Review – Starman Electric Databridge Wireless I/O Modules

[30/09/2010 - Updated with radio licensing information at end of article]

Hello everyone!

Today we are going to have a look at some new wireless data modules that have just arrived on the market. They are the Databridge Wireless I/O modules from Starman Electric. Although there are many types of wireless modules out there, such as the discount 315 MHz units that are somewhat unreliable (well for me); and the great XBee series (as we used in Moving Forward with Arduino – Chapter Fourteen) – these Starman modules take it to the next level. How?

The concept of a databridge is a delightfully simple one. The two modules take the place of a wire. Digital, analogue, UART, even PC serial. No firmware settings to adjust, just plug them in and they work!

First of all, there are two physical types of unit, either DIP mount or SMD. The units below are the DIP version, 1mW output power:

The graph paper is 5mm square, and the module measures 53.85mm by 25.91mm. The DIP packaging (above) is meant for experimenters and prototypes, you can order SMD versions for production runs. There are also two power-output versions, 1mW with a theoretical range of 1km, and a 100 mW with a range of 4km. The higher power modules require the use of an external antenna. They require 3.3 volts DC, with a peak current draw of 37mA for the 1mW, and 120mA for the 100mW. For demonstration purposes I am using a Texas Instruments LP2950 to provide 3.3 volts DC at up to 100 mA.

Although the specification sheet is quite long (and you can download it from here) there are a few features that really stand out, including:

• Automatic connection – a pair of modules will ‘lock’ onto each other without any extra work by the user;
• A very high sampling rate of 200 samples per second with a latency of five millisconds;
• Spread-spectrum radio operation – the modules will skip frequencies themselves for reliable connections;
• You can have sixteen unique pairs working in the same area without cross-interference;
• You can have two analogue channels and multiple digital channels simultaneously.

But enough talking, time to put them to the test. I will recreate some examples found in the Getting Started manual available for download here.

As I only have one pair of modules, and somehow I think my neighbours won’t be using any at this point in time, there is no need to set the pair’s unique network ID. However you do need to specify the master and slave in the module relationship (no switches…), which is done with pin 4 – to Vcc for master, and pin 4 to GND for slave. Now on with the show!

The first example of interest is number two in the guide – the wireless digital and analogue I/O bridge. To me this seems like an interesting wireless “repeater” to some Arduino analogue and digital outputs. Here is my test schematic used for the demonstrations in this review:

… and my usual messy breadboards:

Well this is a temporary test! The slave module board is running from a 9V PP3 battery so I can take it for a walk.

Anyhow, the setup is – four digital out lines from the TwentyTen Arduino-compatible board, which are either high or low (+5v or GND). These are connected to pins ‘digital signal’ 1~4 on the master Databridge. Furthermore, TwentyTen analogue pin 1 went to the Databridge ‘analog signal’ pin 1. At the slave side of things, there are four LEDs with current limiting resistors connected to pins ‘digital signal’ 1~4; and two wires each from ‘analog signal’ 1 would be connected to a voltmeter. The digital output pins on slave modules default to ‘high’ unless driven otherwise.

Finally, there is also an LED and current limiting resistor coming from pin 32 of each unit – the ‘link’ pin. The link pin is a lifesaver. Here is a great feature – when the pair of units are within range of each other and matched as a pair, link goes high (3.3V). Out of range? It goes low (0V). Therefore you can test the range on these modules just by powering them up on a breadboard each, with the LEDs on pin 32, and go for a walk with a unit. When the LED is off – you’re out of range. And when you come back into range, the modules reconnect automatically.

Back to the test. First I just created a loop which turned the digital pins on and off, and the matching LEDs on the slave unit blinked on and off as expected. No extra code, no trying to create wacky functions to multiplex/demultiplex signals – this just works. The modules are like an invisible bunch of wires between two points. Never has anything wireless worked so easily for me.

Here is a quick video clip, first notice the lonely LEDs on each breadboard – the are the link LEDs. When I power cycle the master or slave, notice how quickly they reconnect. Please note that the slave unit retains the state of the digital outputs if connection is lost. So if a pin is high while connected – if the module loses radio contact, the pin will stay high.

The theoretical maximum working range is quoted as 1km for these 1mW modules. My indoor test allowed a distance of 11 metres, with three concrete walls of a thickness of ~110mm in between. Unfortunately living in my area I could not find a flat, open area large enough to test the maximum open-air range – however considering the indoor ‘concrete wall’ test and my experience with other wireless equipment of this power output, it would be accurate in an outdoor, line-of-sight application. As always, conduct your own real-life tests before making any project commitments  and so on.

And as always, I was curious about the current draw of the units while in use. The master module with the link LED on measured 53 milliamps, with the slave at the boundary of the radio range:

The current use only dropped around 2 or 3 milliamps when the slave was next to the master. The slave module used 59 milliamps with the link LED on:

Therefore taking the LED current draw into consideration, the power usage of these modules is quite low considering the level of communication between them and the high sampling rate.

The next test was to see how the analogue data lines performed. According to example four in the Getting Started guide, the modules will reproduce an input of between 0 and 2.4 volts DC. So I have placed an 11k ohm resistor in series with a 10k ohm potentiometer with analog input 1, and measured the resulting output from the slave. Notice how I still have the digital data lines in use while using the analogue line.  Here is a short clip of this in action:

Amazing – a multitasking wireless module. Note that you could always use an op-amp to boost the output voltage back to the 0~5V DC range, an example of this is on page nine of the Getting Started guide.

Those above were but two from the many possibilities available when using these units:

• wireless serial data links
• remote on/off control of six items
• robotics remote control
• microcontroller I/O wireless extension…

Frankly – if you need to wirelessly connect more than one data line simultaneously, you have an excellent solution with the Databridge modules.

Update! – Radio licensing information:

These modules operate in the 2.4 GHz ISM (industrial, scientific and medical) band. For those in the USA, the Databridge is an FCC-approved “class B” device, and is only for use by OEM integrators (see page 16 of the datasheet.pdf). Starman Electric also state that the Databridge is certified for Canada and the EU (ETSI).

For those here in Australia, these units are operated under the conditions of the Radiocommunications (Low Interference Potential Devices) Class Licence 2000, and I feel are classed as “spread spectrum unit” under the preceding license.

Please conduct your own research with regards to radio transmitter licensing in your area. Furthermore, please read the tronixstuff “boring stuff” here.

But enough about that, where you can get them?

Australian customers can purchase these modules from our local distributor - Interworld Electronics; North Americans and the rest of the world directly via Starman Electric.

Remember, if you have any questions about these modules please contact Starman Electric via their website.

Otherwise, have fun, stay safe, be good to each other – and make something! 

