all, not at all the right one.
frage

So it is obvious that you can open the schematic diagram; right?

On the left: I use “engineering notation” for my R and C values. 1e-6 is 1 uF. It would take me <15 minutes to translate the entire BOM if you need that.

On the right: The design uses only 3 sections of a quad op amp. When an op amp section is not used, it must be properly connected otherwise to make sure that the rest of the IC functions properly. This is connected as a “ground follower” which is the usual method. I am using AD8619 because I have a stock of those. It will be easy to substitute a less expensive quad op amp in the same package, but if you want to use AD8619 that will be OK also.

Please go to this discussion thread:

https://forum.kicad.info/uploads/short-url/2mLoDFR6uNOo0TmZbEXhsKOefGW.rar

and see if you can fully open the project, pcb, and schematic in straptest.rar?

EDIT: I think that many forum members who would be able to help are probably “done” with this thread. IMHO if you cannot view the pcb layout in straptest.rar, you probably need to start a new thread, something like: “Cannot fully view projects downloaded from this forum”. If you can fully view straptest.rar then we should probably change the title of the new thread. Something like: Why can you open straptest.rar but not my .zip file?? Then if there is something missing in the contents of my .zip file we will work towards fixing that problem.

That’s a great idea. You should also use k as shorthand for resistors of greater than 1 kiloohm resistance, IMHO.

I downloaded your kicad files, upzipped them into a new directory and looked at the schematic.
Unfortunately my buster linux distribution can only install kicad 5.02

$ apt-cache madison kicad kicad | 5.0.2+dfsg1-1 | http://deb.debian.org/debian buster/main amd64 Packages

so I guess this means I will have to upgrade to bullseye, the next debian stable operating system, before I can install kicad 6. I considered doing that in December. There is just one issue I want to check before upgrading to bullseye.

So I unpacked the new rar file and tested it. Footprints can now be assigned to the symbols - there are no more errors. Only the Elektro check delivers a file that has not yet been loaded. See image

That rar file is only an experiment which was posted by someone else and is not otherwise related to my project. So…you can view the pcb in straptest.rar but not my digipot SEPIC?

OK what I would prefer to do (if I can find out how) is to add another column to the BOM and use it for an added field. The engineering notation is very useful for component value sorting. Microsoft Excel (and I assume also LibreOffice…although I have not tested it) does not interpret 1.2M or 3.01K as numbers. When I attempt to sort these as values I get nonsense.

No, not without kicad.
I just looked at the pdf, after renaming it to eliminate the
spaces in the filename.
I use gnumeric (GNOME application) for spreadsheet computations. When I get a chance, I will experiment with values 1.2M or 3.01k and the like in gnumeric and report back my results.

?? Well of course I figured we are running KiCad. I am adding another column to the BOM. No big issues but I have unrelated interruptions. Hope to post a new zip file later today or tonight (USA Pacific Time Zone.)

Why you can’t just assume that if someone gives his work to public that he just gives it to everyone to use it as he (means those everyone) wants.
I just don’t understand the need to waste a time to write something no one knows how to write it. The end effect is milion people wasting a time for writing and others for reading something not needed to anyone of them. This is a tremendous waste to humanity as a whole and how much energy will be spent on such writing and reading (most of it is done on electrically powered devices).

So as everyone sees that not licence is attached that it should be obvious that ‘no Licence is attached’.
Do we really need to write that 2+2=4? The world is actually a heat so low?

Hi, Piotr

Thanks for trying to help out. I do not really know how the law would be likely to come down on anyone copying these files and using them. But logic often does not get you far when you are arguing with a judge. If the law says this and you do not do it, you have broken the law. End of story…

Because the law is quite clear that if I assume that and it’s incorrect then I can be sued. Do I like it? No not at all, but it is quite clear that without the person saying I can copy it then I am liable.

Indeed, all it needs as I have stated (and others more eleogantly) is a file in the zip saying anyone can do what they like or the licence you choose. Stupid as it sounds. What you have done already is sufficient.

I have an overwhelming impression that the law has ceased to serve people and now people are to serve the law.
It looks like need to assign a file saying that I don’t assign more files.