Electronics
Published 26th August 2025
🎪 Community & Maker Projects
Prototype 3D (revk​.uk). 3D printing prototypes, rapid iteration, resin vs FDM, interlocking lips on cases, back box compatibility, Nipples alignment, 0.5mm thickness issues, QA fixes, China-sourced prints, white resin trials, half-hour turnaround, time and cost savings
Making a Turtle Bot 1: Hacking a Mint Cleaner (robopenguins​.com). Mint Plus 5200 hack yields ESP32-driven turtle bot with 2-channel motor drive, encoder pull-ups, MQTT control, UDP ROS2 experimentation, Arduino NetworkManager, manual teleop, and PIDFuture steps
52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Roundup: Weeks 33-36 (ianrenton​.com). 52 Week Ham Radio Challenge Weeks 33-36: building a dipole with UniBalun DG1JAN, NVIS tuning, QRP 10W SSB, weather fax via fldigi, impedance matching with a Smith chart, and battery-powered full-station operation
WHY2025 was great (dammit​.nl). First-time WHY2025 hacker camp highlights socializing, soldering workshop, 2-hour power outage, AR goggles, tiny SMD LEDs, DECT phone camping network, Datenklo fiber/wifi, USB-C soldering bench upgrades, laser and DMX-fueled light show, Hackerspace on ship Serendiep, Prins S. en de Geit, REYN Ouwehand jam, Tesla coil flame show, custom DIY hoverboard car, foggy camping site, gallery link, 2029 anticipation
Magic Smoke (marcusb​.org). Magic Smoke moments in electronics: reversed polarity on backup battery string to a DC inverter, lightning and power surges in a WAN, damaged T1 IC packaging, burnt monitor causing fried video card, and odor of burning plastic and ozone
🥧 Raspberry Pi & Single Board Computers
Reverse Engineering ALL the Raspberry Pis (jeffgeerling​.com). Lumafield 3D scans of modern Raspberry Pi lineup, with Voyager tool access, plus reverse engineering notes on Pi Zero 2 W and Compute Module 5
Raspberry Pi 5 OpenWRT Travel Router (tristam​.ie). Raspberry Pi 5 OpenWRT travel router setup: Pi 5 case, OpenWRT build, config.txt tweaks, dtoverlays for power button and active cooling, kmod-button-hotplug, Comfast CF-926AC support, OpenVPN vs WireGuard guidance, case printable, affiliate disclaimer
Adding A RaspberryPI to a WiFi Network On Command Line (conradakunga​.com). Raspberry Pi 4, WiFi network switch, command line, sudo raspi-config, System Options, Wireless LAN, SSID, access key, Docker, piHole, Linux, network configuration, Nairobi, Kenya, Conrad Akunga, Building Software In.NET
Dweet.cc with MicroPyton (lucstechblog​.blogspot​.com). MicroPython code samples show how to send and retrieve data to Dweet.cc using a Raspberry Pi Pico W/MicroPython, including Wi-Fi setup, urequests calls, and JSON parsing
📡 ESP32 & IoT Development
Flash an AirGradient ONE from the Command Line (mtlynch​.io). Step-by-step guide to flashing an AirGradient ONE via command line on Debian/Ubuntu, installing arduino-cli, ESP32 core 2.x, locating /dev/ttyACM0, and adjusting permissions for flash access
Build Your IoT Portfolio in 90 Days: A Hands-On Plan for Students and Engineers (shawnhymel​.com). Hands-on IoT plan spanning 12 weeks: platform choices (Arduino, ESP-IDF, Zephyr RTOS), prototyping, GitHub documentation, ThingsBoard, Adafruit IO, AWS IoT Core, MQTT/HTTP, Home Assistant, dashboards, multi-device expansion, enclosure design, and public portfolio growth
ESPHome ESP32 Coredump Debugging (lanrat​.com). ESP32 coredump debugging with ESPHome: enable core dumps, custom partition table, ESP-IDF tools, firmware.elf extraction, esptool read/erase, esp-coredump, and online stack trace decoder
CircuitPython Day 2025 Special Edition (thebootloader​.net). CircuitPython Day 2025 special edition; The Bootloader live show; fonts with circuitpython-fonts repo; VS Code CircuitPython extension; USB host MIDI tester; Fruit Jam MIDI tester; Font loading with circup; program workflows: native USB, Web, Bluetooth BLE, USB serial; ESP32, nRF52 devices; code.circuitpython.org accessibility
