These are breakouts for the Texas Instruments 74HCT level shifter chips. They make it easy to control addressable RGB LEDs, such as WS2811, WS2812 (Adafruit NeoPixels), and APA102 (Adafruit DotStars). These chips are the most highly-regarded level shifters, and the only ones tested to always work with clockless addressable RGB LEDs. I've used them extensively in development of addressable RGB LED art projects, such as my 6.5ft Rainbow Tree, Bloom v2, and Ducenti. These breakouts support 4x and 8x parallel output on a wide variety of microcontrollers supported by the FastLED library.

RGB LEDs not included

I made these breakouts because I was hand-wiring this same layout on perma-proto boards, which was time-consuming and unprofessional looking. I get requests to make boards/kits for a lot of microcontrollers, and I can't always justify the time and expense involved in designing, ordering, testing, stocking, etc for every microcontroller development board variation.

The 4x breakout includes a 74HCT125 level shifter, and the 8x breakout includes a 74HCT245 level shifter, both of which are the most well-regarded high speed level shifters I've found. These shift the 3.3V logic level of most modern microcontrollers to the 5V expected by addressable RGB LEDs. These projects often work fine without a level shifter, until they don't.

Four and eight pins are run through the level shifter. These support parallel output by the fantastic FastLED library.

The breakouts also include data line resistors and large 1000uF capacitors, as recommended when driving LEDs, especially when powering the microcontroller from the same power supply as a large number of LEDs.

The 90 mil, double-sided 5V and GND traces should be rated for up to ~12 amps. That's enough for about 200 LEDs at max output (solid white, full brightness), and much more than 200 LEDs at lower output, lower brightness, and/or multicolor patterns. A barrel connector can be added to connect a power supply, but most are only rated for 2.5A (~50 LEDs at max output). For larger quantities, power should be connected to the PCB directly with large gauge wire, connected directly to the LEDs, and/or brightness should be limited in software. It is very important when using high current power supplies and large numbers of LEDs to watch for overheating on wiring, connectors, components, and the PCB.

Specifications

• Size:
• Four channel: 1.06 x 1.01 x .063 inch (26.9 x 25.6 x 1.6 mm)
• Eight channel: 1.36 x 1.01 x .063 inch (34.5 x 25.6 x 1.6 mm)
• 2 layer printed circuit board
• FR4 substrate
• Lead free
• Purple SMOBC (solder mask over bare copper)
• ENIG (Electroless Nickel Immersion Gold) finish
• Manufactured in the USA
• Current Rating: 12A

Parts that are not included, but are required to assemble:

• Level Shifter:
• Four channel: SN74HCT125N Level Shifter
• Eight channel: SN74HCT245N Level Shifter
• 1000µF Capacitor
• 0.10µF Capacitor
• 330 Ohm resistors
• Power Barrel Connector Jack

Full assembly instructions