books-and-tutorials

[hollow rain]

I'd assume broken, because that doesn't offer much wiggle room
actually I might remember seeing a similar thing a while back, or not, but maybe

has the microphone sensor support become awesome yet?

oh, I have something to say that isn't skirting offtopicness,
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-circuit-playground-bluefruit/guided-tour
under capacitive touch it says CBP instead of what I expect, CPB

[cosmic wigeon]

Fixed, thanks!

[hollow rain]

running your code on my CPB, seeing 0-3000 indoors, and an appropriate leap to 63k when pointing my flashlight at it

actually very spiky output with my light on it, maybe it is catching the PWM of my light....

yeah, the troughs are valid ambient readings, phototransistors, woo!

reacting to UV as well

[hollow rain]

does adafruit check to see that the light sensor is not hovering around uint16max during board test? because that sounds like a short to me.

[cosmic wigeon]

That value range refers to the Arduino sensor range. The text was copied from the Circuit Playground Classic Learn Guide. The CP Classic is Arduino only, and Arduino by default returns ADC values 0-1023.

[cosmic wigeon]

The text is in error, sorry ^

[hollow rain]

regardless of documentation snafus, he was reading 65k in circuit python, with code that yields valid results on other boards, he may have a shorted light sensor (I was only able to get 63k when pointing a BRIGHT light at mine)
I'll again suggest checking for 64k+ as a manufacturing validation test error state

[gray ravine]

Because this seems like the right topic (tutorials), thank you for all the neat little Colin's Lab shorts. They are tasty bits of information! Reminds me that hobby electronics are still there.

[tardy kettle]

@gray ravine Thanks for letting us know! I passed on your hug report to Collin.

[gray ravine]

You're welcome! There's also something nice about his manner and delivery. Very "This is how it is, it's useful to know, it's kinda cool, but nobody's going to freak out about it."

[lethal horizon]

I want to second this so much; high production value, easily digested, great tips and quality simple breakdowns of how things work; just all around awesomeness! ♥️

[visual hornet]

most of the adafruit microcontroller boards have nice graphical pinout guides (ie like the pretty one at https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather-rp2040-pico/pinouts but i can't find one for any ItsyBitsy processor (the one i'd most like is the M4 but any of them would be great). is there a reason for this, or am i just not looking in the right places?

[fleet harness]

Unfortunately that one just has the older style pinout -- if it did have the colorful one, it would be here https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-itsybitsy-rp2040/pinouts

They're working on the color pinouts for other boards

Oh, wait, no, here you go! https://blog.adafruit.com/2021/05/21/pin-reference-adafruit-itsybitsy-rp2040/

Guess they just haven't added it to the guide yet

[visual hornet]

thank you !!!

[fleet harness]

No problem ^_^

I need to print that out myself, lol

[civic blade]

Read the docs reference confusion or error?

Hi there - my first post in Discord, so apologies in advance if I have not followed correct convention.

Is the Erase-reference in the "File System Issues" section correct (for Express boards)?
The link takes the reader to the file flash_erase_express.ino (so an Arduino erase sketch), however the text of the procedure references: ".erase uf2"

https://circuitpython.readthedocs.io/en/latest/docs/troubleshooting.html
For boards with CIRCUITPY stored on a separate SPI flash chip, such as Feather M0 Express, Metro M0 Express and Circuit Playground Express:
Download the appropriate flash .erase uf2 from the Adafruit_SPIFlash repo.
( https://github.com/adafruit/Adafruit_SPIFlash/tree/master/examples/flash_erase_express )

[tardy kettle]

I think you are correct, I believe the documentation needs to be updated. I need to look at it more closely but it might be simply a typo with the ".erase" reference.

[tardy kettle]

There is a more detailed list of ways to erase your board on this page beginning here: https://learn.adafruit.com/welcome-to-circuitpython/troubleshooting#to-erase-circuitpy-storage-dot-erase-filesystem-2987288-23

[civic blade]

Thank you 🙂
You anticipated why I was in that section of the docs. I have access to REPL so will follow that procedure.
Off topic, but I'm blown away with what you guys have achieved with CP! I'm moving over from Arduino and am enjoying the clarity of CP.

