Category Archives: Product Datasheet

Differential I2C Long Cable Extender PCA9600 Module

Overview

This module is designed to enable long-range I2C communications which extend the cable length from several meters to 300 meters. It is ideal for applications that need to run over long wires such as the CAT5E Ethernet cable that is commonly used to make connections between rooms. The signals are transmitted via balanced transmission lines (twisted pairs) which greatly reduces noise and extends the range. NXP PCA9600 I2C bus extender IC is used as the main component of this module. The PCA9600 is designed to isolate I²C-bus capacitance, allowing long buses to be driven in point-to-point or multidrop applications. It can operate at speed up to at least 1 MHz.

There are two variations of this module:
  • The BOOST version has an onboard boost converter that can feed 12V/24V (configurable) power to the VBUS.
  • The BUCK version has an onboard buck converter that can take power from the VBUS and buck it down to 5V. This can be used to power the BUCK module itself and also the connected device(s).

The VBUS wires could provide power to the whole system. This eliminates the need to power every remote module and device separately.

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LoRaGo PORT – SX1301/SX1308 Based LoRaWAN Concentrator Module

Overview

This product has an SX1301/SX1308 baseband processor and two SX1257/SX1255 RF frontend chips, and peripheral circuits onboard. and it could listen on multiple channels and decode packets sent with different LoRa spreading factors simultaneously.  This concentrator module is supposed to connect to a host controller via SPI interface. A host controller could either be an MCU with an SPI interface or a PC with a USB to SPI converter located between the concentrator and PC. All the RF jobs are done within this concentrator module and the user could focus on high-level software development. HAL source files are provided by Semtech who is the manufacturer of the baseband processor.

 

Features

  • 4V-12V wide range supply voltage
  • +-1ppm TCXO
  • Compact size 70mm x 34mm
  • 50ohm RF port
  • ESD protected digital IO
  • Plug and play design for Raspberry Pi

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MAX6675/MAX31855 Digital Thermocouple SPI Adapter with UEXT Interface

Overview

Compared to semiconductor temperature sensors, thermocouples have a wide working range, and do not need any external excitation power. They are cost effective and interchangeable. In some high temperature application, they may be the only practical choice with a reasonable price. Signal conditioning is the most tricky part for thermocouple temperature sensors, it deals with micro volts amplification and the cold junction compensation. Thanks to the MAX6675/MAX31855, all the signal conditioning had already been done inside the chip, and the amplified analog voltage is digitized and accessible to external MCU via SPI interface.

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MH-Z16 NDIR CO2 Sensor with I2C/UART Interface Board

Overview

Unlike the chemical CO2 sensor(MG811), this NDIR CO2 sensor does not need a constant ON heating element. The heating element inside a chemical CO2 sensor keeps the sensor warm so that the chemical reaction could happen and produce an continuous EMF as the output, which depends on the CO2 concentration.  This NDIR measures the concentration of the CO2 by measure the received IR light strength, it only consume relatively high current during the ON state of the IR emitter.   Also, the manufacturer of the sensor claims a ±(50ppm +5%reading value) initial accuracy of this sensor, and it is factory calibrated. According to the datasheet of the sensor, the re-calibration of the sensor is  recommended over 6 months of use.  The method of the calibration is quite easy compared to the MG811, just put it in fresh air for a couple of minutes and press the “CALI” button on the adapter board or issue a “calibration” command.

NOTE: The USB2.0 port on your PC may not be able to provide sufficient current to power the sensor and your Arduino in the same time. To minimize the supply voltage fluctuation on the sensor, it is recommended to use an external 12V power supply on your Arduino.

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Twin RJ45 Breadkout Board

Overview

This module is designed to ease the twisted pair cable wiring for our differential I2C extender and it could be used as a RJ45 breakout board, too.

Technical Details

RJ45_SCHEMATICS

As shown in the picture above, two RJ45 connectors are patched together in parallel, and each of the 8 pins are broke out to P3. 3x2pin 2062 connectors are broke out to P1. The six pins(A,B,C,D,E,F) of 2062 connectors are connected to seven(J1, J2,J3,J4,J5,J6,J7) of the eight pins of the parallel RJ45 connectors via 0ohm 1206 surface mount resistors.

To use as a RJ45 breakout board, user should unmount all the 0ohm resistors and use the P3 to connect his/her device.

 

Dimensions

RJ45_DIMENSION

 

Differential I2C Long Cable Extender PCA9600 Module – BOOST

Overview

This module is designed to enable long range I2C communications which extends the cable length from several meters to 300 meters. It is ideal for applications that need to run over long wires such as the CAT5e Ethernet cable that is commonly used to make connections between rooms. The signals are transmitted via balanced transmission lines (twisted pairs) which greatly reduces noise and extends the range. NXP PCA9600 I2C bus extender IC is used as the main component on this module. The PCA9600 is designed to isolate I²C-bus capacitance, allowing long buses to be driven in point-to-point or multipoint applications. It can operate at speeds up to at least 1 MHz.

