Category: Electronics
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The Hidden Trap Inside ESP32‑C3 Super Mini Boards from AliExpress
Why Two Identical‑Looking Boards Can Be Completely Different The ESP32‑C3 has quickly become one of the most popular microcontrollers for DIY electronics, IoT projects, and low‑power wireless applications. It is small, efficient, inexpensive, and fully compatible with Wi‑Fi and Bluetooth. Naturally, the market is full of tiny ESP32‑C3 development boards—especially on AliExpress—sold at unbelievably low…
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FS1000A and XY-MK-5V – How they work – cheap 433MHz Arduino radio
The FS1000A transmitter and XY-MK-5V 433Mhz receivers are probably the cheapest options if you want to do any kind of radio transmission with Arduino. And many people assume that it will work in their application no problem. The truth is, that it’s not that simple. The way how whose 433MHz radio modules are made puts…
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Is 6S more efficient than 4S?
There is a popular opinion, a myth maybe, that drones powered by 6S LiPo batteries fly much longer and are much more efficient than their 4S counterparts. You know, lower current and lower KV motors need less current for the same torque. The problem with this opinion is that it’s only partially correct. Yes, the…
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What are TVS, the Transil Diodes?
We like to think that voltage in electronics is, if not constant, then at least it’s not going above the supply voltage. So if we apply 5V at the input of the electronic device, it will never go unintentionally above 5V inside. It is, however, not true. As soon as you add any type of…
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LILYGO T5 4.7-inch E-paper ESP32 development board
One of the biggest advantages of ESP32 development boards (without even counting the speed, flash size, WiFi, Bluetooth, and two cores) is that they come in a variety of shapes and sizes: bare boards, with OLED, with color LCD, with LoRa chipset, with GPS modem, etc., etc. And finally, you can get them with an…
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QmuBeacon – ESP32 and LoRa based GPS recovery beacon and locator
Having a broken leg, limited mobility, and paid sick leave have some perks after all. I’ve finally found some free time to sit on the project I started, I think, two years ago: ESP32, LoRa based GPS beacon, and locator. You know, put it on an airplane and have a way to get the distance…
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ESP8266, ESP32 and ESP32-S2 comparison
Currently, there are 2 types of MCU from Espressif on the market: ESP8266 from 2014, ESP32 from 2016 and ESP32-S2 that debuted in the second half of 2019. Although ESP32-S2 is not yet very popular, it is expected it will replace ESP8266 as a cheaper, more powerful and more secure alternative in the upcoming years.…
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Espressif ESP32-S2
When Espressif release ESP32 WiFi & Bluetooth capable MCUs back in 2016, many things changed in the DIY and tinkerers community. We finally had a cheap MCU that could do real IoT stuff and was easy to use. However, the cheap ESP32 is not really cheap in relative terms. Sure, it is cheap, but there…
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ESP8266 and ESP32 – the main differences
ESP8266 and ESP32 are the next best thing that happened to DIY world since Arduino itself. Thanks to development boards based on those MCUs brand new possibilities opened in front of all DIY and tinkering enthusiasts. With those two, not only we have cheap and powerful microcontrollers, but we can also make them talk to…