PCBite: Probes that hold themselves

Since it first appeared in 1992, KiCad has been free, open-source and not limited in any way, and that, without doubt, have been its key benefits. For decades KiCad was associated with the hobby domain but recently, at the peak of version 5 and with version 6 in the pipeline, it has been recognized as having a professional potential as well. CERN, Raspberry Pi Foundation, Arduino LLC, and Digi-Key are all staunch supporters of KiCad.

A cheap and simple function generator kit for DIY assembly with surprising features and user-friendly operation.

For the cost of 3 Raspberry Pis you will get from Allo, the DigiOne, a HAT for the Raspberry Pi, which makes available a digital S/P-DIF signal from the audio signal playing on the Pi. Is it worth that much?

Mr. Beekhuyzen talks here of his experience, as an expert, with the production of quality digital audio with the S/PDIF DigiOne audio card, a Raspberry Pi HAT offered by the manufacturer Allo. His critique is very well written, very informative and delivered in an intelligible fashion. Another good reason to listen until the end, and appreciate it: he does not forget to put his appreciation in context.

What do you do when you have misplaced your USB cable? You borrow one without worrying about any unpleasant consequences of this simple loan. Beware! A microcontroller hidden in the connector of a USB cable communicates wirelessly with the outside world. Its Bluetooth interface allows anyone who controls it to install malware or spyware.

With this project, full of clever tricks, and in particular Elektor’s approach to it, the concept is carefully documented and explained. In addition, everything you need to construct your own is put at your disposal. The electronics with microcontroller and LEDs, the software for the microcontroller, and the mechanical parts, crafted to guarantee balance: a 3D printed case, a ball bearing and a printed circuit board.

The new Arduino MKR VIDOR 4000 board is available in the Elektor Store. With an Intel 10CL016 FPGA. That’s 16 000 logic elements plus some specialised signal processing embedded multipliers (read: audio and video). The board, at 83 x 25 mm (3.3 x 1 inches) is as full as an egg. In addition to standard GPIOs, there are HDMI, USB, JST and MIPI (Camera) connectors. And let’s not forget the ARM ATSAMD21 32-bit microcontroller!

Microchip announces new dual- and single-core dsPIC33C Digital Signal Controllers (DSCs) with more options to meet changing application requirements across memory, temperature and functional safety. These options will help system developers to design high-end embedded control applications which need flexible options to provide scalability as projects increase in complexity.​

This is a submission from Distrelec about the arrival of the new Teledyne LeCroy T3 suite of products comprising of turnkey and ancillary test tools and equipment. The T3 portfolio has been designed to provide engineers and test technicians alike the ability to assemble a highly reliable, fully equipped test bench at an affordable price, making the suite ideal for schools, universities and developers working with budget constraints.  

This is a submission from Microchip about an automotive-qualified USB 3.1 Gen1 SmartHub IC, offering up to 10 times faster data rates over existing USB 2.0 solutions and reducing indexing times to improve the user experience in vehicles.

This is an article from Microchip on the industry’s smallest IEEE 802.15.4-compliant module that combines an ultra-low-power microcontroller (MCU) with a sub-GHz radio, accelerating time to market and providing long-lasting battery life in wireless-networked sensors.