In the end it mostly just fed my curiosity, though I did create a motor controller for a home-built TV lift and a cheesy Halloween special effect. This, of course, required the acquisition of a “much nicer” soldering iron (in fact a soldering station!) as well as enough microcontrollers and other components to start my own “shack”: “Alexa, what is ‘nerd obsession’?”Īs you can see from the photo I had grand ambitions to build all sorts of internet-connected gizmos with sensors, displays, etc.
This nascent interest in electronics caused me to own a basic soldering iron as a youth (though what I used it for is now lost to my ever aging memory) as well as a resurgent interest as an adult in the much trendier sounding hobby of “making”. I recall there was a basic VHF radio circuit included but I never remember ever getting that to work. I was particularly drawn to circuits that blinked or buzzed. These were ingenious “educational toys” that allowed you to create a variety of electronic circuits by connecting components attached to a large board using wire and spring connectors. Now, I am old enough to remember (a) when Radio Shack was a thing and (b), in particular, Radio Shack’s “Science Fair 100 in 1” Electronic Project Kits. (You’re building a whole airplane so how hard can this be, right?) Specifically they sell you the electronic components (circuit boards, LEDs, resistors, etc.) and you solder them all together. Sounds awesome, right!įlyLEDs really embraces the whole “amateur-built” concept by making you finish the build on the lights. It’s an outfit focused in the RV market and apparently run by some Aussies (so points for that already) and unlike most (all?) other vendors doesn’t sell you something you can just bolt directly into your plane. I had researched various options from different suppliers with different strengths/weaknesses but really wanted a complete solution from a single vendor if at all possible. With the wing kit ordered (Happy New Year 2021 to me!) I got obsessed with planning out the exterior lighting since a good chunk of it goes in the wings. And, doc, when I lift my left arm really high I get this pain… Oh, right.
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