Silicon ChipMax’s Cool Beans - August 2026 SILICON CHIP
  1. Contents
  2. Publisher's Letter: Europe needs a proactive policy on local tech & manufacturing
  3. Subscriptions: ETI Bundles
  4. Feature: How USB-C Power Delivery Works by Andrew Levido
  5. Project: USB-C Power Monitor, part one by Tim Blythman
  6. Feature: Teach-In 2026 by Mike Tooley
  7. Project: The RP2350B Computer by Geoff Graham & Peter Mather
  8. Feature: The Fox Report
  9. Feature: Circuit Surgery by Ian Bell
  10. Feature: Max’s Cool Beans by Max the Magnificent
  11. Feature: Power Electronics Part 5: power factor correction & EMI fifiltering by Andrew Levido
  12. Back Issues
  13. Feature: Audio Out by Jake Rothman
  14. Feature: Techno Talk by Max the Magnificent
  15. PartShop
  16. Market Centre
  17. Advertising Index
  18. Back Issues

This is only a preview of the August 2026 issue of Practical Electronics.

You can view 0 of the 80 pages in the full issue.

Items relevant to "USB-C Power Monitor, part one":
  • USB-C Power Monitor PCB set [04102251-3] (AUD $7.50)
  • PIC16F18146-I/SO programmed for the USB-C Power Monitor [0410225A.HEX] (Programmed Microcontroller, AUD $10.00)
  • 0.91-inch white OLED with 4-pin I²C interface (Component, AUD $7.50)
  • USB-C Power Monitor short-form kit (Component, AUD $60.00)
  • Firmware for the USB-C Power Monitor [0410225A.HEX] (Software, Free)
  • USB-C Power Monitor PCB patterns [04102251-2] (Free)
Articles in this series:
  • USB-C Power Monitor, part one (August 2026)
  • USB-C Power Monitor, part one (September 2026)
  • USB-C Power Monitor, part one (October 2026)
  • USB-C Power Monitor, part one (November 2026)
Articles in this series:
  • Teach-In 12.1 (November 2025)
  • Teach-In 2026 (December 2025)
  • Teach-In 2026 (January 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (February 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (March 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (April 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (June 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (July 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (August 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (September 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (October 2026)
  • Teach-In 2026 (November 2026)
Articles in this series:
  • Circuit Surgery (April 2024)
  • STEWART OF READING (April 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (May 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (June 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (July 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (August 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (September 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (October 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (November 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (December 2024)
  • Circuit Surgery (January 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (February 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (March 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (April 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (May 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (June 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (July 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (August 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (September 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (October 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (November 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (December 2025)
  • Circuit Surgery (January 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (February 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (March 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (April 2026)
  • AUDIO OUT (May 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (June 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (July 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (August 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (September 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (October 2026)
  • Circuit Surgery (November 2026)
Articles in this series:
  • Max’s Cool Beans (January 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (February 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (March 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (April 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (May 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (June 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (July 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (August 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (September 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans: Weird & Wonderful Arduino Projects (October 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (November 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (December 2025)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (January 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (February 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (March 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (April 2026)
