PyroElectro - News, Projects & Tutorials » tools http://www.pyroelectro.com PyroElectro.com brings you cool projects & tutorials that you can do at home. Mon, 06 Feb 2012 18:15:06 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.1 dsPIC based Spectrum Analyzer http://www.pyroelectro.com/2012/01/14/dspic-based-spectrum-analyzer/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2012/01/14/dspic-based-spectrum-analyzer/#comments Sat, 14 Jan 2012 18:25:06 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=3849
“The dsPIC runs on the internal oscillator of 7.37MHz, which is then raised close to 30MHz using the PLL. This enables the board to run without external oscillators and associated loading capacitors. The signal to be analyzed is passed through a high impedance resistor (1Mohms) and then amplified by opamp (TL084). This is done to avoid any high voltage damaging the dsPIC or associated circuit. DC offset is added to the signal to enable it to be measured by ADC (0V to 5V).”

PyroFactor:
Read [Video]
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2012/01/14/dspic-based-spectrum-analyzer/feed/ 2 Arduino DVM with LCD Display http://www.pyroelectro.com/2012/01/08/arduino-dvm-with-lcd-display/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2012/01/08/arduino-dvm-with-lcd-display/#comments Sun, 08 Jan 2012 21:17:58 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=3776
“A Digital Voltmeter (DVM) is one of the first things you need if you're building electronics projects. Most of us have one. But what if you need more than one? Enter the Arduino. If you have an Arduino that can drive an LCD, you've got a multi-channel voltmeter!”

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2012/01/08/arduino-dvm-with-lcd-display/feed/ 1 Interfacing TI Launchpad to Digital Caliper http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/12/17/interfacing-ti-launchpad-to-digital-caliper/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/12/17/interfacing-ti-launchpad-to-digital-caliper/#comments Sat, 17 Dec 2011 18:00:31 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=3585
“MSP430 Launchpad from TI is a new, very affordable (4.35$), value line development platform. It uses MSP430G2231 - msp430 series mcu and includes everything you'll need to start programming the msp microcontroller. In this article I'll show how to use this development platform to read data from digital calipers and send it to a PC RS232 serial port.”

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/12/17/interfacing-ti-launchpad-to-digital-caliper/feed/ 0 A Free Alternative: Soundcard Oscilloscope http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/11/21/a-free-alternative-soundcard-oscilloscope/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/11/21/a-free-alternative-soundcard-oscilloscope/#comments Mon, 21 Nov 2011 19:54:58 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=3407
“The PC based Soundcard Oscilloscope receives its data from the Soundcard with 44.1kHz and 16 Bit resolution. The data source can be selected in the Windows mixer (Microphone, Line-In or Wave). The frequency range depends on the sound card, but 20-20000Hz should be possible with all modern cards. ”

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/11/21/a-free-alternative-soundcard-oscilloscope/feed/ 0 Adding an RGB input to an NTSC TV http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/15/adding-an-rgb-input-to-an-ntsc-tv/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/15/adding-an-rgb-input-to-an-ntsc-tv/#comments Sat, 15 Oct 2011 23:35:33 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=3024
“RGB signaling provides the cleanest form of analog video you can get from any video device. No wonder why computer monitors have used analog RGB since the introduction of VGA in 1987. But television is another story. Since the dawn of color TV, we’ve been stuck with lossy encoding methods in order to cram a full-color picture in the limited bandwidth of a monochrome transmission.”

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/15/adding-an-rgb-input-to-an-ntsc-tv/feed/ 0 PIC Win-32 based Logic Analyzer http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/12/pic-win-32-based-logic-analyzer/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/12/pic-win-32-based-logic-analyzer/#comments Wed, 12 Oct 2011 18:15:50 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=2999
“The basic system uses a special FIFO chip (7204) which is dual-ported to store logic-state samples which are transferred into a PC and displayed using a Win-32 front-end.”

If you've ever been curious about building your own logic analyzer, here's a well documented open-source analyzer that will help get you started.

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/12/pic-win-32-based-logic-analyzer/feed/ 0 Handheld 2.4 GHz Spectrum Analyzer http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/02/handheld-2-4-ghz-spectrum-analyzer/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/02/handheld-2-4-ghz-spectrum-analyzer/#comments Mon, 03 Oct 2011 00:34:27 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=2942
“After visiting some web pages about 2.4 GHz ISM band spectrum analyzers based on the CYWM6935 module, I tried to build my own analyzer, but with some improvements. The references I found on the net used the parallel port or a serial link to a host computer. I want the analyzer to be portable, and easy to transport, so I will use a microcontroller and a graphical LCD.”

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/10/02/handheld-2-4-ghz-spectrum-analyzer/feed/ 0 Programming the ATTiny85 – Arduino Style http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/09/12/programming-the-attiny85-arduino-style/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/09/12/programming-the-attiny85-arduino-style/#comments Mon, 12 Sep 2011 18:00:38 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=2797
Fans of the ATTiny now have another tool to add to their bag of tricks: an Arduino programmer! This article explains how to use an Arduino to program the ATTiny using the SPI communication protocol. The method is straight forward with no surprises so it could theoretically work with any microcontroller that has an SPI module built in.

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/09/12/programming-the-attiny85-arduino-style/feed/ 0 Accurate Milliohm Measurement http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/08/15/accurate-milliohm-measurement/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/08/15/accurate-milliohm-measurement/#comments Mon, 15 Aug 2011 18:00:37 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=2610
If you're looking to build your own ohm-meter with super accuracy this article will tell you exactly how. As an experimental setup the 4-point Kelvin sensing method is used to measure resistors to the milli-ohm units. The method used is detailed out with hardware schematic of the DIY style setup and pictures that show you what is going on.

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/08/15/accurate-milliohm-measurement/feed/ 0 Homebrew Digital Oscilloscope http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/07/31/homebrew-digital-oscilloscope/ http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/07/31/homebrew-digital-oscilloscope/#comments Sun, 31 Jul 2011 18:30:13 +0000 Chris http://www.pyroelectro.com/?p=2465
Here's an article describing a conservatively but well designed digital oscilloscope. The Digital part here means the main input is into a DAC instead of op-amps. Atmel microcontrollers are used for processing and video display. The article describes all the details of design and theory of operation, so go build your own!

PyroFactor:
Read
]]> http://www.pyroelectro.com/2011/07/31/homebrew-digital-oscilloscope/feed/ 0