Back in the eighties and nineties , Elektor and some others were my beacon for ideas.
After 2000 , those others disappeared and it was slim pickings at Elektor.
While it was fun back then making things like temperature and humidity meters or clocks,
these days our oriental friends make such things with a custom LCD in a nice little case for 2 to 3 euro's .
I have all these components , but no idea's for a worthwhile project. You just can't compete with what is already for sale and very cheap.
I made my HPamp and using it . A USB dac is too delicate for me , better buy a prebuild DAP that has a USB dac. That's about it for audio DIY.
How many amps can you build AND really use ?
I like to do something more with LEDs or solar panels , but also there , you just can't compete with prebuild "oriental" stuff.
A couple of weeks ago , I bought a 25.000 count MM with extra functions , 25 euro .
If Fluke made anything near this , it would cost 500 to 800 euro or even more. Not that I would make my own MM.
Oscilloscopes too are getting cheap , this one for me 122 euro's for 100 Mhz : lazada (right click in your browser to translate).
But with no projects to measure , what's the point of buying one?
What is still worthwhile to make and are there websites like DIYaudio but for other than audio ?
After 2000 , those others disappeared and it was slim pickings at Elektor.
While it was fun back then making things like temperature and humidity meters or clocks,
these days our oriental friends make such things with a custom LCD in a nice little case for 2 to 3 euro's .
I have all these components , but no idea's for a worthwhile project. You just can't compete with what is already for sale and very cheap.
I made my HPamp and using it . A USB dac is too delicate for me , better buy a prebuild DAP that has a USB dac. That's about it for audio DIY.
How many amps can you build AND really use ?
I like to do something more with LEDs or solar panels , but also there , you just can't compete with prebuild "oriental" stuff.
A couple of weeks ago , I bought a 25.000 count MM with extra functions , 25 euro .
If Fluke made anything near this , it would cost 500 to 800 euro or even more. Not that I would make my own MM.
Oscilloscopes too are getting cheap , this one for me 122 euro's for 100 Mhz : lazada (right click in your browser to translate).
But with no projects to measure , what's the point of buying one?
What is still worthwhile to make and are there websites like DIYaudio but for other than audio ?
I guess the world has moved more in a direction of software, which gives different degrees of modularity and customisation.
Raspberry Pi kits and numerous other development kits are one focal point.
3d printers are another. I haven't taken the plunge yet, though. I'm not a big fan of plastic, but YMMV.
CNC and lathes are different crafts again that could open up some projects in their respective domains.
But what's worthwhile for you? For that 2-3 euro you get no satisfaction. I'd rather buy a coffee than a piece of plastic junk. And how much 'stuff' is enough before hitting some kind of crisis?
Some heavy philosophy, hehe.
Raspberry Pi kits and numerous other development kits are one focal point.
3d printers are another. I haven't taken the plunge yet, though. I'm not a big fan of plastic, but YMMV.
CNC and lathes are different crafts again that could open up some projects in their respective domains.
But what's worthwhile for you? For that 2-3 euro you get no satisfaction. I'd rather buy a coffee than a piece of plastic junk. And how much 'stuff' is enough before hitting some kind of crisis?
Some heavy philosophy, hehe.
Yes controlers with software , that's where Elektor moved to .
I don't like it.
No, for that 2-3 euro , I have a digital clock with alarm , inside and outside temp & humidity inside with max and min values , that works great . I am satified with it. I could never make that , or at a cost of 100's of hours , not all of them fun and at maybe 100 euro or more.
Yes there is so much for sale , cheap , when is it enough. I live in a country that doesn't tax Chinese imports and delivery costs are very low so It is hard to resist. There not much incentive to make it yourself.
I don't like it.
No, for that 2-3 euro , I have a digital clock with alarm , inside and outside temp & humidity inside with max and min values , that works great . I am satified with it. I could never make that , or at a cost of 100's of hours , not all of them fun and at maybe 100 euro or more.
Yes there is so much for sale , cheap , when is it enough. I live in a country that doesn't tax Chinese imports and delivery costs are very low so It is hard to resist. There not much incentive to make it yourself.
There are others, but this one has pretty eclectic projects.
https://makezine.com/
"Maker" is the modern term used for a lot of DIY. In larger cities in the US "maker spaces" are getting common also. They typically provide access to CNC and manual tools and a community of people that want to build things. I'm not sure if this has caught on in other countries.
I used to sell audio modules on ebay but there is so much competition now its not worthwhile.
I used to sell PCB design software but the free packages mostly killed that.
You can get hundreds of electronic magazines on a DVD on ebay that might be worth a look for idea's?
I used to sell PCB design software but the free packages mostly killed that.
You can get hundreds of electronic magazines on a DVD on ebay that might be worth a look for idea's?
I still have nearly all Elektor mags from the eighties till a few years ago. Takes me weeks to get through them all , but it is all so "old" .
No fresh ideas .
Well, you could get back issues of "Live Steam" magazine and build a scale steam locomotive. Not many of those available as cheap imports.
Haha: Complaining that sophisticated electronic equipment is too cheap!
