(Part 3) Reddit mentions: The best electronic components

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.

> I would be indebted to you if you reminded us what you did and how you did it. I love creating DIY gizmos, and recall your setup being a very manageable blueprint.

I suppose we can arrange that.

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TL;DR - 101 Ah Battery, DIY Distrubution Box w/ Banana Plugs, Mount/CCD/Arduino power cord converted to banana plug, 12V Laptop Power supply and 110V DSLR power supply hacked up, a few bits and pieces, couple of solar panels thrown in for fun.

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The long version

===

• Start with the battery. Mine is an EverStart 101Ah from WalMart.
  
  
  
  What's important is that this be a DeepCycle or Marine battery, designed to deliver low current for extended periods of time (vs LOTS of current QUICKLY, like when starting a car) and be drained to low amounts of remaining capacity and recharged many times.
  
  You completely do not care about "CCA" - Cold Cranking Amps. If your rig ever draws more than 10-ish Amps or so at one time, you have much bigger problems than whether your battery can deliver it. :)
  
  What you're after is capacity, in AmpHours. I'll talk below about how to calculate your needs, if you're really wanting to be picky...but suffice to say, 50-100 Ah should be plenty for any normal AP use, especially if you'll be charging after every evening.
  
  
• Now we need a way to distribute all that power. I built this one myself. Start with a suitable project box, grab a fuse holder (I use a 10A fuse btw), maybe a terminal block for easy connections to the input power, and some banana jacks and wire it all up with some 14 or 16 gauge speaker wire, and you're set.
  
  Mine has banana plugs on the input side, so I can plug it into my 12V power supply when I'm at home. When i'm in the field, I have some battery clips that you can plug banana plugs into like these, but you can also rig up your own if you wish with some simple 3/16" brass tubing and some solder. :)
  
  
• Then we've got a bunch of cables. Nothing really surprising there...it's just the various power cables for the mount, the CCD, and so on, with all their various connectors (usually cigarette lighter plugs) removed, and replaced with banana plugs.
  
  
• Next is laptop power. This is the result of hacking apart a 12V laptop power supply (That company makes more, for several different breeds of laptop) and stuffing the guts into a small project box. Isolated the input power inside the guts, and connected it to some banana plugs.
  
  BE VERY CAREFUL HERE The company that makes these uses black for negative, and red for positive. Great way to get confused and short your power supply, etc.
  
  
• Finally, the DSLR Power for when i'm shooting planetary/lunar. This one takes the most "hacking". You start with an AC power adapter for your DSLR. All you really need is the camera end...the plug, and the little adapter bit shaped like a battery. In fact, sometimes you can buy them seperately, though they're often as much or more than the whole power unit.
  
  Next, read the power supply to see what its output is (or use a multimeter to find out). It is a pretty safe bet it'll be 7.4V, since that's the output of a 2-cell lithium pack, which is what most of them are these days, but check and be sure.
  
  The, grab yourself a little step down module (You can find those in packs of 10 or more for less per piece if you think you need extras for other projects), These guys are slick....just hook up your power supply and a voltmeter, twist the little gold screw to adjust output power, and when it gets to 7.4V (or whatever your DSLR needs) you're all set.
  
  Clip off the output cable and plug from the DSLR power adapter, solder that onto the output side of the step down module, hook up some banana plugs to the input side...done. 12V DSLR power for the night.
  
  
• Finally, because it seemed fun, I grabbed some good monocrystaline solar panels and a charge controller, and rigged up a little wood frame I can set up
  next to the RV. No picture, I'm too lazy to drag them out of the RV storage. heh I do want to be clear, though...having some solar recharging capacity is not necessary at all unless you're just crushing this rig for power (see below), but it IS pretty cool and gadgety if you're into such things. :)
  
  ---
  
  
• Ok, smartass, how much power do I actually need?
  
  Easy...you need the number of amps your rig pulls, times the number of hours you'll be using it, times the number of times you want to use it between charges, times 1.5
  
  The two biggest consumers in a typical AP rig will be the laptop and the cooler on a CCD if you have one. DSLRs, focusers, tracking mounts, etc...None of these things use much power at all, and they use VERY little on a constant basis.
  
  Best way to know for sure is simply to use a multimeter to measure the current each one is using under its highest load. In other words, measure the mount while it's slewing, the CCD while it's cooling, the laptop while it's screen is on and drives aren't sleeping and battery is charging, etc.
  
  Add all those up, that's your current needs....you need to be able to provide that many amps at any given time. (That number almost CERTAINLY ought to be under 10A, hence the suggestion of a 10A fuse above).
  
  Now...multiply that number by the number of hours you'll be running the rig. Say you pull 5A, and will be imaging for 6 hours. That's 30AH of capacity you'll use (if everything's running at max).
  
  Now..maybe you want to be able to go camping for a weekend, and not recharge...so you want to shoot for 2 nights. Ok. 30Ah 2 = 60Ah.
  
  And finally, give yourself a nice cushion, so you don't drain the battery completely (a deep cycle CAN handle it..but they still don't "like" it). Let's say 1.5 times the need, so 60 1.5, 90Ah.
  
  You can quite comfortably figure on a 90Ah battery getting you two full nights of use, with no worries. :)
  
  For what it's worth :
  
  I run a cooled CCD, a Losmandy G11 mount, a Toshiba laptop, an Arduino-based focuser, AND support my son and I recharging our RC batteries (various 1.8Ah - 4 Ah capacity 2-6 cell packs) all off the same 101Ah battery. We can pull a complete weekend (leave on Friday afternoon, image Fri/Sat nights, fly Sat/Sun day) RC/Imaging camping trip and come home with about 20-30% capacity left in the battery. With the solar rig added on, we could go 4-5 days or more, depending on sunlight. I did my recent 3 night imaging trip with the same battery, and wasn't even down to half-empty when i got home.
  
