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":
Articles in this series:
Articles in this series:
Articles in this series:
Articles in this series:
Articles in this series:
Articles in this series:
|
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.
THE PRICE OF ONE!
The second section – Practically Speaking –
covers hands-on aspects of electronics construction.
Again, a whole range of subjects, from soldering to
avoiding problems with static electricity and identifying
components is covered. Finally, our collection of
Ingenuity Unlimited circuits provides over 40 circuit designs submitted by readers.
The CD-ROM also contains the complete Electronics Teach-In 1 book, which
provides a broad-based introduction to electronics in PDF form, plus interactive
quizzes to test your knowledge and TINA circuit simulation software (a limited
version – plus a specially written TINA Tutorial). Teach-In 1 covers everything
from electric current through to microprocessors and microcontrollers, and each part
includes demonstration circuits to build on breadboards or to simulate on your PC.
©
blishing Ltd 20
10
1
Elec
t
i Over 40 different circuit ideas
W
i The free CD-ROM provides
a broad-based introduction
to electronics
n Program
Simulatio
Circuit d version)
(Limite
ramming
PIC Prog n)
CODE V3
d versio
8 FLOW
(Limite
Software Quizzes to Test
active
ledge
8 Inter
Your Know
8 TINA
i A complete stand-alone
tutorial in 11 parts plus free
software
Teach In 3 Cover.indd 1
10 13:21:42
29/04/20
dd 1
Mike & Richard Tooley
The Teach-In 4 CD-ROM covers three of the most
important electronics units that are currently studied in
many schools and colleges. These include, Edexcel
BTEC level 2 awards and the electronics units of the
Diploma in Engineering, Level 2.
The CD-ROM also contains the full Modern
Electronics Manual, worth £29.95. The Manual
contains over 800 pages of electronics theory,
projects, data, assembly instructions and web links.
It's an ideal way to learn about electronics.
ELECTRONICS
TEACH-IN 4
EE M
FR -RO
CD
£8.99
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF
A BROAD-BASED
INTRODuCTION TO ELECTRONICS
FREE
CD-RO
M
WORT
H
£29.9
5
i An eleven part tutorial
i uses inexpensive circuit
simulation software
FREE M
CD-RO
£8.99
JUMP START
15 design and build circuit projects
dedicated to newcomers or those
following courses in schools and
colleges
PRACTICALLY SPEAKING
The techniques of project construction
PIC ‘N MIx
Starting out with PIC microcontrollers
FREE M
CD-RO
TEACH-IN 2
cal
a practi
Provides
to PIC
introduction llers
microcontro
ws
for Windo
CD ROM
start
should
This CD
y, if not
automaticallindex.html
double-click
TWO TEACH-INs FOR
THE PRICE OF ONE !
Plus:
nika,
MikroElektro
Microchip pe
L-Tek PoSco
software
The free CD-ROM provides a
practical introduction to PIC
microcontrollers
Plus MikroElektronika,
Microchip and L-Tek PoScope
software
In 2
TeachLtd
nicsorne
dsPIC are
Publishing
PIC and
rated
Ele©ctro
MPLAB, logy Incorpo ogy
2013 Wimb
and logo,
Techno
Technol
ip
ip name of Microchip
Microch
.09
arks
016-02
The Microch
s. © 2013
ed tradem
countrie
1. MCCD1
register
d. Issue
and other
in the USAAll rights reserve
Inc.
PLUS
3 09:59:25
29/07/201
d 1
Teach
In 2 - JUL13.ind
Teach In 5 Cover.indd 1
29/07/2013 10:00:29
PIC’n’ Mix – starting out with the popular range of
PIC microcontrollers and Practically Speaking – tips and techniques for project construction.
The CD-ROM also contains:
n Complete Teach-In 2 book, a practical introduction to PIC microprocessors
n MikroElektronika, Microchip and L-Tek PoScope software.
Three Teach-ins for the great price of
£18.95
PLUS you also get the contents of the
free CD-ROM from each issue...
THE MODERN ELECTRONICS MANuAL
The essential reference
work for everyone
studying electronics
i Over 800 PDF pages
i In-depth theory
autorun,
should
This software
in Windows
if not, open double-click
and
f
Explorer
index.pd
requires
This CD-ROM
Reader™
from
Adobe®
dable Free
Downloa
be.com
www.ado
UAL
MAN.co.u
k
BA SE .epe
mag
www
© Wimbor
Teach In 4 Cover.indd 1
Practical Electronics | August | 2026
The projects are: n Moisture Detector n Quiz
Machine n Battery Voltage Checker n SolarPowered Charger n Versatile Theft Alarm
n Spooky Circuits n Frost Alarm n Mini Christmas
Lights n iPod Speaker n Logic Probe n DC Motor
Controller n Egg Timer n Signal Injector Probe
n Simple Radio Receiver n Temperature Alarm.
06/05/2010 16:22:29
CD Cover.in
ELECTRONICS TEACH-IN 4 – CD-ROM, A
BROAD INTRODUCTION TO ELECTRONICS
Mike & Richard Tooley
ELECTRONICS
TEACH-IN 5
EE M
FR -RO
CD
FROM THE PUBLISHERS OF
15 design and build circuit projects for newcomers
or those following courses in school and colleges.
CIRCUIT SURGERY
Pu
rne
bo
im
ELECTRONICS TEACH-IN 5 – CD-ROM
JUMP START
ne Publishi
ng Ltd.
i Extensive data tables
and web links
... so that’s another TWO Teach-Ins and
The Full Modern Electronics Manual!
2011
14/11/2011 20:33:21
55
|