Monthly Archives: April 2019

Using Core Independant Peripherals as a 555 timer IC

There is an often used phrase “You should have used a 555” where a microcontroller has been used to do something a 555 timer could have done. So this got me thinking, could you configure the PIC microcontrollers Core Independant Peripherals to behave like a 555 timer? Read on for the answer.

While this may seem pointless, and yes I know it is, it was just something that I kept thinking about so in the end I had to do it to satisfy my curiosity. Anyway it’s a practical exercise in using the Code Configurator tool in MPLABX.

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Tachometer Clock Project

A few months ago I came across a post on the Hackaday website that showed a clock made using an instrument cluster for a motorbike. The clock featured in the article was based on an Arduino but I thought it would be interesting to do something similar using a PIC microcontroller. I had a look on eBay and found them being sold under the description of “Universal Motorcycle LCD Digital Speedometer Odometer Motorbike Tachometer Gauge”, or something similar and going for around £20.00

So I bought one and a few days later it arrived and the fun began…. Read all about it here

Revised PCB design for Race Start Controller project

A couple of weeks back I decided to re-vist the F1 Gantry Race Start Lights project that I originally did back in 2009.

The new PCB has an extra header to make connection to relay modules easier and uses a double-sided PCB. It is functionaly the same as the original and uses the same firmware which is now free to download.

You can find out more at the links below: