erdabyz has been playing with different DIY soldering paste stencils: I’ve always wanted to make my own soldering paste stencils. Some days ago I tried a method which should theoretically work, and it somehow did. I spreaded a coat of soldermasking ink (the only photosensitive, acid resistant thing that I have) to a piece of […]
Author Archives: Ian
Logic Sniffer reviewed
My 2uF wrote a review of the Logic Sniffer: So far the OLS has helped me a lot to find the right timings, to tweak the delays between the data bits that are needed to make it work. It was a very easy process. Just look at the graph and up or down the numbers […]
Replacing RIGOL DS1052E DSO rotary encoders
Markus did a repair on his scope: yesterday I decided that it was about time to replace the bad performing rotary encoder for the time-base of my RIGOL DS1052E DSO. The encoder seemed to work fine when I bought the scope, but after a few weeks it already started to change the time-base quite randomly […]
2A automotive step-down converter
rsdio writes: maybe voidptr can use this in his Noob car blinking LED project… MAX16974 High-Voltage, 2.2MHz, 2A Automotive Step-Down Converter with Low Operating Current Wide input voltage range (3.5V to 45V) allows seamless operation from cold crank to load dump Low quiescent current meets tight power budgets High-frequency operation eliminates AM-band radio interference
Tokyo Hackerspace’s Geiger counter project update
Tokyo Hackerspace has continued to evolve their DIY networked Geiger counter project. Our friend Takyen, forum member and Thermal Tweeter case designer, has been involved in this project. Here’s an update via Make: We joined up with Safecast (RDTN at the time) and since then, almost all the core members of Safecast Japan are now […]
Free PCB coupon via Facebook comments #5 and #11
Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. The #5 and #11 people who comment on this post at Facebook get a free PCB. More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. This week we’re giving away two PCB codes. Be the first two commenters and you get the PCB. […]
Calling all Bus Pirate v4 testers
Thanks to the hard work of Honken and JTR, the Bus Pirate v4 finally has a 100% open source USB bootloader. If you have the v4 hardware, we could use your help testing the bootloader and new firmware. Test packages are available in the forum. Thanks to JTR and Honken for their tireless work on […]
MPLABX Beta 7 now available
MPLABX IDE is now available: Beta 7 of Microchip’s cross-platform MPLABX IDE is now available. The IDE can be downloaded over at the MPLABX download page. Additionally, tutorials and help information for MPLABX are available here. In addition to MPLABX, the Microchip C compilers on the downloads page have all been updated. Updated compilers are: […]
Week in (p)review: August 12, 2011
Sorry for the slow posting yesterday and today. JTR released a working, open source USB bootloader for Bus Pirate v4. We’re testing and tweaking it on IRC. Facebook free PCB Friday is on the way. Don’t forget to share your current project in the comments or the forum. Here’s a summary of major developments over […]
Logic Sniffer back in stock at Seeed
The Logic Sniffer is back in stock at Seeed Studio. Get a Logic Sniffer for $50, with free worldwide shipping.
Bus Pirate v4 free PCB build
Dillon Nichols built a free Bus Pirate v4 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 friendly […]
PICqueño free PCB build
erdabyz built a free PICqueño PCB. You can follow our PICqueno build in our recent videos. 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.
Downloadable source for hackerspace passports
Downloadable Source for Hackerspace Passports: You mentioned the Hackerspace Passports Mitch and I designed and I wanted to give you a followup. We’ve released all of the source files used to construct it, including patterns, stamp designs, psd’s, the InDesign layout files, and full resolution illustrations. We’re hoping that people will customize, remix, and develop […]
Homemade PID controlled hotplate
Dillon Nichols made a DIY PID controlled hotplate: I got lucky enough to get a free PCB from Dangerous Prototypes a little over a month ago. I finally finished assembling it last night. It was my first time soldering SMD components, but it was worth it. I also got to use my homemade hotplate for the […]
eagleUp 4.2 released
eagleUP v4.2 was released. This is a new and popular program for exporting Eagle PCBs to use in Google Sketchup: Version 4.2 has been released. It simplifies the configuration and detects wrong settings so that it’s much more reliable. It should be more stable on OS X platform as well. Concerning the parts, there are […]
CPLD breakout board v1a prototype
A video of the Xilinx XC9572XL v1a and Lattice LC4032 v1 CPLD development board builds and power up test. Due to a technical problem most of the soldering video was lost. In this video: Xilinx XC9572XL and Lattice LC4032 CPLD development board builds A jab at Altera XC9572XL power up test and programming Don’t forget there […]
Partlist Wednesday: Ferrite beads
Every Wednesday we highlight a component from the updated partlist. This week: Ferrite beads. We usually use ferrite beads as a power supply filter. You’ll find them on the USB supply in circuits with an FT232 USB->serial converter chip, like the Bus Pirate, and on the ethernet interface of the web platform. For general purpose […]
The single NPN transistor audio preamp
Hack a Week’s new project this week is a single NPN transistor audio preamp: Here’s a great little project that goes well with the LM386 audio amp. It’s a good first time transistor project because it’s simple and demonstrates the common emitter class A amplifier circuit with only six components in the signal path.
Flashrom 0.9.4 released
Mattias inform us of the release of flashrom 0.9.4, which works with the Bus Pirate : Flashrom is a utility for reading, writing, erasing and verifying flash ROM chips. Flashrom is designed to flash BIOS/EFI/coreboot/firmware/optionROM images on mainboards, network/graphics/storage controller cards, and various programmer devices. It can do so without any special boot procedures and from your normal […]
DIY POV keychain
exapod posted a mini POV in the project log forum: i’m making a micropov with 8 leds, 3v power supply and tilt swicth for sensing the direction. i made a prototype version of it on protoboard and the it works very well, the image is very stable and can see with naked eye. Check out […]