Showing posts in Electronics — show all
Status check on the Calcumaker 16 — a Cherry MX programmer's RPN calculator in the HP-16C tradition with arbitrary-precision math. The full software stack is done and running (try it in your browser); the three-board hardware design is in active development.
Read more →The decade-later successor: an 8-channel TPS922053 driver board with an onboard ESP32-S3 running all 17 PWM channels, an embedded astronomical scheduler with a React frontend, Carvera-machined heatsinks, and copper-core PCBs from JLCPCB.
Read more →The summer 2024 launch push: case prototypes and thermal stress tests, 32V Meanwell supply prep, a CAN transceiver post-mortem that redesigned the module connector, ESPHome firmware features, the Split's honest derating — and the first units shipping.
Read more →The spring 2024 redesign that turned the DCBuddy into a real product: a single 12–36V rail, ESP32-C3 with ESPHome and Home Assistant integration, per-port current monitoring, CAN on the module connector, 20A capability — and a contract-manufactured batch build.
Read more →The original DCBuddy: one box to replace the pile of AC/DC wall bricks under a reef tank — dual ideal-diode-ORed supply inputs, 24V distribution, 12V and 5V step-downs, Neptune 1Link passthrough, and short-circuit protection on every port.
Read more →Eight years of salt spray plus a three-day blackout nearly killed every LEDBrick unit — condensation shorted the boards on power-up. Ultrasonic cleaning saved two of three; the third needed component surgery. Lessons about conformal coating were learned.
Read more →Some updates for products over at blueacro.com - mirroed from Reef2Reef
Read more →With the ongoing poor air quality all over Central California due to the Camp Fire, the interest of providing fine grained and reliable air pollution measurements peaked. One of the interesting providers of data is the website…
Read more →Controlling pressurized carbon dioxide (CO2) delivery into a Calcium reactor or into a planted tank with precision can be fraught with problems. The conventional mechanism is to use a needle valve after a pressure regulator - this…
Read more →The mid-2016 driver experiments that followed the original LEDBrick: a 50-cent RT8471 budget buck driver with a PIC on board, Luxeon Z star boards with pie-slice thermal pours, and the LM3414HV MicroDriver — the seeds of what became BlueAcro.
Read more →First things first, we need to figure out how to drive and read the spectrometer. There are two key diagrams to consult - the suggested application and the timing diagram.
Read more →Hi! You may remember me from other threads like LEDBrick DIY puck and high density stars, plus drivers (now available on blueAcro.com and the Apogee sensor PAR interface board.
Read more →The condensed story of the original LEDBrick — a squarish 8-channel LED pendant built around a 4.6″ heatsink and an 80mm fan: 38 emitters reflowed on a skillet, a custom LM3414 driver board, Bluetooth LE control from a Raspberry Pi, and a laser-cut acrylic case.
Read more →I spent some time mocking up a case for the lights. I'm not totally happy with the side panels yet (more on that later), but a quick walk through the process:
Read more →Nearly 6 months later, and after back-burnering the project multiple times, I've made some significant progress on the LEDBrick aquarium light. In the space between blog posts, I've:
Read more →This design has been on my back-burner for quite awhile, but its time to write it up and continue pressing on.
Read more →As part of an effort to share more designs, I've decided to start writing a continuing series of blog articles on my hardware design efforts. This first article covers the NixieBoost of a NixieView.
Read more →I got this unit for free recently, and decided to do a teardown for all fans of various vintages of test equipment. It is functional, but the buttons on the unit are absolutely terrible (hard to push, don't stay pushed, etc etc).
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