Many microcontrollers possess ADCs for measuring analog/resistive readings such as potentiometers, thermistors, and LDR light sensors. However, sometimes a larger number of channels are necessary or when a single board computer (e.g. Raspberry Pi) is utilized that lacks such devices. The Adafruit ADS7830 8-Channel 8-Bit ADC with I2C is optimal in these cases.

The ADS7830 ADC with I2C from Adafruit offers an efficient 8-channel ADC interface, with just four wires needed to connect to SDA/SCL pins, plus power and ground. If additional channels are needed, two address pins provide 4 x 8 = 32 total ADC channels that can be chained together with Stemma QT cables.

This chip is ideal for basic sensing applications, such as adding a large number of potentiometers or flex sensors to a build. While the maximum sample rate is 70 Ksamples per second (requiring 3.4MHz I2C speed support), the resolution is limited to 8-bits, making it unsuitable for precise thermistor conversion.

To use it, which will quickly let you read from any of the 8 channels as single ended inputs - or you can use differential mode which will use two adjacent pins for the positive and negative references. You can power the board from 3 or 5V power and logic, which will also act as the reference voltage and pullup voltage. Or you can change the reference voltage by cutting the jumper on the back and wiring to the breakout pad, as long as it is less than the power supply.

To get you going fast, we spun up a custom-made PCB in the, making it easy to interface with. The  on either side are compatible with the  I2C connectors. This allows you to make solderless connections between your development board and the ADS7830 or to chain it with a wide range of other sensors and accessories using a .

.

Comes with a bit of 0.1" standard header in case you want to use it with a breadboard or perfboard.  Four mounting holes for easy attachment.