  

Here is a copy and paste from an older post I had on it:

I basically ordered one from Amazon (well a pack of 5 I guess since that's the smallest they come in). This one: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07DM2YMT4

Snipped off the 2 extra legs that are supposed to hold it to the board since they just got in the way. Then I soldered the two pins for the push button directly to the PCB using the regular switch holes. (Had to bend the other 3 pins up or if the way but after that they fit great). My PCB was the standard Lily58 from littlekeyboards.com (not the pro) so I only know they line up well on that board. (EDIT: actually with this build I'm now using the pro, the two push button pins don't line up nearly as well due to the board expecting hotswap sockets, but you can just solder a little wire between the pins and board, so it works ok for the pro too.)
The encoder itself already fit through the switch hole in the case so nothing needed there.

After that you need to attach the other 3 pins for the encoder to the PCB. The middle one I attached to ground by trailing a wire from the center pin the the ground pad for the underglow on the top side of the PCB. I lined it up so it ran directly between the switches and it covered by the case so you can't see it.

For the remaining 2 pins I soldered longer wires and fed them to the underside of the PCB through the hole for the case standoffs. Still plenty of room in the hole for the actual brass standoff. Then I ran them to the pro micro and soldered them to pins F4 and F5 (which I'm pretty sure went being used)

All that's left was to add a bit of glue to hold it to the board and add the config for encoder to my qmk using pins F4 and F5.

I'm happy with how it turned out.

Hope that helps.

I'm an ECE that got into Raspberry Pi about a month ago. I work in microelectronics (chip design), and wanted to use it to get back into larger scale electronics hacking and to do some more hardware oriented programming and projects.

As such, I had to basically reform my electronics gadget supply at the same time since I ditched my college collection a while back when moving to a new house.

Here's some of the key things I bought to go with my Pi that I felt I needed. I'm assuming you're like me and want to work on electronics hardware (lights, switches, etc).

• Raspberry Pi B+ : I wanted the larger sized one with more memory and USB ports as the prototype environment. As I get stuff fully working, then I plan to buy an A+ for the implementation environment. I bought the Canakit Ultimate Starter Kit on Amazon
  
• You'll want a good microSD card. I swapped out the 8GB one from the Canakit for a 16GB one since I want to store some data on the card for a project I have in mind
  
• A case : I used the one from the Canakit
  
• A USB keyboard. The Logitech K400 is nice (just make sure to pair it on a PC first), or the Rii i8 Mini work nice (I have both)
  
• If you want an onboard display, look at the PiTFT from Adafruit. I used that for my initial setup, then set up my Pi to autostart a VNC server on boot and now I work without a display. If you don't want the PiTFT, you can use a TV or a monitor if it supports HDMI (or a regular monitor with an HDMI to DVI adapter).
  
• If hardware hacking, a breadboard and cobbler board : You'll want a breadboard for prototyping electronics projects before soldering to a PCB, and a cobbler board to connect the pin header of the Raspberry to your breadboard. I used the one from the Canakit but there are various ones out there you can buy
  
• To go with a breadboard, I suggest flexible breadboard wire. These or these would work.
  
• If hardware hacking, you'll want LEDs, switched, and resistors/capacitors. I really like these resistors (they came bagged and labelled), the LEDs I started out with from Radio Shack, and for switches I really like these ones. They snap right into a breadboard. The caps I just got at RadioShack.
  
• You may want to grab a multimeter as well. I have two myself with different functions (one for logic probing mainly).
  
  Beyond those basic starter components, the rest is up to your imagination and what you want to do next. In my case, I plan to drive higher current components, so I'll be using optocouples and relays eventually. And I plan to make my own PCBs to snap onto the Raspberry, so I have PCBs, headers, and soldering stuff.
  
  If you're new to the Raspberry, there's online resources out there. I also got this book off Amazon as a starter as well, which I've been coupling with online resources.
  
  On the Arduino side, that's my next purchase since I may find it easier to have the software and server side of one of my projects on a Pi, and the hardware interface on an Arduino. I'm just going to get an R3 board to start since I have the rest of the stuff they usually include in a starter pack listed above.
  
  This blog did a nice writeup comparing some Arduino R3 starter kits:
  https://www.pretzellogix.net/2014/10/09/three-arduino-starter-kits-compared-and-reviewed/

Looks very nice. I'm an electrician, put in a lot of lights, and I think your frame within a frame idea is spot on; it's a great way to design a light so it can be installed or taken down without juggling the entire fixture on the top of a ladder.

Your use of the wagos to make a "busbar" was a very creative way of making neat wiring. An alternative would be to use terminal strips with jumpers and if you want to make the wiring super neat, use sticky backs and zip ties.

Great stuff!

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.

OK, here is the short and dirty version. If you need more info, I can give it to you. I'll assume you know the bare essentials of coding, and soldering. This subreddit seems like they don't mind a bit of DIY and learning. There are 2 versions. One has a color changing blade, the other doesn't. The only downside to this DIY is that the LED in the blade could be brighter. I am currently experimenting with different lighting types to see what's best.

