Are you bored with conventional two-dimensional circuit layouts, or looking for a way to add an artistic flair to your next project? I’ve taken point-to-point construction style a step further by making it self-supporting, which opens up a wide range of physical circuit topologies. (Point-to-point construction usually uses supporting structures like terminal strips that are functional but not pleasing to the eye.) I call this construction style the copper cobweb. Here’s how to do it.
Even when a circuit functions as it’s supposed to, it’s not always easy to tell what it’s doing. Plus, waiting for an output (especially if there’s a long delay involved) is not always practical. Conversely, if a circuit does not function, the only means to find out what’s wrong is to troubleshoot it with either a multimeter or oscilloscope. Wouldn’t it be great if the circuit itself could tell us more directly what’s wrong?
Short of living underground in the wilderness without electricity, battery power, or Internet, exposure to electromagnetic radiation can’t be avoided. The best thing you can do is look at the guidelines provided by organizations like the FCC and ARRL, and use a little common sense.
It took me eight months of part-time work to restore all 168 pounds of a Heathkit “H-1.” I would like to share a few of the trials and tribulations I went through to resurrect this beast.
Surveillance is one of the most effective deterrents against crimes lke burglary and theft. The Raspberry Pi can be the foundation of a great DIY home security system.
Whether you’re building your own electronic drum kit or measuring distance with a 3D scanner, a HAT can give your Raspberry Pi exactly the functionality you need.
I use LCD displays in almost every project. However, in this modern age of steampunk, I stumbled on something much cooler — 1” high seven-segment electromechanical displays (EMDs) that go clickity, click. Here is an ambitious project that features five 1941 vintage rotary phone step-by-step (SXS) switches. These EMDs are the perfect match to display the dialed digits.
Electronics as a hobby is unique in that it touches upon just about every other technology or area of potential interest, from photography to cycling. Don’t feel you need to stick with pure electronics. Get out of your comfort zone and explore some of the many related technologies.
This fun, elegant, and useful project pulls data from the Internet so a series of useful displays can show all kinds of cool info in real time from your mantel or bookshelf in this impressive platform.
In this first article of a two-part series, we’ll discuss the circuit and code for each of the core components for the weather; take a deep dive on how the stepper is wired up; then learn about the node.js code that drives it.
Over the years, I have accumulated a bunch of chips from before the era of true PCs when computers with names like Altair, KIM-1, and Cosmac ELF were popular. I’ve been looking for a way to use them in new projects, so I designed a system around a 40-pin PIC16F887. I figured this would put some of my historic chips to work and be a great learning tool for understanding how a microcomputer works.
