So, I Haven’t really done anything worth posting reciently, however, I do have a few things on the brew, and I thought I would make a post hinting at what they might be
Synths
First off, I’ve been surfing around the Music from Outer Space website, and I’m feeling like tackling an ambtious project, that has lots of knobs, and shiny things.
To be a little more specific, I’m planning on starting with the Mini-Synth, So I can get a feel for things. I like things that make sound, and music, however, I lack the training and talent to make proper music myself, but I don’t let that stop me drooling over gear
To make this uber ambitious, I’m even going to attempt to create my own PCB, using the laser printer toner transfer method, which will be interesting, as it will be one of my first attempts at etching a PCB. I will probably attempt some smaller boards before I try the big one.
Mixers
I’ve noticed one of my more popular blog posts is my 2 channel mixer. I have since outgrown it, and now I’m back to using my behringer mixer to mix everything together. In order to free up the mixer again, and to give myself another project to play with, I plan on attempting to make myself an active multi channel stereo mixer – probably about 4 stereo channels in size. Stay tuned for that one.
I may also attempt to make an uber small pocket mixer for mixing various sound sources together, on the run
Pongsats
I am fairly interested in the pongsats of JP aerospace. For a while, I wondered if they still did runs with pongsats attached, as their blog and homepage doesn’t seem to be too up to date, however, I did find a few references to recient launches from my shuffling round the website.
I’m getting excited about making my own attempt at a “smart” pongsat. Similar in concept to the picaxe based one here. However, I’m not going to copy their design at all, I plan on using my own ideas, and hopefully, jamming as much as possible into the small space and weight constraints present. This means Surface mount components, and custom PCBs. both which will be learning experiences for myself.
Parts
For all these projects, I’m going to need parts that I don’t have. Originally, I figured I could pick most of it up from Jaycar, which is possible, and fine in most parts, however, at their prices, the little projects, like the audio mixer soon delve into the range it would cost to buy a cheap, professionally designed solution.
This is where places such as Futurlec come in handy, with prices for most components coming in at a dramatically cheaper price.
and just out of interest, for those australians out there, interested in Picaxe Microcontrollers. The place with the best range I have seen locally is MicroZed. they seem to be the main distributor of picaxe related gear in the country
So Stay tuned for more info on these, and other projects, along with Photos, step by step descriptions, Video, and anything else I can manage to include.
I hope you’re exited.
Matt Out.