lesthegrngo

For all those interested, I have made a couple of little PCB's with four of the OH137 type hall effect switches on them, and tested them with a Bodnar BU0836-LC board, and they work perfectly. While they are not going to be used for a lot of simple applications, I can see how these are going to be used by me for bespoke switches like rotary, or multi position lever switches. With a 3mm diameter, 1mm thick magnet, the distance that the switches operated at about 5mm distance, so even with tiny magnets it functions well. The sensors are 6mm apart for these boards, and with a larger 6mm diameter, 10mm long magnet (which is pretty powerful) there is no cross talk, so the switches can be quite close together. The bigger magnet activates the switch at over 10mm distance Hope this helps Les

Thanks Vinc. Didn't know about suppressing the Graphics notifications, that's definitely helped I tried to use the bit about forcing Solidworks to use the graphics card, but when I get into the advanced display part, the screen I get is different, so maybe it depends on the version of Windows 10 you have Cheers Les Yeah, it runs fine. I disabled the graphics messages which helps, and as long as I restart the PC occasionally it isn't too bad. If I don't though, you'll start to get bombarded! with them. They have never affected the performance though Les

Hi all, here's a bit of feedback after a few weeks of use of the Solidworks 3DExperience. First the good; I can use Solidworks with no (for me at least) restrictions in terms of the tools I use and what I need to do. There probably are parts of the program unavailable to me but for my use at least I have not run into any of them. The files can be imported using the Solidworks Connect and I found that as long as you opened the top level assembly, most if not all of the sub assemblies and part files would be automatically saved to the cloud or your local storage as dictated by your choices. They would be updated to the latest version as part of the process. Using SW is almost the same as the older version I was used to so the transition is also pretty minimal Now the not so good. Firstly, and most annoyingly I get the 'Solidworks is critically low in resource' errors popping up every ten seconds or so. Continually. If you do not restart your PC, the frequency increases to the point where the moment you close one message another pops up. My desktop PC is an i5 6400 at 2.7 Ghz, 1060 GTX with 3 GB ram, 16 Gb DDR4, so while not anywhere near bleeding edge is also not that bad. I have followed all the online advice to free up memory and all the other tips but I think I just have to face the fact that my PC is a little underpowered. It will generate those messages even if I have a really simple part open on its own, however it is worth noting that at no point so far has the program crashed, even with complicated assemblies displayed Ironically I went from the old Solidworks because the computer had to be too old so it could run Win Vista 32 bit, and now I am having to consider upgrading my PC because it's too old. You couldn't write this stuff! It seems that the GPU, despite being relatively modern, is not one on the supported drivers list The other not so good feature is that as you are often saving and working 'online' I find that saving assemblies can take a long time, with many fails along the way, disconnection issues and so forth. So, definitely a step forward, but ultimately not without some caveats. Comparing to Onshape, Solidworks still does have the edge, especially in terms of replicating advanced mates like cams etc. Right now, I am definitely seeing them as complimentary programs, with Onshape having an advantage of being able to run on lesser hardware, allowing me to design things on a Win 10 laptop when travelling; SW will not install on that low spec laptop. Hope this helps someone Les

Hi all It's been a while as I have been working on my Race Sim rig - I divide my time between the two, with the flight rig dominating the time due to the complexity. However as I started using VR (only on the racing sims!) a while back (therefore negating all the work I did on nice cockpit gauges, dashboards and cockpit parts!) I found that there is a real need for some things to be correct, or at least realistic, from the point of view of tactile feel and feedback. I found that my old open gate double H pattern 'gearbox' was a bit too weak in terms of feel, plus I found that I was inadvertently trapping my fingers in the open gate as I could not see what I was doing. I can assure you that it hurts! So I have been making a new beefier version that uses a simple lever and pivot at the driver end, with all the action being done in a nice solid box further back out of harms reach. I have a little Seig X2 mill I converted to CNC and so am able to make some aluminium and steel parts, but realistically it is limited. Making metal parts takes ages, and due to the limitations of the cheap mill it's based on, it requires a lot of work to ensure the accuracy and finish of the parts is good. However a while back I got the MFP Crosswind pedals, and noted that they were constructed from a plastic laminate. A bit of research made me realise it is a modern equivalent of Tufnol, a phenolic resin based composite that used layers of cloth soaked in the resin and pressed into sheets. I remember it from my apprenticeship, it was used on loads of things, including gears on lathes, so was tough stuff. The modern equivalent is just called phenolic sheet, and Ebay sells it in both black and the original orangey coloured varieties, and I have bought pieces of sheet up to 10mm thick. The reason for telling you all this is that if you have a panel that requires a complicated shape, thin sections, needs to have accurate and clean holes, pockets or other features, this stuff is great. It is easy to machine, can be cut with small diameter cutters generating small chips, low smell (although always ventilate) and is strong and stable. I have been making the gearbox walls and detent parts from this material and it makes really strong parts. It can be tapped, it's resistant to oil and grease, and compared to aluminium allows me to make parts a lot faster. Maybe eventually I will change some parts to aluminium for durability, but only in the really high stress areas. For all the rest of the gearbox assembly this stuff has been really great, and from now on, all my prototyping will use this stuff where possible. So, for those of you looking for a material for those trickier parts that need some strength or accuracy, have a look at phenolic Cheers Les