For a saber with color-changing ability, buy this wishlist:

https://www.adafruit.com/wishlists/491218

and also this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ONOI9K2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

For a saber with no color changing ability, buy this wishlist:

https://www.adafruit.com/wishlists/492907

and also this:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00ONOI9K2/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

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You will also need a soldering iron, some wires to put stuff together, and if you're fancy, some heat-shrink tubes. You'll also need a computer with internet access and a USB-microUSB cable that has data-transmission capabilities. Any moderately expensive USB cable usually has data functionality as well. Here is a list of stuff that would get you on your way:

Guide on how to get your microcontrollers up and running:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-feather-m0-express-designed-for-circuit-python-circuitpython/kattni-circuitpython

Easy-detach wires

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B075K4HLTQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Heat-shrink

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B072PCQ2LW/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Now follow this guide to put it together:

https://learn.adafruit.com/lightsaber-featherwing/circuit-diagram

We're not using a neopixel, so don't worry about that part. Just stick with the LED wiring. This part will take experimentation, so take your time and test-test-test. This guide will help with additional wiring and coding questions:

https://learn.adafruit.com/adafruit-prop-maker-featherwing

Now use this code if you're doing a color changing blade. If you're not, you can keep the code as is, and just manually set the saber color you desire:

https://github.com/robert1233/lightsaber/blob/master/code.py

And you should be good to go! I'm still working on perfecting the code. I'm still learning as well, but this works. The guide I based this off is:

https://learn.adafruit.com/lightsaber-featherwing/software

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Features: micro-USB charging, color changing blade, sound and motion sensor for: startup, shut down, idle, swing, clash. Light up power button.

Cons: This has only been tested with a full-size ultrasabers blade. The LED could be brighter. I'm still working on that.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Tips:

Sound files that I used can be found here. Use at your own discretion:

https://www.fx-sabers.com/forum/index.php?topic=41379.0

The hardest part of this build is the soldering. If you are comfortable with that and you are willing to do some reading, this is very easy to do. I had pretty much no electronic background and was able to figure all this out in about a month.

Make sure you use the short headers for soldering the feather and wing together! This is very important or the microcontroller may not fit into your hilt! Test twice, solder once.

Don't veer off the wishlist. Everything I picked is low profile and allows for maximum space and flexibility. I went with as much plug and play as I could. The battery, speaker, and charger are all plug-ins. The LED, power button, and color-changing potentiometer require soldering.

If you are going the color changing route, you may have to drill a hole wherever you want the color-changer to be.

______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I'll upload photo's whenever I can. Like I said, I'm working on finding a better lighting source, so right now everything is taken apart.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________

I take no responsibility if you shock, burn, or stab yourself; or ruin your lightsaber or any electronic components. This is a guide on how I made the inside of my lightsaber and no more.

These are parts I use consistently in my labs
Capacitor kit


Resistor kit


Jumper wires


Bread board(s)


Larger breadboard. Recommended for larger projects but I haven’t used it too much. Best for large IC circuits


Multimeter. This has all the right features

Other things that can be useful:


•Wire strippers


•Pliers


•Electrical Tape


•Tackle Box or tool bag (to carry everything)


•Flat jumper wires


As you get into classes you’ll need specific parts (transistors, logic gates etc) but this should get you started. I use the things I linked in every lab weekly.

Feel free to message me with any questions.

No need to paypal, please just post your results! Success or failure, we want to see, learn and maybe help! Going straight from one battery to another poses the same problem as going from solar to battery directly. Little or no control. You can get basic buck down constant current constant voltage power supplies that would work with these. Again, they won't be smart and may have some ripple in their voltage, but they should work as long as you input the right stuff. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01CE5P33M/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_apa_G9NHzbZ3YAENK. Be super careful, watch and measure voltage regularly, and set the voltage conservatively low to start. I'd start at 3.7 volts per cell. Best of luck!

Hopefully I'm not too late posting this. I need to install turn signals on my bike. The previous owner removed everything, the lights, controls, relay.

My question pertains to the controls. I originally was going to pick up a factory turn signal switch, but I sort of like the naked look. So instead I plan on using a micro SPDT toggle. I really want to install it into the bar itself, and not some type of holder.

My bars are 1.25", and taper to 1" OD at the ends. This means the ID is somewhere around 7/8" to 15/16". The problem is the smallest switch I've found has a total depth of 1.4", and has to be installed from the inside of the bar.

This is the switch.

I can't seem to find or think of a clean way to install them. The hole for the switch only needs to be 0.25". I haven't drilled yet, because I don't want to ruin the bars. The only way I've thought of is to drill an elongated hole, bend the terminals, and squeeze the switch through. But I'm pretty sure the nut for the switch won't conceal the hole.

Has anyone done this before? Or have any suggestions on how to accomplish this? Once I can figure this out, I also plan on adding micro push buttons for the horn and starter.

Thanks in advance, and sorry about the lack of metric measurements. :P

After seeing a couple posts of people's custom button boxes on reddit I knew I had found my next project. I've been doing quite a bit of Arduino and small electronics lately, and this was the perfect fit. So off I went to Amazon, ordered a bunch of stuff I thought might be cool / useful and started piecing things together. Took a few weekends of working on it here and there, the most time consuming part just being tediously soldering and wiring the 38 inputs.

​

Was originally going to set it into some sort of project enclosure, but ended up getting impatient and just mounting it to two pieces of plywood with some feet. It added enough heft to it that I can lift the switch guard and rotate the somewhat stiff selector without issue. Eventually I'll get a better enclosure for it, probably grab one off of Hammond mfg or get someone with a larger 3D printer to make one. The Engine Start and black/red button (that I'm going to use for quantum jump) have leds in them that I don't currently have hooked up to the Arduino, but once we get some sort of API into Star Citizen hopefully I can tie them to engine state and jump spool/ready state.

​

The controls are:

Power on, flight ready, 3 misc buttons, zoom rotary encoder, 3 misc buttons, quantum spool, quantum jump

Hat switch + center for shield distribution and reset, engine, shield, and thruster power switches, power distribution profile selector, misc selector

Flare Fire button, flare select, 7 misc toggle switches, self destruct switch, eject switch.