đźš‚ Model Railways & Mechanical Projects
Motor into the chassis (philsworkbench​.blogspot​.com). A basic motor-to-chassis setup with 3D-printed pulleys, a posh rubber band, wheel removal, pulleys fitted, and testing of all wheels to ensure motion in a Land Rover-like off-road setup
Power for the Mountain (30squaresofontario​.blogspot​.com). Power controller for model trolley using PWM unit, two 9V batteries in parallel for extended life, homebuilt 70s style control panel, foam and CelluClay mountain integration, wiring access upgrade, DIY slot-car aesthetic
On my workbench – N-club loops completed (esngblog​.com). N-club end loops built from a discarded puppet theatre; 6mm ply baseboard, sacial trackbed, laser-grade ply code 55 vs code 80, trammel layout, manual point operation, isolating switches, choc-block wiring panel, Warship test scare, tidy workbench finale
Ugly wiring (philsworkbench​.blogspot​.com). Model railway wiring with simple on/off switch, no reverse control; describes drilling floor holes, soldering motor to switch, struggling with DPDT switches without centre off, and future upgrade ideas
🏠Home Networking & Automation
Mailbox Delivery Notifications (caseyliss​.com). Home Assistant YoLink integration, mailbox sensors, MQTT bus, input_datetime, automations, Pushover, door sensor, mailbox flowchart, announcements over YoLink hub
Blackholing tracking domains by running Pihole as a DHCP server (blog​.balthazar-rouberol​.com). Block ads and trackers by running Pi-hole as a DHCP server, using cloudflared DNS over HTTPS, advertising 192.168.1.17 to clients, and leveraging Wikimedia DNS upstreams
My OpenBSD Home Network Setup (btxx​.org). OpenBSD router setup, 1Gbps, Starlink switch, non-CGNAT, OpenBSD router, Eero mesh, OpenWRT, Raspberry Pi 400, httpd server, basement closet networking
Is it a bad buy? (jlelse​.blog). Proxmox, OpenWRT, NixOS router build with CAKE, AdGuard Home DNS proxy, 5G latency issues, Topton mini PC, OpenWRT vs NixOS vs Proxmox, Jellyfin idea, BIOS tweaks, 200€ investment, potential resale
⚡ Power Systems & Monitoring
More words about enphase (roguelazer​.com). Enphase IQ8X microinverters, IQ Combiner, IQ System Controller 3M, Envoy gateway API, local UI tokens, Rust envoyproxy, Sunny Days SwiftUI app, Emportia-EVSE control, Prometheus/Grafana, k8s, Tailwind/Tailscale, open API, outage-safe operation, energy management, solar+battery hybrid
Redudant power supply for home servers and devices (wtarreau​.blogspot​.com). Redundant power distribution for home servers using 12V rails, TPS259571DSGR fuse, 5.5x2.1mm jacks, RGB LED state reporting, diodes for paralleled switches, 16-device rack, 70W load, USB-C/USB, MDF panel, copper bus bars, UPS integration
adding my home electricity uptime to status.href.cat (aggressivelyparaphrasing​.me). Personal uptime project uses IoT devices, Wyze API, Eero router data, and a self-hosted n8n workflow to monitor home electricity and internet uptime with historical dashboards and alerts
Friday 22 August 2025 (nedprod​.com). Niall Douglas documents a Cork cycling exploration with Fiido T2 Longtail, Haulbowline Island trip, and discusses differential pressure sensors (CFSensor XGZP6897D) vs BMP390; ESPHome integration, sensor part number chaos, and testing setup
🕰️ Vintage Computing & Hardware Restoration
My VL-Bus i486 board lives! I’m incredibly happy (rubenerd​.com). VL-Bus i486 board with UMC GREEN-40 CPU, FPM modules, VL-Bus slots, AMI BIOS, TSeng ET4000AX graphics, POST analyzer, DeoxIT cleaning, battery corrosion, ISA VGA, PicoRC power supply, boot success
Starting with known good components (rubenerd​.com). Starting with known-good components in retrocomputing: minimize variables, use bare metal, VMs, jails, modern storage and power supplies, and test setups for i486 boards and VL-Bus hardware
