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 a every week: Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, […]
Author Archives: DP
Week in (p)review July 20, 2012
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon. WORKSHOP VIDEO: Bus Pirate LCD Adapter v3 overview and demo NEW PROTOTYPE: Bus Pirate LCD adapter v3 3D Model: Bus Pirate LCD adapter v3a HOW-TO: Polygons and ground fills for PCBs in Eagle Eagle parts: Assorted 74xxx logic […]
Hacking and moding the TP-Link WR703N OpenWRT Wi-Fi router
TP-Link WR703N is a OpenWRT supported Wi-Fi router that comes with ‘only’ 4MB of flash and 32MB of RAM. If you are not satisfied with these, they are easily upgradable as described in the forum. RAM can be upgraded to 64MB if you are not afraid of hot air soldering. Just take out one chip […]
Workshop Update for July 19th, 2012
Today we mainly worked on the Workshop Video. Illustration for the Sick of Beige laser cutting tutorial is complete. As is the documentation for the recently released Bus Pirate LCD adapter v3. We updated an early prototype of the Bus Blaster v4, and put together the BOM for that project so we can get a […]
Hacking a tank toy
Wardy hacked a tank toy he got from eBay. Motors are driven through a L298N dual full-bridge driver, while the tank is currently controlled with an Arduino. Soon the Arduino will give way to a Propeller-based custom board. That toy tank I snagged on Ebay has undergone some surgery to remove the hideously cheap and […]
NEW PROTOTYPE: Bus Pirate LCD adapter v3
HD44780 character LCDs can be controlled from as few as 6 pins, but the Bus Pirate v3 only has 5 IO pins. What to do? We grabbed a common 74HCT595 IO expander chip and made an LCD adapter board. A version of this breakout is in the EEVblog video this week. You can build the […]
OpenWRT router interfaced to an Arduino
Yesterday we talked about the cheap OpenWRT supported TP-Link WR703N Wi-Fi router. This instructable describes how to interface it to an Arduino board, and compares it to other Linux boards like the Raspberry Pi. So far the nicest solution I have found is one of the world’s smallest pocket routers TP Link WR703N. Cheapest in […]
Fixing cheap female pinheaders
Lindsay lets us know about a problem he ran into with cheap female pinheaders: I once had problems with a 0.1″ pin header connector – the sockets inside the female connector made extremely poor contact. It was for an LCD display and only about half of the pins were connected! Swapped it for a different […]
Workshop Update for July 18th, 2012
We submitted a new “emotional appeal” ad for alt.2600 magazine. This is the current ad. Thanks Machine Geek! We started Open Hardware Summit presentation, and renewed our registered agent service. Tutorial on customizing our Sick of Beige cases continues. Only proof reading, links, and pictures are left. We started a Mouser order with standoffs, and […]
GPS packed in a mint tin case
Jeremy built a tiny GPS receiver into a “Altoids” case. This unit is explained in the video above, but is basically a GPS receiver, 1 CR1220 battery for the RTC on the GPS breakout, one of my Square Inch of Goodness boards, one 128×32 OLED display, three 6mm buttons, and a 400mAh Li-Po Battery (from […]
TP-Link WR703N lowest cost openWRT compatable Wi-Fi router
The TP-Link WR703N (machine translation) is a small Wi-Fi router that’s easy to hack, and flash with openWRT. The best feature about it is that it cost only $20 on eBay. It features a single host USB connector making it easy to connect USB devices to it. The processor runs at 400Mhz, with 4MB of […]
HOW-TO: Polygons and ground fills for PCBs in Eagle
In Eagle polygons are used to make big copper areas on a PCB that aren’t necessarily traces. We use them all the time to fill blank space on a PCB with copper connected to ground. Less frequently we use them to make large power traces such as with the ATX Breakout Board. Here’s some notes […]
Pads tearing off of PCBs
Voidptr got a board from eBay that may have used an exceptionally cheap PCB. He soldered some pinheaders to the board and with slight pressure the pins flew of the board: I just got this ebay board and got a bad surprise, I soldered the header, did not overheat it I’m pretty sure. Connected few […]
Benchtop power supply based on ATX Breakout board
Software & Sawdust posted his new Benchtop power supply based on the ATX Breakout board. It features our breakout board, and an ATX power supply packed together into a custom wood case. This is a project that’s been in the back of my mind for a long time but I just never seemed to find […]
Workshop Update for July 17th, 2012
Today we arranged orders for our fantastic wholesaler Watterott in Germany, and two potential new resellers to be disclosed soon. Seeed Studio shipped Adafruit’s most recent wholesale order a few days earlier than scheduled – thanks to everyone there for all the great work! We had a team workshop on a Dangerous Prototypes part kit. […]
Bus Pirate v3.6 back in stock
Bus Pirate v3.6 universal serial interface is back in stock at Seeed Studio. This is the updated v3.6 in a standard PCB footprint. You can get a simple laser-cut acrylic protector for this board for only 3 bucks. Bus Pirate is a hacking multi-tool that has the capability to interface with most IC bus protocols used […]
Controlling a camera with the Bus Pirate
Hacromatic posted a tutorial on interfacing an Arduino camera module with the Bus Pirate: The Bus Pirate from Dangerous Prototypes is one of my favorite debugging tools. It’s a really handy gadget for probing and poking around on various communications buses to get an understanding of how to interface to new chips or devices. It […]
Eagle parts: Assorted 74xxx logic ICs in TSSOP packages
For the DP Badge project we used some tiny TSSOP logic ICs, including the ULN2003 (pictured above) , 74HC595, 74HC4017, and the 555 timer. Previews from our Eagle part library are blow the fold.
#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 […]
From the mail bag: Open source projects inspire!
Eric, the designer of the VideoOverlayShield now on sale at Seeed sent us this mail. Just wanted to write and say thanks for all the work you do at Dangerous Prototypes you and your team have been a big inspiration to me. Read about his project manufacturing at Seeed experience below.