PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Eight

There was a nice surprise waiting for me inside the box for day eight. Take a look at the video below for details and then view the parts list below.

I have to say that I am looking forward to trying out the projects for this one!

Day Eight included the following:

  • 1x 12-LED RGB Ring
  • 3x Male to male jumper wires
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PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Seven

Another day, another box. Initially, I was a bit confused as to what was in the box today but suddenly it dawned on me. Take a look for yourself in the video below and then have a look at the parts list at the bottom of the page.

Day Seven included the following:

  • 1x 45mm slide potentiometer
  • 1x Cap for slide potentiometer
  • 3x Male to male jumper wires
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PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Six Project

Today we completely clear the decks of everything except the Pico. We’re not adding boughs of holly though but the contents of box six: two 10mm RGB addressable LEDs and yet more jumper cables – although I have so many now that I didn’t use the ones from box six.

I think that this is what I was expecting the block LED to be like in the day two box, i.e. one unit with multiple coloured LEDs. In this case, there are three (red, green and blue) that are individually addressable allowing for blends of colours to be produced.… Read the rest

PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Six

Help! I’m drowning in jumper cables!

We’ve reached box six of PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar which is the halfway mark. I notice that PiHut have already reached box nine in their guides which suggests that they are opening one a day. That also means that for them Christmas will be on the 13th December! I’m continuing with the every-other-day cadence which allows me a day for the projects too.

So here is me unboxing box six and spilling half the contents over the side of the table. Tune in tomorrow to see if the contents survived intact.

Day Six included … Read the rest

PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Five

Today’s box contained just one item of interest, if you ignore the inevitable jumper cables. A DIP switch – not to be confused with the DIPstick making the video 🤣. Given that this is a five-switch DIP it’s not hard to guess what the project is going to be to go with this but I’ll leave that excitement for tomorrow.

For now have a look at the video below to see the contents in all their glory.

Day Five included the following:

  • 1x 5-way DIP switch
  • 5x Male to male jumper wires

Tomorrow the DIPstick uses the DIP switch in … Read the rest

PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Four Project

Now that the mystery of the green LED has been resolved I can move forward safe in the knowledge that I’m not missing anything (other than the ability to properly read instructions of course 🤣). Today’s video makes use of the 5-segment bar graph display from box four with several simple projects to light up the segments before combining them with the buttons from box three.

It’s early days but I wonder where this is all going and whether there will be a way of bringing all the components together in one super-project towards the end. We shall see. … Read the rest

PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Four

I start this post with an apology. I have mentioned in the last couple of posts that I hadn’t been able to get the green LED to work in the block – only red. I reached out to PiHut to find out what was going on only to discover that the only red was the embarrassment on my face when I learned there was no green LED – at least, not in the block. If I’d read the notes more carefully I’d have realised that the green light referred to wasn’t in the block at all but on the Pico! … Read the rest

PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar 2023 – Day Three Project

In box three of the PiHut Maker Advent Calendar are two switches, one red and one green, clearly to be used with the red and the green LED that was in box two. Unfortunately, I still haven’t been able to get the green LED to work so today’s project has been slightly neutered but does work to a point.

As you can see from the video below I did get one of the switches working … 🤣

I have reached out to PiHut hoping that they can point me in the right direction and get the green LED working. This … Read the rest