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DIY custom power supply

Posted on by DP

2018-10-15-18.54

Anthony Lieuallen made this custom power supply and wrote a post on his blog detailing its assembly:

You might not truly be an electronics nerd until you build your own power supply. Either way, I’ve finally passed that threshold. As I’ve mentioned previously (and previouslier), I’ve been working on mine — very slowly, off and on — for most of a year. The bare start came with a guide posted to Hackaday about using nichrome wire to heat and bend acrylic plastic in straight lines, to make cases.

More details at Arantius.com.

Povon home energy monitor part 1, 20 channel system

Posted on by DP

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Coyt Barringer documented his home energy monitor project called POVON. This first part of a series will detail the 20 Channel sub-metering hardware:

Our initial goal was to monitor power consumption in different parts of the house, and we quickly realized every household circuit would need to be monitored. After some research, small clip on current transformers, or CT’s, looked to be the best sensor for our application. Using CT’s, current draw and thus power on each circuit can be measured. The CT’s would be installed on the wires immediately leaving the circuit breakers in the standard household breaker box. CT’s work great for this because they’re completely isolated and nothing needs to be disconnected to install them.

Project info at lostengineer.com.

uMesh – A self-contained, battery operated ESP32 module

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Jarrett published a new build:

I’ve been working on an ESP32 module. Part of the problem I’ve been seeing with inexpensive IoT dev boards, is that the design around the power system hasn’t been very good. Here’s my attempt to fix that. This is a battery-ready module with a proper lithium battery charge circuit, lithium battery protection circuit, power supply, and antenna, all in a 1 inch by 1 inch package.
The goal is to have a tiny, inexpensive module that can immediately accept a battery and be deployed in the field, along with 30 of its mates.

See the full post on his blog.

Vintage headset conversion

Posted on by DP

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Quinn Dunki wrote a great article describing the conversion process of a 1980s-era Earmark into a bluetooth headset:

The obvious thing is to convert it to a bluetooth headset for modern use, right? As I previously warned, converting a 1980s-era air traffic control headset into bluetooth headphones is probably the most hipster thing possible. Normally, I don’t allow projects like this around here. But look at these headphones. They are amazing and I love them and I want to use them so I am going to make them bluetooth also shut up. If I have to punch myself as result of now being a hipster tool, so be it. I set out to do this in a non-destructive way that was reversible, at the very least. I wanted to respect the original hardware as much as possible.

Via Blondihacks.

App note: HT66FB574 single colour independent light streamer USB keyboard

Posted on by DP

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Another app note from Holtek this time about their HT66FB574, a USB keyboard device that can support single color LED streamer. Link here (PDF)

The video gaming industry is seeing continual increasing demand for multi-feature keyboards. These can include features such as keys with an individual LED which can display different graphical effects along with variable illumination levels. With each key having an illuminated surrounding area effect along with multiple colour and pattern changes, this allows for a more colourful and stimulating gaming keyboard.

App note: HT66FB574/572 colour effect USB mouse

Posted on by DP

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App note from Holtek on using their HT66FB574/572 to develop color effect mice. Link here (PDF)

Demands from the video gaming industry for different types of gaming mouse continue to expand. Adding a large number of RGB LEDs to the mice can produce different colours and brightness changes creating a range of visual special effects. This enhances the colour and stimulating effects of gaming mice. For example, having multiple RGB LEDs to form an outer ring on a gaming mouse can produce a colour changing waterflow effect. These are known as colour effect USB mice.

Tutorial: Git with Eclipse

Posted on by DP

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A detailed tutorial on Eclipse with the EGit plugin by Erich Styger:

There are things which are game changer in the world of software development: one such event was when I started using a VCS (Version Control System): it changed for me how I keep and store my projects and settings. It even changed the way how I deal with non-software related items like documents or other valuable things: I started storing them in to a VCS too.

Via MCU on Eclipse.

Tutorial: Adding the SSD1306 OLED screen to an Arduino logger (without a library)

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SSD1306 OLED screen on a DIY Arduino Based Data logger

Edward Mallon writes:

While I loved the Nokia 5110 LCD’s readability in full sun, the pressure sensitivity was a real problem for the underwater units. So I started noodling around with some cheap OLED screens from eBay.
With the exception of the init & XY functions (which are more complicated on the 1306 controller) the rest of the code ported over from the Nokia screen with no changes at all.  My guess at this point is that the shift-out method will work with most of the other cheap OLED screens, provided they don’t exceed the pin current limits implied by my method.

More details on Underwater Arduino Data Loggers blog.

SmileyBox – Statistics, the old fashioned way, upgraded

Posted on by DP

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Vagrearg published a new build:

Lies, damn lies and statistics.
You have a high school science fair and want to know how your project was perceived by the visitors. Modern online behaviour will direct you to “taking the online survey”. That requires an extra step for the visitors, usually by taking hold of their mobile device and fiddling with a small screen.
One problem you will encounter is designing good computer interaction and a proper look and feel on the tiny screen. It is a lot of work. A second problem is the distraction of using the mobile device with respect to the project being surveyed. The visitor will concentrate on the mobile device and that will diminish focus on the project for a moment. A third problem is anonymity and proliferation of data. Do we really need to be online and spread all that information one’s device sends?

Project info at vagrearg.org.