Nice fix - what do you think? In this video, I attempt to fix my previous PCB mishap where I mistook a common anode RGB LED for a common cathode. This required some soldering surgery with a hot plate, flux, and soldering iron. I maneuvered a pre-shaped enamel wire to complete the circuit properly and avoid previous mistakes. Despite a minor mishap with too much solder resist, the repair was ultimately successful, and the LED works beautifully now! 07 August 2025
Oops I Did It Again… Swapped VCC and GND, on My PCB 🙈 Hey everyone! In this video, I made a little snafu with my PCB layout by confusing a common anode with a common cathode for my RGB LED. I walked through fixing it by a bit of desoldering, applying solder resist, and reconnecting with a fine wire. Thanks to PCB Way for their awesome service, and as always, all the mistakes you see are mine alone! It's all sorted now, and our LED is shining brightly once again. Let's take a look at the process! 07 August 2025
Crowd Funding Success? I must be rich! Hey guys! So, I wrapped up my ZX Spectrum crowdfunding project, and boy, it was quite a ride! The campaign went gangbusters with 146% funding, and I shipped everything out. Total revenue was £12,839.57, but after costs, I pocketed a neat £4,273.91—though, spoiler, that's before considering my labor! There was quite a learning curve understanding COGS, pricing strategies, and the hidden costs of hardware projects. It took about 13 months from idea to fulfillment, and I amassed 436 hours of work! I discussed vital strategies like working with distributors and how PCBs' cost plummets with bulk orders. Plus, the unknowns,... 07 August 2025
World’s Smallest USB-C Li-Ion Charger?! I found some super compact USB-C lithium battery chargers on AliExpress, and they're tiny! The PCB is just 10mm by 6mm, but it packs a punch with a linear lithium-ion battery charger chip, LP 4054. It's equipped with indicator LEDs for charging status and includes essential resistors and capacitors. Be cautious, though, as it can get warm during use. I've decided to recreate this neat design in Keycad, showing you each step, paying tribute to our Patreons and PCB Way along the way. Let's see how the design translates and if it passes all checks! 07 August 2025
Surprisingly not CR*P - Vibing hardware Well folks, what an adventure! After vibe coding our vibing button, I took up the challenge to vibe code the actual hardware for an ESP32 S3 dev board. Used a tool called at pile and gave it a whirl with some AI help from Claude. Interestingly, it handled everything from sourcing components with LCSC part numbers to wiring them up. Had a wee hiccup with missing capacitor in the RC circuit, but overall it was a thrilling ride watching the AI process! A bit of tweaking here and there, and we're good to go! Can't wait to see it in... 07 August 2025
A Vibe Coded One-Button Mechanical Keyboard - ESP32-S3 USB+BTLE Hey folks! So, I've been tinkering with a compact PCB featuring an ESP32 S3 Mini, and it's been a blast! This little guy has a USB-C and battery connection, with nifty chips like a charge controller and voltage regulator. I'm diving into mechanical keyboards with some cherry switches, and guess what? I made this cool 'Vibe button' for a single key keyboard! I even used AI to vibe code it, so it sends command-enter when pressed. PCB Way did a stellar job on the assembly, and now I'm setting up the RGB LED for charging status. Let's make coding more... 07 August 2025
Blinkety Blink #electronics #arduino #arduinoproject This video is a mesmerizing musical journey that captivates the audience with its enchanting tunes and harmonious melodies. It's all about appreciating the beauty of music. 07 August 2025
Flying sparks #electronics Just playing around with some high-voltage experiments for fun! 07 August 2025
787 Volts From a $2 Board! Let's have some fun with high voltage experiments and LED filaments! I've been dabbling with 300-400 volts, testing out capacitor charging, and saving some flickery Philips bulbs. With a new ESP32 Rainbow project in the works and a nifty minimalist ESP32 S3 board arriving soon, there's lots going on. Despite some high ripple issues and quirky sounds from the modules, swapping to an old-school surface mount board provides smooth performance with almost no ripple. Join me as I explore the limits and potential projects with these LEDs. And for a shocking tidbit at the end, explore some high voltage calculations—it's... 07 August 2025
800 volt DC DC converter In this video, I tinker with high-voltage circuits to light up LED filaments salvaged from broken light bulbs. Using a makeshift setup with a MOSFET, inductor, diode, and smoothing capacitor, I explore switching at high frequencies to achieve bright light. However, limitations with low-voltage capacitors led to some explosive results. I also experiment with a DC/DC converter to reach higher voltages, but it too failed, leading to a troubleshooting session under the microscope. Despite these setbacks, I'll keep tinkering and waiting for replacement parts to continue my experiment. 07 August 2025
Not what I was expecting! Why are all my lightbulbs failing? So, we've been dealing with a little epidemic of light bulb failures in the house. I took apart a couple of dead bulbs to get to the bottom of what's going on. Turns out, one of the bulbs is kind of flickering and faintly working, while another bulb's base gets surprisingly warm. After some poking around, I found the PCB inside the bulb has a bridge rectifier and a LED driver IC, but all components test out fine! The investigation took a turn when I checked the LED filaments with a makeshift power supply, and surprise surprise, some filaments are... 07 August 2025
Electronic Chopsticks? So, I got this free gift from Secure - some HT140 solder tweezers, and they're pretty nifty! The kit comes with a stand, a power supply, and these tiny grub screws. Gave them a test run by desoldering components on a Pico board, and they heat up impressively fast! It's really handy, especially for smaller components. Thanks to Secure for sending these over. Definitely a great addition when working on my PCBs. Check them out in the description if you're interested! 07 August 2025
Taking KiCad Silk Screen to the Next Level! Take a peek at how my ESP 32 ZX Spectrum project is coming along! We're funded on Crowd Supply, ordering components, and adding a cool silk screen design to our PCB. Using tools like KiCad and Affinity Designer, I've jazzed up the back of the board with detailed graphics. It's been an exciting journey, making adjustments and ensuring everything works perfectly before ramping up production. If you haven't yet, head over to Crowd Supply and support the ESP 32 Rainbow project! 07 August 2025
It’s a Christmas wrap up - and a nice surprise! Christmas has arrived in style with a surprise Partner of the Year award from PCBWay! It's been an amazing year packed with projects, from dabbling in nickel plating to diving into full-color silk screen printing. The highlight? Taking the ESP32 rainbow from concept to a fully funded venture on Crowd Supply. With big plans for 2025 and exciting videos on the way, the future looks bright. Wishing everyone a merry Christmas and an exciting New Year! 07 August 2025
Level Shifter Circuit - simulation and real world test. Hey there! If you're around my age, you'll probably get nostalgic over the sound of old school tape loading on the ZX Spectrum. I took a deep dive into how the data loads, using my oscilloscope to break it all down, and even built a circuit to handle the signal for my ESP32. Throw in some cool simulations using CircuitLab, and I'm all set! Plus, I discovered a neat trick using diodes to perfect the signal. Hands-on and really quite fun! 07 August 2025
"Hair Trigger" So, I thought it might be interesting to show you how I fixed my nasal hair trimmer. It wasn't turning on, and after messing around a bit, I found out the contact piece wasn't reaching the battery properly. Just needed a little loosen-up to make solid contact. Now it works, but it's a bit sensitive; it just can't wait to start trimming, I guess. Anyway, hope that was helpful, especially if you're dealing with hair growth surprises like me! 07 August 2025
But does it run DOOM? ESP32 ZX Spectrum update All right, it's time for an update on my ESP Rainbow, the ZX Spectrum emulator with stunning full-color silk screen printing. I've been testing the latest boards, and PCB Way did a fantastic job. The enhancements include upgraded firmware, a 128k ZX Spectrum emulator, and a new 2-watt speaker replacing the old 7-watt buzzer. You can enjoy great sound with PWM and even play 128k games like The Never Ending Story. I've also added a snapshot feature and ported my video player over. Hardware upgrades include new capacitors and a slick power control chip for seamless battery and USB mode... 07 August 2025
This really SUCKS.... and I love it! Exciting news! Robin sent me a Pixel Pump to try out, and I'm loving it so far. It's really well packaged and comes with a ton of handy goodies, including two foot pedals and SMD magazines. It's perfect for my USB tester project as it makes pick and placing components super easy. Although it requires a bit of practice, the foot pedals make the process much smoother. Plus, with the interactive BOM plugin for KiCad, I can mark components as placed without using a keyboard! 07 August 2025
ESP32 Touch Spectrum - Battery and Expansion port test. It's time for a bit more testing of the boards from PCB Way, and I must say, these boards have come out amazingly well. Check out PCB Way – there's a link in the description! Today, we're focusing on testing the battery charging and the expansion port. The battery charging circuit seems successful, and even when playing music, everything is running efficiently. I've looked into some optimizations for the speaker side, such as adding more decoupling capacitors. We also tested the expansion port, successfully running an emulator on the Pico that drives the display via the expansion port. Excitingly, I... 07 August 2025
ESP32 - 40 Independent touch pins! Wow! I'm absolutely thrilled with the results of this video - I've been experimenting with my ESP 320x Spectrum board and its touch Matrix keyboard. Had a bit of trouble with combined button inputs, so I took a deep dive into how touch works and discovered these old, but gold, ICs. After some testing, they turned out to be a perfect solution to my multiplexing problem! I then got a new board design shipped from PCB way - looks awesome and it didn't break the bank. Can't believe how responsive the keyboard is! Got the 'Hello World' program up and... 07 August 2025
I blew up my dev board - and then fixed it! So, in my latest experiment with an 8 feather DVI board, I was greeted with a strange smell and a board that stopped working flat. After some hair-raising debugging, I discovered that our villain might be a dodgy Voltage Regulator, throwing a tantrum and refusing to output voltage steadily. After removing it, I conscripted an external 3.3 volt regulator and voila! The board sprang back to life, and we have a happy ending. But the mystery continues: what wreaked havoc in the first place? I'm pinning the blame on a rebellious USB hub. So, next on the agenda, shopping for... 07 August 2025