Quinn Dunki created an Apple II ROM tool project and posted a great write-up on digging into the ROM of her Apple IIc Plus: You may recall way back when I started my Apple II ROM Tool project, that I had intended to fix some bugs. That was the whole point of this adventure. It […]
Tag Archives: tool
STM32CubeMX GCC Makefile project
Baoshi writes: Writing peripheral initialization code is probably the most tedious work in embedded development. It always successfully stops me from starting a new project. I believe engineers at STMicroelectronics share the same pain. Therefore they created STM32Cube firmware and STM32CubeMX graphical configuration tool, which turns numerous key strokes and page flips into just a […]
PC storage oscilloscope and logic analyzer
From the comments on our earlier USB oscilloscope with signal generator post, here’s a PC storage oscilloscope and logic analyzer by Nerd Ralph: A logic analyzer is a useful tool when working with micro-controllers, but when compared to the price of Arduino compatible boards, they are expensive. While the ability to decode different protocols is a […]
Ultra Librarian and Eagle tutorial
Luca Dentella writes: Ultra Librarian is a tool by Accelerated Designs to manage libraries of eletronic components (CAD design, simulation, 3d-modelling…). Many IC manufacturers provide Ultra Librarian files (.bxl) for their products: this tutorial will show how to use those files in Eagle… Via the contact form.
Executive Decision Maker Pro
Bertho shared his Executive Decision Maker Pro in the project log forum: Making decisions is a hard thing to do, so it seems to most of us. The creation of the original Executive Decision Maker has really relieved me of the most of the heavy duty mind-gymnastics and enabled exceptionally good results at incredible speed. It […]
Razen PCB CAD tool update
rng posted an update on his Razen PCB CAD tool we posted previously: Razen is now in open beta for Windows, Mac and Linux. I received a bunch of useful suggestions from people testing the alpha versions, and have improved Razen significantly since I first posted it. If you’re interested in giving it a try, the latest […]
Decade resistor box with jumpers
Mats informs us of GerrySweeney’s inexpensive Decade programmable resistor: I bought this 7-decade resistor box from Gerry Sweeeney for $18. It’s a really nice little cheap tool – much cheaper than the models with switches or thumbwheels that usually are 5-10 times as expensive as Gerrys version.
DIY Little Wire AVR-ISP
Pedantite built his own Little Wire AVR programmer/tool: The Attiny 85 has a neat feature that I had overlooked until I built this in that it has a built in PLL that lets you run the system off the internal RC oscillator at around 16Mhz. Many other AVR’s lack that PLL, and can only run […]
PCB a Week 9: MrRef voltage and current reference update
Mats posted pictures of his MrRef voltage and current reference PCB build. This tool helps check the accuracy of your multimeter: Since my Agilent 34401 is currently out of calibration, I didn’t bother installing the fine-adjustment trimopot. The 6350 is good for 0.02% (1mV) without any adjustments. While developing our new online crypto casino platform, I […]
Razen, a new PCB CAD tool
rng has been working on a new PCB CAD tool called Razen: Razen is a collaborative, scriptable schematic and PCB layout tool. Currently in development, a first alpha release will be available by April. Via the forum.
PCB a Week 9: MrRef voltage and current reference
Mats continues his challenge of designing one PCB every week. This tool helps check the accuracy of your multimeter: The design might be interesting anyways since it has remote sensing for compensating for voltage drop in the cables. But if your meter is drawing enough current to cause more than a 1 mV drop you […]
PCB a Week 8: NU-FitHole hole size helper
Mats continues his challenge of designing one PCB every week. This tool helps to determine exact hole dimensions for screws and other parts. This weeks PAW will be extremely simple – it’s not even a breakout board, but it might still come in handy for people making PCBs. The FitHole is a tool for testing […]
DIY vacuum part pickup tool
Geir shared his idea on how to convert the AOYUE 968 fume extraction tube into a DIY vacuum part pickup tool. All you need is a cheap manual pickup tool, a small valve, and lots of tape (the universal tool). Via the forum.
Weller WX 2021 soldering station teardown
Presslab tears down the Weller WX 2021 soldering station. He is hunting for the pinout of the front panel serial connector. He was able to identify the serial IC used, and with it the pinout. Via the forum.
High speed passive component pick and place machine for $3600
Mats tipped us to this high speed pick and place machine that’s currently about $3600 on Taobao. It features 15 automatic reel feeders, and the top speed of the machine is 6000 parts per hour. The placement head can handle parts as small as 0402, but it doesn’t use a vision system so accuracy will […]
Precision 1V reference
Need a precision reference to make sure your measurements are on the nose? Here is a simple breakout Dolabra designed for just that purpose. It’s a ADR510 based battery powered 1V reference, with +0.35% tolerance and 70 ppm/C temperature stability. Via the forum.
A simple EMF probe
Always wanted to look at the electro-magnetic soup of signals sloshing around you. Tuomas made a device that let’s you watch these signals on your scope. It consists of an inductor that picks up the signals, and an amplifier that well amplifies them so you could watch them on your scope. Check out a video of Tuomas […]
Guest Review: Chipquik smd291nl no-clean tack flux
Sheldon has been using the Chipquik SMD291NL no clean tack flux, here is his review of it: Very tacky, can hold qfn and dfn by itself, once heated it becomes very sticky and is hard to clean even with 91% ipa. It works great though, have not had any problems with it not wicking solder […]
Guest review: Atten PPS3203T 3 channel 3A programmable power supply
JuKu wrote about his latest purchase, the Atten PPS3203T 3 channel 3A programmable power supply. It features 2 0-32v channels and a single 0-6V channel, as well asRS-232 and GPIB (IEEE 488.2) interfaces. I wanted an economical three output power supply (+- 15V or so for analog, 5V or 3.3V for digital) with voltage and […]
Measuring power with INA219 and an MSP430 Launchpad
INA219 is a cool IC that measures voltage and current trough a shunt resistor, and relays the information over I2C. It provides the multiple of the two values, thus enabling easy power measurement. Opossum used it along with a Nokia 5110 LCD and a MSP430 LaunchPad to build a nice power-meter. Via 43-oh.