Ah yes, the good ol’ PCB tree.
It wasn’t in use for a good part of 2021 due to the fuse burning out, unclear if it was from an accident (some parts are still wobbly) or just slightly specced too low at 1.6A (slow-blow, but 24/7 operation). Since it was placed inside a somewhat difficult to access triangle cavity of PCBs, it took me a while to open it up again and move things outside. Voltage of the DC-DC converter was lowered slightly to around 3.2V and the single fuse was replaced by two individual units placed on the outside, dividing the power rail roughly equal between upper and lower tree (by current, not by physical size) […]

Epiphany has already passed and St. Knut’s day is next Wednesday, it’s about time to stop being lazy and get the Christmas tree out of the living room.
Well, yes, but not the usual way. As shown previously, it’s not an ordinary tree. It’s green and it has fancy little lights all around, but it’s also containing significant amounts of lead and it needs a PoE port to operate.

Meet the PCB Tree.

Made from scrap circuit boards, random bits of wire, leaded solder and a couple of Chinese ingredients, it’s a wonderful Christmas abomination that sat the entire last year in my office and received a significant addition in early December 2020. […]