Reddit mentions: The best semiconductor products

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.

Well, breadboards run pretty cheap... And size matters here. Sometimes a smaller board is better, but a large board gives you more room to work with. So I'd recommend getting both! A small board will be nice for smaller projects, but larger boards will be nice for more in-depth prototyping that require more room to work with. And he can always use a small area of a large board when he doesn't need it all... but a large board won't fit into a small boat or airplane if that's what he is doing... So, at a good price, both can be beneficial.

Other than that, he'll need jumpers (male/female), and maybe a ribbon cable. Ribbon cables need a T-board (or equivalent) to connect to the breadboard with, but jumpers just plug into the GPIO pins. With a small breadboard, jumpers are favorable, as they only take up as much space as one pinhole, and they come in many different colors and lengths. A larger board can accommodate a ribbon cable and T-board more readily... a T-board can take up a LOT of space on a small breadboard REALLY quickly.

Word to the wise: if you buy a ribbon cable and T-board, you are going to want to know what type of Pi he has. The original versions had fewer GPIO pins than the B+ and the A+ versions. This means that a larger ribbon cable wouldn't work with the original Pi's. If he has an A or B, a 40 pin cable/T-board wouldn't work as they're designed for the newer B+ and A+. If you need help identifying which board he has, we can help you with a photo or a description of the board...

Also, a resistor kit and a capacitor kit would be good to have, if he doesn't already have them. Most projects require that you use resistors/capacitors somewhere, and the kits usually come with several of the most used resistors/capacitors, which should tie him over for some time.

Then you should get him an LED set. LEDs are nice because they can be used as a "proof of concept" tool. Since everything into and out of the Pi is digital, all you are doing is giving an item voltage. So it doesn't matter if you're using a buzzer, motor, servo, or LED... they will all work interchangeably. He can use an LED to prove that his code and wiring works when the light comes on... then, when it all works, he can swap the LED for a buzzer or something, and everything should still work, just with sound instead of light.

You could also buy him some sort of case, but these aren't always necessary. I don't use on on my Pi, and it works just fine... I just have to make sure I'm not shorting it on anything, or breaking it in some stupid way. These vary so much in design and price, I'll let you search for them instead of providing a link... just remember, like the ribbon cable, cases will obviously depend on the model he has.

Personally, I would stay away from potentiometers and photoresistors since the Pi only has digital inputs. Both of these items would need to be attached as analog items to work properly, and that means buying extra boards for correct functionality. The Raspberry Pi can not natively read analog inputs, so these items would only be frustrating to him since he can't use them without extra parts.

This should get him started in coding and prototyping. If he's looking for motors, servos, or speakers, you can get him those too, but they're not necessary to tinker with a Pi.

There are also kits that offer these items, but they're usually more expensive than they have to be, and they may or may not have everything you're looking for. Also, there are other places to shop for these types of things, but I use Amazon because it was the quickest and easiest place to search for examples of all of these things for this post. If you're smart with your shopping, you can get all of these items for ~$100, and might be able to have them shipped before Christmas... but you're going to have to hurry.

EDIT: Added links since you said you knew "nothing" about these items. This should make searching easier since you can actually see what I'm talking about...

There is at least one that gets recommended without hesitation for that exact budget: the Cambridge Audio DAC Magic. It's currently $429 on Amazon, has many features and adjustments to get the sound you like, and has USB, Toslink, and Coax inputs, and RCA and balanced XLR outputs. It does full upsampling and clock resynchronization to 24/192, so you'll have no issues whether coming from USB or optical. You can't get much better than that feature-wise, and reviews all say it sounds great.

Excuse my enthusiasm, I've wanted one of these for a long time, ever since I heard one in a hi-fi shop a couple years ago. Perhaps it was the B&W speakers and McIntosh tube amp, but the Dac Magic was the source and the experience was great.

Other options:

• The Musical Fidelity V-DAC - less of a showpiece, but it appears to be an excellent workhorse sound-wise.
  
  
• The HRT MusicStreamer for USB only - also more of a one-in-one-out utility DAC, but apparently very good quality.
  
  
• MusicHall DAC 25.3 - Slightly more expensive, also has great reviews, and has a headphone amp built-in.
  
  
• The Creative E-MU 0404 audio interface also gets great reviews for its DAC, and is relatively cheap at $199. Definitely more of an all-in-one toolbox, but the specs and apparently the sound are great.
  
  *edit: Fixed the DAC Magic's sampling capability spec to 24/192 as is correct.

