How to shield a live wire at 240V ?

[marconi]

Hello Mr Inventor. Good to hear from you again. The solar project has been decided on to go ahead but we need permission to connect it to the mains supply: this we have applied for. This means I have time to pick up where I left off with my version of your proximity switch.

l have an idea to control my ruler of lights based on whether the voltage from the sensor is increasing, decreasing or constant. This is to say that the actual voltage from the sensor is not important but rather whether it is going up, down or steady over two samples of it spaced out in time. It is being constructed at the moment. If you like a sensor of hand motion rather than hand proximity.

Are you in good form and making progress?

 

[_q12x_]

I'll probably have to draw the circuit - I didn't draw it yet and a movie to actually show you how things are standing at this point.
I will update soon.

 

[_q12x_]

 

[marconi]

Once again a nice clear video which shows your progress and current challenges. I liked that you have started to prototype circuits on the breadboard before moving them to the larger wings board. I'd like to see a ruler used to confirm your distances as I have done - we don't want any 'fisherman's tales'! ?

I will plough on with my project today and over the weekend.

Regards

Marconi

 

[marconi]

My breadboard so far.

 

[_q12x_]

"Once again a nice clear video which shows your progress and current challenges."
Thank you that you like it. And good job to you as well with the breadboard.

 

[marconi]

These are the stages I am working through with my version of your project:

1. Movement sensor to control the ruler of LEDs - my work at the moment, about 80% complete and then thorough testing;
2. Build pulsed LED array with 940nm torches* and associated pulsed LED receiver to produce Vs - pulsed sensor to distinguish torch reflections from steady (albeit slowly changing) ambient IR ;
3. Ambient IR monitor and controller to adjust for ambient IR - circuit built but yet to be fully tested and developed further as required.
4. Beep/click sound signal each time a ruler LED turns on/off.

* My current sensor arrays are 850nm.

 

[marconi]

My breadboard a day later.

 

[marconi]

This is a video demonstrating my version 2 of the ir proximity switch which includes the bleep/click sound as each ruler led turns on or off. As I have run out of space I will do version 3 the pulsed ir on a new breadboard. Quite a lot of time was spent on eliminating oscillation of an led if the hand stopped at a threshold or went through a threshold slowly.

 

[DPG]

This is a video demonstrating my version 2 of the ir proximity switch which includes the bleep/click sound as each ruler led turns on or off. As I have run out of space I will do version 3 the pulsed ir on a new breadboard. Quite a lot of time was spent on eliminating oscillation of an led if the hand stopped at a threshold or went through a threshold slowly.

Very nice Marconi

 

[marconi]

Very nice Marconi

I am a digital baby. So I aim to turn any problem into 1s And 0s as early as practical. Thereafter one has so many more options for signal processing. And it then becomes logical and mathematical which suits me. Analogue electronics is really an art which I have not had the opportunity or inclination to master. ?

 

[static zap]

I loved my 555 timer , but DIY ing it from op amps/comparators brings an understanding of Hysteresis and Long cycles for triangular waveform ... (I played with home brew car alarms !)

Analogue electronics is really an art which I have not had the opportunity or inclination to master.

 

[_q12x_]

Thank you for the video. You got good results. It's nice to hear the clicks.
It looks like it is finished. Can you make a circuit for me, with everything you have there? Thank you.
And this is my progress so far. Not that good.

 

[marconi]

q12 Good morning. If viewers were awarding marks you would receive high ones for the neatness of your construction whereas I most likely be told 'could do better'! I tend to be impatient and rush to see if something works and if it does I then leave it as is and move on to the next part. You are methodical and take the time to accurately record your circuits. I spent a good 2 hours trying to work out why my latest version did not toggle the lamp reliably. It turned out I had failed to connect the JK inputs to +5V ie logic 1 even though I had connected J and K together.

I am going to design next my 940nm pulsed sensor array and see how it performs. The major effort of version 3 is to maintain performance in spite of background IR from things inside the room and sunlight. I will keep you posted once I have something worthwhile to show. For this version I am using a better comparator LM311 which has the nice feature it can be 'strobed' ie told when in time to compare its inputs and produce an output - clearly necessary for a pulsed IR sensing system.

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm311-n.pdf?ts=1617540813359&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

My versions 1 and 2 have used the LM339:

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/l...rl=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ti.com%2Fproduct%2FLM339

Happy Easter.

