(Part 2) Best semiconductor products according to redditors

https://smile.amazon.com/Programmable-Development-DE0-NANO-4CE22F-CYCLONE/dp/B00MEKRXAE/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1492411497&sr=8-6&keywords=FPGA

With free 2 day shipping. They're used in every undergrad computer engineering program on earth.

There are a ton of these in Amazon's database. For example, for $110 someone will remove the CPU from your computer and replace it with an ATTINY85...

You can buy SMD breakout boards for this purpose.

If you have a heat gun and solder paste, I would use this stuff.

You can also solder with an iron. Get it aligned as perfectly as possible, Solder 2 pads on opposite sides to tack it down, then do the rest. I would add a lot of flux like Louis Rossman and put a tiny bit of solder on the iron tip. A little goes a long way! Use a stereoscopic microscope to verify your work if you have one.

Because the flasher works with the resistance (or impedance) of the bulb to make it flash as a certain rate. Without the correct impedance, it will flash MUCH quicker.

Your headlight is probably running on an AC circuit right now. Do you to LED, you need a full wave bridge rectifier to convert it to DC.

This little guy will do the trick. https://www.amazon.com/NTE-Electronics-NTE53016-Rectifier-Recurrent/dp/B007Z7LXVQ/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1539133809&sr=8-3&keywords=full%2Bwave%2Bbridge%2Brectifier&th=1

Buy a speaker. Buy a little triwing screwdriver. Buy a soldering iron and a bit of thin rosin-core solder.

It's a straightforward repair, and pretty easy as far as soldering goes, but it might make some sense to buy a small section of protoboard and some segments of wire to get used to the feel of soldering, before attacking your childhood Game Boy.

Parts list for the interested

From amazon:

[perf baord](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ARTP1J4/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
) $6, or any would do really.

[Battery](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LY0W11T/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o03_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
) $8

[Screen](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0045IIZKU/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
) $18

[buttons for x/y and shoulders](https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0177ALAAE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
) $6


From Ebay.

[Shell](http://www.ebay.com/itm/GBA-Nintendo-Game-Boy-Advance-Replacement-Housing-Shell-Screen-Lens-Glacier-USA-/201114796639?hash=item2ed360425f:g:0Q4AAOSwV0RXufqw
) $12

[Speaker](http://www.ebay.com/itm/361510390912?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
) $5

[USB breakout board](http://www.ebay.com/itm/381578685439?_trksid=p2060353.m2749.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT
) $0.99

From Adafruit.

Pi $5

Jst cable $0.75

Power boost 1000c $18

Mono audio amp $4

From Radio shack.

[Headphone jack](https://www.radioshack.com/collections/connectors-adapters/products/radioshack-1-8-stereo-panel-mount-phone-jack
) $3

[Volume wheel](https://www.radioshack.com/collections/trimmers-thermistors/products/radioshack-10k-ohm-wheel-potentiometer
) $2

Components for the low pass filter as also from radioshack, about $8.
Total without shipping: $100.

the jetson nano is a 3.3v device you will need to output 5v if the device you are using needs 5v with one of these level converters:

HiLetgo 5pcs TXS0108E High Speed Full Duplex 8 Way 8 Channel Level Conversion Module 8-Bit 8 CH Logic Level Bi-Directional Converter Module https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BNYVJBB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_5gIjDbY5TKNGV

if its a 3.3v device then maybe make sure you have a correct pullup resistor On your device.

Great job!

I tend to be OCD with my breadboarding. Have you ever used jumper wires like the following:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00W8YFSPI

They can take a little more time to use, but can make troubleshooting so much easier.

Breadboarded circuit: http://imgur.com/gallery/ESCUL

Hmm, I actually have a lot of this stuff laying around, might have to make one for camping next year!

