I was recently browsing eBay and a Walkman style cassette player popped up in the list. I was immediately interested as the player was a National Way RQ-WJ1 Cassette Player. These were made in the early 80's by National that later went on to become Panasonic. The asking price was AU$400.00 (about US$270.00). It was... Continue Reading →
Converting a bamboo utensil holder into a tool holder
I've noticed a lot of small storage items appearing in shops made of bamboo. I bought a pen holder and started wondering if these would make a good project case. I'm still considering that, but haven't thought of a suitable project for it. Maybe if it had a stand so that it sat at this... Continue Reading →
Dimming 16×2 and 20×4 LCD displays
I recently built another clock. This time using a 16x2 LCD display with an I2C backpack. In know these displays are starting to look a bit dated, but I like them. I used a method of display large digits based on Ralph Bacon’s video #23 LCD BIG DIGITS for your Arduino using I2C - Easy!... Continue Reading →
MP3 DFPlayer notes: clones, noise, speakers, wrong file plays and no library
2 combined clock and timer projects using the DFPlayer modules I've used the DFPlayer mp3 player in a number of projects now, not as a music player, rather just for playing brief announcements in a timer and clock projects. The DFRobot site lists applications and they all appear to be for announcements, so theoretically it... Continue Reading →
MP3 speech files for use in clock projects
In recent post I've posted about Using Text to Speech online tools to create audio files for Arduino projects and Batch processing files with Audacity. I have a couple of projects that use speech alerts and one of those is a speaking clock. It announces the time at the press of a button, but more... Continue Reading →
Batch processing files with Audacity
In my last post Using Text to Speech online tools to create audio files for Arduino projects I had some info about online text to audio sites I have been using to create audio alert files for projects. The files produced by ttsmp3.com seemed to have a lower audio level than I expected. I found... Continue Reading →
Using Text to Speech online tools to create audio files for Arduino projects
I’ve made a couple of projects that play audio alerts using a dfplayer and MP3 files. One in a clock that plays announcements and the other a countdown timer. When I did those, I used onlinetonegenerator.com to convert text to speech. I liked the voices but it doesn’t have an option to save the audio... Continue Reading →
Reliably debouncing rotary encoders with Arduino and ESP32
I love those simple cheap rotary encoders as used in the KY-040 modules as a method of getting user input with Arduino and ESP32 projects. The issue of bounce with them is significant and for years I’ve been looking a reliable method of dealing with it. I thought I had it figured out by either... Continue Reading →
Finally, a decent quality prototype breadboard for a reasonable cost
Getting decent quality prototype breadboards for a reasonable cost is something that has eluded me for years. I think I have finally found a reliable source. Those advertised on eBay or at least the cheaper ones seem that I have previously purchased too often have poor metal connectors inside. It can be difficult to insert... Continue Reading →
IR remote control mute button
I recently built a simple one button Arduino based IR remote control to mute our TV and Computer amp. I am quite happy with the results. The idea to use half a stress ball for the mute button I thought was inspired. The timber case built using with the aid of some jigs I made... Continue Reading →