I’ve been interested in building kits for some time now, having previously built the Theremax, various small things from Velleman, and, most recently, a morse code practice oscillator. And, I remember a place near the central Rochester, NY post office called “Rogers Pianos and Clocks” that I have fond memories of visiting and gawking at cool looking timepieces. So, when I saw the “Ice Tube” clock kit from Adafruit, I knew it would be a great next project. This ATmega-powered clock features a Russian-made IV-18 vacuum fluorescent display (VFD) tube, which, despite being blue, like modern, annoying LEDs, is actually really really cool.
Thanks Steve!
Stop breadboarding and soldering – start making immediately! Adafruit’s Circuit Playground is jam-packed with LEDs, sensors, buttons, alligator clip pads and more. Build projects with Circuit Playground in a few minutes with the drag-and-drop MakeCode programming site, learn computer science using the CS Discoveries class on code.org, jump into CircuitPython to learn Python and hardware together, or even use Arduino IDE. Circuit Playground Express is the newest and best Circuit Playground board, with support for MakeCode, CircuitPython, and Arduino. It has a powerful processor, 10 NeoPixels, mini speaker, InfraRed receive and transmit, two buttons, a switch, 14 alligator clip pads, and lots of sensors: capacitive touch, IR proximity, temperature, light, motion and sound. A whole wide world of electronics and coding is waiting for you, and it fits in the palm of your hand.
Have an amazing project to share? The Electronics Show and Tell with Google Hangouts On-Air is every Wednesday at 7:30pm ET! To join, head over to YouTube and check out the show’s live chat – we’ll post the link there.
