The Beginning

So where should I start? I guess I should explain what this project is about. This will be an Arduino-based RC Race Information Display Board.

I’ve been a R/C (Radio Controlled) car racer since my teens and I have a background in computing and aviation (avionics). Recently, the club I help at has experienced issues with one of the race information boards. These boards aren’t cheap, virtually no-one makes them commercially, so getting them fixed is a bit of a struggle. Anyway, I’ve recently decided to get into hobby electronics & computing again. I’ve been reading up on the open-source Arduino platform, with the idea of starting some RC-based project. It was while helping out at a recent race meeting that I realised building and programming one of these boards may be within my abilities.

So – this blog/website is all about building one of these boards. I’ll publish literally everything about this project – what I want to do is to make building one of these boards as simple and easy as possible, and along the way I can hopefully inspire others to join me and contribute to the project. This will never be commercial, I’ve got a full-time day job and I don’t want the hassle of being accountable in a commercial sense.

This blog is aimed at the enthusiastic amateur, so will cover a lot of basic principles in both electronics and computing. I’m not guaranteeing that anything I say will be absolutely correct mind you – so if I’m wrong or there is a better/quicker/more efficient/safer way then please let me know in the comments.
Hope you enjoy the ride!

Joe