Electronics-Lab.com Blog

Gadre writes:

I have been using an eye loupe for viewing small electronic components, inspecting PCBs etc. However I was intrigued the other day when I saw this illuminated LED eye loupe at Sparkfun and I thought I should make my own. The instructable shows how to adapt an ordinary eye loupe to an illuminated LED eye loupe. [via]

How To Make an Illuminated LED Eye Loupe - [Link]

on photo above: ShapeOko CNC mill

It passed some time from the day we published Ponoco.com contest announcement and it’s time to give out the prizes to best ideas. There was 9 great ideas submitted on the comment section from 5 visitors. All project ideas submitted was really interesting and wasn’t easy to select the three best to give out the prizes. Thanks everyone who participated. The project list follows:

User: Skorpios – 1. pc-controlled playable maze

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User: bmsgaffer86 - 1. CNC machine to mill printed circuit boards – 2. airframes for a quadracopter – 3. remote control vehicle bodies and parts

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User: Adsumlefenice  1. geodesic dome – 2. weather/sunlight oriented responsive solar panel array – 3. gyroscopic or turbine based Tesla electrical generator – 4. dc and/or stepper motor

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User: Mike Donovan – 1. more specialized RepRap / MakerBot variants

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User: Darkness  – 1. enclosure for an electronics project – timer/status board for archery tournaments

…. and the winners are:

• 1stPrize:  user: Darkness – Enclosure for an electronics project – timer/status board for archery tournaments
• 2rd Prize: user:bmsgaffer86 - CNC machine to mill printed circuit boards 
• 3rdPrize: user:Adsumlefenice - Weather/sunlight oriented responsive solar panel array

Message to winners: please contact webmasterelectronics-lab.com for instructions on how to receive your prizes.

Virtins Multi-Instrument  is a powerful PC based (using sound card) multi-function virtual instrument software with many features like Oscilloscope, Spectrum Analyzer, Signal Generator, Spectrum 3D Plot, Data Logger, LCR Meter etc. Version 3.2 is released and available for download as 21 day full functional trial at virtins.com

Virtins Multi-Instrument 3.2 released - [Link]

Cree Inc a leader in LED lighting industry announces the commercial availability of high power leds rated at 208 lumens per watt running on 350mA current. That’s one of the most powerfull leds available today with many applications in a wide variety of fields and an efficacy record for leds. The led future seems bright!

White power led at 200 lumen/watt - [Link]

Nicholas Skinner writes:

I recently built an active RFID tracking system. It makes use of mesh networking such that only a single reader needs to be connected to a PC. Details on putting together the hardware, along with source code for the software is available (PHP making use of AJAX and SVG to show the tag locations). The project primarily uses Synapse wireless modules.

Building An Active RFID People / Asset Tracking System With Mesh Networking - [Link]

The LT2940 provides the necessary circuits to accurately measure, monitor and control power in situations where both the current and voltage may vary. Unlike traditional power monitors that rely on data converters and multiplying registers to calculate power, the LT2940 uses a true four-quadrant analog multiplier that results in 5% power measurement accuracy and 3% current measurement accuracy, ensuring that boards and systems achieve optimum power efficiency and reliability.

LT2940: Power and current monitor - [Link]

Spot welder used to weld two pieces of metal together. Welding is achieved using high current that passes throught metal pieces and weld them in that spot. A transformer is used to provide high current. Here we present three guides to build your own home made spot welder.

• How-to: Build your own spot welder
• Homemade Spot Welder
• Do-it-Yourself Spot Welder

This “Live Checking Card” concept design from Yoon Jin-Young, Lee Jun-Kyo, Lee Young-Ho, and Kim Jin-Yi has been getting a lot of bandwidth around the tubes, lately. Ignoring the details of technical implementation, the notion itself is straightforward: Your check card shows you exactly how much money you have available to spend and tracks that amount, essentially in real time. This idea won the prestigious red dot design concept award for 2009. [via]

Plastic card tracks your balance in real time? -[Link]

Circuit Board Etching, sponsored by Jameco - [Link]

Miguel build this Handheld 2.4 GHz Spectrum Analyzer insisde an old cell phone case and used the phone’s graphical LCD to display measuring results. This ISM band spectrum analyser is based on CYWM6935 module and ATMega8 mcu. [via]

Handheld 2.4 GHz Spectrum Analyzer - [Link]