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SparkFun Level Translator Breakout - PCA9306
This is a breakout board for the PCA9306 dual bidirectional voltage-level translator. Because different parts sometimes use different voltage levels to communicate, voltage level translators can be the key to making different parts play nice.
The PCA9306 is a dual bidirectional I2C-bus and SMBus voltage-level translator that's operational on the low side from 1.0 V to 3.6 V and on the high side from 1.8 V to 5.5 V. Simply apply your low- and high-side reference voltages to the VREF1 and VREF2 respectively, connect your I/O and drive the Enable pin high to open bidirectional voltage translation without the use of a direction pin!
Replaces:BOB-10403
- Schematic
- Eagle Files
- Datasheet (PCA9306DC)
- Hookup Guide
- GitHub
SparkFun Level Translator Breakout - PCA9306 Product Help and Resources
PCA9306 Level Translator Hookup Guide
October 31, 2013
A quick primer to get you going with the PCA9306 Logic Level Converter.
PCA9306 Logic Level Translator Hookup Guide (v2)
July 25, 2019
A quick primer to get you going with the PCA9306 Logic Level Converter - a dedicated I2C translator.
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Skill Level: Competent - The toolchain for programming is a bit more complex and will examples may not be explicitly provided for you. You will be required to have a fundamental knowledge of programming and be required to provide your own code. You may need to modify existing libraries or code to work with your specific hardware. Sensor and hardware interfaces will be SPI or I2C.
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Core Skill: Electrical Prototyping
If it requires power, you need to know how much, what all the pins do, and how to hook it up. You may need to reference datasheets, schematics, and know the ins and outs of electronics.
Skill Level: Rookie - You may be required to know a bit more about the component, such as orientation, or how to hook it up, in addition to power requirements. You will need to understand polarized components.
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Customer Reviews
5 out of 5
Based on 3 ratings:
Small Easy to use
Best footprint and labeling for I2C voltage translator.
Worked as expected
Plug and play! It’s that easy.
I'm curious as to why the NC on the high side is not another GND connection for VREF2 - the provided hookup diagram example shows the 3.3V and 5V GND connections tied together with a wire. Wouldn't it make sense to just make the extra pin another ground? If you don't tie the grounds together, the high side reference would theoretically be floating.
Also, the description makes mention of driving an enable pin high. The schematic shows the enable pin tied to VREF2, so that should take care of it.
Will this work correctly on circuits converting to 5v? The datasheet has some nice tables, and in every single case recommend no pullups on the A side.
I think that, for the majority of cases, you need to remove the pullups on the A side.
This part should be on the next version of the Arduino boards.