2021 April Mailbag

Below a selection of items received recently in my 2021 April mailbag. (AliExpress )
Each items is below 22 Euro as i want to keep the complete order price below 22 euro to avoid additional tax and handling fees.

	Finally i decided to buy some breadboard wires in a box. I used Dupont wires or did cut some wires myself when breadboarding. Let's check if this works better.
Chassis parts tot banana's (also possible to clamp wires) Perhaps later this year i will order more (perhaps the cheaper ones without possibility to clamp wires) as i have plans to incorporate them in a new workbench. However i expect it will take some time before i can realize that.
	Dupont to crocodile clips
Some chips (cheap set to have some 7400 series SMD chips)
	Never used the Kafuter brand before. After some recommendations in several YouTube channels i decided to buy some K-705
Cheap servo motors. I still had some, however i wanted to have some more in stock.
	One nice thing of the design for this mains power plug converters is that you can plug in EU and US type power plugs. Power plug converters to US power sockets and also one to an EU socket was included.
Always good to have some power supplies in stock for projects Mains 220V to 5V , 3V3 and 12V
	I like these plastic nuts, bolts and distance holders. I use them sometimes as spacers to put   PCBs on my table.
This UV curable liquid looked nice. When opening the package (not full opening, just to the plastic bag you see on the photo, is sensed a very strong bad smell. I even decided to put it outside of my house in my shed, hoping after some time the smell will go away so i can start playing with it.
	Some tweezers for working with SMD components
Manual suction tool for SMD components
	Another small weighing scale. I was happy to give my first one to my family as they want it to use for bakery. However i want one myself e.g. for counting components and experiments.
Cheap small temperature regulated USB soldering iron. As i always wanted to have a portable soldering iron (USB). The temperature regulation and price was for me the most important selection criteria. After receiving the soldering iron i ordered some spare tips and they arrived after some days.
	Vibration sensors

QIACHIP 433Mhz Wireless Receiver Transmitter Remote Control -1-

Experimenting with 433MHz remote control can easy done with these small modules.

QIACHIP 433Mhz Wireless Receiver Transmitter Remote Control Learning Code 1527 Decoder Module 4 CH output Learning Button

QIACHIP 433Mhz Wireless Receiver Transmitter Remote Control Learning Code 1527 Decoder Module 4 CH output Learning Button


I ordered a package with
Receiver module (RX480E-4) * 10pcs
Transmitting module(TX118SA-4) * 10pcs
My order did not include the antenna's. This was also mentioned in the description, in the description where instructions how to make your own small antenna.
However i decided to also order some antenna's (5 transmit and 5 receive).

This is the product description of both modules

Brand Name: QIACHIP
Use: Universal,Lighting,Electric Door,Automated curtains,Switch
Wireless Communication: RF
Channel: 4
Package: No
Frequency: 433 MHz
Model Number:
TX118SA + RX480E 433Mhz Universal Remote Control For Smart Home Garage
Product Description
Pin Description:
- : Negative power supply
+: Positive power supply, DC 3-24V
K1: 1 short to Negative start transmitting data, Similar the A button on the remote control.
K2: 2 short to Negative start transmitting data, Similar the B button on the remote control.
K3: 3 short to Negative start transmitting data, Similar the C button on the remote control.
K4: 4 short to Negative start transmitting data, Similar the D button on the remote control.
ANT: transmitting antenna


[Receiver module ] Product Model: RX480-4ch
Model: KSL-RX480-4ch
Working voltage: DC2.5V-5V
Working current:3MA
The sensitivity: -108DBM
rate: MAX 10KB/S
Working mode:Point move, self-locking, interlocking
The output: 4 channel CMOS level signal Corresponding to the remote control ABCD 4 buttons.
Pin Description:
GND : ground or negative pole
+V : DC3.3~5V input
D0: Data output
D1: Data output
D2: Data output
D3: Data output
VT: Output （When any pin of D0-D3 outputs the level signal, VT is output synchronously; VT is usually used as the output indicator.）