​

I mapped everything to a button in the Arduino code (no rotary encoder as zoom in this screenshot) so that I can easily bind to functions in Star Citizen. Unfortunately without an API this means the switch positions can get out of sync with the actual ship status easily. If by the time of release / they make an API there still isn't a way to read / set state by API then I'll probably make a new version with only toggle buttons.

​

Code Libraries

PCF8574_library for interfacing with the IO expanders
- https://github.com/xreef/PCF8574_library

ArduinoJoystickLibrary for emulating a joystick on windows
- https://github.com/MHeironimus/ArduinoJoystickLibrary/

​

Useful Instructables

Joystick Library
- https://www.instructables.com/id/Create-a-Joystick-Using-the-Arduino-Joystick-Libra/

PCF8574
- https://www.instructables.com/id/PCF8574-GPIO-Extender-With-Arduino-and-NodeMCU/

​

Parts List

1 Terminal Expansion Board - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07PGDWJ2V

3 PCF8574 IO Expansion Board - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B95LMLQ

1 Rotary Encoder - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DM2YMT4

1 4 Position Rotary Selector - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07JN2967L

1 Red Ring Momentary Push Button - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B017ILTX60

1 Engine Start Momentary Push Button - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07MK2394L

5 Heavy Duty Toggle Switch - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B078KBC5VH

1 12 Position Rotary Switch - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B074WMC9C8

1 5-Channel Rocker - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07K5PFPNC

1 Arduino Micro - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AFY2S56

7 Red/Black Momentary Push Buttons - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BD2D96W

2 Red Cover Toggle Switches - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07BD2D96W

8 Small Toggle Switches - https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B013DZB6CO

I’m not sure I’d call it bulk but here’s what I ordered: ELEGOO 17 Values 1% Resistor Kit... https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BL2VX1?ref=ppx_pop_mob_ap_share

They come pre organized into little packets in a clear box. Super handy and takes up less space than if I put them in the drawers.
Hope this helps.

If the operator is a licensed ham and his station is in good operating order, there's not much you can do. All of your electronics have those labels on them stating that they are FCC Part 15 compliant - this means they must not create interference to a licensed device, and must accept interference form a licensed device. The law actually protects him, not the other way around.

There are ways to reduce the interference accepted by devices. Ferrite chokes are a common place to start. Wrap the leads on your speakers a few times through snap on ferrite cores (like these ). You'll also want to wrap a zip tie around the core, they snap on parts will loosen over time and the tiniest, tiniest gap renders them ineffective.

I have a link bomb of RFI prevention, along with some grounding things. That might have some helpful information for you. It generally comes down to applying lots of the proper ferrite all over.

The ham might be willing to help you correct the issue if you approach him cordially. Just nicely explain the situation. We may also be able to help some here.

This can be accomplished with a voltage converter and a voltage regulator design for solar power for less than fifteen bucks

EDIT: People wanted details.

Batteries, panel, wiring, tools, housings, not included.

There's a bunch of better guides online, but the main components are a voltage converter, and a charge controller to get your pi powered by battery while charging the battery with what solar is available.

I think their product requires more investment than that little hat, personally. Do you think that little thing is going to step down 12v-5v with good heat management? I don't think it handles power conversion, and there might be something else in the line before it, like a regulator. Maybe you need their 12v battery.

But like any kickstarter, no guarantee on delivery of product, or features so be skeptical.

(looking for guide that I used...)

Sadly I don't know the type of connector this is, but would be interested to for other projects I have. I'm in need of some small in-line connectors like this.

[edit1] If I'm not mistaken though, it look like some kind of MOLEX brand connector.

[edit2] You could also just splice the wire and add an in-line extension with something like this. You can get them at any hardware store. These are the cripless kind and are a bit more expensive. The others you can get for a few $ if you've got a crimper.

If you really really really hate the idea of soldering, you can use these: https://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Solder-Sleeve-Crimpless-Connectors/dp/B01M1032A7

They solder and heatshrink and encapsulate all at once, which is amazing, but they're expensive.

Edit: Also, if you want an iron that's amazing for working on cars, here's the unit I use. It's a butane powered iron. Gets hot in like 10 seconds and works way better than the $25 firestarter turds they sell at the hardware store. http://www.all-spec.com/Catalog/Soldering-Rework/Soldering-Irons-Accessories/Soldering-Irons/UT-100SI-32612

So... I have to ask... did you know a resistor and a relay are completely unrelated functionally? As in, resistor resists, adding a load to the circuit, (for various reasons needed) and a relay uses a signal from one circuit to complete a wholly separate, circuit.

Therefore, I don't know why you'd use a resistor in place of a relay. Like, at all. Perhaps I need enlightenment there... :)

As far as what relay, in a car, a standard 12v car 'box' relay will do. This one's cool, it comes with a socket it plugs in to. These are cheap and just lying around in any auto parts store, however, and you can use female spade terminals if you want and just bolt it in somewhere handy.

Don't forget either an inline blade fuse holder or an AGC one, and I'd fuse it for, oh, 5 amps. Shouldn't need much, just make it fast blow, and enough amps to ensure the lights won't blow it, but it'll blow in a short. LEDs shouldn't need a big fuse, really.

Hope that helps ya.

I spent a good while in /r/vive before receiving my Vive. One of the suggestions that was made regarding the lighthouses and jitter was ferrite beads.

I am in a metropolitan area, but more importantly my subwoofer used to play what sounded like a radio station when it was not being used by my receiver. This lead me to believe that ferrite beads were a good investment for my lighthouses(to mitigate interference there). I bought this pack -

Ferrite Beads

I used about 4 of the ferrite beads on the subwoofer and it is no longer audible when the receiver isn't using it. I placed two ferrite beads on the power cords for each Lighthouse and have had nothing but good experiences with my Vive. Although I haven't tried without the beads, I experience no jitter.