  • AOShop (May 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (June 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (July 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (August 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (September 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (October 2026)
  • Max’s Cool Beans (November 2026)
Articles in this series:
  • Power Electronics Part 1: DC-DC Converters (April 2026)
  • SSB Shortwave Receiver (May 2026)
  • Power Electronics Part 3: Isolated DC-DC Converters (June 2026)
  • Power Electronics Part 4: AC-DC Converters with Rectifiers (July 2026)
  • Power Electronics Part 5: power factor correction & EMI fifiltering (August 2026)
  • Power Electronics Part 5: power factor correction & EMI fifiltering (September 2026)
  • Power Electronics Part 5: power factor correction & EMI fifiltering (October 2026)
  • Power Electronics Part 5: power factor correction & EMI fifiltering (November 2026)
Articles in this series:
  • Audio Out (January 2024)
  • Audio Out (February 2024)
  • AUDIO OUT (April 2024)
  • Audio Out (May 2024)
  • Audio Out (June 2024)
  • Audio Out (July 2024)
  • Audio Out (August 2024)
  • Audio Out (September 2024)
  • Audio Out (October 2024)
  • Audio Out (March 2025)
  • Audio Out (April 2025)
  • Audio Out (May 2025)
  • Audio Out (June 2025)
  • Audio Out (July 2025)
  • Audio Out (August 2025)
  • Audio Out (September 2025)
  • Audio Out (October 2025)
  • Audio Out (November 2025)
  • Audio Out (December 2025)
  • Audio Out (January 2026)
  • Audio Out (February 2026)
  • Audio Out (March 2026)
  • Audio Out (April 2026)
  • Audio Out (June 2026)
  • Audio Out (July 2026)
  • Audio Out (August 2026)
  • Audio Out (September 2026)
  • Audio Out (October 2026)
  • Audio Out (November 2026)
Articles in this series:
  • Techno Talk (February 2020)
  • Techno Talk (March 2020)
  • (April 2020)
  • Techno Talk (May 2020)
  • Techno Talk (June 2020)
  • Techno Talk (July 2020)
  • Techno Talk (August 2020)
  • Techno Talk (September 2020)
  • Techno Talk (October 2020)
  • (November 2020)
  • Techno Talk (December 2020)
  • Techno Talk (January 2021)
  • Techno Talk (February 2021)
  • Techno Talk (March 2021)
  • Techno Talk (April 2021)
  • Techno Talk (May 2021)
  • Techno Talk (June 2021)
  • Techno Talk (July 2021)
  • Techno Talk (August 2021)
  • Techno Talk (September 2021)
  • Techno Talk (October 2021)
  • Techno Talk (November 2021)
  • Techno Talk (December 2021)
  • Communing with nature (January 2022)
  • Should we be worried? (February 2022)
  • How resilient is your lifeline? (March 2022)
  • Go eco, get ethical! (April 2022)
  • From nano to bio (May 2022)
  • Positivity follows the gloom (June 2022)
  • Mixed menu (July 2022)
  • Time for a total rethink? (August 2022)
  • What’s in a name? (September 2022)
  • Forget leaves on the line! (October 2022)
  • Giant Boost for Batteries (December 2022)
  • Raudive Voices Revisited (January 2023)
  • A thousand words (February 2023)
  • It’s handover time (March 2023)
  • AI, Robots, Horticulture and Agriculture (April 2023)
  • Prophecy can be perplexing (May 2023)
  • Technology comes in different shapes and sizes (June 2023)
  • AI and robots – what could possibly go wrong? (July 2023)
  • How long until we’re all out of work? (August 2023)
  • We both have truths, are mine the same as yours? (September 2023)
  • Holy Spheres, Batman! (October 2023)
  • Where’s my pneumatic car? (November 2023)
  • Good grief! (December 2023)
  • Cheeky chiplets (January 2024)
  • Cheeky chiplets (February 2024)
  • The Wibbly-Wobbly World of Quantum (March 2024)
  • Techno Talk - Wait! What? Really? (April 2024)
  • Techno Talk - One step closer to a dystopian abyss? (May 2024)
  • Techno Talk - Program that! (June 2024)
  • Techno Talk (July 2024)
  • Techno Talk - That makes so much sense! (August 2024)
  • Techno Talk - I don’t want to be a Norbert... (September 2024)
  • Techno Talk - Sticking the landing (October 2024)
  • Techno Talk (November 2024)
  • Techno Talk (December 2024)
  • Techno Talk (January 2025)
  • Techno Talk (February 2025)
  • Techno Talk (March 2025)
  • Techno Talk (April 2025)
  • Techno Talk (May 2025)
  • Techno Talk (June 2025)
  • Techno Talk (July 2025)
  • Techno Talk (August 2025)
  • Techno Talk (October 2025)
  • Techno Talk (November 2025)
  • Techno Talk (December 2025)
  • Techno Talk (January 2026)
  • Techno Talk (February 2026)
  • Techno Talk (March 2026)
  • Techno Talk (April 2026)
  • Techno Talk (May 2026)
  • Techno Talk (May 2026)
  • Techno Talk (June 2026)
  • Techno Talk (July 2026)
