Electronics-Lab.com Blog

Operating on power harvested from an NFC reader’s RF field, the AS3953 NFiC near field communication interface chip requires no external power source and at most one external component (a capacitor). According to the manufacturer, the device enables full bi-directional NFC capability at a total cost less than half that of a typical NFC reader implementation.

The AS3953 is fully compliant with NFC Forum specifications (NFCIP-1 target at 106 kbps) and the ISO 14443A standard (up to 848 kbps, to Level 4), making it suitable for use in contactless smart cards and as an NFC Forum-compatible interface tag, and it can establish instant communication with any NFC-enabled phone in close proximity (less than 10 cm). [via]

NFC Interface Chip Harvests Power From RF Field - [Link]

micro-nova.com made a rather unique FPGA development board. It packs a Xilinx Spartan-3A 200K and all its support circuitry onto a 64-pin DIP package. It is USB programmable, and also has an on-board 8-channel ADC, easy to interface to SRAM and 5-volt tolerant I/O pins, all for a very competitive price.

Features:

• Xilinx Spartan-3A FPGA – 200,000 gates
• 50MHz crystal oscillator
• 5-volt tolerant I/O pins
• 8 channel, 200 kSps, 10-bit ADC
• 4 Mbit asynchronous SRAM
• 2 Mbit configuration Flash
• Mini-USB and JTAG programmable

Mercury FPGA module in DIP format - [Link]

This article shows you how to hack a bathroom scale in a scale wifi able to publish the weight in Google Docs.

This modification allows you to publish your weight in a table in Google Spreadsheet, so you can keep monitored the weight (up to 10 persons) directly online. With Google docs you can then analyze this data and create graphs.

Wi-Fi Body Scale with Arduino - [Link]

New family of conectors picoMAX from company Wago is substantially lower than traditional connectors and it is extremely resistant to vibrations.

picoMAX is a vast system of connectors with spring contacts for „wire-to-board“, „wire-to-wire“, „board-to-wire“ but also „panel-feed-through“ connections with very compact dimensions and universal usage, with pinov 3.5mm, 5.0mm and 7.5mm pitch. The biggest construction novelty of the picoMAX series is a new substantially changed design in comparison to a traditional design. New design of a pin+socket contact bridge enabled a significant decreasing of the connector´s height and at the same time a perfect mechanical connection of both parts to each other. It means a significant improvement of resistance to vibrations (up to 20g) in comparison to common connectors. A sturdy connection is further supported by integrated locking latches which avoid disengagement caused by vibrations

A new construction resulted in a very short path for an electric signal, what means a lower contact resistance (contact bridge and pins are from a tin-plated electrolytic copper) and a higher reliability. An absolute reliability of the contact is ensured even at high temperatures, thanks to an innovative clamp technology and an insulation material based on glass fiber reinforced PPA (polyphtalamide). As we might expect at Wago mark – connecting of wire conductors is simple, without specialty tools (only a usual screwdriver is necessary to release a wire) and in praxis there´s no limitation regarding the type or termination of a wire conductor (solid, stranded, fine-stranded, with ferrules, …).

A big plus of the picoMAX series is a diversity. With the picoMAX series we can be sure, that in this family we´ll find mutually compatible types for all connections. Simple and at the same time sophisticated system of coding enables to ensure a correct installation, for example in applications with several connections on one place. Despite of a vast amount of combinations of various connectors, the picoMAX system features a simple and an intuitive application.

picoMAX is also available in the „picoMAX eCOM“ version – a PCB terminal block, which can also be used as a removable connection (plug-in). It is even more compact and economical version with pins without a plastic housing, suitable for applications in which you don´t need all advantages of the picoMAX system.

A complete description of the whole series would require many pages of text. A better and quicker idea will provide to you the attached video, picoMAX flyer and picoMAX catalogue. 3,5mm pitch version (2091-xx) is for wire conductors 0,2-1,5 mm2/10A, 5.0mm pitch version (2092-xx) is for wire conductors 0,2-2,5 mm2/16A/250-630V. 7,5mm pitch version (2092-xx) has similar properties as the previous one, but it has a higher nominal voltage (400-1000V).

picoMAX connectors are usable literally everywhere – in a huge amount of versions will be very probably found the right ones for your application.

Small “big” connectors – Wago picoMAX - [Link]

Multimeter VA588 also measures an insulation resistance at voltages of 50-1000V thus enabling to check many devices or an electric installation.

