Crowd Funding Success? I must be rich!

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Thanks to PCBWay for the fantastic PCBs and SMT assembly, my ESP32 Rainbow has shipped out to all the backers! In this video, I dive into a retro of the crowd funding experience. Was it successful? You be the judge! I'll cover everything from total revenue, costs, and gross profit to the tricky world of tariffs and certification. I'll also discuss the pros and cons of using Crowd Supply. There's a bit of excitement and a bit of OMG - we're certifiable! Want to support the channel or grab an ESP32 Rainbow for yourself? Links are scattered throughout the video! And don't forget to join our vibrant community on Discord and newsletter platforms.

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!

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!

Can You Spot the Problem? - Buckle up folks, this video is a thrilling one! There's everything from unboxing my new ESP32 TV boards that arrived from PCB Way to discovering some hidden issues. We're talking about some pesky problems, surprises, and even a potential catastrophic error that could've led to a disaster. The main dish is the high-speed SD card access over USB - ultimately achieving a whooping transfer rate! But, the journey is a roller-coaster ride, from the project completely failing initially, to some smart hacks and triumphant moments. All the peripherals worked well, from the display to the sound amplifier and even the infrared receiver. Despite the ups and downs, there's a lot to learn and that's what makes this video exciting! Can't wait to share the improvements I have in mind for turning the prototype into the ultimate all-in-one device. But first, let's address the elephant in the room - an ill-placed diode that's a ticking bomb, because you know, safety first!

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 switching. We're gearing up for a commercial release, hopefully by Christmas, so stay tuned. And yes, it does run Doom! [Laughter]

Crowdfunding Success - Was it worth it? - I embarked on a thrilling adventure of turning a nifty idea into a tangible product — the ESP32 Rainbow, a Sinclair Spectrum-inspired gadget that merges retro vibes with modern tech. With the brains of an ESP32-S3, capacitive touch, a built-in display, and some snazzy UV silk screen printing, it's a little marvel that got crowdfunded successfully. But, oh boy, was the journey enlightening — from grappling with pricing conundrums and the bureaucracy of certifications to the harrowing odyssey of international shipping. While it didn't line my pockets with gold, seeing people enjoy something I created is worth all the sweat and jitters. Would I do it again? Well, maybe if lightning strikes twice with another great idea.

Old school tape loading - If you're anything like me, the nostalgic screeches of ZX Spectrum games loading might bring a smile to your face. I've taken a trip down memory lane by working on my own tribute to this iconic machine—introducing the ESP32 Rainbow. It’s on Crowd Supply, where we're closing in on full funding! This blog post walks you through the journey of harnessing audial data to load games directly into my emulator—faster and more reliable than those temperamental cassette decks from our childhood.

Thats a wrap - It's that festive time of year when goodies arrive from PCBWay, and what a delightful surprise to receive the Partner of the Year award! A huge thanks to PCBWay, my Patreons, and GitHub sponsors for the amazing support. This year has been thrilling, starting with ESP32 projects and diving into nickel plating experiments. I'm particularly excited about the ESP32 Rainbow project, now fully funded and gearing up for a 2025 release. With lots planned for the coming year, here's to a Merry Christmas and an exciting New Year ahead!

Esp32 s3 zx spectrum - In a bid to quench my nostalgia and flex my ESP32 chops, I managed to get a ZX Spectrum emulator running on my ESP32-TV board! Then, spurred on by PCBWay's new full color silk screen service, I pursuit the audacious task of recreating the ZX Spectrum's iconic keyboard. It's been quite the joyride - wrangling touch pins, shrinking screens and creating a thing of beauty on PCB. It's not quite ready for the spotlight, but keep an eye on my newsletter for more eagerly-awaited updates. It's like the Spectrum is reborn!

The PCBs are in production - what have I messed up? - After some stress and trepidation, I finally took the plunge and sent my PCB design off for manufacturing. My design centers around building a large seven-segment clock with LED filaments. Jumping hurdles such as voltages, pin usage, and limiting the load on my power supply, I've settled on the ESP32 as the system's heart and come up with a final circuit design. While doing this, I've quickly realized I could improve my layout and fixed a small mistake. Also, I've prepared for either types of LED filaments - the high-voltage ones or the larger, 3v ones. However, I did bungle up a couple of things on the enable line of the shift registers and board layout. But hey, this is a learning curve, right? Can't wait to get the boards and see what other exciting errors surface!

Thanks to https://www.PCBWay.com/?from=atomic for the fantastic PCBs and SMT assembly.

My ESP32 Rainbow has shipped out to all the backers. Let’s do a retro of the crowd funding experience. Was it successful? I’ll et you b the judge.

You can find the EEVBlog article I mentioned here: https://www.eevblog.com/2014/05/28/the-economics-of-selling-your-hardware-project/

My blog post with all the details is here: https://www.atomic14.com/2025/07/21/crowd-funding-retro

The Smander simple start for CE advice can be found here: https://early.smander.com/simple-start/

And you can buy yourself an ESP32 Rainbow here: https://www.crowdsupply.com/atomic14/esp32-rainbow

0:00 Crowdfunding success!?
1:07 Why do hardware products cost so much?
2:17 Project timeline
2:57 What’s our total revenue?
4:05 What were our costs?
4:47 Gross profit
5:09 Labour costs
5:41 Maybe we can still make a profit…
5:51 Manufacturing
6:11 How to work out the RRP…
8:23 OMG Tariffs - we’re screwed!
9:50 We’re certifiable
11:56 Building an audience
12:51 Go on - buy one!
13:00 Pros and Cons of Crowd Supply
15:19 The good, the bad, and the ugly
16:45 Closing thoughts

If you’d like to help support the channel and help me buy more nonsense - I have a Patreon page: https://www.patreon.com/atomic14

We’ve also got a shop now! https://shop.atomic14.com

And if you’re shopping on AliExpress or Amazon then if you click on these links I will get a little bit of affiliate money:

Aliexpress - https://s.click.aliexpress.com/e/_Ac05mF
Amazon - https://www.amazon.com/?tag=atomic14-20

You can also join us on Discord here: https://discord.gg/h2DDnDdjD2

There’s also the Atomic14 newsletter here: https://atomic14.substack.com/

And don’t forget about the MakerNews newsletter - https://makernews.substack.com/

HELP SUPPORT MY WORK: If you're feeling flush then please stop by Patreon Or you can make a one off donation via ko-fi

Want to keep up to date with the latest posts and videos? Subscribe to the newsletter

· · · · · Posts · Videos · Tags · Support

Crowd Funding Success? I must be rich!

Written by

Chris Greening

Supported by

atomic14

A collection of slightly mad projects, instructive/educational videos, and generally interesting stuff. Building projects around the Arduino and ESP32 platforms - we'll be exploring AI, Computer Vision, Audio, 3D Printing - it may get a bit eclectic...

Crowd Funding Success? I must be rich!

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Written by

Chris Greening

Supported by

atomic14

A collection of slightly mad projects, instructive/educational videos, and generally interesting stuff. Building projects around the Arduino and ESP32 platforms - we'll be exploring AI, Computer Vision, Audio, 3D Printing - it may get a bit eclectic...