Member's Forum - Recent Threads

Which invention involving light has changed the world the most?

cstanton — Mon, 09 Nov 2026 10:35:43 GMT

Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is celebrated by millions of people around the world, making this a fitting month to turn our attention to the engineering and technology of light.

From illuminating our homes to carrying information across continents, generating electricity and allowing us to see the otherwise invisible, engineers have found some extraordinary uses for light.

So, for this month's Question of the Month, we want to know: which invention involving light has changed the world the most?

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

There's plenty of room for debate here. The LED transformed lighting and displays, lasers underpin technologies ranging from manufacturing to communications, fibre optics carry enormous amounts of the world's data, while solar cells turn light itself into useful electrical energy.

And perhaps we've missed the invention you'd put above all of them.

Tell us what you picked and why in the comments. We're particularly interested in hearing from engineers who've worked with these technologies firsthand.

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Happy Diwali everyone.

embeddedguy — Sun, 08 Nov 2026 12:48:26 GMT

Happy Diwali to everyone.!

Diwali is a festival of light. One of the most important festivals in India

Time for me to do some crackers. 😄

Interestingly, found this cool wish from Element14 on Instagram.

Credits: element14 Company Instagram

Patent protection

Burkey — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 22:55:04 GMT

What patent protection do I get if I disclose my ideas to your forum?

HiFi in the late 70s

Jan Cumps — Mon, 02 Nov 2026 19:53:26 GMT

The late 70s are often mentioned as the golden age of HiFi. And I'm a music and music gear lover since forever.
To remind me of what music sounded like in the days, I've made a setup of analog gear of the era. Using decent gear, well maintained.
We've come a long way 🙂.

Currently listening to a 1977 recording of the 5th Beethoven Symphony, on a really good turntable (mid-60s Thorens), a good stereo (later 70s Kenwood), and - then - high end Koss headphones.
The industry evolved. Obviously by going digital. But also in the headphones department.
The turntable and amplifier, paired with a decent set of speakers, still sound very good. Pleasing to the modern ear. But I guess that no one would appreciate the headset - one that got very good reviews in the later 70s - these days.

When listening to the same chain, with decent speakers of the late 70s, all sounds good. Although I 'd like to argue it sounds better with contemporary affordable speakers.

This exercise helps me to value how music love, and the feel for quality, is partly perception.
Is it the sound quality that changed, or how we like to hear sound?

My personal (warning) opinion:
Source: Sound quality improved with digital sound sources. Excellent reproduction, without the mechanical quirks. Fidelity somewhat. Reliability, affordability and ease of using it: a lot.
Amplifier: Not that much improvement in sound quality. A lot of improvement in the same quality per Watt burned (see class-D).
Speakers: normal good speakers these days, I think, are better than the best speakers of the golden era.
Headphones: that technology improved a lot too. The headsets I used were (and still are) lusted after. But a decent (not expensive) pair of headphones you get now, will be way better. I doubt if anyone would appreciate the sound of my Koss headphones today.

Gear used.:

Record: Beethoven's 5th, Berliner Philharmoniker; Karajan, 1977
Turntable: Thorens TD-124 MKII
Amplifier: Kenwood KR-4400
Headphones: Koss KO-727s
Speakers to compare with: Celestion Ditton 15XR
All pre-1980, all in excellent condition

All your HMI are belong to us.

SensoredHacker0 — Sun, 01 Nov 2026 21:11:24 GMT

Haven't posted much. Heres some of the fun stuff I've been doing with an IDEC HG2J hmi.
figured how how to play tetris, and turned the thing into my own personal drumkit

https://youtu.be/QbgPwNuNI1M

www.youtube.com/watch

More or less relevant findings:
I learned if you can get your own code running on the HMI, you can do things like listen for HMI application input on the HMI over the network ( its own IP interface ).
Thats a pretty huge realization for me. I already know how to simulate a PLC, and read / write PLC / HMI registers over the network.

