Category: Project

A Test in Time – Updated

A Test in Time

My Clock Making Adventure begins. . . 

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Clocks seem to be one of the good-ole-standbye projects. And why not? They are useful and it is easy to get creative with them. In this post I show you how I have started on my journey of time. 

I have looked at my options for keeping time. Micro controller a yes and then a time source. Micro controllers themselves are terrible timekeepers over long periods of time. A popular option is an Arduino Uno (or other such board) and a RTC (Real Time Clock) such as the DS3231 or DS1307. Once it is configured, it does keep time quite well and over a long period of time. It uses a backup battery to keep time if power is lost. There is some drift in the clocks, but over a year it is fairly small. 

I played around with RTC on a Nano, but lately I have been playing with the ESP-01. It is a fun little chip. It is part of the ESP8266 family. I found my controller and way for time, NTP (Network Time Protocol) to keep accurate time. The ESP requires an active internet connection for it to keep time, which is the con(?) of this project, but the time is kept spot on. 

I have used the LED and OLED displays in the past and like using them. In this project I wanted the display to be simple. My main focus is to learn about time. The packet getting the time, picking the packet apart, and displaying the correct time for where I am at. For that purpose I picked a 4-digit, 7-segment display using a TM1637 chip to drive it. And I had one in my displays drawer. 

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From the schematic above the pin to pin table is:

      Display -> ESP-01

  • CLK -> IO2
  • DI0  -> IO0
  • Vcc  -> 3.3v
  • Gnd -> Gnd

As a quick test here, you can plug everything into 3.3volt power and the display should read 0123. Now it is time to move on to the code. 

I am not sure where I found the core time code I am using (if anyone recognizes it let me know and I will give due credit), but I started with a code base that would get a NTP UDP packet from a NTP time server. This method does not use one of the NTP libraries, but relies on decoding the packet and calculating the time. One other feature I added was the WiFiManager library. It is a wonderful addition to any wireless project as it makes setting up wireless a breeze and you don’t have to have people edit the sketch. I like to give away some of my projects and this makes it easy for the people I give the to. All they need is a web browser to set it up and get it running. 

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I stared around the workshop for two nights trying to come up with a clever display for the second attempt at dead bug soldering. This time wasn’t as successful. I do admit there wasn’t much planning involved. I started started bending wires and winging it. Next time I will have to do a little more planning as this example is something I am impressed with. 

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I finally found something that is half whimsical and half just sad, but it will display my little clock until I can (or a family member) come up with something more suitable. 

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My code can be found over at my GitHub. 

Taking a break. I will be back to update this soon. . . 

Doh!

This was meant to be a one-off, lets just have some fun kind of project. I was once told if you don’t learn something new everyday it just wasn’t a day. And I did learn in my eagerness for some quick video gaming gratification. 

I had been trolling through my parts box and thinking of a fun project to work on. Then I remembered two things. First was the ATTiny85 video games. I always have ATTinys laying around so this would be great. I checked the BOM and I had everything save the PCB boards and they are available on OSHPark. I even had a spare OLED screen in my display box. COOL. And, and, a way back I had an online bump in with Drew of OSHPark and he had sent me a gift certificate for boards. Excellent. I quickly put in my order and it was under $4.00 so still plenty left on the coupon to get my first PCB designed board done. 

I placed the order and forgot about it for a while. After all of the slow boat from China orders I tend to forget about things once I order them, I can’t stand being obsessive over something that is just going to take its time. Anyhow, low and behold one day when I get home from work there is a little package from OSHPark. I quickly get into it and see the 3 pretty purple boards and my OSHPark sticker for the collection, just waiting for a quick trim with the Dremmel and then get populated. 

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When I wasn’t waiting for the boards I took the time to program a ATTiny85 and breadboard it up with the screen. I wanted to make sure the big parts were ready and working for when the boards showed up. I almost wired up buttons, but it was about 2:00am and it was time for some slumber. 

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I was giddy at work just itching to get home and put all of the parts together and play some Tetris. And to be honest it has been quite a while since I have played it. Alright already, all of the parts are laid out and the iron is hot. 

