MSGEQ7, SFE, and LED Matrix Links

wpsuperadmin audio, LED Matrix Link, sparkfun Leave a Comment

I have been wanting to play with the MSGEQ7 that Sparkfun sells. The MSGEQ7 is a graphic equalizer display filter that splits the audio into 7 bands and outputs via an analog signal. So in my last order, I decided to toss in the SFE shield with the MSGEQ7. This shield is all ready to go and it can analyze right and left audio channels. I am using it with a Arduino Leonardo. Now I just need a way to display the output. What better way than using 2 LED Matrix Links?! You find them in our Tindie shop and they make it really easy to drive 8×8 LED Matrix displays. The kit comes with everything you need, just add …

LED Matrix Display: Final Completed Pictures

wpsuperadmin LED Matrix Link, leds, sparkfun, wedding Leave a Comment

Wow, I cannot believe that it’s been over two months now since my wedding. It all happened so fast, as most people will say. We had a great time, and even though we had some mishaps (a vendor was a no-show), everything else came together for the most part. Remember the LED Matrix Display? Well I wanted to share some photos of how it turned out. My best friend and also best man, Warren, was able to help build an enclosure for the LED Matrix display before the wedding. We were able to stick with using the Wifly shield instead of Ethernet shield, but we had to jumper over the pins since they aren’t the same for the Arduino Due. The only issue …

LED Matrix Link, Wedding, Twitter, and WiFly

wpsuperadmin LED Matrix Link Leave a Comment

I just wanted to make a quick post about the LED Matrix Display project. This past week I received a WiFly Shield from Sparkfun.com. This will allow more flexibility at the wedding as I am not sure how I am going to setup Internet access. The most difficult part of the WiFly shield was getting a working library to compile on the Arduino Due as it is a new microcontroller and the Arduino IDE 1.5.2 is still in beta. LED Matrix Links, Arduino Due and SFE WiFly Shield After trying the Sparkfun library and not being able to compile, I commented on someone with the same issue. After talking back and forth he had a forked library that ended up working. The great people …

LED Matrix Master Fundraiser on Tindie

wpsuperadmin friedcircuits, LED Matrix Link Leave a Comment

LED Matrix Master You can support the fundraiser here: https://tindie.com/products/FriedCircuits/led-matrix-master/ Over the next two weeks we will be running a fundraiser to “kick start” the LED Matrix Master. If successful, the PCBs will be ordered and it should be about 3-4 weeks to start shipping. Thanks for your support. Each fundraiser you support helps build FriedCircuits and fuels development of new products. We have a few more designs in the works including entry into the home automation field. If there are any ideas you would like to see, feel free to contact us. The LED Matrix Master is a microcontroller (Arduino compatible Atmega328p) in the same form factor as the LED Matrix Link. After programming you can easily mate it with …

LED Matrix, Wedding and Twitter – Updated

wpsuperadmin LED Matrix Link, Twitter 2 Comments

The main driving force to develop the LED Matrix Link was to display messages at my wedding in May. The idea was to have guests be able to send messages to it during the reception. I decided to use Twitter since most people use it and there are plenty of code examples to get me started. Good thing I have a Ethernet shield I got on clearance at Radio Shack, perfect project to put it to use. I am not sure this will be the final design since I have to figure out the best way to get Internet at the reception. Scrolling text from Twitter on Arduino MegaEthernet Shield When I started writing the code I only had two LED Matrix Links to play …

MAX7219 and eBay fakes

wpsuperadmin friedcircuits, LED Matrix Link Leave a Comment

I have been receiving feedback that I can use eBay suppliers to lower my price on the MAX7219. I had previously considered that option, but after some research I have found that a lot of people are receiving counterfeits on eBay. While some counterfeits may work, their reliability is questionable and that would make my product unreliable. I do not believe that it is “good business” to support businesses and companies which pirate technology and sell it as if it were legitimate. I sincerely hope everyone understands why I am skeptical about using an unknown supplier for parts. Here is a good forum post about coming across the fake variety: http://www.picaxeforum.co.uk/showthread.php?22481-Real-or-fake The more units I can sell initially will increase my …

LED Matrix Link: Prototype

wpsuperadmin friedcircuits, LED Matrix Link 25 Comments

Update: I have listed the LED Matrix Link on Tindie as a fundraiser to get this started. You can support it here: https://www.tindie.com/shops/FriedCircuits/led-matrix-link/ This prototype stems from another projectproduct to be that I haven’t posted about except for this sneak peak: Project Sneak Peak. I noticed that most LED Matrix drivers on the market use shift registers to give a microcontroller the ability to control more LEDs than would be possible. Last year I came across the MAX7219 from Maxim Integrated. This cool little IC does all the work for you to drive a LED Matrix or LED Segment display. It uses a variation of the SPI protocol and can be daisy chained.  The other cool feature is you only need 1 resistor to set …