I'm currently learning how to use the deep sleep functionality for ESP32. I've been following the excellent article by Random Nerd Tutorials ESP32 Deep Sleep with Arduino IDE and Wake Up Sources. I recommend this article if like me you are starting out with deep sleep with the ESP32. I want my ESP32 to wake... Continue Reading →
Converting raw data samples into meaningful results: Calibration and formula generation
So you have a sensor connected to your microcontroller. How do you calibrate it, particularly if the values from the sensor are not linear? That's a problem I have thought about before and it came up again yesterday when I wanted a project to monitor a battery voltage level. The current project that I am... Continue Reading →
New mailbox built mainly from recycled material
Mail delivery has become more important for us in recent years than it ever has been. While many communications have become electronic, more of the goods our family buy are purchased online as the option to buy locally is limited and in some cases is reducing. We are in a rural mail delivery area. There... Continue Reading →
Gardening: There are intruders stealing our corn
We have had a vege garden going on and off for over 30 years and we grow corn most years. When I checked the corn the other day I saw something I had not seen before. All the husks and corn kernels had been neatly removed from a cob of corn. There were ants on... Continue Reading →
Lots of goodies at our local recycling shop
If I said I lived in a small city you would probably have a misconception about the size of the place. While it is called a city it only has a population of around 20 000. In most places of this size it would be considered a rural town. There are some advantages and disadvantages... Continue Reading →
Building Interactive fiction / Text adventures with Excel
In 2006 just a few years after completing a course that included some VBA programming for Excel, I hit on the idea of using Excel to create a Text Adventure / Interactive Fiction game builder. I spent spare time for a year on it. It worked but there was more than I wanted to do,... Continue Reading →
Modifying a switched USB hub for project power distribution
Most of my projects are fairly simple, low powered and run off 5V. Until recently I've used a cheap USB hub plugged into an old iPad charger. This actually worked fairly well, other than the hub connections being a bit dodgy. However, I wanted to be able to switch individual items on and off. You... Continue Reading →
Upgrading the NPW classic sound effects machine
Some years ago, the director of our area at work purchased a bunch of sound effects toys and gave them to staff. We had a lot of projects going on and I presume she wanted to add a bit of fun in the office. These effects toys are produced by NPW and is called the... Continue Reading →
Experimenting with audio tones using the ESP32 for use in projects
A reader alerted me to the Tone function for Arduino. When I was making my WordPress hit counter I wanted to add in an audio alert. I preferred something other than a constant tone but thought I would have a go using the tone function. It turns out that the tone function is not implemented... Continue Reading →
Converting LifeChat headset for external output and mic with Zoom and MS Teams
One thing that I've noticed since the pandemic started is that there are far more online meetings in general and also interviews on TV where the guest joins remotely via the web. I like both of these. While not having guests travel to studios is usually fine, sometimes I feel it could easily improved if... Continue Reading →