App note from Vishay on why MELF resistors are so successful and has no alternative in today’s application. Link here (PDF) For more than 25 years, Vishay’s MELF resistors have successfully met the demanding requirements of the automotive industry. They offer superior SMD resistor performance in terms of accuracy, stability, reliability, and pulse load capability. […]
Author Archives: DP
Serial Star, a 4 in 1 USB serial and I2C converter
Jesus Echavarria published a new build: Here’s one of the last board I design the last year. On 2016, I develop the Dual USB Serial and I2C Converter board. Although this board works fine, it has a couple of lacks. First one, is that to use the both converters, you need two free USB ports. […]
Teardown of a Piezoelectric vibrating gyroscope
Kerry Wong did a teardown of an old analog piezoelectric vibrating gyroscope: Gyroscopes nowadays are based on micro-electro-mechanical systems (MEMS) technology. They are low cost and extremely miniaturized. A device combing both a three-axis gyroscope and a three-axis accelerometers (sometimes these devices are referred to as 6DOF devices) such as the MPU-6500 for example can be […]
#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 […]
Solar powered weather station
Antalife has written an article detailing the build of his a solar powered weather station: To expand my microcontroller and programming knowledge I have decided to try and make a Solar Powered Weather Station. My goal is to record parameters like: *Temperature *Humidity *Air pressure *Air quality (something to do with CO or CO2) I then hope to send […]
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: Understanding the characteristics of Li-ion batteries and Richtek power management solutions
App note from Richtek on how to work with Li-ion batteries properly. Link here Lithium-ion/polymer rechargeable batteries, which have been widely used today, have distinguished properties, but are very delicate and have to be used with extreme care. Improper use of Li-ion batteries will bring about catastrophic consequences. The incidences of burning and explosions of […]
App note: Power IC solutions for IoT / Portable / Wearable / Battery-Powered applications
A tidy and organized power solution list from Richtek. Link here (PDF)
Simple I2S stereo decoder with amplifier
Dilshan Jayakody published a new build: In this project we build simple I2S stereo decoder with amplifier. To decode I2S data we use Princeton Technologies PT8211 16bit DAC. KA2206 audio power amplifier is used as driver stage of this system. Structure of this I2S amplifier is self-explanatory from the schematic. We select PT8211 and KA2206 […]
A transmit converter (and amplifier) for 630 and 2200 meters
KA7OEI has a great write-up on building a transmit converter for 630 and 2200 meters: As the name implies, a transmit converter takes another frequency – such as that produced by a conventional HF transceiver – and converts it to another frequency. In my case I use an FT-817 – a low-power (5 watt) all-mode, […]
#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 […]
Pro mini logger project for the classroom
Edward Mallon writes: Dr. Beddow’s instrumentation class has been building the 2016 version of the Cave Pearl datalogger for more than three years, and feedback from that experience motivated a redesign to accommodate a wider range of student projects while staying within the time constraints of a typical lab-time schedule. The rugged PVC housing from […]
Solar powered WiFi weather station
A detailed instructions of how to build this weather station project by Open Green Energy: This Instructable is a continuation to my earlier weather station project. It was quite popular on the web, people around the globe made their own by following it and given valuable feedbacks for improvement.By taking consideration in to the comments and Q&A […]
App note: Driving LEDs with a PIC Microcontroller
An App note from OSRAM on an Intelligent control circuitry example using a PIC Microcontroller. Link here (PDF) Nowadays, applications increasingly make use of LEDs as a replacement for traditional light bulbs. For example, LEDs are frequently used in the design of automobile tail lights, signal lights, traffic signals, and variable message signs. LEDs provide […]
App note: Package-related thermal resistance of LEDs
App note from OSRAM on thermal resistance for LEDs and IREDs (IR emitting diodes). Link here (PDF) In order to achieve the expected reliability, lifetime and optimal performance of LEDs, especially for high-power LEDs, appropriate thermal management is of the utmost importance. One of the key parameters for good thermal management is the temperature of […]
Tutorial: Booting the NXP i.MX RT from Micro SD card
Erich Styger has written an article on how to boot the NXP i.MX RT from Micro SD card: It is a common thing to boot a Linux system (see the Raspberry Pi) from a micro SD card. It is not that common for a microcontroller. The NXP i.MX RT ARM Cortex-M7 fills that gap between these two […]
App note: Increasing accuracy in feedback circuits and voltage dividers with thin film chip resistor arrays
App note from Vishay on using chip resistors to achieve long-term stability. Link here (PDF) Thin film chip resistor arrays consist of several resistors of equal or different values combined in one package. During the manufacturing processes and the device’s lifecycle, all the particular resistors virtually experience identical conditions, which allow the specification of their […]
App note: Custom magnetics – What are they and when do you need them?
Consideration factors before going to custom magnetic request from manufacturer, an app note from Vishay. Link here (PDF) There are many manufacturers that claim they build custom magnetics. However, there is often confusion as to what constitutes custom magnetics and whether or not a designer actually needs them or can afford them. This article will […]
The Boris Beacon – A 1mW solar powered hifer beacon
Dave Richards (AA7EE) has written an article detailing his 1mW solar-powered HiFER beacon project, the Boris Beacon: In this post from May of last year, I detailed the construction of a 1mW solar-powered HiFER beacon. I named it the Boris Beacon, in tribute to my neighbor’s cat. The beacon was never mounted permanently outside. I kept it […]
Viewing ARM CPU activity in real time
Jeremy Bentham writes: In previous blog posts, I have described how an FTDI USB device can be programmed in Python to access the SWD bus of an ARM microprocessor. This allows the internals of the CPU to be accessed, without disrupting the currently running program. In this blog I take the process one step further, […]