KTechLab - Open Source IDE

KTechLab project. KTechLab is a an IDE for microcontrollers and electronics. It supports circuit simulation, program development for microcontrollers and simulating the programmed microcontroller together with its application circuit. Ktechlab was developed by David Saxton.

KTechLab - Open Source IDE



Integrated Design Environment (IDE) for electronic and PIC microcontroller circuit design and simulation. Featuring an extensive circuit designer with autorouting and simulation of many common electronic components and logic elements, KTechLab is the idea tool for educational or hobbyist use. You can simulate analog circuits and logical circuits using KTechLab.

You can write programs using Assembly, C (SDCC), or Flow Code - program the microcontroller(PIC) using flowchart. Another option is Microbe a programming language like BASIC.

KTechLab supports a wide range of Open Source PIC programmers, enabling finalised PIC programs to be quickly and easily transfered to a real PIC microcontroller.

Toy SMPS or an Overkill White LED Driver

Jonathan Westhues site of Intriguing Projects include A Test Instrument for HF/LF RFID and a compiler that starts with a ladder diagram and generates native PIC16 or AVR code.

Toy SMPS or an Overkill White LED Driver



I sense the load current and control the duty cycle. The PWM pin on the AVR drives the gate of the FET through a couple of BJTs. Note the absence of any input capacitance; Vin looks terrible but it works. The micro power supply section is isolated with an RC.

delabs Notes

This is a nice way to start, learn uC and Power electronics in one go. It does not matter if it an expensive solution for LED Lighting. It certainly is an excellent Educational Project.
It may also be useful to use Intelligent Systems (uC and Firmware) to monitor and manage LED Arrays and control their brightness and color. Large Arrays can be Interfaced to PC by XBee for Home/Office or Factory Lighting Automation and Energy Consumption Optimization.

Microcontroller Interfacing

uC Real World Interface

uC I/O is Keyboard and LCD when you Build a calculator or a Text/Morse Communicator. When you control a motor it is Drive/Speed and Direction for Motor and Tacho or Opto Counters for Feedback. In both cases you have Input and Output which is Logic or Analog which has to reach the CPU.

Amateurfunkbasteln - Amateur Radio Crafts and Electronics

Amateur radio is a technical hobby. The attraction? To cover long distances with a low power radio to talk with other people, learn about their countries and cultures.

Amateurfunkbasteln - Amateur Radio Crafts and Electronics

But amateur radio also means tinker devices themselves, solder, apply electronics and learn something. In this sense, it can be a preparation for a technical career or even an engineering degree.

Use Google Translate, the pages are in German.

A Data Logger that records Slowly varying parameters, such as the temperature or decreasing the voltage of a battery. This copy records up to four measurements on parallel and saves it on a EEPROM.



Four Channel Data Logger

It measures self-sufficient - without a PC - analog voltages (0-5V), it digitizes and stores the numerical value obtained in a separate memory. Later, after the measuring and recording phase, passes the data logger its information to the PC.

The Radio Electronics Magazine

Radio-Electronics was an American electronics magazine that was published under various titles from 1929 to 2003.You can Read them all here .



Recently i found a collection of those mags at Archive.org .....

Radio Electronics Magazine at Archive.org

Hugo Gernsback, sometimes called The Father of Science Fiction, started it as Radio-Craft in July 1929. The title was changed to Radio-Electronics in October 1948 and again to Electronics Now in July 1992. In January 2000 it was merged with Gernsback's Popular Electronics to become Poptronics.



Gernsback Publications ceased operations in December 2002 and the January 2003 issue was the last.

Over the years, Radio-Electronics featured audio, radio, television and computer technology. The most notable articles were the TV Typewriter (September 1973)[1] and the Mark-8 computer (July 1974). These two issues are considered milestones in the home computer revolution.

Radio Electronics Magazine at SWTPC

Radio-Electronics was aimed at electronics' professionals such as radio and TV repairmen. And they were men, the tag line on the cover was "For Men with Ideas in Electronics".

Bluetooth Multimeter - Seeed Studio

"Bluetooth Multimeter is an intelligent peripheral of android phones, specially designed for engineers. Not only can it easily collect data such as voltage, current and resistance etc., this multimeter can also communicate with phones via bluetooth. Thus, the data gathered will be displayed on your phones."

Bluetooth Multimeter - Seeed Studio

Totally open source, including hardware, software & Android API. Learn how to create a Platform to connect smartphones with the real life.



The Bluetooth Multimeter is based on Atmega328 - Arduino Pro. It measures the voltage and resistance and current input from the headphone jack, and then sent these data via the Bluetooth frame.



This Bluetooth Multimeter is a portable multimeter, a device that gathers the voltage, resistance and current. and then sent these data to other device via Bluetooth, so, we could display the data through other devices, such as Android, PC and so on.

Quadcopter of Harald Sattler

The top of the sNQ Shorty looks much tidier than its big brother, here the experience gained with the first work increases. The cables between the control unit and the LEDs and the motors are now laid on the underside of the circuit board and lead through the holes to the pads provided for this purpose.

sNQ Shorty - Quadcopter of Harald Sattler

"After initial flight tests I can confirm the function of the Mega328 with 16 MHz at 3.3 V operating voltage. Of course, one must be aware that the chip is operated outside its specification and no one can guarantee that the two chips and the μC function are compatible with all possible conditions. It may well be that the shorty in the living room at 20 ° prima flies, then one opens the door and there comes cold air into the room, the copter simply crashes."



"With the sNQ Stretcho, we pushed the motors down as far as possible through the brackets, because this would dampen or even suppress vibrations due to the engine running, and disturbances of the IMU chip largely fall away. In the case of the sNQ Shorty, this can only be implemented to a limited extent, ..."

Online Museums of Hewlett-Packard

HP Archive  - This site is run by Glenn Robb, an Electrical Engineer and HP aficionado. It's goal is to help others collect, preserve and enjoy vintage HP equipment and literature.

Online Museum of Hewlett-Packard - Ken

"This web site is devoted to the history of test equipment produced by the Hewlett-Packard Company which is now known as Agilent Technologies. I own a huge collection of vintage Hewlett-Packard test equipment, catalogs, equipment manuals, and Hewlett-Packard Journals" -  Kenneth A. Kuhn.

HP's Instrumentation and Technologies Division became Agilent, Recently Keysight a new firm sprang from Agilent as the Heir to the Scopes, Meters, Oscillators and Counters. So in this blog we are relating to Keysight as the continuation of the old HP tradition of Test and Measurement.
(The present hp is a computer company and agilent a health care firm)



Their first business location in the Santa Clara Valley is the now iconic garage located at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto. Here they manufacture the company's first product, the 200A Audio Oscillator. Disney Studios becomes interested in the 200A and orders eight to be used in the production of their movie, Fantasia.

Keysight Technologies History

"As the company moves into this decade it undergoes a major transformation. In 2013 Agilent Technologies announces that it will split into two separate pure-play measurement companies. The name of the new electronic measurement company is announced later in the year as Keysight Technologies."

The HP Garage is a private museum where the company Hewlett-Packard (HP) was founded. It is located at 367 Addison Avenue in Palo Alto, California. It is considered to be the "Birthplace of Silicon Valley"

HP Memory Project - Vintage Hewlett Packard
"The HP Memory Project is, first of all, a collection of vintage Hewlett-Packard hardware, software, documentation and other technical and marketing materials from HP's early years in the instrumentation and computer industry (beginning in 1939).