I wouldn't have given this suggestion much thought if it wasn't for the fact that a Valve engineer actually responded and seemed to agree that RF can interfere with the lighthouses.

This is the thread I am referring to -

https://www.reddit.com/r/Vive/comments/4ghqyc/strong_rf_pollution_from_a_radio_tower_might/

Remember you get what you pay for, but since you're just trying this out I found some cheap options on amazon:
Volt meter
3 position switch Keep in mind you need to make sure you match your inputs and outputs to the voltage the PLC I/O wants (120v AV or 24v DC)
Indicator light you can use as an output to turn on/off
Looks like the PLC wants 24vDC power so you'll need something like this to switch your 120 power from the wall.

Was the manual in the box? I just looked through a manual for a similar model, and it had pretty well described hookup scenarios in it. Maybe we could gleam some understanding from that?

My current theory is that there should have been an 1/8" female to dual RCA cable like this. My thought is that, based on the fact that this was supposed to be a 4.1 system, they wanted two separate digital audio inputs, but instead of simply putting two RCA Jack's, they went with 1/8" for some weird reason.

If this is the case, you'd need to buy a cable similar to the one shown above, as well as an adapter like this. You'd plug your laptop/iPod into the RCA input side of the converter with a cable like this, and then one of the two RCAs from your adapter cable above would go into the RCA output side, which then gets plugged into the wire from your speaker.

Again, this is an educated guess, manual might give more insight, but I can't seem to find that exact model.

If you want a hot fix, set pinmode to input instead of switching to high. Make sure there's no sort of pullup on the pin. I had good luck with the spi pins.

By setting it to input, the pin will hopefully go into a floating or hi-z state. If all is well, the relay will open when switched to input and close when switch to HIGH output.

Worked for me until I found some single 3v relays. You could also use transistors to convert signal to 5v.

LAPOND SVD-ES Series Single Phase VFD Drive VFD Inverter Professional Variable Frequency Drive 1.5KW 2HP 220V 7A for Spindle Motor Speed Control(VFD-1.5KW) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01DKJWM62/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_LukTCb6EFS90H


Might not be compatible to your voltage etc but a quick check on amazon has lots of these for short money. This is one of many.... good luck

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?

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

Just some cheap plastic spacers. Works perfectly. Links:

Spacers: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B013G1Q300/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Nuts:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B009EFSE32/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Washers:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B013GA116M/ref=od_aui_detailpages00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Also worth noting:
Power supply (40A version):
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B01HTM53W6/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Used with these terminal strips:
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B010UDG6NG/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Way better than USBs.

Love the push/pull analogy. Thanks for that one, makes sense. Kind of a supply vs demand situation.

Yes, same power supply but only interact via a relay: GPIO2 on ESP-01 goes high (+3.3v, remember I'm still learning terminology here) when triggered via message, opens 3.3v relay (https://amzn.com/B01M0E6SQM) which connects 12v via step-up to gate remote which has it's button locked on. So 5v source split into 3.3v step down and 12v step up, separated by the relay downstream.

The setup allows me to skip two important features: needing to deconstruct/integrate with the remote board to replicate a button press (which would have been destructive) and needing to power off a battery (would have required ongoing replacement & cost).

You can pretty much do as you wish. You can normally put 2 or more wires in those clamp down terminals.

In my day, we'd use something like this to connect up our circuit.

I think you'll be happy to know moving from a breadboard to a permanent circuit can be made a lot easier. I've used those individual unconnected ones before and it's pretty miserable trying to make blob shorts all day. A piece of wire helps but i start to feel like I'm making wire origami art.

What you're looking for is called a solderable breadboard there are others that move the power rails back to the outside but this helps save space.

Something like this. Even though this is overkill for a one off solution. 5% resistors would be fine too.

Elegoo 17 Values 1% Resistor Kit Assortment, 0 Ohm-1M Ohm (Pack of 525) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BL2VX1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_yAK0AbPG0JMZD

In case anyone has this same problem, this opto-isolator board seems to have fixed the issue.

I was having issues with the limit switches triggering prematurely also, so I installed four of these boards (one per limit switch and one for the probe circuit) and installed an add-on board using this circuit and the probe and limit switches are now working perfectly. :)

Don't. Use something like these.

I'm sure you could find them cheaper on Aliexpress or eBay, but I use these exact ones with NodeMCUs, WeMos D1 Minis, and WeMos D1 Mini Lites all the time. They work great.

I suggest getting a Motor Shield. AdaFruit has a good one, and so does the arduino store. I picked up a very good one for cheap on amazon. SainSmart L293D Motor Drive Shield Motor shields do require a second power supply though.

Ended up getting the transformerto fit in the old box. Working fine at 16V 30va setting of the transformer (vs 24V). Used 3 pairs of wire total with this heat shrink tubing and these heat shrink solder wire connectors. Thanks all.

Buy some of these.

These are handy too for connecting to modules with header pins.

Don't get too hung up on making everything nice and neat, if you try to get everything tight to the board and the leads all routed straight it just makes it harder to change things.

Yes, this shield supports up to 4 DC motors. What type of DC motors do you have? Specs?


They should ship to Australia.


Amazon also sells a similar shield made by SainSmart (http://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-L293D-Shield-Arduino-Duemilanove/dp/B00813HBBO/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1369849137&sr=8-2&keywords=motor+shield). It's essentially the same design (since Adafruit's design is open source), just cheaper. I have one, but I have yet to test it to see if it is any different than Adafruit's. I'll report back later those results. If there is no difference, then you can save $8 on Amazon!

