Switch mode breadboard supply from a PTH08080

pth08080-switch-mode-supply

[Ben] wanted a switch mode power supply for his breadboard. He ordered a PTH08080 module which is made by Texas Instruments. The spec sheet would make it a great choice for him, but he was not happy to learn that the pinout doesn't conform to the 0.1" spacing used by solderless breadboards. His solution was to make a breakout adapter from some protoboard. The PTH08080 can source up to 2.25A. It … [Read more...]

One Enormous Breadboard

Gigantic Breadboard

[Franklyn] wrote in to tell us about the The Hack Factory Big Board project. The Twin Cities Maker group, a Minneapolis/St Paul based hackspace, set out to provide an education tool to help students make the leap from schematic diagrams to bread board connections.   Naturally their conclusion was to create a humungous 10x scale bread board.  The board features scaled up yet fully functional … [Read more...]

Ancient laptop given new life as mobile prototyping platform

ancient-laptop-become-prototyping-case

What can you do with a broken Compaq SLT 286? Its briefcase-like size and shape actually make for a pretty interesting portable electronic prototyping station. [Philip] gutted the components and started adding back the items he most commonly uses when developing a project. He shares all of the details in the video after the break. At center stage is a double breadboard where the keyboard would … [Read more...]

BB313 breadboard platform makes ATtiny prototyping painless

Johngineer's BB313

[John De Cristofaro aka Johngineer] uses various ATmega microcontrollers in his electronics projects, but he finds himself reaching for an ATtiny2313 or ATtiny4313 more often than not. He got tired of having to wire up pin headers, capacitors, and the like each time he started a project, so he spent some time designing an easy to use breadboard platform around the chips. Inspired by LadyAda’s … [Read more...]

Another take on using ‘dead’ batteries

smaller-battery-psu

Here's another circuit that can be used to squeeze the remaining potential from supposedly dead batteries. Just like the AASaver, we see this as a useful prototyping tool, providing juice for a breadboard even though it's not reliable enough for long-term use (the batteries are just about through after all). First off, the image above shows rechargeables instead of alkalines. We don't recommend … [Read more...]

Squeezing the juice out of some AA batteries

aa-breadboard-supply

[Ray's] breadboard power supply lets you drain the last traces of power from 'dead' AA batteries. Electronics that are powered off of disposable alkaline batteries have a cutoff voltage that usually leaves a fair amount of potential within. Since many municipal recycling programs don't take the disposables (you're just supposed to throw them in the trash!) we love the idea of squeezing them for … [Read more...]

Hackaday Links: December 3, 2011

cheese

Honey, would you like some cheese? WHIRRRRRRRRR [The Timmy] broke his manual cheese grater. It would be a waste to throw away a perfectly functional tool that's only missing a handle, so he kicked it up a notch with a cordless drill. Now [Tim], "can grate with incredible speed and power for even the toughest of cheeses." Anyone have a broken pepper mill? The most adorable … [Read more...]