Applications (mentioned in the description)
1.wireless power switch, socket, remote control switch, receiver module,
2. access control, electric cars, motorcycles, automobile anti-theft products, remote door openers, closers control system
3. security, surveillance systems, home security products, electric doors, alarm host, alarm
4. rooms controls, shutter doors, windows, remote control socket, remote control LED, remote audio remote control electric doors, garage door remote control, remote control retractable doors, remote rolling gates, sliding door
5. smart home products, remote control curtains, remote MP3,

The first i build was a small transmitter module (using the transmitter module, a small 4 button pcb ans a battery holder.
Next i wired a receiver module up on a small veroboard with some leds resistors, a battery holder, an on off switch for the small battery. For the connection to the module i used dupont connectors so i can easy change the module. I also included the status led and a programming push button. These two items are also available on the pcb module itself so they are not really needed.
 

Later i also created a second transmitter module on a verboard with some big buttons

 
I hope to find soon more time for my next post with more info about this interesting and easy to use modules.

Pogo pin dupont - adaptor

Also i sometimes want temporary connections for testing or transferring data. Therefore i ordered some pogo pins The pogo pins or spring-loaded pins where ordered relative cheap (e.g. on AliExpress) as a set of 100 pieces.

I also often use dupont connectors in my projects. So i made a simple dupont - pogopin adapter.
For the dupont side i used the crimp wire connector.
I soldered some pogo pins in some female dupont crimp wire contacts.
The i used pliers to close the crimp contacts.
Finally i did put it in the Dupont housing.
Currently i only made this cheap 1x 3 pin housing and 2x 1 pin housing connectors. See photo's.

 

4 Button PCB

Some time ago i received this nice PCBs with 4 push buttons in my Aliexpress mailbag.
.
The PCBs and buttons are somewhat smaller than expected. (About 32mm*8 mm)  
However they are relative cheap. For 10 PCBs with 4 buttons i did
 pay € 3,41 including shipment, so about 34 cent each.
One side of each button is connected to a separate pin marked K1, K2, K3 and K4. The connections on the other side of the button are joined together and is marked GND 

To 4 of these PCBs i soldered Dupont header to easy use them for prototyping.
The two on the right in the picture have straight male headers and can be easy plugged in a breadboard.
The bottom left has a 5 pin female header. The top on the left has 5 bend male header pins. The idea is that i can easy use the PCB with buttons one on the left with some Dupont wires.

Forth selfemit2":

  \  selfemit2":  FORTH  : code rewritten / adapted to run in WinForth 
  \  ( ugly as nice code 'goto NameFieldAddres' not quickly found in WinForth )

: selfemit2": here 4 + CREATE , DOES> @ swap 2* + dup @ emit 1+ @ emit ; 

 \  Example

selfemit2": MoTuWeThFrSaSu       \ Self emitting text

1 MoTuWeThFrSaSu   \ Emits Mo
2 MoTuWeThFrSaSu   \ Emits Tu
\ ..
7 MoTuWeThFrSaSu   \ Emits Su

   \ Also generic selfemit": can be made for use as
   \ 3 selfemit": MonTueWedThuFriSatSun
   \ 2 selfemit": MoTuWeThFrSaSu
   \
   \ or a complex flexible lenght that splits words at the capital in
   \  selfemitF": MondayTuesdayWednesdayThursdayFridaySaturdaySunday
   \
   \ For other Forth's or more/less characters BE CREATIVE 
   \ (Code does not work if complete defined string is not stored.
   \  I have seen Forth's that only store some characters and a checksum )
   \
   \          JanJeronimus   29MAR2021 

Simple Dupont gender changer.

As i was playing with my ST Link programmer and STM8S development boards having a simple Dupont pin Female to Female gender changes perhaps would be would be more easy than changing cables to the required gender.
Making a simple female to female was more easy than expected.

