Tom Keddie writes, “On the last hacker camp I picked up a magnifier with HDMI output on Taobao (or more expensive but no airfare needed 14MP HDMI HD Microscope USB Industrial Camera 180X C mount Lens Stereo Stand) I find myself needing to peer into and under packages a lot, I got sick of holding […]
Category Archives: tools
The DigiRule
Brad has designed a cool binary PCB ruler, The DigiRule: So I made the DigiRule! – The DigiRule is a 15cm (6″) ruler with which is marked in binary digits rather than decimal. It has a number of built in digital functions including: Logic Gates -NOT Gate (Inverter) -OR Gate -AND Gate -XOR Gate -NOR Gate -NAND […]
PCB stencil jig
Gonazar’s PCB stencil jig: My solution to making a PCB stencil jig. I need this to do a run of ~30 small boards I got from DirtyPCB who also provided me with the stencil. However, I know that I’m going to be making more later with a new revision so I wanted a jig that I […]
DIY csCNC – 2 (Linistepper driver and testing with Bus Pirate)
Oakkar7 has a nice build log on his DIY csCNC, he writes: Since I started building DIY CNC, I checked the free, opensource motor controller. There are several alternatives. I chose linisteppr controller. – Simple and cheap (my first priority :) ) and I can source required parts locally – microstepping, open design (Especially, it’s […]
STM32 Nucleo and DFU USB bootloading
MrMobileWill writes: Over the last few months I have been playing with the Nucleo development boards from STMicroelectronics. If you’re unfamiliar with them, they are fast, mbed and Arduino (headers) compatible. This makes it easy like an Arduino to program and use. What sets them apart is that they are 32bit and have, depending on […]
Soldering station to drive HAKKO 907 handles
Dilshan Jayakody published a new build: To keep it simple we choose LM358 dual operational amplifier IC to monitor the 907’s thermocouple and drive the TRIAC. The entire control circuit of this soldering station is powered by single rail 5V DC power supply. To drive both handle and station we use 12V-0-12V 8A step down […]
Soldering iron pulse timer for temperature control
Here’s Mike’s completed project DIY soldering iron pulse timer controller. He wrote a post on his blog detailing its assembly: This is a follow up to a previous post on a way to get temperature control for a plug-in soldering iron without a temperature sensor. Instead of using a sensor to control the temperature, this […]
BoardMerge Python tool merges Eagle PDFsfiles
Rohit Gupta has written a Python command line tool to merge several PDFs generated by Eagle into one for easier printing when using toner transfer method. He calls is BoardMerge and you can download it from Rohit’s website. Via the contact form.
SPG8640-based crystal frequency generator
Hendrik Lipka has written up documentation on his SPG8640-based crystal frequency generator: When I needed a small frequency generator for a project several years ago, I did neither had the time nor the skills to build something like that. But I had in my parts box a nice chip that seemed perfect for a small tool – […]
Towards a simple solder-paste extruder
Peter wrote an article detailing his prototype solder-paste extruder: The prototype that I put together is more of a sketch in hardware to help me appreciate the issues of paste extrusion, and help hammer out a design. Instead of using a plunger, I’ve used a very long lead screw that acts as the plunger, and has a […]
3D BRD viewer, a free tool to visualize CadSoft EAGLE PCB designs in 3D
Peter of Cytec BG writes, “My idea was for pcb designers to be able to quickly, whithout too much hassle, check their board for correct footprints (especially for connectors) and collisions between components. Currently one can change soldermask colors, silkscreen layers, move and rotate components around, change component models and import step files.” For more details visit […]
MoteinoMEGA pick & place assembly
In this video Felix of LowPowerLab demonstrates a complete pick & place assembly of a MoteinoMEGA panel: The main things to take from this video are: effective CPH (components per hour) rating is affected in large by several factors like travel from pick position to placement position, travel speed, mechanical alignment in X and Y directions, […]
Automated drill press table for PCB manufacture
A DIY automated moving drill press table by Michael of Acidbourbon: When you design your PCBs with a proper CAD software (such as KICAD), you have the coordinates of all drill holes anyway, so how about making an automated moving drill press table which moves the PCB to the places where holes are desired? But calibrating […]
PCB printer
You can now print your own circuit boards. Check out this cool Voltera, a circuit board rapid prototyping platform: Circuit Board Printer Print dual layer PCBs on FR4 with 10mil space/trace. Our 20mΩ/sq sheet resistance and conventional soldering makes prototyping a breeze Solder Paste Dispenser Forget stencils. Pop your board in and dispense solder paste onto printed […]
TinkerRule- The Maker’s Swiss Army knife
Rohit writes, “I made a PCB Ruler that contains almost all tools to help you from designing a part to testing the final build” More details on Rohit’s blog. Via the contact form.
Eagle vs. KiCad revisited
Steve Chamberlin of Big Mess o’ Wires writes: Four and a half years ago, I wrote a mini-review of Eagle vs. KiCad, two of the most popular software tools for hobbyists creating custom circuit boards. I concluded that while KiCad had lots of promise, it was too full of quirks and bugs to recommend, and […]
Static DOM XSS scanner
A Static DOM XSS scanner by Ajin Abraham, that is available at Github: Static DOM XSS Scanner is a Static Analysis tool written in python that will iterate through all the JavaScript and HTML files under the given directory and will list out all the possible sources and sinks that may cause DOM XSS. At […]
1clickBOM, a browser extension to quickly add components to shopping carts
Kaspar of Monostable shared this helpful purchasing tool the 1clickBOM, a browser extension to quickly add electronic components to shopping carts: 1clickBOM is purchasing tool that let’s you keep one bill of materials (BOM) for items from multiple retailers. It’s a browser extension that fills your online shopping carts for you. To add items to 1clickBOM you […]
PL2303HX userspace GPIO control tool
Necromant writes: This is a small tool for linux userspace that allows you to interact with GPIO lines on PL2303HX devices. It has only been tested on PL2303HXA, but may work for other revisions. Since no common GPIO driver for those exists at the time of writing in the linux kernel – this should serve as […]
Kicad converter for TM-240A Pick-and-Place machines
Kicad converter for TM-240A Pick-and-Place machines by Wayne and Layne: The Pick-and-Place machine needs to know where to place each part, and we have created some software to help convert the PCB design data from our favorite ECAD tool, KiCad, into the proper file format needed for these PnP machines. The documentation for this software is […]