New Product Roundup – August 13th to August 19th

Happy Saturday – time for another New Product Roundup! This week we continue adding to our BBC micro:bit category with the new SparkFun Inventors Kit for micro:bit and the official BBC micro:bit Club pack. We also have a new 16GB Class 10 microSD card by Kingston and a new RS232 breakout from SparkFun. Let’s go have a look at each one!







SparkFun RS232 Shifter – SMD

This board has one purpose in life – to convert RS232 to TTL and vice versa (TX and RX). Shifter SMD is powered from the target application and can run at any voltage! That’s right – power the board at 5V and the unit will convert RS232 to 5V TTL. Power the board at 2.8V and the Shifter board will convert RS232 to 2.8V CMOS TTL. Includes two indicator LEDs for TX and RX. Runs from 300bps up to 115200bps.

16GB Kingston MicroSD Card Class 10

Adding storage to a device using a microSD card is very common these days. Whether it is a data logging shield, a fancy microcontroller, or even a single board computer like the Raspberry Pi; they almost always use the microSD format. This Kingston 16GB Class 10 card is nice and quick – rated at 10MB/s minimum data transfer rate and capable of reaching speeds of as high as 45MB/s. The card is compatible with both microSDHC and microSDXC host devices and will work with every microSD based data logger, breakout board, microcontroller, and single board computer we have in the shop!

SparkFun Inventor’s Kit for micro:bit

The SparkFun Inventor’s Kit (SIK) for micro:bit is a great way to get creative, connected and coding with the micro:bit. The SIK for micro:bit provides not only the micro:bit board but everything you need to hook up and experiment with multiple electronic circuits! With the SIK for micro:bit you will be able to complete circuits that will teach you how to read sensors, move motors, build Bluetooth devices and more.

BBC micro:bit Club Set

The micro:bit club pack is ideal for groups, makerspaces, and classrooms. Each box includes everything needed to get started with micro:bit for 10 individuals. Each micro:bit gets paired with a nice little battery holder, a microUSB to USB adapter cable, and two AAA batteries.