2008-06-19

Don't know anything about Embedded Electronics? Start here!

2008-06-19

Getting AVR HEX code loaded onto the ATmega168.

2008-06-19

A breakdown of crystals and setting the fuse bits to run the ATmega168 at 16MHz!

2008-06-19

Setting up the serial port and printf-ing 'Hello World'.

2008-06-19

Basic printf input and output.

2008-06-19

The basics of through hole soldering.

2008-06-19

Basic SMD soldering to assemble the Simon game.

2008-06-19

Getting started with Eagle PCB and capturing a schematic.

2008-06-19

The basics of laying out a PCB with Eagle.

2008-06-19

How to create a custom footprint and part in Eagle PCB.

2008-06-19

Learn from our mistakes! And other helpful tips.

2008-11-07

Pete Lewis figured out a neat trick to hold headers in place during production. A breakdown of how to edit Eagle footprints to work for you.

2008-11-06

Designing PCBs for Manufacturability (DFM)

2008-10-21

We raised over $800 for local non-profits with our soldering workshop! Pictures and thoughts from Maker Faire 2008 in Austin, Texas.

2008-09-11

We try our hand at electronic furniture using our RGB LED matrices and a secondhand coffee table. Pong never looked so good.

2008-08-04

Find out how the SparkFun bootloader works. Don't know what a bootloader is? Read on to find out.

2008-06-23

We show how to use the 6DOF control board to prevent electrocution inside a tube based stereo amplifier.

2008-06-19

The basics of modifying an enclosure to house your next prototyping project.

2008-03-02

Playing with the PS2 keyboard protocol. How many times have you hit the 'n' key today?

2008-01-17

A venture into the unknown with a simple device to detect mysterious waves, and to generate winning lottery numbers.

2007-03-22

A sociological study on team work. Checkout how we built this 5' long, 83 lbs. Nintendo controller.

2007-03-10

Another tutorial on why we like big blinky things. We've made the game of Tetris interactive with 720 LEDs, 16 microcontrollers, and 10lbs of wires, sweat, and code.

2007-01-13

Another commercial product destroyed. A good example of how to use a PIC and the nRF2401 to make a gazillion dollars.

2007-01-07

A trip down memory lane with a box full of prototypes collected over the years. Learn what not to do from what we screwed up.

2006-12-19

We crack the case on the infamous flying Nintendo controller, so you don't have to.

2006-07-01

Controlling a color LED matrix from anywhere in the world using a simple java script interface.

2006-06-19

Pictures from the wildly popular fair of hacks and toys.

2006-03-30

How to hack a Roomba, a WiTilt, and the Federal Trade Commission. Ok, maybe not the Federal Trade Commission.

2006-03-19

A fun project using LED light bars, a PIC for control, 7-segment driving, playing with 2Amps, and some assorted other fun tricks.

2005-06-17

A range comparison of Spark Fun RF products. Which is for you? This will help you decide.

2005-03-28

Implementing a Bluetooth serial link is easier than you think, and we spell it out for you!

2005-03-04

How do you make the classic bell ringer work off 3.8VDC? The magic of a DC/DC converter!

2005-01-17

We take an old rotary phone, dissect it, and cross-pollinate it with a cellular module.

2004-10-01

A simplistic approach to getting a two-wheel robot to move across the floor. Oh, and chasing my cat.

2004-09-01

Not a real datasheet, but everything you need to know for implementing the Serial ADXL PCB into your project. Includes the PCB layout, firmware, and discussions on sensor sensitivity.

2004-08-01

How fast can you push it? We actually don't know. But 32MHz is where we stopped for the moment...

2004-07-01

Ever wonder how to solder that surface mount package? We can show you how - with lots of pictures! LCC soldering not recommended for the faint of heart.

2004-06-19

Besides liking that word, we really enjoy flying our gliders. We decided to use the new ADXL sensors we put together in connection with a wireless transmitter. Foamware is what came out.

2006-09-02

The basic tools and setup for surface mount soldering.

2006-09-02

Soldering a SOIC part, multiple pins at a time and the use of solder wick.

2006-09-02

Reworking a board with an iron can be difficult. Here are some ways to remove and repair PCBs with an iron.

2006-09-02

Hot-air is a wonderful tool. Checkout how easy it is to remove an IC with this crucial tool.

2006-09-02

How to fix a board with a lifted pad or incorrect trace route. Green wires make the world go round!

2006-09-02

Sneaky tricks to solder anything! Even leadless ICs and BGAs.

