New Products I Plan to Order

There are two new little products that will make my planned projects easier, both less than $10 each.

The first is a little (inline) USB Power Gauge:

I have several (many) small battery-powered devices that are Charged or Powered via their mini or micro USB connection. For example: a cell phone, mini speakers, keyboards, video cameras, micro-controllers (e.g., Rpi), and several others. I think standardization of chargers and/or power for some devices is great for users, but.

I find that sometimes information is lacking regarding the state, or status, of the device being charged. The devices idiot power LED does not always tell the story. On some devices, the battery does not seem to take-a-charge, or it charges very (maybe too) slowly. The charge rate is typically dependent on the USB charge voltage, the active Application current draw while the device is being charged, or some other unknown reason. I have waited overnight for something to be charged and disappointed with the results the next morning. Without a meter it is difficult to know what is going on, or how to fix the problem.

Adafruit.com is producing a new "USB Power Gauge *" and it will be inexpensive. I plan order one when they are available (in maybe 10 days or so).

Adafruit USB Power Gauge *

The second new little product is a small "Adafruit Trinket"; an Arduino-Like Project Controller:

The Adafruit Trinket has some very interesting spec's, and will be just the right size, with a small pin count, for some projects that I have in mind. With this controller and a simple Arduino Script, all of our Ham projects can be made "smart".  The Trinket can be purchased for 5 Volt or 3.3 Volt circuits. I will include several of these when I place the order from Adafruit.com.

 Adafruit Trinket - A Very Small Project Controller *

* Images were obtained from the Adafruit.com's Web Site, without their permission. Hopefully they will not mind for this endorsement. I do not work for Adafruit, I just really like some of "Lady Ada's" products.

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UPDATE: Oct 17, 2013
Parts are now on order.
I also added the following to the order:
Heatsink Thermal Tape - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1468
Heatsink - http://www.adafruit.com/products/1493


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