Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week: Bus Pirate v4 was released Watch us solder the Bus Pirate v4 Fcobcn built a nice case for the Bus Pirate v2go PICqueño free PCB build New beta release of the OLS client Arup built a USB Infrared Toy clone Check out Rajs’ tutorial on […]
Author Archives: DP
Real 3.3volt LCD displays
Most cheap character displays are built to work at 5V, and this can be a problem if your circuit is designed around lower voltages. Here are some reasonably priced 3.3volt displays that range from 1X8 to 3×16 displayed characters. You can interface with them over three protocols: 8bit, 4bit, and SPI. The displays are sold […]
Current sensing with the Arduino
Luca made an Amp-meter using the ACS712 current sensor, and the Arduino. The ACS712 is a fully integrated, hall effect based, linear current sensor. It converts the current that passes through its input pins to a proportional voltage on an output pin. He connected the output pin to an analog pin of his Arduino, and […]
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, […]
Altoids tin fume extractor
After checking out Make’s mini fume extractor, Eric decided to make his own. What he had lying around was a 24v fan that couldn’t quite fit in a single Altoids box, so he soldered two boxes together to get a single wider one. Two 9V batteries connected in series provide the power for the fan, […]
Clock source for the EasyDriver
Henrik designed and built an adjustable clock source for the EasyDriver that maintains the same motor speed over a range of step resolutions. It adjusts the driving frequency depending on the resolution of steps the EasyDriver makes per input pulse. EasyDriver is a stepper motor driver that moves the motor one preselected step for every […]
Bus Pirate v3.5 free PCB build
Ricros built a free Bus Pirate v3.5 PCB. 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 the free PCB drawer. Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our […]
Nixie clock HV power supply
Luca is building a Nixie clock, and in this post he covers the high voltage power supply section. Nixie tubes are digit displays that use ~170V between the digit wire and a wire mash, to agitate the gas inside the tube. This surrounds the digit wire with a orange glow and it becomes visible through […]
0-99 minute timer
Raj decided to make a tutorial on how to implement a 0-99 minute timer on a PIC16F628A microcontroller. His design uses a HD44780 compatible 2×16 text LCD, to setup and display the count-down timer. One pin of the PIC should be used to drive a relay, but for testing purposes Raj used a LED instead […]
Soldering the Bus Pirate v4
Watch us solder the Bus Pirate v4. The Bus Pirate is an open source hacker multi-tool that talks to electronic stuff. For a comprehensive overview check out our previous post. Here are the main differences and advantages of V4 over V3: Integrated USB in the microcontroller (faster) Data storage EEPROM to hold settings Pull-up voltage […]
PICqueño free PCB build
Jdownj posted pictures of his free PICqueño PCB build. The PICqueño is our version of chipKIT’s UNO32 board. It’s a Arduino compatible device built around the PIC32 microcontroller. 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 […]
Propeller Development Stick
Here is a USB development board for the P8X32A-Q44 Propeller microcontroller. It has a FT232RL USB-to-UART IC, a 3.3 LDO voltage regulator, a 5MHZ crystal, and a 64KB EEPROM. He broke-out 32 IO pins of the microcontroller to two 16pin female headers. This is version 1.1 of this design, and version 2 is currently under […]
DIY USB Infrared Toy
Arup built a USB Infrared Toy clone. He is working out some kinks, but we expect him to be enjoying his new toy in no time. You can get IR Toy v2 for $22.05, including world wide shipping. Via the forum.
PIC12LF1840T48A MCU with Integrated Sub-GHz Trasmitter
Octal tipped us off about the new PIC12LF1840T48A microcontrollers that have a built in sub-GHz transmitter: Microchip just published the datasheet related to using the PIC12LF1840T48A Microcontroller with Integrated Sub-GHz Trasmitter. The PIC12LF1840T48A is a Microchip microcontroller that has an on-board transmitter. The transmitter is suitable for operation in the 418, 434 and 868 MHz […]
DIY ATTiny85 Development Board
Christopher built an ATTiny85 development board. It has all the microcontroller pins broken out to a 2×4 dual row pinheader, a power indicator LED, and a reset button as well.
I2C controlled 4X4 RGB LED matrix
Mashiara designed an I2C controlled 4×4 RGB LED matrix. He uses 3 PCA9635 I2C-to-PWM drivers with 16 PWM outputs. Each IC controls a different basic color of the LEDs. The up-side to this design is that all of the drivers are on-board, and only control signals are needed to manipulate the matrix. The down side […]
DIY ultrasonic range finder
Zipppys123 is building a DIY ultrasonic range finder based on this design. Once it’s externally triggered a PIC12C508 is used to generate generate the ultrasonic pulse, and measure its echo. The ultrasonic pulse is amplified using a MAX232 TTL-to-RS-232 level converter, while the echo is amplified and demodulated using two op-amps and comparators. Via the […]
Case: Bus Pirate case build
Fcobcn built a nice case for the Bus Pirate v2go using a case he received some chips in. More awesome DIY cases. Via the forum. Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our friendly distributors.
Switch AC appliances remotely with cellular control
Ezflyr built an AC relay switch that receives commands over the cellular phone network. An ADH8066 quad-band GSM cellular module handles the communication, while a PIC18F2550 controls the relays and reads temperature sensors. The goal of this project is to remotely switch heaters on his aircraft, which requires a few hours of preheating before a […]
#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. This week we have a guest PCB, the USB bit whacker 32. UBW32 is a development platform that allows you to control 78 […]