I'm not sure what level you're at and I'm beginner myself so I'll just go over the stuff I've been doing. Maybe this stuff is super obvious.

> an incomprehensible jumble of jumper wires

If you're not using them already, the pre-cut and pre-bent wires are awesome for keeping things tidy (eg these).

> tightly packed components

Have multiple breadboards - they're like $3-5 at Tayda. The ones that clip together are handy. Having extra real estate to spread things out is invaluable. Although having long jumper wires can introduce more oscillations and noise once you've got things working you can always make things a bit more compact.

Use the buses - the outer two rows that run the length of the board for your power and ground. Use the columns of 5 for your signal path. This way you can just run jumpers up and down for your power/ground. Or if, for example, you have a resistor going to ground you can just connect it directly to the ground bus.

If you use a certain bit of circuitry in a lot of your builds consider making it on veroboard and having it off-board. I've built standard power filtering and reverse polarity protection on vero. You could do the same with something like a voltage doubler or inverter if you're always reusing them. Although it's only a few components it's a bit less on your breadboard and saves you redoing the same thing every time you BB up a circuit.

Try and lay out things as close as they look on the schematic as possible. Ground at the bottom, voltage from the top, signal running left to right. And if you can, down to the individual components. This can be hard sometimes, especially when dealing with transistors/3+ pin devices.

If you've got an old enclosure or something lying around where you can setup your off-board stuff to keep them all tidy makes things easier too. This guide from the Beavis Audio website is a good example. There's a few layout tips in that PDF also. There's also some sample layouts that might be worth a look over for some examples on how to layout certain circuit elements.

Not necessarily related to layout but a few other things I've found:

Test constantly - audio probe and DMM/voltmeter. Grab one of those little pocket battery amps (eg this one for $20) to have on your bench if testing with your real amp is a PITA.

I keep a printed copy of the resistor colour codes on the wall in front of my bench, makes it easy to glance up and check because yeah no way I'm memorising those any time soon.

Draw the pinouts for any ICs/transistors/things with more than two pins on your schematic for quick reference.

Have a decent understanding of the circuit first and how the stages work. I like to redraw stuff in KiCad/Eagle - forces me to learn what connects where. It's a lot easier when you can look at your board and go 'oh I'm missing a resistor that should be connected to the drain' (or whatever) without having to reference your schematic for everything.

I've also found I've been more successful when I'm putting things together to say in my head "signal goes through 68k resistor to gate", "1M resistor connects from gate to ground", "220p cap from gate to ground" etc etc, rather than just going "this thing connects to that". Helps you understand the circuit better and will make you then ask yourself things like "which pin on this component is the gate?".

Like I said, I'm still learning, so if I've said anything blatantly wrong feel free to call me out, always up for getting better.

I actually didn't tally up the cost as that wasn't really of a concern to me, but I'll try my best to provide links to the things I bought for this. Feel free to add it up for me!

• Lighting
  
  • T-5 Grow light (came with 6500K bulbs)
    
  • 2700K bulbs
    
  • Grow light hangers
    
• Grow medium
  
  • Net Cups
    
  • Black Buckets
    
  • Black lids
    
• Nutrients
  
  • General Hydroponics Flora Series
    
  • General Hydroponics pH control kit
    
  • pH/EC/Temp Meters
    
• Grow tent
  
• Air ventilation
  
  • The only thing I ended up using from this kit was the cheapest part, the ventilation duct...
    
  • The fan from this kit is way too powerful for my setup because my humidifier couldn't keep up
    
  • I didn't use the carbon filter because I'm not growing weed.
    
• Water Distiller
  
• Humidifier
  
  • The cheaper the humidifier, the better. I first bought (and destroyed) one that had some sort of digital switch, so it would always be in the off state when you first supply power to it, meaning you can't turn it on/off with just a relay.
    
• Plumbing
  
  • Aquatec 8852 booster pump
    
  • 2 Gallon accumulator tank
    
  • Pressure relief valve
    
  • Tubing
    
  • Inline Pre-filter (Sorry they must have taken the product down...)
    
  • Misting nozzle T's
    
  • Tube ball valves
    
  • Analog pressure gauge
    
  • Misting Nozzles
    
    • Note that these nozzles are meant for WAY higher pressure systems (~1000psi) and I actually had to take out the spring for them to operate correctly, but they never clogged up, are easy to clean, and worked perfectly for me!
      