[Note - these wireless modules were loan units received from Starman Electric for review purposes]

Moving Forward with Arduino – Chapter 18 – RGB LED Matrix

Use an RGB LED matrix with Arduino in chapter 18  of a series originally titled “Getting Started with Arduino!” by John Boxall – A tutorial on the Arduino universe. The first chapter is here, the complete series is detailed here.

[Updated 09/01/2013]

In this instalment we will take a turn away from the serious things for a while, (plus I wanted a bit of a break) and instead enjoy some introductory fun with common-cathode RGB LED matrices. (Matrices is the plural form of matrix). I am sure some of you have seen these do all sorts of things, so now it is time for me to learn about them and share this with you.

First of all, let’s have a look at one:

Quite large – 60 by 60 mm. Thankfully this unit has the diffused/opaque LED surfaces – some cheaper ones have clear surfaces which don’ t look that good – it is like looking directly at an incandescent light globe, you can see the element more than the colour it emits. When you turn the matrix over, there are less pins than a newcomer may expect:

Two rows of sixteen pins. Considering there is so much real-estate on the bottom, one would think the manufacturer could print some markings on there – but they don’t. So you need the (example) data sheet.pdf. The three most important things we need to know are:

• the forward voltages: red – 2 V, green and blue – 3.3;
• the current at the recommended forward voltage – 20 milliamps;
• and the pinouts (click to enlarge):

It looks like a mess but isn’t that hard to work out. Do you remember how we used the 8×8 red LED matrix back in chapter nine? We will work on the same style of design in this chapter as well. I do realise there are chips from TI, Maxim and so on that are quite tricky – but I am trying to keep the cost down, of which I am sure you would appreciate. So instead we will use four 74HC595 shift registers (one to control the anodes of each colour, and one to control the cathodes via a bank of switching transistors.

To get this started, first let’s get the hardware out of the way. To fire this baby up we will need:

• an Arduino Uno or 100% compatible board;
• a common-cathode RGB LED matrix;
• 24 x 560 ohm resistors (this value may seem like a bit much – but the display was still very bright)
• 8 x 1 kilo ohm resistors (for transistors)
• 8 x BC548 transistors
• 4 x 74HC595 shift registers (IC1~4)
• 1 x 1uF 16V (or higher) electrolytic capacitor
• 1 x 0.1 uF 16V (or higher) ceramic capacitor
• a nice large breadboard
• plenty of connecting wire

Initially I was concerned about the amount of current this circuit would draw, however it was not to be an issue. With all the LEDs on, using the 560 ohm current-limiting resistors, the drain was much less than expected. To check, I powered the lot from a 9V PP3 battery and measured the current flow. 135 milliamps, not bad at all.

It just occurred to me that if you had an Arduino Mega-compatible board – it could directly take care of everything instead of using three of the shift registers. So here is our schematic:

In the schematic above, there are eight transistor-resistor combinations between the cathodes of the matrix (pins 25, 24, 23, 10, 9, 8, 7 and IC4. And there are 560 ohm resistors on all output pins of ICs 1~3.  Furthermore,  note that your LED matrix’s pinouts may vary – so please check your data sheet before wiring it all up… having to retrace all those wires once they’re in is a real problem. As you can see from the resulting breadboard photo:

Now how does all this work?

Quite easily really, the hardest part is putting the hardware together. First of all, please review how we used shift registers in chapter four. And, you may recall how we used two 74HC595 shift registers to control an 8×8 red LED matrix back in chapter nine. This is just the same type of set up, but with two more shift registers – now we have one for the cathodes (as we did before), and one shift register each for the red, green and blue LEDs.

Instead of sending out two bytes of data using shiftOut();, we need to send out four bytes. For example, to turn on every LED at once (thereby mixing red, green and blue – producing white) we would create a function such as:

void allOn()

// turns on all LEDs.

{

digitalWrite(latchpin, LOW);

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, 255); // cathodes

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, 255); // green

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, 255); // blue

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, 255); // red

digitalWrite(latchpin, HIGH);

}

So as you can see, the first byte out the door is the data for the cathodes, in this case 255 – which is 11111111 in binary, or in 74HC595-speak “hey, turn on all outputs”. And the same again in turn for each bank of colours, the other three registers are told to open all gates and let current flow through the LEDs to the common-cathode lines controlled by IC4. So naturally, using some binary to base-10 conversion you can set which LEDs to come on and where. And of course, by mixing the primary colours – you can create new ones. For example, the additive colour chart gives us:

So now you can create yellow with red and green; red and blue makes purple; green and blue makes aqua or teal, etc. However I am colour blind, so you tell me.

Example 18.1

This time we will view the demonstration video first:

Download the matching sketch.

Now to examine how each of the effects were created, so you can understand,  use and modify them yourself.

The basic operations are contained in these four lines:

digitalWrite(latchpin, LOW);

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, c); // cathodes

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, g); // green

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, b); // blue

shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, r); // red

digitalWrite(latchpin, HIGH);

So all you need to do is replace r, b, g and c with the base-10 values you want. For example, to light up the red LED in position 1, 1 – use 1, 0, 0, 1. Or if you want the whole first line to be green, use: 255, 0, 0, 1. After a few moments you should become proficient at converting binary to base-10. This chart from chapter four should help you:

Remember that you can also create patterns and so on. For example, if you only wanted LEDs 1 and 8 for your x-axis, you would add 1 and 128 together, and use the sum (129) for your x-value. To save some time, I have created a few functions for you to use. For example:

void displayLEDs(int rr, int gg, int bb, int cc, int dd)

{

  digitalWrite(latchpin, LOW);

  shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, cc); // cathodes

  shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, gg); // green

  shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, bb); // blue

  shiftOut(datapin, clockpin, MSBFIRST, rr); // red

  digitalWrite(latchpin, HIGH);

  delay(dd);

}

So instead of having to manually repeat a lot of code, you can just insert the values into displayLEDs();. Another handy thing to know about is looping. When looking at the matrix it is easy to accidentally think “Oh, I can just loop from 1 to 8″… No. Remember your binary to base-10 conversions. So if you wanted to scroll a horizontal line of red LEDs your cathode or y-axis value must increment as such: 1, 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 64, 128. Every time the loop cycles, it needs to double the value. To do this, consider:

  for (int q=1; q<129; q*=2)
  {
     displayLEDs(255,0,0,55,100);
  }

Notice the q*=2? This will multiply the value of q by 2 every loop. Very useful. Another method would be to create an array, as such:

int va[]={1,2,4,8,16,32,64,128,255};

and refer to the elements as required. This is done within the function lostinspace(); within example 18.1.

The next thing to take into account is the screen refresh. Every time you send four bytes of data through the shift registers, those new bytes will ‘shift’ the old bytes out of the way. So if you want to alter the display even by just one LED, you need to redraw the entire display over again with four new bytes of data. Also note that to ‘hold’ an image on the display, you only need to send the data once – the shift registers will stay put until the next four bytes of data come along.

