I found a new way to scale STLs in FreeCAD where you don’t need to use the Python console.

Import the STL.
Go to the Part Workbench.
Select the STL in the Model list
Menu: Part->Create shape from mesh…
Select the new part
Menu: Part->convert to solid
Select the new part
Menu: Part->Refine shape
Change to the Draft Workbench
Menu: Draft->Clone

Now you can adjust the scale in the properties window of the clone.

Upverter has a nice STL export ( when it works ) of your board so you can do mechanical modelling for your design. Unfortunately when it gets imported into FreeCAD the scale is 10 times too small.

FreeCAD as of 0.15 does not have menu item that allows you to scale mesh imports. Luckily the python console can do the scaling of imported meshes.

First import the mesh ( STL file ) that you want to add to the current design. Select it in the “Combo view->Model” tree on the left of the FreeCAD screen. Then use the python console ( View->Views->Python console ) with the code below to scale it up 10 times.

import Mesh,BuildRegularGeoms
mat=FreeCAD.Matrix()
mat.scale(10.0,10.0,10.0)
mesh=App.ActiveDocument.ActiveObject.Mesh.copy()
mesh.transform(mat)
Mesh.show(mesh)

Now you should have a correctly sized copy of the STL board that you imported.

Here is the original post on importing and scaling ( I wanted to scale a mesh I had already imported ).

I’ve had this Aerogarden for a while but most of it’s life has been spent in a box in the garage because the lights quit working shortly after the 1 year warranty ran out. I decided to take it out this weekend and figure out what the issue was.

I disassembled the the light fixture and pulled out the power board and there are 2 250V 3A fuses on there. Both of then were blown. I de-soldered those thinking I would just replace them and the board would work. Then I got to thinking why do I want to fix the power supply for the proprietary ( and not very long lasting ) bulbs so instead I hacked it to take A19 ( “standard” ) light bulbs.

I didn’t take pictures along the way but the hack is pretty simple.

1. Disassemble the light fixture – 2 of the bolts are Torx. You don’t need to remove the 2 screws next to the power plug
2. Remove the old power supply and CFL mounting brackets
3. Mark the size of the holes for the new light fixtures – medium socket
4. Cut out the holes with a Dremel. I left the original CFL mounting holes in case I wanted to go back to the old bulbs.
5. Cut a piece of aluminium L bracket to length and height. Notice there is a notch part way though the light fixture that you need to make room for. I also added 4 holes for alignment to the old screw mounts. I would check to make sure that the fixture has room to close properly at this point.
6. Attach some 14 gauge wire to the bases and mount them to the L bracket.
7. Attach the new wire to the power plug on the fixture.
8. Slide the bases through the holes from step 3.
9. Mount the L bracket to the fixture with 2 Tek self taping bolts.
10. Re-assemble the fixture and you’re all done.

I’ve currently got 3 60W incandescent grow bulbs in there but I’m on the lookout for some LED or CFL grow lights.

I was recently introduced to the MDBT40 module that is based on the Nordic nRF51822. The processor nicely solves a number problems I’ve been looking at and the fact that it’s Bluetooth Smart also solves how I’ll get the data from it.

I designed some custom hardware ( the picture at left ) around the module and I needed some way to program it. My earlier post shows my investigations with SWD and OpenOCD.I put a SWD header on the board to re-program it.

OpenOCD Configuration for the nRF51822

bishop on the Nordic Developer Zone figured out how to get the nRF51822 part working with S-Link and OpenOCD. I took his configuration and adjusted it to work with the bus blaster v3.

Save it as nrf51822.cfg so then you can start openocd with it.

OpenOCD defaults to a telnet interace on 4444.

The board is now prgrammed with your custom firmware. This should work with any MDBT40 based board the has the 12K programming resistor per the Raytac application note. It should also work with other nRF51822 based board with a SWD interface

I recently got my amateur radio certificate and was interested doing some APRS messaging so I purchased a Sainsonic AP510. It’s a nice little TNC with GPS, bluetooth and a thermometer.

It comes with minimal documentation in 4 languages and no software to configure it.

There’s a Yahoo Group that has firmware, configuration software and upgrade software. It’s annoying that you need to sign up for a Yahoo account to download the files there.

There’s also a Chinese website that has more firmware and some forums ( the Yahoo site has mined most needed data from there )

There’s also a good French website that explains how to flash the firmware and has some files needed for windows 7.

I found a German site that explains the serial cable pinout.

Upgrading the firmware

Standard disclaimer: this has worked for me but if it fails and bricks your AP510 I’m not responsible.

So far I have only gotten this to work on Windows, it will run under Wine but won’t connect. On windows XP these files AVRTTupdata.exe.zip and the VB6 runtime will be enough. On any newer windows MSCOMM32.OCX and MSSTDFMT.DLL will be required as well.

Make sure the ini file is in the same directory as the AVRTTupdata when you run it as it has the correct setup for the AVR in the AP510. The first time you run AVRTTUpdata it will be in Chinese, select language and put it into English.

1. Use the option->comport menu item to chose the correct comport. Don’t change any of the other settings.
2. Use the folder icon to load the hex file into the Upgrade tool.
3. Turn off the AP510.
4. Push and hold the power button on the AP510.
5. While still holding the power button push the chip icon and the download will begin.
6. Keep holding the power button until the download completes.

Voila your AP510 is now upgraded.

Linux Configuration tool

Update: This is deprecated use chirp instead as it now supports the AP510

The windows configuration tool is in the archive above. I didn’t want to start up a VM each time to change the config so I wrote a simple python tool AP510-setup to configure it. You’ll need to edit the script to change the comport, callsign and other settings. I’ve licensed it GPL V2 and please send me any improvements you make to the script.

To use the script:

1. Edit the configuration
2. Turn the AP510 off
3. Start the script
4. Turn the AP510 back on
5. The script should dump the current settings, update the new settings and then dump the new settings

EDIT: Jan was nice enough to reverse engineer a schematic for the AP510.