2025-08-18

The circuit boards have arrived! Large boards are way easier to handle than miniature ones like those for Wind.

The first-ever bring-up succeeded without friction. Both light and sound worked; the light at full intensity consumed around 150 mA at 3.3 V or 500 mA at 1.2 V (from a 1250-mAh AAA-sized NiMH battery).

Although light and sound do not appear to work well together: the light dims by a lot when sound turns on. This is due to the voltage drop at the DC-DC regulator with the surge of increased consumption. This has also been a quirk in Wind, but here the light is brighter and hence more noticeable. It remains to be seen whether mounting the bulk capacitor (C11) will resolve the issue.

In addition, there is a hissing noise from the speaker, supposedly due to noise in the filter. My analogue design capability is currently severely limited, so I think I should seek external consultancy on this.

The issues aside, I have found an ideal type of lampshades that perfectly manifests my original vision. Paired with the light, the outcome I'd happily call eye candy.