• 16 channels of voltage control--mix DC motors and LEDs
• High resolution 16bit* control enables smooth fading, precise color mixing
• Different voltages can be used on all 16 channels (4 separate banks for simplied wiring)
• Control via RS232 serial, 5V TTL serial or high speed SPI from arduino or other uCs
• Fast update / communication--with SPI, all 16 channels can be smoothly swept
• Easy built-in commands: Group lights, Fade, Chase, Blink , Sunspot
• Up to 25V and 2A per channel (max power dependent on ambient temperature)

The VoS Voltage Controlled Filter is based around a CEM3372 filter IC (4-pole resonant low-pass filter)--the same chips found in the filters of such analog classics as the Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Prophet T8 and Oberheim Xpander. One very cool feature of the CEM series filter chips is that as the resonance is turned up, the volume level does not drop as dramatically (as it does in other analaogs, including the famous Moog Ladder Filter).

The Scanalog 2 is a great inexpensive tool for hobbyists looking to debug digital issues, especially if they can't afford an oscilloscope.  Debug SPI, I2C, Serial UART, 1-Wire, Maple Bus (more to come with software updates). You can even inspect that PWM or RC servo signal to make sure your arduino is outputting what you think it should.

Features:

• 20Msps on 4 channels
• 1.8V - 5V level detection
• 256k samples of storage on each line
• Playback on all 4 lines, or just 2 while reading from other 2

Wishlist:

• Better Triggering
• More flexible output--static pwm to control RC servos, for instance, or just for a clock generator.

To avoid this, coat the tip with a large blob of solder every time before returning it to its stand.  While flux in the solder gradually eats away at the tip, oxidation will cause problems much faster. 

You may notice that new tips actually come coated with solder. We've seen manufacturer documentation recommending that you hold solder against a new tip the first time you heat it up so that the tip gets coated as soon as it's hot enough to melt solder.

Cleaning tip: If your tip is starting to look brown, and won't 'hold' solder, or the solder acts like water on a freshly waxed car, you can help restore it by repeatedly applying solder and wiping it off.  The flux in the solder acts like a cleaning against against the built up oxides.  It may take 20 or more cycles of this to get the tip back into shape.

Rather than use TRIACs to mess with the 120VAC, we found a servo was an easy and safe way to control the drill's trigger / throttle.  The setup also uses a home made optical encoder that triggers an interrupt in the arduino code.  The code is available here, and contains some useful bits like lookup-table speed control, state machine menu system, and interrupt based speed sensing.

While SMT leds typically have a dot or small green line indicating their cathode, it can be hard to remember.  A quick way to test a LED is by touching the ends with a multimeter in 'Continuity Test' mode.  The multimeter generates a small voltage in order to detect a closed circuit, and this is enough to light the LED.  Although we couldn't burn out any LEDs with this Fluke, there's no guarantee your meter won't over-do the current, so we recommend doing just a quick touch, or putting a resistor in line.

Summary: Eagle is more straightforward, has better library support of out of the box, and better community support (ladyada, sparkfun, etc.).

Kicad is free, and is maybe 1 or 2 revisions from being great.

Click the entry for our list of pros and cons:

Here is a random list of pros and cons:

• libaries:
  • Eagle has great library support out of the box; sparkfun and ladyada's libraries are great. Dealing with libraries in eagle is a little more straightforward.  When you place a part in eagle's schematic, you've already selected the layout package, where is with kicad, you need to use a 3rd program, CvPCB,  to map the schematic symbols to the packages. Chamberlin pointed out that this is a pain when you're trying to pick the right package out of a list of 400, but you can actually filter the list to the potential candidates using the filtered display.
  • There are a lot of existing kicad libraries available, including a kicad port of the eagle libraries.
  • For every kicad project, you have to add the symbol and package libraries in the project's preferences before using them. With eagle, one "use" command and you're good forever.
• Learning Curve:
  • We give eagle a 6 hour time to go through a tutorial or two, and figure out how to make new components.  Chapter 17 of the eagle tutorial (on libraries) is a must read.  Kicad gets a 10 hour estimate to go through some tutorials and wrap your head around the libraries, along with getting past a few quirks. We've got a kicad tutorial if you're looking.
• Highlighting:
  • When you highlight a trace or component in eagle, it highlights in both the schematic and layout view.  In kicad, there's no way to highlight nets in the schematic view. This makes it hard to see when things aren't connected.  Sometimes components overlap lines in kicad schematic, but then aren't actually connected in the netlists.
• Undo:
  • The layout editor in kicad has no undo, except for undeleting parts. (this feature could very well be in the latest version).
• Routing:
  • The shortcuts in kicad are great for quickly moving components and flipping between layers.  You can also "hug" traces, which lets you places traces as close as your design rules permit.  This helps to quickly make 4 lane parallel paths that zig and zag. 
• Price:
  • Non-profit: Eagle is free for 100 x 80 mm (4 x 3.2 inches) boards limited to 2 layers, non-profit. For $125 you can do up to 6 layers, 160x100mm (6 x 4 inches), also non-profit.
  • Any use: Light (100x80mm, 2 layers):$49.  Standard (6 layers, 160x100mm): $500 for schematic+layout. And there's also pro for you 12 layer motherboard manufacturers. $1500 for everything.
  • kicad is free and open source.

Conclusion: This is by no means an exhaustive list (more experienced users please weigh in!), but our guess is that eagle would be faster for someone just starting out until you want to sell your project or make that 7in+ long pcb, in which case getting past the kicad quirks is worth the effort.

We program boot loaders on a decent number of ATMEGAs for our roboduino kit, which involves a lot of pin bending and IC pulling. To speed up the process, Oren transformed this arduino into a program-o-duino by soldering on a ZIF(Zero Insertion Force) socket.  Now it just takes a quick pull of the lever to pop the chip in and out.

This video demonstrates how to solder a QFN or MLF chip without solder paste or stencils.  While solder paste and a stencil will product the most consistent results, this demonstration only uses an iron, flux, hot air and regular solder to get the job done.  

Future videos will demonstrate how to use a solder paste syringe, as well as the recommended method of using a stencil.

Equipment used in this video:

• Aoyue 6028 Hot Air SMD Rework Station
• Tweezers for Surface Mount Devices (SMDs)
• Alcohol Dispensing Pump Bottle
• Chipquik No-Clean Paste Flux Syringe
• Liquid Flux
• Flux / Alcohol Bottle
• Desoldering wick/braid
• .02 SAC (lead free) solder
• Horse Hair Brush (ESD safe when wet)
• Hakko 50W Soldering Station
• 10X Magnifying Loupe

Here's a quick demo of our new FM Radio Shield, featuring its ability to read the RDS text data off the radio stream and display it in the Arduino Serial Monitor. 

The FM Shield also:

• digitally control station, volume
• read station strength to find good stations, or empty bands
• head phone amplifier, uses headphone wire as antenna

The FM Radio Shield is available for purchase.

On Saturday April 24th Travis Thatcher will be conducting a workshop on simple DIY electronics for music and the construction of a Voice of Saturn Synth. See more info after the jump.

The workshop entry fee is $50 and includes a barebones Voice of Saturn synth kit, as well as some materials to test out a few of the basic circuits and principles that will be demonstrated. Get your tickets here. Later that evening, at 8:30PM Travis will be performing utilizing lots of Voice of Saturn modules and other circuit bent devices. The 2010 Bent Festival will take place at 81 Front Street in Dumbo, April 22-24. See the Bent Fest website for more information. The lineup is awesome this year. Be sure not to miss our friends from Austin, Bodytronix who put on one of the craziest live acid house sets all with home-made gear!

You can also digitally change the station, volume, and read the signal strength to find the strongest or weakest stations.  Finding weak stations could help you find a good transmission gap for your FM transmitter.

If there's a station broadcasting traffic info via RDS, that would also be available. 

The VoS Voltage Controlled Filter is based around a CEM3372 filter IC (4-pole resonant low-pass filter)--the same chips found in the filters of such analog classics as the Sequential Circuits Prophet 600, Prophet T8 and Oberheim Xpander.  It features two inputs that are summed and then fed into the low-pass filter. The input and output volumes, cutoff frequency and resonance can all be controlled by VC (voltage control) or knobs.