Also you mention the batteries discharging at night, should use a blocking diode because this will also happen if the panel falls into shade. Blocking diode should prevent it entirely

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CXOQMJ8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_xIBMBbPWBTADV

That's exactly what I do. I've got my Chromecast plugged into this:

https://www.amazon.ca/LiNKFOR-Extractor-Converter-Optical-Splitter/dp/B073J12Y8N/ref=pd_lpo_vtph_23_tr_t_2/146-9294734-5516354?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=W3B9N54ESY3GTF5JTF5D

And then a separate set of speakers and the HDMI cable plugs directly into the monitor.

Honestly you can get a bunch of the individual stuff separately on amazon. Here are some recommendations I have:

Get a volt meter that can measure ohms and current (mA):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00KHP6EIK/


Red/Green/Blue LEDs:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0059H5Z5O/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004UMA60S/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0059H5Z5O/


Breadboards:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01258UZMC/


Jumper wires:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ZWEFWO8/


pir (motion) sensors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017HP88VI/


transistors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00R1M3DA4


resistors:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0185FGTSS/

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0185FGN98/


The multimeter is great, you can make sure you wont fry your GPIO outputs. Try not to pull over 16mA of current per pin to avoid damage. Use a 1k or 330 ohm resister accordingly. You can also do a lot of cool stuff with a transistors and LEDs.


I've been documenting a lot of the electronics stuff I've been teaching myself; About six months ago I was where you were, setting out trying to learn how to use all these components. Feel free to reach out if you have any questions. I'd recommend going to the oldest post on my blog and reading in order if you want some ideas: https://supertechnologyknowledgequest.blogspot.com

PM me with any questions, I'd be happy to point you in the right direction for anything you are trying to do for which I can help! Best of luck!

edit: the multimeter is no longer on amazon, just find one that lets you read resistance AND current (milliamps).

I have done something very similar to this, as I have worked on projects where I needed to control common-anode RGB LED strips. You should just need a common NPN Transistor. Here is a link to some I found on amazon that I find tend to work well, and the bulk pack is pretty nce, And Here is the datasheet for those specific transistors.

If all you want to do is be able to turn the LED on and off, the circuit should be fairly simple. Connect VCC (12v) through a current-limiting resistor to the anode (+) of the LED. Then connect the cathode (-) of the LED to the collector of the transistor, (can be seen in the diagram/datasheet) then connect the emitter of the transistor the ground (- of the power source). And connect the output pin from the Arduino through a small-value resistor to the base of the transistor. With that, you should be able to use the Arduino output to control the higher-voltage LED with digitalWrite(pin,HIGH) turning it on, and digitalWrite(pin,LOW) turning it off.

Here is an example of what that would look like. Ignoring however you plan on powering the Arduino itself, you can see how the LED, transistor and output pins are connected.

 

NPN Transistors normally have 2 "modes" per se. They have an analog mode which uses a change in normally very low voltage to change how much "on" they are, meaning they let different amounts of current flow from the collector to the emitter (In this case the voltage path of the LED) depending on how much current is flowing from the base to the emitter (Arduino to ground, as when the output goes high, it allows current to flow through the transistor's base to the emitter). However in this case, the transistor is mostly going to be functioning in the saturation region, meaning that the Arduino is likely going to be putting out enough current that the transistor will either be completely ON or completely OFF, and you wont get much analog function out of it. However if you want to be able to dim your LED, you can use PWM to very quickly turn it on and off, which can give it the effect of dimming it.

 

TLDR: Use a transistor. Likely NPN would work well.

Edit: In the circuit schematic tool I used, they had the ATMega, but not an Arduino itself. Treat the mega shown as if it were an Arduino, Ex. Has voltage regulators, input pull-ups, etc. The VCC is the arduino's RAW or Vin

It's actually pretty simple to wire the diode in! You know how LEDs only conduct when wired + to + and - to -? You want to do the opposite for this diode. On the wires coming from the converter, have a schottky diode across the 12V side, diodes + to the ground and diode - terminal to +12. That's really it. This diode will only conduct when you shut off a heavy inductive load such as a set of horns or a motor. Exact same function as the flyback diodes inside a e-bike controller.

