Comment by Instructor in product "Momentary Push Button Switch - 12mm Square"

Instructor — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:29:15 +0100

I need pushbuttons for breadboard. This type of momentary pushbutton is supposed to be breadboard friendly. But I noticed that the legs are curve inwards towards each other. Will this pushbutton easily plug in the breadboard and easily unplug as well? Thanks.

Comment by PresidentOfAwesomeness in product "PICAXE USB Programming Cable"

PresidentOfAwesomeness — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:19:45 +0100

Sure, I guess, but if you add up the cost of the chip and the cables, it doesn't come close to $25. Maybe you could consider it a breakout board, but in my mind, my point is still valid.

Comment by ZD16 in product "Flash Memory - microSD 1GB"

ZD16 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 15:03:30 +0100

You can get a 4gb card from newegg for about the same price. Just an fyi. I was a little surprised at the price.

Comment by Bret Mattingly in product "MIDI Shield"

Bret Mattingly — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:18:37 +0100

Unfortunately, no. It'd require some sketchy driver hacking, which has to be done on every system that you want to use the device with. The problem lies in the fact that the FTDI chip on the Arduino uses the USB port as a pseudo-Serial port, not a USB port. I hear the Teensy works well for USB-MIDI, though.

Comment by jono in news post "Searching Clears your Cart"

jono — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 14:09:49 +0100

Don't forget about the rss-feed bugs, at least in Google-reader.

http://i.imgur.com/iboI9.png

I'm pretty sure those entries aren't supposed to be there.

Comment by Blizzy in product "Basic 16x2 Character LCD - Black on Green 3.3V"

Blizzy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:50:42 +0100

Comment by boa300 in product "IMU 6DOF Razor - Ultra-Thin IMU"

boa300 — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:44:44 +0100

Has any one had this problem? I just got my 6DOF Razor today and tried it out; the accelerometers works likes a charm, the Z-axis gyro read well, but the Y ans X axis gyros have readings that don't change. Please help!

Comment by AdamTolley in product "MIDI Shield"

AdamTolley — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:31:43 +0100

So then is there a way to program the arduino to act as a class compliant midi interface over USB? This could then pull double duty talking to MIDI, and carrying it back to the pc.

Comment by Blizzy in product "Basic 16x2 Character LCD - Black on Green 3.3V"

Blizzy — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 13:05:33 +0100

Sleeper we are having the same problem you had. Still can't find a solution. What did you do exactly to get it working?

Hopefully you are still around I realize your post here was a while back.

If anyone else has an idea feel free to let me know

Thanks

Comment by bdwyer in product "Servo - Full Rotation"

bdwyer — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:10:25 +0100

Figured it out after receiving one in the mail.

-Yes it does operate with speed control (using different PWMs)

Comment by Nate in product "Arduino Starter Kit"

Nate — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:04:27 +0100

This kit unfortunately does not include any docs or supporting tutorials. This kit was designed for educators and hackers that create their own materials.

Comment by Nate in product "Arduino Starter Kit"

Nate — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 12:03:10 +0100

No - I don't think we've ever included that book. You may be thinking of Maker Shed's kit or someone else.

Comment by szar in product "Chameleon Faceplate - Blank"

szar — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 11:22:43 +0100

One of these with just a few DB-9 cutouts would be awesome.

Comment by Mechatronics and Robots in product "Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout - ...

Mechatronics and Robots — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 10:37:37 +0100

Try sending an email to Sparkfun if it's that bad. I'm sure they can help. Maybe even ask if they can make an ADXL335 accelerometer tutorial

Comment by pf in product "JPEG Trigger"

pf — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:50:02 +0100

I was able to get the microP to initialize the file system by formating the microSD card first with FAT, previously it was formatted with FAT16.

Unfortunately I can't get to the point were the blue LED is flashing, just a flashing red LED. Not sure why it is haveing trouble communicating with the camera.

Comment by mks in product "FTDI Basic Breakout - 3.3V"

mks — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 08:17:35 +0100

You guys really need to sell a 1x6 to 2x3 cable so we can use these for reprogramming the Duemilanove without having to use a handful of jumpers.

Comment by c-scott in news post "Which Arduino Do You Need?"

c-scott — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 07:11:45 +0100

You'll always have a current limiter in line with the LED -- if you connect it directly to the battery it's just the internal resistance of the battery (and probably the gate resistance of whatever you're using to switch it). You probably want to still include at least a few ohms of resistance, so you're not relying on these poorly-documented values (and find that your LED blows out when you change batteries and the new one can source more current). Pulsing higher currents through LEDs is a time-honored technique; look up the LM3909 application note for more information. Your LEDs will have a "peak current" limit as well as a "steady state" current limit, and the peak current limit will usually have a duty cycle specified. As long as you stay below the appropriate duty cycle, you can pulse the peak current, which will be brighter (and use less power in the end).

A constant-voltage source and a resistor is a fine constant-current power supply -- remember to take the forward voltage of the LED into account.

Comment by MauriceRibble in news post "Which Arduino Do You Need?"

MauriceRibble — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:33:39 +0100

Does anyone have recommendations for a current limiting power supply for your 1 Watt leds? I have a project that might require a lot of them and these current limiting power supplies get expensive. Sparkfun has this http://www.sparkfun.com/commerce/product_info.php?products_id=9642 which seems nice, but for me I'd rather have something that drives a bunch at once.