• Electronics
  
  • Raspberry Pi 3 kit
    
  • Humidity sensor
    
  • Pressure sensor
    
  • Water solenoid valve
    
  • 5V 4-channel relay module
    
  • Analog-to-digital converter
    
  • 24V to 12V converter
    
  • 24V Power supply
    
  • Resistor kit
    
  • Semiconductor kit
    
  • Circuit boards
    
  • Standoffs
    
• Wiring
  
  • 22 gauge stranded wire
    
  • 22 gauge solid wire
    
  • Power supply cord
    
• Connectors
  
  • Electronic Connectors
    
    • JST-XHP Connectors
      
    • JST-SM Connectors
      
    • Dupont Connectors
      
  • Plumbing Connectors
    
    • Bulkhead connectors
      
    • Quick-connect kit
      
    • NPT to quick-connect connector
      
      I also bought various tools, like crimpers, Dremel kit, drill, etc, but I don't consider those to be project-specific as I'll have them for the foreseeable future. Let me know if there's anything you see that you think I missed!
      

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/

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).

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.

From Amazon:
> When the power supply voltage changes in 5-8 v, it can be used as a variable gain amplifier, gain increases with the increase of the power supply voltage, which suitable for radio frequency receive front-end circuit, using DA control power supply voltage, to control the gain of the amplifier, automatic gain control
> When the power supply voltage in the 8-10 v, the low frequency end gain up to 30 db, at this time the amplifier has a low noise coefficient and good stability.
> When the voltage is 12 v, reach maximum gain, the low frequency end gain of 32.5 dB.

https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-0-1-2000MHz-WideBand-Amplifier-Noise/dp/B01N2NJSGV

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.

Well, I can just tell you what I did, so as not to insult anyone: About 3 years ago I put down a chunk of money for a gaming PC investment. I had top of the line everything.

I am also a music / positional sound enthusiast, so I have nice music/gaming headphones, a headphone amp (to "drive" any decent headphones), along with a V-DAC (external headphone plug-in box which eliminates electrical computer sounds that any decent headphones tend to pick up). Some headphone amps have dacs built in, but the M-Stage and V-DAC are separate and a good combo.

Anyways, the computer is 3 years old, but it still runs everything at max, partially due to console technology being 7 years behind, and most PC games are console ported games these days. I am willing to bet that my computer lasts another 5 years. But the best part is, if it falls behind, i can simply upgrade the video card later.
I personally much prefer mouse/keyboard to a gamepad. It feels like having a Bat computer.

ASUS Gaming z170 something or other mobo (I can get the model later if needed)

Vizio 40" from 2015 > TOSLINK and RCA audio out.

Schiit Modi 2 and Magni 2 Uber

Old Sansui A-5 Stereo amp.

I am using basic cables all around, HDMI, Optical, and RCAs. Once again I have no noise issue when running direct from my PC TOSLINK to the Modi, but if I run through the TV there is noticeable hiss.

I also have a cheap DAC/Amp like this:
https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Supports-control/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=mp_s_a_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1540561437&sr=8-8&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_FMwebp_QL65&keywords=dac+amp

It is probably the best option right now but it clutters up my desk with the cable layout. It will work if I have no other option though.

I just wish the Sansui and the Modi shared a connection type. If I could just buy a splitter that would send the signal to both, I'd be fine.

I picked up an awesome cheap tool I forgot to mention and it was only $15:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071Y5CHPK/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00__o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

You have to assemble it and it doesn't come with instructions, but it's so good. I use it to test parts before soldering them in, that way I know I have properly working parts before putting them on the board so if I have any problems later, I know it's not the parts. It measures resistors, diodes, caps, transistors, etc. It does the same thing as the $60 atlas DCA and more. The atlas DCA only measure semiconductors, this cheap thing measures passive parts too like resistors/caps, etc. The numbers are slightly different than what my atlas measures, like right now I'm measuring a silicon transistor that is reading 290 hfe on my atlas but 250 on this cheap thing, but it's at least in the right ballpark. The atlas goes into way more detail like leakage and stuff, but the cheap thing at least gives you the hfe and the pinout so you don't accidentally connect the wrong lead to the wrong input. I got a cheap DMM from amazon too that will give you an accurate enough reading for like $15. So for $30, you can have two great measuring tools.

You can go pretty cheap but the absolute bottom of the barrel Aliexpress ones might have some contact issues. For peripherals it might be good to get this which gives you USB or barrel jack switching, switchable 3.3V/5V, and powers your rails. You also would want a set of prebent jumpers or jumper wire depending on whether you want board cleanliness or ease of routing, respectively.