 

[_q12x_]

Happy Easter.
Thanks that you liked my "failure". Is kind of working as I said, but not that efficient (1 led always On), and only in night, when is out of day light. Also it is sensitive to my desk lamp as well, it is probably way too much amplified. But it works, in its limited way. It was more as an exercise with opamps for me, a practical one. The most used way of an opamp as I could seen it so far, is as a comparator. Then the other wonderful exceptions ways. At least is how I perceive it, now in the beginning. I must play more with it in the future.
Right now, I am planning on tweaking the amplification of the SCM - 2n7000, the one with the npn tr T3 and its led, somehow to make it work with the lm3914 pin 5. Currently, as a reminder, is only working directly from the Source of 2n7000 to pin5, because it is grounded by a 10k resistance R4.

My good american friend has sent me already an IR detector that has a chip in it, very advanced component and very miniaturized, and it will receive and convert automatically the signal from any remote control or signal generator. It is quite common but is a bit more expensive than a simple direct IR receiver like the black 3mm ones I have. The package is on the way, and we all wait for it's arrival.
Until then, I will tweak what else can be tweak.
Thats why I asked for your circuit, to see where and how did you linked the buzzer. I can not understand from your real picture, since its full of wires and little "black boxes".

 

[marconi]

The click is produced by comparing the number of LEDs illuminated at one instant - let us call it time t - with the number illuminated a short time T earlier in other words at t-T. My version 2 is using synchronous logic circuitry driven by a 'clock' running at several kHz which produces my clock ticks. It is bottom left with a single faint red LED next to it. I can number the ticks since the power up using the letter n, so a sample taken at the nth tick of the clock is Sn, and n is increasing from 1 to infinity.

As there are eight LEDs on my ruler, I sample at regular time intervals of T, to see which ones are on or off. This produces an eight bit sample word viz Sn= ( L1, L2, L3, L4, L5, L6, L7, L8). If an LED is lit Lx = logical 1 otherwise Lx = 0.

I then load Sn into an 8 bit register called P. Several clock periods later - T - the contents of P are loaded into another 8 bit register Q.

After another interval of T another sample, Sn+1, is taken of the LED ruler state, Sn+1 and loaded into the register P. The content of P is now Sn+1 - the latest sample - and the content of Q is Sn - the previous sample. After a further interval of T the content of P is loaded into Q. And this sequence repeats over and over again.

Registers P and Q therefore hold samples taken at Sn+1 and Sn respectively as n counts upwards. I could write this as Sn and Sn-1 which makes it clearer with is the latest sample Sn and which was the previous sample Sn-1.

An 8 bit logical comparator compares the contents of P and Q by doing the subtraction X = P - Q. If X = 0 then Sn = Sn-1 which means there has been no change of the state of illumination of the LEDs on the ruler over the interval T. If X does not equal 0 then more or less LEDs are illuminated now than there were before.

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/sn54ls684.pdf?ts=1617648996931&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F

The logical state of X then is a signal on whether the number of LEDs which are lit is steady (X = 0) or changed over successive time intervals T.

I use the X signal to gate a 1kHz square wave to the sounder to make the beep. Actually, because X is such a short duration pulse since T is actually very short in time I send X to a pulse stretcher (a monostable) to produce a longer gate pulse. This creates the click sound every time there is a single change of state - on to off or off to on - of the most significant LED.

 

[marconi]

q12 Some time ago you did not have in front of you a design of IR continuous wave active passive sensor which would gradually light your LEDs in response to the proximity of your hand. And now you do. To my mind then, describing your latest model of led wings as a ‘failure’ is unwarranted.

 

[marconi]

q12x Good morning. Just a thought on your latest IR sensor. The photodiode is operating in the photovoltaic mode which is ideal for low light levels because the dark current noise the photodiode produces is minimised. Any diode current flow is then mainly due to photons hitting the photodiode.

It may be that at the moment the single IR LED is not providing sufficiently intense illumination of your hand in front of the sensor which is compensated by using a high gain cascade of op amps (1) and (2) - (A = 100 x 10 = 1000). Of course this also means that ambient light from other sources will be detected and similarly amplified by a 1000.

What about brightening up the IR light you shine by having 2, 3 or 4 IR LEDs placed around the single IR photodiode? One might then reduce the gain of op amps (1) and (2) which would make your sensor less responsive to ambient light. The sensor would then mainly be reacting to the reflected light from the IR LEDs and tend to ignore ambient IR light. Worth a try? The second image shows my 850nm array of 4 ir LEDs and 4 pds.

