Made By Jim

Bought a seven segment display from a surplus store. Wired it up...

Mon, 18 Jul 2011 18:55:57 -0400

Bought a seven segment display from a surplus store. Wired it up to a 74hc595 shift register. Right now it’s just a chasing pattern across the segments. I learned how to search for data sheets on random components on this build.

I have a slightly more advanced display for my next build.

Testing out my Arduino Danger Shield with an example program.

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:45:24 -0400

Testing out my Arduino Danger Shield with an example program.

Constructed my Arduino Danger Shield. It all works. Looks like...

Tue, 05 Jul 2011 22:28:00 -0400

Constructed my Arduino Danger Shield. It all works. Looks like my soldering skills are good enough!

Well, the desk I bought for my electronics hobby turns out to be...

Mon, 04 Jul 2011 22:19:00 -0400

I outgrew my old desk fairly quickly.

To fit my desk, the hammock has to go :(

IKEA Boxes!! Let's do it!

Laying out the desk to check for fit.

Dozens of screws and bolts later.

This was not easy to flip by myself

Concrete blocks make it a standing desk

Loaded with some of my equipment

Made risers out of the old desk shelves

Well, the desk I bought for my electronics hobby turns out to be way too small. It turns out compared to making software, making physical things takes a bit more space.

So I have upgraded from my IKEA Fredrik desk to a much larger Galant Desk System. I am definitely a fan of Galant desks, we use several of them at work. I also wanted to make sure this would work while standing. From experimenting at work, the desks at full height plus two 8-inch tall concrete blocks plus a 2-inch riser puts it at the right height. So I head out to home depot for concrete blocks.

Several hours and a lot of sweat and tears later, I have a new desk, and I am super happy with it. However with the larger desk I hade to disassemble the hammock I had set up in the guest room. I don’t have anywhere else to put it, but maybe I’ll figure out a new home for it soon.

It may not be an electronics project, but this desk was most definitely Made by Jim.

This project uses 7 LEDs arranged to create a 7 segment display...

Thu, 30 Jun 2011 21:00:34 -0400

This project uses 7 LEDs arranged to create a 7 segment display of one digit. It counts 0 though 9 in a loop, displaying each digit.

Things I Learned

casting int(pow(2, x)) will round the value down by one (for x >1), due to the floating precision lost. Changed to ceil(pow(2, x)) to get expected int value for bitmask operations.
How to use Serial to debug.
If utilizing Serial, don’t utilize digital 0 and 1, since they are the serial interface.

(Source)

This project is a strobe, where the frequency is controlled by...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 23:03:00 -0400

This project is a strobe, where the frequency is controlled by the potentiometer. First use of the analog in.

(Source)

Soldered some jumpers to my new 10KΩ potentiometer. Not perfect,...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:49:17 -0400

Soldered some jumpers to my new 10KΩ potentiometer. Not perfect, but a solid solder. Now to put it to use!

Practicing my soldering on a spare board with wire....

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 22:45:00 -0400

Practicing my soldering on a spare board with wire. Haven’t touched an iron since high school. Need some more practice before I put together my Danger Shield

As an online educator, and someone learning Arduino, I found...

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:59:29 -0400

As an online educator, and someone learning Arduino, I found this fascinating. While childish in theme, the information is presented extremely well, and the explanations are super clear. This show is doing it right.

(Source SylviaShow.com)

Comments Enabled

Wed, 29 Jun 2011 13:18:32 -0400

Originally this blog was intended to be a personal log of my progress, but now that some people are reading it, I’ve enabled comments.

Hopefully this will allow people to ask questions, or more importantly let me know when I so something silly, or could improve something.

My Arduino Sketches on Github

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:05:00 -0400

My Arduino Sketches on Github:

Since I’m sharing all of my creations on this blog, I need to share the code too. Github should do nicely.

Button w/ Morse Code Message Blinks a little bit of morse code...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 23:02:00 -0400

Button w/ Morse Code Message

Blinks a little bit of morse code when you press the button. Can you read it? (no peeking at the source)

Button + LED Simple button triggering an LED. No debouncing yet,...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:52:00 -0400

Button + LED

Simple button triggering an LED. No debouncing yet, but still pretty nifty.

(Source from Arduino examples)

Hello Blinky Light! Blinking Light A simple blinking light,...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:41:00 -0400

Hello Blinky Light!

Blinking Light

A simple blinking light, it’s not much, but it’s a start!

All unpacked. Time to get organized.

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:35:27 -0400

All unpacked. Time to get organized.

Got a new desk from IKEA for my tinkering. Time to unpack my new...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:33:31 -0400

Got a new desk from IKEA for my tinkering. Time to unpack my new toys!

My stuff has arrived. Of course I have to open it at the office,...

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:26:54 -0400

My stuff has arrived. Of course I have to open it at the office, I can’t wait to open it at home

I need a new hobby.

Tue, 28 Jun 2011 21:12:00 -0400

I had a hobby. Well I still have a hobby. I love programming and web development. The problem is, if you could call it a problem, that I get to practice my hobby all day as my full time job. I get to experiment, learn, build and teach at Think Vitamin Membership. I usually come home and continue doing what I do at work. Learn, build, and play with new technologies.

I need a change of pace. I love web development, but when I have had enough for the day, I don’t have another hobby. I just end up watching TV (well, Netflix and Hulu). I want something else that fulfills my desire to make cool stuff.

The Arduino offers a great platform to learn electronics. It’s easy to get set up, the programming is straight forward, and there’s a ton you can do with it. It’s relatively cheap, so I am going to get started. I’ve pretty much forgotten everything from my college physics class, except V=IR, but now I get to learn my way, and build cool stuff.

I’ll be posting pictures, videos and experiences as I learn and build. I love writing software, but am pretty new to all of this hardware. Mistakes will be made, but that’s how we learn.

I can’t wait to learn a new skill!