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 […]
Author Archives: DP
Automatic 18650 Analyzer
Gregor wrote an instructable detailing the build of his Automatic 18650 Analyzer project: The idea behind this project was to create a cost effective device that could automatically charge and discharge multiple 18650 cells while determining the effective capacity of each individual cell. Individual cells can be binned by capacity, so multiple parallel packs with […]
DPA library for MCU
Ondřej Karas writes: A few months ago, I published post about DPA .NET Class. This article describes simple, but effective library used for DPA handling by MCU (UART interface). Published library is independent on the MCU family, but it was written for 32-bit ARM processors with Cortex-M3 core and GNU C compiler. Library consists of […]
Logic Sniffer in a 33.6Kbps modem case
Peter Murray blogged about his Logic Sniffer case made from a 33.6Kbps modem box: I have had my Open Workbench Logic Sniffer for quite a while and I have found it to be a very useful piece of kit. I have recently ordered an expansion to upgrade it to a 32 channel logic analyzer (up […]
#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 […]
Building a SmartWatch part 1
Benjamin Blundell has been working on his DIY smart-watch: I have an issue with smart-watches. Watches in general fall into one of two categories: a tool to tell the time, or a fashion statement. Increasingly, I believe the latter category is larger than the first. With the advent of the iWatch, Pebble and the like, fashion […]
Continuous Autofocus laser cutter hack
Continuous Autofocus of a laser cutter using a wiimote controller from Martin Raynsford, he writes: We were inspired by the Glowforge laser cutters ability to continuously autofocus it’s z axis. A camera mounted in the head of the laser detects a laser dot being shone onto the surface of the material and from there it can […]
MCP2221 HID Library
Zak Kemble writes, “This is a library for interfacing with the HID features of the MCP2221 USB to UART and I2C/SMBus serial converter from Microchip. The converter includes 4 GPIO pins, 3x 10-bit ADCs, 1x 5-bit DAC and more. Microchip does provide a library for interfacing with the chip, however it is supplied as proprietary DLLs. […]
App note: Designing P.C. Board heat sinks
Application hint from Micrel on how to do baseline calculation on board area required as heatsink for SMD components. Link here (PDF) System designers increasingly face the restriction of using all surface-mounted components in their new designs; even including the power components. Through-hole components can dissipate excess heat with clip-on or bolt-on heat sinks keeping […]
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: Heatsink characteristics
Application note from International Rectifier on various method for thermal management. Link here (PDF) In many electronic applications, temperature becomes an important factor when designing a system. Switching and conduction losses can heat up the silicon of the device above its maximum Junction Temperature (Tjmax) and cause performance failure, breakdown and worst case, fire. Therefore […]
App note: Welcoming water metering into the 21st Century
Maxim application note: Water. It is the most precious managed resource on the planet. Getting clean water to everyone can, in fact, be a matter of life and death. Managing water resources is a serious challenge today. Water is expensive to clean and difficult to get to where it is needed. In fact, connecting people […]
Designing a CPU in VHDL
A detailed guide on designing a CPU in VHDL by Domipheus: This is part of a series of posts detailing the steps and learning undertaken to design and implement a CPU in VHDL. Previous parts are available here, and I’d recommend they are read before continuing. Part 10 was supposed to be a very big part, […]
Understanding silicon circuits: inside the ubiquitous 741 op amp
Ken Shirriff’s writes, “The 741 op amp is one of the most famous and popular ICs with hundreds of millions sold since its invention in 1968 by famous IC designer Dave Fullagar. In this article, I look at the silicon die for the 741, discuss how it works, and explain how circuits are built from […]
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 […]
EDC/Krohn-Hite MV216A DC voltage standard teardown and Tempco measurement
Kerry Wong did a teardown of the Electronic Development Corporation’s (acquired by Krohn-Hite) MV216A battery/external powred DC voltage standard: In this blog post, we are going to take a look at Electronic Development Corporation’s (EDC, acquired by Krohn-Hite in 1998) MV216A battery/external powered DC voltage standard and also measure its voltage reference’s temperature coefficient (tempco). A […]
48V Phantom power supply
Dilshan Jayakody has designed and built a 48V Phantom power supply: Phantom power supply is widely used in audio industry to power the active microphones over single audio cable. Most of the phantom power supplies deliver 48V DC over the balanced audio link and power supply unit described in this article is also based on same […]
Open Badge: The LED Badge
Rohit Gupta published a new build, the OpenBadge The major elements on the PCB were: – LED Matrix – A MSP430G2553 microcontroller brain – A ULN2803 Darlington Driver to sink the current – A USB connector to charge the battery – A SBW connector to program the MSP430 – A Switch to change the message – A […]
#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 […]
USB MultiComms part one – USB Board
Brian Dorey has been working on a USB communications box project: Several of the projects we have been working on recently needed some form of serial communication with our PC, either through RS232, UART, I2C or SPI and at the moment we use a handful of different USB to serial adapters designed for each different protocol. One […]