First i did think i needed to solder. However female Dupont connector headers can easy be pushed together to create an adapter.
With insulation tape you can prevent the separation on these two headers.

  

STM8S207 / 103 board "Clock LEDs"

On AliExpress i also ordered the  EU-STM8S207|103-DEMO board.

This board has two STM8 controllers and several hardware items.
According to info the two STM8 controlers should be able to communicate with each other.
There is a MicroSD card holder, a W2064 Flash ram, A buzzer (Beep), LDR, One reset button. Two buttons connected to the 207 and one button connected to the 103 (on which pin??), Several connectors (e.g. for ESP01 wifi),GSM. SPI, I2C AD/DA, GDM, 207-UART1 a 207-SWIM and 103-SWIM and some other items. Also additional boards to add more hardware can be ordered.

Unfortunately i could not yet find good documentation or a schematic diagram.

After playing with a cheap STM8S103F3P6 board i decided to try out this board and connected my ST-link (shown in an earlier post) to the 103-SWIM connector. On this board the SWIM connector indicates 5V so i used 5V.  ( The STM8S103F3P6 board indicates 3V3 so there i used 3V3).

I modified the STM8S Blink sketch to the sketch below to test the output pins.

// CODE

const int LED_TT = 12;

/
 pinMode(LED_TT, OUTPUT);
}

// the loop function runs over and over again forever

void loop() {

  digitalWrite(LED_TT, HIGH);   // turn the LED on (HIGH is the voltage level)

  delay(1000);                       // wait for a second

  digitalWrite(LED_TT, LOW);    // turn the LED off by making the voltage LOW

  delay(1000);                       // wait for a second

}

// END CODE

LED_TT is Led To Test
By changing the LED_TT value in the program above i could test the "Clock like arranged Leds".

Results are in the table below.

Clockwise 1-12 LEDs on PCB	Pin in Script
1	0
2	1
3	2
4	4
5	3
6	5
7	6
8	7
8	8
10	9
11	11
12	12

Strange that the 4 and 3 are swapped. I expect Pin 10 (D10) is not used as this corresponds to SWIM in some pictures i found.

 
 

STM8S103F3P6 -01- Blink test

Some cheap STM8S103F3P6 Breakout Boards recently came in my mailbox from China / AliExpress and i decided that it was time to test them.

This is my first experience STM boards so i did the simple Bink test.

First i heated up my soldering iron to added some Dupont pins to 2 of this boards. At the bottom of this blogpost you see more pictures of the soldered pins  

For programming a SWIM interface /  ST Link is needed. Luckily some weeks earlier a simple ST Link arrived. This was a simple PCB with an USB port and the following connections

To protect the PCB i heat-shrinked this ST Link connector.

Bottom  [SWD]	Top [SWIM]
3V3	RST
SWD0	GND
SWCLK	SWIM
GND	5V

With Dupont wires I made the following hardware connections between the programmer and the STM8S103F3P6 Breakout Board 

STM8S103F3P6	Programmer
3V3	3V3
SWIM	SWIM
GND	GND
NRST	RST

After configuring the Arduino IDE so that it can handle STM8  i successfully tested the board with the Blink program from the Arduino IDE (1.8.10) with the settings below.

Tools  Board:  STM8S103F3 Breakout Board  Programmer: ST-Link/V2 File   Examples       Examples for STM8S103F3 Breakout Board           Generic_Examples                   01 Basics                               Blink                 Some links: https://tenbaht.github.io/sduino/hardware/stm8blue/ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8CfD1d4Z_Vk

STM8S103F3P6 Breakout Board with Dupont pins

On one breakout board i used male ( and male pins with an angle) Dupont pins as often seen with this modules.
For the other STM8S103F3P6 breakout board i used the long Dupont pins with male and female connectors. For the SWIM interface  used male Dupont pins. I also added connectors to the + and - . The idea is that it can be easy placed in a project and the female headers still give easy access to all pins.
It is possible to use both variants on a breadboard.