 

[_q12x_]

Hello mister @marconi and thank you for your answers.
I kind of understand.... what you did there with the buzzer circuit, but PLEASE, make for me a simple circuit diagram. All I need is the output signal (pin1 to 10 of LM3914, or in other words the leds negative pins) and the input signal, (from what I understood, you used a comparator IC and a clock (quartz? or RC?)). But I still dont understand when the click sound is activated and by who. Explain in very simple words, not math words. Im an artist, I deal better with visual explanation than weird math algorithms explanations. Sorry but im not a math guy. Make me a short diagram please, draw it as simple and explicit as possible on paper and scan/photo it. Thank you ! I really appreciate your effort so far.
The other subject, the IR leds, YES, I will have to test more of them as you just did on your board. But again, this was more an educative circuit for me, since im quite new to both IR and opamps. Now im a bit more familiar with them. I will make it in the near future.

 

[marconi]

I hesitate to start designing circuits for you because I then become 'responsible' for them by working with you until they perform as desired when connected to your other modules. There is no point in copying the way I produced my 'buzzer' circuitry because my versions of your project are mainly using digital ics and techniques and as you can see from my video you do not have room. If you want me to guide you through the design process for something to work with your wings then that would be preferable to me. I spent quite some time making sure the LEDS on my ruler - so your wings LEDs - cleanly turned on or off without any fading or oscillation to ensure a single click each time there was a single LED change. As a fact your LM3914 fades the turning on and off of adjacent LEDs - it says so in the datasheet; I suspect - forgive I may be wrong - that you still have oscillations. Oscillations will be seen if you very slowly move your hand towards or away from the sensor or if you hold your hand in a position where adjacent LEDs turn on and off/off and on. Perhaps you could investigate.

In outline you would need to build a tone generator to drive the sounder. I suggest with a 555 chip. Is your sounder a piezo electric one and if so is it passive or active? If it an active one then it has an internal tone generator so you would not need to build a separate 555 tone generator. Mine is a passive one. Assuming a passive sounder driven by a 555 tone generator, we could use the trigger pin 4 to turn the tone on and off easily with a negative going pulse.

Next step would be to generate a negative pulse for each of the LED driver outputs of the LM3914 and then to combine them as logical OR (ie any driver output) to be used to turn the tone generator on briefly and thereby make the click sound. The sort of circuit I envisage for the negative pulse generator is a simple CR differentiator across each LM3914 LED driver transistor. Something like I have drawn in the attachment.

How does this sound to you?

 

[marconi]

Introduction to RC Differentiator Circuits and Uses - https://www.bristolwatch.com/ele2/diff.htm

Passive differentiator circuit using a resistor and capacitor and waveforms.

 

[marconi]

q12x I had a go at putting together the circuits I posted this morning and then trying them out on version 1 of my IR proximity switch which is similar to your wings. I only made up two inputs to monitor the state of two of the yellow LEDs ( the 5th and 6th ones counting from the bottom). The differentiator detects the rising or falling edge of the switching pulse, and as wired on the breadboard at the moment it will detect and produce a beep only when an LED turns off. If you watch and listen carefully you can see how it performs.
The outputs of the comparators in version 1 fade and oscillate when the hand is moved slowly or remains still near the threshold points for LEDs 5 and 6. This affects the pulse waveforms which I highlighted in green and therefore the one which controls the 555 using the trigger input at pin 4 - you can hear the effect on the beep and illumination of LEDs 5 and 6.

In version 2 there is no fading or oscillation because I introduced some positive feedback/regenerative switching (hysteresis) at each of the 8 comparators, used some Schmitt trigger circuitry and employed a sample and hold technique which I described earlier ( S, P and Q). As an aside, the ruler LEDs are driven by the state of Q.

Much more work is required with the ideas I sketched out this morning to produce a click effect as good as in version 2. Alas, it will not be by me because I have achieved a satisfactory click effect in a different way and I don‘t have the motivation.

 

[marconi]

Vishay, BPV10NF IR Si Photodiode, 20 °, Through Hole 5mm package | RS Components - https://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/photodiodes/6997607/

q12x Good morning. I was looking for technical data on some 940nm ir leds and photodiodes I bought off Amazon only to discover that the photodiodes are in fact photo transistors according to several reviewers of the products so I will not be using them for my next sensor array.