And sometimes, you might just want to turn off the display. Just send four zeros down to the registers, as the function clearMatrix(); does in the example sketch.

For now, please review the various functions found in example 18.1 – alter them, mess about and have some fun. Thus concludes our introduction to RGB LED matrices. However, stay tuned for more about this and other interesting things! If you have any requests, don’t hesitate to ask.

Have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Education – Introduction to the Optocoupler

Hello everyone!

Today we are going to start examining Optocouplers. These are an interesting and quite convenient component, and relatively easy to implement.

First of all, what is an optocoupler?

It is a small device that allows the transmission of a signal between parts of a circuit while keeping those two parts electrically isolated. How is this so? Inside our typical optocoupler are two things – an LED and a phototransistor. When a current runs through the LED, it switches on  - at which point the phototransitor detects the light and allows another current to flow through it. And then when the LED is off, current cannot flow through the phototransistor. All the while the two currents are completely electrically isolated (when operated within their stated parameters!)

Let’s have a look at some typical optocouplers. Here are the schematic symbols for some more common units (click to enlarge):

Switching DC current will flow from A to B, causing current to flow from C to D. The schematic for figure one is a simple optocoupler, consisting of the LED and the photo-transistor. However, this is not suitable for AC current, as the diode will only conduct current in one direction. For AC currents, we have an example in figure two – it has diodes positioned to allow current to flow in either polarity. Figure three is an optocoupler with a photodarlington output type. These have a much higher output gain, however can only handle lesser frequencies (that is, they need more time to switch on and off).

Physically, optocouplers can be found in the usual range of packaging, such as:

DIP casing

Notice the DIP casing doesn’t have the semi-circle moulded into one end like ICs do, so the white dot indicates pin one.

TO-78 (“Sputnik!”)

surface-mount SOIC-8

Some of you may be thinking “why use an optocoupler, I have a relay?” Good question. There are many reasons, including:

• Size and weight. Relays are much larger, and heavier;
• Solid state – no moving parts, so no metal fatigue;
• Optocouplers are more suited to digital electronics – as they don’t have moving parts they can switch on and off much quicker than a relay;
• Much less current required to activate than a relay coil
• The input signal’s impedance may change, which could affect the circuit – using an optocoupler to split the signal removes this issue;

Furthermore, the optocoupler has many more interesting uses. Their property of electrical isolation between the two signals allows many things to be done. For example:

• you might wish to detect when a telephone is ringing, in order to switch on a beacon. However you cannot just tap into the telephone line. As the ring is an AC current, this can be used with an AC-input optocoupler. Then when the line current starts (ring signal) the optocoupler can turn on the rest of your beacon circuit. Please note that you most likely need to be licensed to do such things. Have a look at the example circuits in this guide from Vishay: Vishay Optocouplers.pdf.
• You need to send digital signals from an external device into a computer input – an optocoupler allows the signals to pass while keeping the external device electrically isolated from the computer
• You need to switch a very large current or voltage, but with a very small input current;
• and so on…

But as expected, the optocoupler has several parameters to be aware of. Let’s look at a data sheet for a very common optocoupler, the 4N25 – 4N25 data sheet.pdf – and turn to page two. The parameters for the input and output stages are quite simple, as they resemble those of the LED and transistor. Then there is the input to output isolation voltage – which is critical. This is the highest voltage that can usually be applied for one second that will not breach the isolation inside the optocoupler.

Side note: You may hear about optoisolators. These are generally known as optocouplers that have output isolation voltages of greater than 5000 volts; however some people regularly interchange optocouplers and optoisolators.

The next parameter of interest is the current-transfer ratio, or CTR. This is the ratio between the output current flow and the input current that caused it. Normally this is around ten to fifty percent – our 4N25 example is twenty percent at optimum input current. CTR will be at a maximum when the LED is the brightest – and not necessarily at the maximum current the LED can handle. Once the CTR is known, you can configure your circuit for an analogue response, in that the input current (due to the CTR) controls the output current.

Finally, the frequency, or bandwidth the optocoupler can accept.  Although this can be measured in microseconds, these parameters can be altered by other factors. For example, the higher the frequency of the current through the input stage, the less accurate the output stage can render the signal. The phototransistors can also be a function of the maximum bandwidth; furthermore if the optocoupler has a darlington output stage, the bandwidth can be reduced by a factor of ten. Here is an example shown on the old cathode-ray oscilloscope. I have set up a digital pulse, at varying frequencies. The upper channel on the display is the input stage, and the lower channel is the output stage:

Notice as the frequency increases, the ability of the output stage to accurately represent the input signal decreases, for example the jitter and the generally slow fall time. Therefore, especially working with high speed digital electronics, the bandwidth of your optocoupler choice does need to be taken into account.

Thus ends the introduction to optocouplers. I hope you understood and can apply what we have discussed today. In the meanwhile have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column? And join our friendly Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Some information from various Isocom and Vishay data sheets and publications; various optocoupler images from element14.

Moving Forward with Arduino – Chapter 17 – GPS

This is part of a series originally titled “Getting Started with Arduino!” by John Boxall – A tutorial on the Arduino universe. The first chapter is here, the complete series is detailed here.

Updated 23/01/2013

In this instalment we will introduce and examine the use of the Global Positioning System receivers with Arduino systems. What is the GPS? In very simple terms, a fleet of satellites orbit the earth, transmitting signals from space. Your GPS receiver uses signals from these satellites to triangulate position, altitude, compass headings, etc.; and also receives a time and date signal from these satellites. The most popular GPS belongs to the USA, and was originally for military use – however it is now available for users in the free world.

Interestingly, the US can switch off or reduce accuracy of their GPS in various regions if necessary, however many people tell me this is not an issue unless you’re in a combat zone against the US forces. For more information, have a look at Wikipedia or the USAF Space Command GPS Ops Centre site. As expected,  other countries have their own GPS as well – such as Russia, China, and the EU is working on one as well.

