On Monday we post status updates on new projects. This will cover project development, and gritty details like last minutes changes and production problems. USB IR Toy v2 has completed manufacturing and is in testing now. It will probably be available in the next couple of weeks. The IR Toy has traveled a rocky road. […]
Author Archives: Ian
Bitbang ethernet from a FPGA
Here’s another bitbanged ethernet transmitter. In this design the ethernet packet is bitbanged directly from the pins of a FPGA. Simple Verilog source is available. Via the forum.
Networked infrared remote control receiver
IgorPlugUDP is an ethernet-enabled infrared receiver. This is an old hack that kmmankad brought up in the forum. What makes it really cool is that the ethernet is bitbanged using nothing but the bare pins of an ATMEGA168. It is transmit-only, it cannot receive network packets, but that’s enough for a lot of projects.
Free PCB Sunday: Bus Blaster v2
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 we’re giving away two […]
App note: Parallel LED drivers for maximum current
rsdio writes: This looks like a handy utilization of the basic bipolar transistor current mirror, based on the DMMT5401. For once, the key component is not a Maxim part, but Diodes Inc. ;-) Using a pair of matched transistors to translate a high-side current-sense signal down to a ground reference, this circuit lets you parallel […]
Online PCB routing software
Kelvin writes: I was designing PCB using Kicad recently. For slightly more complex board, I was lazy to route them and instead use the in-built autoroute feature. Kicad autoroute feature seems inadequate. This is when I found the free autorouting tool at FreeRouting.net To use the tool, one needs to export the PCB design to […]
Designing PCBs for automotive applications
This application note gives PCB design tips for reducing EMI in automotive environments. A lot of the advise can be applied to any PCB layout. Electromagnetic interference (EMI) and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) testing is an important part of design verification for serializer/deserializer (SerDes) devices in automotive applications. EMI and EMC must be considered early in […]
TI TMS320C5000 DSP dev-board
TI has new credit card sized dev-boards for the TMS320C5000 digital signal processor (DSP): The C5502 eZdsp development tool, which includes a range of integrated peripheral devices along with an XDS100v2 JTAG emulator, a complete version of the industry-leading CCS IDE v4 and access to chip support, optimized DSP, Image and Telecom library with source […]
1.8V/3V sim card power supply with level translator
McZ found a sim card power supply with level translator: The TXS4555 is a complete Smart Identity Module (SIM) card solution for interfacing wireless baseband processors with a SIM card to store I/O for mobile handset applications. The device complies with ISO/IEC Smart-Card Interface requirements as well as GSM and 3G mobile standards. It includes […]
Free Bus Blaster v2 PCB via Facebook comments
This week we’re trying a new PCB giveaway via Facebook and Twitter. The first few people who comment on this post on Facebook get free PCBs. This is our first test, apologies all around if the title gets smashed or something goes wrong. Be the first to get see this post next week, like us […]
Week in (p)review: April 15, 2011
Don’t forget to share your current project in the comments or the forum. Everyone who posts a project log this week gets a free PCB! Here’s a summary of major developments over the last week: Bus Blaster v2 was released, the first batch is almost gone A PIC LCD backpack was featured in this week’s […]
Internet-based temperature logger with mbed and ThingSpeak
Frank setup a internet-based temperature logger using the ThingSpeak contest data-logging service: This project uses a mbed microcontroller (LPC1768 ARM Cortex-M3) to monitor temperature using a DS1620 (digital temperature sensor IC), retrieve the time via NTP (network time protocol), and then log the current temperature to ThingSpeak along with a time-stamp. See a live graph […]
Radiation sensor board for Arduino
David writes: We are very glad to announce we have just uploaded all the information of the Radiation Sensor Board The main finality of the Radiation Sensor Board for Arduino is to help people in Japan to measure the levels of radiation in their everyday life after the unfortunate earthquake and tsunami struck Japan in […]
A box of parts!
We just got a big box of parts from Mouser. Not too much stuff this time, full order is below the fold. A few dev-boards, restock of PNP transistors and LEDs, and a few parts for some test boards. Also some Lattice Semi CPLDs – they’re the people with the hilarious infomercial for the MachXO.
TOOLS: Soldering supplies
Our favorite tools have a new home on the wiki. Each week we’ll muse about one of them. Have your own tool review? We’ll post that too! This week’s tool is a collection of stuff: the things we use for soldering. We regularly work with surface mount (SMD) parts down to 0603, but it doesn’t […]
Free Bus Blaster v2 PCB via Twitter: RT @dangerousproto
This week we’re trying a new PCB giveaway via Twitter and Facebook. The first few people who retweet the title of this post (auto-posted to Twitter) get free PCBs. This is our first test, apologies all around if the title gets smashed or something goes wrong. Get a Bus Blaster v2 for $34.95 only at […]
CPLD dev-boards arriving now
The CPLD development boards are starting to arrive worldwide. jbeale took the XC2C64A board for a spin: Very happy to report that my first try at a Coolrunner II CPLD project works! This is the 16-bit timer with start / stop pulse inputs. It is only tested so far up to 4 MHz, using the […]
Logic Sniffer client v0.9.4 RC2
Jawi made another release candidate of the Logic Sniffer client : It is finally available: the second Release Candidate (RC) of the 0.9.4 version! Implemented features and issues solved in this release: VCD exports ignore selected channel groups Verify frequency measurement with RLE captures Support OLS-device profiles for BP, regular OLS and SUMP Add icon […]
New signal display component for Logic Sniffer client
Jawi released a preview of the new display component for the Logic Sniffer client: I’ve been working on an improved component for the display of captured signal data from the Logic Sniffer for some time now, and wanted to share the current results with you guys. Reasons for rewriting the component can be found on […]
CPLD development board package v1.1
Package v1.1 for the CPLD development boards is now available for download. It includes: Schematic tutorials Verilog tutorials VHDL tutorials Bus Pirate XSVF programmer firmware and application PCBs Programming instructions for the Bus Pirate and Bus Blaster have been freshened. An updated ISE (X)SVF export tutorial will help you get started with your own projects. […]