I managed to find some 940nm photodiodes and 890nm LEDs on RS - see link and data sheet. This black photodiode has an integral daylight filter. Might be useful for your sensor too. There is a nice graph ( Figure 6 ) in its data sheet showing the relative sensitivity of the photodiode which shows it falling off rapidly towards the visible part of the spectrum.

 

[marconi]

I have spent a little while studying the way you actually build your modules and the components you use. I notice that you sometimes use glass body diodes for example in your SCM and in op amp circuit (3). Since your circuitry is exposed these diodes may be picking up and producing photo currents due to daylight or lamp light which interfere with or disturb the operation of the circuit. You might want to cover up these glass diodes and see if it makes any difference.

 

[marconi]

I have been pondering why LED1 is lit whenever one of the LEDs 2-10 is lit in dot mode. The LM3914 should not do this as you have noticed. For correct operation , the Vref voltage has to be less than or equal to the V+ voltage minus 1.5V.

You have two resistor connected in series between Vref and ground and their midpoint connects to the Vref adjust pin. If I remember correctly, the two resistors are the same value which means that Vref becomes 3Volts. This the voltage impressed across the internal voltage divider which provides voltage references to the 10 internal comparators which switch the LEDs on and off.

My first thought is that for correct operation V+ (pin 3) with respect to the V- (pin2) must be equal to or greater than whatever the Vref (pin7 ) to V-(pin 2) voltage is plus 1.5V. Is it?

If Vref V1 is 3V, then V+ to pin2 must be 4.5V or more. Is V+ decreasing below 4.5V when the LEDs turn on?

Take voltage measurement at the pins of the ic.

 

[marconi]

The way you have wired pins 2 and 4 of the LM3914 may also be causing a changing voltage drop between these pins and also with reference to the local 0V pad. I hope the attached diagram explains well enough that the circuit requires a local start point (X).

see:

https://www.ti.com/lit/ds/symlink/lm3914.pdf?ts=1614700327590&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.ti.com%2Fproduct%2FLM3914

Page 18 Application Hints: Three of the most commonly needed precautions for using the LM3914 are shown in the first typical application drawing showing a 0V–5V bar graph meter. The most difficult problem occurs when large LED currents are being drawn, especially in bar graph mode. These currents flowing out of the ground pin (V- pin 2)cause voltage drops in external wiring, and thus errors and oscillations. Bringing the return wires from signal sources, reference ground and bottom of the resistor string (as illustrated) to a single point very near pin 2 is the best solution.

 

[marconi]

q12x Good morning. I thought of this idea to generate a click pulse whenever an LED turned on. (You would need a second op amp comparator to provide a pulse whenever an LED turned off, wired like the one I have shown but with its inputs (+ and -) reversed). The LM3914 would have to be in bar mode. The idea relies on the LM3914 LED outputs being constant current drive signals to each LED. Each time an LED turns on there is then a step up in current I through the common resistor which connects them all to Vled. Thus there will be produced across this resistor a step in voltage which the CR differentiator across it will turn into a short downward pulse V. During the downward pulse the differential voltage into the comparator will be less than 0V so the output will be 0V as shown by the waveform X. The X waveform can gate the click on and off.

 

[marconi]

q12x I wondered if you were still looking at this thread? I have just treated myself to an 'entry-level' ie cheap, simple to use yet useful - 2 channel digital oscilloscope as an early birthday present to myself (60 this year in June). I need it to pursue version 3 of my version of your project which tackles daylight and ambient IR.

This is the one I bought yesterday and arrived today:

 

[_q12x_]

• Yah, Hanmatek DOS1102 Oscilloscope is a very nice scope, and very nice presented. Thank you so much for it, mister @marconi . I will consider it for the future
• This is a little toy I made. Well, it is an addon, an upgrade. It saves space!!! and it fill it's purpose VERY nicely, into my project as a Testing component.

