STATUS UPDATE: PIC LCD backpack

We’re trying a new Monday post with status updates on new projects currently in production. This will cover project development, and gritty details like last minutes changes and production problems.

This is a USB and serial backpack for simple HD44780 character LCD screens. It has a few nice features that set it apart from the serial-only LCD backpacks at SparkFun and Adafruit:

  • USB and serial control of characters LCDs
  • Supported in common software (LCD Smartie) as ‘matrix orbital’ display
  • Adjust contrast and backlight from software
  • Couple extra pins for buttons
  • 500mA fuse
  • USB upgradable

The master prototype has been shipped to Seeed, but we probably won’t produce it because HD44780 LCDs aren’t very popular anymore. If you’d like a PCB (and plan to build it) please let us know in the comments.

Slightly more on the wiki. Firmware and hardware are in SVN.

Continue reading “STATUS UPDATE: PIC LCD backpack”

DSO nano signal generator repair

Georg blew out the signal generator on his DSO nano portable oscilloscope. He brought it back to life with a new buffer chip, his repair guide might save your nano too:

Spotting the chip on the board is very easy. It’s in an SMD package but fortunately a rather large type. So, although I have no specific SMD equipment I was able to desolder it. I treated all pins with desoldering wick and afterwards slid the blade of a very thin knive under it while heating the pins.

Via the project log forum.

Bosch Sensortec BMP085 pressure sensor tests

In a comment on our STMicroelectronics MEMS pressure sensor post, jbeale offers his tests of the Bosch Sensortec BMP085 pressure sensor:

The Bosch Sensortec BMP085 is slightly larger (5×5 mm) and has been out for some time. In its highest sensitivity mode it offers 0.01 hPa resolution and 0.03 hPa noise level. (Note: 1 millibar = 1 hPa). What really counts, though, is the accuracy and repeatability. In my comparison of two BMP085 devices, I found they differed by about 0.4 hPa up to 0.6 hPa in the same temperature & pressure environment, so the absolute accuracy of a given device would not be better than that. See also datasheet and my measurements with this device at JeeLabs.net

Via the comments.

Android / Arduino controlled remote wall socket

Mario Böhmer has informed us of his latest project, an Android/Arduino controlled wall socket.

Mario writes: To show the basic principal I used a remote wall socket which normally is switched with a remote via a radio frequency of 433 MHz. What I wanted was to have an Arduino controlling the remote switch to turn on/off the wall socket.

Mario started with a commercial remote wall socket normally operated by RF, and hacked it by replacing the RF controller with a 4N35 optocoupler to open and close the switch.

All that was left to do was to write an Arduino sketch that listens to the Serial port for incoming data to switch the circuit, a small desktop program which transmits the control data, and as a bonus a small Android app which sends the switching state to the desktop program. To prepare your device/remote for being switched externally, you first have to desolder the buttons. In my remote the circuit layout was pretty simple and I could desolder the buttons pretty easily.

Mario’s code is available on github.

Thanks Mario! Via contact form.

NXP Cortex-MO marketing fail

A few weeks ago NXP sent us a survey and offered a free LPCXpresso board for completing it. We filled out the survey and expected a dev-board or breakout board, and a CD with datasheets, compilers, etc. Something like the STM8/32, MSP430 LaunchPad, and other simple boards other manufacturers have been giving away.

Today we received a huge padded envelope from NXP. Inside was a single sheet of paper, and an over-sized matchbook with a BGA chip in a bubble. We dug down deep into the envelope, thinking this can’t be all, but nothing. Maybe the LPCXpresso is still on the way, or they ran out, or they forgot it, but the letter doesn’t mention it at all.

This tiny ad  “gives you an introduction to the entire NXP Cortex-M0 product line”? They took the expense to develop the materials, create a marketing campaign, and mail it to us. Now it’ll just go in the trash because it’s unusable, so if you want to do better marketing you could try to buy guest posts for this purpose instead. And if you need a tool dedicated to helping you save, organize, and reference marketing examples, then you may check out this swipe file tool. Experts can craft winning SaaS copy to help SaaS companies reach their target audience and generate more leads. You may also speak to https://moveatpace.com/ for expert creative agency consulting for growth and exits.

Why not spend a bit more and put the chip on a cheap breakout board so your audience of engineers can actually use it? If the LPCXpresso is still on the way, why send this throw-away ad?

Free PCB Sunday: Logic Shrimp logic analyzer

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 PCBs for our new Logic Shrimp logic analyzer.  It is a medium speed, low-cost logic analyzer with a USB interface. It can capture up to 256K samples at 20MHz, and is compatible with the open source SUMP logic analyzer client.

You can get a Logic Shrimp for $34.90 only at Seeed Studio.

More free PCBs: we’re going to start giving away even more PCBs exclusively to Twitter and Facebook readers. Sign up now, we’ll start giving away more PCBs later this week. Continue reading “Free PCB Sunday: Logic Shrimp logic analyzer”

App note: DC voltage controls PWM dimming of high-brightness LEDs

An app note on a LED-driver circuit:

This LED-driver circuit includes a hysteretic controller U1 (MAX16820), related power components, and a control circuit based on the quad op amp U2 (LMX324). U1 drives five HB LEDs from a 24V source, using only inductor L1, MOSFET Q1, and catch diode D1.

Thanks rsdio!

