Tracking web radio idea - soldering the first PCB and preparing for slip casting
Things are starting to come together now with the web radio idea/project.
I’ve now completed soldering the first revision of the smallest.space web radio PCB, nearly completed the slip casting mold, and am actually able to flash the real board with working firmware. Plus a few other things along the way.
Tracking web radio idea - two months in
After two months of elapsed time (roughly 40-60 hours of solid working time), the project is starting to take shape. I’ve got a PCB ordered, electrical components ordered, and a path to the finish line (likely with some detours and backtracking involved).
Tracking a silly idea when it’s born - ESP32 based web radio stream player
So many projects I end up spending weeks on come out of silly ideas that pop in my head that I get stuck on and blindly chase after. I had one these ideas yesterday and figured perhaps it might be interesting, for my own sake, to be able to catch one of these ideas in the wild and capture the beginning of the spiral I may potentially end up on.
This particular idea is for a dead-simple ESP32 based web radio streamer that outputs line-level audio via a 3.5mm jack.
Clay and Big Orange, an experiment in AI slop vinyl record creation
I recently cancelled Apple Music (our family’s remaining streaming service subscription!) and bought a record player. This felt like a (very) small way to claw back a bit of agency from a world creeping towards AI-everything. Ironically and perhaps counter-productively, the same week I used one of the many music generation tools available to make a song as a silly / throw away tribute to a very nice guy on our block, Clay, who clears the sidewalks and roads with his snowblower which he calls Big Orange.
ミッチン Part 1
I’ve been working on a new version of the IoT device I called “Mitchine” on and off (but mainly off) for the past several years. I’m at a point where I need to stoke the fires and pick the project back up to finish it, or write it off in my mind so I can free up head space (and forgive myself for failing to complete the project) for other projects.
This post documents some of the work that has gone into the project thus far.
Mitchine - ESP8266 + MQTT connected wooden boxes with LED display
I created an IoT “Think of you” box for my family for a gift.
- MQTT
- Custom PCB design
- My first “deeper” electronics project
Mitchell Morse Machine (Morsel) - Morse Code Key/Sounder with Arduino and Open API
An Arduino Yun was used to create a web connected Morse key and sounder for a present.
Also a simple circuit design and a purpose-built web service for communication between the web and the machine.