Stephen Wylie blogged about his Turbo Vectrex controller build: The main impetus for this was to have a homebrew controller that actually featured an analog joystick, since there were few if any guides elaborating how to fashion one from an existing controller. I acquired a couple Parallax 2-axis joysticks with breadboard mounting capability to do […]
Author Archives: DP
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: Low-current charger provides battery backup from USB to 1-cell applications
Another app note from Maxim Integrated on small current battery management. Link here (PDF) The circuit provides a 1-cell Li ion backup battery charger for low-current devices performing resistor limited current sharing
App note: How to achieve greater accuracy in battery capacity readings for portable designs
App note from Maxim Integrated on using fuel gauge IC to obtain accurate battery state of charge readings. Link here (PDF) Because a product’s runtime is limited by battery capacity, it’s critical to have a precise method for measuring the remaining battery capacity to avoid an unexpected shutdown. This application note describes an experiment for […]
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. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three […]
Teardown and repair of an GW Instek PSW80-40.5 1080W multi-range programmable power supply
Teardown and repair of an GW Instek 1080W power supply from The Signal Path: In this episode Shahriar investigates the failure of a GW Instek 1080W power supply capable of providing up to 80V and 40A of programmable output voltage and current respectively. The power supply does not power on. However, relay noises can be […]
LPCNet – Open Source Neural Net speech synthesis
Jean-Marc Valin has been working on Neural Network (NN) based speech synthesis in his project called LPCNet: This new demo presents LPCNet, an architecture that combines signal processing and deep learning to improve the efficiency of neural speech synthesis. Neural speech synthesis models like WaveNet have recently demonstrated impressive speech synthesis quality. Unfortunately, their computational […]
#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 […]
LM3886 based stereo amplifier
Mark Rehorst blogged about his LM3886 based stereo amplifier build: Several years ago, National Semiconductor came out with some very high performance, easy to use audio power amplifier ICs. I was in need of an extra amplifier so I could biamp some of my home-built electrostatic loudspeakers so I tried the LM3886 chip. This part […]
App note: Single-Channel power supply monitor with remote temperature sense
App note from Linear Technology using their LTC2970 to monitor external temperature aside from doing power management. Link here (PDF) Many applications with a single power regulator can benefit from the monitoring and control features of a power supply manager, but most power supply manager ICs have more than one channel. In an application that […]
App note: AMR angle sensors
Position measurement sensor using magnetoresistive technology discussed in this app note from Analog Devices. Link here (PDF) Anisotropic magnetoresistive (AMR), thin film materials are becoming increasingly important in today’s position sensing technologies. Magnetoresistive (MR) position measurement has many advantages over traditional technologies. Reliability, accuracy, and overall robustness are the primary factors contributing to the development […]
Pocket high voltage generator upgrade
Aki posted an update on his pocket high voltage generator project we covered previously: The Pocket High Voltage Generator that I made a few weeks ago proved to be a very handy tool. I have been testing Zener diodes very often since I use many Zeners in 12V to 91V range. However I wanted to […]
SerialDebug Library for Arduino
Rui Santos over at Random Nerd Tutorials wrote a series of three posts on how to use the SerialDebug library created by João Lopes with Arduino IDE (programming Arduino, ESP32, ESP8266): After programming the ESP32 using ESP-IDF, João noticed that debug for Arduino IDE needed some improvement. So, he created the SerialDebug library to bring […]
#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 […]
An open source VOR receiver for Airspy and RTL-SDR
A simple VOR receiver for Airspy and RTL-SDR called Vortrack by Thierry Leconte, that is available on GitHub: In the past we’ve seen several other posts about RTL-SDRs being used to decode VOR signals, but Thierry’s implementation appears to be the easiest way to get a bearing straight away. You’ll get the most use out of […]
Calibrate a magnetic sensor
Liudr shared a how-to on calibrating a sensor: First of all, what is calibration? In a general sense, calibrating a sensor makes the sensor provide the most accurate readings allowed by the sensor’s own precision. As an example, let’s assume for a moment that the earth’s magnetic field and any other stray magnetic fields are […]
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: Overcurrent event detection circuit
Sample overcurrent detection circuit from Texas Instruments. Link here (PDF) This is a unidirectional current sensing solution generally referred to as overcurrent protection (OCP) that can provide an overcurrent alert signal to shut off a system for a threshold current and re-engage the system once the output drops below a desired voltage lower than the […]
App note: Active filtering in automotive audio applications
App note from Texas Instruments on isolating DC and high frequency noise in audio using their automotive op amps. Link here (PDF) Phone calls, emergency alerts, and music are just a few of the reasons that a high quality audio system is vital in automotive infotainment and clusters. Operational amplifiers (op amps) are one of […]
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. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three […]