Monthly Archives: November 2013

Ardweeny vs Sippino: Tiny Arduino-compatible comparison

I’m a big fan of Atmel AVR-based projects, Arduino stuff in particular.  Though I support the Arduino community by buying and using official parts, like the Uno, I also enjoy exploring spin-off projects such as the Digispark because they sometimes better address particular needs (e.g. space constraints). Also, I like to play. Here I’ll review…

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How to roll your own programmable Arduino/AVR board

Arduinos are perfect for development: you just plug them into a USB port and all the old hassles of dealing with AVR chips (crystals for clocking, hooking up comm lines, regulating power…) are handled for you.  But sometimes you need to roll your own custom solution. In real life–whether because of size, cost or power…

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No Ferric Chloride? No problem: Home-made etchant to the rescue!

It was 11pm and I was on a roll.  Having prototyped my little circuit and transferred the mask onto a copper board, I was ready to create a nice permanent PCB version of the module. Far from perfect transfer, but enough to do the job.  The only problem?  No Ferric Chloride anywhere in sight.  …

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