Well, 2 toys. Haha.
- The new updates are awesome and great. With a full support and full help from my good american friend, mister Steve, we manage to make a very practical and very well constructed, very robust in other words, IR remote control and it's receiver. We actually tested it on the wings and is just perfect. I must admit, I like more the remote receiver output to S.5, its very linear and nice to watch. It's a very nice feeling. I will do a video soon about it.
I will start today to build the modules for this remote. Ive also made a range test from outside my room, so it's around 6meters until my testing table and it is working excellent. I can not be more happy about it. I am VERY happy about it.
- Another update is that I receive 10pcs of PIC12F508. I started already to swim in the jungle of tutorials and how to program them. I already have experience with programming PIC's from 1997 to 2003 or something. It's a long story. So its not my first time now, but it passed a lot of time from my tests back then. So I have to remember and remake those steps again. I have an awesome Pickit2 that is still working from those times and the tests so far are optimistic. We'll see. I dont want to talk too much about this subject since it can grow very ugly very quickly in 1000 branches of subjects that is not fun to keep track. Suffice is to say, that I started with it and I have to dig into it more until I can figure it to function optimal.
- The sound problem, the ticks. Mister @marconi , you did very good job and I referenced your work when I thought about this subject. Your doing, for me is an idea and a way to do it. So you helped my final decision even if is not the same as yours. I think I am more happy to build the sound ticks over another lm3914 in paralel with the existing one for the wing leds. I will basically have to drag 3 wires for its module: the signal to pin 5, from the other IC pin 5 as well, and the power pos and neg wires. Thats it. Very compact and robust.

• The NEXT thing to think about it is the movement of the floating parts I mentioned some time ago. My thought is to use those micro-motors from vibrators in phones, I have 10 of them already and I hacked one to transform it back to motor from vibrator. Another idea is to use "smart wires", basically they are wires that change their shape when current passes through them, and come back to original state when not powered. The catch is they are very expensive. These are ideas for the moment. We will have to think more about this subject. And it is the final thing to add to the project.
• These 3 remained - the remote, the bip sound and the movement. I am amazed of how it is turning out. And I am very confident it will look and work great in the end.

 

[marconi]

q12x I too am very pleased to read about your many accomplishments with this challenging project. I will look at the video as soon as you post it. I think you and your work demonstrate what Voltaire said:

No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking - philosiblog - https://philosiblog.com/2011/12/02/no-problem-can-withstand-the-assault-of-sustained-thinking/

I think the idea of using a second LM3914 is true genius - so simple, so reliable, so effective, so economical. (I wish I had thought of it!)

I cannot remember the floating parts feature. It will be interesting to follow the evolution of this design so I hope you continue to post. I am not at all familiar with the PIC12F508. I will look it up today.

I have made a an exact replica of my 850nm IR sensor array but using 940nm photodioes and 890nm LEDs. I have connected it to my version 2 and it does indeed appear less troubled by daylight and artificial lighting but not completely. I have not pulsed the 890/940nm sensor yet which is the major theme for Version 3. I thought I would study the signal from this sensor first using my oscilloscope for continuous and then pulsed IR. I want to 'see' the nature and magnitude of the interfering IR signals and the effect pulsing has.

I have not made up my mind yet about whether to have 8 comparators again examining the sensor signal acting as a flash (ie fast and the full voltage range at the same time continuously) analogue to digital voltmeter/converter or whether to only have one comparator and feed it with a ramped/stepped voltage reference and to then sample the comparator output at time/voltage intervals. The former would use something I know works; the latter would occupy less space but would require time and effort to design and test and be a distraction from the real challenge of tackling the interfering ambient IR problem.

Finally for now, I thought I would bring to your attention I discovered the sister ic to the LM3914 while reading up on the operation of the LM3914. The LM3914 is a linear a to d chip. There is a LM3915 which is logarithmic, that is to say an LED lights for every doubling (3dB change) in input voltage to pin 5. A log chip rather than a linear chip would help to even out the points when the LEDs light as the hand approaches - I achieved this by my 10 adjustable voltage references from the blue multi-turn trimmer pots and 10 comparators. The 3915 does the same internally.

https://www.electroschematics.com/lm3915-datasheet/

PS: Look up Bob Pease and Bob Widlar - I think you may be related to them!

 

[marconi]

The pickit2 reminds me of my introduction to microprocessors during my degree when we used a Motorola 8085 kit similar to this:

https://www.indiamart.com/proddetai...raining-kits-with-led-display-4341655888.html

We had to start off doing really basic things like input a word of 8 bit data, doing some mathematical or logical operation on it and then output it to turn on the appropriate Lights representing the output 8 bit word and then after so many seconds flashing on and off these lights.

About a hundred short exercises which gradually became more complicated. Happy days. I ended up using the 8085 to control a chip which compared in a special way ( cross correlation) two 16 bit words. It did not work until the nth version! I will keep n secret.


I commend this bite-size approach to exploring the jungle.

 

[_q12x_]

This video is made for the IR remote control.
I talk here about the 3 remaining things I want to add, and also the motor(s) part.
I actually show them.

