BookTip XVII: Arduino for Dummies

In 2013, I blogged about how Electronica for Dummies gave me a head start on the basics of electronic (sound) projects. Since then, I’ve been diving deeper and gathered reasonable piles of cool projects and  datasheets. 

My soldering skills, however… well, let’s just say they’re still as shaky as in my early DIY projects. Some things take time.

Last months I have been reading  

Arduino for Dummies by John Nussey.

 The book is a beginner-friendly guide to the Arduino platform; a programmable circuit board that can turn my ideas into working creations. 

A few months ago also my Arduino R4 WiFi arrived, and I’m already slowly sketching out possibilities. 

Next on my list: the ADDAC 210 Open Heart Surgery module.  

I wanted to have this module since it came out in 2014, and it is specially designed to host the Arduino UNO right on its backside while bringing all the pinouts to the front in a slim Eurorack module. 

A perfect bridge between my modular world and my new coding adventures.

My lovely new little Arduino

With a little help from ai and ChatGPT, understanding and writing code for the Arduino already feels a lot less intimidating.

It’s like having a patient tutor on call, guiding me through the logic step by step. 

And I know there are always friends who can help out.

I can’t wait to dive in deeper, even if free time is scarce. Consider 2026 as the start of a new chapter. 

Stick around, because I’ll be sharing my progress, my experiments, and maybe even a few happy accidents along the way.

Find all my other BookTips HERE

Even though I only bought the Arduino Uno R4 a few months ago, I’m finding myself drawn to the Arduino Uno Q because it feels like a better match for how I actually work.. What also makes it appealing is the ease of adding a proper user interface to my projects, like buttons, displays, simple controls — without things becoming overly complex. It’s less about upgrading for power and more about choosing a board that supports thoughtful experimentation and projects that grow slowly and intuitively over time. 

Leave a comment with your thoughts about the new Uno Q

Colored Doepfer Knobs

Yay... Doepfer decided to produce and sell knobs in multiple colors.
The modules are still delivered with grey knobs.
Because of logistic reasons it's not possible to deliver modules with different colored knobs, but the customer is able to order the knobs separately and replace the grey knobs by the new ones as the knobs are simply plugged on the potentiometer shafts.

The colored rotary Knobs, diameter 15 mm, height 15 mm, for 6 mm axis with 18 teeth, can be used also in other products like MAQ16/3, Dark Energy or Dark Time.

You can find the new knobs on the price list in the Doepfer website's spare parts section...