I remember an electronic project book in the early 70s, one project was a multimeter.
Would anybody build a multimeter now?
Remember you are doing it for fun and interest, not to compete with commercial offerings.
Model engineers build steam engines not because they are the most efficient energy convertors but because they can.
I build Meccano models and often builders create an artificial challenge by building a model restricted to the contents of a specific set or by constructing a purely mechanical solution to a problem more easily solved by electrical, electronic or microprocessor solutions.
An example that comes to mind was an amazing model of a building lift with purely mechanical lift buttons in the lifts and at each floor that called the lift, determined which floor the lift stopped at, all from one continuously running motor. All done through gears.
Other builders fully embrace 3D printing and micro-processing and incorporate these in their models.
If you are building for yourself I can't help but if you have kids or grand kids then let them take care of the micro programming and you help out with the hardware.
I remember an electronic project book in the early 70s, one project was a multimeter.
Would anybody build a multimeter now?
Remember you are doing it for fun and interest, not to compete with commercial offerings.
Model engineers build steam engines not because they are the most efficient energy convertors but because they can.
I build Meccano models and often builders create an artificial challenge by building a model restricted to the contents of a specific set or by constructing a purely mechanical solution to a problem more easily solved by electrical, electronic or microprocessor solutions.
An example that comes to mind was an amazing model of a building lift with purely mechanical lift buttons in the lifts and at each floor that called the lift, determined which floor the lift stopped at, all from one continuously running motor. All done through gears.
Other builders fully embrace 3D printing and micro-processing and incorporate these in their models.
If you are building for yourself I can't help but if you have kids or grand kids then let them take care of the micro programming and you help out with the hardware.
A lot of the really cheap Chinese stuff is cost-optimized to the point where it doesn't work as well or last as long as something you could make yourself. Since you mentioned solar panels and LEDs - you can very likely build something more efficient than what you can buy cheaply.
If you like IoT things, then building something yourself means it's entirely trustworthy and will always work, rather than sending data to some unknown cloud server, and only working as long as that server is up.
Commercial products also tend to cater to general needs, while you probably have unique requirements. For instance, I wanted an electronic load (lots of those available), which was programmable (costs more, but still available) by typing a Python script right into the front panel (never seen such a thing for sale!). So I made one myself.
If you like IoT things, then building something yourself means it's entirely trustworthy and will always work, rather than sending data to some unknown cloud server, and only working as long as that server is up.
Commercial products also tend to cater to general needs, while you probably have unique requirements. For instance, I wanted an electronic load (lots of those available), which was programmable (costs more, but still available) by typing a Python script right into the front panel (never seen such a thing for sale!). So I made one myself.
Attachments
^ Quite a machine to measure your load !
I should have added useful to the title. Scale locomotives , are not , at least not fot me.
One of the unpleasant things of electronics is , making the casing. The cheap Chineese already have a custom casing.
I was more angling after websites like DIYaudio with idea's and designs but that are not audio related and not all micro controlers.
Smart enough not to have kids , so no help there to program.
I should have added useful to the title. Scale locomotives , are not , at least not fot me.
One of the unpleasant things of electronics is , making the casing. The cheap Chineese already have a custom casing.
I was more angling after websites like DIYaudio with idea's and designs but that are not audio related and not all micro controlers.
Smart enough not to have kids , so no help there to program.
To continue the idea of letting someone else do the job you don't like:
For sure there are many many people who are very talented in programming microcontrollers or Raspberry PIs or other things but don't trust using a soldering iron or different tools. If you have a project in mind, find someone for the "other part" of your project which you prefer not to do. I would start posting in computer/software/linux forums, or Reddit, or something similar. For sure there someone is waiting for an opportunity like this, because he doesn't like the part you enjoy.
Kind regards
Matthias
For sure there are many many people who are very talented in programming microcontrollers or Raspberry PIs or other things but don't trust using a soldering iron or different tools. If you have a project in mind, find someone for the "other part" of your project which you prefer not to do. I would start posting in computer/software/linux forums, or Reddit, or something similar. For sure there someone is waiting for an opportunity like this, because he doesn't like the part you enjoy.
Kind regards
Matthias
I pick stuff you can't buy. One of my bigger recent projects was a full octave grandfather clock with copper pipes for the "dings". Each pipe has a wood striker driven by a solenoid. The full octave allows songs to be played. The display is a touch screen that aggregates all the data from around the house like in/out temp differences of the HVAC system. The display also shows a rolling photo. It was a pretty long project, mainly the wood structure and getting the "dings" to sound good. Other stuff I've done previously is a pool controller, irrigation controller, AC compressor monitor. All stuff you can't really buy if you want it to work the way you want it to work and integrated the way you want. As an example the doorbell switch is connected to the same pi that monitors the HVAC. That pi sends a message to the clock to ring a certain tune when the doorbell is pushed. Depending on your HVAC, you could control the HVAC with a custom controller. Some systems now use RS485 instead of the old 24VAC control. But even that can be done. I've monitored the messaging on my carrier system and you could command the outdoor unit or furnace unit to turn on with messages. My latest little experiment is, can I drive a ECM motor. I doubt I'll do it for real, as we are talking 240, but I've been fairly unsatisfied with the reliability of the electronics and the cost on those things is crazy. My ECM condenser fan motor was over 500USD. I substituted a fixed speed ECM that was much less. I took apart the old broken one and found it was just the controller that went bad, and of course they will not sell you a controller. And the controller itself is in goop that makes it unrepairable. So I've been playing with the motor part and have it spinning up to around 100rpm using 50V. I just got another power supply so I'll see what I can do with 90V.
