April Swag Bags

Thanks to TE Connectivity for their promotion via the Digikey twitter feed. My laptop fits in the backpack perfectly - just right for cycling. I was doubly surprised when Digikey sent me another the next day. But then, I like coordinated luggage. The third one is in the mail, right? ;-)

@YT2095 Magic Mouth v1.0 Build

Yours Truly (@YT2095) is putting together a Magic Mouth v1.0 speech synthesis shield for his Saturday morning project! Just for fun, I sent him one the PCBs I had got back from Seeedstudio's FusionPCB service. He's substituted a potentiometer for the thumbwheel trimmer, and it looks like one last header and the jack socket still need to make it onto the board. It's looking good, John. :)

Cool and Curly Counterflow Chiller

The Magic Smoke Brewhouse is a fine place to chill. Especially since we put together this heat exchange coil for cooling wort.

February Swag Bag: ITead Studio Xmas gift

ITead studio sent Christmas gifts to followers of its Twitter feed. I was thrilled to receive a blue 20x4 LCD display and PCB test card. Thanks guys — and Happy New Year!

Converted Cooler Mash Lauter Tun

It's long past time to start making beer again at the Magic Smoke Brewhouse and Grill. The best place to start is at the heart of the brewery: the mash lauter tun, or MLT.

January Swag Bag: DE0-Nano

I was a lucky entrant in Digiwish 2012, winning a DE0-Nano FPGA development board. Thanks Digikey for making my Christmas wish come true!

£1 Lithium Ion Battery Charger

One cheap PCB from an auction site. 1 scrap bit of copper pipe. 2 bronze pennies. Put them together and charge up a 18650 Li ion cell.