So – how can us mere mortals take advantage of a multi-billion dollar space navigation system just with our simple Arduino? Easy – with an inexpensive GPS receiver and shield. When searching for some hardware to use, I took the easy way out and ordered this retail GPS pack which includes the required Arduino shield and header sockets, short connecting cable and an EM-406A 20-channel GPS receiver with in-built antenna:

For reference now and in the future, here is the data book for the GPS receiver: EM-406 manual.pdf. All you will need is an Arduino Uno or 100% compatible board, and the usual odds and ends. When it comes time to solder up your shield, if possible try and sit it into another shield or board – this keeps the pins in line and saves a lot of trouble later on:

And we’re done:

Please notice in the photo above the cable is a lot longer between the shield and the GPS receiver. This was an extra cable, which makes things a lot more convenient, and it never hurts to have a spare. Finally, on the shield please take note of the following  two switches – the shield/GPS power switch:

and the UART/DLINE switch:

For now, leave this set to UART while a sketch is running. When uploading a sketch to the board, this needs to be on DLINE. Always turn off your GPS shield board before changing  this switch to avoid damage. Example 17.1 – Is anyone out there? Now, let’s get some of that juicy GPS data from outer space. You will need:

• Arduino Uno or compatible board
• a suitable GPS setup – for example the GPS shield bundle

Once you have your hardware assembled, upload the following sketch. Now for desk jockeys such as myself, there is a catch – as a GPS receives signals from satellites the receiver will need to be in line of sight with the open sky. If you have your desk next to a window, or a portable computer you’re in luck.  Look at the LED on your GPS receiver – if it is blinking, it has a lock (this is what you want); on - it is searching for satellites; off - it is off (!). The first time you power up your receiver, it may take a  minute or so to lock onto the available satellites, this period of time is the cold start time.

This will be in ideal conditions – i.e. with a clear line of sight from the unit to the sky (clouds excepted!). Once this has been done, the next time you power it up, the searching time is reduced somewhat as our receiver stores some energy in a supercap (very high-value capacitor) to remember the satellite data, which it will use the next time to reduce the search time (as it already has a “fair idea” where the satellites are). Now open the serial monitor box, sit back and wait a moment or two, and you should be presented with something very similar to this:

What a mess. What on earth does all that mean? For one thing the hardware is working correctly. Excellent! Now how do we decode these space-signals… They are called NMEA codes. Let’s break down one and see what it means. For example, the line: $GPRMC,165307.000,A,2728.9620,S,15259.5159,E,0.20,48.84,140910,,*27 Each field represents:

• $GPRMC tells us the following data is essential point-velocity-time data;
• 165307.000 is the universal time constant (Greenwich Mean Time) – 16:53:07 (hours, minutes, seconds). So you now have a clock as well.
• A is status – A for active and data is valid, V for void and data is not valid.
• 2728.9620 is degrees latitude position data = 27 degrees, 28.962′
• S for south (south is negative, north is positive)
• 15259.5159 is degrees longitude position data = 152 degrees, 59.5159′
• E for east (east is positive, west is negative)
• 0.20 is my speed in knots over ground. This shows the inaccuracy  that can be caused by not having a clear view of the sky
• 48.84 – course over ground (0 is north, 180 is south, 270 is west, 90 is east)
• 140910 is the date – 14th September, 2010
• the next is magnetic variation for which we don’t have a value
• checksum number

Thankfully the data is separated by commas. This will be useful if you are logging the data to a text file using a microSD shield, you will then be able to use the data in a spreadsheet very easily. Later on we will work with data from other codes, but if you can’t wait, here is the NMEA Reference Manual that explains them all. In the meanwhile, how can we convert the location data (longitude and latitude) received into a position on a map?

• Visit this website
• In the box that says “paste your data here”, enter (for example, using my data above)

name,desc,latitude,longitude home,home,-2728.9660,15259.5143

For example: Then click “Draw the Map”, and you will be presented with a Google map in a new window that you can zoom around in, change views and so on. Interestingly enough the coordinates returned in the test above were accurate down to around three meters. Later on that website will be of great use, as you can import text files of coordinates, and it will plot them out for you. If you use this mapping site a lot, please consider making a donation to help them out. Now as always, there is an easier way. The purpose of the previous demonstrations were to see the raw data that comes from a receiver, and understand how to work with it.

Moving on… now we can receive GPS signals – and in the past we have used LCD modules – so we can make our own variations of portable (!) GPS modules and other devices. At this point you will need to install another Arduino library - TinyGPS. So download and install that before moving forward.

Example 17.2 – My First GPS

Using various pieces of hardware from the past, we will build a simple, portable unit to display our data.

You will need:

• Arduino Uno or compatible board
• a suitable GPS setup – for example the GPS shield bundle;
• An LCD with HD44780 interface that has the ability to connect to your Arduino system. The size is up to you, we’re using a 20 x 4 character unit. If you have dropped in or are a bit rusty on LCDs, please read chapter twenty-four;
• An external power supply for your setup (if you want to walk up and down the street at midnight like I did) – for example, a 9V battery snap soldered to a DC plug is a quick and dirty solution!

Luckily I have made an LCD shield in the past which works nicely, and doesn’t use digital pins D0 and D1 – these are used by the GPS shield to get the data back to the Arduino. Therefore the whole lot just plugged in together as shields do. Here is the sketch for your consideration. Before uploading the sketch, turn off the GPS shield, set the DLINE/UART switch on the GPS shield to DLINE, upload the sketch, then set it back again, then back on with the GPS shield.

So here it is all thrown together in my lunch box:

And a close-up view of the LCD. There was not room for the course data, but you can modify the sketch accordingly. The data will be a little off due to the photo being taken indoors:

Now for some outdoor fun. In the video clip below, we take a ride on the bus and see our GPS in action…

I had to take an old bus that wasn’t full of security cameras, so the ride is bumpy:

As we have a lot of electronics in this setup, it would be interesting to know the current draw – to help plan for an appropriate power supply. The trusty meter gives us:

Wow – a maximum of 122 milliamps even with that LCD backlight blazing away. So when we make some GPS logging devices without such a monstrous LCD, we should be able to get the current draw down a lot more.

The purpose of this example was to show how you can manipulate the data from the GPS receiver. We continue with GPS part II here.

Have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Breaking up an automatic room deodoriser – part one

In this article we attempt to break down an automatic room deodoriser and have some fun.

Updated 18/03/2013

[Update - we won round two]

Today we are going to tear down an automatic room deodoriser. Why?

Why not!

After walking around the supermarket as one does, pontificating over the need for doughnuts, I noticed this package on sale for eight dollars:

What grabbed my attention was the words “movement sensor” and the price tag. A sensor by itself can cost more. Where’s the catch? I am sure the company makes their money back from selling the refills, in a similar method to ink cartridges and razor blades. Good for them. However, perhaps this can be good for us! So into the basket and home it came.

My flatmates thought it was a lovely gesture to have one in the hallway. Hah! As Dave Jones would say, “don’t turn it on – take it apart!”

So let’s go…

The can of spray went straight into the WC, nothing of interest there. Three alkaline AA cells were included:

Well that’s a good start, you can always use these in a camera or something else. Armed with a philips-head screwdriver and a pair of needle-nosed pliers, the entire assembly came apart very easily and without force. I must congratulate the designers, you almost get the feeling that this is designed to be repaired if broken, and not replaced. The process of dissassembly was quite easy:

The front cover came off quite easily. The switch on the right enables/disables the movement sensor; the LED indicates the repeat mode for the spray; and the black switch controls the duration between sprays – off, 9, 18 or 36 minutes.