DisplayPort cables are extremely sensitive to EMF, and switching a light on and off causes a spike. If the cable isn't well shielded enough, this can happen. Try picking up a ferrite ring (you don't need 15, and these might not be the right diameter for your cable, but something like: https://www.amazon.com/Bluecell-Magnetic-Ferrite-Suppressor-diameter/dp/B00MFCD56C ) and clamping it onto the DP cable and see if that helps.

It's not good for weak signals or high current connections. If you don't want to use proper crimp joints, solder the wires inline, either by twisting the bare strands around each other or by straightening the strands and pushing them together so they interleave. With the latter, it may help to spiral wind a single fine strand of wire around the joint. Applying rosin flux to the joint before soldering can help a lot. Cover the joint with a piece of heatshrink tubing that's at least 1.5" longer than the bare area, both for insulation and mechanical support (soldered stranded wire is prone to cracking).

Another possibility is SoldaSplice. It's heatshrink tubing with a ring of solder in the middle. You insert the wires and use a heat gun to both melt the solder and shrink the tubing.

How much did you pay for it and how much are you willing to put into it to get it going? Your best bet, if you REALLY want to use it, is to get a cheap VFD ($75~$100 on Amazon) so that you can run the impact at the correct frequency which it is intended to run on.

You can put a standard 220V plug on the input side of VFD and then have a set of locking Hubbell plugs between the output side of the VFD and the tool.

With that said, when you are all said and done, you would probably be AT LEAST $150~$175 into getting it to run, not including what you already have into the impact itself.

Just my two cents.

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?

Just test it with the power supply before hooking it up to batteries? Still a good idea to have a fuse and some kind of current limiter, either resistive or one of those Drok board you can get on Amazon for $10.

If you want something a bit more straight forward Hobbyking has a packaged device that does the same and more... can’t find a link, I’ll post one when I find it.

I would highly reccomend getting VDF and a three phase motor. Why? Because with a VFD and a three phase motor you can vary the speed electronically, and you can find VFD's that take 110v or 220v, and they arent very expensive.

Heres a decent motor and VFD, Im going to be ordering this stuff for myself in the next month or two.

http://dealerselectric.com/33NCM-3-1-5-36.asp

https://www.amazon.com/LAPOND-Inverter-Professional-Frequency-VFD-1-5KW/dp/B01DKJWM62/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1482190507&sr=8-3&keywords=vfd

This guy explains it pretty well in this unboxing video. This video made me decide to get this setup. (skip to 7:00 where he talks about the motor and VFD)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaBZpKJ7H7U&t=1527s

> Yamaha YAS-101

sorry, I didn't register that it was in your title. can you post a picture of your turntable's rear panel? I'm having trouble finding information on it on google. your soundbar doesn't have analog inputs, so you're gonna need an analog to digital converter, unless your turntable has digital outputs, which it sounds like it doesn't

if your turntable has a phono stage, you just need to convert RCA to TOSLINK, something like this analog to digital converter would work

if your turntable doesn't have a phono stage, you'll need one of those as well. so you'd need this phono stage as well as the aforementioned Analog to Digital converted

Most boards I've come across really don't appreciate and are sensitive to anything above 27-28 VAC.
Edit:
Nice kit I bought on Amazon for similar situations.
Elegoo 17 Values 1% Resistor Kit Assortment, 0 Ohm-1M Ohm (Pack of 525) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072BL2VX1/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_q2k.AbW3C1F4A

I wonder how many people commenting here actually have a Trailtech product? I have two of them.

You can wire it directly to the battery if you would like. It won't run the battery down. They shut themselves off automatically. They also have their own, internal battery to run the clock. I have my CRF250X set up this way. It has a very... minimal electrical system, there almost isn't any outlet for switched power.

You could also run it off of the tail light or license plate light if you want switched power. Posi-Tap connectors would make this very easy.

Something like this. https://www.amazon.com/Posi-tap-Connector-20-22-Gauge-Wire/dp/B00389UT3I

I'm not sure about #1, but for #2, you're looking for jumper cables. These let you plug in components to the arduio/breadboard without having to solder. The eBay listing is a great deal, but you can buy them at Fry's Electronics if you have one local to you(also, the eBay link is from a Chinese seller, which could take a long time to get to you).

EDIT: I just took a look at the link you posted, and in the questions section there are people asking about how to power the shield and what kind of solutions they used.

Also for splicing into wires, [Posi-taps] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00389UT3I) work awesome

The current version is on one of those solderable breadboard and it's fairly neat (i.e. four rails for power/ground and then several connected horizontal lines) such as this one: [here] (http://www.amazon.com/Solderable-BreadBoard-matches-tie-point-breadboards/dp/B0040Z6OK6/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1377062803&sr=8-1&keywords=solderable+breadboard) .

I was hoping that protoshield was just a solderable breadboard but with Arduino connections on top of it.

Something like this should work.

If your battery is 100 amp hour, and your fan draws 5 amps it will last 20 hours(in theory).

using this: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00F839VNQ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A298K45OP416LP&psc=1 between the input and the relays would work?

I like the simplicity of the resistor idea but It's hard to tell how hot its going to get or what speed a particular ohm value is going to reduce it to until its all said and done.

