Using shift registers with fewer I/O pins

If you need to use an 8-bit parallel to serial shift register (such as a 74HC165) but can't spare the three data pins on your microcontroller, this small hack may be of interest. The people at Open Music Labs have described a method which only uses one microcontroller pin to not only receive the data from the shift register, but also to clock and latch it. This involves switching the MCU I/O pin between input and output, however this is certainly achievable.

So for the digital electronics enthusiasts, this could be a fun little challenge. For more information and notes, visit the blog page here. And for more news, updates and items of interest, please follow us on twitter, Facebook and Google+.

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