The Bus Pirate is a handy debugging tool, but it’s also a 16 bit PIC 24FJ64GA002 development board. You don’t need a programmer to play, just upload the firmware over USB using the Bus Pirate’s nearly-impossible-to-brick bootloader. It’s easy to go back to the original Bus Pirate firmware at any time. This demo is step […]
Author Archives: DP
Bay Area Maker Faire May 19th & 20th, taco crawl, free tickets
We’ll be at the Bay Area Maker Faire on the 19th, and 20th of May this year. This is the big one and it’s a ton of fun. If you’re there please drop by and say hi. On the blog we’ll have our usual Maker Faire coverage and a Maker Faire how-to video. Make gave […]
Instructables is having a huge 3D printer giveaway
Instructables is having a huge 3D printer giveaway. Enter until 6th of June for the chance to win an Objet desktop 3D printer with a 6 month printing material supply, an UP! 3D printer, or free 3D printing services: This is your chance to win an Objet 3D Printer with a 6 month supply of […]
Problems with long cables and common solutions demonstrated
Bertho was inspired by a recent forum discussion about driving SPI signals over long cables, so he headed to the workshop and did some test. His epic analysis of transmission lines shows real life example of how signals degrade in cables of various lengths, and how to tackle some of the problems associated with transmission […]
USB Infrared Toy firmware v23 test
A test version of firmware v23 for the USB Infrared Toy is available. JTR rewrote most of the code, and the result is over 50% smaller, simpler, and easier to debug. There are major improvements to sampling mode and SUMP logic analyzer mode. The latest open source USB stack is included. Feed the cool breeze […]
#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 […]
Workshop update May 8, 2012
Starting today we’ll post a daily summary of our work in the forum and workshop. Our goal is to better track our progress on projects, but also give you a closer look at what’s going on to get feedback earlier in the process. In the workshop we finished building the secret board from the second […]
Hybrid race car build update
Some time ago we wrote about the Bus Pirate being used to debug the electronics on a Hybrid race car. Here is an update on the race car development: Last Saturday we tested the car at Pitney Bowes in the Rensselaer Tech Park. There were a few hiccups in the car – our starter battery […]
Pinguino X.3 is out
Pinguino, the open source IDE for PIC-based Arduino compatible boards, just released version X.3. Software is still in beta testing mode, so if you run into a bug be sure to contact the developers about it. PinguinoX.3 is now available in the download area for both Linux and Windows computer. With the help of all […]
Automatically generate Eagle footprints for Microchip parts
Macdweller wrote a step by step tutorial on making Cadsoft Eagle footprints for any Microchip device, like PIC microcontrollers, using the Ultra Librarian app to generate footprints automatically. Via the forum.
MSP430 based frequency counter with Nokia 1202 LCD
A while ago we wrote about using cheap Nokia 1202 LCDs for projects. These LCDs come with a solderable connector, and are easy to interface over the I2C bus. Toxic239 made a frequency counter based on the MSP430 Launchpad and this LCD. Source code for his project is available in the forum.
Head worn magnifying glasses comparison
Working with low pitch SMD components can be a pain on the eyes, and one way to make it more conferrable is to use head worn magnifying glasses. Arhi wrote an in depth comparison of the 3 models he had tried out so far. While none of them are ideal, the ones mounted on spectacle […]
Logic Sniffer client version 0.9.6 beta release
Jawi continues to develop the Logic Sniffer cross-platform client. A beta of the new version 0.9.6 is available to testers. This has the killer new signal display component demoed previously. Jawi’s open source client will soon outclass every commercial offering we’ve ever used. Here’s the change log: New signal display component is in place! While […]
App note: Exposed pads on some IC packages
Some IC packages have a large exposed pad on the bottom. It’s usually connected to the chips ground, and helps cool the chip by transferring heat to the PCB. This app note from Maxim describes the functionality of exposed pads, as well as their proper use.
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: Powering portable media players
Here is an app note from Texas Instruments on how to power various systems required for portable media players. These devices require several different voltages, multiple power sources, as well as integrated battery charging. The article describes each individual section in detail.
App note: External current limiting circuit
Learn how to implement fixed current limiting in power-supply designs: In every power supply application there exists the possibility to short the output to ground causing excessive current to be drawn from the power supply. In order to limit the output current from becoming excessive the following examples of current limiting circuits are suggested.
App note: Isolating analog and digital power supplies
Texas Instruments’ advice for isolating digital and analog power supplies in mixed signal circuits. This application note recommends power supply and ground noise-reduction techniques through the use of bypass capacitors and ferrite beads in TI’s PLL-based clock distribution circuits (CDC) devices. This application note also includes a numeric example, calculating the value of bypass and […]
Read a GPS module with the Bus Pirate
You can use your Bus Pirate to read a Fastrax UPS501 GPS module. Since the module has a UART, just connect the RX and TX pins, and set the Bus Pirate for UART mode. The correct settings are UART, 9600 baud, 8bits, no parity, one stop bit, receive polarity 1, and a normal output type. […]
Adding a thermometer to your digital multimeter
Reading ambient temp is useful in electronics, and reading it from your handy multimeter is even better. Raj added a thermometer feature to his DMM, by hard-wiring it into the case. He used an LM35 analog temperature sensor and a slide switch connected to the multimeter inputs. You just flip the knob to the 200mV […]