How I Made a Clock out of Parts of Old Projects

One side effect of ordering PCBs from a professional fab house is that you always get more PCBs than you actually need. For example, when you place an order for a PCB prototype at PCBWay, you get at least 10 copies of the PCB, sometimes even more. In most cases, …

USB Mini-B Socket – USB Type-A Plug Conversion on a USB-TTL Adapter

Introduction Earlier today I needed an extra of those USB-to-TTL-Serial adapters for a project I am currently working on. Among my spare parts I found an old one, based on the PL-2303HX chip, but when I attached it to my Windows 11 PC, it didn’t seem to work. I remember, …

Custom Development Boards To Speed up Development

(This article is updated regularly as I create new development boards. The new ones are towards the bottom of this page.) Over the years I have created several development boards and breakout boards. Despite their cost (time, effort, money) they are invaluable investments for development. They simplify and speed up …

Broadlink Smart Bulb Conversion to Open Source

Introduction Recently I have come across some smart LED light bulbs that came in different sizes, shapes, functionalities and manufacturers. One thing they share is that they all do their “smarts” over a WiFi connection for which you need to use a smartphone and one of the many apps that …

Expert tip: Add More Flash Memory to your Sonoff Basic Wifi Smart Switch

Introduction The Sonoff Basic Wi-Fi Smart Switch is an inexpensive wireless smart switch for anyone who wants to remote control and/or automate electric devices around the house or workplace. Unfortunately, it suffers from the same privacy issues as many of the inexpensive consumer grade smart devices, like the one in …

Privacy Showcase: How to Use Smart Devices without Ewelink/Internet

Recently, more and more consumer devices are available to make your home “smarter”. While they can make our lives a bit easier, comfortable, most of these smart devices also give rise to a number of privacy concerns as well as usability/reliability issues: The mobile apps (i.e. Ewelink, Smart life, etc) that …