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There I go. It took about an hour to get it all soldered up. I was trying to be extra nice, and neat. While my soldering skills are markedly better than they were a year ago, practice makes perfect and I am still working towards that goal. Once it is done the big moment, time to slide in the battery. I rummage in the battery drawer and pull out a CR2032 and pop it in. And nothing. 

Really, nothing. Take it out and make sure I have positive facing up, yup. One more try and nothing. I pulled out my multimeter and check the battery 2.1V. Doesn’t that figure and I wait another day as it is again about 1:30am’ish (I work second shift so tend to have late hours in the studio). 

I grab a two pack early the next morning and try it again. NOTHING! Well shit and shoved in it Wilbur I am getting a little annoyed by this time. I pull out my meter again and start checking continuity and don’t find any issues. I put the battery back in and start checking my voltages. All the pins have power and reading at the correct levels. WTH?

I sit down and start doing a little web surfing while keeping a picture of the Pocket Tetris on my screen. What could be wrong? Well it is a funny little story about CAREFULLY checking what pins go where and which pins you have there after staring at one’s problem for a good long while. There was a dope slap and a DOH! involved when I saw it. 

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Now this simple, fun, quickie project will have to wait a little while longer. That was my only spare screen and I don’t have a solder sucker (yet). So while another slow boat makes its way here with new screens, with the CORRECT pinouts, and a solder sucker I have other projects to move onto. New high scores will have to wait for another day. 

Bluetooth Speaker – Update

Bluetooth Speaker Project

We need a bluetooth speaker for the outside by the pool and I have also wanted one to use inside the house as well. This one is 90% complete and since I have two speakers I am sure another one will follow. I still need to find what I am going to use for front and back grills. I may settle for some black material on a frame for the front and some aluminum grill for the back. In the meantime at least it is ready to go!

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My bluetooth speaker

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cutting up the sides

I had a long scrap of wood from another project, so with the power miter saw I made quick work of the sides. 

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With the sides and square inner pieces cut it was time for some gluing. I used a couple of brads to help hold it together while the glue dried. 

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A little sanding to smooth things out. I also had to use a little putty to fill in a couple of small gaps. 

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I used my rotary cutter to make the hole for the speaker. It needed a little help to get the speaker ears to fit in just right. I have no idea what that PVC pipe is up there for, save the fact that I was working on the pool at the time. 

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Here I have things wired up. I didn’t have any barrel power connectors or even screw down terminals, but I didn’t have the parts from an old Apple Airport to get 12V power to the amp/USB board. As for the bluetooth/amp board there is no outstanding reason for picking it. I did some research on them as there are quite a few out there. I need something that would obviously deal with Bluetooth, again all of them were pretty much about the same, but I expected that. This board had the TI TPA3110D2 as the amp chip. I dug up the data sheet on it and it seemed to fit the bill for what I was looking for, a good amp chip and being able to deal with up to 20W for the speaker. 

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With a few brass standoffs, I mounted power plug and the board to the back of the speaker. The parts do face out the back of the speaker. In my thinking it makes it easy to replace anything if it were to burn out or I wanted to replace it. And I didn’t want the magnet to interfere with the board. 

Somewhere in here I stopped taking pictures, oops. In leu of pictures I will give you a quick wrap-up. I stained all of the parts with 2 coats. It didn’t come out as quite as dark as hoped, but it still looks good. Then I mounted the speaker on the front wood insert I made. I connected the wires to it and secured the back panel. 

It works well! It is not audiophile quality, but it has a nice sound all around. The Chinese lady’s voice they used to tell you it is on and connecting still makes me giggle a bit every time I use it. 

A.D.D. has kicked in

I have been busy with 4 different projects, one done and the rest coming along. I seem to bounce back and forth as I ponder over some design flaws and possible solutions. Which usually leads to a “hey let’s do this too” moment, I like to call it my Shiny Penny Syndrome. It works for me. 

Click on the project title to to the that projects link if you wish. 