  • Techno Talk (August 2026)
  • Techno Talk (September 2026)
  • Techno Talk (October 2026)
  • Techno Talk (November 2026)
Max’s Cool Beans By Max the Magnificent Weird & Wonderful Arduino Projects Part 20: Pogo pins and pixel grins W ell, hello there. Soon, we will dive deeper into our Chronological Contraption project, whose role it will be to mark the years, months, days, hours, minutes, and seconds until the commencement of my 100th birthday celebrations, although you will be able to use yours for all sorts of things (perhaps even telling the time). But before that, there are a couple of other topics that are rattling around in what I laughingly call my mind. When we started our retro games console project (Photo 1), deep in the mists of time we used to call January 2025, I expected at least a few members of the Practical Electronics community to join me on this quest. However, I must admit to being surprised by the number of emails merrily pinging their way into my inbox. Often, I receive a message from someone who is ‘jumping ahead’, saying, “I’m all up to date, so what can I do now?” Well, last month we added an inertial measurement unit (IMU) to the console. Then we used our IMU to detect whether the console was tilted to the left, right, front, or back, or any combination thereof, such as front-and-left or back-and-right. We finished by employing this newly minted tilt information to control a virtual marble as it rolled around the 48 display. You can find a copy of this code in the file named CB-aug26code-01.txt (as usual, all files mentioned in this column are available in the August 2026 download package available from the PE website at https://pemag.au/link/acby). In a crunchy nutshell, we defined a constant called IMU_SAMPLE_TICKS to be 200ms, or one-fifth of a second. This means we currently sample the IMU at 5Hz (five times per second). You can experiment with different delay values if you wish. Each time we sample the IMU, we decide whether to move the virtual Photo 1: our retro games console. marble and, if so, in which direction. We move the marble only one pixel at a time, and any tilt of less than 15° is ignored. So, the following are some ideas we (well, mostly you) might want to try: 1. We added a piezo buzzer to our console in the June 2026 issue, then we added some click, chirp, and wail sound effects to our snake game. How about if we reused these effects, like adding a click every time our virtual marble moves to a new pixel? 2. At random times, we could place ‘food’ pixels at random locations on the array and then add a chirp sound if our marble ‘eats’ (runs into) one. We could also make the food particles disappear if they aren’t eaten quickly enough. 3. We currently use three of our 7-segment displays to track how many times we press the action buttons, and the other three to track how many times we press the direction buttons. We could change this to reflect how many times the marble has moved and how many food particles we’ve eaten. 4. We could also add random poison pixels. If we inadvertently roll our marble into one of these, we could play our wail sound, reset the counters and start again. 5. We currently have a fixed tilt angle threshold (15°) and a fixed sampling rate (5Hz), which together result in a fixed marble rolling speed. That is, once we pass 15°, it doesn’t matter how steeply we tilt the console because the marble continues to travel at the same velocity. We could maintain our minimum tilt threshold of 15°, but after that, we could increase the rolling speed by increasing the sample rate (ie, decreasing the time between samples) as a function of the tilt angle. Practical Electronics | August | 2026 VCC (+5V) GND (0V) DATA CLK LOAD (a) Cut a piece of prototyping board Fig.1: the pinout of our dual-digit 7-segment display. 6. We could increase the realism of our virtual marble’s motion by modelling some of the physics that would be associated with a glass marble in the real world. For example, even if we keep the tilt angle constant at 20°, the speed of a real-world marble will increase over time until it reaches a limit set by factors such as friction and air resistance. Similarly, if the real-­ world marble is moving quickly in one direction, even if we tilt the platform the other way, inertia will cause it to continue rolling for a while before it slows, stops, and reverses direction. We could model these types of effects. Implementing any of these ideas with our virtual marble will be a good learning experience in its own right. Furthermore, many of these tricks and techniques may be applicable to other games, such as our snake program, for example. The jig is up Do you recall many moons ago when we were adding the dual-digit 7-segment light-emitting diode (LED) display modules to our console (Fig.1)? At that time, I mentioned that if I ever decided to build a lot of consoles for any reason in the future, then I’d