What you're looking for is a headphone amplifier or a DAC, though I'm not seeing very many headphone amps with TOSLink (optical) built-in. You could use a converter to go from TOSLink to RCA and then use a headphone amp to go from RCA to your headphones. I found this guy on Amazon, but I don't know anything about it and cannot in any way vouch for its quality: https://www.amazon.com/Digital-Optical-Converter-Headphone-Amplifier/dp/B003XCHCLC

Alternatively, if you hook up a home theater system most receivers have a 1/4" jack on them (but that's a lot of expense if you're just trying to get a headphone connection).

EDIT: Ah! After a bit of searching, I think I found exactly what you need: https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Supports-control/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1538502346&sr=8-2-spons&keywords=toslink+to+RCA&psc=1

At $22 it's not going to be all that great, but it will get you the connection you're looking for. This will probably sound about as good as the output from your iPod, but it won't compare to a proper headphone amp. If you want a high quality setup, you'll want a high quality DAC paired with a headphone amp.

What headphones are you using?

Awesome! Thank you! I'll have to try to find something similar. That seller has zero feedback, and shipping takes way too long from Hong Kong... : \

Would I be able to find something like that, or something like this locally at a radio shack or something?

Edit

I know the amazon link I put here is 5v, I'm also asking if they make these with 1.25-1.5V Outputs too?

1. yes, ideally you need an external supply. It can be a wall wart type, a battery pack, or a brick type - anything that gives a DC supply suitable for your motor should be fine.
   
   
2. I prefer the pre-cut jumpers. either solid or flexible are fine for breadboards. I also have a bunch of this type which are very useful to link between the breadboard/arduino/devices, and keep things much neater than with seperate jumpers.
   
   

If you don't want to use a PS/2 to USB adapter, you have a couple of options. One somewhat difficult and one very easy. For both, you'll need to open up the keyboard with a tool like this.

The more difficult way is to use Soarer's Converter software running on a Teensy 2.0. This involves soldering the Teensy to the appropriate pins on the Model M's original controller and flashing the Soarer's Converter software to the Teensy.

I did this with an IBM Model F (AT) and it works great: https://imgur.com/a/ge80k

The easiest option is to purchase a replacement controller from Phosphor Glow. For this, you'll open up the keyboard, remove the original controller and put the new one in. No soldering involved unless you opt for the kit instead of the fully assembled and ready to go board.

I did this on one of my Model M keyboards: https://imgur.com/a/NY78q

Wow, yeah thats super small. That looks like something that has a specific purpose. Check these out.
https://www.amazon.com/Double-Sided-Board-Prototype-Paxcoo/dp/B01N3161JP/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1522698761&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=perfboard&psc=1

EDIT: Found the problem. You searched for "Perf Board". Try "Perfboard". Here is the same thing on the DE amazon.
https://www.amazon.de/Aihasd-Lochrasterplatte-Lochrasterplatine-Leiterplatte-Universal/dp/B00VL1KHJQ/ref=sr_1_4?s=ce-de&ie=UTF8&qid=1522698858&sr=1-4&keywords=PerfBoard

If you search PS4 amp on Amazon you get several results across multiple price points. This for example looks solid but has some reviews you may want to inspect before purchase.

The one I wrote in my original post is one that I own and know works wonders. Unfortunately I haven’t used any of these amps to report and recommend, but more than happy to look around.

Well a good route could be Fiio D3 for a cheapo DAC with optical in, which I find cleans up a lot of the noise especially when compared to USB DACs. Spend a little more on the amp, which impacts the sound more than the DAC.


PC>optical cable>Fiio D3>RCA>Schiit Magni

Should be under $150 including cables/shipping.

Edit: just saw what you were running. You really don't need much for your headphones. Honestly if you're having problems with a "noisy" source all you'd really need is an optical DAC to clean things up. Your source should provide more than enough power to power your audio technicas.

PROZOR Digital to Analog Converter 192kHz DAC Supports Volume control Digital Coaxial SPDIF Toslink to Analog Stereo L/R RCA 3.5mm Jack Audio Adapter for PS3 XBox HDDVD PS4 Home Cinema Systems AV Amps https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_SFY-yb216G0JC

Cheap and well reviewed.

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.

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.

I used to use bluetooth headphones with my pstv and the sound was decent but I recently switched to a toslink converter and the sound quality is much much better. I think most tvs have an optical audio out.