 

[marconi]

I have watched your video. Thank you for the update and remarks. Towards the end you talk about finishing off the design perhaps with some enclosure over the modules. Are you aware of ‘light pipes’?

See:

Buy LED Light Pipes | Essentra Components UK - https://www.essentracomponents.com/en-gb/p/led-light-pipes

There are other suppliers which may sell smaller numbers.

I asked my music minded wife the word to describe the beep sound you want to produce. It is an arpeggio.

 

[_q12x_]

Thank you for watching it.
Why do you mention the light pipes? I am aware of their existence, but i did not know the name of them if i wanted to search them. So the name is new for me.
What should I do with them?

 

[marconi]

I thought you could put a cover over the board with the modules on. But that would obscure the LEDs. What you could do is use the light pipes to take the light from the LEDs from the wings moduleto holes in the cover so they could be seen. The light pipes have flat or rounded ends. You as an artist could then design and draw the wings on the cover around these light pipe exit holes.

 

[_q12x_]

I thought you could put a cover over the board with the modules on. But that would obscure the LEDs. What you could do is use the light pipes to take the light from the LEDs from the wings moduleto holes in the cover so they could be seen. The light pipes have flat or rounded ends. You as an artist could then design and draw the wings on the cover around these light pipe exit holes.

One of the original objective for this projekt was to be as FLAT as imaginable. I originally wanted to be flat as a piece of paper or as a paint thickness. Thats like 10micro. But in reality, we have the leds height that add to the board thickness and the other components heights. As you can observe, absolutly no stand up component (or vertical placement), all are horisontal placed to diminish the thickness of this board as originally intended.
I think I understand your point. Because the other components height, I should add these tubes on the leds to get them more in front. Is this correct? Well, it is a nice idea, if I want to cover all the electronics and not use this transparent cover. But the thing is that I want to show all those wires there, all my work. I want to show it is a prototype, because it is.
Yesterday, ALL day, I built the receiver circuit Module. Today I finish it and it works ! Youhoo. Next, is to make the transmiter.

 

[marconi]

You have been more industrious than me. I have at least made a breadboard for version 3 which is bigger. You can see the 850/940nm ir sensor array.

 

[_q12x_]

If you are happy with the functionality you get from the breadboard right now, it is time to make it on fiberglass board. It's probably a good advice for you, to make it as a definitive project. And dismantle everything you have here on these breadboards. I did the same. Remember the movie where I presented the remote control receiver? It was breadboarded. Now is gone, breadboard is clean again, ready for other experiments. But I made the receiver module in this time, unfortunatly with the same opamps on the breadboard because they were the only ones I had.

 

[_q12x_]

mister @marconi - I am in need of your advice.
I have 2x555 to build my transmitter. They are SMD type. With very tiny pins on them.
Usually I cut like 3x3mm metal pad as the tiniest. Sometimes I go to 1x3mm but rarely. The thing is on such tiny surfaces, the solder is not behaving normally as on a pad. It is like a ball all around the tiny diameter. Also it is the problem that such tiny wires (not pads) are not very stable in my cardboard. I need some sort of glue on them as well. Maybe.
So...I need your advice, from what to build such tiny pads for a SMD IC pins? and how to stick them more firmly?
Any idea may lead to other ideas. Who knows. Until now i made like 2 or 3 smd IC circuits and it was hard as f**k. I can do it like that again, but... im out for ideas, maybe you may know an easier solution.
Thank you.

 

[marconi]

I will have a think. DPG is following this thread and he may want to suggest something.

I have not used SMD before. Would these adapters help:

8 pin smd ic socket - Recherche Google - https://www.google.com/search?q=8+pin+smd+ic+socket&rlz=1C1GCEA_enGB822GB822&sxsrf=ALeKk03xyMjvoWj6OzpKf_NG8WjpeGm6Lw:1618483435600&tbm=isch&source=iu&ictx=1&fir=rGcz4l-DmLFZtM%252CmwP41uPu4pVjrM%252C_&vet=1&usg=AI4_-kQEOag2jnJwNqMV8i8TSghnRkpvBw&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwiDyIPSiIDwAhVsQ0EAHZU6Dq4Q9QF6BAgSEAE&biw=1366&bih=625#imgrc=rGcz4l-DmLFZtM

PS: I may be a little distracted over the next few days but will still look every so often at this thread. We have just returned home with Maud aged 8 weeks a Jack Russell