want a way to quickly test each of these display modules before any mounting or soldering took place. This would require Photo 2: an example of a hold-down clamp. (b) Drill two ¼-inch holes Fig.2: preparing the prototyping board for use in a test fixture. some sort of test fixture or test jig. Historically speaking, these aren’t quite the same thing, but despite that, many people use those terms interchangeably in engineering conversations, especially in the context of electronic test systems. I have a friend we’ll call Steve (because that’s his name). Steve used to be an aircraft fitter, and his work is precision personified. Whenever he wishes to create a test jig, he simply whips one up on his 3D printer. In my case, I often use a horizontal-handle hold-down toggle clamp (Photo 2). More specifically, I usually use the GH-201-C because it’s small (only six inches or about 15cm tip-to-tip when fully extended) and perfectly sized for most of the jigs I wish to create. You can acquire these little rascals from multiple sources (just Google “GH-201-C”), and they can be surprisingly inexpensive. I currently hang my hat in the USA, and I found one supplier offering them for only $1.50 apiece. The important mechanical feature of these clamps is their over-centre linkage. When the handle passes through the centre point, the geometry locks the clamp in place until you deliberately release it. I must admit that I haven’t always given mechanical engineering the respect it deserves, but the tactile feel of this clamp in action gives one a newfound appreciation for clever mechanical design. For electronics hobby work, these clamps are wonderful for all sorts of things, including pogopin-based test and programming fixtures. “What’s a pogo pin when it’s at home?”, I hear you cry. Don’t worry, we will return to this in a moment, but first… is take a piece of prototyping board – the sort with plated through-holes and pads on both sides; just search Amazon for “double-sided prototyping board”. In the not-so-distant future, this will become the pogo pin carrier board (or ‘test probe board’) that we’ll attach to our clamp. Since our dual-digit display modules have only five holes, we can use a small strip from a kit or cut it from a larger piece, as illustrated in Fig.2(a). Next, we’ll drill two ¼-inch or 6.5mm diameter holes, as illustrated in Fig.2(b). We will need a way to attach this board to our clamp. I typically use two ¼-inch-diameter, 1-inch (25.4mm) long hex socket-head screws (aka. Allen screws), along with four washers and two nuts, of the types shown in Photo 3. In terms of metric hardware, M6 × 25mm machine screws, washers and nuts would also be suitable. Return to the image of the clamp (Photo 2) and observe the split forked part opposite the handle. This is usually called a “clevis”, “forked clevis”, “clevis arm”, or “clevis mount”. In the fullness of time, we’ll use our screws, washers, and nuts to attach our prototyping board to the clamp, Getting a grip Photo 3: one set of the screws, nuts and washers I used. The next thing we’re going to do Practical Electronics | August | 2026 49 Clamping arm Operating handle Forked clevis (part of clamping arm) Base plate Test probe board The pogo pins (test probes) will be attached to the end of this board Fig.3: our suggested method of attaching the prototyping board to the clamp. as illustrated in Fig.3, but first… Springing into action A pogo pin is a spring-loaded electrical contact used to establish quick, reliable connections between two electronic devices or circuit boards. Named after the pogo stick, it compresses to maintain constant physical and electrical contact. The pogo pin lineup includes through-hole, double-ended, surfacemount and wire-mount styles, as well as a wide variety of pad layouts and stroke configurations. There is also a surprising diversity of tip types, two of the most common being conical (pointed) and rounded (hemispherical). In the case of through-hole mounting, two familiar variants are collared (aka. shouldered) and uncollared (aka. straight-body). There are hundreds (perhaps thousands) of pogo-pin styles and feature combinations, but some generic examples are illustrated in Fig.4. The plunger (or probe) is the moving part that slides in and out of the barrel. It carries the tip (conical, rounded etc) that contacts the surface under test. The spring (not visible in this figure) pushes the plunger outward when it’s unloaded. The barrel (or body) is the hollow outer tube that houses the plunger and spring and provides the fixed mechanical and electrical connection to the test probe board. Uncollared As I say, there are myriad pogo-pin offerings. The principal advantage of a collared pogo pin is that the collar serves as a mechanical stop, preventing the pin from passing through the test probe board while also ensuring a consistent mounting height. However, uncollared pins may be