The one I got has no volume control which is a little annoying but you can get a headphone volume knob or this model has one built in.

Gives probably the best setup possible for rhythm games on pstv, music also sounds 10x better.

https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Supports-control/dp/B06XDLCHY7

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

You can just buy one of those cheap LCR/component tester jobbies. They're not as good as a real inductance meter but for basic identification they're fine, great for lots of other quick measurements too.


https://www.amazon.com/Multifunction-transistor-Capacitor-Inductance-screwdriver/dp/B071Y5CHPK

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.

Honestly getting this was one of the best decisions I ever made:

https://www.amazon.com/AUSTOR-Lengths-Assorted-Preformed-Breadboard/dp/B07CJYSL2T

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.

Even sitting across the room, the Klipsch is much louder and fuller. The sub handling mid bass may be the reason?

Another thing that threw me for a loop is that unlike my old TV, the new one doesn't have analog audio out, so I can't simply plug in another set of desktop speakers like I used to. Are you pretty much forced to use a receiver on modern sets, or would something like this be a workable solution?

Considering just returning the whole set and grabbing some wireless surround system that goes on sale next few days.

Also pick up something like https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-0-1-2000MHz-Wide-Amplifier-Noise/dp/B01N2NJSGV or an LNA4HF / LNA4ALL if you want much better performance. :-)

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.

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

http://www.amazon.com/microtivity-IB400-400-point-Experiment-Breadboard/dp/B0084A7PI8/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1409954029&sr=8-2&keywords=breadboard

Any breadboard will do, just be sure they are not the small sized ones, otherwise you will run out of space soon. You also need a Pi Cobbler to connect the pi to the breadboard. There are some really good starter kits out there that only include breadboards, some wires a cobbler, some leds and a switch, have a look on Adafruit as well.

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?

The first item looks like a good starting point for having a small collection of components and a breadboard to test your circuits. Unfortunately if you are looking to get some practice with soldering you are missing an important piece: the actual circuit board. I also use a lot of Pin Headers in my projects, but I like to make things modular and adaptable, so the headers might not be 100% necessary for everyone.
I have a screen very similar to that, and I never use it, since most of my projects are headless, and I just SSH into my Pis remotely. But people are different, you may get a lot of use out of it.
I would also say that you don't need the anti-static mat. Not to downplay ESD, because it can certainly harm your electronics, but you would be much better served with a wrist-strap that clipped onto your computer case or something else that is grounded in your work area.

If you do more custom circuit board jobs in the future you may want to get a kit similar to this one. They are meant for breadboard applications but I found they are perfect for custom circuits made on those DIY boards.

My dad passed down his Martin Logan Vantages and his Krell kav 400xi amplifier to me. Growing up with him I was used to listening to them with a pretty high end source (he had a high end record player and CD player.) He kept the sources, so this is my current setup:

XBox sends sound to TV via HDMI, then through the optical audio out on the TV to a DAC (https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B06XDLCHY7/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o07_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1), which is connected directly to the amp.

I typically am just streaming Spotify, but I often hear distortion in songs where previously there was none. It just doesn't sound too good. I don't really own CDs; streaming music is what I do. I know I won't get the same high-end sound as a CD or a vinyl, but what would be your recommendation for a source that will stream to the krell amp?

Thanks!

To start off you can buy a Teensy 2.0 and follow Hasu's guide. If you need help in the future a PM is welcome.

Thanks everyone for your insight, this is the LNA I picked up off of Amazon:

https://www.amazon.com/HiLetgo-0-1-2000MHz-Wide-Amplifier-Noise/dp/B01N2NJSGV/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1494182132&sr=8-1&keywords=low+noise+amplifier

So far I have to say I'm not seeing much improvement with terrestrial signals from it. I was actually comparing local FM stations with it vs just a basic antenna and it actually seems to be 10 DB less with the LNA powered by 4 AA batteries.

I should be seeing stronger FM signals with the LNA plugged in correct?

Snoothing caps? Is that when you put a capacitor on output, and ground of a voltage regulator? Okay thank you. A while back i bought these voltage regulators, i took a quick look at the spec image they provide, and im still new at reading that stuff but i believe max is 800mA

(12-Pcs) STMicroelectronics 3.3V 950mA, LD1117V33 Voltage Regulator, LD33V https://www.amazon.com/dp/B01N09X4E8/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_t.WPDbPV6QP8E

And i bought these heatsinks, and idk if they were a good choice.