Also unique to my project I only need to flash the LEDs for a short duration (1/1000th of a second at most). I want them to be a bright as possible so I'm wondering if I could save money on powersupplies by just driving them with a 5V power supply and no current limiting. This would also make them brigheter which is very good for my use. It is fine if they burn out after a few tens of thousands of 1/1000th second bursts, but they'd need to last more than a few hundred uses. I know I could just test it, but it would be nice to hear from someone more knowledgeable if they think this would work or not.

Comment by epokh in product "Nordic FOB"

epokh — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 06:03:46 +0100

So I can program it with my Pololu USB AVR Programmer?
http://www.pololu.com/catalog/product/1300
Since I have 4 of them!

Comment by DBaron in product "Polymer Lithium Ion Batteries - 1000mAh"

DBaron — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:01:15 +0100

Is a specification sheet available for the protection circuit? Especially for the voltage and over-current thresholds.

Comment by josheeg in product "Header Board for STM32 Cortex-M3"

josheeg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:52:40 +0100

this would be great with a full speed usb serial com port tutorial.

Comment by josheeg in product "Dev Platform for LPC2148 - Uberboard"

josheeg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:40:02 +0100

I would realy like some bentchmark tests and usb com port code examples. Full speed usb for high speed data logging.

Comment by josheeg in tutorial "Arduino Buying Guide"

josheeg — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 02:38:27 +0100

teensy++ has teensyduino code compatibility and I like the full speed USB serial communication examples. If that was avalable for the uberboard I would be interested in that.

Full speed virtual usb com or speaking to open source drivers is interesting.

Comment by Butters in tutorial "Arduino Buying Guide"

Butters — Fri, 12 Mar 2010 01:41:42 +0100

Also, you don't mention that the Pro and Pro Mini only support either 5V or 3.3V and not both (like the Duemilanove).

Comment by btg in product "Cellular Shield for SM5100B"

btg — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 23:06:12 +0100

You can find prepaid sim cards for about $10 a month at:
http://www.embeddedworks.net/
http://www.embeddedworks.net/psummary.php?mn=wsim&mid=mwsim4005

Hope that helps

Comment by Antonio Gonzalez in product "XBee Explorer Serial"

Antonio Gonzalez — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 22:15:27 +0100

I just bought one of this Xbee explorer serial but can't still make it work with X-CTU, it always appears Unable to communicate with modem. Any one can help???

Comment by IsotopeJ in product "LED Display Driver (8-Digit) - MAX7219CNG"

IsotopeJ — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:21:45 +0100

I didn't notice these were common-cathode at first. There is a common-anode chip, the ICM7228. I just ordered some from Jameco to drive displays I got here.

Comment by IsotopeJ in product "4-Digit 7-Segment Display - Red"

IsotopeJ — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 21:06:08 +0100

oops, just realized these are common-anode. So the ICM7218 or ICM7228 may be better even though the maxim chips have more functionality.

Comment by MYX in tutorial "Arduino Buying Guide"

MYX — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:56:07 +0100

Ah, don't forget about Funnel I/O. Very small, 3.3v, LiPo batt connection, LiPo charger, and xBee sockets to boot!
I have had a blast with mine.

This also uses the FTDI basic (3.3v)

Comment by Chinwah in product "Optical Dust Sensor - GP2Y1010AU0F"

Chinwah — Thu, 11 Mar 2010 20:13:32 +0100

Perfect timing guys. I Heart Robotics has an article on building your own clean room and one of the things they were missing was a dust particle detector.

http://www.iheartrobotics.com/2010/02/this-new-lab-diy-cleanroom.html (credit to http://www.hackaday.com)

Recent comments on SparkFun.com

Comment by Instructor in product "Momentary Push Button Switch - 12mm Square"

Comment by PresidentOfAwesomeness in product "PICAXE USB Programming Cable"

Comment by ZD16 in product "Flash Memory - microSD 1GB"

Comment by Bret Mattingly in product "MIDI Shield"

Comment by jono in news post "Searching Clears your Cart"

Comment by Blizzy in product "Basic 16x2 Character LCD - Black on Green 3.3V"

Comment by boa300 in product "IMU 6DOF Razor - Ultra-Thin IMU"

Comment by AdamTolley in product "MIDI Shield"

Comment by Blizzy in product "Basic 16x2 Character LCD - Black on Green 3.3V"

Comment by bdwyer in product "Servo - Full Rotation"

Comment by Nate in product "Arduino Starter Kit"

Comment by Nate in product "Arduino Starter Kit"

Comment by szar in product "Chameleon Faceplate - Blank"

Comment by Mechatronics and Robots in product "Triple Axis Accelerometer Breakout - ...

Comment by pf in product "JPEG Trigger"

Comment by mks in product "FTDI Basic Breakout - 3.3V"

Comment by c-scott in news post "Which Arduino Do You Need?"

Comment by MauriceRibble in news post "Which Arduino Do You Need?"

Comment by epokh in product "Nordic FOB"

Comment by DBaron in product "Polymer Lithium Ion Batteries - 1000mAh"

Comment by josheeg in product "Header Board for STM32 Cortex-M3"

Comment by josheeg in product "Dev Platform for LPC2148 - Uberboard"

Comment by josheeg in tutorial "Arduino Buying Guide"

Comment by Butters in tutorial "Arduino Buying Guide"

Comment by btg in product "Cellular Shield for SM5100B"

Comment by Antonio Gonzalez in product "XBee Explorer Serial"

Comment by IsotopeJ in product "LED Display Driver (8-Digit) - MAX7219CNG"

Comment by IsotopeJ in product "4-Digit 7-Segment Display - Red"

Comment by MYX in tutorial "Arduino Buying Guide"

Comment by Chinwah in product "Optical Dust Sensor - GP2Y1010AU0F"