I bought a pack of these diodes, main thing this the 15A continuous rating and the schottky type. Schottky diodes are generally your only choice for
diodes meant to conduct more than 10A.

Oh cool. Are you taking a soldering iron? Then you can make multiple 'finished' projects in that time, so get a bunch of Pro Minis (and an FTDI adapter), as well as some Nanos, and some perfboard. And small wire cutters / strippers (two tools in 1).

I like ws2812b LED strips. Maybe you can spruce up your cabin or something.

Wemos D1 mini is a good ESP8266 board if you want wifi. The HC-05 is good if you want bluetooth. NRF24l01 is a good 2.4gz radio module (make two devices communicate). MPU-6050 is a good accelerometer/gyroscope. Not sure of a GPS module.

Level shifters, you'll probably want one or two if your kit doesn't come with any.

USB power banks are pretty handy ways to power a portable project.

Install PlatformIO and get it up and running before you leave. It's way better than the Arduino IDE and makes programming easier.

I haven't completely drained the battery yet but I would give a safe estimate of around 4 hours. Can emulate any system up to a Nintendo 64. Does PSX, SNES, GBA, GBC, and hopefully NDS here soon.


The full parts list:

pi zero - w/ microsd card.

4.3" TFT display - https://www.amazon.com/KLAREN-Backup-Monitor-Wireless-Parking/dp/B01I58BWZK/ref=sr_1_58?ie=UTF8&qid=1486466979&sr=8-58&keywords=4.3%22+TFT

proto board - https://www.amazon.com/Mudder-Pieces-Prototype-Universal-Multiple/dp/B01ER06KXE/ref=sr_1_38?rps=1&ie=UTF8&qid=1486467094&sr=8-38&keywords=protoboard&refinements=p_85%3A2470955011

buttons - SPST-NO

adafruit powerboost 1000c - https://www.adafruit.com/products/2465

power - slide switch

the aluminum tubing for the frame was found at Lowe's in their hobby section

Lipo battery - Can use anything 1s 3.7v with the adafruit powerboost module

My biggest issue with converting anything to LED is going from AC from the magneto to the DC that most LED setups require. On top of that, you will probably need 12 Volts since most mopeds are a 6v light circuit and that's kinda weak when it comes to LEDs.

SO, with all that in mind, you will need a 12v coil and a full wave rectifier to convert that 12VAC to 12VDC. half wave will covert 12VAC to 6VDC. If you are still going to use filament bulbs, you will also need a regulator or like 14.7v or whatever it is bulbs. Even though it's a 12V coil, it will probably shit out like 14 or so and that will blow those bulbs pretty quickly if left unregulated. LED stuff usually has a range of voltage it will accept but not always, so be sure to check that.

Anyways, this coil is cheap and already has a floating ground making the DC conversion easier.

These will work well for rectifiers (i'd put one at the tail and one at the headlight) or you could get a trail tech reg/rec if you don't mind the pricetag

I hope that makes sense.

It's pretty straight forward. Here are the parts I'm using:

1. I bought this ATX plug so I didn't have to splice my power supply.
   
2. Using this PWM controller
   
3. Using these female banana plugs
   
   Those are the things I bought specifically for this project. The things I already had that helped are:
   
   
4. I really like this flexible silicone wire.
   
5. I use these USB connectors for various projects. Their pinout is .1" (2.54mm) and it comes with all kinds. Works well for slimming down a raspberry pi.
   
6. I used one of these prototype boards to solder the usb receptacles and the LED to.
   
7. I'm using a pink LED from this pack of assorted LEDs along either a 100ohm or 220ohm resistor, I can't remember.
   
8. I use one of these DPDT switches to switch between power on w/ PWM and power on w/ power to the solder fume extractor.
   
9. I used a JST connector from this JST kit to put a male header on the side so I can plug in accessories like the solder fume extractor.
   
