Build Holiday Electronics Projects

micro-readerboard Christmas tree ornament displays a short message, one letter at a time, on a bright single-character alphanumeric LED display. In the animation here, the ornament is displaying the word ornament."

Each ornament is pre-programmed with a list of 36 different short phrases. Every time that an ornament is switched off and back on, it picks a new message from its memory to repeat.

Holiday Projects -

• Simple tester checks Christmas-tree lights
• Holiday (Fun Circuits)
• MAKE: Blog: Holiday projects Archives
• Christmas related Circuits
• Light chaser circuits
• Computer Christmas
• Christmas Decoration Project

Ready Kits -

• Christmas Season Electronic Animated Display Kits
• elektor.com - LED Christmas Tree

"Last November, we published the very popular Christmas Star. This year, our "just for fun" project is in the shape of a tree but we have gone one step further by using bi-coloured LEDs. There are many different light patterns and each LED can produce 16 different colours." - Grantronics Christmas Tree

"This Christmas, Make and Give to someone that needs it most. That is the real spirit." - Elektrick Power Jedi

Microohm Meter with LED Analog Bar

This indicates like LM3914 in dot-mode. It is a drawing i made made to troubleshoot a gadget, around two decades ago. Strangely it had a echo of a design i had made into a 7107 dpm years before that. Now i am scanning all my drawing and notes, useful or not. Clean or with errors. Many Errors = 1 Blunder. Some projects i made have been expensive Blunders. So see them with a skeptic eye, fix them, try them. Thats all for now.

See the Circuit Full Size - Microohm Meter with LED Analog Bar

This has a 9V battery power. The 555 spins and a negative voltage for Opamp is created. This is a Low Offset amp of OP37 of Precision Monolithics, Inc PMI an early innovator. This diff-amp amplifies the uV of a 4 wire resistance measurement.

Now the current pump is the 2N2222 you see above the OP37. The FET and 555 do synchronous rectification. The LM324 is the Indicator and Analog to LED Dot-Bar Converter. The probes are Gold Plated, or use solid gold pins if you have them in plenty.

Embedded 8051 TCP-IP WebServer

The ET-WEB51 TCP/IP Ethernet Web Control Board comes preloaded with TCP/IP software that allows you to control outputs, sense inputs and write text to an LCD. All this across the Internet via a standard browser.

Embedded 8051 TCP-IP WebServer

From controlling appliances on your home network, to monitoring industrial processes on the other side of the Earth, the ET-WEB51 can do it all.

Related Thread - ET-WEB51 at 8052.com

littleBits – Snip Snap and Build Electronics

littleBits is a growing library of pre-assembled circuit boards that snap together with tiny magnets!

littleBits - Snip Snap and Build Electronics

littleBits are simple, intuitive, space-sensitive blocks that make prototyping with sophisticated electronics a matter of snapping small magnets together. Each bit has a simple, unique function (light, sound, sensors, buttons, thresholds, pulse, motors, etc), and modules snap to make larger circuits.

My Notes -

A kid started with "Meccano Set" in the early days. Then there came "The LEGO" now we have littleBits doing it for DIY Electronics Learning. Shown below is a Meccano Kit.

mbed - Rapid uC Prototyping

The mbed Microcontroller is made for prototyping, and comes in a 40-pin 0.1" pitch DIP form-factor so it's ideal for experimenting on breadboard, stripboard and PCBs. It is a uC ScratchPad for trying out new ideas.

mbed - Rapid uC Prototyping

From Hyper Embedded - Microcontroller ASIC and EDA

The mbed Compiler lets you write programs in C++, and then compile and download them to run on the mbed Microcontroller. The mbed Compiler is a Web-App in the Cloud, you don't have to install or setup anything to ignite your first mbed project idea. Any OS, Any Where, your software is online and ready to use. You will need a computer or netbook with a Browser.

Two XBees and One USB Explorer

"I had two XBee modules that I really wanted to use with the mbed. These are the standard OEM RF Modules one with an antenna and one with a ANT chip. For one of the chips I will be using the Xbee Explorer USB from Sparkfun...."