preferable if the points to be probed are at different heights, such as a board with a coin-cell battery clip, where both the board and the clip need to be probed. Professional test engineers will select specific tip geometries based on a wide range of esoteric criteria, but things are less stringent for hobbyists. Some may argue that rounded tips offer a larger contact area on pads, while others might opine that conical tips are better at penetrating surface oxidation. In our example case of testing dual 7-segment displays, this point is moot because the points we’re testing are plated-through holes, which means both tip types will make reliable contact. In reality, most hobbyists will opt for whatever they can lay their hands on at the best price (or whatever they already have in their parts treasure chest). I just used my micrometer to measure the ones I have, which are collared with conical tips (sadly, I no longer remember where I got them). The barrel diameter is 1mm, Collared Barrel Fig.4: some common pogo pin configurations. Collar Plunger Tip Rounded 50 the plunger diameter is 0.6mm and the plunger has a 2.5mm travel (stroke). Feeling attached The next step is to attach our pogo pins to our test probe board. Since we are creating a test rig for our dual-­ digit 7-segment displays, which we will refer to as the device under test (DUT), we will need five of these pins, as illustrated in Fig.5. We start by soldering the barrel of each pin to its associated pad, then we solder the wires to the barrels. We would also slide a small piece of heat-shrink tubing over each wire-barrel connection to provide strain relief for the joint. The art of shim At some stage, we will attach our clamp to a base. I typically use a small plank of timber, just a little longer and about three times as wide as the clamp itself. I also attach a small timber support block to the baseboard just under the probes. This is sized so that the tips of the probes just barely touch the wood when the clamp is in its fully lowered position (Fig.6). The test wires aren’t shown in Fig.6 to keep it simple and easy to understand. There are all sorts of tricks you learn when you are doing this sort of thing. LOAD CLOCK DATA GND (+0V) VCC (+5V) Fig.5: attaching pogo pins to the test probe board. Test Probe board Conical Practical Electronics | August | 2026 Test probe board Fully lowered Tips barely touching Baseboard Support block Fig.6: adding the baseboard and support block. For example, it’s hard to cut the support block to the exact desired height, so it’s best to go under rather than over. You can then add shims (spacers) between the baseboard and the support block to compensate. Suitable shims can be made from scraps of protoboard and cardstock, with paper used for fine adjustments. We could simply glue the support block (and any shims) to the baseboard if we wished, but my preference is to use machine screws, nuts, and washers, as illustrated in the cutaway view in Fig.7. This approach takes a little more time and effort upfront, but offers several advantages later. Most importantly, it allows us to tweak the arrangement by adding, removing, or changing the shims beneath the support block. It also makes the fixture easy to repair or modify, should we wish to experiment with a different block height or probe position. Another benefit is that both the support block and test probe board can be replaced, allowing the same clamp assembly to be reused for a completely different project. Having said that, I generally prefer to keep separate fixtures for separate jobs – it’s remarkable how often a jig that seemed destined for retirement suddenly proves useful again months or even years later! Toeing the line in this example for clarity. Try to arTo ensure repeatable measurements, range things so that their flat edges we need a way to locate the current are touching the DUT. DUT (device under test) in exactly the I typically use a thin smear of twosame position every time. The easiest part epoxy with a 10-minute working approach is to glue a pair of guide strips, fashioned from scraps of prototyping board, to the support block. These will serve as locating guides that register the display module relative to the pogo pins, ensuring that all five probes align with their respective plated-through holes when (a) Rest DUT on support the clamp is lowered. The process we use to To clamp attach these guide strips is as follows. First, we rest the end of the DUT From on the support opposite Arduino the clamp, as depicted in Fig.8(a). Next, we slowly and gently close the clamp, ensuring that the tips of the probes seat in their respective platedthrough holes in the DUT, as shown in Fig.8(b). (b) Gently close clamp While the clamp is still engaged, attach two pieces of protoboard to the support, as illustrated From in Fig.8(c). I’m showing Arduino blue protoboard pieces Test probe board Tips barely touching Support block (c) Attach scraps of protoboard Shims Baseboard Fig.7: a cutaway view of the support block attachment. Practical Electronics | August | 2026 (d) Open clamp, remove DUT Fig.8: attaching the registration (guide) strips. 