I found an old Christmas ornament which was supposed to light up by pressing a button. Before trashing the ornament, I tore out the circuit. While I was taking it apart and figuring out why it didn’t work, I turned on the camera and talked to myself. Probably boring for most people, but it might be interesting to see what I was thinking through the process. If you’re new to electronics (like me) it may even teach you a few things.
The last AdaBox of the year was delivered yesterday. I was able to avoid spoilers so I did a quick unboxing video.
I’ve been wanting to try the AdaFruit M0 boards like the Circuit Playground Express, but figured they’d be including one soon in an AdaBox. Pays to wait, especially when I have a backlog of projects. This is a really neat microcontroller with a lot to explore. It works with the MakeCode block editor, which will be fun to hack around with.
I still need to work through HackerBoxes #23 and #24, but #25 arrived on the 1st. I’ve been spending so much time putting together my workshop that I haven’t sat at my electronics desk much in the last 2 months.
The camera was a little too close for the view angle I had set. I need to build a better camera arm/rig too.
I tried to price things out, but there are a lot of custom things in this box. Prices are from Amazon Prime unless noted. This list was copied from the Instructable for HackerBox #25.
Totals out to $62.45 but I couldn’t find the model on the back of the camera module anywhere. I wouldn’t expect that estimate to be off by more than $5 though and maybe even cheaper. The servos feel pretty hefty compared to the micro ones I have. This will be another neat box to play around with.
The box came with a set of Hammer Headers, which I’ve been skeptical about since I first saw. I have no issues soldering, actually enjoy the task, and prefer it so I have solid connections to the pins. I figured I’d give the headers a try though. Plus it was good excuse to try out the garage sale hammer I bought. Take a look at the 8x speed time-lapse…
I appreciate the idea and can see that hammer headers would be a good option in schools where they can’t have soldering irons, but I’ll never use them again. It took me 6 minutes and I felt like I was destroying the Pi Zero.
The Adafruit Joy Bonnet is a cute little add-on for the Pi. The first thing I noticed when holding it was how cheap the thumbstick feels and sounds. I wouldn’t expect much out of such a small controller that’s only $15 and snaps on to a Raspberry Pi though.
When I get my 3D printer later this year I’ll make a case for this 7″ screen I bought a couple of years ago, maybe even with a way to clip in the Pi Zero. Or better yet, a Pi 3B, which is better suited for a retro gaming device.
This is now my 8th Raspberry Pi. The 7th was named grasshopper, but what type of pie should I use for the letter H? Comment with your suggestions because the Wikipedia list I usually reference has two “H” pies I’ve never heard of.
I placed a big AliExpress order several weeks ago for various parts to use in some project ideas. Small padded envelopes appeared in my mailbox daily for over a week, which is always exciting. I’ve been really impressed with the quality of the items for the prices.
I was able to avoid spoilers on this month’s HackerBox again, even though something happened with my shipping over the weekend. It arrived Monday instead of Saturday like it was originally scheduled.
Unique box. I’m excited to go through the Instructable for this box and learn some stuff about antennas and WiFi. The PVC pieces and copper wire are for making a custom antenna, which will be fun. I checked my box of goodies to see which WeMos board I had recently bought and it was the Mini Lite. I think I have one of each of their tiny boards now.
I tried to come up with a value for the box again. All prices are from Amazon (with my Prime account) unless noted.
SMA male to RP-SMA male Coax Adapter – $5 (estimate)
Mini Tripod with Shoe Mount – $7.79
USB Extension Cable – $3.35
MicroUSB Cable – $4.16
Exclusive Yagi-Uda Antenna Decal – $1 (estimate)
Exclusive Digital Airwaves Iron-on Patch – $2 (estimate)
This was a hard box to price out, so there are a lot of estimates. I didn’t see the PCB antenna anywhere and the parts for the PVC antenna are obviously DIY. The random bag of connectors doesn’t seem to be from a kit of any kind. There was also another antenna in my box not on this list. So I’ll add another $10, which all adds up to $64.03.
I bought a 2 pack of these LED push lights because I wanted one for a broom closet. I was curious how cheap and simple the construction was, so I took the other one apart to see how it worked.
Nick Momrik 