Bluetooth Speaker

We need a bluetooth speaker for the outside by the pool and I have also wanted one to use inside the house as well. This one is 90% complete. I still need to find what I am going to use for front and back grills. I may settle for some black material on a frame for the front and some aluminum grill for the back. In the meantime at least it is ready to go!

 

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Volumio Case

While the Volumio is up and working in the family room downstairs, I am still working on the case for the setup. I have the idea firmly in my head. I have the case hollowed out. I need to find a way to get down to the bottom and clean and smooth the bottom. it is too small to work it with any chisel I have. I was thinking of upping the RPMs on my drill press and using the drill bit to clean it out. We’ll see, I still have a little research to do on this one. 

  

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Arduino CNC experiment

My goal here is to have a larger CNC mill, a real one, that can handle wood and soft metal like Al and brass. While I usually like to jump into a project with both feet, I have learned and bit by over enthusiasm in the past. I have read quite a few builds using old DVD drives, the LM293, and an Arduino to make a simple X / Y potter (the Z axis raises and lowers the pencil). I have the X axis works, the Z axis servo works when it feels like it (so much for the cheap micro servos in the intro kit. Time to scavenge from an old RC car tonight). The Y axis just grinds at me, so I need to dig into it here tonight and get it moving, literally. 

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RetroPie

This is one that was downloaded, installed, configured, setup with 2 controllers, an old LCD monitor, and it has been hard to find to time to play with it myself. That is OK it is being well used. I have an audio DAC for the Pi 3 some old monitor speaks to mate with it. I have been searching for a case idea. The cases one can purchase are well – so so, do in a pinch, rather not spend money on one, will the HAT fit? As I pondered and searched, I stumbled upon an old Game Cube for sale on eBay (9 bucks right now, don’t bid on it please) and it looks like it will do the trick quite nicely. Integrated power supply, spaces for controllers / USB ports, and about the right size. I hesitated when I click on bidding for it, but as time goes and I read some, it should work quite nicely. Stay tuned for where this one ends up. 

Tempest Spinner

Since the RetroPie is up and going, I have been playing some Tempest, my ALL time favorite arcade game; but it just isn’t right playing it with a controller, keyboard, or mouse. One really must have a spinner for the real experience. I have looked for them online, but they are rather pricey (upwards of $70.00) so I have been looking into making my own. I have the box of parts and my notes in line. I will find some time one night when nothing else interests me 😉 I guess you will just have to check back on this one to see how it goes. 

 

 

 

Bluetooth Speaker

Bluetooth Speaker Project

We need a bluetooth speaker for the outside by the pool and I have also wanted one to use inside the house as well. This one is 90% complete. I still need to find what I am going to use for front and back grills. I may settle for some black material on a frame for the front and some aluminum grill for the back. In the meantime at least it is ready to go!

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Raspberry Pi Arcade Project

Next on the project list is a Raspberry Pi arcade system. Once again we are starting small with as much stuff as we could from around the Studio. I already had a Pi 3, monitor, keyboard, no controllers (ordered those), and for kicks I got another of the Pi Zero Audio DACs for sound. I will have a speaker leftover from the pool-USB-Streaming-Audio project so it works out well. 

We loaded it up with RetroPie and I have to say I am quite impressed. The software works quite well and while it is easy to setup there are quite a few options to check out later on. Right now the most imperative thing to my son was getting it up and playing on the screen today. 

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Someone has donated some Xbox controllers for the system. We are still going to make some kind of case for it. At this point I am not sure if it will be an all-in-one or keep the console separate from the monitor. Once again I will have to let this one stew and see what comes of it. 

I want to start to put together a real arcade style box for the controls, joysticks and buttons for 2 players while keeping the USB controllers for other games. I doubt I will go the standup route, but I never know where projects take me after a while. My big must have for this phase of the project is a Tempest spinner controller. Tempest has to be one of my all time favorite games! And it really isn’t the same trying to play it with a keyboard or mouse, and most paddle are wheezy at best. I have started digging into them. 

So let me share with you the links and information I have found on making a spinner. I am looking forward to scrounging and finding the right pile of parts for this one. 

