Ernesto sent a few of our PCBs to the EEVblog. Dave opened them up and featured them in his latest mailbag video. The featured PCBs are: Bus Pirate v4 Sick of Beige – from Schazamp community order Bus Blaster v4 Part ninja kit Bus Pirate LCD adapter v4 A big thanks to Ernesto and Dave!
Author Archives: DP
Ian featured engineer on EEWeb
EEWeb posted an interview with Ian today. The article covers how Ian got started in electronics, his favorite hardware and software tools, and a few interesting experiences in the open hardware industry. Covered as well are Ian’s future plans for Dangerous Prototypes and the challenges open hardware faces as it becomes more mainstream.
#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 […]
Bus Pirate Arduino Shield free PCB build
Andrew built a Bus Pirate Arduino Shield from a free PCB. This board gives the Arduino the same front-end circuity as the Bus Pirate. If you build a free PCB we’ll send you another one! Blog about it, post a picture on Flicker, whatever – we’ll send you a coupon code for the free PCB […]
Android Accessory Development kit free PCB build
Mikelelere built a free Android Accessory Development kit PCB. I’ve assembled over the weekend a free PCB I received last week: the Android Open Accessory Kit. When I ordered this PCB from the free PCB drawer I noticed a paragraph that indicated that the PIC footprint was the wrong size (the pitch was too large […]
Building an adjustable constant current load
Here’s a project log covering the build of an adjustable constant current load. It’s capable of sinking up to 7A, and can withstand input voltages up to 60V. The log covers the design, perfboard assembly, and case assembly. An adjustable power load is a piece of test equipment that often comes handy in the development […]
PIXEL interactive LED art mirror
Here’s an interesting art piece for your living room. It’s a Bluetooth controlled 32×32 LED matrix mounted in a picture frame. It’s designed to display pixel art uploaded from your android device. The LED matrix is controlled via an Android device through the IOIOMint board. PIXEL is open source – both the hardware and software. […]
DP6037 SMT.v1 free PCB build
Cosminnci posted pictures of his free DP6037_SMT.v1 PCB build. This is a universal breakout board for SOIC microcontrollers. It features a USB power supply and data lines, a quartz crystal, breakouts for all the pins and a small prototyping area. This board was really fun to build, I wanted to get a PIC18F2550 breakout board, but […]
App note: Thermocouple 101 video series
Here’s a web video series from Analog Devices describing thermocouples (TC) and how to get the most out of them. TC is a temperature sensor that outputs a voltage dependent on the temperature difference between these two ends.
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: Understanding the output current capability of DC-DC buck converters
Here’s a tutorial on output current capability of DC-DC buck converters that output a lower voltage from an input voltage. The article outlines the theory of buck converters, and how to calculate output current: Due to the widespread availability of highly integrated DC-DC switchmode converter devices, system design engineers no longer have to put much […]
App note: PIC24 peripheral pin select (PPS) reference manual
We often use the peripheral pin select (PPS) feature of PIC24F devices. This feature gives you the option to map some peripherals onto many different pins, instead of being locked onto specific pins. Here’s the reference manual for PPS. Most of the PIC24F family devices support the Peripheral Pin Select (PPS) feature. The PPS constitutes […]
App note: Understanding noise that comes with inductor based DC-DC converters
Here’s a tutorial from On Semiconductor describing noise that comes with inductor based DC-DC convertors. The article highlight the key areas where noise is generated in such systems, and provides suggestions on how to tackle them. The main purpose of this document is to clarify the source of such a noise, and assess the risk […]
24×30 RGB LED matrix
Madox is designing a RGB LED matrix consisting of 30 addressable RGB LED strips with 24 LEDs each. The LEDs are controlled through the Teensy 3.0 Arduino board over an I2C interface. The project is a LED lamp that will be mounted on the wall. It comprises of 24 LED Strips of 30 LEDs each […]
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. More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week: Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, get […]
Week in (p)review January 18, 2013
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. WORKSHOP VIDEO #52: Bus Pirate educational kit, VFD tube module A tool to talk to chips – our 2600 magazine winter ad Bus Pirate LCD adapter v3 and Bus Pirate v3.6 Sick of Beige v1 acrylic case v1 […]
Seeed sends $10 Fusion PCB service coupons with every PCB order
Seeed Studios is currently (17.1.2013-20.1.2013) running a promotion where you get a $10 Fusion PCB service coupon with every PCB order. This is a push to promote the recent changes made to the ordering process. The service is now made through an automated online ordering process. You just upload your files, chose the specs and […]
Workshop Update for January 17th, 2013
Today we concentrated on completing the ‘clutch’ patch for the Bus Pirate. It keeps the pins in HiZ on the start of every protocol, and only sets them to output if the power supply command ‘W’ is entered. To disengage the clutch again you just need to turn off the power supplies with the command […]
DigiPot assembled
Matseng continues his challenge of designing one PCB a week. His week 2 board, the DigiPot, has arrived and he assembled it. He did run into problems soldering the connectors which he unfortunately clustered under the encoder. Soldering them was very hard and the leads on both the pin headers as well as the encoder […]
USB Power Monitor
The December 2012 issue of the Australian electronics magazine Silicon Chip features the USB Power Monitor. It uses a PIC18F45K80 to monitor the power consumption of a USB device. The board acts as a bridge between the host and the device with a USB A male on one side, and the USB A female jack […]