Tim's way2.net

What is it Everyone knows the split flap display from old airports or train stations and the natural “flapping” sound they make when being operated. These display have long been replaced by modern ones using LCD or even TFT monitors. Some of the newer modules emulate the sound of the real mechanical displays since we’re so used to the sound. I grabbed two display on ebay, one with 0..23 and one with 0.

What is it BottleBoard is an Arduino based shelf with (in my case) 10 slots for bottles or glasses, which will be illuminated from the bottom to let them shine. The 10 lights are on 5050 / WS2812B PCBs with 8 LEDs each, daisy chained to construct one “line” of WS2812Bs. You can configure the color and brightness of each slot individually using the K40 encoder and change the overall brightness of all slots at once.

What is it The clock is driving three VGA monitors, each of them displaying two digits from the current time. The clock is DCF77 synchronized (this is a time broadcasting station in Germany), so it always gets the right time. Hardware The clock consists of two major modules: three DuinoMite basic boards and a DCF77 receiver by Conrad Electronics (a huge electronics retailer in Germany). The three boards are connected to each other using their internal COM ports, two are just displayers and one is decoding the time from the received signal.

What is BoomBox Some years ago I was searching for a portable music box with good sound and a lot of power, being able to be used with a battery. Unfortunately the things I found on the web were very disappointing. They were either cheap or had underwhelming sound. The ones being good were absolutely not affordable. So I started to think about building a box on my own – and the result is here.

The Challenge Most of my project are build in my private “Werkstatt” which is located in the cellar of an old building. Like most of the old buildings in Cologne, the cellar was build around 1900 without any attempt to isolate it. The consequence is typically a too high humidity, especially when it was raining for a few days. The common solution (despite heating, which is not feasible) is air condition.