There is an on-board boost converter that feeds 12V/24V (configurable) to the VBUS. VBUS can be optionally connected to power the remote device(s) across the wire. The BUCK version of this differential I2C long cable extender module can be optionally connected to the other end of the wire and buck the voltage down to 5V.

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Differential I2C Long Cable Extender PCA9600 Module – BUCK

Overview

This module is designed to enable long range I2C communications which extends the cable length from several meters to 300 meters. It is ideal for applications that need to run over long wires such as the CAT5e Ethernet cable that is commonly used to make connections between rooms. The signals are transmitted via balanced transmission lines (twisted pairs) which greatly reduces noise and extends the range. NXP PCA9600 I2C bus extender IC is used as the main component on this module. The PCA9600 is designed to isolate I²C-bus capacitance, allowing long buses to be driven in point-to-point or multipoint applications. It can operate at speeds up to at least 1 MHz.

There is an on-board boost converter that feeds 12V/24V (configurable) to the VBUS. VBUS can be optionally connected to power the remote device(s) across the wire. The BUCK version of this differential I2C long cable extender module can be optionally connected to the other end of the wire and buck the voltage down to 5V.

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RasPiDeck – A Raspberry Pi to Arduino Bridge

Overview

This product is designed to used with Raspberry Pi, which gives Raspberry Pi 5v GPIO, I2C and SPI handling capability. Further more, the onboard headers are placed in a way the same as Arduino UNO Rev3, which allow shields designed for Arduino could be directly plug onto this product without addtional wiring.  As the Raspberry Pi has no ADCs onboard, an ADC chip is added to this product, now you can read analog voltage with your Pi.  This product also has a 3.3V 0.5A LDO onboard, which convert the 5V coming from Raspberry Pi to 3.3V, this voltage is used by the onboard ICs, which will save the LDO on Raspberry Pi from over temperature.

Features

  • 3.3V/5V GPIO Capability
  • 3.3V/5V I2C Capability
  • 3.3V/5V SPI Capability
  • Onboard ADC
  • Stand alone 3.3V LDO
  • Stand alone 5V SMSP
  • All features are software programmable via I2C interface

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MP3 Audio Shield with DTMF Support

Overview

This shield is designed for audio playback and recording. A pair of 3.5mm audio connectors are used for connecting earphone/speaker and microphone for audio playback and recording, respectively. Another pair of 3.5mm audio connectors can be used with e.g. an external GSM modules. This audio shield can work as an answer machine for recording voice messages. Further more, it supports DTMF decoding, which provides the possibilities for interactive control functionality. (e.g. “Dial 6 to switch off the light in living room.”) All functionality can be controlled via I2C, which includes audio playback and recording, DTMF decoding, channel switching etc. An Arduino library is provided for every function that is supported by this shield. The audio playback and recording function is performed by the WT2000 chip and the DTMF decoding is done by MT8870.

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SC18IS602 I2C to SPI Bridge Module

Overview

This module is designed to serve as an interface between a standard I2C-bus of a microcontroller and an SPI bus. This allows the microcontroller to communicate directly with SPI devices through its I2C-bus. This module operates as an I2C-bus slave-transmitter or slave-receiver and an SPI master. It controls all the SPI bus-specific sequences, protocol, and timing.

This module is useful when there is no SPI interface on the microcontroller or the SPI interface is occupied for something else. Due to the multi-slave characteristics of I2C bus, multiple such modules could be added to the system at the same time.

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SC16IS750 I2C/SPI to UART Bridge Module

Overview

This module is designed to enable I2C/SPI to UART conversion. It works in I2C/SPI slave mode and interfaces with devices working in I2C/SPI master mode. There are also 4 extra GPIOs for IO expansion. NXP SC16IS750 is used as the key component on this module. Flow control and modem signals are also supported. This module is useful when extra UART interface is needed. Due to the multi-slave characteristics of I2C and SPI, many UART interfaces could be added to the system at the same time.

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AIRduino and AIRdongle

Overview

AIRduino and AIRdongle are designed to work together. AIRduino is basically an Arduino Uno with 2.4G RF connectivity. This 2.4G connectivity can be used to upload firmware (sketch, in Arduino term) to AIRduino. Everything works in the same ways as with the official Arduino Uno, except that the USB cable connecting the PC to Arduino is replaced by a 2.4G RF link. This is extremely useful in case AIRduino has to be placed far away from the PC. It is also very useful when working with multiple AIRduinos.

AIR-000017.typical_app

AIRduino and AIRdongle each has a sophisticated designed block on board, which provides the transparent serial port connection over 2.4G RF. The block contanins an STM32 MCU, a NRF24L01+ RF transceiver, and an RF frontend IC (power amplifier and LNA). With future firmware upgrade to the STM32 MCU, more features are going to be added. For example, it will be possible to send and receive 2.4G RF packets from the AIRduino sketch via I2C.

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