Many microchips these days are only available in a SMD (Surface Mount Device) packages. These chips have very tiny legs that are very close together making them super difficult to individually solder. The leg spacing and orientation also means that the chips can not be put in a breadboard for experimentation.
A breakout board is a basic printed circuit board PCB that has the surface mount chip soldered on and some or all of the pins connected to more easily accessible solder points or holes.
In addition the breakout board may include a few little passive components like resistors or capacitors to support the main microchip so you don't need to add them.
Code: SKU-001109
This is a clever little breakout board for both the RGB and R/G illuminated rotary encoders. On one side, it breaks out all of the RGB pins to standard, breadboard friendly, 0.1" headers. More Details...
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Code: SKU-002001
The SparkFun Rotary Switch Potentiometer Breakout is a small board the allows you to add resistors to a 10-position rotary switch , turning it into a potentiometer with 10 discrete steps. More Details...
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Code: SKU-005243
This SparkFun Serial Basic Breakout is an easy-to-use USB-to-Serial adaptor based on the CH340C and takes advantage of the handy USB-C connector. More Details...
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Code: SKU-000754
This is a breakout for the SOIC version of the 74HC595 shift register IC. Clock in data and latch it to free up IO pins on your micro. All pins from the IC are broken out to standard 0.1" spaced headers. More Details...
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Code: SKU-001115
The SN74HC165N is a neat little IC that will take an input of up to 8 parallel lines and produce a single, serial output. It’s a great way to increase the number of inputs on a microcontroller. More Details...
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Code: SKU-000919
SparkFun's MAX3232 Transceiver breakout is ideal for TTL/CMOS projects as it easily converts RS232 to TTL. It is suitable for both 3.3 and 5V projects and has all pins broken out for convenient connection. More Details...
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Code: SKU-000584
The SP3485 RS-485 transceiver IC is easy to use with this handy breakout board. The chip converts UART serial stream to RS-485 at speeds up to 10Mbps using half duplex (one way at a time). More Details...
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Code: SKU-003875
The LIS3DH Breakout is a smart, low-power, three-axis, capacitive micro-machined accelerometer with 12 bits of resolution that you can use to add translation detection to your project. It would be classified as a 3DoF, or 3 Degrees of Freedom. More Details...
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Code: SKU-001042
TRRS connectors are the audio-style connectors that you see on some phones, MP3 players and development boards. TRRS stands for “Tip, Ring, Ring, Sleeve,” which reflects the fact that, unlike a standard stereo connector, this actually has three conductors and a ground. More Details...
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Code: SKU-001820
This is the SparkFun USB to Serial Breakout for the FT232RL, a small board with a built in USB to serial UART interface. This little breakout is built around the FT232RL IC from FTDI, with an internal oscillator, EEPROM, and a 28-pin SSOP package this is a serious little chip. More Details...
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