Tag: Components

Voltlog #287 – Switching From Eagle To Kicad

Welcome to a new Voltlog, today I’m gonna talk a bit about my process of switching from EagleCad to Kicad. So i’ve been an EagleCAD user for years, I’ve practically learned how to do pcb layout in eagle cad so there is that emotional attachment to a piece of software because it’s what I used while developing this skill. And to be honest there wasn’t any better alternative years ago, Eagle was the first decent piece of cad software to offer a freeware license and it quickly became popular for hobbyists. It didn’t have all the bells and whistles of the expensive software like Altium or Candece but it did the job while being user friendly.

Since it quickly became popular for makers and hobbyists it also meant there was an abundance of support on the forums as well as many user generated scripts and libraries freely available. It was similar to the popularity Arduino got but it was never open source and if you needed some extra features like 4 layer layout or pcb sizes larger than 8x10cm you needed to pay for a license.

Voltlog #265 – FT232H USB to JTAG/I2C/SPI Interface With Python & PyFtdi

Welcome to a new voltlog, today we’re going to be talking about this little board which I designed and assembled myself, it’s a breakout module for the FTDI FT232H which is a usb to serial converter but with a nice twist. This particular chip from FTDI has the built-in Multi-Protocol Synchronous Serial Engine (MPSSE short) which allows you to run a variety of synchronous serial protocols like JTAG, I2C, SPI or simple bit-banging of IOs. You can imagine it can be really useful to be able to interface with a sensor over I2C or SPI straight from your computer over USB through this interface. You wouldn’t need an arduino or other controller in the middle if you plan to do some data acquisition for example.

Voltlog #262 – Is This The Future of Our Hobby?

To be honest I didn’t think we were going to have services like these available so cheap so fast. I mean yes I know pcb prices have been so low in the past couple of years that it no longer makes sense to etch your own PCBs, unless you are in a big hurry. But having smt assembly service so cheap? Soon enough it would not make sense to hand assemble these boards because it would be equally cheap to have them assembled at JLCPCB

Voltlog #260 – How do you test usb to serial converters? (CP2103 vs CH340E vs FT232RL)

Welcome to a new Voltlog, today we’re comparing a few different serial to usb adapters and the discussion started ever since I showed the CH340E breakout board I designed in voltlog #249. People wanted to know if this CH340E affordable chip would perform similar to the well known FTDI or Silicon labs chips, and I’m thinking at high throughput and reliability here, the kind of application where you are sending lots of data, fast and you need it to be transferred reliably.

So today I’m going to compare the CH340E with a CP2103, and the FT232RL. I wasn’t sure what measurements to take and how to test these but I devised 2 testing methods.

Voltlog #217 – Constant Current LED Driver Boards Assembly & Testing

Welcome to a new voltlog, today we’re going to assemble some prototype PCBs for different constant current LED Drivers. I’ve designed and ordered these pcb’s a while ago, the goal is to test different constant current led drivers I have ones that are switch mode and ones that are linear and I wanted to see if I can get away with using the linear ones, because there is a significantly lower part count at the expense of burning energy away and generating more heat.

I haven’t ordered a steel stencil for these pcbs, I’m gonna hand assemble them, I’m gonna use some of this mechanic leaded solder paste which comes in a syringe and then I’m gonna reflow the boards over a hot plate. One hint here about the paste, if the syringe is very old, the paste might get dry which will make it unsuitable for the job and not to mention hard to push out of the syringe so try to keep the paste fresh by storing it in a fridge and replacing it when it starts to dry up or separate inside the syringe.

These two boards will be powered from 12V current through LEDs will be 25 mA and the total string voltage is 10 V calculated with a typical led forward voltage of 2V. That means the difference of voltage will be dissipated on our regulator and that can be calculated 12V-10V we have 2V dropping on the regulator times our current 25mA and is equal to 50 mW.

Voltlog #203 – InTheMail With Cheap Electronic Components

So LCSC seem to be trying to be like the Digikey or Farnell of china and I think they are succeeding. Yes they have many problems regarding their website, which doesn’t exactly make it easy for us to filter and find the required part as we will see in a moment, but it might be worth the trouble because you get access to a whole new set of chips coming from Asia that you wouldn’t normally find and all of this at very affordable prices.

Another advantage is that you can bundle together your PCB order with your Component order and have them delivered in the same package. That’s a pretty neat idea, considering that you find anything you could need in their inventory. You could practically build an entire project with just a single order placed online.