Build Brighton, a group of people interested in electronics, robots and a lot of other stuff, have created electronic Christmas kits and are running workshops where you can learn how to solder the components together. The kits include a Christmas tree and a snowman badge, both with blinking LEDs.
I got myself the Christmas tree, it was fairly fast and easy to put together and make work. It is powered by two 3V batteries that are included in the kit and has 12 LEDs that change colour and are simply cool to watch.
The tree itself consists of two printed circuit boards that snap together. The LEDs, two battery cases and a simple switch are soldered onto the boards before the tree shape is assembled. I was told that the batteries should last for about half a day if the lights are on all the time.
If you want to learn more, head over to the workshop’s web page. It runs every Saturday, until 21st December 2013.
And now, watch the tree in action:
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