BREAKING NEWS – I just found this site today and it seems to have one great manual for making a spinner. 

There is one place I found where you can purchase one, theirs is called the SpinTrak, they are pricey. Maybe when I make my standalone Tempest game. 

I found this setup which is pretty cool. And making a controller was my original and still my preferred idea. 

Below are some of the other links I have found dealing with DIY spinners. 

Made from an old VCR head.

Another excellent example made from the what-the-lab-will-surrender category. 

A spinner made right inside the mouse. Pretty neat concept.

Divine Muse

I have been dragging around these chunks of cherry for more than I care to remember, but I have been keeping them for a project. I have bee stewing about a case for mi Pi Audio Streamer. 

I had the garage door open a few days ago and pulled these out and started to look at them. Huh, a cherry case would be nice, look classy, and with a custom volume knob and single power light. . . ideas started to flow. How thin to cut the sheets? Joint them? Glue them? 

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I ended up grabbing the skinner of the two. It has some interesting grain to it. 

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I cut three sections from the good end of the chunk. I still have the rest as there is some solid wood hidden in there and it might come in handy yet. Sorry the color is a little off but it was getting to be later in the afternoon. 

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I have my sections of wood and I have the inside of it drawn out. My plan is to hollow out a section for the Pi and knob, I will get the drawing posted up here soon, but until then. . . 

Pi Update

Hold the presses! There has been a change of plans. After playing around with OSMC and some more thinking and drawing, I am going to change course with my Raspberry Pi project. Instead of a fancy pants media center, I am working towards a very nice audio system for the basement living room. My last real stereo was too many years too count and was a very nice Yahmaha system. Tuner, amp, CD, and booming speakers. It has long since gone and have been stuck with my laptop or iPhone with headphones to listen. 

So I have moved in that direction. While working with OSMC I found an inexpensive audio DAC (Digital Audio Converter) HAT, (pizereoaudio.com) for the RPi. 

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When it showed up I heated up the iron and with help of a little hot glue to hold the headers in place was able to solder it in place. 

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Don’t be harsh on some of the joints. While above beginner I am still in amateur phase. 

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I downloaded Volumio2 as the streaming distro. After doing some reading and comparing it seemed like a good package to do with. It supports audio streaming (of course) from local media and network devices. It also supports AirPlay but my first couple of attempts with it haven’t really gone so well. 

The DAC setup was quite easy. In Volumio2, under the menu is the Playback options menu. In there it was as easy as selecting the HiFiBerry DAC. And before I knew it my RPi was singing to me. The Pi Zero Audio DAC is based on the NXP 1334A. A low-power, low-priced DAC. The card was cheap compared to some of the other HATs out there. There is only line out installed on the card, but there are pads on the board is one is so inclined to add RCA jacks. Their documentation is sparse to proceed with caution if take this route. 

Since the pieces and parts are hanging together I whipped up a quick stand for it. 

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It is a piece of sheet metal from something and I superglued 4 standoffs to it. Simple and works for its purpose.

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Here is my proof-of-concept for my streaming player. I tossed on an old set of Altec speakers I had in the Studio. I have to say it really doesn’t sound hateful. Nothing high-end, but working well for what it is. 

Now that I am moving in this direction, I am starting to pick up some parts for the goal of this project, something which has gelled up nicely over the past few days. The end product is to be a single speaker streaming device. The pictures will work better than my words. I will share the drafts of how I want the case for it to look. 

I order the Pi Zero W that will be used for the end product. It came it quickly and I was pretty jazzed to get the headers soldered on and start to set it up as the main streamer.

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Pretty cool huh? And hands to Adafruit for getting it here so quickly. Help me here though, what is wrong with my picture? Where are the headers you ask? Someone forgot to order them. I remember the mini HDMI connector, and the rotary encoder I am going to use for the volume knob, but no headers! DOH! Well, off to eBay and now I am waiting for them to show up. Which is fine, I am still working the my Volumio installation. Songs needs sorted in various directories and playlists, AirPlay needs to be debugged, and I am learning how to add streams for my local radio stations. 