The general idea is that an application listens for HMI register operations, and executes linux commands when the specific interactions are detect.
Its not fully automatic of course, I have to login via ssh. when the function generator enumerates, I dont necessarily know where that will happen.
so for the function generator I have to start an stop with the correct USB interface. with tetris, its a little simpler, because the path is always the same.

I can not deploy this stuff to production, its still all very hacky, but it does give me some good ideas to recycle these things when the time comes.

Art of Electronics X chapters arrived

Jan Cumps — Thu, 29 Oct 2026 14:45:29 GMT

I've been looking out for the X-chapters book of the Arts of Electronics.

I pre-ordered it, and it was expected to arrive end august. That got postponed a few times, but today, my book arrived.

I don't know what chapter I'll read first. Not planning on reading this book from cover to cover, but to cherry-pick subjects based on my mood.

Too many XIAOs?

rsc — Tue, 20 Oct 2026 23:45:59 GMT

New member from Italy

peppe8o — Mon, 12 Oct 2026 07:06:53 GMT

Hi all!

I'm Giuseppe. I'm an ICT expert here in Italy (Rome-based). Also, I'm the blogger at peppe8o.com, a small personal blog where I write tutorials for beginners about Raspberry Pi computer boards and microcontrollers. I'm happy to join this community, and I hope I can help people to fix issues or on project ideas.

I'm also super curious about the new Arduino computer boards. Hope to get soon one of them for my tests and tutorials

ESP32 Software Defined Radio

spinden — Fri, 09 Oct 2026 02:13:47 GMT

Anyone else seen all the hacks to make an ESP32 into a 80MSpS SDR? How long do you think it will take to make it be fully functional and tune all sorts of bands?

hello

SKRIM — Tue, 06 Oct 2026 12:25:44 GMT

hello everyone im new to the site but im here to lurn more and to show all my projets to people so if im good at somthing and someone needs help and same for me i need to lurn more

Element14 Community Introduction

Gunasekaran.M — Sat, 03 Oct 2026 05:48:26 GMT

Hello everyone! I’m excited to join the element14 Community.

I’m interested in electronics, embedded systems, microcontrollers, AI and learning more about practical hardware development. I’m looking forward to exploring the community, sharing ideas, asking questions, and learning from the experience of other members.

I’d also love to connect with people working on interesting electronics projects and discover new tools, technologies, and design approaches.

Looking forward to being part of the community and learning together!

What projects or areas of electronics are you currently working on?

Has anyone repaired the Anerbic RG557

meera_hussien — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 21:07:48 GMT

Recently my brother asked me repair his Anbernic RG557 handheld gaming. I try charging it but there is no any indicator.

I am planning to change the battery as the first step.

We need YOU to help shape the Future of our Learning Center

RobinB13 — Thu, 01 Oct 2026 15:32:03 GMT

We're looking at refreshing the name of our Learning Center and we'd love to hear what the element14 Community thinks! The goal is to choose a name that better reflects the resources, training, achievements, and certifications that will be available to members. This means we will be restructuring and refreshing the content, and what's linked inside it.

Whether you've used the Learning Center extensively or are discovering it for the first time, your opinion matters. Please vote for your preferred option below and feel free to share your thoughts in the comments. If you have a name idea that isn't listed, let us know!

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Vote above and tell us why you chose your option!

Furthermore, we're not just renaming this area of the Community, we're also looking to expand and enhance what it offers. With that in mind, we'd love to know what type of content you think would be the best fit for this space ?

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Received a Surprise Package from element14!

meera_hussien — Tue, 29 Sep 2026 12:00:19 GMT

Today i received a package from element4. It was expected to be delivered on this Thursday, but surprisingly the package was delivered earlier today. This package is the combination of the prizes from different events.

The multimeter is from the Broadcom Encoder Quiz

The WERA tool is from the Hack The Holidays

And lastly the Testo Infrared Thermometer is from the Fun and Games

A big thanks to e14Liz for arranging the prizes and to element14 for organizing the event. Really appreciate it! I’ll be sharing unboxing videos for each item soon, so stay tuned.