[tardy kettle]

That's great to hear! For future reference, you'll get faster/better help with CircuitPython questions in #help-with-circuitpython. Anyway glad I could help!

[glass trout]

https://www.adafruit.com/product/4900 - Arduino now officially supports RP2040 chipsets, and the description doesn't reflect that. Just wanted to let you guys know.

Thanks! I also submitted a contact form on that.

[still crest]

Hi! Is this where I can ask questions on tutorials? Going through the NeoPixel uberguide page below & python installation mentions this command:
sudo pip3 install adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel
Is it correct that rpi_ws281x is also needed? I tried just the line above, didn't work, then hunted around & found a reference to the rpi_ws281x as well.
https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-neopixel-uberguide/python-circuitpython#python-installation-of-neopixel-library-17-9

[cosmic wigeon]

If you are trying to do this on an RPi or similar, you need adadfruit-blinka as well. But pip-installing adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel should bring in adafruit-blinka, which in turn brings in rpi_ws281x

[still crest]

I installed blinka. Then ran some simple NeoPixel code & got:
ModuleNotFoundError: No module named 'neopixel'
So I poked around, found Tony D's tutorial here: https://learn.adafruit.com/neopixels-on-raspberry-pi/python-usage then added:
sudo pip3 install rpi_ws281x adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel
Code then executed. Tony's tutorial page shows a forcing re-install of Blinka after the above. I didn't do that, and didn't think I needed to since my code ran.

[still crest]

My install method was:
Fresh Bullseye, tried to install Blinka, got error reported yesterday so added full_update, then could install blinka. Then tried just installing the adafruit-circuitpython-neopixel library, got an error, so tried adding rpi_ws281x to the install. Code then ran (still not seeing anything with NeoPixel strip on the Pi, but wondering if that has something to do with power).

[light bay]

what are the pros and cons of the US navy electronics/electricity army manual?

It's very hard for me to tell if it's outdated to start with since it's a bit over 50 years old

But I doubt that the main types of electronics have changed that much or even physics laws ?

[eternal rock]

The laws of physics haven't changed, but the types of electronic components and assembly methods that are commonly used definitely have. Like vacuum tubes versus Arduinos, I mean. I'd start with a more recent reference source, since there's so much information out there.

[light bay]

There's a few editions around like 1980, 1998 etc but it's not clear if it's a revamp based on the original 1974 course or if it has updated information. What types of electronics would tell me ? ex: if I was asking that about a 1950 book the fact they now mention microcontrollers would tell me it was updated in the 1970

[trail lance]

But why use such old reference materials at all? Even since 2000 the world of electronics have changed quite a bit. I'd look for the most recent documentation you can find, generally.

[light bay]

the big pros of it for me are that it's a very big book and very free

[trail lance]

Ah, but most of the documentation for 2021 is free and online.

[light bay]

and doesn't only focus on microelectronics but also teach 600VAC as well

[trail lance]

There are university courses now online as well.

I believe Stanford publishes many of theirs.

[light bay]

What would you guys recommend for a recent book that is almost free and big on content and hopefully not too many original theories ?

I scrolled a bit but I don't see many links which seems to be PDF

[trail lance]

https://courses.engr.illinois.edu/ece110/sp2016/content/lectures/LectureSlidesSP16_v2_schmitz.pdf

Here's another: https://spie.org/samples/TT107.pdf

Is this the kind of thing you're looking for?

And from the Open University in the UK: https://www.open.edu/openlearn/science-maths-technology/introduction-electronics/content-section-0

[light bay]

I had forgotten about it, but the art of electronics possibly have the same "classic" electronics issue (but it has been updated a couple of time and still have wealth of real-world experience)

(but imho art of electronics has the same issue as K&R C book, very theorical and very difficult exercises for someone who isn't an expert)

or the same issue as feynman books on physics and the exercises in it

[trail lance]

As you say, the laws of physics and the basic laws of electronics haven't changed, but almost nobody nowadays spends a lot of time with 74x00 TTL or 40x00 series CMOS integrated circuits, as those technologies are from the 70s and 80s. As pedagogical tools, perhaps. But a university level course is going to jump into more contemporary materials a lot faster. If you're principally interested in theory then of course older materials are fine; if you want to learn current technologies then look for contemporary sources.