50 Pcs 20x15x10mm Black Aluminum Heatsink for TO-220 Transistor https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00UBUOWWG/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_EcXPDbP21NCGM

> 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

You can buy them on an electronics store or online. Some people find these to be overpriced though, since all in all it's just a bunch of bent wires. I feel like they save me some time when breadboarding so I bought a couple of boxes a while ago.

> cheap out and save a 3.3v regulator (those are expensive for some reason)

Order a handful of LD1117 from Aliexpress, you can get them for $.30/ea

They aren't even that horribly priced an Amazon with prime

Longer antenna cables are always a better idea than longer USB. To do it right, use an amplifier like this on a short cable right after the antenna, but before a long cable run.

To be clear, like this: Antenna -> short cable to amplifier -> amplifier -> long cable to SDR.

USB cables can be chained together to make really long ones, but you get into timing errors and induced noise if you go longer than 16.5 feet. And then, you're really not sure if what you're hearing is real, or an artifact (induced).

Use DAC for headphones. You’re GF is going to love that crisp sound.

Here’s the one I used. It’s a 192 khz 24bit DAC amplifier with volume control.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=cm_sw_r_sms_c_api_B.9-BbE4PRTYF

Tested on Pacific Rim 4k *fight scene, ohh boy it’s so good.

I simply used the HiLetGo model which is .100 KHz to 2 Ghz. I enclosed it, mounted 2 connectors for the case, and a knob to vary the voltage from 12v to 5v providing adjustable gain depending on the need. I didn’t design the preamp or anything, just made it look a little more professional. Here’s the link for the amplifier. The case was taken from my old cell phone site I dismantled but I’m sure there are other aluminum cases out there.

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.

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...

This is a Sky Quality Meter used for measuring the light pollution and skyglow at your location. It outputs values in uW/cm^2 for the infrared
and visible specturm in addition to your limiting magnitude in Mag/arcsec^2.


It should be mentioned that these are all Amazon Prime links with two day shipping. If you can wait longer then, you can certainly get these components for far cheaper.

Rocker switch
http://smile.amazon.com/10Pcs-Round-Button-Rocker-Switch/dp/B00AKVBEN6
10 PCS @ $2.47 = $.25

Pushbutton
http://smile.amazon.com/Momentary-Tactile-Push-Button-Switch/dp/B00974ZGPE
10 PCS @ $5.59 = $.56

TSL2591 (High range light meter)
http://smile.amazon.com/Adafruit-TSL2591-Dynamic-Digital-ADA1980/dp/B00XW2OFWW
$11.44

MSP420 Stim32 I2C 128x64 OLED display
http://smile.amazon.com/SMAKN%C2%AE-Serial-128x64-Display-Arduino/dp/B010V0I8DY
$10.80

Arduino Pro Mini 16Mhz
http://smile.amazon.com/Enhancement-ATMEGA328P-Compatible-Arduino-TE362/dp/B015MGHLNA
5 PCS @ $15.99 = $3.20

5V Voltage Regulator
http://smile.amazon.com/Addicore-Positive-Regulator-L7805CV-Antistatic/dp/B00H7KTRO6
5 PCS @ $5.95 = $1.19

Grand total $27.44

You will also need an enclosure and a battery box or some other way of connecting power to the voltage regulator. I 3D-printed my enclosure but, I'm sure you can get
them cheap. As for a battery box, I use this:
http://smile.amazon.com/WAYLLSHINE-Battery-Spring-Plastic-Holder/dp/B019XT18IQ
6 PCS @ $6.98 = $1.16

I have no idea how to price the electrical tape you're going to need in order to cover the miniature star that is the power LED on the Pro Mini.

I suppose you could just desolder it. I'm not that brave. I used a 1/2 piece of black tape and blanketed the LED. Hopefully, not that much light will leak.

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.

You are looking for something along these lines:

https://amazon.com/Converter-192kHz-Techole-Aluminum-Converter-Headphone/dp/B07MPF4F68/ref=sr_1_4?crid=27BU29OQEP1Y&keywords=toslink+to+rca+converter&qid=1563574281&s=electronics&sprefix=tosl%2Celectronics%2C160&sr=1-4

​

https://amazon.com/ROOFULL-Digital-Converter-Toslink-Optical/dp/B07142SV1D/ref=sr_1_3?crid=27BU29OQEP1Y&keywords=toslink+to+rca+converter&qid=1563574281&s=electronics&sprefix=tosl%2Celectronics%2C160&sr=1-3

