I’ll post some of the most important features and specifications here:

Dimensions:

• motherboard: 81×88 mm.
• matrix: 236×72 mm.

Power:

• 7,5 V 1 A DC (the maximum current draw is 600 mA).
• power is supplied to the board trough a 2,1 mm DC power connector.
• you can get this type of adapter from Youritronics shop.

Input signal:

• signal level 200 mV
• Audio input is supplied to the board trough 2 x RCA connectors.
• you can get this type of cable from Youritronics shop.

Features:

• 20×20 led bargraph display (red or green).
• 9 display modes selectable trough button 2 present on the display board.
• on/off (standby) control selectable trough button 1 present on the display board.
• ISP (in system programming, if you have an AVR programmer that supports this feature, you can update the firmwire if new version is released)

First units were shipped,  and I’m curious about what you think related to the project so visit the Youritronics forum and share some of your thoughts also if you have any questions you can ask them there.

You can now chose between 9 display modes and you have on/off(standby) control, My favorite is the first mode

As you can see there are now 4 displaying modes, and on/off control trough two pushbuttons that sit next to the LED’s. In this version I used a cable to connect the two boards, but the boards can also be connected one on top of each other.

I’ve checked some shipping rates for united states and here is what I got:

Romania to USA, 1 kg:

UPS Express Saver 60 USD 1-5 business days
UPS expedited 62 USD – 2-5 Business Days
DHL – something like 110 USD with 2 days delivery time
Express Mail Service 41 USD probably 10 days
FedEx -  117 USD 2 business days

At the moment it seems that UPS, DHL and FedEx require proforma invoice for the product. Because I’m not a registered company I have no means to provide that so I’ll have to find a way around this problem.

later edit: The solution is Express Mail Service which is the cheapest and I can send the item as a gift thus avoiding any other papers. Delivery time to US usually under 10 days

The movie shows v1.1 of the firmwire in action. Tomorow I’ll be ordering the pcbs and parts.. The final version will use bargraph LED’s for the display and it will be composed from 2 boards, the motherbord containing most of the parts and the LED board containing only the bargraphs.

In response to the high interest shown by the readers on a spectrum analyzer posted here I decided to make a new design, that will be available in shop as a kit. The movie shows just a stage in the developing process, where the filters were being tuned. The final design will be powered by an atmega64 and will have 20 bands with 20 LED’s on each band.

I am now searching for a pcb manufacturer to get a good price on manufacturing the boards, then it will all be ready.. stay tuned.

These days most pharmacies use LED pharmacy crosses posted at their entrance to let people know there is a pharmacy there. The reasons are obvious, they look cool&hi-tech, they can be seen from distance and they can be customized really easy (well, easy customizing pretty much depends on how the manufacturer approaches things).

If you try to search the web about schematics or example codes for this kind of circuit you wont find any, and again i think the reason is obvious, the crosses are quite expensive and so is the profit for the manufacturer. So nobody is gonna post schematics for such a project, unless you’re a hobbyist and you’re having fun with electronics.

The project consists of one ATmega64, three ULN2003 and five 5×7 LED matrix from Kingbright(TA20-11EWA). I had the idea to build something like this but so far i haven’t had the time nor the knowledge to get it done. So i asked Morgoth if he would like to participate in the project. I sent him the LED’s, the drivers and the PCB and he started working. As you can see not many parts are involved , but the secret lies in the microcontroller, it’s the programming that does the job.

In the next pictures you can see the microcontroller board with the ULN2003 darlington arrays:

The circuit was designed to receive messages trough serial interface from a computer and than display them. Morgoth also designed a custom terminal for windows which provides easy access to the display.

In this test phase a serial interface by wire was used to transmit data between the terminal and the ATmega64, but a wireless or bluetooth module could be integrated with no problem.

Also as a note, the LED’s don’t light up really bright, for that to happen you need to use drivers on the positive rail. This also applies if you’re planning to take the project to another level and use bigger LED’s

And now, watch some videos with the LED Pharmacy Cross beeing controlled from the computer:

• LED Pharmacy Cross ATmega source code
• LED Pharmacy Cross terminal source code

This ATmega64 microcontroller-based cost-effective design eliminates wires, which can get in the way at a launch site in addition to eventually degrading in quality and reliability. A launch console from which the system is operated and a launch pad unit comprise the system.

Wireless Rocket Launch Control System: