Electronics Projects

In the below table are listed various electronic projects that I have worked on over time. Each project has been tested to at least the breadboard stage, whereas, many have been fabricated on either PCB or veroboard. In all cases, full details of the working circuit (including schematic diagrams, circuit descriptions, component selection) and any difficulties encountered during construction (and fixes, alternatives or work-arounds discovered) are given in detail.

Details of the various projects are available by clicking the links in the following tables which list projects by either category, project title or ID number.

Where I encountered new components, circuit ideas and or concepts I have not previously used, often I produced small test circuits to focus on learning the new item. Details of such experiments and learnings can be found on the Component Testing pages.

Sometimes I developed software (using either Visual Basic, Microsoft Access, CSS C++, or Excel spreadsheets) to help with various projects. Such programs, modules and or source code can be found on the Downloads pages.

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Category	Project Title	Description	Difficulty
DIY Tools	Guassmeter	A Guassmeter (magnetic field strength) is constructed using a Hall Sensor, as an attachment for a DMM.	Medium
DIY Tools	ATX PSU Conversion	A lab power supply constructed from a ATX PSU.	Easy
DIY Tools	LED Strip Lighting	LED strip lighting for the workbench	Easy
DIY Tools	Digital Counter	A digital event/voltage pulse counter is constructed.	Easy
DIY Tools	Electronic Dummy Load	An electronic dummy load is constructed from "junk box" parts (tested up to 30V 5A)	Medium
DIY Tools	PCB Drill	A variable speed drill is constructed with drill press, laser sight and LED spot light, variable speed motor control (PCB drilling etc).	Medium
DIY Tools	DIY PIC Development Board	A DIY PIC microcontroller development board is constructed (incorporates the components tested/listed on this site).	Medium
DIY Tools	UV Light Box	Ultraviolet light box for exposing PCBs	Medium
Miscellaneous	Bar Downlighting	High power white LED's are used to make downlighting for the Bar	Easy
Miscellaneous	LED Garden Light	Solar powered garden lights for paths and highlighting.	Medium
Miscellaneous	Fruit/Food Dehydrator	A Fruit/Food dehydrator constructed from a heating element and a Peltier device (PIC microcontroller controlled).	Medium
Miscellaneous	Hydroponics Pump Timer	Timer/Controller for a 12V pump for dispensing hydroponic nutrient solution. Powered from 12V battery and solar cell recharging.	Medium
Miscellaneous	Infinity Mirror	Various forms of infinity mirror are constructed, from simply LEDs to microcontroller RGB LED versions.	Medium
Miscellaneous	PID Controller	A PID Controller for a heater is developed (PIC microcontroller).	Medium
Miscellaneous	DC Motor Control PWM	DC motor speed control using pulse width modulation (PWM) via 555 Timer IC circuit.	Easy
Miscellaneous	Spectrophotometer	A visible wavelengths spectrophotometer is constructed from a LED light source, DVD "diffraction grating", PIC microcontroller and LDR/phototransistor as detector.	Difficult
Miscellaneous	Desklamp conversion to LED	A desklamp (incandescent bulb) is converted to LED using a transformerless AC to DC supply and 350mA white LED's.	Medium
Miscellaneous	Ultrasonic Night Light	A white LED night light, that is activated by an ultrasonic sensor, with battery backup based on a joule thief circuit.	Medium
PIC Projects	DIY Dev. Board	DIY development board for using various PIC parts	Medium
PIC Projects	In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) - Flashing a LED	Demonstrate the minimum circuit for a PIC microcontroller - In-Circuit Serial Programming (ICSP) and flashing a LED.	Easy
PIC Projects	Interface LCD to PIC	Basic circuit for interfacing a LCD to a PIC microprocessor	Easy
PIC Projects	Matrix Keypad connection	Connect a matrix keypad to a PIC microprocessor.	Easy
PIC Projects	Bar Sign (matrix LED display)	A Matrix LED (5 x (8x8) ie 320 LED’s) Display - used for an animated Bar Sign.	Hard
PIC Projects	Digital Thermometer	A digital thermometer (0-100oC) with 1-3 inputs, capable of RS232 output, constructed from PIC microcontroller/DS18S20 sensors.	Hard
PIC Projects	Spectrophotometer	A visible wavelengths spectrophotometer is constructed from a LED light source, DVD "diffraction grating", PIC microcontroller and LDR/phototransistor as detector.	Hard
PIC Projects	Bluetooth Garden LED Lights	PIC based project that uses a HC-05 bluetooth module to control LED's for garden lighting (with associated Android phone app).	Medium
Power Supplies	1.2-25V 1.5A Power Supply	Power supply using linear voltage regulator	Easy
Power Supplies	4A Power Supply	Power supply for larger size projects	Medium
Power Supplies	Using Wall Warts	Simple circuit for using 'wall warts'as mains power supplies	Easy
Power Supplies	Transformerless AC to DC	A transformerless AC to DC supply is constructed (for <100mA)	Easy
Power Supplies	ATX PSU Conversion	A lab power supply constructed from a ATX PSU.	Easy
Power Supplies	LM2596 Buck SMPS (3A 1.23-37V)	DC-DC step-down SMPS voltage regulator (variable 3A 1.23-37V)	Medium
Test and Measurement	Guassmeter	A Guassmeter (magnetic field strength) is constructed using a Hall Sensor, as an attachment for a DMM.	Medium
Test and Measurement	Electronic Dummy Load	An electronic dummy load is constructed from "junk box" parts (tested up to 30V 5A)	Medium
Test and Measurement	Digital Thermometer	A digital thermometer (0-100oC) with 1-3 inputs, capable of RS232 output, constructed from PIC microcontroller/DS18S20 sensors.	Difficult
Test and Measurement	Spectrophotometer	A visible wavelengths spectrophotometer is constructed from a LED light source, DVD "diffraction grating", PIC microcontroller and LDR/phototransistor as detector.	Difficult
Test and Measurement	Solar Cell IV-Curve Tracer	A IV-curve tracer for solar cells based upon DAC control of a MOSFET, controlled via PIC microcontroller and PC interface via RS232, with ESP8266 WiFi connection for sending data to web server.	Difficult