Here is a comprehensive manual for SMD components. It covers most common SMD components used in the electronics industry today. Package dimensions as well as markings are covered. This brochure brings a help and clearance for a newcomer and moreover should help a service technician to start a repair of the instruments made with the […]
Author Archives: DP
App note: High precision temperature measurement with thermocouples
The sensitivity of modern thermocouple is around o.1C over a range which spans from -270C to 1750C. Here is an app note from Maxim on how to built high precision temperature acquisition systems based on thermocouple sensors. One examples uses a 24bit ADCs for high precision measurement. Another example use a MAX31855 thermocouple-to-SPI converter for […]
App note: Understanding ADC specifications and attributes
Here is an app note from Microchip explaining how to interpret various analog to digital converter specifications. This article covers how attributes of ADCs are calculated and how they apply to it’s performance and precision. The purpose of this application note is to describe the specifications used to quantify the performance of A/D converters and […]
What was your latest electronics acquisition?
Voidptr started a thread about the latest electronics gizmo you acquired. Post your latest components, tools, or anything else electronics-related you bought or salvaged recently.
SPICY Schematics: A schematic editor and SPICE simulator for iPad
SPICY is an electronics schematic editor and SPICE simulator for the iPad. A free version is available at iTunes. SPICY is fast, intuitive, and allows you to literally draw circuits with your fingers. Create, save, edit, share, simulate, export and send screenshots to email, SPICY is a must have for students and working engineers alike. […]
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 a every week: Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, […]
Preview: Open source soldering iron driver v1.5
Today we sent our updated soldering iron driver v1.5 PCB to be fabricated. This is a 100% through-hole reroute of Arhi’s latest gen 3 design. The ground plane is broken into power supply, analog, and digital sections to help reduce noise. PCBs will be available in the free PCB drawer soon if you’d like to […]
Week in (p)review: January 20, 2012
Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week. Free PCB Friday is coming up soon: Workshop video: Bus Blaster v4 solder and assembly Workshop video: Bus Blaster JTAG debugger history Freestanding open source PIC USB stack demo Bus Pirate and PiratePICprog programms PIC32 Measuring hexacopter rotor speed with Logic Sniffer Cheap 2X16 red/black […]
High-voltage arcs using a flyback transformer from a monitor
Hak8or uploaded a gallery of high voltage arc pictures. The setup was salvaged from an old CRT monitor. He suspects the flyback transformer produces around 30 kV. I found some old pictures of me playing around with a flyback, and I wanted to test out this awesome gallery thing I found, so I mushed them […]
Digital light intensity meter with a calibrated LDR
Shawon made a light intensity meter using an ATmega microcontroller to read a light-dependent-resistor and display the values on a 2X16 character display. To calibrate his LDR he used a digital light meter and a dimmable light source. This allowed him to plot the sensor output and properly calibrate his device. This project is about […]
DIY music box with PIC32
Markus built a DIY music box from some old speakers and a PIC32 microcontroller. The uC generates the sound, and the amplifier that’s integrated into the speakers amplifies it. being inspired by another project of ChaN I decided to build my own music box. The theory is described in detail on ChaN’s page, so I […]
Electrochemically plated vias for homemade PCBs
By electrochemically plating vias, Bearmos takes home-etched PCBs to the next level. His constant current source, with we covered earlier, is used in the process. I just finished writing up some of the details on DIY plated through holes. This is what the simple constant current source was designed for. This process was slightly adapted […]
Open source USB stack freestanding demo
An open source USB stack has been in development in our forum for some time. Up until now it was integrated into the sources code of the specific devices we used like the Bus Pirate, or the IR toy. Now there is a freestanding demo available that can easily be ported to any PIC with […]
Bus Pirate and PiratePICprog programms PIC32
AndThen added support for PIC32 devices to PiratePICprog, the PIC programming application for the Bus Pirate. He needs help testing it. If you have a PIC32 and a Bus Pirate try it out. Please note: PIC32 programming does not require the Bus Pirate PIC programming adapter. Via the forum.
PICkit3 programmers are 20% off at MicrochipDIRECT
By using the coupon code “MPLABX” you’ll shave 20% off of a PICkit3 programmer/debugger, or a PICkit3 Debug express kit. PICkit3 is the latest in the PICkit series of programmers from Microchip. It supports all PIC and dsPIC microcontroller families. There are cheap clones floating around on eBay, but with this discount you can get […]
MMA7455L accelerometer free PCB build
Tayken built a free MMA7455L accelerometer breakout board. The MMA7455L is a 3-axis accelerometer with I2C and SPI interfaces. As I finally had my accelerometer, I’ve decided to solder it up using electric skillet method. I thought I had the required tantalum caps so I didn’t order but it turns out I have a different […]
Getting an ATmega to light up some LEDs
Pete made an in depth tutorial on how to get started with ATmega microcontrollers. He covers how to read the datasheets and use them to write your firmware. Also covered are the initial stages of creating and programing a simple “blink LED” program in AVRstudio 5.1. In this Part 1 post, I’ll show how to […]
DIY EzPSoC3 development board built and tested
Kartik tested the DIY EzPSoc3 development board. After fighting with some annoying short-circuits, he was able to get the board up and running. The MiniProg3 programmer-debugger recognized it right away. He was able to program a bootloader and a small “blink-LED” demo. You can download the source files from his site. Via the forum.
Using mikroC libraries to drive graphic LCDs
Raj made another tutorial on interfacing graphic LCDs with PIC microcontrollers. In his earlier post he covered how to setup the hardware and write your own firmware to drive these LCDs. This post covers how to use mikroC compiler libraries to do the same and more. Today’s discussion will focus more on using the built-in […]
Cheap 1.3” 96X68 monochrome LCDs with I2C interface
Greeeg tipped us of to some cheap $3 1.3” 96X68 monochrome LCDs. They have a solderable connector with a manageable pitch of 0.6mm. A simple I2C interface protocol is used to interface with these LCDs. These are Displays from ebay are small B/W displays from the nokia 1202 and a few other models. They do […]