After removing the rear panel with four screws, we can see the motor and one of the two PCBs. Two more screws, and we can remove the electronics and mechanical sections:

This is the front-facing part of the motor board. The motor turns one direction then another to have the plastic ‘finger’ push down and release on the aerosol can nozzle. The gear ratios are quite large, allowing the motor to exert quite an amount of torque. The metal base board has some convenient mounting holes as well, so this could be reused easily. If you had a pair of these you could drive something that is quite heavy at a sedate speed.

Here is the main controller board, with nicely colour-coded JST connectors for leads to the motor, power source (those 3 x AA cells, 4.5V) and to the switch that turns the sensor on and off. The underside is very professional, all SMD:

The motion detector’s board plugs nicely into the main board, thanks to the 2×9 pin header and socket arrangement:

Now it is time to see how things work. The first step will be the motor – how much voltage and current does it use? I ran the motor without a load for thirty minutes at 4.5 volts DC – the  motor body did not warm up at all, a good sign that this voltage was suitable. With regards to current, there are two measurements to take – current while free-running, and under maximum load (i.e. feeding the motor 4.5 volts while holding the gears still). While free running, the current drawn was 34 milliamps:

… and when I held down the gears so the motor could not turn, the current drawn was 305 milliamps:

So now we have a nice strong motor that can run at 4.5 DC, and draws between 34 and 305 milliamps. That’s a good start. Furthermore, being able to stick the meter display to the desk lamp really makes life easy. Now it is time to investigate the detector. It had a few codes on the PCBs, such as KT-7964, Smart Motion A-06 and RB-S04 which I searched for on the Internet without any luck.

So the next thought was to feed it 4.5 volts DC, and use the Scanalogic2 to analyse any signals or voltages around the PIR sensor module to see what happens. However, the entire system was dead, it would not do a thing. The same problem occurred at four volts DC. No luck either.

After the initial power up, the unit should light the LED for one second, then activate the motor for a “first spray” – but nothing. Hmmm.

So at this point we are at a brick wall, however this is not the end. Research will continue to look for details of the PIR unit, and once it is working independently a new post will be published.

[Update - have emailed Reckitt Benckiser (Australian distributor) for more details. Wish me luck... ]

This article also shows to me and others that not everything is a success first time. It can be disappointing, however it’s not the end of the world. With every failure comes knowledge which can be used the next time around. So subscribe to the web page updates, and keep an eye out in the future. High resolution images are available from flickr.

In the meanwhile have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column? And join our friendly Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Moving Forward with Arduino – Chapter 16 – Ethernet

Use Ethernet with Arduino in chapter sixteen of “Getting Started with Arduino!” by John Boxall – A tutorial on the Arduino universe. The first chapter is here, the complete series is detailed here.

[Updated 09/01/2013]

In this instalment we will introduce and examine the use of Ethernet networking with Arduino systems. This tutorial covers receiving data from an Arduino over the Internet. If you are interested in controlling an Arduino over the Internet, see here. It will be assumed that you have a basic understanding of computer networking, such as the knowledge of how to connect computers to a hub/router with RJ45 cables, what an IP and MAC address is, and so on. Furthermore, here is a good quick rundown about Ethernet.

First of all, you will need an Ethernet shield. There are a few on the market, such as the original version by the Arduino team. Readers of my articles will know my preference is for the Australian-designed Freetronics line of hardware, so I will be using their EtherTen - which combines an Arduino Uno-compatible board with an Ethernet shield. Plus it also has some interesting power-over-Ethernet features which you can read about here. However as long as your Arduino Ethernet shield has the W5100 controller IC – you’re fine.

Now, let’s get started!

This is an ethernet shield on top of an Arduino-compatible board. Nothing new here – just a nice RJ45 socket which you connect to your router/hub/modem with a patch lead.

First of all, let’s do something quick and easy to check that all is functional. Open the Arduino IDE and select File > Examples > Ethernet > Webserver. This loads a simple sketch which will display data gathered from the analogue inputs on a web browser. However don’t upload it yet, it needs a slight modification.

You need to specify the IP address of the ethernet shield – which is done inside the sketch. This is simple, go to the line:

IPAddress ip(192,168,1, 177);

And alter it to match your own setup. For example, in my home the router’s IP address is 10.1.1.1, the printer is 10.1.1.50 and all PCs are below …50. So I will set my shield IP to 10.1.1.77 by altering the line to:

IPAddress ip(10,1,1,77);

You also have the opportunity to change your MAC address. Each piece of networking equipment has a unique serial number to identify itself over a network, and this is normall hard-programmed into the equipments’ firmware. However with Arduino we can define the MAC address ourselves. If you are running more than one ethernet shield on your network, ensure they have different MAC addresses by altering the hexadecimal values in the line:

byte mac[] = { 0xDE, 0xAD, 0xBE, 0xEF, 0xFE, 0xED };

However if you only have one shield just leave it be. There may be the very, very, statistically rare chance of having a MAC address the same as your existing hardware, so that would be another time to change it. Once you have made your alterations, save and upload the sketch to your Arduino or compatible board. If you haven’t already, disconnect the power and add your Ethernet shield.

Now, connect the shield to your router or hub with an RJ45 cable, and the Arduino board to the power via USB or external power supply. Then return to your computer, and using your web browser, enter your Ethernet shield’s IP address into the URL bar. The web browser will query the Ethernet shield, which will return the values from the analogue ports on the Arduino board, as such:

As there isn’t anything plugged into the analog inputs, their value will change constantly. Neat – your Arduino is now serving data over a network. It is quite motivating to see it actually work.

At this point – please note that the Ethernet shields use digital pins 10~13, so you can’t use those for anything else. Some Arduino Ethernet shields may also have a microSD card socket, which also uses another digital pin – so check with the documentation to find out which one. If you are considering using an Arduino Mega and Ethernet – check out the EtherMega.

Nevertheless, now that we can see the Ethernet shield is working we can move on to something more useful. Let’s dissect the previous example in a simple way, and see how we can distribute and display more interesting data over the network. For reference, all of the Ethernet-related functions are handled by the Ethernet Arduino library. If you examine the previous sketch we just used, the section that will be of interest is:

// output the value of each analog input pin

for (int i = 0; i < 6; i++) {

client.print("analog input ");

client.print(i);

client.print(" is ");

client.print(analogRead(i));

client.println("<br />");

}

Hopefully this section of the sketch should be familiar – remember how we have used serial.print(); in the past when sending data to the serial monitor box? Well now we can do the same thing, but sending data from our Ethernet shield back to a web browser – on other words, a very basic type of web page. However there is something you may or may not want to  learn in order to format the output in a readable format – HTML code. I am not a website developer (!) so will not delve into HTML too much.

