Rocketboom Tech correspondent Ellie Rountree visits engineer and founder of Adafruit Industries, Limor Fried (Ladyada) to talk about our DIY open source electronic kits! (MOV).
As some of you have asked or noted – there is now an updated version of the Ice tube clock kit. We are upgrading every customer who ordered last week to version 1.1. What’s in the update? We added some circuitry to the PCB to better protect the kit. All kits shipped will be v1.1, we’re waiting for the revised v1.1 PCBs. The revised PCBs which will be here this week. We have tons of tubes and all other components and the kits will start shipping this week. Customers will receive an email when their kit ships and can email us any time with any questions. After all the current orders ship, new customers will have a higher price (the price has gone from $65 to $70). We apologize for the delay – we think the additional improvements are worth a short delay in shipping.
Join us for our weekly chat at 10pm ET – Saturday night (tonight) – it’s once again “ask an engineer” night, ask all your electronics, kit and engineering questions. We’ll also have an update on when the Ice Tube Clocks are shipping and we’re showing a preview of our next kit!
Just wanted to tell you, I put the shield together today and had the Arduino controlling a servo and DC motor, all within a few hours. I’ve never soldered a PCB before, and I followed your website for everything, including what to buy from Radio Shack I don’t think I can fully express my thanks for your kit and your very complete instructions. It demystified a process that I found very intimidating – now I can’t imagine why I thought that. Really nice work -shoshana.
Experiments in RFID, continued… Last time, I posted an ultra-simple “from scratch” RFID reader, which uses no application-specific components: just a Propeller microcontroller and a few passive components. This time, I tried the opposite: building an RFID tag using no application-specific parts. Well, my solution is full of dirty tricks, but the results aren’t half bad. I used an Atmel AVR microcontroller (the ATtiny85) and a coil. That’s it. You can optionally add a couple of capacitors to improve performance with some types of coils, but with this method it’s possible to build a working RFID tag just by soldering a small inductor to an AVR chip…
What would TV look like if it was designed by The Horned One? This television set displays regular NTSC video in amazing 128×96 pixel resolution. I designed and built it for Burning Man, since nowhere else could anyone ever find a reason to watch such a crummy TV set. Besides, I’ve always wanted to build a TV out of LEDs. Here it is, displaying a scene from The 5000 Fingers of Dr. T
The September/October issue of QEX is coming soon, and it is full of theoretical and practical technical articles that you don’t want to miss. Richard Chapman, KC4IFB, shows how to use the Arduino prototyping board to design a project, and then gives us a lesson in programming the microprocessor to “Build a Low-Cost Iambic Keyer Using Open-Source Hardware.” W. G. Moneysmith, W4NFR, was a new repeater trustee needing a duplexer for a 70 cm repeater. He presents his solution in “A Homecrafted Duplexer for the 70 Centimeter Band.”
I’m a 64 yr old granniegeek. I ordered 2 mintyboost kits. Utterly cool!.. and i can’t wait to give it to my iPhone packing daughter. . Thank you. I love yr site.
Here’s a drawing that I made in order to figure it out myself. It agrees with Zener’s description except he assumed a 0.5 volt diode drop and I used 0.7v.
Hello Lady Ada! Love your site, your blogs, and all your cool gear. My first project with equipment from your store was this… We launched an arduino from you guys into space from Vulcan, Alberta. I’m not much of a video guy but we built a quick video here and plenty of photos here and here. We’re doing another launch this fall. Primary objectives will be loading up the arduino with sensors and taking video instead of photos.
My grandfather used to make portable stools from a couple of thin pieces of wood that tied together with a simple string. Growing up we usually had a couple of these “tie stools” conveniently stashed around the house, and we always got them out for backyard barbecues and took them with us when we went camping.
Although my woodworking skills are nowhere near what my grandfather’s were, we’ve been inspired by that stool to play around with making small, lightweight furniture that can be disassembled, stacked flat and tied together for easy transport. My first try was pretty wobbly, and felt like a little twist would splinter it. A couple of revisions later, I have a reasonably sturdy stool that is held together with a nylon strap. The leg pieces are notched on the sides so that when they are stacked together, the strap on the seat piece can be used to hold all the pieces together. There are handles cut into the leg pieces as well for easy carrying.
Printable catalog (PDF) or (EPUB)
I don’t think I can fully express my thanks for your kit and your very complete instructions. It demystified a process that I found very intimidating – now I can’t imagine why I thought that. Really nice work -shoshana.
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