Today we cleared the backlog of free PCBs, more than 50 boards were mailed. We’re sorry for the delay, and we hope to be back on a 10 to 14 day mailing schedule. When we moved to a new office the PCBs were packed early, and they were the last thing to be unpacked. Ian […]
Author Archives: DP
HOW-TO: Make realistic 3D renderings of PCB designs
3D models in Google SketchUp look great, but with a few extra plugins the results can look photo-realistic. In this tutorial we’ll cover our experience with the Maxwell for Google Sketchup rendering plugin. The Maxwell Fire engine is easy to use. It’s integrated directly into SketchUp so you don’t need to open any other application […]
USB development board with a custom scriptable language
SigLab is an open source USB development board that takes commands from a small program that runs Python-like scripts. The hardware is basically a PIC18F2550 breakout board, but the firmware makes it easy to get started using the familiar desktop scripting language. SigLab is a combination of open hardware and FOSS (free and open source […]
MCP2200 breakout board free PCB built
Ricros built a free MCP2200 breakout board. MCP2200s are USB-to-UART converter chips from Microchip. They are actually a remarked PIC18F14K50 microcontroller programmed with the USB-to-UART firmware – we were able to hack one and reprogram it to run an open source USB stack. If you build a free PCB we’ll send you another one! Blog about […]
Bus Pirate v3 laser cut acrylic case
Hudson designed a laser cut acrylic case for his Bus Pirate v3.5 SOIC DIY edition. He provided the source files for anyone wanting to build their own. Cut from 2.5 – 3.0mm acrylic and screw together with M3x15 screws. If you use thicker 5-6mm acrylic only one middle layer is necessary, but the entire enclosure […]
XT to IDE hard drive controller development update
J1mbo designed some digital logic upgrades to the XT to IDE hard drive controller. This board enables you to use IDE hard drives with vintage XT computers. His design increases the write speeds to the hard drive. As promised here’s my schematic that should provide for fast writes with the DPv2 board. The command trigger […]
Manually V-score PCBs to break apart multiple designs
Ever use the extra area of a PCB to squeeze in multiple copies of a board? We do, but it’s always a pain to separate them. Doug shows how to how to cut apart multiple PCBs using a utility knife. Via the contact form.
HOW-TO: Build 3D models from Eagle files
Overview Over the last few weeks we’ve been building 3D models of our projects in Google SketchUp using the EagleUp script. This script makes a 3D model of the board from Cadsoft Eagle board (.brd) files, and populates it with pre-existing models of components. Once you have a 3D model in SketchUp you are free […]
#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 […]
RTC and port expander for an Arduino nixie clock
Luca is designing a nixie clock that will be run from an Arduino. In the latest development he shows to to implement a real time clock source and a port expander to drive the nixies. In this third blog post, I’m going to show you the logical view of my Nixie clock and two of […]
Bus Pirate v3.5a-SOIC DIY build
Jason shared his Bus Pirate v3.5a SOIC PCB build. The Bus Pirate is an open source hacker multi-tool that talks to electronic stuff. I’ve thrown together the Bus Pirate v3.5a-SOIC DIY PCB . However, I thought I’d let you know that the 3.3V regulators listed in the Mouser cart are now obsolete. I substituted them […]
Bus Blaster laser cut case
Damjan designed a laser cut case for the Bus Blaster. Bus Blaster v2 is an experimental, high-speed JTAG debugger for ARM processors, FPGAs, CPLDs, flash, and more. Here is my Bus Blaster case, built for $7 using Seeed’s Laser Cutting Service. More cool DIY cases here. You can get a Bus Blaster v2 for $34.95. […]
Use USBASP and PiratePicProg to program PIC microcontrollers
AMX hacked PiratePICProg, the Bus Pirate PIC programming software, to work with the USBASP programming hardware. A modified firmware needs to be uploaded to USBASP and then you can program PICs with it. Via the forum.
Tektronix 465 oscilloscope teardown
Mick bought and disassembled a Tektronix 465 oscilloscope. It’s a 100 MHz dual trace, dual timebase analog scope. He points out that most of the transistors are socketed instead of soldered. More pics below. Via the forum.
XC9572XL CPLD breakout free PCB build
Victor has built a free XC9572XL CPLD breakout board. CPLDs are programmable logic gate arrays which allow you to build custom logic devices simply by programing them. 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 […]
App note: Technical guide to surface mount resistors
Here is a technical guide to surface mount resistors from Panasonic. It covers the theory behind various resistor materials and the manufacturing processes. Tables illustrate specifications for different types of resistors, and explain the failure mechanisms for them. Fixed resistors are principal electronic components composed electronic circuit. They are developed with demands of various electronic […]
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 notes: Operational amplifiers for everyone
Here is a comprehensive guide to operational amplifiers from Texas Instruments. It contains most of the things you ever wanted to know about designing with op amps. History, design examples, and theory is all covered by this guide. Via Electronics-Lab.
App note: Enhancing ADC resolution by oversampling
Atmel describes how to enhance ADC resolution by oversampling the signal and averaging the extra data. This has a side effect of increasing the signal to noise ratio, and reducing the quantization error. When the ADC samples a signal, it quantizes the signal in discrete steps. This introduces some error, often referred to as quantization […]
App Note: Comparing digital and mechanical potentiometers
Microchip compares mechanical and digital potentiometers to digital. This app note explains the theory behind both versions, and their advantages and disadvantages. Mechanical potentiometers have advantages in terms of having a wide variety of values available and tighter specifications such as nominal resistance, tolerance, temperature coefficient, power rating and temperature range specifications. But in many […]