Electronics, Microcontrollers

The Amp Hour Episode 29

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I’m happy to announce that I have again been given the privilege of co-hosting The Amp Hour, this time with Dave Jones of the EEVblog!   Chris Gammell is away this week recruiting bright young engineers into slavery to join his company, so I was given the guest spot.  This is my third time on the show.

If you haven’t heard of it before, The Amp Hour is “an off-the-cuff radio show and podcast for electronics enthusiasts and professionals.”  I listen most every week and would recommend it to anyone who wants to hear a humorous and off-beat take on electronics engineering.

Check out Episode 29 – DJ and Jazzy Jeff and all the rest of the episodes at The Amp Hour.

Electronics, Kits, Microcontrollers

HV Rescue Shield 2.1 Now Shipping

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HV Rescue Shield 2.1

I have good news.  The latest and greatest version of the HV Rescue Shield is now available!

Version 2.1 contains a new and improved 12V switching circuit that resolves an issue reading/writing to parts with certain startup timer settings.  This issue affects all previous versions of the Rescue Shield kit.

I have kits in stock and ready to ship this week.  If you have been waiting for the new release, you can place an order now.

Note to HV Rescue Shield 2.0 customers: Because the startup timer issue was identified so quickly after version 2.0 was released, I am offering a free upgrade for all customers who purchased a version 2.0 kit.  Please contact me to arrange for a replacement.  This offer only applies to HV Rescue Shield 2.0 customers.

Kits, Microcontrollers

HV Rescue Shield Update #3

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A quick update on the HV Rescue Shield:

About a week ago, I completed testing on a new switching circuit that allows me to leave the DC-DC converter on full-time and switch the RESET signal very quickly (risetimes in the microseconds).   Now there shouldn’t be any more  issues getting parts with zero SUT to enter HVSP/HVPP mode.

It’s taken a lot longer than I expected to get to this point, but the results look very good. I have had 100% success reading/writing all parts I have tested.

PCBs are on order and due to ship by the end of the week.  Assuming the layout is good and I didn’t just order a large batch of stylish (but small) coasters, I should have kits in stock again by the end of next week.

Watch here for updates, and my apologies to everyone who has been waiting on a kit – new and improved kits should be available soon.

Update 2/1: PCBs came in while I was away last week, and are currently being held at my local Fedex office, which is closed due to the power outages that are affecting Austin today.  Apparently Austin does not handle prolonged sub-freezing temperatures very well.   As soon as I can get my hands on the boards, it should only be a day or two before kits are available again.

Events

Wifi Radio / Dorkbot 27

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KVRX

Last night, I dusted off my Wifi Radio project and gave a 15 minute presentation about it at Austin Dorkbot 27: Electric Boogaloo.

Dorks who want to download the slides can do so here: Jeff_Keyzer-Wifi Radio Project

I had a particularly challenging evening because the hastily assembled wireless network in the ACTlab refused to hand out an IP address to the radio.  After wrongly suspecting that the 802.11n network was causing problems (my home network is b/g), I discovered that if I set a static IP and default gateway, I could get a stable connection to the router.   That process of discovery took something like an hour of tweaking settings, trying to remember iwlist arguments, how to set up routes, etc.

In the end I got it all working and gave a very successful demo of the radio.   Whew!

Join the resistance.