​

Or, if you are insane & wealthy:

https://www.berkeleyaudiodesign.com/alpha-dac-reference-series-3

​

p.s. I believe you will need something like this if you don't have it already:

​

https://amazon.com/JSAUX-Shielded-Gold-Plated-Compatible-Smartphones/dp/B07D8M5DML/ref=sr_1_2_sspa?keywords=RCA+male+too+3.5&qid=1563574516&s=electronics&sr=1-2-spons&psc=1

​

https://amazon.com/AmazonBasics-3-5mm-2-Male-Adapter-Cable/dp/B01D5H8JW0/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?keywords=RCA+male+too+3.5&qid=1563574516&s=electronics&sr=1-1-spons&psc=1

Im not good at how to look at how good my dacs is on the motherboard. Here is however the link of it. It does have optical out.

I do have an external [dac](PROZOR Digital to Analog Converter 192kHz DAC Supports Volume control Digital Coaxial SPDIF Toslink to Analog Stereo L/R RCA 3.5mm Jack Audio Adapter https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apap_zzfHEXmPKizcD) which i bought for my ps4. Is that good enough?

I know i said a big ass speaker wont work but I would still like to look into it. Maybe its big enough that it might actually fit in my small ass desk.

Another option would be pretty much the same thing I mentioned except for having a volume control. https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Supports-control/dp/B06XDLCHY7

Here is mine I followed this guide. When I bought mine it was only $14 on Amazon. If you start with the Jellycomb Numpad, you don't have to buy switches or a case... Just the Teensy 2.0 and the diodes.

There may be other options, this one is very easy to get you started.

Nice switches.

How many do you have to mount?
1-5: and glue them in.
6-20: buy prototyping boards , solder switches and drill holes to mount them.
20+: design a small pcb with mounting holes and have it made in china.

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?

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.

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

For the 24vac, you want a rectifier (which can be a simple diode and a small capacitor - google "half-wave rectifier" for designs) and a "buck converter"

For the 110vac, most USB chargers will work just fine for 5v output, and you can use just about any DC wall wart you might have lying around with the aforementioned buck converter.

You could also use linear regulators after the rectifier, but they are much less efficient than a buck converter.

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)

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.

Even the same manufacturer can differ on the TO-92 because they can be ordered in any pinout you want, but I think the standard EBC applies generally.

OP, for $15 you can check - worth every penny.

Just need something like this:


https://www.amazon.com/Converter-192kHz-Techole-Aluminum-Converter-Headphone/dp/B07MPF4F68/ref=mp_s_a_1_5?keywords=optical+dac+to+mini&qid=1573778798&sr=8-5

Take optical out of TV into that, then headphone jack to Bose aux input.

Looking more closely, you would also need a cable like this:

https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B07MPF4F68/

I use something like this to go from the optical audio output on the PS4 to my older amp via an RCA cable. So PS4>Optical Audio cable>Optical to RCA conversion>RCA cable>Amp

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

You'll need an SPDIF DAC like this one Then you can hook up your wireless headphones to the DAC.

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.

Thanks. the case and blue keycap are both 3d printed. total cost not including the case and cap is $60 or less. The backlight is not RBG, but I think I've seen some that are.

Big Switch

Teensy 2.0

10mm LED

Switches: any two MX switches will work. NovelKeys has a big selection.

I suggest getting a 9V or 6V PSU and then run that through a regulator. I use L7805CV when I need a 5V regulator. I literally just used one today to power a arduino pro mini (a 5V micro controller). I suggest using decoupling capacitors with that regulator. 10μF should do the trick. Perhaps if you gave some specifics on what you're building we could be of more help. Usually the micro controllers can power components on their own. They probably wont be able to handle 3A on the 5V pins, but you can use a relay.

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

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.

Karlsson Robotics is the only legitimate seller.

edit: Looks like Sports Internet Solutions is also an official distributor.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NC43256/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&smid=AFBMYHRQ9KU5H

https://forum.pjrc.com/threads/23601-Official-Distributors

Likely to get a fake from any other seller.

Also, it's a dollar less buying it directly from PJRC.com. $16 + $4 postage.

https://pjrc.com/store/teensy.html

You could also use an LM7805.

https://www.amazon.com/Addicore-Positive-Regulator-L7805CV-Antistatic/dp/B00H7KTRO6/ref=sr_1_cc_1?s=aps&ie=UTF8&qid=1468861711&sr=1-1-catcorr&keywords=lm7805

What about this?

