Maker Faire "FM - VU Meter" panel display (how-to question)

Wireless & IoT
1

At the Sparkfun Maker Faire display in the Makershed I saw a wonderful panel of 100 or so VU meters each hooked up to an FM board, all tuned to different stations (which you could hear by turning a knob that selected a meter to listen too).

Can anyone tell me what boards were used in that design or if there are any schematics of this very cool concept display? I want to build one desparately! Who was the genius at Sparkfun put this amazing piece of electrical (and functional art) together?!!! Please help!

Aaron

2

Hey Aaron,

Here is what I can tell you. Nate envisioned the project, sourced the parts, and wrote the code. Hilary designed the enclosure and manufactured it on our CNC. I think it was Joel that did most of the wiring.

The boards that were used were custom made for the task. They are essentially an I2C member with a DAC for the output to the volt meter, an LED, and an FM receiver. I have a hunch that the FM chip we recently started carrying ( http://www.sparkfun.com/products/10344 ) is related to this project, but no guarantee there.

I bet that Nate is going to write a tutorial in his free time…whenever that happens.

Any specific questions?

Robacarp

3

Thanks Robacarp!

I don’t have detailed questions at this time because the complexity of what was done still needs to be documented/communicated by the project team. I don’t even have a photo of the darn thing!

I did get an email from Devin Waage for basic information/contacts on this project (he’s looking into it). I let him know that this could be an extremely useful project with many development/sales/learning opportunities if the basics were properly documented.

If a test subject is needed for applying/editing or answering questions on the instructions I would more than happy to help in that area as I get more accustomed to the culture here (I’m a newbie of course). Still not sure who to talk to and at what level of interaction.

Regards,

Aaronwired

4

One more thing, since I’m new here, can someone tell me how to get this topic cross listed to the Project forum? I’m thinking that the Wireless/RF discussions are technical and I’m looking for general info at this point. The technical help I’ll need later when I build.

Phalanx…any help on how to do a cross post?

Thanks everyone.

Aaronwired