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- Written by Mike
- Category: Uncategorised
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The website has been divided into two parts, the main part for hobby stuff (which will probably be mostly electronics or programming) and the blog (for everything else, but mostly food).
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Playing with PICs
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- Written by Mike
- Category: PIC microcontroller
- Hits: 2122
A few months ago I decided to have a play with the PIC microcontrollers, but on the cheap. Since I've been using Raspberry Pi and Arduino for a while I thought I'd see if I could use those as programmers. I'd already used an Arduino to program an ATTiny so I thought it should be possible. I found several different ways of doing it. The arduino-based PIC programmer seemed to be the easiest since, in addition to the arduino and a 13v supply, it only needed a few resistors and one transistor.
Vintage Electronics Kit
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- Written by Mike
- Category: electronics
- Hits: 1919
Years ago I had one of the Tandy 200-in-1 electronics kits. I followed most of the projects in the book but never got around to creating my own circuits. I lost interest after accidentally wiring a transistor incorrectly and it blew the top off. My interest in electronics was revitalised when I bought a Raspberry Pi 3 and soon after got one of the many electronics starter kits which came with a breadboard and a set of components.
Earlier this year I was looking for some components on ebay when I saw one of the old Tandy kits for sale. This was a late 60s kit and pre-dates affordable LEDs. It had a selection of resistors and capacitors, a single bulb, transistors metal casing and a few other bits. A lot of the projects are of their era and less suitable for modern times. The ones aimed at radio hams aren't much use for the average person.
I tested the resistors and capacitors and they seem to be ok. The solar cell also still works. I have tried a few of the experiments with mixed results. The water purity meter, which measures conductivity, seems to be 'all or nothing' and reads either zero or maximum conductivity. A morse code circuit has a very harsh sound. I will try to repeat some of these with new components to see if the results are different.