It's called the Teensy 2.0. You can get them from ebay, amazon, directly from pjrc, but I got mine from Mouser. It is fully programable with the tmk or qmk firmwares.

What I had purchased was- https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MPF4F68/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_rqJqDbYT542E8

are you recommending a 1/4 stereo to RCA connector and connecting that into the headphone jack?

amazon starter $20

proto practice boards

practice resistors

Teensy 2.0

Teensy 2.0 pinout

TMK flashing

can you tell me what you think about this please??https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Toslink-Adapter/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1543191372&sr=8-4&keywords=dac&th=1

Not OP, but do you mean the perfboard or teensy?

You can use an optical to rca or 3.5mm converter. That is if your PS4 had optical audio out. I can't remember if the slim model does.

I used to use one to connect up a high quality headphone amp for my sim racing setup.

Digital to Analog Audio Converter-192kHz Techole Aluminum Optical to RCA with Optical &Coaxial Cable. Digital SPDIF TOSLINK to Stereo L/R and 3.5mm Jack DAC Converter for PS4 Xbox HDTV DVD Headphone https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MPF4F68/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4L7UDbTX1DTDP

would this work? https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Supports-control/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=redir_mobile_desktop?_encoding=UTF8&dpID=419qZ0dihuL&dpPl=1&keywords=dac%2Bamp&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&qid=1501564594&ref=plSrch&ref_=mp_s_a_1_7&sr=8-7&th=1

Would this work?

Digital to Analog Audio Converter-192kHz Techole Aluminum Optical to RCA with Optical &Coaxial Cable. Digital SPDIF TOSLINK to Stereo L/R and 3.5mm Jack DAC Converter for PS4 Xbox HDTV DVD Headphone https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MPF4F68/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_i_MoO3DbFK1BRJ2

Just to confirm:

ps4 connected to Optical to RCA analog converter

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_2Sx1DbEX2GJC1


Then: RCA to XLR cable run from converter to speakers

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B077L3PG45/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_IVx1DbM7QG40N

https://www.amazon.com/PROZOR-Digital-Converter-Supports-control/dp/B06XDLCHY7/ref=sr_1_5?ie=UTF8&qid=1505762354&sr=8-5&keywords=dac+amp

Might work if you get this: Digital to Analog Audio Converter-192kHz Techole Aluminum Optical to RCA with Optical &Coaxial Cable. Digital SPDIF TOSLINK to Stereo L/R and 3.5mm Jack DAC Converter for PS4 Xbox HDTV DVD Headphone https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07MPF4F68/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_om5QDbD3PC444

You'll need to go digital out from the TV then convert to the RCA red and white in to video 1 on the receiver.

and a teensy 2.0 ... just the base one .... it has a female MINI usb, right? not a micro?

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NC43256?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=ox_sc_act_title_3&smid=AFBMYHRQ9KU5H

It's this one. I run antenna -> Band Pass Filter -> Amp -> SDR

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".

nope, just something like this

I don't have a perfect solution for you. Your best bet would most likely be to convert the console optical to analog (rca or 3.5) and use a regular mixer. I also couldn't find a mixer with optical out, so you would then have to convert back to optical, which is kind of lame (unless your transmitter has a 3.5 input).

If you wanted to go this route here is a cheap optical/rca and here is a "cheap" mixer

Aww, come on, give OP a break, reading is hard.

Here's a basic one you can do at home:

• CPU
  
  
• Motherboard
  
  
• SSD
  
  
• Monitor
  
  
• PSU
  
  
• Some cables

You'd need to disconnect the antenna, yes... but I'd take a guess that the meter you posted won't read capacitance that low anyways. I've had very good luck with this meter when measuring small capacitances, including variables: https://www.amazon.com/Multifunction-transistor-Capacitor-Inductance-screwdriver/dp/B071Y5CHPK it seems to measure down to about 25pf.

The other thing is you might be measuring at the wrong points on the cap. Pay close attention to the mechanism and how it's connected. Put the meter on continuity, and put the leads to the points where you were testing. If you have DC continuity, you're using the wrong points.

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

Hey guys! While I wait for the rest of my planck parts to arrive I figured I'd build a little 3x3 macro board using my keyswitch tester. I have a teensy 2.0 I got from here. I've soldered the three rows of diodes/grounds together, but I have no clue as to what to do next, is there a guide I could follow or something? The closest thing I've found online is this but it doesn't go into very much detail about the wiring and i have no idea how it carries over to a board this small.