Efficient magnetic shielding application note from Würth Elektronik, Link here (PDF) Magnetic Field Interferences are increasing in electronic devices due to a number of factors including reduced separation distances of PCB’s, Integrated Circuits and many other sensitive components. In addition to this the extended use of magnetically coupled communication technologies (Qi-WPC, NFC, RFID, PMA, A4WP, […]
Author Archives: DP
Free PCB coupon via Facebook to 2 random commenters
Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. This post was announced on Facebook, and on Monday we’ll send coupon codes to two random commenters. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three […]
A small collection of NodeMCU Lua scripts
Limpkin writes: I usually never use libraries… but made an exception for these quick projects ! I’m pretty sure that most people reading this very article know about the (very) cheap ESP8266 Wifi module. A bit more than a year ago, I actually made a small development board for it, which was recently used in […]
AVO DA116 repair: Replacing the LCD
Daniel Bailey from Bit Of A Hack did a repair of a digital Avometer DA116 and documented the whole process on his blog: Anyway, this post is about my AVO DA116. I did this repair a while ago and almost forgot to post about it. I bought a broken AVO DA116 from ebay. For […]
Touchpad as wireless (MIDI) expression controller
Acidbourbon has published a new build, a wireless touchpad that can be used like an expression pedal: This sort of touchpad speaks some special Apple mouse protocol. Luckily I found a code snippet on mikrocontroller.net which helped a great deal to get the thing going. Then I used a standard AVR ATMega8 microcontroller to glue […]
RC snubber calculator spreadsheet
Paulo has developed a free RC snubber calculator, an Excel-based calculator eases the design of RC snubbers in power switching applications: In power switching applications, a designer often has to contend with spurious oscillations. These are the result of parasitic capacitances and inductance on the board and behave like the step response of an RLC […]
Linux alarm clock
Benoit Frigon wrote an article detailing his alarm clock running Linux project, that is available on github: This is the display i made for my alarm clock project. The first version was a 24×7 LED matrix but later changed the design for a four digits seven segment display. I decided to keep the drawings for […]
A new transceiver at N6QW, part 2
Pete Juliano, N6QW, has been working on a transceiver project. He writes: Today we complete most of the mechanical work and the only item remaining is the RC Filter to turn the Square Waves into Sine Waves for the tune signal. We have had it on the air in the current box as you always […]
#FreePCB via Twitter to 2 random RTs
Every Tuesday we give away two coupons for the free PCB drawer via Twitter. This post was announced on Twitter, and in 24 hours we’ll send coupon codes to two random retweeters. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times a every week: Hate Twitter and Facebook? Free PCB Sunday is the classic PCB giveaway. Catch […]
Pen FM transmitter bug
A pen FM transmitter bug project from Talking Electronics: Pen FM Transmitter bug projects have been very popular. The idea of being able to hide a transmitter in a pen is very appealing. In an effort to reduce the size of this design, we have used surface-mount components. Firstly, the thought of using the coil […]
Ambient TV lighting, a low-power solution for creating ambient light based on a TV signal
Here’s an ambient TV lighting project by Shiva Rajagopal from Cornell University, built as a final project: Here’s a project I recently made for the ECE 5760 FPGA class at Cornell University. I have created a real-time system that can use an NTSC video signal to simulate the lighting effects of a TV in a […]
Development board for PIC16F1938
Raj over at Embedded Lab has designed a development board for PIC16F1938: The PIC16F1938 is a versatile 28-pin MCU belonging to Microchip’s extreme low power microcontroller family featuring nanoWatt XLP technology, 28KB of programming memory, 1KB of RAM, 11 ADC channels, and tons of other peripherals. A while ago, I designed a development board for this MCU and […]
App note: Anti-tampering solution for E-Meter application
App note from Infineon Technologies on 3D sensor used as anti-tampering devices on E-Meters, Link here (PDF) This application note describes a possible realization of an anti-tampering solution in an Electricity Meter. With the new product family of the 3D Magnetic Sensor (TLV493D), Infineon offers an innovative solution for three-dimensional magnetic position sensing. By allowing […]
Free PCB Sunday: Pick your PCB
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 two random commenters will […]
App note: Using a magnetic 3D sensor in a gear stick application
6 hall effect sensors effectively replaced by one 3D sensor, an application from Infineon Technologies. Link here (PDF) A magnetic 3D sensor is well suitable for a detection of the position of the gear stick. The „State-of-the-art“ solution with up to 6 single hall switches can be replaced by one 3D sensor. The TLE493D-W1B6 has […]
App note: MOSFET power losses and how they affect power-supply efficiency
Here’s an application note (PDF!) from Texas Instruments on MOSFET power losses and how they affect power-supply efficiency: Power-supply efficiency is a critical criterion for today’s cloud-infrastructure hardware. The efficiency of the chosen power solutions relates to system power loss and the thermal performance of integrated circuits (ICs), printed circuit boards (PCBs), and other components,which determines […]
USBuddy: USB development tool
Jakub has designed and built a USB breakout board with current monitor, an open hardware tool – USBuddy: Do you sometimes develop with USB? I do. So I need to access data lines, bus voltage and I’d like to easily monitor the current too. I made myself a small companion (43.5 mm × 22.5 mm, […]
Free PCB coupon via Facebook to 2 random commenters
Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. This post was announced on Facebook, and on Monday we’ll send coupon codes to two random commenters. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three […]
Getting started with OPENOCD using FT2232H adapter for SWD debugging
Yahya Tawil wrote a tutorial about flashing EFM32 MCUs with OpenOCD using FT2232H adapter: Learn how to make flashing your ARM-based MCU easy by using OpenOCD debugger with an FT2232H adapter. Old MCUs from vendors like ATMEL and MICROCHIP, like the PIC16F and Atmega family, tend to have a special programming interface to program internal […]
Crystal motional parameters
Craig writes: Ever tried searching through your datasheets for the motional parameters of that quartz crystal you just bought? Good luck! Vendors simply don’t specify these parameters to general end users, and for most applications that’s OK. But for high Q oscillator and filter design, measuring and matching crystals can be important. This video discusses […]