Vinc, the Solidworks Connect was the correct one to use, thanks for that redirect. I can now import the files correctly, I just need to make sure I save them is a way that they stay like that for future use. I suppose it means that all of the files I have created in the past belong to the cloud and I assume are available to everyone. If so, I hope they are useful for anyone who wants to use them! I don't suppose there is a batch upload available so that I can get all the files uploaded so that I don't have to do them one by one - I have thousands! Cheers Les

I want to import my Solidworks files, but with all the features still active rather than one imported solid. I want all the construction sketches, extrudes, lofts, holes, planes etc I used to 'make' the original part so that I can easily edit it. It doesn't appear to be a feature of the SW 3D experience thing, so I would have to create them from new again. If I'm going to do that, I might as well do so in OnShape and continue the use of the free program rather than paying for exactly the same If there is a way to import the SW files fully, then that changes the game Les

***Edited*** there is some really weird formatting happening when I use my Tablet to reply, I've deleted the extra space At the moment I'm not too impressed with SW - I still have a way to go with it, but I have to say that I'm finding myself using OnShape more and more. I can't import my SW files any differently, so am not convinced that for me at least paying gives any benefits. However now I've paid for a year's subscription I will continue trying Les

Finally received the get started e-mail, and it's working However instant impressions are that I cannot upload assemblies, and also when you import a part you do not get all the sketches and extrusions that make it up, just one imported body. obviously better than nothing, but it means I have to make a new file if I want it truly editable. Am I missing something? Les

Thanks for the replies guys I hadn't seen the SW trial thing, so I have gone and subscribed, and paid.... and now I have access denied, e-mails saying that there is a problem. I am even blocked from sending in a support request, I get this message "Your request could not be sent to 3DS Support team Unfortunately, there is an issue with your request, please refresh this page and submit again" Doesn't bode well.... Les

Hi all I had previously commented on how I was proficient with Solidworks, but that my donated copy was so old that I have to have a dedicated Windows Vista PC to run it on. Obviously I don't have the money to buy a newer copy that runs on Win 10 or 11, so I was always looking for a replacement. I tried Fusion 360, which initially allowed me to import my solidworks files, but they soon stopped that feature, plus they also changed it to a subscription model, so I dropped out. Since then, I have been looking around for a replacement, trying FreeCad, TinkerCad and a few others without really having any success. Essentially my brain is wired to the way Solidworks functions, and so I was unable to grasp the concepts. For me, I like to use sketches to define parts, and neither of those two worked well for me. I have now started using a program called Onshape, and finally I have found a program that does work in a similar way to Solidworks that I am actually getting on with quite well. It's not exactly the same, but it is near enough that I am able to use it with reference to some how to videos on YouTube. The sketch function is very similar, and doesn't end up with a myriad of error messages like FreeCad, so that has really helped the transition. The mate function and assembly manipulation is a bit different, but no so much that I can't deal with it. The downsides are that unless you pay, the files you make are available online (although presumably only you can edit 'your' copy) so if you are trying to make something proprietary it won't be for you. It also can import Solidworks files but only as a solid model, so you lose the sketches and extrusions that make up the part. However for parts that you don't need to modify, like standard parts, extrusions etc that's fine, it's only where you need to manipulate a part that it causes issue. Then you are obliged to recreate it if you already have it in Solidworks. As it is an online program, it also means that you are able to use it anywhere you have internet access. I'm not going to tout it as a perfect alternative to Solidworks, but for anyone like me who has used Solidworks and struggles to move to a more modern program, it is work checking out Les

Thanks Leo Bodnar himself responded to say that they will work as switches on the 5v Bodnar boards, so the BU0836A, BU0836X and BBI- 32 boards. Apparently the BBI-64 versions are 3.3v Cheers Les ***edited to get of some weird formatting***

I'm coming back to this as I have been made aware of Unipolar Hall effect Switches (OH137 type) that may completely change my setup in terms of the physical hardware needed for correct actuation. I'd obviously heard of hall effect sensors, my homemade race sim pedals used them very successfully with a Bodnar board. However up to now I always assumed that they were a linear device, and stumbled upon the digit type while researching microswitches for the gearbox project. I am a bit disappointed that there don't seem to be any SMD versions available, but I am quite excited about them as it may allow me to make some bespoke multi position switches that would otherwise have been too complicated to do. It also means the possibility of incorporating a switch into other devices where it previously would have been impractical. For the use with the Bodnar board, I will go straight to them for the question of compatibility, however I assume that for Arduino use, they are essentially treated as normal Hall effect sensors? Or do they require different usage? Cheers Les

please let us know the complete layout of your monitors, total pixel width and height, number of monitors, position and resolution of each. We need that to look at what is happening, as it will show us where things should be being displayed. Let us know if you need help on that Cheers Les

Thanks, I think this sort of setup is what I was wondering about. The only difference would be that I have to have two switches for the fore and aft position, as there is a centre neutral position because of the 'hold button for gear' type logic I will have a good look later to use your sketch as a basis for what I mean, assuming I don't make a meal of it Cheers Les

I need to check the working voltage of the Bodnar boards to see if they are compatible with the Mosfets, But I can see a way that it would work if so Les