Florin of YourITronics writes: In this video I am calibrating the Gophert CPS-3205C power supply using my Keithley 175 4.5 digit multimeter and my adjustable dummy load. The calibration procedure is: 1. Set the V/A selector switch to A position, 2. Push the adjust knob then power on the power supply,the meter will display PUSH […]
Author Archives: DP
3.7V Li-Ion battery charger circuit
From the comments on our earlier standalone Linear Li-Ion battery charger with thermal regulation in ThinSOT app note post, Jan writes: Nice chip, indeed. Unfortunately not easy to find stocked – here I can get it only from Farnell (5 euro + VAT a pop) or Digikey ($3/pc + VAT + import duties). I would rather […]
Open source laser cutter
Martin Raynsford has written an article detailing his open source laser cutter project: Now that I have an easy way to switch controllers into my laser it’s time to try out some of the different softwares. I’m quite comfortable with Arduino and I’ve got a fair few of them kicking round my house so that’s […]
Hacker in residence March, 2015
The slow, lazy days of Chinese Spring Festival are behind us. Markets are open and the BBQ place is back, but our hacker supply is at the lowest level in recent memory. Jelmer is back in the Netherlands raising money to manufacture his project, and Charles of PAX Instruments is in the US on a […]
App note: Measure capacitance of Class-II and Class-III ceramic capacitors
KEMET’s app note(PDF) on the methods used on measuring capacitance of different classes of ceramic capacitors. This application note addresses proper capacitance measurement techniques of Class-II (X7R/X5R) and Class-III (Y5V/Z5U) ceramic capacitors and identifies common errors that are made upon incoming inspection or after board assembly. Errors are highlighted and provides instruction for better electrical […]
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: Bodo’s Power Systems: Capacitors for critical applications get better by design
Great read(PDF) from KEMET on the design features and screening methods applied to electrolytic and tantalum capacitors to prevent long-term deterioration or sudden unexpected failures. Wherever electronic equipment is used such as in the home, at work, in-car, or in defense equipment users typically expect perfect reliability while the technology itself should ideally be invisible […]
App note: Standalone Linear Li-Ion battery charger with thermal regulation in ThinSOT
Standalone Linear Li-Ion battery charger with thermal regulation in ThinSOT application note (PDF!) from Linear: The LTC4054 is a single cell lithium-ion battery charger using a constant-current/constant voltage algorithm. It can deliver up to 800mA of charge current (using a good thermal PCB layout) with a final float voltage accuracy of ±1%. The LTC4054 includes an […]
ProtoQube – PQ60 PocketQube Breakout board
ProtoQube, a PocketQube PQ60 breakout and prototyping board by Ozqube: The ProtoQube board is a full breakout of the PQ60 PocketQube standard connector, combined with a small .1″(2.54mm) pitch prototyping area. The 20 breakout contacts on each side are .05″ (1.27mm) pitch. The board itself is 42x42mm. This board doesn’t just have to be used […]
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 times every […]
ARM processor hardware debugging
Abyssal over at Brmlab writes, “This project was originally aimed at debugging Stellaris Launchpad board (ARM Cortex M4F), but can be applied to ARM-related and OpenOCD-supported devices as well. There is also some information on using external hardware JTAG debuggers.”
Reminder: Last day to register for Hacker Camp Shenzhen is TODAY!
Friendly reminder: today is the last day to register for Hacker Camp Shenzhen. Only a couple tickets remain, we expect this camp to will be full (~25 people). Join our very own Sjaak, Tayken, and others in the hacker capital of the world. See you in Shenzhen in April!
Modifying a Tower SG90 servo for continuous rotation with potentiometer position sensing, Part 1: Investigation and continuous rotation
Keith wrote an article on modifying a Tower SG90 servo for continuous rotation with potentiometer position sensing: On its own, the servo takes power, ground, and a position input and moves the shaft within a range of rotation to match the angle requested on its input wire. It has one or more stops in its gearbox to […]
8×8 RGB LED array with a Raspberry Pi
Bob Davis has been working on an 8×8 RGB LED array with a Raspberry Pi project: I have been working on a book of Raspberry Pi projects. One of the projects is an 8×8 three color LED array. I picked up some more of them on eBay lately and they had a different pin-out. The MEU 8860 […]
RFID – Wiegand2 – IQRF
Ondřej of DoItWireless writes: This post describes simple RFID reader with wireless transmission to the PC. There is used Wiegand26 protocol for communication between TR-52DA and IQRF reader. This construction would be useful for installations on places, where you are not allowed to use additional cabling.
SimpleLink ultra-low power wireless MCU platform
Allie informs us of TI’s new SimpleLink ultra-low power wireless platform for Bluetooth Smart, 6LoWPAN, ZigBee, Sub-1 GHz and ZigBee RF4CE Today, TI is helping manufacturers throw out the battery for their IoT devices with its new SimpleLink ultra-low power wireless MCU platform. This new wireless MCU family brings a first to the industry, a single-chip […]
Programming Arduino Pro Mini with Bus Pirate
Dana Harding writes: Program an Arduino Pro Mini 328 [sparkfun] board using a Bus Pirate. I tried setting up the Bus Pirate as a transparent bridge for UART to use the Arduino boot loader. I got as far as manually sending 0x30 0x20, and receiving a 0x10 0x14 – establishing communication over UART… But couldn’t get […]
Arduino Uno R3 graphics accelerator shield uses no pins
Andy Brown has written an article detailing his Arduino graphics accelerator open source project: This project brings together the knowledge that I’ve gained over the last few years to bring you a graphics accelerator for the Arduino Uno R3 based on an ARM Cortex M0 core attached to a 640×360 LCD from the Sony U5 Vivaz […]
DirtyPCBs: HDC1000 temperature and humidity sensor breakout, with Arduino library
Francesco Truzzi published a new build: a breakout board for the TI HDC1000, a tiny (8BGA) temperature and humidity sensor The boards were again fulfilled by DirtyPCBs, perfect for this kind of small projects. So here are the pictures of my board and here are the features: Address selection jumpers: ADR0 and ADR1 are tied to […]
#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 […]