Sandbox Electronics sells a Bus Pirate knock-off in their webshop and on eBay. It’s a complete package and super cheap. The Bus Pirate is open source, and it’s totally fine that they sell one. We think they do a valuable service by promoting the Bus Pirate on eBay and other outlets we don’t bother with.
We asked Sandbox for a designer credit on their sales page because they link our forum for support. They unexpectedly offered a royalty for previous sales. Thanks for supporting our work!
What better use of the royalty than to plow it back into Bus Pirate development. We’re now sponsoring JTR’s work on the open source USB stack. This software will be used in the Bus Pirate v4, and many other USB projects. The Bus Pirate v4 bootloader was the first tangible release, and watch for an IR Toy test firmware later today.
Thank you to Sandbox Electronics, and also SparkFun, for supporting the Bus Pirate when they don’t have to.
i ran across their eBay listings while trolling yesterday.
I bought the one from Sanbox due to its packaging, was a bit unsure if it was an knock-off or not, but I feel better now, knowing that they actually pays royalty for the design.
not to mention the complete bundle with probes and case.
I bought this one:
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=120706256702#ht_10269wt_1396
For me, here in Norway, it is way easier, cheaper to buy things like this on ebay, $36 including shipping etc is a good deal.
I only need to learn to use it now :)
Yes, I like this kit as well. Small and packaged.
Question: Is it entirely compatible with the buspirate, so all firmware updates work ?
if any one has one of these kits we would love to know.
I have it, just tell me how to check, and what to check for..
Just install the latest firmware from dangerousprototypes. If the firmware update process works the same and there is new firmware aftwards, all is well from my perspective.
They did a nice job on the redesign of the pcb. Prolly on 2 side components.
They left the fullfillment by seed on the lcd interface BTW.
That’s a good point about components on 2 sides. Can anyone who has the Sandbox Electronics Bus Pirate take a look on the bottom of the PCB? Maybe submit a photo to the forum?
If it has the FTDI Chip on the bottom, then it is more like a v3. However, if the visible PIC is the only chip, then this redesign would be more like the v4. Hard to tell without one in hand.
contemplating getting one just to satisfy my curiosity.
The redesign is great, and I certainly wouldn’t dare to call it a “knock-off”, in my opinion this is a “redesigned clone (with benefits)”.
Nice to see them actually paying royalties.
And I would have bought one if I didn’t already own an original.
It is a v3 “knock-off” (meaning rebuilt with their own parts). Note they actually used a 44 pin PIC. This does not seem to have caused any problems, but comparability cannot be assured.
One fun thing is that I can tell what version it is from the chip ID. So a future firmware might take advantage of that to display “eBay knock-off” in the info/version screen. Or maybe something more sinister like a message every 60 seconds admonishing the user to buy the real deal, or maybe even something evil like introducing random errors or removing features ;) If it were a ‘clone’ this wouldn’t be possible ;)
Since they’re actually playing nice by paying royalties, then you could use the chip ID as a means to work around any bugs that might crop up because of the different PIC. Maybe it wouldn’t be worth your effort in the firmware to do that, but volunteers in the open source community might be willing to do that. Considering how tight the firmware space is, however, I think it might not be very easy to have run-time workarounds if any compatibility issues arise.
YES! That’s the open source spirit!
Isn’t this the same as the one I reported a while back on the forum ?
http://dangerousprototypes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1715#p16892
Also sandbox elec BP uses PL2303 to do USB-serial.