🔧 Tool of the Week
PulseView (nightly AppImage)
The easiest way to get the latest sigrok/PulseView decoders and device support without touching distro packages — download the nightly AppImage and run. Ideal if you use cheap FX2-based analyzers or need a decoder that landed after the last stable release. 🔗 sigrok PulseView downloads . (sigrok.org)
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🛒 Deals & Finds
- SparkFun USB Logic Analyzer — 24MHz / 8‑channel (TOL‑18627)
– Cheap, works with PulseView, and good enough for UART/I2C/SPI debug on most hobby projects. 🔗 SparkFun product page. (sparkfun.com)
- Waveshare ESP32‑C6 1.47" Touch LCD dev board
– Small Wi‑Fi‑6 ESP32‑C6 dev board with onboard ST7789 display — great for compact dashboards and LVGL experiments. 🔗 Waveshare wiki / docs. (docs.waveshare.com)
- MakerHawk UM25C USB power meter / tester
– Inline USB-C tester (voltage, current, capacity) for bench checks and power profiling. Cheap, handy, and frequently used for quick PD/charger checks. 🔗 MakerHawk product listing. (manuals.plus)
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🧪 Cool Build
PlantBot2 — solar‑powered ESP32‑C6 plant monitor
A compact, open project that uses an ESP32 (C6 variant) with solar + battery for intermittent sensing and MQTT upload — good reference for low‑power sensors and practical solar setup patterns. 🔗 GitHub: PlantBot2. (github.com)
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📚 Worth Reading
- CN3791 MPPT charger modules — what they are and how to use them safely – Practical notes for using small MPPT Li‑ion charger boards in DIY solar projects. 🔗 Guide (jrattechworks). (jrattechworks.com)
- USB‑C Power Delivery explained: PD 3.2, EPR, and charging gotchas – Short technician‑level breakdown of PD versions, EPR, and compatibility pitfalls. 🔗 Byte‑Pulse explainer. (byte-pulse.net)
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⚡ Quick Hits
- Sipeed SLogic16U3 — USB3 logic analyzer with wide input range and tools repo (good next‑step if you outgrow FX2 clones). 🔗 Sipeed SLogic16U3 wiki / tools. (wiki.sipeed.com)
- SparkFun tutorial: Using a USB logic analyzer with sigrok/PulseView — quick setup and a simple test sketch to get you capturing. 🔗 SparkFun tutorial. (learn.sparkfun.com)
- Zephyr board support for the Waveshare ESP32‑C6 1.47" — useful if you prefer an RTOS build or want example board files. 🔗 Zephyr docs (Waveshare ESP32C6 LCD 1.47). (docs.zephyrproject.org)
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📺 Cool Videos
- ESP32‑C6 1.47" Display Dev Board — overview & demo
– Quick hardware tour and demo of the Waveshare board (shows the screen and basic examples). 🔗 YouTube. (youtube.com)
- How to use Sigrok PulseView (logic analyzer tutorial)
– Walkthrough for installing PulseView and capturing/decoding UART, I2C and SPI from a cheap analyzer. 🔗 YouTube tutorial. (youtube.com)