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 the last week: Bus Pirate v3.5 free PCB build Bus Pirate v3.5 was featured in this week’s status update post Updated web server on a business card […]
Author Archives: Ian
Web platform: 32Mbit flash instead of EEPROM
megabug replaced the 1Mbit EEPROM storage chip on the web platform with a 32Mbit (4MB) flash rom chip. Support is already available in the Microchip TCP/IP stack, so all you need to do is swap the chip and enable a few options in the configuration file Via the forum.
PIC32 drives SID audio chip update
Markus posted an update on his latest project SID player we covered earlier. The PIC32 acts as USB host to the attached memory stick, which contains all my favorite tunes in .sid format from the HVSC. I used Elm Chan’s FatFs library because it hat LFS (long filename support) together with the Microchip USB stack. […]
VMS004 delux USB microscope
Arhi tested out the VEHO Discover VMS004 Delux USB microscope: As expected – the “tripod” is crappy but could be used with some modifications… The unexpected “con” wrt this microscope is that it can only do 20x and 400x – nothing in between. Not really what I expected, but not too big of a problem […]
iTwatch: #twatch iPhone app
prasmussen created an iPhone app to control his #twatch: iTwatch lets you control your #twatch from a iPhone by sending matrix orbital commands over the network. Video below. Via the forum.
Pressure and temperature sensor demo
Here’s Big Mess o’ Wires simple pressure and temperature demo: I described an idea for a hiking data analyzer based around an old cell phone LCD, a pressure/temperature chip, and an ATmega microcontroller. Since then, I’ve received the parts and built a simple demo that exercises everything. It’s not very exciting yet, but it demonstrates […]
Micropower data collection
Here’s Big Mess o’ Wires on micropower data collection: Hallelujah! After substituting an external 32768 Hz crystal as the timer clock source for my hiking data logger, I’ve reduced the sleep mode (LCD off) supply current to less than 0.01 mA! It’s actually below the resolution of my multimeter– the meter just reads zero. Previously […]
Updated web server on a business card
megabug posted an update on the web server on a business card: I am using my own board, but changed the code to fit the Web platform! My board is based on an old board from Ian, which was posted on hackaday.com, but now with an SMD Ethernet jack, a dsPIC33FJ, and a few other changes. […]
Bus Pirate v3.5 free PCB build
erdabyz 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. Via the forum.
chipKIT: Open source PIC USB and Ethernet drivers?
According to Microchip Digilent is currently working on a USB, Ethernet, and CAN shield for the chipKIT. This is a really interesting project because it means drivers for PIC USB and Ethernet peripherals will be released. To jive with the Arduino community those drivers will need to be open source. We’ve had nothing but problems […]
Hybrid SID player update
Markus concludes his SID player project: To conclude this project, I added a headphone amplifier to the perfboard. I had this in my mind when soldering the other parts on it, so luckily there was enough space left :) Here is the updated schematic and some pictures of the finnished board. Video below. Via the […]
chipKIT Uno32 review and benchmarks
Want to know more about chipKIT programming and speed? Check out Hack a Day’s complete review of the hardware and IDE.
Bus Blaster v2.1 free PCB build
Piotr built a free Bus Blaster v2.1 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. You can get a Bus Blaster v2 for $34.95.
Verilog model for 24xx1025 EEPROM released
octal writes: Microchip released the Verilog model for 24xx1025 Devices :) a good learning experience Via the forum.
Free PCB coupon to RT #3 & #14 @dangerousproto
Every Tuesday we give away some extra PCBs via Twitter. This post was announced on twitter. The 3rd and 14th person who retweet it get free PCBs. We changed the approach this week due to auto-retweeters grabbing boards first. Thanks for the heads-up on auto-retweeters JT! Love it, hate it? Let us know in the […]
Windows-based Client (VC++, MFC)
flubberlab wrote a SUMP client that works with the Logic Sniffer: The client is pretty well tested (on WinXP Pro), but only offers a configuration and capture front end. Advanced triggers are not supported, RLE is unimplemented, and there is no waveform viewer. The captured data is exported to a VCD file for external viewing […]
chipKIT PIC32 compiler Q&A
You had a lot of unanswered questions about the chipKIT compiler. Here’s some answers from Jason Kajita, a compiler developer. Jason wants to us to emphasize that this is the current plan and subject to change. Thanks for the lengthy answers! Is there any new open source code in the chipKIT compiler – files that […]
3D printed glazed ceramics
Drone writes: Now you can 3D print in glazed ceramics at Shapeways. Great! I need some big HV insulators for the electric chair I’m building. Interestingly, prices are based on surface area. Glazed Ceramics is perfect for any application such as a plate, cup or bowl as it is the first 3D printed food safe […]
chipKIT conference call: Yes, it’s all open source
Microchip, makers of PIC mircocontrollers, must feel left out of the hobby buzz surrounding the Arduino. Unable to buy Atmel outright, they did the next most sensible thing and released a duo of open source Arduino-compatible boards. Microchip got the guys at Fair Use Building and Research to add PIC support to the Arduino IDE. […]
CPLD breakout board free PCB built
Segfault built the CPLD breakout board from a previous Free PCB Sunday. 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. Via the forum.