Dilshan Jayakody published a new build:

Couple of months back we decided to create our own media server to store our MP3s and digital photographs. But it gets postpone several months due to unavailability of main-boards and other resources. Finally, after reviewing several prototypes we decided to build our media server using Banana Pi (BPI) and MiniDLNA. Before finalize BPI we checked several main-boards which including Raspberry Pi B+, Orange Pi One and BeagleBone Black. Out of all above main-boards we choose BPI M1 because of its inbuilt SATA2.0 interface, Gigabit Ethernet port and availability in local market.

See the full post on his blog here.

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Dave Richards (a.k.a. AA7EE) has a nice write-up about building another Si5351 VFO project:

To many, this will be just another Si5351 VFO project, with nothing to distinguish it from the others. In fact, that’s exactly what it is. The “how to” of connecting an Arduino board to an Si5351 board, wiring up a display, and loading the firmware, is straightforward, and well established. To me though, it was a complete mystery.

See the full post on his blog here.

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Every Tuesday we give away two coupons for the free PCB drawer via Twitter. This post was announced on Twitter, and in 24 hours we’ll send coupon codes to two random retweeters. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times a every week:

• Hate Twitter and Facebook? Free PCB Sunday is the classic PCB giveaway. Catch it every Sunday, right here on the blog
• Tweet-a-PCB Tuesday. Follow us and get boards in 144 characters or less
• Facebook PCB Friday. Free PCBs will be your friend for the weekend

Some stuff:

• Yes, we’ll mail it anywhere in the world!
• Check out how we mail PCBs worldwide video.
• We’ll contact you via Twitter with a coupon code for the PCB drawer.
• Limit one PCB per address per month please.
• Like everything else on this site, PCBs are offered without warranty.

We try to stagger free PCB posts so every time zone has a chance to participate, but the best way to see it first is to subscribe to the RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook.

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Kerry Wong did a teardown of a cheap GM3120 field strength meter:

There are a lot of cheap electromagnetic radiation testers out there which boast some quite impressive claims. So I decided to pick up a popular one (GM3120) from eBay to see how well it works. And perhaps more importantly, I wanted to take a look inside to see how the E field and H field sensing is done.
Most professional field strength meters feature a dome-like sensor. Housed inside are three orthogonally arranged antennas used for picking up field component in that axis. A cheap tester like the GM3120 clearly doesn’t utilize this kind of sensor topology and presumably can only discern field strength along a single axis.

See the full post on his blog here.

Check out the video after the break.

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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 two random commenters will get a coupon code for the free PCB drawer tomorrow morning. Pick your own PCB. You get unlimited free PCBs now – finish one and we’ll send you another! Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week:

• Tweet-a-PCB Tuesday. Follow us and get boards in 144 characters or less
• Facebook PCB Friday. Free PCBs while you wait for the weekend
• Free PCB Sunday, right here on the blog
• Check out how we mail PCBs worldwide

Some stuff:

• Yes, we’ll mail it anywhere in the world!
• Be sure to use a real e-mail in the address field so we can contact you with the coupon.
• Limit one PCB per address per month please.
• Like everything else on this site, PCBs are offered without warranty.
• PCBs are scrap and have no value, due to limited supply it is not possible to replace a board lost in the post

Be the first to comment, subscribe to the RSS feed.

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App note from CREE on driving LEDs over its specified current capability. Link here (PDF)

The Applications Engineering team at Cree is often asked whether it is safe to operate Cree XLamp® LEDs with pulsed currents above the maximum data-sheet rating. This question is usually asked in the context of legitimate product requirements such as those posed by emergency-vehicle applications, specialized stroboscopic illumination and even pulsed modulation for general-illumination dimming applications.

The short answer is “it depends.” Multiple variables affect both initial and long-term performance and reliability of an LED. These include thermal resistance, pulse duration, as well as current amplitude, frequency and duty cycle.

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Application note from CREE on efficiently designing a conventional FR4 PCB to manage thermal heat and as a cheap alternative to metal core pcbs. Link here (PDF)

One of the most critical design parameters for an LED illumination system is the system’s ability to draw heat away from the LED junction. High operating temperatures at the LED junction adversely affect the performance of LEDs, resulting in decreased light output and lifetime. To properly manage this heat, specific practices should be followed in the design, assembly and operation of LEDs in lighting applications.

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Matt Brailsford (aka Circuitbeard) has a nice write-up about building his mini pinball machine with a lattepanda core running dual monitors:

I generally start my projects by thinking about the hardware that I’m going to want to use as I’ll need to know sizes when it comes to the design phase. My first thought was to go with a Rasberry Pi as it’s what I’m familiar with and it’s what I’ve used for my other arcades, but after looking online, there really didn’t seem to be any good options for pinball emulation on Linux at all. It all seemed to be windows based. Thankfully I remembered reading about a single board Windows computer called a LattePanda so I thought why not give that a go and so this was the approach I ended up taking.

Build log at Circuitbeard blog and the GitHub repository here.

Check out the video after the break.

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Every Friday we give away some extra PCBs via Facebook. This post was announced on Facebook, and on Monday we’ll send coupon codes to two random commenters. The coupon code usually go to Facebook ‘Other’ Messages Folder . More PCBs via Twitter on Tuesday and the blog every Sunday. Don’t forget there’s free PCBs three times every week:

• Free PCB Sunday. The classic. Every week, get free PCBs right here on the blog comments
• Tweet-a-PCB Tuesday. Follow us and get boards in 144 characters or less
• Facebook PCB Friday. Free PCBs while you wait for the weekend
• Check out our video on how we mail PCBs worldwide.

Some stuff:

• Yes, we’ll mail it anywhere in the world!
• We’ll contact you via Facebook with a coupon code for the PCB drawer.
• Limit one PCB per address per month, please.
• Like everything else on this site, PCBs are offered without warranty.

We try to stagger free PCB posts so every time zone has a chance to participate, but the best way to see it first is to subscribe to the RSS feed, follow us on Twitter, or like us on Facebook.

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CAPS0ff team posted an article taking a closer look at 8 “PIC16C57s”:

We were recently sent 8 “PIC16C57s” from:

*High Seas Havoc (403/C013)
*Wargods (U69, C020)
*MACE (U96, C021)
*Carnevil (U96, C022)
*BioFreaks (C023)
*Gauntlet Dark Legacy (C024)
*Gauntlet (U37, C025)
*Blitz 99 (U96, C026)

More details at CAPS0ff blog.

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