I have found a couple of nice speakers on Amazon from Viston and Dayton. I need to check them out a little more and pick one of them. From Adafruit I have my eye on the 20W amp for the speaker. I am still working on how I want/will power it all. I still have some time for thinking on that one. 

Stay tuned, I will be back to write up on what I have found about the DAC scene for the RPi and a little more about Volumio2. 

Raspberry Pi

Yes, another platform, another project. My Raspberry Pi has been floating around for a couple, three months now. I have been playing around with it, futzing with the OS installing and uninstalling things, all while trying to find a home for it. At first I thought I would use it with Domtiz and monitor various things around the house. After jotting some ideas down on paper the idea just kind of died on the vine. 

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There are a couple of retro gaming distros out there. They look fun, but not sure I want to dedicate this board to another console/computer/gaming system in the house. I downloaded xxx and have it on a SD card so I can pull it out and have some fun, but was still looking for its home, its purpose. 

Recently we got cable back. We had tossed Time Warner save the internet connection and didn’t look back at not having cable. Between not watching as much and Netflix, Hulu, and Amazon there wasn’t much reason to have it back. Then Spectrum bought TW and gave us a deal we couldn’t much pass up. In the process we have a new cable box and a Tivo that won’t much work with it anymore. Oh well. Then I had a spark of an idea, why not use it for a media center! That’s the ticket. 

I went out and started to do my homework on which distro will be best suited for my needs. I figured there has to be more than one of them out there with the popularity for the Raspberry; and there is. After a couple of days of reading and checking them out, I have decided on OSMC. It seems one of the easier ones to setup and use. So I have downloaded it and have it ready on a card. 

During this process, I have given up (temporarily) on getting the Sain Smart 7” LCD on working with the Pi. It is a sharp screen, it worked for a few minutes once, then I changed a setting, nutz! I broke down and bought a cheap, $3.99 HDMI to VGA convertors. It will work as I setup the rig and test it out. Once done I will move it out to the family room with the big screen. 

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For now the convertor works wonderful with my $2.00 monitor find. It might be a bit old and 4:3 not 16:9, but it is clear and works nicely. I am glad to have a spare monitor for the bench. To test it out I made it a third monitor on my Mac. How many do I really need? 

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This is a project that is going to blow out in scope as well. I have the goal of finishing up the audio amp I have on my bench and hooking it up to 2 bookshelf speakers that have been laying around for a while. It should make a nice little media center for the basement family room. 

Spare parts Pipe Lamp

Recently I had to replace the hot water heater in our house. Thankfully it was a slow leak from the bottom so major catastrophe. While I was working on it I kept looking around at the pile of parts I have collected from various plumbing projects.

Hey why not one of those pipe lamps one sees all over the place these days. Why not. I was able to use about 90% of what I had. I had to purchase a length of 1/2″ copper tubing for the arms, 3/4″ to 1/2″ threaded adapter, and the switch for the faucet. I used this Instrucable for the faucet switch.

Even though I am pretty much flying by the seat of my pants on this one, I start off by laying things out to get a general idea of where I am heading.

The threaded parts are put together. There wasn’t a way to tighten them all the way up and be in the right directions. As such I took a spot of super glue to the threads. To date it is holding up well. And as seen in the upper right-hand corner I am dry fitting the sleeved parts before sweating them.

And the legs are together and sweated.

The 90% are added to the ends. I really need to cut short sections of copper pipe for the feet. They need to be raised 1/16″ to have the base at true level. I was tired at the time and didn’t fuss with that part. It will be done before it is put at it resting place.

And here is the base of the lamp.

Switch and lamp next. I am still working out how I want the lamp part to flow, this is turing out to be a bit of a pain for me – it just doesn’t look right yet. Hence no pictures. I have a 45 and 2 90’s, plus a short section of already sleeved pipe to hold the light fixture.

I will update this when it is complete. For now I have other projects to attend to. This one was one that hit me one day replacing a hot water heater at noon and made it this far by 2:30am. The tale will continue.