Hello loyal followers. We're back with another batch of new products. We have new revisions of old products, some new ones, and some sale stuff. So, let's see what we have this week.
First up, we have a couple boards based on the ADNS2620 optical mouse sensor. We have a full evaluation kit and a simple breakout board. If you're looking for an optical tracking input device, this might be right for you. The evaluation kit gives you an HID interface and a booster circuit for using a battery. The standard breakout board gives you the basics to get going. Check 'em out!
Our last version of the frequency counter kit has a couple minor issues that we've since fixed with the new version. The new version fixes the swapped RX and TX lines so you can easily connect an FTDI Basic and now includes a jumper cable for the JST connector. We don't yet have stock of these but we will soon. If you backorder it now, it will ship as soon as we get them packaged up.
In our effort to transition all our Arduino products over to the new Uno, we have a new version of the Arduino Main Board Retail. Initially intended for our retail and wholesale customers, the retail packaging also makes for better gift-giving. You can of course buy the Arduino Uno by itself, but now you can get the retail version as well.
Speaking of the new Uno, we now have the Starter Kit for Arduino with the new Uno. The only difference between this and the older version is the Uno. Other than that, it's the same kit you know and (hopefully) love.
Fiber optics can be useful if you are trying to electrically isolate your equipment. Fiber optics allow you to transmit data at high rates through harsh environments where an electrical connection might not be ideal. We now carry fiber optic transmitters and receivers. We will soon be carrying a matching cable, but any TOSLINK cable will work.
We buy a lot of components. And sometimes when we get around to using them, we find out that they're not what we wanted. This happened with some USB miniB connectors we ordered for production some time ago. It turns out they use a slightly different footprint and we can't use them. So, we're offering them to you for a substantial discount. Get them while you can.
Here's another product that didn't show up quite as expected. These iPod connectors are nice, but we got a shipment that had two identical pins instead of reverse images of each other. So instead of a left and a right, we got two lefts (or two rights, depending on how you look at it). However, they are still usable if you cut or break off a little tab inside. Check the product description for more info on how to do this. We have a lot of them and they're cheap!
I'm not sure how much I can say about a 9V battery. It's just a standard non-rechargeable 9V battery. Use it for powering your next project or making your tongue tingle.
We were digging through our receiving department the other day and found some of these 4ft USB A to B cables. They are the same as our 6ft USB cables, but 2 feet shorter. We have a limited stock left, so get them now if you want to get a low-cost cable.
Our new conductive ribbon is pretty cool. It's a flexible polyester ribbon embedded with three separate conductors that you can use for ground, power and signal. It makes for a convenient way to connect sensors and other bits to your wearable project. We sell them in lengths of 3 feet.
In addition to all the amazing and fantastic products listed above, we have some price changes to mention. We have recently reduced the price on our microSD and SD-MMC breakout boards to $9.95 each. We have also added several new products to the sale category. All the t-shirts from last year's AVC are in there for the new low price of $9.95 (not bad for a long-sleeved t-shirt).
We also have a lot of development boards and such in there. Everything is priced to move and when it's gone, it's gone forever. Also, check out the 7.5V car adapter power supply. For $2.50, it's a cheap way to power a low current project from your car.
That's it for this week. We have a LOT more coming next week, so check back then for more new stuff.
I use 9V batts for tongue tingling mostly.
With the conductive ribbon, you could have the battery in your pocket, and STILL tingle your tongue!
Easily the biggest step forward in tongue tingling technology in centuries.
I assumed I was the only tongue tingler in the world.
I think it is safe to assume that SparkFun employees and customers are the greatest collection of tongue tinglers ever assembled.
Made one of these and gave it as a b-day gift. Worked really well and was fun, though it needs the right kind of recipient which appreciates a hunt.
A couple of improvements:
* The hinges of the tea box from World Market are conductive so I wired them up to the failsafe instead of using the jack. With the box closed, you can't tell and with an attached diode, they look dead on a volt meter. Attach power to the hinges and the box unlocks after two minutes.
* I just used the servo arm as the lock itself instead of the chopstick approach. Worked fine, simpler.
* The distance you report should be in at least 1/10th of a mile. Otherwise the error can be huge and folks need to drive around a lot to get close. I switched to feet when within a mile.
* I kept the GPS enclosed without the window. Seemed to work fine.
* Use the hot start of the GPS. Otherwise waiting for cold start is annoying.
eek! sorry. This comment was for yesterday's Reverse geocache page.