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Stencil Design for Exposed-Pad Packages

Stencil Design for Exposed-Pad Packages

A properly designed solder stencil helps to ensure successful reflow soldering with IC packages that have an exposed thermal pad.


Teardown Tuesday: IoT Camera

Teardown Tuesday: IoT Camera

In this teardown, we are going to take a look at the insides of an internet-connected camera.


News Aug 02, 2016 by Alex Udanis
Driving LED Arrays with an Arduino

Driving LED Arrays with an Arduino

All you need to know about LED arrays. If you want to learn about them, drive one using an Arduino, or build them, this is the place to start.


Understanding Arduino UNO Hardware Design

Understanding Arduino UNO Hardware Design

This article explains how Arduino works from an electronic design perspective. It also explains the role of every part of the Arduino.


Teardown Tuesday: Wireless Mice!

Teardown Tuesday: Wireless Mice!

Once a luxury item, they are now commonplace. Wireless mice are pretty popular, but what's in them?


News Jun 14, 2016 by Alex Udanis
Reflow Soldering? It’s So Much Easier with a Solder Paste Stencil

Reflow Soldering? It’s So Much Easier with a Solder Paste Stencil

In spite of their convenience, the cost of solder paste stencils has prevented many hobbyists from using them. But the use of polyimide film has brought the prices within reach... if you know how and where to get them.


C-BISCUIT Power: Assembly and Testing of Regulator and Crowbar Circuits

C-BISCUIT Power: Assembly and Testing of Regulator and Crowbar Circuits

Continuing the C-BISCUIT series, this article outlines how to populate and test the surface mount PCBs designed in a previous article using a hot air rework station and other various electronics tools.


Projects May 31, 2016 by Patrick Lloyd
How to Build an Arduino-Controlled AM/FM/SW Radio

How to Build an Arduino-Controlled AM/FM/SW Radio

Combine the Si4844-A10 analog-tuned radio receiver with an Arduino to make a full-featured multiband radio.


Build a Development Platform for a PICAXE 40X2

Build a Development Platform for a PICAXE 40X2

The PICAXE 40X2 features 32 I/O ports and speeds up to 64MHz; a development platform simplifies project design using this workhorse.


Introduction to Capacitive Touch Sensing

Introduction to Capacitive Touch Sensing

In this article, we will take a detailed (but not too detailed) look at the electrical principles that allow us to detect the presence of a human finger using little more than a capacitor.


Do-It-Yourself Soldering Station with an ATmega8

Do-It-Yourself Soldering Station with an ATmega8

The mighty soldering iron. If you need one, want one, or just love to build stuff, then this project is for you.


Projects May 05, 2016 by Cezar Chirila
Build a 2-Digit Up/Down Counter with a PICAXE 20M2

Build a 2-Digit Up/Down Counter with a PICAXE 20M2

Counters using 7-segment LEDs are fun and useful projects for scoreboards and other numerical displays; here's one you can build.


Build an Automatic Computer Display Rotator With an Arduino

Build an Automatic Computer Display Rotator With an Arduino

Learn how to build a device which senses when your computer monitor is physically rotated, and automatically tells your computer to rotate the display accordingly.


Projects Apr 12, 2016 by Matthew Davis
C-BISCUIT Power: 5V 3A Buck Regulator for Wandboard

C-BISCUIT Power: 5V 3A Buck Regulator for Wandboard

Design and theory behind the 5V-3A buck regulator based on the LM25575 to be used in the C-BISCUIT robot project.


Projects Feb 26, 2016 by Patrick Lloyd
Controlling a Toaster Oven with a PICAXE - Part 2

Controlling a Toaster Oven with a PICAXE - Part 2

Soldering surface mount components by hand can be done, but reflow soldering in an oven is much quicker and produces more consistent results. Building a microprocessor controlled reflow oven is well within the abilities and budget of many hobbyists.


Controlling a Toaster Oven with a PICAXE - Part 1

Controlling a Toaster Oven with a PICAXE - Part 1

A toaster oven can do more than just make toast; guided by a PICAXE microcontroller, it can make a sweet reflow soldering station.


Measure Thermocouple Temperature with the MAX31855 and a PICAXE

Measure Thermocouple Temperature with the MAX31855 and a PICAXE

Whether for cooking or reflow soldering, a thermocouple is often the best choice for a high temperature sensor. The MAX31855, a PICAXE-08M2, a serial LCD, and a few lines of code will do the trick.


Hack Your Toaster Oven to Become a Thermocouple Measurement System

Hack Your Toaster Oven to Become a Thermocouple Measurement System

The intuitive, step-by-step procedure presented in this article will help you to successfully perform reflow soldering in your toaster oven.


Projects Dec 18, 2015 by Robert Keim
Build a PICAXE ESP-01 Wi-Fi Communicator

Build a PICAXE ESP-01 Wi-Fi Communicator

A PCB for a Wi-Fi communicator using a PICAXE 08M2 and an ESP-01 module driven by interactive code makes a handy setup for data collection and IoT reporting.


Introduction to the Manually-Controlled Toaster Oven Reflow

Introduction to the Manually-Controlled Toaster Oven Reflow

With the help of a DIY thermocouple measurement system, you can use a cheap toaster oven to accurately reproduce a reflow-soldering temperature profile.