Remain open-minded: what would you like or want that is not commercially available? It doesn't have to be electronically related, just solvable using electronics.
An example: a colleague wanted a special level measuring device to monitor the water volume in a cistern, but conventional systems (US, special tape, mechanical, etc.) were not usable in his particular case.
I designed a dedicated level sensor working for him.
It is just an example: look around you, how you can improve or innovate? Can it be done with electronics?
If you cannot do it by yourself, you can ask for help here.
You can also search old magazines for weird and wonderful projects: I remember that a UK magazine (Practical Wireless, Everyday electronics, ....?) ran a metal detector project based on proton precession in the early sixties.
This kind of project can be improved and modernized using modern components.
Start here: https://worldradiohistory.com/
You can also build "curio's" like this one:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...-stray-currents-harvester.335610/post-5736940
Completely useless but fun.
An example: a colleague wanted a special level measuring device to monitor the water volume in a cistern, but conventional systems (US, special tape, mechanical, etc.) were not usable in his particular case.
I designed a dedicated level sensor working for him.
It is just an example: look around you, how you can improve or innovate? Can it be done with electronics?
If you cannot do it by yourself, you can ask for help here.
You can also search old magazines for weird and wonderful projects: I remember that a UK magazine (Practical Wireless, Everyday electronics, ....?) ran a metal detector project based on proton precession in the early sixties.
This kind of project can be improved and modernized using modern components.
Start here: https://worldradiohistory.com/
You can also build "curio's" like this one:
https://www.diyaudio.com/community/...-stray-currents-harvester.335610/post-5736940
Completely useless but fun.
Did anyone mention Hackaday? There are all sorts of weird, but creative, projects. And they have contests where you compete to make the best thinga-ma-jig.
Thanks for the suggestions.
Wow , who knew there were so many magazines : https://worldradiohistory.com/ .... and someone put a big collection on a website !
What is not commercially available , Elvee ? Good question. I made LED lamps for in the car , later I see even better ones on a website , nearly free .
It was fun to make but kind of a waste of time.
And thanks for https://hackaday.com . 1770 articles just on LEDs ! https://hackaday.com/category/led-hacks/
Wow , who knew there were so many magazines : https://worldradiohistory.com/ .... and someone put a big collection on a website !
What is not commercially available , Elvee ? Good question. I made LED lamps for in the car , later I see even better ones on a website , nearly free .
It was fun to make but kind of a waste of time.
And thanks for https://hackaday.com . 1770 articles just on LEDs ! https://hackaday.com/category/led-hacks/
Yes, always look what is available first.
Even if what you want is not available, it's sometimes easier to hack what is.
I turned a dusk to dawn light switch into a dawn to dusk pond pump switch.
I've had several projects end up scrapped because commercial offerings were better.
Even if what you want is not available, it's sometimes easier to hack what is.
I turned a dusk to dawn light switch into a dawn to dusk pond pump switch.
I've had several projects end up scrapped because commercial offerings were better.
In my opinion it's "worth building" if you enjoy building and/or using it, regardless of what's available commercially.
I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this forum, lots of posts to give you more ideas:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/
Related to makerspaces are hackerspaces - there's a lot of overlap between the names, many go by both names - you don't need to know how to program (or weld or do woodworking or sewing) to join. Many have classes and can teach you such things. Hackaday has occasional video tours of various spaces. If you want to make a one-off power amp, turntable, whatever with a wood or sheet-metal case, many have the equipment to do it. Here's a pretty comprehensive worldwide list:
https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces
I'm a little surprised no one has mentioned this forum, lots of posts to give you more ideas:
https://www.eevblog.com/forum/
Related to makerspaces are hackerspaces - there's a lot of overlap between the names, many go by both names - you don't need to know how to program (or weld or do woodworking or sewing) to join. Many have classes and can teach you such things. Hackaday has occasional video tours of various spaces. If you want to make a one-off power amp, turntable, whatever with a wood or sheet-metal case, many have the equipment to do it. Here's a pretty comprehensive worldwide list:
https://wiki.hackerspaces.org/List_of_Hacker_Spaces
Yes another good one , https://www.eevblog.com/forum/
Similar to diyaudio. Forum posts are less polite , but ok.
Just looking around : an open Fluke : https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-187/msg536864/#msg536864
Time flies when looking around on those websites !
Similar to diyaudio. Forum posts are less polite , but ok.
Just looking around : an open Fluke : https://www.eevblog.com/forum/testgear/fluke-187/msg536864/#msg536864
Time flies when looking around on those websites !