We’re finally at full complement in the workshop. Today we fought the backlog of forum support and emails that accumulated over the last few weeks. Videos are being edited, pictures assembled, and impressions are being evaluated. Image by 17177: CC BY-SA
Author Archives: DP
DIY surround sound dock for Apple iPods and iPhones
Here is an open source surround sound dock for Apples i-devices. It features the standard Apple connector, has two 1W speakers, and an external output for headphones. It’s uses the LA2610 analog surround sound processor and an ATTiny13 microcontroller.
Amp Hour electronics podcast next week
The Amp Hour electronics podcast with Chris Gammell (San Francisco Maker Faire video, Beers with Bunnie interview) and Dave (EEVblog) will have Ian on next week. We’ve worked on this for a while, and now it’s finally happening! If you have a specific topic or questions post then on the reddit question list for the […]
Rubidium frequency standard enclosure
Kenneth builds an enclosure and power supply for a “cheap” rubidium frequency standard. Rubidium standards are used for high precision clocks, and time keeping with a drift of only 6ms a year. Normally, rubidium standards are very expensive, but it is possible to find these modules on eBay for $50-$100 as they come out of decommissioned equipment […]
Pinoccio – An open source wireless hardware and software platform
Bryan pointed us to the Pinoccio. It’s an Arduino compatible Wireless platform. It’s based on the ATMega128rfa1 microcontroller with an 802.15.4 compliant radio built in. It also features a LiPo charger and battery, making it easy to recharge over USB. The project is open source and hosted on github. Via contact form.
Workshop Update for December 4th, 2012
Progress continues on the QFP protoboards. We rearranged the design a little as space became a premium. The goal of this board’s update was to extend each component’s pad length. To achieve this we had to pull some pretty neat tricks to make it all fit.
Eight Henry inductors from an old “tube” radio receiver
Kenneth takes apart a few old “tube” radio receivers and finds 8 Henry inductors inside, which is several orders of magnitude more then regular inductors we’re accustom to. He proceeds to hook it up to a 10 uF capacitor, and tests the ringing frequency of this LC circuit. This LC pair resonates at 12Hz, which […]
#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 […]
At Tokyu Hands shop in Tokyo
Ian takes a tour of the Tokyu Hands shop during his Tokyo Maker Faire visit. Pictured above are some basic electronic kits and LEDs. More pics below the fold.
Analog Discovery teardown
Mat received his open 7400 contest prize, the Analog Discovery bench tool. He was quick to tear it down and find out how it ticks. The brain of the beast is a Xilinx Spartan-6 FPGA which works in conjunction with a few analog specific IC, like the AD9648 125 MSPS ADC, and a few ADG612 […]
Workshop Update for December 3rd, 2012
In the workshop we’re cooking up new versions of our QFP protoboards. We’re migrating them to the standard DP10080 PCBs. Since the old boards were also designed to fit Eagle’s 100mmx80mm limit, we’re having difficulties fitting the new PCB restrictions. (keepouts and mounting holes)
Bus Pirate LCD adapter v3 back in stock
The Bus Pirate LCD adapter v3 is back in stock at Seeed Studio. This breakout board lets you drive, and test HD44780, and compatible LCDs with your Bus Pirate v3. We changed the PCB to one of our standard PCB sizes, namely the DP6037 v1. Get an LCD adapter for $9.
DIY manual pick ‘n’ place machine
Bored with having to pick up every component with tweezers, and having them always fall off at unfortunate moments. Build a manual pick ‘n’ place machine. Basically it’s a suction cup on X and Y movable axis, with a USB camera attached for higher precision. If you are dealing with tiny SMD parts (e.g. 0402 […]
Cost breakdown of Seeed’s PCB service
Mat has gone through the trouble of filling up a spreadsheet with the cost breakdown of Seeed’s PCB service. It seems that the boards with the lowest cost-to-area ratio are the 10cmx10cm ones that are ordered in quantities of 10. For higher quantities it quickly becomes apparent that the larger boards have a lower cost-to-area […]
Eagle tutorial: How to position components on the bottom side of the board
If you really wanna jam as many components in the tightest space possible, dual side placement is the way to go. Luca made a tutorial for Eagle which describes how to place components on the bottom side of the board.
Handheld POV toy
Here’s a handheld POV toy packed into an Altoids tin. The brain of this device is a Parallax SX microcontroller, while it’s powered with two AAA batteries. 7 LEDs provide the POV display that is capable of storing 32 messages. There are 32 message slots — 16 are straight hard coded bitmaps, 16 are text […]
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 thermistors in temperature tracking power supplies
Here’s a tutorial from Maxim describing thermistors and how to use them in temperature tracking power supplies. Thermistors are resistors whose resistance changes with temperature, increases with PTC type and decreases with NTC. This article provides a simple, intuitive tutorial on negative temperature coefficient (NTC) thermistors and how to make basic use of them in […]
More from Maker Faire Tokyo 2012
Another one for the FACEFRAME series! with Tayken. Check out lots of pictures below the fold.
Tokyo Maker Faire 2012 Day 2
Maker Faire Tokyo 2012 is packed to capacity! Follow the pics live with our twitter feed, or wait for them to pop up on the blog. More pics below the fold.