However if you wish to serve up nicely formatted web pages with your Arduino and so on, here would be a good start. In the interests of simplicity, the following two functions will be the most useful:

client.print(" is ");

Client.print (); allows us to send text or data back to the web page. It works in the same way as serial.print(), so nothing new there. You can also specify the data type in the same way as with serial.print(). Naturally you can also use it to send data back as well. The other useful line is:

client.println("<br />");

this sends the HTML code back to the web browser telling it to start a new line. The part that actually causes the carriage return/new line is the <br /> which is an HTML code (or “tag”) for a new line. So if you are creating more elaborate web page displays, you can just insert other HTML tags in the client.print(); statement.

Note that the sketch will only send the data when it has been requested, i.e. received a request from the web browser.

Example 16.1

So let’s put our new knowledge into action with some simple sensor hardware – measuring temperature and pseudo-light levels. In chapter fourteen we did this and sent the results over the air using XBee wireless modules. Now we shall make that data available to a web browser instead.

We will need:

• Arduino Uno or compatible board and Ethernet shield, or
• Freetronics EtherTen
• Analog Devices TMP36 temperature sensor
• 10 k ohm resistor
• light-dependent resistor/photocell

Here is the schematic for the circuit: (click to enlarge)

and in real life. If you were to construct a permanent application, the Freetronics shield is great as you have all that prototyping space:

and download the sketch from here. Finally, the example in action, on the desktop PC:

… and on a phone via my internal wireless access point (the screen is a little fuzzy due to the adhesive screen protector):

Now you can see how easy it is to send data from your Arduino via an Ethernet network to a web browser. But that is only to a local web browser. What if I wanted to read that data using my phone from an Internet cafe in downtown Vientiane? It can be done, but is a little bit tricky for the uninitiated – so let’s get initiated!

You will need a static IP address – that is, the IP address your internet service provider assigns to your connection needs to stay the same. If you don’t have a static IP, as long as you leave your modem/router permanently swiched on your IP shouldn’t change.

However, if your internet service provider cannot offer you a static IP at all, you can still move forward with the project by using an organisation that offers a Dynamic DNS. These organisations offer you your own static IP hostname (e.g. mojo.monkeynuts.com) instead of a number, keep track of your changing IP address and linking it to the new hostname. From what I can gather, your modem needs to support (have an in-built client for…) these DDNS services. As an example, two companies are No-IP and DynDNS.com. Please note that I haven’t used those two***, they are just offered as examples.

Now, to find your IP address, usually this can be found by logging into your router’s administration page. For this example, if I enter 192.168.0.1 in a web browser, and after entering my modem administration password, the following screen is presented:

What you are looking for is your WAN IP address, as artistically circled above. To keep the pranksters away, I have blacked out some of my address. The next thing to do is turn on port-forwarding. This tells the router where to redirect incoming requests from the outside world. When the modem receives such a request, we want to send that request to the port number of our Ethernet shield. Using the Server server(80); function in our sketch has set the port number to 80. Each modem’s configuration screen will look different, but as an example here is one:

So you can see from the line number one, the inbound port numbers have been set to 80, and the IP address of the Ethernet shield has been set to 192.168.0.77 – the same as in the sketch. After saving the settings, we’re all set. The external address of my Ethernet shield will be the WAN:80, e.g.  213.123.456.128:80 into the browser of a web device will contact the lonely Ethernet hardware back home. Furthermore, you may need to alter your modem’s firewall settings, to allow the port 80 to be “open” to incoming requests. Please check your modem documentation for more information on how to do this.

Now from basically any Internet connected device in the free world, I can enter my WAN and port number into the URL field and receive the results. For example, from a phone when it is connected to the Internet via 3.5G mobile data:

How neat is that? The web page, not the phone. Well, the phone is pretty awesome too.

OK, it’s just the temperature – but with your other Arduino knowledge from our tutorials and elsewhere – you can wire up all sorts of sensors, poll them from your Arduino and use the Ethernet shield and an Internet connection to access that data from anywhere. Here are some applications that spring to mind, all can be made possible with details from our previous tutorials:

• Sensitive temperature monitoring (e.g. a smoke house, tropical fish tank, chemical storage room, and so on);
• “Have the children come home from school?” – children must swipe their RFID tag when they arrive home. Arduino stores time and tag number, which can be converted into display data for web output;
• For single room-mates – perhaps a remote, high-tech version of a necktie on a doorknob… when the “busy” flatmate arrives home, they turn a switch which is read by the Arduino, and is then polled by the sketch – the other flatmates can poll from their phone before coming home;
• Using reed switch/magnet pairs, you could monitor whether important doors or windows (etc.) were open or closed.
• A small RFID could be placed on the collar of your pet – two RFID readers on each side of a cat/dog flap door. Using simple logic the Arduino could calculate if the pet was inside or outside, and the last time the pet went through the door.
• send twitter messages

The possibilities are only limited by your imagination or requirements.

Have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column, or join our Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Project – ZIF socket Arduino-compatible board

In this tutorial we make an Arduino-compatible board that holds the microcontroller in a ZIF socket.

Updated 18/03/2013

Today we are going to make a different type of Arduino-compatible board, one that has a ZIF (“zero insertion force”) socket. Our reason for making this is simple – now and again you may need to program more than one bootrom with a sketch, for example if you were planning to make your own electronics kits that were based on the Arduino system. Your alternative would be to use a chip puller and constantly insert and remove microcontrollers from your usual Arduino or compatible board – which is bad for the board, bad for the chips (the friction and pressure on the legs, as well as possible static build-up), and bad for your wrist.

So here is our problem – we need a board with a ZIF socket:

The Eleven board is great, but we just cannot squeeze in the socket. So instead, let’s make our own. Like any project, the first thing to do is plan the circuit and make a schematic:

You have to hand it to the Arduino team, they have made things very easy for us. As we are not using this board for day to day use, all we need is enough circuitry to enable programming. In this case, the connection between the board and the PC will be made with an FTDI cable (these offer an interface between serial and the USB port):

Furthermore, we will use the 5 V power supply from the USB port via the FTDI cable as well. Easy! So now it is time to collect the required parts:

You will notice in the photo above there is a button, originally I was going to have a reset button, but after testing it proved unnecessary. Our required parts consist of:

• one 28-pin ZIF socket, 0.3″ width (don’t fall into the trap of ordering the wide one)
• An Arduino bootrom for testing, etc
• one 16 MHz ceramic resonator (easier than using a crystal and two capacitors, timing is not critical as this is only a programming board)
• 6-pin header strip to connect the FTDI cable to the board
• an FTDI cable (the 5v one)
• two 0.1uF ceramic capacitors
• one 10k ohm resistor
• some rubber feet (to protect your desk when using the board
• some veroboard
• hookup wire, some solder, and the usual tools

Before soldering away, it pays to test the circuit on a breadboard. At this stage you can test the operation, program the microcontroller, and test that microcontroller in another board:

Again, you can ignore the button. For testing purposes, I uploaded the “blink” sketch to the microcontroller, then tested that unit in the Eleven. The LED blinked as expected, so all was good. I repeated the process a few times, but uploaded a different sketch every second time, and re-inserted the bootrom between every upload. After ten cycles of doing this, I was confident with the design, so transferred the lot to the permanent veroboard:

The black marks on the board are to help me navigate, for example the arrow means the 5 V rail, etc. Now for the rear end:

There are high-resolution photos in flickr if you want to follow this design exactly.