10. Lastly, the front panel is bolted on with some M3 screws from this assortment.
    
11. The case was modeled in Rhino 5 and printed in a CR-10 using Silver eSun PLA+
    
    This post has made me realize I have way to much electronics stuff just lying around...

Empty circuit boards with pre-soldered holes are excellent for small projects. Aside from learning good soldering technique, which just takes practice, there aren't really any rules. You just use a big enough piece to hold all the parts. I tend to make a lot of fairly tiny things so I end up cutting these boards into smaller pieces with a hacksaw. Waste not want not.

One popular method for Uno is to make a shield, which is a circuit board with header pins that match those on the Arduino so it plugs right in on top.

You can also stack boards, drilling holes in a circuit board to match the Arduino mounting holes and using standoffs to attach them, and running wires between the board and the Arduino. Then screw the whole thing to the underside of a countertop or whatever.

There are also tons of plastic enclosures in all shapes and sizes, with mounting holes, edge-gripping grooves, waterproof grommets, all sorts of schemes to hold things. If you have access to a 3d printer you can design and print your own custom ones.

I don't really wanna post the code for ethical reasons (I started with some basic Adafruit code for bluetooth and turned it into a full OS). But here's a feature list:

1. Bluetooth, where time, battery percentage, and location are automagically updated by a companion app (a modified version of this app by Nordic Semiconductor.)
   
   
2. A stopwatch, accessed by pressing the left button.
   
   
3. A flashlight, turned on by one of the switches
   
   
4. A "dumb mode" in which only the time is displayed, accessed by flipping the bottom switch
   
   
5. In the future, notifications.
   
   I used u8g2's u8x8 mode for the screen drawing, as it requires no ram.
   
   ​
   
   Here are my parts:
   
   Voltage regulator (takes 8.4v down to 5v)
   
   22pF capacitors
   
   16MHz Oscillator (required for standalone board)
   
   DIYMall blue OLED
   
   Knockoff Arduino Uno
   
   Adafruit UART-Capable bluetooth module (makes sending data easier)
   
   Spare ATMega 328 processors
   
   Li-Ion" 9V" (8.4v) batteries (rechargeable)
   
   Switches
   
   9V battery clip
   
   Soldering Kit
   
   Elegoo prototyping PCBs
   
   Jumper wires (makes life easier & tidier)
   
   Elegoo Starter Kit (Comes with LEDs, resistors, and buttons)

A few tips. Use a hotter setting, the faster you get in and out the less heat spreads through the board. But not so hot you burn out the flux. If your joint turns from shiny to grey it got too hot. I would recommend picking up these and practicing.

Good luck and have fun!

Honestly, you could probably build the clock module yourself without the kit. It centers around the NE555 chip. You can buy a bag of 50 of them for 8 bucks. With the chips, it would only require a capacitor or two and a few resistors to match most of the function of the clock module.

> I'm slowly turning sections into pcb

I've been doing something similar.. I'm using prototyping PCBS:

https://www.amazon.com/Prototype-Soldering-Universal-Printed-Electronic/dp/B079DN31SW

Each one is large enough to be a single component (timer, register, etc).

I thought about using wirewrap.. but decided against it because it seemed like too large a project to learn a new skill on :)

[$7.50 wire kit with $87 "expert installation".] (https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Breadboard-Board-Jumper-Cable/dp/B00W8YFSPI/ref=sr_1_7?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1511805007&sr=1-7&keywords=jumper+wires)

Do you mean something like this paired with this and this and I can use that like a my Arduino Micro? (I guess the Micro has a lot more power though).
How would you connect that to your pc? I thought a programmer was only needed so you can burn your programs to the microcontroller? Could you use that microcontroller without a programmer after programming to it what you want?

Does it have to be bluetooth? You are just trying to get audio out right? Perhaps try a digital to analog audio Converter out of the Optical audio port.

