The Alpha Geek – Geeking Out

#01 – AcceleroSynth

SparkFun – Standoff – Nylon (4-40; 3/8″)

SparkFun PRT-10927 Mk01

SparkFun PRT-10927 Mk02

SparkFun PRT-10927 Mk03

SparkFun PRT-10927 Mk04

SparkFun: PRT-10927

Description: These nylon standoffs are 3/8″ long and tapped for a 4-40 screw. These are great for mounting your board in an enclosure, or just getting it up off the table. The black nylon will give your project a very sessy look.

Sold in packs of 10.

Don Luc

Kingbright – 3mm Low Current Yellow LED

WP710A10LYD Mk01

WP710A10LYD Mk02

WP710A10LYD Mk03

WP710A10LYD Mk04

Kingbright: WP710A10LYD

3mm Low Current Yellow Led

  • Emitting Color: Yellow
  • Material: GaAsP/GaP
  • Color/Wavelenght: 588nm
  • Lens Type: Color Diffused

Product Featured

  • Low power consumption
  • Popular T-1 diameter package
  • Viewing angle – 34°
  • Available on tape and reel
  • RoHS compliant

Applications

  • Traffic signage
  • Signage application
  • Decorative & entertainment lighting
  • Commercial & Residential architectural lighting

Don Luc

Adafruit – Potentiometer Knob – Soft Touch T18 – Red

Adafruit 2046 Mk01

Adafruit 2046 Mk02

Adafruit 2046 Mk03

Adafruit 2046 Mk04

Adafruit 2046 Mk05

Adafruit: 2046

Description

Oh say can you see
By the knob’s early light…

Sorry – we thought that was clever. And while it wasn’t really, this potentiometer knob definitely is. It’s a ‘soft touch’ T18 knob that works great with our Panel Mount 10K, Panel Mount 1K, and Panel Mount 100K potentiometers. The knob is designed to set directly on the potentiometer’s ridges so it’s an easy & secure fit. It has a nice feel, with a rubbery grip, tweaking it is quite fulfilling.

This is the blue version and it has a nice deep color on the inside with a striking blue line on the outside for great visibility with whatever you’re making. We also carry it in white and red if you’re looking for a variety of colors.

Technical Details

  • Diameter of the top: 11mm / 0.4″
  • Diameter of the base: 15mm / 0.6″
  • Weight: 1g
  • Colour: Red

Don Luc

Adafruit – USB DIY Connector Shell – Type Mini-B Plug

Adafruit 1389 Mk01

Adafruit 1389 Mk02

Adafruit 1389 Mk03

Adafruit 1389 Mk04

Adafruit 1389 Mk05

Adafruit: 1389

Description

Make your own USB connections without slicing apart a USB cable and soldering those thin wires inside. These DIY “USB shells” are available in USB A plug, micro B, mini B and USB A socket.

Each shell comes with a two-part snap plastic shell and a proper connector with easy-to-solder tabs.

Don Luc

Adafruit – Standard LCD 20×4 + Extras – White on Blue

Adafruit 198 Mk01

Adafruit 198 Mk02

Adafruit 198 Mk03

Adafruit: 198

Description

Standard HD44780 LCDs are useful for creating standalone projects.

  • 20 characters wide, 4 rows
  • White text on blue background
  • Connection port is 0.1″ pitch, single row for easy breadboarding and wiring
  • Single LED backlight with a resistor included, you can power it directly from 5V. If it’s too bright for you, it can be dimmed easily with a resistor or PWM and uses much less power than LCD with EL (electroluminescent) backlights
  • Can be fully controlled with only 6 digital lines!
  • Built in character set supports English/Japanese text, see the HD44780 datasheet for the full character set
  • Up to 8 extra characters can be created for custom glyphs or ‘foreign’ language support (like special accents)
  • Comes with necessary contrast potentiometer and strip of header

For more information, check out our detailed step-by-step Arduino+LCD tutorial

We have a generic 20×4 datasheet that has dimensions and pin-locations (the exact model may vary but the pinout, size and protocol information is the same). We also have a HD44780 datasheet with the detailed commands for control.

Don Luc

SparkFun – Audio Jack Breakout – Audio Jack 3.5mm

SparkFun PRT-10588 Mk01

SparkFun PRT-10588 Mk02

SparkFun PRT-10588 Mk03

SparkFun PRT-10588 Mk04

SparkFun: PRT-10588

Description: Simple breakout board for the 3.5mm audio jack. Use this breakout (shipped bare) to allow breadboard or SIP access to the super-common 3.5mm audio jack. All five pins are broken out.

Note: You get the bare PCB only, check below for the Audio Jack.

SparkFun: PRT-08032

Description: Low profile 3.5mm stereo audio jack.