Before using the veroboard, experience has taught me that they are always dirty and solder doesn’t take too well. If possible, try and clean your veroboard first with some cleaning spray, usually an aerosol package available from most electronics retailers. Or even just a damp cloth, then dry the board afterwards with a dry cloth. Moving on…

Before testing the completed board, please double check the routing and that you have cut the correct PCB tracks. If you are unsure about some solder joints, use the continuity function or resistance function of a multimeter to check for shorts between tracks.

After the board passed those tests, I stuck on the feet – and admired the finished product:

However, it was time to repeat the testing. If I may make a general observation, try and test things as you move along, step by step. For example, with this project, don’t skip the breadboarding step. It is important to check the design works. Don’t skip checking for solder bridges, or not double-check your routing. It is always much easier to fix a mistake when it has been made, then to have to troubleshoot a ‘completed’ project.

But at the end of the day, I now have something that is useful and will save me time during kit production (still in design stage people), making a few blinky offspring,  and prevent damaging my regular boards. High resolution images are available from flickr.

In the meanwhile have fun and keep checking into tronixstuff.com. Why not follow things on twitter, Google+, subscribe  for email updates or RSS using the links on the right-hand column? And join our friendly Google Group – dedicated to the projects and related items on this website. Sign up – it’s free, helpful to each other –  and we can all learn something.

Kit Review – adafruit industries DS1307 Real Time Clock breakout board kit

Hello readers

Today we are going to examine another small yet useful kit from adafruit industries – their DS1307 Real Time Clock breakout board kit. My purpose of acquiring this kit was to make life easier when prototyping my clock and timer Arduino-based projects on a breadboard. For example, blinky, or the various clock projects in the Arduino tutorials.

When breadboarding a DS1307 circuit, there are a few problems – the legs of the crystal are very fine, and break easily, and trying to mount the backup battery holder on the breadboard can be difficult due to their odd pin-spacing. That is why this breakout board is just perfect for breadboarding.

Finally, (in Australia anyway) the price of the kit is less than the sum of the retail cost of the parts required. Anyhow, time to get cracking!

Again, as usual the adafruit kit packaging is simple, safe and reusable:

And with regards to the contents within:

… no surprises here, another quality solder-masked, silk-screened PCB  that has everything you need to know printed on it. Now that you can see the crystal (above image, bottom-right) you can realise why this board is a good idea. Furthermore, the inclusion of a quality battery and not some yum-cha special is a nice touch.

Assembly is incredibly simple. The IC position is printed on the PCB, the resistors are the same, and the capacitor and crystal are not polarised. Again, no IC socket, but perhaps it is time not to worry about that anymore – my soldering skills have improved somewhat in the last twelve months. Plus the DS1307 can handle 260 degrees Celsius for ten seconds when soldering (according to the data sheet.pdf).

However if you like to read instructions (which is generally a good idea) the excellent documentation is laid out here for your perusal.

Soldering the board is quite straightforward, however when it comes time to solder in the coin cell holder, note that there are large gaps in the mounting holes:

It is important to solder the pins solidly to the PCB, without letting lots of solder flow through the hole and block the other side. If you can bend the pins slightly closer to the circumference of the hole, soldering will be a lot easier. And don’t forget to put a blob of solder on the top-facing pad between the two pin holes before soldering in the coin cell holder.

Finally, when time to solder in the header pins, mount the lot onto a breadboard, and support the gap between the PCB and the breadboard at the opposite end of the PCB. An old CD works very well:

And within ten minutes of starting, we have finished!

Insert the backup cell (writing facing up!) in the holder and you’re ready to time. A new backup cell should last between seven to ten years, so unless you want to reset the clock completely, leave the cell in the board.

Now it is time to use the board. My only experience is with the Arduino-based systems, and even so using the DS1307 can seem quite difficult at the start. However with the right library and some basic reusable sketch modules you can do it quite successfully. The board is a standard DS1307 circuit, and is explained in great detail within the data sheet.pdf.

Don’t forget you can get a nice 1 Hz (or 4, 8 or 32 kHz) square wave from this IC – here is a sketch that allows you to control the square-wave generator:

/*
 DS1307 Square-wave machine
 Used to demonstrate the four different square-wave outputs from Maxim DS1307
 See page nine of data sheet for more information
 John Boxall - tronixstuff.wordpress.com
*/
#include "Wire.h"
#define DS1307_I2C_ADDRESS 0x68 // each I2C object has a unique bus address, the DS1307 is 0x68
void setup()
{
  Wire.begin();
}
void sqw1() // set to 1Hz
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(DS1307_I2C_ADDRESS);
  Wire.send(0x07); // move pointer to SQW address
  Wire.send(0x10); //  sends 0x10 (hex) 00010000 (binary)
  Wire.endTransmission();
}
void sqw2() // set to 4.096 kHz
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(DS1307_I2C_ADDRESS);
  Wire.send(0x07); // move pointer to SQW address  
  Wire.send(0x11); //  sends 0x11 (hex) 00010001 (binary)
  Wire.endTransmission();
}
void sqw3() // set to 8.192 kHz
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(DS1307_I2C_ADDRESS);
  Wire.send(0x07); // move pointer to SQW address  
  Wire.send(0x12); // sends 0x12 (hex) 00010010 (binary)
  Wire.endTransmission();
}
void sqw4() // set to 32.768 kHz (the crystal frequency)
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(DS1307_I2C_ADDRESS);
  Wire.send(0x07); // move pointer to SQW address  
  Wire.send(0x13); // sends 0x13 (hex) 00010011 (binary)
  Wire.endTransmission();
}
void sqwOff()
// turns the SQW off
{
  Wire.beginTransmission(DS1307_I2C_ADDRESS);
  Wire.send(0x07); // move pointer to SQW address
  Wire.send(0x00); // turns the SQW pin off
  Wire.endTransmission();
}
void loop()
{
  sqw1();
  delay(5000);
  sqw2();
  delay(5000);
  sqw3();
  delay(5000);
  sqw4();
  delay(5000);
  sqwOff();
  delay(5000);
}

And here is a demonstration of measuring the SQW output with a very old frequency counter:


adafuit have written about using this with Arduino, or you may like my way of doing things in Getting Started with Arduino - Chapter Seven.

