The Synthetos laser-cut Open Logic Sniffer case is now available for $24.99.
Synthetos also has a laser-cut Bus Pirate case for $14.99, see our build here.
Order the Logic Sniffer at Seeed Studio for $45, including worldwide shipping. Seeed now has probe cables for $6 each.
Here’s a well documented RF spectrum analyzer project by It uses the MSP430 TI Launchpad and the inexpensive RFM12B module to analyze signals in the 915 MHz band. The output is visualized on an attached Linux box running a Perl script.
Via 43oh.com.
FTDI released a development board for the Vinculum-II (VNC2) inspired by the Arduino. The Vinculo has an Arduino shield pinout, with an extra row of 10 pins on the digital side.
The Vinculo is a dual channel USB Host/Device Controller is targeted at rapid development and prototyping of USB Host/Device interfaces. Vinculo…can be programmed using a subset of standard ANSII ‘C’ using the FTDI free of charge software development environment
Thanks McZ!
eHaJo is the newest Bus Pirate distributor in Germany. Their first shipment of Bus Pirates sold out before they were delivered, now another round is on the way. eHaJo will also have probe cables, cases, and LCD adapters available in 3 to 5 days.
Sprechen Sie de_DE? eHaJo contributed a German translation of the Bus Pirate firmware.
Thank you to eHaJo for supporting the Bus Pirate! If you’d like to be a Bus Pirate distributor please drop us a line.
EEVblog made an open source calculator with a PIC:
PIC 24F 16 bit Processor, 256KB Flash, 16KB SRAM, 64KB serial flash user memory, 3-Axis tilt sensor, Micro SD card, capacitive touch sensing keypad, 128×64 dot matrix display.
Via Adafruit.
Here’s another cool tech video by Jeri Ellsworth, this time illustrating how speed radar works using parts from a toy radar gun. Also refers to similarly using a satellite TV LNB module.
Here’s a hack combining a cheap digital camera body and PIR sensor to form a motion detector camera. The project is controlled by a MSP430 microcontroller found in the Launchpad kit.
Via Instructables.
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 is the first version of the Bus Blaster JTAG programmer. It’s been power-up tested and the FT2232 enumerates on the PC. One of the buffer footprints has mask over pads, so you’ll have to scrape it away before soldering. We have two extra PCBs to give away this week, just ask for one in the comments.
Testing update: The Bus Blaster is working and on it’s way to manufacturing. Join us to discuss Bus Blaster v2, which will have a CPLD buffer to increase flexibility and reduce the cost of the design.
Ubertooth Zero is a Bluetooth sniffer based on an LPC1758 ARM processor and a CC2400 2.4GHz transceiver (now obsolete). Grab Bluetooth packets out of the air for analysis and hacking fun.
Tonight I uploaded the first release of Project Ubertooth, an open source wireless development platform that can be used for Bluetooth testing and research. This is a very preliminary release, but it includes the complete hardware design for Ubertooth Zero, firmware source code, and the host code needed to perform rudimentary Bluetooth sniffing as I demonstrated at ToorCon 12.
Via Hack a Day.
When receiving digital radio data with a program such as FLDIGI you may occasionally see unusual patterns on the software’s “waterfall” display. Scott Harden found what looked like a QR barcode encoded in digital amateur radio data on the 40 Meter Band and proceeded on a quest to decipher the code.
Here’s a novel way to connect simple circuits. By mixing up your own conductive and non-conductive play doughs you can connect components without wires. Adds a new dimension to the term “wireless”!
Just don’t think it would be a good idea to go through airport security with a doughy substance with components and flashing LEDs in your luggage…
Philippe has been documenting his Linux Bus Pirate adventures, including a tutorial on sniffing different smartcard protocols:
I just tried out my brand new bus pirate on a little project to sniff smartcard transactions (ISO7816). I could happily use the recent raw BRG handling in UART mode and I’m providing on my wiki some tips on how to calculate which baudrate/BRG are needed in order to sniff things properly.
Final word: bus pirate rocks! So great device for a ridiculous price. Thanks folks!!
Get your own handy Bus Pirate for $30, including world-wide shipping. Also available from our friendly distributors Adafruit and Open Source Control Systems.
Via the tip line.
Arnaud Lagger has published some interesting work on the use of
FPGAs in encryption. Unlike other docs we’ve seen, this analysis is both comprehensive and detailed, including an appendix with the VHDL source code. Definitely worth the read for anyone interested in encryption using FPGAs.
LuckyLarry has developed a sonar system based on the Arduino and an SRF-05 ultrasonic range finder. A servo sweeps the range finder across the target field, with the pingbacks processed and displayed on the desktop with Processing.
Via Hackolog.
Here’s some of our wares you might want to buy on the traditional mad shopping day. The Black Friday post: it’s good for sales, but embarrassingly commercial.
We’re proud to work with Seeed Studio to make copies of our open source projects available. When there are cheap rapid prototyping machines you’ll be able to print our projects at home, until then, there’s Seeed Studio. Seeed has inexpensive worldwide shipping starting from $2.85, most of our projects include shipping in the cost.
Things we really love, that we think you should have too. Based on Ian’s Hack a Day comment, with additions by Jer, Vimark, and Machine Geek:
What’s on your list?
If you want some interesting reading after your holiday feast, why not download the US government official smart card handbook? Weighing in at 262 pages this bird is stuffed with info from the basics of smart card and other ID technology to the types of authentication systems used by various agencies.
Getting started with a new processor family is a minefield. Our new quick start guides for the PIC, LPC ARM, and STM32 ARM, are a collection of notes on these processor families. If you’re already familiar with one processor, these condensed guides can help you get started on a whole new platform without scouring the datasheet for potential pitfalls:
These guides are a work in progress, please contribute if you can. We’re also working on guides for the AVR and MSP430.