A possibility to measure an insulation resistance of various devices is very useful and it is often able to discover a beginning problem on time – sooner, than it will appear in a form of a device malfunction or an injury. Though VA588 doesn´t replace an expensive professional revisional instrument but it is able to reliably discover a diminished insulation and significantly increase safety of your workplace.

VA588 literally represents a 2in1 solution. Besides an insulation tester with a selectable testing voltage of 50-100-500-1000V, you also gain a solid automatic range multimeter with max. 5000 counts. As an insulation resistance in the most of cases doesn´t have a linear character, the measurement at a higher voltage is much closer to reality than measurement with a common multimeter with a testing voltage of 0,5-3V. In other words, VA588 creates a testing voltage by a built-in DC/DC module and from the current flowing through a testing circuit it calculates an insulation resistance value.

VA588 also features further useful features like True RMS measuring, measurement of AC current with 0,1uA resolution, 51-segment analog bargraph and measuring of frequency of linear as well as digital signals. Also beneficial is the possibility to activate/ deactivate an auto-off function.

Test the safety of your devices with the VA588 multimeter - [Link]

Brian Bailey writes :

Flash memory has very quickly risen from being an obscure memory type to perhaps becoming the dominant memory type for many devices, including music players, cell phones, tablets and now increasingly servers and mainstream PCs. But flash memory does not scale quite as well as the more traditional DRAM that it is replacing. It is thought that DRAM can scale down to 1nm whereas we are already hitting some problems with the scaling of the floating gate in NAND flash. It is not thought that planar NAND can go below 10nm which is only a couple of processes steps away from where we are today.

3D NAND flash is coming - [Link]

This is a great App that allows you to view .brd and .sch Files from CADSOFT Eagle V6.x and up on your android device. The demo version allows you to view only the demo files and a paid version costs only 0.99 EUR. App works really smooth and it allows you to select your desired layers! A must have app for electronic engineers!

Eagle Viewer for Android! - [Link]

Locate component hot-spots  easy but with a cost – [via]

Advanced Thermal Solutions has introduced the TLC-100 Kit which features spray-on thermochromic liquid crystals that change color at different temperatures to reveal heat issues on chips and other electronic components.

Applying the liquid crystals enables engineers to visually find hotspots and temperature fields.

TLC-100 liquid crystals are designed for heat transfer studies and mapping heat fields on electronic components or boards. The crystals change color at a specified temperature starting at red, changing to green then blue. For electronics cooling applications, this provides the user accurate information about the location of hot spots on a device, their temperature and temperature gradient.

Spray-on thermochromic liquid crystals reveal hot spots on electronic components - [Link]

soldersplash.co.uk folks are creating a 24 channel Servo controller. It’s controllable over SPI or USB and can be stacked on top of our SplashBase board to enable network control. Up to 5 of these can be used to enable control of 120 servos in total.

24 Channel Servo Controller- [Link]

0.01A, 10mV but even 2A are no problem for the AxW-K series Fujitsu relay. That´s why they´re a reliable component for a linear-undistorted transfer of diverse signals.

AxW-K relay series are well-proven 2-pole relays (DPDT) reliable switching even very small signals, already from 0,01mA/10mV DC, but they won´t be scared of 1A/30VDC (0,5A/125VAC). Reliable switching is ensured by bifurcated silver-based contacts plated by gold. As, circuits for signal processing usually consist of SMD components, neither a relay intended for such applications shoudn´t be too high. With the height of only 5 mm, AxW-K relay series meet this requirement very well and a standard DIL pitch makes their usage and PCB design easier at the same time.

In the AxW-K series can be found several types – with 1.5V – 48V coils, and also bistable (latching) types (with 1 or 2 coils). Types A3W,A5W,AL-D5W-K,A12W and A24W are kept in stock, other types we´re able to provide you upon order. Further features of the AxW-K series relays result from their construction as a classic electromagnetic relay – high isolation, galvanic isolation from a control circuit, ability to transfer small signals without distortion, resistance to various surges and other. Besides telecommunication circuits, AxW-K series relays are ideal for switching of signals from a wide range of industrial detectors and sensors, audio devices and other.

Detailed information will provide you the Fujitsu AxW-K datasheet. In case of interest in any Fujitsu relay, please contact us at info@soselectronic.com

Small signal relay AxW-K won’t refuse any signal - [Link]