PiStorm 600 on my Amiga 600 (epsilonsworld​.com). PiStorm 600 upgrade for Amiga 600, external Gotek drives, Sordan.ie and AranaNet builds, PiStorm 600 from AmigaStore.eu, Subway USB, Indivision ECS VGA, GOTEK, RTG, SLIP, amikit xe, WHDLoad, Wodem, IMPBox
Testing RSX on the ENC28J60 (pdp2011​.sytse​.net). RSX-11M-Plus on PDP11 via SIMH, RSX networking setup, RSXRP06 disk image, ENC28J60/ENC424J600 microcode bug fix, DEUNA, DNI/PCEI interrupts, xubr.mac edit, make and Quartus compilation for FPGA
Restoration of the 1132 printer carriage mechanism - part 1 (rescue1130​.blogspot​.com). Restoration notes on IBM 1132 printer carriage: freeing gearbox clutches, motor test, worm gear removal, 70/150 RPM platen drives, detent alignment, cam-driven switch (CB) with line slots, printer controller signaling, corrosion-affected contacts, clock oil seeping, rodent urine damage
Reassembly of the 1132 printer - part 2 (rescue1130​.blogspot​.com). Reassembly of the IBM 1132 printer includes addressing a print clutch dog pivot issue, removing top guide bar/comb, bending disk, and reattaching guide bar after successful adjustment
đź”§ Hardware Development & Reverse Engineering
Power Switch and Battery Replacement of an SR620 Universal Time Interval Counter (tomverbeure​.github​.io). SR620 voltage switch repair, ITT Schadow NE15 T70 replacement, external 5 MHz clock reference, auto-calibration, backup 3V BR-2/3A battery, external oscilloscope display mode, GPIB/RS232 access, time-nuts discussions
A NeoPixel Driver using AVR Hardware [2] (technoblogy​.com). NeoPixel (WS2812) driver on AVR with SPI, Timer/Counter, CCL, and Event System; AVR128DA28 wiring optimizations; LUT1, EVSYS channels, and TCA0 integration
MicroZed Chronicles : What do I actually do? (adiuvoengineering​.com). FPGA consultancy: fixed-price turnkey design, time-and-materials debugging, AXI/SmartConnect, SCU35/ZU boards, AXI interconnect, SPI output, reference designs, Spartan UltraScale Plus, real-world debugging in Wales
Decoding Capsure USB (blog​.ivor​.org). Decoding Capsure USB with Wireshark traces, URB_CONTROL commands, Python scripting, firmware upgrades, bootloader access, image uploads, NAND flash exploration, chip id checksums, and experimenting on RM200 Capsure devices
📚 Academic Research
TinyML Towards Industry 4.0: Resource-Efficient Process Monitoring of a Milling Machine (arxiv:cs). Complete TinyML implementation on ARM Cortex M4F achieves 100% accuracy in 15.4ms using only 12.59 kiB. Perfect reference for makers deploying machine learning on microcontrollers
ListenToJESD204B: A Lightweight Open-Source JESD204B IP Core for FPGA-Based Ultrasound Acquisition systems (arxiv:cs). Open-source FPGA IP core uses 79% fewer resources than commercial alternatives while supporting 12.8 Gb/s. Essential for makers building high-speed FPGA applications
ARSP: Automated Repair of Verilog Designs via Semantic Partitioning (arxiv:cs). LLM-based tool automatically debugs Verilog code with 77.92% success rate, outperforming commercial tools. Game-changer for FPGA developers and digital designers
Low-Power Control of Resistance Switching Transitions in First-Order Memristors (arxiv:cs). Optimized control protocols minimize energy consumption in memristor programming, advancing next-generation memory devices. Valuable for researchers exploring emerging technologies
đź‘‹ Before you go
I've got a big favor to ask - keeping Blaze running isn't expensive, but it does all add up, so I'm asking readers like you to help, if you can.
That's why I'm launching a Patreon page!. Nothing flashy, just a way for folks who find value in these newsletters to chip in a little each month. In return, you'll get:
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Thanks for reading and being part of this nerdy corner of the internet. All the best - Alastair.
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