Last year I built the Pimoroni Pirate Radio which I have been listening to whilst building stuff ever since. The board the powers the audio on the radio supports two speakers but the radio as standard only has one.
Pimoroni recently released an additional matching speaker that can be attached to the other channel on the radio. It was reasonably priced so I decided to pick it up and upgrade my radio to stereo. Continue reading Stereo Pirate Radio
Its been a fair while since I have posted anything here. This is largely because of a change of tactic when it comes to building things.
I came to the conclusion that the subscription based models did not represent good value for money and the level of support received considering the cost was very poor. There was also the problem of a long drawn out build due to the subscription model that was also exacerbated by delays and replacement parts being required.
So I started thinking about what I could build for the same price as a single model subscription and realised I could getting much more. This has started with some expert Lego models and Raspberry PI projects.
I have made a fair few things between my last post and now but I am going to start with a little PI project using the brand new PI Zero W. The PI zero is a smaller raspberry PI that is tiny compared to the standard size raspberry PI but not as powerful as the PI 3. The W version which has just been released adds WiFi and Bluetooth. Previously a PI Zero would have required a dongle or pHat* to use these technologies. This adds size to the computer and would require a hub considering it only has a single USB port.
*A pHat is a hat made for the PI zero (An extension board to provide additional functionality).
The project I am posting today is a fairly small PI project and my most recent one. There are a few I need to post about that I build before this one. This project is the Pimoroni pirate radio kit. The first noticeable thing about this kit compare to previous Pimoroni projects is its packaging. It comes in a nice project box and looks much more like something you would find on a shop shelve.
Inside the box we have the acrylic pieces / screws to build the case, a 5w speaker, the PI zero w and the pHat beat hat to provide audio, buttons and VU meter to the radio.
Those are the core components need to build the radio but it also comes with the hdmi and usb adapters the PI zero needs to connect to standard size usb and hdmi cables. I usually connect a pi zero up to my monitor to setup SSH and WiFi but this can also be done by editing the sd card image before booting it. Finally the kit comes with some nice Pimoroni stickers to decorate the radio.
When building a kit that uses a hat the first thing I usually do is solder the headers onto the PI / hat. Headers can be soldered which ever way you want to suite your needs but the norm is to solder the male headers onto the PI and female onto the hat. This will enable you to switch hats easily.
That’s all of the soldering done for the kit. Now all that needs to be done is the construction of the radio structure itself and connecting everything together.
There is a switch on the back of the pHat that must be set to single speaker mode.
The build took around 30 minutes and I had it up and running about 10 minutes after by following a guide on the Pimoroni forums.
It is currently using VLC to run a playlist of stations and the Pimoroni guys have made some python scripts to handle the buttons being pressed to switch station / volume etc…
I am more than happy with this setup at the moment as I only have to SSH into the pi to change the radio station list at the moment.
Finally here is a video of it in action!
I finally got started on my 1:8 Kyosho Hummer H1 Subscription.
At the moment I have ignored that actual components of the car itself and worked on the body.
Making the side frames
Pegs are useful for holding the part in place whilst the plastic cement sets.
The frame is now ready for the panels to be attached.
Panels attached and ready for painting.
I started by spraying some mist coats
I decided to paint the Hummer the classic yellow they are often seen in.
Side view
I have started working on my E Gemini hovercraft.
Most of the plastic pieces have been trimmed and the electronics tray has been mounted into the hull with silicon.
I have soldered the my connectors for the esc and battery pack replacing the Tamiya connector on the battery with a deans one.
I chose to use a specktrum receiver in the hovercraft as it means I can use the same transmitter as I use on my cars. I have tested the electronics and everything is working perfectly.
Next I need to trim down the lower hull and start working on the rear of the craft.
My biggest undertaking so far.
This is a model hovercraft kit I have just received.
It looks to be both a unique and challenging build.
You can find out more about the kit here.
Testing my team C Jekyll buggy. I am impressed with the performance but it is overheating my esc so I need to sort that out.
13×3 Orion Motor.
Mtroniks 10t limit sniper esc
8.4v 5100 Orion Rocket Pack Nimh
Spektrum DSM radio.
Here you can see the Jekyll doing a little wall riding. This is with a 7.2v battery pack.
When I first saw this kit on modelsport I was intrigued. It was only £39 and I wanted to know just how good a car you would get for the price. You have to supply your own Electronic Speed Controller, Servo, Receiver and Motor bringing the total minimum build price to around £70- £80. I spent a bit more as I wanted to but some more decent bits in it.
The packaging and parts were a decent quality considering the price and the manual was easy to follow. This would make a nice inexpensive first kit.
Things I used to complete the build:
It seems I made a bad choice with the esc as the 13×3 motor seems to overheat it very easily, I am looking into a solution for that. On top of this I melted a battery connector to the esc so I ordered some traxxas connectors to deal with the current.
Soldering the new connectors
I also ordered a set of UK buggy bearings to ball race the kit. These replaced the bronze bushings that come as standard.
I do intend to replace my battery connectors with deans but the reason I went with a traxxas in this instance is I got this rocket pack battery in a sale. Its a 5100Mah 8.4 V Orion Rocket pack and really makes the thing go.
The bad thing is its too big for the battery compartment so I have to tape it in each time!
In summary this kit is easy to build, robust and well its cheap enough to buy a second one for a complete set of spare parts. I will upload some videos of it in action soon!
My stock 17.5 Thunder tiger smoked out last week so I have replaced it with an orion 12×2 motor.
Modelsport is currently selling orion motors at half price.
I am tempted to pick up some more as spares.
Bashing with my Twin Hammers and Losi Micro short course truck.
Shane's Shed 