Whoever worked with PCS7 knows that compiling a project can take a while. This is because PCS7 compilation is done in the database on the hard disk and not in the computer memory. This means a faster hard disk will decrease the compilation time of the PCS7 project.

A first possibility is the use a solid state disk in the engineering station. Read and write access to these disks is much faster than regular hard disks.

A second and even faster possibility is a RAM disk. A RAM disk is a virtual disk in the RAM memory of the engineering station. A part of the memory is reserved and formatted as a hard drive. When a PCS7 project is stored in the RAM memory it will be compiled in the RAM memory.

From now on you’ll only be able to drink 3 cups of coffee during compilation of your PCS7 project instead of 10!

For the home automation over IP project I needed a fast and easy method for creating printed circuit boards (PCB). After some research the “toner transfer method” seemed a solution to give a try.

Not being sure about the quality of the final result I designed the PCB with wide paths. This way a lack of precision shouldn’t be a big problem.

PCB Design

What you we need:

• a PCB design (obvious)
• a blank board (without photosensitive layer)
• magazine paper
• a laser printer
• an iron, preferably without steaming capabilities
• personal protection against chemicals (gloves, safety glasses and eventually a lab coat)
• glass or plastic bowl (never use a metallic bowl as etchant container!)
• etchant: HCl, H₂0₂ and H₂0
• thinner (acetone)

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Cajón

A cajón is a very easy to build percussion instrument. Although making a cajón isn’t difficult I tried to make a how-to with detailed building plans and pictures.

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