Self-Introduction – My new chapter of learning, experimenting and building

richard.aguilar0305 — Sun, 27 Sep 2026 21:34:06 GMT

Hi everyone!

One of the main reasons why I joined the community is that, I’m genuinely excited to start learning and exploring new things again. I recently left my job to pursue my master’s degree, and for the first time in a while, I have the opportunity and time to dive into some of the bright and emerging ideas in engineering and technology that I’ve always been curious about.

I’m John by the way, a graduate student with a professional background in the power generation industry. My current interests are mainly around automation and robotics, especially Edge AI, machine learning, sensor integration and intelligent systems.

What excites me most is getting hands-on with technologies like microcontrollers, embedded systems, sensors, industrial I/O, machine vision and edge computing, and figuring out how they can be combined in meaningful ways. I’m especially interested in experimenting with systems that can sense what is happening around them, process that information locally and make useful decisions through automation or AI.

That is a big part of why this community caught my attention. I want to use this time to explore technologies I didn't always have the chance to work with professionally, learn from people who are actually building and testing things, and gradually turn some of my own ideas into working prototypes. I also hope my previous experiences in industrial environments can bring a practical perspective to some of those discussions and projects!

All the best to everyone,

JOHN

Farnell EU shopping policy changes

kk99 — Sat, 26 Sep 2026 11:10:19 GMT

It looks like there is a change related to the EU VAT Ordering. This means that from 1 July 2026 due to those EU regulations, you cannot create an order as a private customer without a valid EU vat number.

Introduction – Manufacturing, Automation, IIoT & Embedded Systems

CamiloSR2012 — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 18:51:26 GMT

Hi everyone,

I’m Camilo, a manufacturing and automation engineer based in Canada. My background spans process engineering, advanced manufacturing, Industry 4.0, IIoT, industrial data, automation, and applied AI.

I particularly enjoy projects that bridge software and the physical manufacturing environment: embedded systems, microcontrollers, industrial I/O, sensors, machine vision, edge computing, PLCs, Python, and manufacturing data systems.

I’m currently doing more hands-on experimentation with Arduino and industrial-style hardware, with a focus on understanding how embedded prototypes can be developed into robust solutions for real manufacturing environments.

I joined the element14 Community to learn from other engineers, exchange ideas, document some of my experiments, and contribute where my manufacturing and data background can be useful.

Looking forward to meeting everyone.

Little BEAST arrives

Qbit — Sun, 20 Sep 2026 11:46:41 GMT

Thank you Element14 specially JoRatcliffe and e14Liz for organising and managing interesting podcasts as Top Tech Voices , in whose season 2 episode 5, I had been

selected as winner of Arduino Uno Q(4gb).

It had arrived on 16 but I was not able to make a post I am really sorry for it.

Its is wonderful SBCs with the love of Arduino, so I can make lot of different projects with it but for now I will be using it in my build for Smart Home & Healthcare Challenge . You can see more

on how will I use it in the upcoming forum on the project.

Again great thanks to element14 for the Q.

How do you feel about the Ocarina of Time remake?

e14Liz — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 13:23:06 GMT

I very much enjoy that the newer character designs are inspired by puppets (●'◡'●) I played the original on the N64, strategising with my younger sibling on how the water temples ACTUALLY work. I'm interested to know how many of you have played a Legend of Zelda (LoZ) game before, and which one was your first and your favourite?

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

Even though the Legend of Zelda became a fast and firm favourite, my first experience with games was a Sega Mega Drive with Sonic the Hedgehog built into the console. I'm still not very good at it but it spring boarded my joy of video games (❁´◡`❁)

[Please visit the site to access the poll]

My latest console purchase was actually the 40th Anniversary LoZ Switch 2 (super jazzed btw). I just wanted to find out more about everyone else's thoughts and opinions on this!

www.youtube.com/watch

Spring Cleaning contest prize has arrived

colporteur — Fri, 18 Sep 2026 02:28:55 GMT

The shipper just delivered my prize selection from the Spring Cleaning Contest.