Don Luc

SparkFun – Arduino Uno – R3

SparkFun DEV-11021 Mk01

SparkFun DEV-11021 Mk02

SparkFun DEV-11021 Mk03

SparkFun: DEV-11021

Description: This is the new Arduino Uno R3. In addition to all the features of the previous board, the Uno now uses an ATmega16U2 instead of the 8U2 found on the Uno (or the FTDI found on previous generations). This allows for faster transfer rates and more memory. No drivers needed for Linux or Mac (inf file for Windows is needed and included in the Arduino IDE), and the ability to have the Uno show up as a keyboard, mouse, joystick, etc.

The Uno R3 also adds SDA and SCL pins next to the AREF. In addition, there are two new pins placed near the RESET pin. One is the IOREF that allow the shields to adapt to the voltage provided from the board. The other is a not connected and is reserved for future purposes. The Uno R3 works with all existing shields but can adapt to new shields which use these additional pins.

Arduino is an open-source physical computing platform based on a simple i/o board and a development environment that implements the Processing/Wiring language. Arduino can be used to develop stand-alone interactive objects or can be connected to software on your computer (e.g. Flash, Processing, MaxMSP). The open-source IDE can be downloaded for free (currently for Mac OS X, Windows, and Linux).

Note: The Arduino Uno R3 requires the Arduino 1.0 drivers folder in order to install properly on some computers. We have tested and confirmed that the R3 can be programmed in older versions of the IDE. However, the first time using the R3 on a new computer, you will need to have Arduino 1.0 installed on that machine. If you are interested in reading more about the changes to the IDE, check out the official Arduino 1.0 Release notes!

Features:

  • ATmega328 microcontroller
  • Input voltage – 7-12V
  • 14 Digital I/O Pins (6 PWM outputs)
  • 6 Analog Inputs
  • 32k Flash Memory
  • 16Mhz Clock Speed

Don Luc

Adafruit – Stereo 3.7W Class D Audio Amplifier – MAX98306

Adafruit 987 Mk01

Adafruit 987 Mk02

Adafruit 987 Mk03

Adafruit 987 Mk04

Adafruit: 987

Description

This incredibly small stereo amplifier is surprisingly powerful – able to deliver 2 x 3.7W channels into 3 ohm impedance speakers. Inside the miniature chip is a class D controller, able to run from 2.7V-5.5VDC. Since the amp is a class D, its incredibly efficient (over 90% efficient when driving an speaker at over a Watt) – making it perfect for portable and battery-powered projects. It has built in thermal and over-current protection but we could barely tell it got hot. This board is a welcome upgrade to basic “LM386” amps!

The inputs of the amplifier go through 1.0uF capacitors, so they are fully ‘differential’ – if you don’t have differential outputs, simply tie the R- and L- to ground. The outputs are “Bridge Tied” – that means they connect directly to the outputs, no connection to ground. The output is a 360KHz square wave PWM that is then ‘averaged out’ by the speaker coil – the high frequencies are not heard. All the above means that you can’t connect the output into another amplifier, it should drive the speakers directly.

Comes with a fully assembled and tested breakout board with 1.0uF input capacitors. We also include header to plug it into a breadboard, 3.5mm screw-terminal blocks so you can easily attach/detach your speakers, and a 2×4 header + jumper to change the amplifier gain on the fly. You will be ready to rock in 15 minutes!

  • Output Power: 3.7W at 3O, 10% THD, 1.7W at 8O, 10% THD, with 5V Supply
  • Passes EMI limit unfiltered with up to 12 inches (30 cm) of speaker cable
  • High 83dB PSRR at 217Hz
  • Spread-Spectrum Modulation and Active Emissions Limiting
  • Five pin-selectable gains: 6dB, 9dB, 12dB, 15dB and 18dB. Select with a jumper or by setting the G and G’ breakout pins
  • Excellent click-and-pop suppression
  • Thermal and short-circuit/over-current protection
  • Low current draw: 2mA quiescent and 10uA in shutdown mode

Technical Details

Dimensions (without 0.1″ header):

  • Length: 28.25mm/1.11in
  • Width: 24.15mm/0.95in
  • Height: 3.03mm/0.12in
  • Weight: 2.33g

Don Luc

SparkFun – 555 Timer

SparkFun COM-09273 Mk01

SparkFun COM-09273 Mk02

SparkFun COM-09273 Mk03

SparkFun COM-09273 Mk04

SparkFun: COM-09273

Description: This is a common 555 timer/oscillator from TI. A classic for all of those first year circuits projects where you need to blink an LED, generate tone, and thousands of other great beginning projects. Google around for a huge list of resources and example projects.

Features:

  • 4.5V to 16V supply
  • 8-pin DIP package
  • Timing from microseconds to hours
  • Astable or monostable operation
  • Adjustable duty cycle
  • TTL compatible output
  • Sink or source up to 200mA

Don Luc

Categories
Archives