51 Testing times I typically mount at least one momentary pushbutton on the timber base, with one side connected to 0V (GND) and the other to one of the Arduino’s digital input pins. I also write a test program that waits for this button to be pressed before running the test sequence. For something as simple as our dual 7-segment display module, a visual inspection may suffice. More complex devices might benefit from multiple tests, each with an associated trigger button. In some cases, in addition to driving the DUT’s inputs, we could use Arduino to monitor its outputs and then employ the results to modify the test and/or display Pass/Fail messages (or more detailed diagnostic information) on the Serial Monitor. Returning to the Countdown Timer… associated with the VFD tube itself. This is because the tube is the only component that we will be mounting on the top of the board, but that’s still in our future. Now observe the rectangular cutout in the middle of this circle. This is where we will locate the NeoPixel, which will sit beneath the tube and allow us to implement some cool lighting effects. As we discussed in an earlier column, arranging things this way will make it easier to replace the NeoPixel, should it fail, without requiring us to remove the tube first (we’re thinking ahead… for a change). I purchased a pack of 100 NeoPixels from the Led Lighting Hut (www. ledlightinghut.com) for $12.50. Even my poor maths tells me this works out to US 12.5¢ (~10 UK pennies) apiece, which I think is awesome, not least that I’ll have lots left over for future projects. Now observe the small silkscreened triangle associated with the upper left-hand corner of the cutout. Also observe that one corner of the upper face of the NeoPixel has a triangular embossment. Both of these features, highlighted by red circles in Fig.9(a), are used to indicate the correct orientation of the NeoPixel. Now flip the board over, as though turning the page of a book, to reveal Signal/power flow its underside, as illustrated in Fig.9(b). Flip the NeoPixel over in a similar fashion. Observe that the silkscreen on this side of the board contains all the remaining component and connector identifiers and outlines because, as we already noted, everything except the tube is mounted on this side of the board. Drop the NeoPixel into the cutout, as illustrated in Fig.9(c). I inserted a small square of thin card first to ensure that the back of the NeoPixel sat flush with the underside of the board. Next, use your soldering iron to create solder bridges between the NeoPixel’s pads and the corresponding pads on the board. Add a 100nF (0.1µF) ceramic capacitor at location C3. This acts as a local decoupling capacitor; an ‘energy reservoir’, if you will (kind of like a tiny battery) that helps keep the supply rail steady when the NeoPixel switches its internal transistors. Mount this capacitor on the underside of the board and solder it from the top side. Finally, add a 0.1-inch (2.54mm) pitch 2×10-pin female (socket) double-­ row right-angled header in the SK1 (“Socket 1”) position. Also add a 2×10-pin male (plug) double-row right-­ angled header in the PLG1 (“Plug 1”) position. As for the capacitor, mount these connectors on the underside of Signal/power flow Signal/power flow SK1 PLG1 C2 52 IC2 IC1 C3 IC2 IC1 C3 C2 C1 Phew! I have to admit VFD Driver that our test rig discusSK1 PLG1 sions took longer than I expected. It may be that you don’t have a use for such a device at the moment, but one day in the future you’ll find yourself knee-deep in pogo pins and protoboard, and you’ll say to yourself, “Good grief! Max covered exactly this situation in the August 2026 issue of PE!” As usual, we’re going to take things one step at a time. A couple of columns ago, in the June issue, we introduced R1 the two types of boards VFD we’re working with, including the files you can use to build them. We’ll start with the VFD driver board. Look at the top of this board, as illustrated in Top Neopixel Bottom Fig.9(a). The only silkscreen component out(a) Top of board (b) Bottom of board line on this side of the board is the white circle Fig.9: the VFD driver board. C1 time (cure time) to attach these boards. Be careful not to get any on the DUT… or anything else, for that matter! Leave the clamp locked for at least 30 minutes (longer is better), then open it and remove the DUT, as shown in Fig.8(d). In the future, you’ll find that having things set up this way makes it easypeasy lemon-squeezy to place a new DUT in precisely the same position every time. R1 (c) Add first components Practical Electronics | August | 2026 Signal/power flow Signal/power flow Spacer SK1 Top Neopixel (a) Top of board PLG1 C1 PLG1 C1 SK1 Signal/power flow Bottom (b) Bottom of board (c) Add first components Fig.10: the spacer board has fewer parts on it. the YYYY and MM groups, and another between the MM and DD groups. Similarly, for the time portion, we’ll have one spacer between the hh and mm groups and another between the mm and ss groups. Each of these spacer boards has its own NeoPixel, which we will use to illuminate separator characters such as the vertical slashes in YYYY|MM|DD and the colons in hh:mm:ss. Observe the two small square cutouts on either side of the NeoPixel cutout. These can be used to attach whatever separator assembly we eventually decide to employ. We will also have a fifth spacer board located between the date and time portions of the display. Although this board will also include a NeoPixel (allowing us to easily swap boards if necessary), we will leave it unilluminated. Attach the NeoPixel, 100nF ceramic capacitor (annotated as C1 in this case) and connectors, as per Fig.10(c). Observe that we got the SK1 and PLG1 silkscreen legends right the first time in this case (woohoo!). Once again, I’m sure you are itching to assemble all five spacer boards, but I recommend exercising a modicum of restraint by completing just one initially to make sure everything is hunky-dory before potentially perpetrating the same mistake multiple times. the board and solder them from the menting a Full Monty YYYY-MM-DD top side. hh-mm-ss display). Here is an example of where misHowever, it’s best to stick with just takes can be easily made in a PCB one board initially to make sure evedesign – the original PCB had PLG1 rything is tickety-boo – like confirm- A plethora of pins Fig.11 presents a top-down view on the left and SK1 on the right. Flip- ing that we’ve got the NeoPixel the ping the board back and forth makes right way round, for example – before of the connector arrangement. The one’s brain wobble on its gimbals, potentially making the same mistake 2×10-pin plug connector is on the resulting in this mistake, which has 14 times (yes, I do speak from experi- left, while the corresponding socket since been fixed. ence… not in this particular case, but connector is on the right. The yellowhighlighted pins are associated with In a sense, it doesn’t matter which experience nonetheless). the shift registers that will appear on connector goes where, just so long as each driver board. you’re consistent with the remaining Adding a spacer board Now we’re going to perform a similar We don’t need to concern ourselves boards. Having said this (and as we discussed in a previous issue), it’s exercise on one of our spacer boards with these signals at the moment, but generally preferable to have a socket (Fig.10). We will use five of these we will discuss them in excruciating on the last board in the chain rather boards to separate the various tube exhilarating detail next month. Simthan a plug, because this helps pre- groups. In the date portion of the dis- ilarly, we can ignore the +1.5V and vent any unintentional ‘oopsies’ in- play, we’ll have one spacer between +25V power connections for now. volving exposed pins and short circuits. Signal/power flow I understand that you are awash with enthu/OE DATA IN DATA OUT /OE siasm, but I would recCLK LOAD LOAD CLK ommend that you pause /CLR 0V (GND) 0V (GND) /CLR after assembling your first +5V +5V +5V +5V driver board to the extent 0V (GND) 0V (GND) 0V (GND) 0V (GND) discussed thus far. I know you want to populate all +25V +25V +25V +25V of your boards (14 if you 0V (GND) 0V (GND) 0V (GND) 0V (GND) are planning on impleFig.11: the connector pinouts, common to both board types. +1.5V 0V (GND) NEO IN Practical Electronics | August | 2026 +1.5V 0V (GND) 0V (GND) Top of board +1.5V 0V (GND) 0V (GND) +1.5V 0V (GND) NEO OUT 53 Introducing the power board Signal/power flow SK1 PLG1 +5V 0V (GND) NEO IN Top C1 0V Out In +5V Out 0V +5V In Bottom Bottom of board At this point, the only pins we really care about are the +5V and 0V (GND) power connections, along with the NeoPixel-related signals: NEO IN and NEO OUT. We'll need to drive more later once the VFDs are connected. Fig.13: connecting the three boards together. In the fullness of time, we’re going to build an allsinging, all-dancing power board to satisfy any powerrelated cravings we might have. In the meantime, however, just to get the ball rolling, as it were, I’ve taken one From of my spare spacer boards Arduino and configured it to act as a pseudo power board, as illustrated in Fig.12. Since we’re going to start off by running everything from the Arduino, I took three male-to-male flying leads, chopped one connector off each lead, bared the wire ends, and soldered NeoPixel them to the board. (ref only) As we’ve discussed multiple times before, when using a chain of NeoPixels, it’s good practice to add a series resistor as close as possible to the data input pin