You will need to get audio from the Xbox via the S/PDIF output using an optical audio cable, then you will need to convert that digital audio signal to analog using a converter like this one: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07FF124N5?ref=yo_pop_ma_swf (the one I linked to comes with a digital audio cable, so you don’t have to purchase that separately)

You can then use a standard 3.5mm cable going from the converter to your line-in port on your pc.

I have this exact set up working for me currently

I decided to do PWM. If I use a transistor I won't need a heat sink, right? Will I need any capacitors?

these are the parts I've found so far (Other than motion sensors, short jumper wires, and other common items)

Transistor \

Relays/ One or the other, transistors preferably

Wires

Nano Every

Breadboard(s)

Barrel Jack

Soldering Iron

Solder

Lights + Cable - Would the cable work with the barrel jack to provide power for the Nano Every and the LEDs?

Potentiometers

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Title|Recreating the 40-Yard Dash Speed Test with a Raspberry Pi and Phototransistors
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Description|In this video, we show how we created the NFL's 40-yard dash speed test that is used by scouts to evaluate the speed of potential American football prospects. To recreate the test, we used a Raspberry Pi, phototransistors, laser diodes, resistors, a analog-to-digital converter, and a simple Python stopwatch program. Using these materials, we created two laser tripwires separated by 40 yards. One tripwire starts the stopwatch, and the other stops the stopwatch. ⤶⤶For more information on the code and our wiring setup, visit our github repository: https://github.com/chris-gong/forty-yard-dash-rpi⤶⤶Thanks again to our friends for helping us out: Alex, Taylor, Ethan, Zach, and Grant⤶⤶Join our discord: https://discord.gg/2xbR5qT⤶Support us on patreon: https://www.patreon.com/flopperam⤶⤶Social media links:⤶Twitter: https://twitter.com/Flopperam⤶Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/flopperam/⤶Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flopperam⤶Alex's Twitter: https://twitter.com/uhFakie⤶⤶Materials Used:⤶Raspberry Pi: https://www.amazon.com/ELEMENT-Element14-Raspberry-Pi-Motherboard/dp/B07BDR5PDW/ref=sr_1_4?keywords=raspberry+pi&qid=1565404835&s=gateway&sr=8-4⤶Phototransistors: https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-Phototransistor-Photosensitive-Sensitive-Sensors/dp/B00M1PMHO4/ref=sr_1_2?keywords=phototransistor&qid=1565404855&s=gateway&sr=8-2⤶Laser diodes: https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-10pcs-650nm-Diode-Laser/dp/B071FT9HSV/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=laser+diode&qid=1565404876&s=gateway&sr=8-3⤶Breadboards: https://www.amazon.com/Breadboards-Solderless-Breadboard-Distribution-Connecting/dp/B07DL13RZH/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=breadboard&qid=1565404905&s=gateway&sr=8-3⤶Battery holders: https://www.amazon.com/LAMPVPATH-Battery-Holder-Bundle-Single/dp/B07BNMKNQX/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=battery+holder&qid=1565405063&s=gateway&sr=8-5⤶Analog-to-Digital converter: https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-Converter-Programmable-Amplifier-Development/dp/B01DLHKMO2/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=raspberry+pi+adc&qid=1565405226&s=gateway&sr=8-3⤶Breadboard wires: https://www.amazon.com/EDGELEC-Breadboard-Optional-Assorted-Multicolored/dp/B07GD2BWPY/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=breadboard+wires&qid=1565404930&s=gateway&sr=8-3⤶10k ohm resistors: https://www.amazon.com/Projects-100EP51210K0-10k-Resistors-Pack/dp/B0185FIOTA/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=10k+ohm+resistors&qid=1565404944&s=gateway&sr=8-3⤶⤶Music Creds⤶Song: Royalty Free Music | Victory - Hip Hop Beat | No Copyright Instrumental⤶Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4D-LoMTbvx4⤶Music & Arrangement: Marjan Gjorgjievski⤶Mix & Mastering: Marjan Gjorgjievski⤶⤶Song: Lakey Inspired - Blossom⤶Video Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7ArnZl_zBU⤶Follow the artist, Lakey Inspired:⤶https://www.facebook.com/LAKEYINSPIRED⤶https://soundcloud.com/lakeyinspired⤶http://instagram.com/lakeyinspired⤶⤶#nfl #40yarddash #raspberrypi

