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Category Archives: Reviews
Rethinking Arduino: A review
I’ll admit it, I was wrong. I’m an engineer by profession, and one for whom designing a microcontroller-based PC board is old hat. I used to look down my nose at Arduino. Its populist appeal and simplified programming language made … Continue reading
Itead Studio’s Open PCB exchange: how it worked out
The boards I ordered last month from Itead Studio arrived with something extra: someone else’s boards! No, it was not a mistake, but a 10-cent option that I could not resist: the Open PCB service. For 10 cents above the … Continue reading
Bus Pirate review
The Bus Pirate: It sounds kind of shady, and maybe it is, but it is also a handy little tool. A few weeks ago, I received a Sparkfun Bus Pirate as a birthday present. This little board is a USB-to-nearly-anything … Continue reading
Posted in Reviews
Tagged Bus Pirate, I2C, one-wire, reviews, SPI, test equipment, UART, USB
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A Trip to Electronic Surplus in Cleveland
Yesterday my son and I took a trip to Electronic Surplus, Cleveland Ohio’s candy store for electronics hobbyists and professionals. From a warehouse building in Mentor, ESI operates both a brick-and-mortar store and the website electronicsurplus.com. This is my home-town … Continue reading
Teaching Electronics to a Preschooler
I was stuck. How do I explain decoupling capacitors to someone who doesn’t know yet what electricity is? I said something garbled about getting rid of the part of the electricity we don’t want. He accepted my explanation, but it bothered me. He wanted to know about electronics, but I didn’t know where to start.
After several wrong turns while searching online, I found Oscar and the Bird, by Geoff Waring. The book was perfect for us.
Oscar, an inquisitive kitten, is surprised one day when he accidentally turns on the windshield wipers in a tractor he is exploring. Continue reading
Exploring ABC Electronics in Minneapolis
Exciting stuff is going on at work, but as often happens, excitement involves a bit of overtime. I spent last week in the Twin Cities, working with two test engineers to evaluate an ASIC during the day, and working on … Continue reading
