Skill

These are the various skills that people may need to know while learning a technology tutorial and could be required to complete a ‘hookup’ tutorial. Skills are most often learned by doing a physical action or using a physical thing.

Single Cell LiPo Battery Care

March 16, 2023

This tutorial will go over how to safely charge, connect, disconnect, reinforcing the cables, and handle single cell LiPo batteries.

Getting Started with the DA16200 FreeRTOS SDK

September 15, 2022

Interested in the DA16200 FreeRTOS SDK? This guide covers setting up the SDK in the Eclipse IDE and how to program our boards with the DA16200 module.

Getting Started with Necto Studio

March 4, 2022

Necto Studio is a user friendly development environment for users looking to get started with MikroElektronika's MIKROE products.

Installing Board Definitions in the Arduino IDE

September 9, 2020

How do I install a custom Arduino board/core? It's easy! This tutorial will go over how to install an Arduino board definition using the Arduino Board Manager. We will also go over manually installing third-party cores, such as the board definitions required for many of the SparkFun development boards.

Arduino Shields v2

April 20, 2020

An update to our classic Arduino Shields Tutorial! All things Arduino shields. What they are and how to assemble them.

How to Install CH340 Drivers

August 6, 2019

How to install CH340 drivers (if you need them) on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

Three Quick Tips About Using U.FL

December 28, 2018

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

Flashlight Kit

October 11, 2018

This is an assembly guide for the SparkFun Flashlight Kit, a basic learn to solder kit.

MicroPython Programming Tutorial: Getting Started with the ESP32 Thing

September 26, 2018

MicroPython is an implementation and subset of the Python 3 programming language that can be used on microcontrollers. This guide will walk you through writing MicroPython programs for the ESP32 Thing development board.

How to Run a Raspberry Pi Program on Startup

September 18, 2018

In this tutorial, we look at various methods for running a script or program automatically whenever your Raspberry Pi (or other Linux computer) boots up.

How to Load MicroPython on a Microcontroller Board

September 4, 2018

This tutorial will show you how to load the MicroPython interpreter onto a variety of development boards.

Graph Sensor Data with Python and Matplotlib

July 23, 2018

Use matplotlib to create a real-time plot of temperature data collected from a TMP102 sensor connected to a Raspberry Pi.

Getting Started with 3D Printing Using Tinkercad

April 30, 2018

Tinkercad is a great, easy-to-use online modeling software that can have you 3D printing quickly. This tutorial will walk you through designing a simple project enclosure.

How to Use a Hot Air Rework Station

April 10, 2018

Hot-air stations or heat guns are very useful tools and are essential for any electronics workbench. When working with or building printed circuit boards, there is a lot of room for errors to be made. Have no fear though, there are ways to remedy this with a hot air rework station!

How to Work with Jumper Pads and PCB Traces

April 2, 2018

Handling PCB jumper pads and traces is an essential skill. Learn how to cut a PCB trace, add a solder jumper between pads to reroute connections, and repair a trace with the green wire method if a trace is damaged.

SparkFun Troubleshooting Tips

October 19, 2017

Not working as expected? In this tutorial, we will be exploring a few general troubleshooting tips and possible solutions that frequently come up with SparkFun's Technical Support.

Beginner's Guide to KiCad

October 12, 2017

An in-depth tutorial covering schematic capture, PCB layout, library editing, and gerber generation using this amazing open source PCB creation tool.

USB Serial Driver Quick Install

August 31, 2017

How to install USB serial drivers on Windows, MacOS , and Linux.

LilyPad Basics: E-Sewing

December 17, 2016

Learn how to use conductive thread with LilyPad components.

Importing Custom Images into Eagle

December 5, 2016

How to create custom graphics and import them into Eagle for silk, copper, etc.

Reducing Arduino Power Consumption

November 10, 2016

A tutorial about different ways to reduce the current draw for your next Arduino project the easy way.

