Microchip’s 25AA/25LC EEPROMs are data storage chips with a simple 3-wire interface. The 25AA/LC is an SPI version of the common 24AA/LC I2C EEPROM.  It comes in capacities of 128bytes to 128kilobytes. We looked at the smallest, the 128byte 25AA010A.

There are Bus Pirate demonstrations for most types of serial EEPROMs. Check out our previous 1-wire (DS2431) and I2C (24LC1025) EEPROM posts.

Continue below to see our test circuit and a demonstration of the 25AA010 EEPROM. We used the Bus Pirate to play with this chip from our PC.  For a limited time you can get your own Bus Pirate, fully assembled and shipped worldwide, for only $30.

Read the rest of this entry »

We’re only four days into the Bus Pirate pre-order, and we’ve exhausted the supply of PIC24FJ64GA002s available in Shenzhen. Thank you for supporting Hack a Day’s first official hardware pre-order. You helped make it a huge success, and we definitely want to do it again in the future.

We weren’t kidding about the PIC shortage. Seeed sourced all they could from Shenzhen, and then tried Hong Kong. It’ll take 4 to 6 weeks to get more.

If you already ordered a Bus Pirate then nothing changes, your Bus Pirate will ship ASAP. In fact, PCB production should start a few days early. The first pre-order item name starts with “[Preorder]“.

New orders are now forwarded to a second pre-order. The new pre-order will take 4 to 6 weeks longer. It should ship about 6 to 8 weeks after July 3, 2009, but we’ll try our best to get it out sooner. The new pre-order item name starts with “[Preorder 2]“.

Read more about the Bus Pirate in our latest How-to. Thank you again for your support!

Macetech’s ShiftBrite is a high-power RGB LED coupled with an Allegro A6281 backpack. The A6281 uses three 10bit pulse-width modulators to mix millions of colors using the red, green, and blue elements in the RGB LED. Multiple modules can be chained together for bigger projects, like the ShiftBrite table.

Below the break we demonstrate a ShiftBrite module using the Bus Pirate. For a limited time you can get your own Bus Pirate, fully assembled and shipped worldwide, for only $30.

Read the rest of this entry »

The PCF8563 is a real-time clock/calendar/alarm chip with an I2C interface. This would be useful in projects where the primary microcontroller doesn’t have enough resources for an interrupt driven clock.

We demonstrate the PCF8563 using the Bus Pirate after the break. For a limited time you can get your own Bus Pirate, fully assembled and shipped worldwide, for only $30.

Read the rest of this entry »

Update, Saturday July 4th, 2009: All preorders are closed.

The Bus Pirate is a universal serial interface tool, we use it to test new chips without writing any code. It currently supports most serial protocols, including 1-Wire, I2C, SPI, JTAG, asynchronous serial, MIDI, and more. We added some other features we frequently need, like pulse-width modulation, frequency measurement, voltage measurement, bus sniffers, pull-up resistors, and switchable 3.3volt and 5volt power supplies.

The new v2 family adds USB power and connectivity to the best Bus Pirate design yet. We also reduced the part count and cost wherever possible. If you want to get your hands on some Bus Pirate USB goodness, Seeed Studio has assembled hardware for $30 (including worldwide shipping).

Read about the new design after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

Firmware v0g for all Bus Pirate revisions is now available. Updates in this release include a bootloader, frequency generator/pulse-width modulator, SPI bus sniffer, MIDI library, configuration reports, improved user interface, and bug fixes. v0g is also the first firmware to fully support the v2 hardware branch.

We’re really proud of this release as it brings a much more consistent structure to the internal operation of the Bus Pirate. It lays the foundation for future CAN, LIN, and OBDII libraries, and it supports localization and translations.  Install and upgrade instructions are included with the firmware. Report bugs on the project issue tracker.

We document the new features after the break.

Read the rest of this entry »

Fundamental Logic is selling a Bus Pirate kit and bare PCB based on our universal serial interface tool. They started with our serial port-based v1a hardware, and modified it to use all through-hole parts.  8pin DIP LP2951ACN/-3.3 switchable voltage regulators replace the surface mount TPS79650/33 that we used. The PIC is pre-programmed with our latest firmware, version 0f, which includes a bootloader for easy firmware updates through the serial port. Documentation includes illustrated assembly instructions.

Speaking of Bus Pirate goodness, we’re busy working on hardware V2. As astute readers may have already noticed, the final version of the Bus Pirate incorporates an FTDI USB->serial chip, and draws its power from the USB port. We also tackled the software-controlled pull-up resistor feature, and reduced the overall part count and cost. Best of all, we’re working to make assembled PCBs available with world-wide shipping. The how-to should be ready in a few weeks.

Microchip’s MCP6S21/2/6/8 are programmable gain amplifiers that multiply an input voltage by a factor of 1, 2, 4, 5, 8, 10, 16, and 32. The MCP6S22/6/8 also have selectable input channels for working with different signal sources. The multiplication factor and input channel are configured through an SPI interface. This chip is useful for multiplying a small input signal, and selecting among several analog input sources. We demonstrate the six channel MCP6S26 below.

Read the rest of this entry »