This time I would like to write about a project of mine: A (simple) active load with support from a microcontroller. There are times when you need a dummy load to test and validate some equipment or part of a schematic, e.g. a power supply. In the past I just used some power resistors as… Continue reading Project: Active load with microcontroller – Part 1: Requirements
Howto: Hand solder an MSOP IC with exposed pad
I recently had to solder a special MSOP IC with an exposed pad to a PCB. The device was a LT8610 which is a 2.5A synchronous step-down regulator. The exposed pad is needed to lower the thermal resistance and it is internally connected to ground. That’s why you should really solder the exposed pad to… Continue reading Howto: Hand solder an MSOP IC with exposed pad
Howto: Remanent data after microcontroller software reset
I recently needed to write a special bootloader for the STM32 controller. One requirement was the ability to explicitly start the bootloader from the application. In this case the bootloader stays active until the next power cycle or when a firmware upgrade has been successfully applied.
RFM69 C++ driver library for STM32 (and other controllers)
I recently developed a protocol agnostic driver library for HopeRF’s RFM69 modules. Protocol agnostic means that you get full control over the module and the data packets that you want to send or receive. You can use this library for receiving packets from existing commercial devices like temperature sensors, or you can set up your… Continue reading RFM69 C++ driver library for STM32 (and other controllers)
Connecting an external RAM to a microcontroller the easy way through pin swapping
In some applications you need greater amounts of RAM. Microcontrollers like the STM32 only have around 20 to some hundred kilobytes of internal RAM. So what do you do if your application needs require some megabytes of RAM, for example in high speed data acquisition systems?
Figuring out the power level settings of HopeRF’s RFM69 (H)W modules
I have been developing a sensor and actuator network for a while now using HopeRF’s cheap RFM69 HW modules. These modules use the licence-free ISM and SRD frequency bands (433 MHz resp. 868 MHz) to send and receive packets and they cost around 5€ per module. HopeRF sells them in two different flavours: RFM69W and… Continue reading Figuring out the power level settings of HopeRF’s RFM69 (H)W modules