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Would this work? https://www.amazon.com/NTE-Electronics-NTE53016-Rectifier-Recurrent/dp/B007Z7LXVQ

I believe they mean an adapter, such as these ones:

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07CJ96ZPW/

Something like this on the data pins then? https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07BNYVJBB/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_TUfYDbNM79QGM

Sure thing! I used a Teensy 2.0 with this code: github link. More info on using the teensy as a joystick can be found here. My code should be commented for clarity, but let me know if something doesn't make sense.

Most of the main parts came from adafruit.com or Amazon:

• Raspberry Pi 2
  
• 5 inch HDMI screen
  
• Power/recharging circuit
  
• 6600 mAh Li ion battery
  
• Audio amplifier circuit/volume control
  
• Headphone jack
  
• Tact switches for bottom buttons
  
• PCB for bottom buttons
  
• Power switch
  
• 0.5mm pitch FFC/FPC connector
  
• 0.5mm pitch adapter board
  
  Assorted wires and cables came from Amazon or adafruit, make sure to find ones that are very very thin.
  
  Using the original WiiU buttons was a nightmare. I do not recommend using the original button assemblies unless you are confident in your soldering abilities. Scrapping the original assemblies will also provide a ton of extra interior space. Connecting the 0.5mm pitch flex cable was awful, I was constantly afraid that I was going to burn through or rip something. I did actually over-solder one of the pin connectors and spent about 30 min with an iron and a needle trying to re-separate the pins. If I did this again, I would mount tact switches to a PCB and attach that to the front face of the controller. That would also save a ton of space on the inside and wouldn't require code modification.
  
  Adafruit's Super Game Pi tutorial was also a good reference for wiring the power and audio components.
  
  I'm happy that I could help you out with your project. Good luck and let us know how it goes!

50 Pcs Double Sided PCB Board Prototype Kit Soldering 5 Sizes, Universal Printed Circuit Board for DIY and Electronic Project https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079DN31SW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_H1HXDb9ZQ02RB

Whoa...looks cool, but I am not, unfortunately, at all familiar with arduino. It sounds like something I could do, and the form factor is appealing, but what's required?

Looks like one of these and a little ATtiny?

(Pack of 50 Pieces) MCIGICM Ne555 Timer IC Chip Kit Pulse Generator https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077BRB6W6/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_i_DyCWDbMD0MPRK here's the exact type I got.

If you have only a very small number of motorized blinds (I'd say four or less), then Hunter Douglas provides good options to wire them up. You can either install battery packs that need to be serviced every few months, or you can plug in a small power supply. Each of the power supplies can drive up to two blinds. But the extension wires that come with it cannot be longer than about 15ft, and they are not rated for in-wall installation. So, you'll have to deal with them probably being visible.

If you have lots of blinds, the wires look ugly, and you really don't want to take up a gazillion outlets. We have dual stacked blinds (mesh & black-out) in a few places. There clearly aren't enough power outlets to handle that.

Hunter Douglas for better or for worse runs their blinds on 18V -- and their tech support claims that the blinds are pretty sensitive to voltage fluctuations. This has a couple of awkward consequences. 18V power supplies are really unusual. Laptop power supplies would be perfect, but they are all 19V, which according to Hunter Douglas is not acceptable. And other common voltages are 12V or 15V, which are both noticeably too little.

Furthermore, the blinds have relatively high peak currents. Hunter Douglas told me to roughly assume that each blind can require up to about 10W. Took me forever to find a place that sells an 18V/180W power supply, as Hunter Douglas doesn't offer any solution themselves.

