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NEW PRODUCTS THIS WEEK
Translucent Smoke Plastic 65% / JKDK K68 Keyboard Shell
Back in my day, if you wanted a mechanical keyboard, you had to purchase a massive IBM Model M Keyboard but now you can DIY your very own compact keyboards with your very favorite layouts to make the keeb of your dreams.
For all the DIY keebfans in the house here is a Translucent Smoke Plastic 65% (K68) Keyboard Shell aka a “JKDK K68” type enclosure. It’s the perfect base to begin your custom keyboard project, especially if you dig a smokey translucent base that can show off your glowy LEDs. It’s also a lot less expensive than a milled & anodized aluminum shell. However, it won’t be as heavy, durable, and flat. That said, it’s a great starter shell. You provide the PCB to match and bolt it into this base. It’s also designed with a slot for a USB C power supply.
Comes with four rubber feet and mechanical screw hardware.
Digital Desktop Multimeter / Bluetooth Speaker / Clock Alarm
Its a floor wax! Its a dessert topping! It’s an all-in-one benchtop multimeter that’s also a bluetooth speaker, alarm clock and thermometer. It can run off of USB power (plug into any wall adapter for charging your phone or gadgetry) and has built it rechargeable batteries for portable use. Perfect for use on your workbench, coffee table, or Thanksgiving centerpiece — its a great conversation starter!
We couldn’t resist stocking this “its so uncool its flipped around and become cool again” engineer’s toolkit. Why stop at one feature when you can keep adding more, this solidly-built desktop multimeter has everything but the kitchen sink included. Easy to use and has a big honkin’ digital display, packed with all the bonus extras you never knew you wanted until now, including a Bluetooth speaker, alarm clock, and indoor thermometer. It’s even got built-in rechargeable batteries so you can use it on the beach, at a jazz cafe, in the middle of an outdoor wedding, or when the power is out due to a zombie infestation that has destroyed most of civilization.
YC-8 5 Pin Connector Matching Pair
If you want the look and feel of aeronautical style quick-release connectors, this YC-8 5-pin Connector Matching Pair is an elegant and inexpensive alternative. Sure, they’re not mil-spec but they do work and look great for DIY projects, keyboard builds, robotics, wearables and more. The connector snaps together smoothly, and can disconnect only when the sleeve is pulled, which can be done one-handed with a little practice.
These connectors are most famous for use by keebfans who make their own bespoke mechanical keyboard USB cables. Why? Why not!
Please note: Using these connectors is not easy, you really need to have the exact right diameter (4.5 ~ 5mm) cable for the internal metal-toothed strain-relief grips to fit right, and there’s some delicate soldering to do as well. It’s definitely a level up in required skill from customizing keycaps or doing a PCB group buy.
Learn more! Also available in a 4 Pin Connector!
ESP32-S2 Human Machine Interface Dev Kit 1 – ESP32-S2-HMI-DevKit-1
Espressif’s ESP32-S2 Human Machine Interface Dev Kit 1 (ESP32-S2-HMI-DevKit-1) has been specifically designed for human-machine interfaces in smart-home automation controllers, smart speakers with display, smart alarm clocks, etc.
ESP32-S2-HMI-DevKit-1 is powered by the ESP32-S2-WROVER module, which supports a 4.3″ LCD screen. The development board can have an optional 1,950mAh rechargeable lithium battery installed. There’s lots of peripheral interfaces such as an extra USB serial programming/UART port, SPI, TWAI, I2C, and an SD card. It supports various sensors and functions such as audio playback and recording. Additionally, this development kit supports rapid secondary development, allowing developers to take advantage of the kit’s various onboard resources and expansion interfaces.
Adafruit IS31FL3741 13×9 PWM RGB LED Matrix Driver – STEMMA QT / Qwiic
Add a splash of RGB LEDs to a project you’re working on, with this adorable 13×9 RGB LED matrix breakout. It features — no surprise — 117 RGB LEDs, each one 2x2mm in size, in a 13×9 grid with 3mm pitch spacing.
Unlike our 8×8 dotstar grid here, these are not NeoPixel or DotStar or other ‘smart’ RGB LEDs. Instead of having a lil chip in each LED, there’s one large controller chip that handles all the PWM for you. The ISSI IS32FL3741 communicates over I2C and can set each LED element with 8 bit PWM for 24-bit color across the RGB elements, for beautiful color! There’s an adjustable current driver so you can brighten or dim the whole display without losing color resolution.
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