You, Sir... need to be turned on to these:

http://www.homedepot.com/p/Tyco-Electronics-DuraSeal-Butt-Splices-22-18-10-Clam-Heat-Shrink-CPGI-D-406-0001-10/202204344

They've got these, too... which are pretty awesome(Heatshrink with solder!):
https://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Solder-Sleeve-Crimpless-Connectors/dp/B01M1032A7

That's helpful. The relays are rated 10A t0 12A so the current is less than I'd assumed. I mean it should be less than the rating of the relay... big assumption, perhaps. It puts the current in the range of some low voltage PWM speed controllers sold on Amazon. My concern is the lower voltage is 6V and you need it to run down to 5-5.5V will it work? https://www.amazon.com/RioRandTM-Upgraded-6V-90V-Motor-Controller/dp/B00F839VNQ Better than a resistor if i works, depends on how much of a project you want to make of it.

limit/home switches if you want them (you should)

an e-stop - you probably have this

fan for the electronics case

power switch/plug for the power supply - you probably have this

connectors for wires (eg to get e-stop and limit switch wires into the case and connected. I use xlr plugs like These and these.

I also use these to help with wiring the limit/home switches in the case, but you may not need them, depending on what you use.

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?

You can also buy protoboards that have the holes joined just like a breadboard! They can be really handy for some circuits.
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/aw/d/B0040Z6OK6

PCB Breadboard? (https://www.amazon.com/Solderable-BreadBoard-matches-tie-point-breadboards/dp/B0040Z6OK6). Thats how those LED graphs are meant to be used. I think that, in addition with resistor packs, would help keep the wiring fairly tidy. Check out this tutorial: https://create.arduino.cc/projecthub/ejshea/led-bar-graph-and-switch-array-8467e0

Something like this: https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Truck-Relay-Socket-SPDT/dp/B007JPPQH6

They sell them at every auto parts store in the country. A few different variants on wiring. Look up how to wire a relay, not too hard. You will need to get an ignition-tied 12 volt signal from somewhere, yes you'll have to tap into the factory wiring but there are a million places to do this behind the dash/fairing/gauges/ignition.

Similar to what I'm trying....

Just ordered this last night:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00N8UYGMW/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

My hope is to go monitor>beam.
Monitor 3.5 port > RCA Y cable > LinkS adapter link > Toslink/Digital optical > HDMI adapter included with the beam.

Not sure if that is exactly what you're looking for or not. But if so I can tell you tomorrow or the day after when it shows up.

Not noticeable

I use a very simple and cheap one, looks like this

https://www.amazon.com/avedio-links-Digital-Converter-Adapter/dp/B00N8UYGMW/ref=sr_1_8?crid=2VFOBMU4APTO0&keywords=toslink+analog+to+digital&qid=1554578709&s=gateway&sprefix=toslink+analog%2Caps%2C234&sr=8-8

I can run with that I think. By using a relay like this (https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Truck-Relay-Socket-SPDT/dp/B007JPPQH6) I should be able to tie the 12v that starts the pump to the contacts 30(+) and 85(-), wires to the sensor to 85(-) and 87(+), and connect the 30(+) to 86(+) to trigger.

Something like this I would think, you will just need to search out one rated for your voltage req. RioRand™ Upgraded 6V-90V 15A DC Motor Pump Speed Controller https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00F839VNQ/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_TuI3Db0B6842P

My thought would be to move the hunter up about a foot. I have opened mine once since i installed it..

Replace (or close up the knock outs) the HV box with a new one. Run flex out the bottom up to the hunter power.
https://imgur.com/a/iwK4rPp

Between the LV box and the hunter add another box (9x9). Splice via terminal strip in this box

Some thing like https://www.amazon.com/Position-Terminal-Postions-Insulated-Barrier/dp/B010UDG6NG

Something like this should work. Just don't turn it past 60% or so.

And you easily fix it with a piece of shrink tubing

LED strip (12V, 60 LEDs/m, 5050 LEDs) is darn cheap, fairly bright, and all over the internet. Here's 5m of white on Amazon. If that's not bright enough, you can get higher lumen LED arrays that run on 12V.

You could use some little toggle switches or maybe rocker switches.

Sure do.

Terminal Blocks

4 Conductor Wire

Sure thing:

Charger Port
https://powerwerx.com/panel-mount-dual-usb-device-charger?gclid=CjwKEAiAvZTCBRDvnoOaoa2j3xISJABxPjN9lAYkK9VHJy09GpoVvsMyWgTRaMPgoooQ8iCKM6-xxBoC3IDw_wcB

Relay
https://www.amazon.com/Auto-Truck-Relay-Socket-SPDT/dp/B007JPPQH6

I'll have to go check, but they're standard 12v automotive relays. They look similar to these, which are actually cheaper. So, never mind, get them from Amazon.

You don't really have to adjust voltage. A PWM speed controller can be used for the same purpose (adjusting average voltage) and they're much cheaper. A 10A PWM speed controller can be purchased from Amazon for $11 shipped. Most of them will output in the same voltage you supply.

https://www.amazon.com/RioRand-trade-Upgraded-6V-90V-Controller/dp/B00F839VNQ

IIRC the Dolby Headphone effects aren't applied to the MP3 port. Just something to note. You're only going to get basic stereo sound.

To get surround, you'd either want the old Mixamp, which had analog stereo game inputs, or you can use something like this which will let you hook it up to the optical input.

this http://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-70108-Tracked-Vehicle-Chassis/dp/B00061HHTK/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367962437&sr=8-1&keywords=arduino+tank
this http://www.amazon.com/Tamiya-Double-Gearbox-Independ-4-Speed/dp/B000C8F802/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1367962437&sr=8-2&keywords=arduino+tank
and thishttp://www.amazon.com/SainSmart-L293D-Shield-Arduino-Duemilanove/dp/B00813HBBO/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1367962500&sr=8-1&keywords=adafruit+motor+shield

Here you go

here you go, the modern gold standard. Solder Seal heat shrink tubing.

The switch I'm using is this one: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008DFYDNE?keywords=toggle%20switch&qid=1449860351&ref_=sr_1_15&sr=8-15

It has 3 positions (ON on each side, OFF in the middle I believe) and 3 places to connect

This?
https://www.amazon.com/RioRand-trade-Upgraded-6V-90V-Controller/dp/B00F839VNQ

This motor controller!

