I bought a PI when they first came out, And it ended up in a drawer. I did eventually use it for emulation stuff.
I have however had a bit of playing around with Arduino stuff - somewhat less cut down that a PI I think but pretty good for a lot of stuff. And really cheap too.
I also found a plugin for visual studio that let you add breakpoints to your code which was nice. (Granted it actually cheater by injecting code - but dont think matters - you could add them and check flow and such)
Thanks for the link. Unfortunately the Mk2 does not have obdurate but a Mazda protocol of pulses that can be decoded by installing a led link. However gives me the idea of a look-up table when decoded. Thanks
I never used to understand the advantages of Arduino over RPi, but I read a very good article describing the pros and cons of both and see how an arduino can be a better fit for certain projects. Still sticking with my Pi though😂
And of course the price. You can get 3 ESP 32 (Which is essentially an arduino) for £15. A Pi Zero is £20 for one.
But yes - certainly depends on the use case. If you wanted to make say sequential LED deelies the an ardunio is just fine.
had an awesome demonstration at our radio club the other night including multiple leds flashing back and forth like Knight Rider using Arduino UNO
Robocat?
No. It was just 4 wheels and motors I bought on Amazon. I had to buy the motor controller relays, LiDAR sensor separately and then work out how to connect all the components together and then write the python code to make it all work autonomously
Did 3 and a bit years of Radio & TV Electronics Engineer apprenticeship back in the early 70’s - can just about remember how to wire a 3 pin plug now though!!
Wiring plugs is an ideal qualification to be one of the volunteer fixers at our monthly Norwich Repair Cafe. Seriously though, a lot of our customers use us as their last resort at getting a varied range of broken items fixed at an economic cost.
I’ll have to check this out. Will you be at any of the Norfolk fives meet ups?
Yes, I’m at most monthly meets unless one clashes with a holiday, and on pretty much on all of David Holloway’s mid-week runs. Just should out above the general hubbub “Where’s Laurie” and I’ll introduce myself. I’ll be there tonight should you be going.
Guilty.
Been into electronics since I was a kid. I used to ‘fix’ valve TV sets for friends and relatives (mostly by thumping them, sometimes by changing valves…).
Have made a number of valve based guitar amplifiers as well as solid-state stuff.
Current project is to use a little round display module with on-board ESP32 processor to replace the fake oil pressure gauge on my (currently off the road) MK2.5.
It fits into a 3D printed housing (left) that replaces the analogue gauge assembly
Just dummy data so far.
Of course, it needs to change colour at night:
It can also read CAN BUS signals (from ME442 once I install it), so it could also be a boost / AFR gauge: 
It’s all working, but needs tidying up before installing it. MOT failure + subsequent welding project is taking priority!
That’s impressive. I bet there’s several owners on the forum who would like to know how to swap out the toy oil pressure gauge for a real one, me included.
I took a different approach with my ‘99 NB1.
The existing pressure gauge is a proper linear one, but the oil pressure sender is just an on/off switch. So I removed the existing sender just to the rear of the oil filter, and replaced it with a 1/8” BSP male to 1/8” NPT female adapter together with a 0-5 Bar (about 70 PSI) 1/8” NPT Engine Oil Pressure Sensor. The new sensor needed an 8cm length of cable with an insulated male spade to insulated eyelet for connecting to the existing cable. For sensors with both a linear output and an on-off switch, choose the linear terminal!!
Before connecting the cable, take out the gauge cluster, remove its perspex cover and then turn on the ignition. The oil pressure gauge needle should then go over to its previous “Full on” position which in my case was about two thirds of the way across. I repositioned the needle to be at the “H” position.
Switch off the ignition, connect the sensor cable, switch on and let idle, checking that there is NO oil seepage between the block, adapter and sensor.
Switch on and start the engine. With my engine idling at cold and when driving, the needle is just past the two-thirds position. When idling whilst hot, it is just before the two-thirds position and as the revs drop from about 1500 to 860 rpm the needle swings as expected.
If you’re happy with the needle swing then replace the perspex, screw the instrument cluster back in and attach the binnacle cover.
That’s it, done.
Parts purchased from eBay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/121411882514
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/167802372538
Just make sure that the sensor you purchase is actually 0-5 bar and not the far more common 0-10 bar variety.
[EDIT]: I couldn’t get an oil pressure sensor with a BSP thread, hence the adapter. The sensor link is to my purchase about 18 months ago; its pressure spec may have changed between then and now.
Thanks - you still need to replace the sender as described in the post above (with a combined pressure / temperature sender such as Bosch 0 261 544 01F - note that this is a 10 Bar sensor).
The display is this one from Waveshare. I have added a daughter board with a 5V regulator, CAN BUS driver and some analogue input scaling / protection.
I’m toying with the idea of making them available once I’ve tested everything thoroughly.
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