I dropped what I was working on and took this pic. Before this squirrel distracted me from what I am supposed to be working on, I put it back in the box.

This weekend I am sitting on a house boat with a drink in one hand and now a Multicomp Pro Intelligent Digital Multimeter 72-9380A in the other. At close to five hundred bucks retail on the Newark site, I may throw a life jacket on the bad boy just in case.

I'm not letting the little missus know I've stuffed this in my carry-all. What is that saying "It is faster to ask for forgiveness than permission."

Repairing a emerson M300 uni-Drive

acdc90 — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 08:37:12 GMT

Hello

I have been asked to look at 1 of these which has had a power surge ?

Yes they have ordered a new one BUT that is 6 weeks away

I have taken the top off and powered it up with out computer module

feeding 400v 3 phaze in and got 560v DC on rail

but the logic 24v and 12v output power supplies are pulsing

so far i am unable to read the numbers on 8 legged ic used to drive this supply

Has anyone worked on one of these

Before i start traceing the circuit around this ic

Hi

wchanengeta — Sun, 13 Sep 2026 05:23:27 GMT

Hey colleagues.

I am electronics engineer, excited to join the platform and I am a 'small' projects entusiast. I enjoy to watch people make interesting projects, learn more about tech and help those facing problems to figure out ways to make things work.

Happy to be here!!

Uno QQQQQQQQQQ arrives

embeddedguy — Sat, 12 Sep 2026 10:07:47 GMT

Thank you Element14 and specially 14Liz for sending these devices.

I am looking forward to creating some amazing projects and posts using these devices.

These prices are for Top tech voices and Nordic matter webinar with Finn from Nordic.

I have got

Arduino Uno Q - 4 GB version
nRF54L15-DK development kit

About to be blindsided by EU legislation?

stanto — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 19:35:51 GMT

I don't really listen to podcasts, however this one appeared with an alarming topic:

https://pocketcasts.com/podcast/the-raspberry-pi-podcast/bc453320-3200-013f-6004-02fd4c4e48d1/the-eu-cyber-resilience-act-what-it-means-for-raspberry-pi-and-you/2bdcb0a3-dd8c-4bf6-8dd9-1adf8245b871

The Cyber Resilience Act is about to change how every connected product gets built, sold and supported in the EU; and Raspberry Pi is no exception. In this episode, Tom Westcott, Matthew Lear and James Hughes sit down to unpack what the CRA actually requires, who it applies to, and what it means in practice for makers, developers and manufacturers building on Raspberry Pi.

They cover the basics of the legislation like secure-by-design requirements, vulnerability disclosure obligations, and the compliance deadlines heading into 2027 before getting into the part most people actually want to know: how Raspberry Pi helps you to be CRA compliant, and what that means for anyone building products on top of it.

Whether you're shipping a commercial product, running a small business, or just curious about how EU regulation reaches into the maker world, this conversation breaks down the legislation without the legal jargon.

In this episode:

What the Cyber Resilience Act is and why it exists
Who's actually in scope (spoiler: it's not just big manufacturers)
How Raspberry Pi is helping developers meet CRA requirements
Practical steps you can take now to get ahead of compliance deadlines

I'll save you a google search:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cyber_Resilience_Act

https://digital-strategy.ec.europa.eu/en/policies/cyber-resilience-act

Something to follow when doing a design challenge? (I haven't fully read through it all yet)

hello from Seeed Studio, China

Tanakakari — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 02:16:37 GMT

hi I'm Asti, you might aslo call my Akari. I'm here to discover more interesting things about LoRa and meshtastic thing, or something might related with.

Meanwhile, I am also learning tinyML for environmental monitoring. If I have come to the right place, please give me more information about the relevant study materials!