Ralph S Bacon

A Very Merry Christmas 2024 to all my viewers who still are watching my videos!

Yes, I have been away from YouTube for about a year now but I still respond to comments (eventually,🤭) and I am glad value is still being found here.

I'm still swamped with "other work" so I'm not sure when I'll be making new videos but as Justin Bieber said, Never Say Never!

And A Happy New year 2025 🥳🎉🎊

5 months ago | [YT] | 175

Ralph S Bacon

I'm nearly there! As you can see from the photo (from about two weeks ago) the workshop is being built. In fact, it has been built and the electrics are being installed as from Friday.

I even have the LAN cable pulled through, albeit now yet connected but any day now.

So close to having a fully functioning workshop again I can nearly taste the burning flux. Ha ha!

It's taken far long to get to this stage than anticipated, partly down to long delays in moving (which happened February 26th). So today is week 6 in our new place, and we haven't stopped working day and night in all that time! I'm sure many of you will know that the list of jobs keeps getting longer once you actually move home.

Anyway, stick with me, I'll be back very soon now.

4 years ago | [YT] | 133

Ralph S Bacon

Update! I'm definitely moving home! OK, so I was a month out in my estimations of just how slowly the house market moves, and I'm now moving home at the end of February. In fact, within a week of writing this I will be looking out onto a new garden view, far away from concrete cows, dual carriageways and roundabouts (all hallmarks of Milton Keynes).

This really does mean that I go from sitting in an almost bare workshop (just me and my PC) to a non-existent workshop that has yet to be built.

I'm hoping it won't take too long before I'm back on line, but until then, if you don't hear from me, you will know why. If I told you all the trials and tribulations I've experienced in the pothole-strewn road I've travelled getting to Exchange of Contracts (today, 19th February 2021) you would not believe me. You couldn't make this stuff up.

Keep tuned and do enjoy (again) all the videos so far. What else have you got to do during our Covid-19 lockdown?

Before I leave you, here's a picturesque view of my new back garden. So delightful, don't you think? Will it be ready for next Friday, that's the question...

4 years ago | [YT] | 60

Ralph S Bacon

As many of you already know, I'm hoping to move house this month (January 2021). And, as many of you will already have had experience of this, things move very, very slowly when it comes to house conveyancing. Searches, land registry enquiries, solicitors enquiries, emails... the list goes on and on and on.

But there is now a dim light at the end of the tunnel and we still hope to get contracts exchanged and a moving date this month (Jan 2021).

When things do happen (that is, the exchange of contracts) this channel will, as I previously advised, suspend for a while as the move takes place and a new workshop gets built where I can record new, exciting videos (stop the sniggering at the back, please).

We've been super busy over the Christmas 2020 period packing stuff up into boxes,as we didn't want to leave it to the last minute. Hence, no new videos lately. Packing cardboard boxes in an orderly manner is more work than you might think.

But I might (emphasis on the _might_ ) be able to pre-record a couple of videos that I can drip feed over the next few weeks. Just to keep my channel alive if nothing else (Google "suspends" channels with no activity for 3 months, I hear, anecdotally).

So keep tuned, subscribe and click the bell to be informed when a new video appears - it could be at any time!

4 years ago | [YT] | 97

Ralph S Bacon

I've been wanting to buy an Internet Radio for some time and then thought "Ouch! Expensive! Why not make one?"

I was going to use a Raspberry Pi but found instead that many makers use an ESP32 with an I2S DAC and an amplifier. Which would mean I could tune into my favourite Stuttgart-based Antenne1.de from a portable device, something my DAB radio can't do (obviously, as I'm based in the UK). Definitely on my radar. Anyone already done this? Or got any tips?

I've watched the video by Andreas Spiess (who rightly said he was standing on the shoulders of giants by using an existing GitHub library) and I still need to watch the educ8te.tv video which Andreas referred to. The biggest issue is finding a nice wooden case (sounds warmer) to put all the stuff in. Those Roberts R20 cases are quite expensive!

My plan is to use a Rotary Encoder for tuning, but preset station buttons would be a must (probably about 10) so a keypad matrix for that maybe. Or just a touch screen like I showed everyone before...

4 years ago | [YT] | 64

Ralph S Bacon

Just like Arnie, I'm back! Uploading this video (for Friday 9th Oct 2020), amazing what you can do with the GCC Compiler when you have to.

And I'm using the new Arduino PRO IDE v0.1.2 just to see if it behaves now, and it does! I can create a sketch, compile it (for the UNO in this video) and upload it to the UNO waiting on my workbench.

If you want to give the new Arduino IDE a spin (there's a "classic" mode and an "Advanced" mode) just download it from the link in my video description. No need to install, just unzip it to a directory of your choice and run the Arduino PRO IDE directly (or create a shortcut onto your desktop). Version for Windows, MAC and Linux!

4 years ago (edited) | [YT] | 63

Ralph S Bacon

UPDATE 18th September 2020
Three things are preventing me making further videos right now:
1. Benny (lack of). I can't believe how much I miss him. Well, I can.
2. We're hoping to move house this year so there's lots to be done.
3. I'm taking a staycation for 12 days.

So I should be back in action around mid-October. Thanks again for the thoughtful and empathetic comments. I realise that many of you have gone through a similar experience and know what it's like.
END UPDATE

4 years ago | [YT] | 153