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

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

Yesterday’s box from the PiHut’s Maker Advent Calendar included a DIP switch and yet more jumper cables. Today’s project makes use of that and pairs it with the five LED block from day four. As you can see from the video below it has created a rat’s nest of cabling and was very fiddly to operate – but it did work.

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

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

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

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

The contents of box three look like they are going to build on the previous two days as included are a red and a green button clearly to operate the block LED we wired up in yesterday’s project.

Day three included the following:

• 1x Green 12mm Square Tactile Button
• 1x Red 12mm Square Tactile Button
• 5x Male to male jumper wires

Check back tomorrow to see them in action!… Read the rest

Now that we have two boxes open we can carry out the first project which is to take the supplied Pico, LED block light, breadboards and cables and wire them together.

As with last year’s calendar, the projects come with an excellent set of tutorials which you can find on the PiHut website. These walk you through not only the project but also come with an explanation as to what the components are and how they work. This is useful for beginners and acts as a nice refresher for experts too.

Today’s project was to take the block LED, which … Read the rest

Yesterday, I opened the first box from this year’s PiHut Maker Advent Calendar. This next box revealed some simple parts so we can get on and do the first proper project, which I will be covering tomorrow. Take a look at the video 👇 for details of what is in the day two box.

Day two included the following:

• 1x 15mm diffused ‘blocky’ LED
• 1x Resistor
• 2x Male to male jumper wires

Tomorrow I will post a video showing how I got on wiring it all together.… Read the rest