2006-09-02

Videos and more examples of how to solder and then wick away jumpers.

2006-09-02

A breakdown of hot-air rework and lots of video examples.

2006-08-01

How to apply solder paste with a $35 stencil.

2006-07-01

Reflowing trickier PCBs with a $30 hot plate!

2006-06-01

Attempting to reflow PCBs with a toaster oven.

2008-10-14

Calculators galore! Resistor, microstrip, power conversion, ASCII, EIA232 pinouts, even time conversion!

2008-08-08

Investigates the nature of the output signal on an unregulated power supply.

2008-08-04

What it takes to get your widget listed for sale on SparkFun.

2008-06-23

Jim Lynch breaks down serial communication and explains how to set up the USART hardware on the SAM7 using the free GCC/GNU tool chain. There is also an update to the YAGARTO software setup. The code for the tutorial is available here.

2008-06-18

Another great tutorial by Jim Lynch shows how to recover a locked SAM7 board.

2008-06-18

Jim Lynch writes another great tutorial demonstrating how to interface to this popular color LCD. Source code here. Updated to include support for both Epson and Philips controllers.

2007-06-04

Some basic techniques to get a 3.3V sensor hooked up to a 5V micro.

2007-06-01

Jim Lynch's tutorial for setting up the free GCC/GNU tool chain. The example software is available here.

2007-05-01

We've have the BlueSMiRF, the Extended BlueSMiRF, and the DIP module. We've also have the WiTilt and the 6DOF, each of which have a Bluetooth module on them.

2007-04-01

General background information and descriptions of the modules we carry.

2001-01-01

(Outdated but good info) A short and sweet tutorial to setup the P18 dev board using the PIC 16F88.

2001-01-01

(Outdated but good info) An in-depth tutorial on our in-house boot loader and accompanying Windows program. Find out how to build your own!

2001-01-01

New version v1.6! Thanks Mike K! Support for 16F877A, 16F876A, 16F873A, 16F88.

2001-01-01

Not as bad as you think!

2001-01-01

Blink! As well as some other helpful test routines.

2001-01-01

Just as bad as you think! (Not really)

2001-01-01

The original tutorial using WinPicProg. Saved for educational purposes.

2001-01-01

Updated! Now using the ever popular ICProg. All you need to know to get our popular parallel programmer up and burning!

2001-01-01

A tutorial using the PIC-PG2C programmer, an ICSP cable, a polarized header, and a breadboard.

2001-01-01

Get the PG2C setup and burning with this very popular socketed programmer.

2001-01-01

The PG1 and PG2C are the same functional device, only the PG2C has a socket built in. Please refer to the PG2C documentation - it works just fine for the PG1. Also, see 'Basic PIC Tutorial' located below.

2006-06-19

Getting errors under MPLAB? You may need to upgrade the firmware on your MCP. Use this step-by-step tutorial to upgrade to the newest release from Olimex.

2006-06-19

Have you noticed the itty bitty white rectangles on some of the SparkFun designed boards? These are a miniature version of the ICSP connection. This tutorial will show you how to use a special adapter to re-program boards with this type header.

2001-01-01

'Nuther long tutorial running the gauntlet of good MPLAB and Serial Communications info. This is all about implementing RS232 timing in software. *Intro and the basic idea behind RS232 timing *How to setup a project under MPLAB v6.4 *All about the Stopwatch and Debug functions *Using the Stopwatch to tailor delays used in RS232 timing *Straight through hardware connections (No MAX232!) and HyperTerminal setup

2001-01-01

A few common answer to a few common questions about uCs and this site.

2001-01-01

Using the PIC-PG1B programmer - An amazing low-cost programmer that impressed us the first time we used it! A great tutorial to get your first PIC project blinking.

2001-01-01

Have you got the LED blinking? Time to get coding! A tutorial on setting up a free code editor with a free C compiler. Very quick, very easy to use

2001-01-01

Our own spin on serial communication. Serial out is a must have feature for debugging. What the heck is the value of that variable? Just pipe it out through 'serial_out' and find out in Windows' HyperTerminal. Outdated - See 'The Serial Biggie' above for newest information.

2001-01-01

A lengthy tutorial that covers: *How to get the MAX232 IC working on many Olimex Development boards *How to get the UART hardware module (TX/RX) working on a PIC 16F628 *How to use nice printf("Hello!", 0); routines for debugging *How to talk to an I2C EEProm *How to control a standard servo using the computer's keyboard through hyperterminal Courtesy of Joyner Network Solutions