Well I hope you found this review interesting, and helped motivate you to expand your knowledge and work with real-time clocks, Arduino and the I2C bus.

You can purchase the kit directly from adafruit industries.

As always, thank you for reading and I look forward to your comments and so on. Furthermore, don’t be shy in pointing out errors or places that could use improvement. Please subscribe using one of the methods at the top-right of this web page to receive updates on new posts. Or join our new Google Group. High resolution images are available on flickr.

[Note - The kit was purchased by myself personally and reviewed without notifying the manufacturer or retailer]

Otherwise, have fun, be good to each other – and make something!

Kit Review – adafruit industries XBee adaptor kit

Hello readers

Today we are going to examine a small yet useful kit from adafruit industries – their XBee adaptor kit. The purpose of doing so was to save some money. How? I needed another XBee USB explorer board to connect a PC to an XBee (as we have done in Moving Forward with Arduino – Chapter Fourteen), but they are around Au$33. However I already have an FTDI USB cable, so all I really need is this kit, as it will work with the FTDI cable. So this saves me around $20.

As usual the adafruit kit packaging is simple, safe and reusable:

The components included are good as usual, including a great solder-masked, silk-screened PCB and an excess of header pins. Got to love a bonus, no matter how small:

This did not take very long to assemble at all. After checking the parts against the parts list, it was time to fire up the iron and solder away. As usual the kit is almost over-documented on the adafruit web pages. But that is a good thing…

Be careful when you place R3, make sure it doesn’t lean in towards the end of the IC too much, otherwise they could touch, or even worse – stop the IC from being seated properly:

Regular readers will know I get annoyed when IC sockets are not included with kits – but for the first time it is fine with me. If you use a socket, the IC will be elevated too much and stop the XBee from being inserted onto the board.

But apart from R3 almost stopping the show, everything went smoothly. At the time you need to solder in the 2mm header socket strips for the XBee, the easiest way (if possible) is to seat an XBee in the sockets, then into the PCB:

Once you have followed the excellent instructions, the last thing to solder is the pins for the FTDI cable. You can either lay them out flat on the PCB, or insert them through the holes. This is my preferred way, and seating the lot in a breadboard to hold it steady is a good idea:

And finally, we’re finished:

A quick check with Windows to ensure everything is OK:

And we are ready for communications. This was a very simple and inexpensive board to assemble – and excellent value if you need USB connection to your PC and you already have an FTDI cable.

Well I hope you found this review interesting, and helped you think of something new to make with XBees. You can purchase the kit directly from adafruit industries.

As always, thank you for reading and I look forward to your comments and so on. Furthermore, don’t be shy in pointing out errors or places that could use improvement. Please subscribe using one of the methods at the top-right of this web page to receive updates on new posts. Or join our new Google Group. High resolution images are available on flickr.

[Note - The kit was purchased by myself personally and reviewed without notifying the manufacturer or retailer]

Otherwise, have fun, be good to each other – and make something!

Kit Review – Alan Parekh’s Infra-Red Jammer

[Updated 17/01/2013]

In this review we examine another kit which goes hand in hand with other mischievous items such as the TV-B-Gone – the Infra-Red Jammer kit by Alan Parekh of hackedgadgets.com. The function of this product is to create infra-red signals that are stronger than those from a normal remote control, thereby rendering it useless. Our jammer sends the signal out using four high-output infra-red LEDs, on the following frequencies: 30, 33, 36, 38, 40 and 56 kHz.

This is controlled by a small MCU that is included in preprogrammed form with the kit, so you don’t need to do it yourself. However, if you are building a jammer from scratch, Alan does allow the download of the hex file to program your own. However, please note that this kit is not an open-source hardware, so you cannot just start knocking out your own. But enough talking, let’s get building!

The kit is packaged in the typical minimalist fashion, the parts inside an anti-static bag:

Upon turfing out the contents, we find them to be:

Unlike most other kit suppliers, I was very happy to see the IC socket included. It probably cost about 10 cents, but it can save someone a whole day of mucking about if they aren’t the best at soldering, and don’t have an electronics store nearby. Furthermore the PCB is solder-masked and silk screened nicely, and is of a decent thickness. Once again – if smaller companies can offer kits with such great PCBs, why cannot larger multi-million dollar outfits like Jaycar offer such great PCBs in their kits? Grrr. Anyway.

The assembly instructions have been compiled into a very neat and tidy book that is downloadable as a .pdf file. It is very clear and easy to follow, great for beginners or enthusiasts alike. So at this point it’s time to get soldering!

At first you need to decide upon the power output strength which is determined by R1 and R2 – for me, it’s all or nothing so I went for the high-power resistors. Thankfully values to use three output levels are included, so you will have some spare resistors at the end.

Once those are in, the rest of the assembly is relatively straight forward:

What did take me be surprise is the length of the leads on the two electrolytic capacitors – they were very short. This made mounting them difficult:

However with a little perseverance they went in and stayed put. Although the jammer is activated for thirty seconds by pressing the button as seen in the photo above, there are also two pads on the PCB for another button… so you could, for example, mount the jammer under a lounge or inside an object, and have the button wired remotely. Very good idea:

They are visible between the diode and the press button. Finally it was time to plug in a 9V battery and start jamming. Interestingly enough the PCB size matches the profile of a typical PP3 9V battery, so if you insulated the PCB with tape or another material, you could mount the PCB onto the battery:

As decided earlier, I chose the highest power output setting by using the low values for R1 and R2. At this point I was curious as to how much current the jammer will draw while operating – which turned out to be 209 mA:

So bear this in mind if you are going to spend the day jamming up things. You might want to carry a spare battery, or wire a couple up in parallel. But now it was time to get jamming and have some fun. The check of the infra-red LEDs was successful:

A test at home showed it knocked out all the IR receivers on my sound and video gear from a distance of around 5 metres. I couldn’t try any further as a wall was in the way, but with the unit set to high power I’m sure it should be good for around fifteen metres at least.

Now when you press the button, the jamming will run for thirty seconds. However you can increase this by buffering up more presses – for example if you press the button three times the jammer will run for ninety seconds. If you were in a trade show, or somewhere you needed to create some mayhem, build a TV-B-Gone and one of these jammers. Turn off the screen then setup your jammer for a couple of minutes. You will drive the presenters positively nuts. Awesome!

Conclusion

This is another fun and inexpensive kit that can be used for hours on end in various situations. It was easy to solder apart from a couple of capacitors, and getting them in wasn’t really a problem once you held them in with some blu-tac. So if you’re looking for a gift for some trouble-makers, or just want to stop people changing the channel during the cricket, this kit is for you. It is available directly from Alan’s website here: http://alan-parekh.com/kits/ and is a steal for less than US$20 delivered.

[Note - this kit was a promotional consideration made available by Alan Parekh]

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