blog@SchmartBoard

Schmartboard Jumpers-Not Everything is Apples to Apples

When buying jumpers from Schmartboard or any other source, consider the following:

• What gauge is it?  There may be a reason it is not published.  Ours are 28 gauge.
• Is there a UL approval? Temperature rating?  Ours have them.
• Are the male or female ends of the jumper gold immersion?  Many will try to save money by forgoing this process.  Ours are all gold immersion which means better connectivity and less corrosion.

• Is the sheathing too thick to use in tight spaces?  We use a process in the manufacture of ours to give you great insulation without adding great thickness which may impair your project when working in tight spaces.

Schmartboard sells male, female, male to female and daisy chained jumpers in lengths ranging from 2" to 24".

Texas Instruments MSP430F5172 Development SchmartModule

Schmartboard has just released a new product.   The  Texas Instruments MSP430F5172 Development SchmartModule. This board is an easily to use platform featuring the MSP430F5172 from Texas Instruments. This 4th generation MSP430 includes a 25 MHz core, a 10 bit Analog to digital converter, a 32 bit hardware multiplier, and a precision Timer D PWM capable of 4 ns resolution. It is the perfect device to build servo, control, or other PWM applications.  This module is fully populated including the T.I.  MSP430F5172 microcontroller.

"The Texas Instruments MSP430 family of ultralow-power microcontrollers consists of several devices featuring different sets of peripherals targeted for various applications. The architecture, combined with five low-power modes, is optimized to achieve extended battery life in portable measurement applications. The device features a powerful 16-bit RISC CPU, 16-bit registers, and constant generators that contribute to maximum code efficiency. The digitally controlled oscillator (DCO) allows wake up from low-power modes to active mode in less than 5 µs.

The MSP430F51x2 series are microcontroller configurations with two 16-bit high-resolution timers, universal serial communication interfaces (USCI_A0 and USCI_B0), 32-bit hardware multiplier, a high performance 10-bit analog-to-digital (A/D) converter, on-chip comparator, three-channel DMA, 5-V tolerant I/Os, and up to 29 I/O pins.

The MSP430F51x1 series are microcontroller configurations with two 16-bit high-resolution timers, universal serial communication interfaces (USCI_A0 and USCI_B0), 32-bit hardware multiplier, on-chip comparator, three-channel DMA, 5-V tolerant I/Os, and up to 29 I/O pins.

Typical applications for these devices include analog and digital sensor systems, LED lighting, digital power supply, motor control, remote controls, thermostats, digital timers, hand-held meters, etc."

The board was co-designed by the University of Colorado EE department to address some educational needs and also Texas Instruments.

We have priced it at only $35.00, fully populated and ready to go.

2 New Microcontroller Products to be Released this Month.

This month we plan to release 2 new products.  The first is a product for the Cypress PSoC.  We have been working for a long time with Cypress personnel to bring this to market.  It will be a low cost solution for utilizing this exceptional Microcontroller.

We are also going to release a development board for a particular microcontroller from Texas Instruments.  This board was developed with the EE dept of the U of Colorado and also T.I.  “This board is an easily to use platform featuring the MSP430F5172 from Texas Instruments.  This 4^th generation MSP430 includes a 25 MHz core, a 10 bit Analog to digital converter, a 32 bit hardware multiplier, and a precision Timer D PWM capable of 4 ns resolution.  It is the perfect device to build servo, control, or other PWM applications.

Both products should be released at the end of January.

Schmartboard Now In Switzerland

Schmartboard products are now available to our Swiss users, locally.

Boxtec was founded 2003 and is specialized in providing open source hardware to private, educational and business customers. Boxtec empowers makers, electronic DIY microcontroller and robotics enthusiasts with the prototyping parts and tools they need to realize their projects the quickest possible.

Christoph Schneeberger who is responsible for new products and tech support at Boxtec says:"Schmartboard is a great addition to our product portfolio as it opens a lot of opportunities in prototyping which were before only accessible to professional users. The same holds true for the EZ soldering technology which opens prototyping with SMD components to users with practically no experience in soldering."

A Story About John The Engineer.

Our new commercial.  The story of an electrical engineer named John

 

Arduino...Schmartboard Style

We are finally shipping our Arduino SMT Prototyping shields. The biggest holdup, believe it or not was sourcing the female headers. You'd be surprised how much some suppliers wanted to charge us for these. We wanted to keep the suggested retail, with all of the components(and even some optional components included) to be $15. The header people were not cooperating..but we did it and I believe for those, who have recently received the boards, the wait was worth it.

We do have a special running through the end of this week. You can save 33% through Friday. We plan to release many more Arduino SMT prototyping boards and a through hole board before the end of this year.

 

Good blog post on SMT to DIP

PhD Student Nathan Dumont, who attends the University of bath in the United Kingdom, had an opportunity to test our SMT to DIP adapters.  According to Nathan: "My academic studies centre around propagation modelling and measurements for white-space standards. I am also a husband, occasional guitarist and determined tinkerer. I'm a member of Bristol Hackspace where I can be found most Thursday evenings. I have experience in hardware and software integration on a large number of embedded platforms including FPGA development and ARM and PIC projects. I have some experience in high performance sonar and marine hardware, and have worked in an OEM factory. I enjoy technical journalism on this blog and I'm very willing to do reviews of products." 

His Schmartboard blogpost comes to the conclusion that "So if you want a breakout rather than designing your own PCB, SchmartBoard looks like a really good option. I've got more of their products to try including a huge break-out I'm really looking forward to trying when I have more time to put it into an actual project."

Be Very Discrete....at $3 per board

Our June monthly special is our inexpensive SMT discrete board. 

It Supports up to 55 pcs. of 0603 package,. 35 pcs. Of 0805 package, 4 pcs. of SOD-123 package, 1 pcs.of SOT-223 package, 6 pcs. of SOT-23 package, 10 pcs. Of CASE-B package and some thru hole passive components. 12 ground holes are connected a copper plane on the bottom side.

The normal suggested retail price is $5.00, but for the month of June, it will be $3.00 while supplies last!

Schmartboard's Arduino Van

 

New Prototyping Board for Mini B USB Connectors

Quantity 2 Through Hole. USB Mini B Connector 0.5" X 2" Grids. 4 ground holes are connected to a copper plane on the bottom side. The cost is only $2.50 for the two boards! Or $20 for a ten pack(10 x two boards.