Of course, that's the raw circuit board only. You still need an enclosure. I went with a 12V enclosure and modded it. The enclosure is a great size, and you can even reuse the metal shield for the power supply, if you are careful. It also conveniently already comes with all the fuses that you'll need anyway. So, that saves you quite some work. But you do need some tinkering experience to swap out the circuit boards. You probably also need to order a couple of Molex connectors and you'll need to do some crimping and some soldering.

The next problem that you'll run into is that the enclosure needs a cooling fan, but as far as I can tell it is impossible to find 18V fans. I ended up using an ATTiny85 and a MOSFET to PWM the 18V so that I could safely drive the existing fan (make sure to configure the micro-controller for FastPWM, or you'll have to deal with an ugly humming noise!). And while at it, I also added a temperature sensor, so the fan only turns on, when needed. You also need a small DC-DC converter to power the microcontroller. And if you don't already have a way to program Atmel chips, you'll need to buy a programmer. EBay has lots of cheap options, too. All of this definitely takes some amount of tinkering skills that not everybody will have, though.

Overall, building a proper power supply and distribution box cost me just over $200 in parts. Not too bad. But the amount of time spent getting it to work was ridiculous. Especially if you add up all the time researching which parts I needed to buy in the first place. I really don't understand why Hunter Douglas couldn't sell ready-made power supplies for installing multiple PowerView blinds. Even if they charged $500 for the ready-made box, that wouldn't be entirely unreasonable -- and that would be a huge mark up and make them quite some profits. In bulk, each supply should cost less than $100 to manufacture.

The next problem is finding appropriate cables. At those low voltages, currents are going to be high, and if you have anything more than trivially short runs, you'll encounter significant voltage drops. Since Hunter Douglas said that sticking as close as possible to 18V is crucial, you'll inevitably have to install beefier wires. Hunter Douglas recommends 14AWG for powering up to two blinds, or 16AWG when powering a single blind. I had good luck with buying Monoprice in-wall speaker cable for this purpose. Get the four-conductor version to minimize the number of cables that you need to string.

Ideally, you want to avoid splicing the cables. And in many cases, if you plan carefully, you'll be able to do that just fine. But sometimes, splices are simply unavoidable (for instance, when joining 16AWG cables to an 14AWG cable). I find WAGO connectors work really well for this purpose; unlike wirenuts, they can be used both with and without ferrules. And they work well for stranded wires, where wirenuts sometimes fail.

The blinds have barrel connectors, and Hunter Douglas suggests buying plugs with screw connectors. That is a good suggestion in principle, but I find it is impossible to securely fasten the speaker cables in the screw connectors, unless you use ferrules. And that means, you'll also need to buy a crimping tool. And for good measure, you should probably shrink wrap the entire contraption afterwards. High currents means you want secure connections.

Ideally, you should run all the cables inside the walls. But that's not always possible. If you can't, then you'll need to staple them instead. Make sure to use the right staples. I asked my electrician to help in order to meet my schedule; in hindsight, that didn't work out so well. He sent me his apprentice, who promptly proceeded to run each and every staple straight through the cable. Ouch. We had to redo all the wiring.

Now, my next project is thinking of a solution to hide the Hunter Douglas remote inside of a Decora wall switch. The remote is OK, but it looks a little cheesy when wall-mounted. As I said before, PowerView blinds are fine in principle and they are probably better than most competing products, but they do feel a little unfinished at this time. When they do work though, they are really convenient.

Neat. that said I have so many spare perf boards for making prototypes, and that's generally what I use. perf board amazon kit

Do these work?

https://www.amazon.com/Akak-Quality-Schottky-Blocking-15SQ045/dp/B01CXOQMJ8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1497315863&sr=8-3&keywords=diode



Edit: I am powering a 5V 3W Peltier

My school teaches cplds in dld, so I picked up the below fpga to practice on. Haven't actually done anything with it yet, but these reasons are why i bought it.

