This is just a round-up of boards and items I’ve found recently and some exciting news for those of us who like to shop at Maplin.
Let’s start with Maplin.
On their website, they are currently showing out-of-stock on three items of interest. I daresay they’ll be back in stock very soon.
- Humble Pi prototyping board – £5.99
- Slice of Pi prototyping board – £6.49
- GPIO breakout board and rainbow cable – £2.99 (fantastic value version of the Pi Cobbler)
This shows that Maplin is really starting to take the Pi seriously. Their starter pack for £75 is consistently showing on their front page and, with the addition of the items above to their inventory, they are starting to cater for the hobbyist. By offering these accessories, Maplin are also able to make some money out of the Pi. I found out recently that no-one is allowed to make a profit from selling the Raspberry Pi boards themselves. Although this does mean that prices are fairly stable, it does mean that the commercial opportunities are limited for the first-time buyer. By sensibly stocking these accessories, it becomes a viable business proposition for Maplin.
IO Pi 32 Channel Port Extender – £23
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/IO-PI-32-CHANNEL-PORT-EXPANDER-FOR-RASPBERRY-Pi-/111002943567
0E9s37E2e7BQ-1HR38hw~~60_12.JPG?resize=500%2C355)
The IO Pi is a 32 channel digital expansion board designed for use on the Raspberry Pi. The board is based around the MCP23017 16-bit I/O expander from Microchip Technology, A pair of MCP23017 expanders are included on the board allowing you to connect up to 32 digital inputs or outputs to the Raspberry Pi.
ADC Pi v2 – Analogue to Digital Converter – £23
The ADC Pi V2 is an 8 channel 17 bit analogue to digital converter designed to work with the Raspberry Pi& Arduino platforms. The ADC Pi V2 is based on two Microchip MCP3424 A/D converters each containing 4 analogue inputs with up to 18 bit resolution.
GPIO Connection Kit with breadboard, LEDs and Resistors – £13.65
Not too sure about the funky split-cable (no details are given) but it’s a nice little kit!
Pi Stepper Motor breakout board – £13 approx
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raspberry-Pi-Stepper-breakout-board-with-stepper-motor-GPIO-/261147900179
Td7Tg~~60_12.JPG?resize=484%2C500)
Pi 8 LED, 8 Button breakout board
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raspberry-Pi-8-LED-8-Button-breakout-board-GPIO-/251197102538
SB Components Case (version 2) – £4.80
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Raspberry-Pi-Case-RPI-Case-v-2-Black-by-SB-Components-/261156122272
4KBQ25J86Mq!~~60_12.JPG?resize=500%2C285)
My review of the version 1 case is available here. It looks like they’ve opened up the GPIO port area for easier access.
Sheepwalk Electronics one-wire suite
Visit their website here for more details.
They appear to have several sensor-related modules. I’m not too sure of the application of these modules as they take up too much room on the GPIO area for just a one-wire implementation, but the efforts they’ve gone to are sure to appeal to someone.