In this post Dan Watson documents an OCXO upgrade board he designed for the Fluke/Philips PM66xx line of frequency counters.
A few months ago I purchased a Philips PM6674 frequency counter on eBay. It’s an older 9 digit counter with two channels that has a maximum input frequency of 550MHz. The design feels dated compared to more modern counters, such as my Agilent 53131A.
Fluke/Philips PM66xx Frequency Counter OCXO Upgrade – [Link]
This is a DIY Infrared remote for speakers, replacing the original. Arduino Nano and controlled via a custom .NET application and placed in a laser cut enclosure.
This one is an interesting one, it’s something we’ve been looking at for a while and figuring out how to solve it. We have sets of speakers and projectors and the users keep losing the remotes, or misplaced/stolen. Usually this wouldn’t be a problem, we’ll just contact the supplier or manufacturer and order replacements. Except we can’t any more.
We have a set of Vision AV-1000 wall mounted active speakers, connected to an EPSON projector. Projector remotes are easy to come by, but the AV-1000 remote is no longer manufactured. The speakers do not have any manual controls for the input selection, bass/treble etc. only a volume control on the back.
Arduino IR remote and Software controller – [Link]
geekrex @ instructables.com shows us how to use ESP8266 Wifi module for home automation. He writes:
ESP8266 is a great thing for starting to Wifi And IOT. It is also cheap and be used for making cool projects connected to the Internet .Learn how to make a simple IOT Project with it ESP8266 WLAN Module could be a self contained SOC with integrated TCP/IP protocol stack that may offer any microcontroller access to your WLAN network.
ESP8266 Wifi controlled Home Automation – [Link]
by Harry Baggen @ elektormagazine.com:
Researchers at the University of California (USA) have developed a nanowire-based material that allow a rechargeable battery to be charged and discharged hundreds of thousands of times without any loss of capacity. This would virtually eliminate the need to replace a battery made from this material during the lifetime of the device it powers.
Rechargeable batteries with nanowires last forever – [Link]
The LTC4380 is an ultralow quiescent current (IQ) surge stopper, providing compact overvoltage and overcurrent protection for always-on 4V to 72V electronics in automotive, industrial and avionic systems. The LTC4380 replaces traditional shunt circuits composed of bulky inductors, capacitors, transient voltage suppressors (TVS), and fuses with a simple IC and series N-channel MOSFET solution, saving board space and enabling continuous operation through transient voltage or current surges. The LTC4380 protects downstream electronics from input overvoltage up to the MOSFET rating, while also protecting the power supply from output overload. Device current consumption is a mere 8μA in normal operation and 6μA in shutdown mode, prolonging battery run and standby time.
LTC4380 – Low Quiescent Current Surge Stopper – [Link]
The Module is based on The MCP2200, which is a USB-to-UART serial converter which enables USB connectivity in application that have a UART interface. The device reduces external components by integrating the USB termination resistors. The MCP2200 also has 256-bytes of integrated user EEPROM. The MCP2200 has eight general purpose input / output pins. Four of the pins have alternate functions to indicate USB and communication status.
Specifications
USB to UART Converter with GPIO – MCP220 – [Link]
The Module is based on The MCP2200, which is a USB-to-UART serial converter which enables USB connectivity in application that have a UART interface. The device reduces external components by integrating the USB termination resistors. The MCP2200 also has 256-bytes of integrated user EEPROM. The MCP2200 has eight general purpose input / output pins. Four of the pins have alternate functions to indicate USB and communication status.
Bob tipped us with his latest project. It’s a 3V3/30V DC/DC converter using SN6505A from TI.
Recently I’v got my samples of SN6505A, it’s a really nice IC, so I decided to make a simple DC/DC converter to get familiar with it. What I like in this chip is that it can operate on input voltage as low as 2,5V – that makes it great for battery devices. It’s also nice, that it’s a very minimalist design – on primary side all what is needed is decoupling capacitor. One disadvantage is that it doesn’t have a feedback loop.
3.3V to 30V DC/DC converter using SN6505A – [Link]
Spikey made his own DIY 32ch FPV 5.8ghz LCD. He writes:
If you’re like me, you don like buying stuff that’s ready-to-go, but rather build one yourself. We usually spend more money, but it’s way more satisfying I really didn’t want to buy an overly expensive FPV LCD receiver, so I made my own DIY 32ch FPV 5.8ghz LCD, that is compatible with EVERY transmitter on the market now.
DIY 32ch FPV 5.8ghz LCD – [Link]
Dilshan Jayakody build a simple crystal tester based on Colpitts oscillator. He writes:
This is simple Colpitts oscillator to test commonly available passive crystals which range between 2MHz to 27MHz. This unit must connect to an oscilloscope and/or frequency counter to get the frequency of the crystal. This circuit is design to work around 9V to 12V DC power source. Both 2SC930 transistors can replace with any high speed NPN transistor such as 2SC829, 2SC933, etc.
Simple crystal tester – [Link]
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