Communication

Embedded electronics is all about interlinking circuits (processors or other integrated circuits) to create a symbiotic system. In order for those individual circuits to swap their information, they must share a common communication protocol. Hundreds of communication protocols have been defined to achieve this data exchange, and, in general, each can be separated into one of two categories: parallel or serial. Serial UARTs, SPI, and I2C are used with many products in the SparkFun catalog to pass data. They can be used with a serial terminal to help troubleshoot issues or display data. However, there are other methods of communication some of which include IR, RS-232, RS-485, CAN, MIDI, and DMX. Check out the tutorials below to start relaying data between your devices!

MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet Function Board - ADIN1110 Hookup Guide

May 12, 2022

With the SparkFun MicroMod Single Pair Ethernet Function Board - ADIN1110 you can prototype and create 10BASE-T1L Ethernet connections that work in noisy environments and over exceptionally long distances of over 1 kilometer! Follow this guide to get started with this Function Board.

SparkFun gator:log Hookup Guide

September 5, 2019

The gator:log is a serial communication based data logger. This tutorial will get you started using the gator:log with the micro:bit platform.

SparkFun Serial Basic CH340C Hookup Guide

December 13, 2018

SparkFun Serial Basic Breakout takes advantage of USB-C and is an easy-to-use USB-to-Serial adapter based on the CH340C IC from WCH. With USB-C you can get up to three times the power delivery over the previous USB generation and has the convenient feature of being reversable.

Serial Basic Hookup Guide

February 9, 2017

Get connected quickly with this Serial to USB adapter.

USB Type A Female Breakout Hookup Guide

February 13, 2014

An above-and-beyond example using the USB Type A Female Breakout board.

MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board Hookup Guide

October 21, 2020

A short hookup guide to get started with the SparkFun MicroMod ESP32 Processor Board.

IOTA (ARTIC R2) Satellite Communication Module Hookup Guide

November 18, 2021

A hookup guide for the SparkFun IOTA - Satellite Communication Module (ARTIC R2) (SPX-17984)

ARGOS ARTIC R2 Satellite Transceiver Shield Hookup Guide

November 18, 2021

A hookup guide for the ARGOS Satellite Transceiver Shield - ARTIC R2 (SPX-17236)

Hack Your Roshamglo Badge

March 12, 2017

Learn how to customize and program your Roshamglo badge.

Roshamglo Project: TV-B-Gone

March 12, 2017

Turn your Roshamglo board into a (nearly) universal TV power button.

Roshamglo Hookup Guide

March 13, 2017

This tutorial provides everything you need to know to get started with the Roshamglo badge.

Simultaneous RFID Tag Reader Hookup Guide

February 23, 2017

A basic guide to getting started with the RFID Tag Reader breakout and how to read and write multiple RFID tags over multiple feet!

ARGOS (ARTIC R2) Satellite Communication Guide

November 18, 2021

A guide describing the ARGOS satellite network - as used by our ARTIC R2 satellite communication products

SparkFun QwiicBus Hookup Guide

April 1, 2021

Build a long-range, noise-isolated I2C bus with the SparkFun QwiicBus Kit featuring the QwiicBus EndPoint and MidPoint following this Hookup Guide.

OBD II UART Hookup Guide

March 4, 2014

How to start working with the OBD-II Uart board.

Serial Terminal Basics

September 9, 2013

This tutorial will show you how to communicate with your serial devices using a variety of terminal emulator applications.

I2C

July 8, 2013

An introduction to I2C, one of the main embedded communications protocols in use today.

SparkFun Satellite Transceiver Kit - Swarm M138 Hookup Guide

December 1, 2022

A hookup guide for the SparkFun Satellite Transceiver - Swarm M138 (KIT-21287)

Introduction to DMX

November 14, 2018

DMX512 is an industry standard in lighting and stage design, whether it be controlling lights, motors, or lasers, DMX512 has many uses. In this tutorial we’ll cover DMX512 (Digital Multiplex with 512 pieces of information).

Serial Peripheral Interface (SPI)

January 14, 2013

SPI is commonly used to connect microcontrollers to peripherals such as sensors, shift registers, and SD cards.

SparkFun expLoRaBLE Hookup Guide

February 4, 2021

Check out our latest LoRaWAN development board with Bluetooth capabilities! With this guide, we'll get you passing data to The Things Network in no time.

Satellite Transceiver Breakout - Swarm M138 - Hookup Guide

April 22, 2022

A hookup guide for the Satellite Transceiver Breakout - Swarm M138 (SPX-19236)

Three Quick Tips About Using U.FL

December 28, 2018

Quick tips regarding how to connect, protect, and disconnect U.FL connectors.

Monitor Sensor Data from Anywhere

August 10, 2022

Using WiFi to send sensor data from an ESP32 to a WiFi network and be able to read it from an IoT Dashboard from anywhere in the world.
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Old Tutorials

Looking for the old, archived tutorials? Head on over to the archived tutorials on the main SparkFun site.
Please be aware that the tutorials you find there are no longer actively maintained.