• Altera and quartus 2 is what my school uses and is one of industries leading companies, so it was a plus for me
  -most other "teaching/learning" fpgas used software that wasn't used in the industry
  
• many of the other "teaching" fpgas kinda died as projects and didn't offer any additional tutorials
  
  Disadvantage is that's there is virtually nothing on the board to play with, so doing anything will require separate modules wired to i/os. Not even 7 seg display or buttons.
  
  Programmable Logic IC Development Tools DE0-NANO (4CE22F) CYCLONE FPGA DEV KIT https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00MEKRXAE/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_c6fyfaqFWZjPS
  
  Edit, CPLDs are much cheaper and supposedly slightly easier. May be better to start off with.

LiNKFOR HDMI Audio Extractor Converter HDMI to Optical TOSLINK SPDIF + HDMI with 3.5mm Stereo Audio Splitter Adapter HDMI 1.4 Version Support 4K x 2K 3D https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B073J12Y8N/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_M50vDbNFTK07X will this do the job?

Amazon has some pretty barebones kits, but you have to provide DIP switches, LEDs, sensors, etc and wire them into a breadboard yourself.

If you want to spend more money, take a look at this kit. These are the boards used in my Digital Logic classes, and are easy to use. They also come with onboard IO.

That sounds about right. Even if it ends up not working out I would recommend you try anyway because your next project could be a success.

This will most likely also require soldering experience. I suggest you get a pack of crappy plated perf boards and a big pack of resistors and just spend an hour or two doing nothing but soldering.

The physical assembly steps could be interesting to live stream, but be careful because a lot of people will start making suggestions that may or may not be good that you would be better off ignoring.

I do stuff like this professionally, so if you have questions that aren't getting answered (or don't want to post something publicly) feel free to PM me.

Edit: Plated perf board that will work: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072Z7Y19F

Resistor pack: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07L851T3V

Feel free to hit me up with questions. I have always wanted to design a sex toy, so I learned a lot of relevant skills, but unfortunately I have a job that uses all of those skills now and I am too busy to work on my passion projects.

Nope, pure filament! https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B01LZ2M0PH

Paramount 3D PLA (Iron Red) 1.75mm 1kg Filament [IRRL30111815C] https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01LZ2M0PH/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_VhOKDbNQYEXQS

Where are you finding ATTinys for 40c?

Mouser(2.13 USD)

Ebay(1.25 USD)

Amazon(2.99 USD)

Ali Express(1.35 USD)

Gotcha.

Go pick up an arduino kit, a few boards, an iron and solder.

The arduino kit will help with the physical electrical aspect, resistors, leds, servos, positive and negative, and it help with the theory/text book stuff such as amps, ohms, voltages etc.

Pick up a multimeter and look up how to test resistance , voltages, conductivity.

You can practice the soldering by putting led and resistors on a board. The arduino has tons of material for simple projects that include the code. So if the coding part doesn’t interest you, just copy the example
Code and build the circuit on the included breadboard. Then move the circuit into a blank soldering board

And make sure to research any questions instead of just asking someone who knows the answer. The reason I suggest research on your own first is there’s a lot to learn in the tech industry. The more you read the more you’ll familiarize yourself with key words, go to forums, and terminology.

Just to confirm, to use a custom PCB and non-dev board, I would by something like this? https://www.amazon.com/Mudder-Pieces-Prototype-Universal-Multiple/dp/B01ER06KXE/ and would probably need a voltage regulator and some type of serial convertor to flash?

I got a 100 pack of 2N2222 NPN transistors from Amazon for $4.60. Here's the link.

You can buy a kit from just about anywhere that sells electronics related stuff.

You can also buy the spools of wire or boxes and cut your own which is what the OP did. If you buy spools of wire get ~22 AWG thickness, just make sure they do not say "Stranded" or you're going to have a bad time.

Stranded wire is great for applications where you need the wire to flex or twist but horrible for breadboarding.