White paper about matrix LED usage from Integrated Silicon Solution Inc. (ISSI). Link here (PDF) People today come in contact with a wide range of consumer electronics (CE) devices in their daily lives. CE devices have become increasingly complex with added functionality enabled by MCU’s which provide the intelligence for automating functions. Control panels used […]
Author Archives: DP
Philips Hue – control anything hack
Fred writes: To be honest, my recent simple relay hack wasn’t really all that great. It just used the high power constant current output to drive a SSR. It wasn’t ideal, but it worked. I decided that it was worth the effort to track down some more useful outputs and properly detect the desired state […]
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 […]
Capacitor plague? Inside an HP 8620C sweep oscillator and HP 86245A RF plugin
A teardown of the HP 8620C and HP 86245A by Kerry Wong: I just picked up an HP 8620C sweep oscillator with an HP 86245A 5.9 GHz to 12.4 GHz RF plugin on eBay. This time around though, the unit does not work. While it was advertised as a working unit I could not get […]
#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 […]
Game audio for the ESP32
ESP32 game audio at Buildlog.Net blog: I have been working on some games for the ESP32 and needed some decent quality audio with a minimum number of additional components. I was bouncing between using the DAC and using the I2S bus. The DAC requires less external parts, so I went that way. I ended up […]
Lightronome 1 – The light based metronome
Zoltán Gomori documented his lightronome build: I got a request, to design and build an electronic metronome. You can find several on the market, but the problem it is ether producing voice or the classical mechanical metronome. The requirement here was a visual effect. To be precise four LEDs for 4/4 beat. It is required for drumming […]
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: Current limits in electronic fuses using direct and Kelvin R limit connections
App note from ON Semiconductor about eFuse or Electronic fuse. Link here (PDF) The primary function of an Electronic Fuse, or eFuse, is to limit current, the same function provided by any fuse or positive temperature coefficient device (PTC). An eFuse, however, provides this function with much more versatility than either of these devices. An […]
App note: The four benefits brought by using NCP12600
App note discussing extended features of NCP12600, NCP12600 is a multi-mode controller for offline power supplies by ON Semiconductor. Link here (PDF) Beside the novel multi−mode structure it embarks, the NCP12600 packs a lot of features such as an efficient short−circuit protection architecture, a start−up sequence with a slow switching frequency ramp−up, a fast reset […]
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 […]
Open source 22mm diameter PCB project
An open source 22mm diameter PCB project from Concretedog, that is available on github: So I posted a while back about how I had used these 22mm pcb’s I’d made in prototyping an ematch ignitor system for use in rocketry. Although I made these stackable boards so they would fit inside a popular size of […]
Repairing the card reader for a 1960s mainframe: cams, relays and a clutch
Ken Shirriff writes: I recently helped repair the card reader for the Computer History Museum’s vintage IBM 1401 mainframe. In the process, I learned a lot about the archaic but interesting electromechanical systems used in the card reader. Most of the card reader is mechanical, with belts, gears, and clutches controlling the movement of cards […]
#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 […]
Retropie plug in USB speaker
A detailed instructions of how to make this DIY retropie plug in usb speaker from Facelesstech: The 2 down sides to my ZeroBoy build I did recently were that it didn’t have a build in battery power and that it didn’t have sound. I seen that the MintyPi was using a USB sound card to […]
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: LEDs – The future of horticultural lighting
LEDs used in a controlled environment greenhouse farms, an app note from Würth Elektronik. Link here (PDF) Greenhouse farms may not be a new technology but with an every growing world population and the move towards sustainability, intensive yet highly efficient and standardized food production will increasingly become the norm in future years opening a […]
App note: The behavior of electro-magnetic radiation of power inductors in power management
Application note form Würth Elektronik about EM radiation radiated from inductors in DC-DC converters. Link here (PDF) This Application Note focuses on the Electro-Magnetic (EM) radiation behavior of power inductor(s) in DC-DC converters, which is dependent on several parameters such as ripple current, switching frequency, rise & fall time of a switching device, the core […]
Optimizing the 5v to 170v Nixie tube power supply design (part 2)
Mark Smith has a nice write-up on optimizing the 5v to 170v Nixie tube power supply: Since this power supply is just a fun design for an upcoming Nixie tube clock project of mine, I have the time to achieve ESE. While in Part 1 I described the equations and simulations, in this Part 2, I collected […]
STM32F103 vs GD32F103 round 2: Blink a LED
A follow-up to the STM32F103 vs GD32F103 round 1- Solderability post, Sjaak writes: The defacto ‘hello world’ for microcontrollers is blink a LED at a steady rate. This is exactly what I’m going to do today. I made a small 5×5 development board, soldered it up and started programming. In this first example we not […]