We go through a lot of prototype PCBs, and end up with lots of extras that we’ll never use. Every Sunday we give away a few PCBs from one of our past or future projects, or a related prototype. Our PCBs are made through Seeed Studio’s Fusion board service.
This week we’re giving away two Bus Blaster v2 PCBs. Bus Blaster v2 is an experimental, high-speed JTAG debugger for ARM chips, FPGAs, CPLDs, flash, etc. Thanks to a reprogrammable buffer, a simple USB update makes Bus Blaster v2 compatible with many different JTAG debugger types in the most popular open source software.
Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times a every week:
- Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, right here on the blog
- Tweet-a-PCB Tuesday. Follow us and get boards in 144 characters or less
- Facebook PCB Friday. Free PCBs while you wait for the weekend
Get an assembled Bus Blaster v2 for $34.95. Hurry, the first batch is nearly gone!
Are you interested in blogging with us? Drop us a line. This probably won’t be a paid position, but you get a back stage pass, free PCBs, and free projects. US and international bloggers are welcome.
NEW: pick your free PCB from the Dangerous Prototype free PCB drawer. The first few commenters will now receive a coupon code for 1 PCB with free shipping. You can choose this PCB, or another PCB if you prefer.
The online shop gives you a choice of free PCBs, and you won’t need to enter your details every time you win. We like it because the address format is standardized and ready to print on a label. More on the PCB drawer next week.
Some stuff:
- Yes, we’ll mail it anywhere in the world!
- Be sure to use a real e-mail in the address field so we can contact you for shipping info.
- First come, first serve. If we can’t contact the first commenters, or there’s no reply within 24 hours, we move down the list. You could consider making a request even if it looks like all the PCBs are gone.
- Limit one PCB per address per month please.
- Like everything else on this site, PCBs are offered without warranty.
We try to stagger free PCB Sunday posts so every time zone has a chance to participate, but the best way to see the post first is to subscribe to the RSS feed.
I’ll take one!
Can I get a coupon please instead? :)
Yes Please
Yes, please!
Oh… I’d like one too please…
One for me perhaps? or am I too late?
i Want one!
yes
I’d like one.
i want one please. Thanks
Is there any pcb left ?
Hi! I’d like one for me. I hope is not too late…
I would like one!
I would like one :)
I take my chance ! ;)
I would be glad to receive one as well!
me too…but I’m late again :(
/
Yes please! But I’m probably too late q=
Let’s try once more!
Hi Jan!
Thank you for the pcb, but unfortunately my board has an error, there is a short between 3V3 and gnd. I found a short where the cooper was not etched away completely and scratched it away, but there still is a short, which I cannot find unfortunately. Did you ever had such a problem ?
It is a pity, because I already have bought all the parts.
Cheers
Rubi
Hi Rubi,
Can we pick this up in the forum? It is easier to reply there :)
Where was the etching problem? A good place to inspect is around the header holes. I can always send another PCb too.
Could you please check the sides of the PCB – is there a red or black mark there? The boards with e-test have a red or black mark.
Hi Rubi,
>Can we pick this up in the forum? It is easier to reply there :)
sure no problem
>Where was the etching problem?
It was on the bottom.
There were also a ground connection on the Tdo line, but I could fix that.
>I can always send another PCb too.
That would be awesome, I have no problem to pay you for the pcb.
>Could you please check the sides of the PCB – is there a red or black >mark there? The boards with e-test have a red or black mark.
I could not find a mark.
Cheers
Rubi
Rubi: Connect a 12 volt 10 amp PSU to the 3.3v and gnd – that will make short go away in no time. :-)
Lol, at least as a measure of last resort it might work,…
Hi Ian
I made a photo of the errors I found so far, I hope they are fairly visible.
2 of the three are already corrected, the third error was corrected after the shot.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/12416978@N06/5670610581/
It is a pitty that this pcb went through without a check.
Cheers
Rubi
Thanks for the picture. I’m glad you got it fixed, I’m sorry about the problems.
We only pay for the 50% e-test because we only use 1 for the prototype. 5 PCBs are tested, the other 6 or so are not. This isn’t usually a problem because our boards are pretty simple, I messed up the separation of the ground fill on this prototype, at least on the bottom layer.
It’s really strange because all the 50% E-Test boards were perfect. Usually when we mess up the separation like that a couple PCBs fail the E-test too. I’ll be sure to increase the separation in the next prototype to avoid these issues.
Hi Jan
No problems, the build was a pleasure, in fact I love this kind of problems.
The board now somehow has a kind of personality, every time I use it, it will remind me that I tamed this bitch,…
Cheers
Rubi