[light bay]

well a mix of both, ideally I'd have a book with theory with exercices and how to apply these IRL

university books (at least at mine) are very good at theory but not very good on actually using it

art of electronics and the navy books are a bit too theorical and short on using it

ie: they are scientific book not engineering book

not sure if you get what I mean, arduino/rpi is very hands-on but at some point to progress on electronics you'll need to know kirchoff etc

[trail lance]

Well, there's top-down and bottom-up. I'd say (from my own experience) it's probably better to jump in with a Raspberry Pi or MCU, get yourself an IMU and figure out the mathematics of using Quaternions and Euler angles, figuring out how to use that data, etc. Or whatever angle or bent is your desire. I.e., the best education is actually solving specific problems. It's like learning a natural language in a classroom but not using it on the street: you'll have trouble remembering it and you won't have any experience actually using it.

[potent temple]

Any good books?

[lofty sigil]

I was trying to figure out how to write code to use the Midi Featherwing with a Pybadge. I found the example code on this page: https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-midi-featherwing/circuitpython-midi-example
is lacking how to receive MIDI - it just sends very simple MIDI. I asked around Discord and got code "working", but then found out that the CP MIDI library is is maybe too slow to receive MIDI that is more than super basic, simplistic music - lots of Note messages are not being received using the library. So I'm thinking this needs to be looked at. A more complete example that both sends and receives MIDI at the same time would be apropos. Developing such an example may reveal problems with the MIDI library.
I ended up bypassing the MIDI library and writing CP code to read from the UART directly and parse the incoming MIDI myself. This runs fast enough so that The Pybadge can receive notes from playing fast, complex piano music and send out the MIDI note messages to play that music on a synth in real-time. Here's my code: https://github.com/gmeader/pybadge/blob/master/uart_midi/midithru.py

[cosmic wigeon]

That's interesting. Do you think if you looked over the MIDI library you might spot some improvements? We would welcome PR's, for instance.

[tribal fable]

Howdy. Not sure if there's a guide for using temp/humidity/pm25 together with a MagTag, but I am about finished with my code for this, and I was wondering if there isn't a guide, can I write/help write it?

I definitely need to figure out how to print a case for it, I have some ideas, but I'm not sure if I want to use the cloud and the magnetic feet as a foundation or if I should just go entirely 3D-printed.

[quick glen]

Hey all, I just come across this and figured people here would find it useful : https://pinouts.org/

[tribal fable]

it was OK in the first message in #general-tech, but now I am thinking maybe I should cancel my order of swag from these guys because they clearly employ discord bots to promote their products...

[quick glen]

@tribal fable I'm not a bot. I was trying to be helpful. So Sorry. Shall I delete my posts. I have posted here before I'm not super active

I didn't see it in general. Again really sorry

[tribal fable]

No worries. Leave it. I'm just calling them like I see them. Someone posting in the same Discord about the same thing as another account with basically the same content within hours...

[quick glen]

so sorry

[light bay]

Learn a bit about transistors : https://youtu.be/pWEvI6I17LE

[midnight juniper]

Does anyone know if adafruit is selling the third edition "improved" printing of the art of electronics?

[cosmic wigeon]

I am asking about this.

[midnight juniper]

Thank you!

[thorn yacht]

@tardy kettle Just to inform the community for my new book for Python and CircuitPython (only in Greek). It covers in two chapters SAMD21 with CP7.0 simple and more advanced projects (LoRaWAN). more details here: https://disigma.gr/collections/karampatzakis-dimitris/products/domimenos-programmatismos-python

[tardy kettle]

I appreciate you letting us know. However, for future reference, please don't tag folks in messages like this. Reserve tagging admins and moderators for reporting moderation issues only. Thank you!

I've passed it on to be included in the Python on Hardware newsletter. The final choice on what goes in isn't in my hands, but it will most likely be included. https://www.adafruitdaily.com to subscribe, and https://www.adafruitdaily.com/category/circuitpython/ for previous newsletters, if you're interested.

[thorn yacht]

Dear kattni, I apologize for the inappropriate use of the channel. I admire your work and I am glad that you are accessible and guiding. Thanks you!