LM0901a1411090451C polis operational amplifier

Akos tips us to the LM0901a1411090451C polis operational amplifier:

The LM0901A1141090451C is a macropower, low performance, degraded circuit operational amplifier designed to have a no load power dissipation of less than 0.553W at Vs = ±1pV and less than 200W at Vs = ±2pV. Open loop gain is greater than 0.001k and input bias current is typically 200A.

Via the contact form.

ARISSat-1 on the air this week (temporarily)

As previously posted, the ARISSat-1 amateur radio satellite remains inside the International Space Station awaiting its anticipated release into orbit this July.

According to the American Radio Relay League (ARRL) website, the ARISSat-1 satellite aboard the International Space Station will be on the air using the station’s external antenna, starting on Monday, April 11, at 14:30 UTC and continue until 10:30 UTC on April 13. This temporary activation is to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the first human spaceflight by cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin.

You can read the details about the frequencies, modes and reception confirmation procedure at the ARRL site. A useful real-time satellite tracker can be viewed at ARISSat-1 website.

Degate reverse engineering tool

Degate is a graphical reverse engineering tool for Ubuntu and OS X.

Degates’ purpose is to aid reverse engineering of digital electronics in integrated circuits (ICs). Degate helps you to explore images from ICs. It matches logic gates on the imagery given by graphical templates and it assists you in tracing circuit paths. Degate is not a completely automatic analyzing tool. Degate helps you with some automation in your manual reverse engineering process.

According to the Degate project, the software was already used to extract the DECT Standard Cipher and the encryption algorithm of Legic prime. It was also used to extract the memory encryption scheme of a common smartcard processor family.

This tool, while still in development, appears to hold some promise. While no binaries are available, the Degate’s source code is available.

MSP430 LaunchPad Firmware Update 2.0 Released.

TI has released MSP430 LaunchPad firmware update 2.0. TI’s download is a GUI-based utility to update the emulator firmware of the MSP430 Value Line LaunchPad kit (MSP-EXP430G2). With this update, TI says your LaunchPad will be able to support all new and future MSP430G2xx Value Line devices.

NOTE: Before you consider updating, read the caveats on the E2E and 43oh discussion threads. There appear to be problems with this update that TI needs to resolve.

Via Four-Three-Oh.

USB IR Toy v1 back in stock, again

The USB IR Toy is back in stock at Seeed Studio again. Seeed is working really hard to update and stock the last batch of IR Toy v1. A few more trickled in today.

This batch has a background story. We were arranging v2, which is still over a month away and will be a few dollars more expensive, when Seeed found nearly 200 extra v1 and v1a IR Toys.

IR Toy v1 has a low-powered infrared transmitter section to reduce the chance of damage to the hardware or a PC. Unfortunately, when coupled with a super high-power LED like the SFH-41 used in the v1, the transmitting range is very low.

We wanted to give these IR Toys a little more oomph, so Seeed replaced the IR LED with the more efficient part we’re using in V2.

Get one for $20, including worldwide shipping.

Open Compute Project provides Facebook blueprint

Want to examine the tech behind Facebook? Well, now you can. The Open Compute Project was first released by Facebook in 2011. In addition to open software tools, the project also makes available plans for servers and data centers. Technical specifications and CAD drawings (DXF and SolidWorks parts/assemblies) are provided for the servers and data center components.

Facebook’s Prineville Data Center is an example of the implementation of Open Data Center design elements. The release of these plans is an example of an effort to encourage the big industry players to share – and collectively improve on – hardware designs suited to a massive online operation like Facebook. This stands in contrast to Google, whose secrecy regarding its latest data center and server designs is legendary.

Commodore announces new Commodore 64, VIC Computer

Anyone who remembers computing “back in the day” might be interested to know that Commodore has opened a Web store where consumers can buy a modernized Commodore 64 and two new versions of the VIC, now redesigned as a “keyboard computer”. The new Commodore 64 costs anywhere from $250 for a “barebones” configuration for modders, to an $895 “ultimate” configuration with a terabyte hard drive, Blu-ray., and wireless. The VIC-Pro costs $495 to $1,195, while the VIC-SLIM costs $295 to $495. Units come with the Ubuntu 10.04 LTS operating system on disk ready to install,” Commodore said. Commodore OS 1.0, along with emulation functionality and classic game package, will be mailed to purchasers when available.

Via PC Mag.

Reverse engineering the HRD remote serial protocol

Sivan Toledo likes to use Ham Radio Deluxe (HRD), a free program that serves as a user interface to radio transceivers. Modern transceivers can be controlled either from their front panel controls (if they have a front panel), or from a computer through a serial or USB connection.
He writes:

One cool and useful feature of HRD is that it can be used to control a remote radio. You run an HRD server program on the computer to which the radio is connected. You run HRD itself (the user-interface program) on another computer, and tell it that the radio is connected to the first computer. HRD establishes a network connection with the remote computer and controls it. I want to use this feature, but I want to connect the radio to a computer running Linux, not Windows (I have good experience with remote radios connected to a Linux box, whereas I don’t like to run Windows remotely). Alas, HRD and it’s remote server only work on Windows. Searching for Linux server programs that would work with HRD revealed that none exist, and that Simon Brown, the developer of HRD, does not want to release a specification of the remote protocol or code that would explain the protocol.

Sivan provides an interesting account on his blog of his progress in reverse engineering this protocol. He started his analysis with Wireshark and portmon and has progressed to the point where the server code has been ported from Java to C, which he plans to test out with his radio this weekend.