Planning a Wearable Electronics Project

August 13, 2015

Tips and tricks for brainstorming and creating a wearables project.

The Great Big Guide to Paper Circuits

May 22, 2015

Let's take a look at different materials we can use to combine paper crafting and electronics.

How to Solder: Castellated Mounting Holes

May 12, 2015

Tutorial showing how to solder castellated holes (or castellations). This might come in handy if you need to solder a module or PCB to another PCB. These castellations are becoming popular with integrated WiFi and Bluetooth modules.

Insulation Techniques for e-Textiles

January 22, 2015

Learn a few different ways to protect your conductive thread and LilyPad components in your next wearables project.

How to Use a Multimeter

January 9, 2015

Learn the basics of using a multimeter to measure continuity, voltage, resistance and current.

Installing a Bootloader on the MicroView

August 22, 2014

Fix your bootloader-less MicroView! This tutorial covers how to: disassemble the MicroView, wire it up to an assortment of programmers, program the bootloader, and test it out.

Customizing LilyPad LED Colors

May 19, 2014

A short guide to creating a rainbow of new LilyPad LED colors at home!

Make Your Own Fritzing Parts

March 18, 2014

Learn how to create your own Fritzing part so you can make amazing looking wiring diagrams, learn about schematics and PCB design, and get your design fabbed into a real PCB with Fritzing's PCB manufacturing service.

How to Use an Oscilloscope

February 25, 2014

How to work the dials and buttons on an oscilloscope, and a glossary of the o-scope lexicon.

Installing an Arduino Bootloader

December 4, 2013

This tutorial will teach you what a bootloader is and why you would need to install or reinstall it. We will also go over the process of burning a bootloader by flashing a hex file to an Arduino microcontroller.

Making Custom Footprints in EAGLE

September 27, 2013

This tutorial will show you how to make custom, 1:1 footprint for any IC in EAGLE.

How to Solder: Through-Hole Soldering

September 19, 2013

This tutorial covers everything you need to know about through-hole soldering.

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.

How to Install and Setup EAGLE

September 5, 2013

Not just how to download and install EAGLE, but how to install the SparkFun EAGLE Libraries and scripts.

Using EAGLE: Board Layout

September 5, 2013

Part 2 of the Using Eagle tutorials, this one covers how to lay out a board after designing a schematic.

Using EAGLE: Schematic

September 5, 2013

How to design a PCB in EAGLE using through-hole parts.

Using GitHub to Share with SparkFun

August 19, 2013

A simple step-by-step tutorial to help you download files from SparkFun's GitHub site, make changes, and share the changes with SparkFun.

How to Read a Schematic

July 12, 2013

An overview of component circuit symbols, and tips and tricks for better schematic reading. Click here, and become schematic-literate today!

How to Install FTDI Drivers

June 4, 2013

How to install drivers for the FTDI Basic on Windows, Mac OS X, and Linux.

How to Use a Breadboard

May 14, 2013

Welcome to the wonderful world of breadboards. Here we will learn what a breadboard is and how to use one to build your very first circuit.

Installing Arduino IDE

March 26, 2013

A step-by-step guide to installing and testing the Arduino software on Windows, Mac, and Linux.

Working with Wire

February 8, 2013

How to strip, crimp, and work with wire.

How to Power a Project

February 7, 2013

A tutorial to help figure out the power requirements of your project.

Installing an Arduino Library

January 11, 2013

How do I install a custom Arduino library? It's easy! This tutorial will go over how to install an Arduino library using the Arduino Library Manager. For libraries not linked with the Arduino IDE, we will also go over manually installing an Arduino library.

Using GitHub

December 30, 2012

How to use repositories and GitHub for version control.

Designing PCBs: Advanced SMD

December 10, 2012

Advanced Eagle layout for PCBs with SMD devices.
Viewing 48 Skill Tutorials. View All Tutorials.

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.