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07DM2YMT4/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o01__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Shrink-Solder-Sleeve-Crimpless-Connectors/dp/B01M1032A7?th=1&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/Connectors-Waterproof-Electrical-Terminals-Automotive/dp/B075TYSD26/ref=mp_s_a_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1542647519&sr=8-3&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=splices&dpPl=1&dpID=512rF%2BLN5JL&ref=plSrch

It's a potentiometer knob.

Cylewet 5Pcs 360 Degree Rotary Encoder Code Switch Digital Potentiometer with Push Button 5 Pins and Knob Cap for Arduino (Pack of 5) CYT1100 https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07DM2YMT4/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_gnoqDbT62PMJE

Those earbuds have no stress relief in the connection. It is not your fault they are breaking. You just need to heat shrink for some stress relief.


Heat Shrink Tubing, Eventronic Electrical Wire Cable Wrap Assortment Electric Insulation Heat Shrink Tube Kit with Box(5 colors/12 Sizes) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072PCQ2LW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_U6uRDb148T5HS


Method https://youtu.be/oHbgAiKBpf8

Do this to the points you feel are being tugged at. But do this for new earbuds, the old ones need to be fixed.

Breadboard

Also a Breadboard

"A breadboard (or protoboard)"

The terms aren't as clear as you are claiming. Solderless breadboards are also called "protoboards". And solderable PCB boards with pre-drilled holes are also called "breadboards". If you want everyone to understand you, you need to be more explicit than just "breadboard" or "protoboard".

Thanks.

I have two cars and three 'projects'.

One underhood project:

1. Electronically-switched oil accumulator (accusump). Just ignition-hot.
   
2. Subtle under-hood lighting (no rice - subtle - will be playing around with it. Might decide it looks like shit, and not do it.) Might also install a switchable work light in case something needs to be done at night.
   
3. My own version of a lojack that I haven't gotten around to building. Also, if possible, have it control a secondary fuel pump relay to make the fuel pump die; basically an interlock that makes the car seem broken instead of locked.
   
   Two under-dash projects that are identical, one for each car:
   
   
4. Hard-wired radar detector
   
5. Hard-wired dash cam
   
6. Hard-wired USB outputs - one or two dual-12v-to-USB converters
   
7. Potentially the lojack-equivalent's battery charger (since it would have a separate small battery)
   
   The hard part is figuring out where to get a non-fused 12V supply under the dash. An add-a-fuse circuit is very appealing and I should find places where an extra 5-10A won't pop anything, so I may end up doing one 5-10A-add-a-fuse on an ignition-hot line, instead of a 12v-master-fuse + ignition-hot-relay, as the single master fuse for all these.
   
   Then it would just be a 15A strip terminal instead of a big fat 100A ground bar at the ground side, and a small fuse box at the positive side (with 1A or 2A fuses for each circuit, depending on their needs).
   
   ---
   
   I really appreciate your feedback. The only reason I haven't already built all this is because of worries of fucking up and coming back to a smoldering ash heap.
   
   ---
   
   I'm also figuring out how to mount all this securely under the hood... I figure these little wire clamps for the wires, and something like this velcro alternative to mount things like the fuse box, except it's hard to tell what temperature they're rated for (and it seems that the 3M stuff I linked will fall off due to heat.) Any ideas there? I want something that is 1) secure as fuck, but 2) that I could potentially remove without damage in the future, maybe using a heat gun or something. I would be mounting it mostly to plastic, but I don't want to drill any holes if possible.

No I mean shrink wrap.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B072PCQ2LW/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_TaY7BbYWB0K24

This maybe? http://www.amazon.com/Solderless-Flexible-Breadboard-Jumper-100pcs/dp/B005TZJ0AM/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1341350174&sr=8-3&keywords=jumper+wire ?
I've bought a pack of 70 and had lying around too and ran out on a single project! It was so frustrating having to wait for something as simple as wires to be delivered!

It's much tidier and easier than using cut cable

I'm not clear what you mean by I/O board? If it's just the gpio header on the pi itself, it's 3.3v but at 10mA, maybe 12mA? Enough to drive a signal, but not enough to energize a coil. (If you do have a separate board, you'd have to either lookup the specs for it, or let us know which one so we can figure it out.)

So you'll need something to use that to push a relay. Typically a darlington pair, an optoisolator, or a trip to Amazon.

I'm cheap and lazy, so I regularly use either these, which are 3v modules, or these which are awesome, but do need 5v drivers (I usually use an MCP23018 between the pi & the relay board - you'll find a shedload of documentation for this on the googles, but I'll shout-out adafruit's docs specifically). For the sainsmart ones, when they say 12V, they mean you'll need a separate 12V supply to push the relays themselves, they're not expecting 12V from the pi.

These will get the pi to drive n/c & n/o dry contacts you're used to, but I note you also asked about triggers - relay boards won't help protect inputs, so be warned that the inputs are also 3.3v and have very little tolerance (5v will kill them, let alone 24V. Anything you put in the IO lines goes straight into the CPU, so be gentle).


A couple of projects you might want to look into if you want to let someone else worry about the interfaces;

• Kunbus Revolution - not cheap, but Germans doing things the german way, to proper grownup specifications
  
• UniPi - looks more expensive, but works out well when you figure out how many Kunbus modules you'd need to get that many IO (if you just get the board that is. Their housings add grownup prices quickly)
  
• Pimoroni automation hat - Isn't trying to be industrial, isn't trying to charge industrial prices. When they say 'SRS BSNS' they mean 24v, not IEC61131. I went this direction in the end, because I'm cheap.