of the first NeoPixel in the chain. This resistor helps tame the fast edges from the Arduino’s output, reducing ringing and the associated overshoot and undershoot on the data line. The value commonly recommended for this resistor lies in the range of 330Ω to 470Ω. I typically opt for a 390Ω ¼W device (coloured bands Fig.12: the juryrigged power (spacer) board. Signal/power flow Signal/power flow orange [3], white [9], brown [×101]), which sits nicely midway between these values. We could wire this resistor inline with the NEO IN signal coming from the Arduino. However, since we are already using one of our spacer boards as a pseudo-power board, it’s easier to attach the resistor to this board, straddling the In and Out pads associated with the NeoPixel cutout, as shown in Fig.12. Observe that we haven’t bothered to populate the C1 ceramic capacitor on this board because we won’t be mounting a NeoPixel here. All together now We’re almost there! The final step for now is to take our pseudo power board together with the driver and spacer boards we’ve assembled thus far and plug them all together. Fig.13 shows a top-side view of the three boards prior to assembly. Once the boards have been assembled, we can connect the 0V (GND), +5V, and NEO IN wires to the Arduino. In this case, we’re going to use digital pin 6 to drive the NeoPixel chain for no better reason than that every project needs at least one arbitrary design decision, and 6 happens to be my lucky number. Over to you This is the point where we write a Signal/power flow VFD Driver +5V From 0V (GND) Arduino NEO IN The “power board” is really just a spare spacer board without a NeoPixel but with a NeoPixel data-line protection resistor. VFD (a) Power board (top of board) 54 (b) Driver board (top of board) (c) Spacer board (top of board) Practical Electronics | August | 2026 small Arduino program to exercise our NeoPixel chain and verify that everything is working as expected before assembling the remaining boards. This will allow us to confirm things like power distribution, signal propagation, and, perhaps most importantly, that we haven’t accidentally soldered any NeoPixels in the wrong way round. Once we are happy that everything is behaving itself, we can proceed to assemble the remaining driver and spacer boards required for our chosen display configuration (whether that’s a modest setup or the full-blown YYYY|MM|DD hh:mm:ss). We can then tweak our program to test the entire ensemble. Now, after all the NeoPixel escapades we’ve enjoyed together over the past few years, including the 14×10 array on our retro games console, I’m of the opinion that you should be more than capable of writing this little test program yourselves. So, rather than me spoon-feeding you every last line of code, I’m going to throw down the gauntlet and invite you to have a go. In its simplest form, the program needs only to initialise the NeoPixel chain and cycle the LEDs through a selection of colours and patterns to confirm that all the boards are 5-year collections 2019-2023 £49.95 2018-2022 £49.95 correctly assembled and connected. Next month, we’ll revisit this topic in more detail, compare notes (and see whose version is the most elegant, the most over-engineered, or the most gloriously bonkers), and continue by adding the VFD tubes and associated circuitry. As always, if you have any thoughts you’d care to share on anything you’ve read here, please feel free to email me at max<at>clivemaxfield.com PE 2017-2021 £49.95 2016-2020 £44.95 Purchase and download at: www.electronpublishing.com Devices and components used in this issue Qty Part Source 19 NeoPixels (5050 WS2812B) www.ledlightinghut.com 14 Driver boards See PE, June 2026 6 Spacer boards (including power board) See PE, June 2026 1 390Ω ¼W axial resistor Any good electronics shop 19 100nF (0.1μF) ceramic capacitors Any good electronics shop 20 2×10-pin 0.1"/2.54mm pitch right-angle headers https://pemag.au/link/acca 20 2×10-pin 0.1"/2.54mm pitch right-angle sockets https://pemag.au/link/acc9 ETI BUNDLE (1) Teach-In 3, 4 and 5 – all on CD-ROM – only £18.95 ELECTRONICS TEACH-IN 3 – CD-ROM ELECTRONICS TEACH-IN 3 EE M FR -RO CD Mike & Richard Tooley The three sections of the Teach-In 3 CD-ROM cover a huge range of subjects that will interest everyone involved in electronics – from newcomers to the hobby and students to experienced constructors and professionals. £7.99 FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF i The how and why of circuit design PRACTICALLY SPEAKING i The techniques of electronic project construction INGENUITY UNLIMITED The first section (80 pages) is dedicated to Circuit Surgery, EPE/PE’s regular clinic dealing with readers’ TeachFREE In nics queries on circuit design problems – from voltage TEACH-IN 1 CD-ROM ro TWO TEACH-INs FOR regulation to using SPICE circuit simulation software. 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