Maker Advent title card for the final episode. A Commodore 64 BASIC programme is running, controlling an LED to turn on and off.
The final #MakerAdvent is live!
Join me as I connect up and write code for the new Commodore 64 Ultimate's user port accessory. I show you how to use BASIC to control an LED, because once we know how to do this, we can do anything!
Thanks for watching, happy holidays!
youtu.be/TfAd-KbOVqY
A Commodore 64 Ultimate User Port expansion!
Where's the final #MakerAdvent ? Well, Santa just dropped off a parcel and completely flipped my scheduled videos. It will be out later today!
A PSION 3A running OPL code.
The penultimate day of #MakerAdvent 2025 and today I show you how I write code for a PSION 3A via my Windows XP virtual machine and a janky USB to serial setup! I do love the old PSION machines!
youtu.be/2C157rSvqIs
A BASIC application running in QB64 PE, with Maker Advent logos and title cards edited to create a thumbnail.
Today on #MakerAdvent I go Back to BASICs (pun intended) and create an application to show and image and play audio using QB64 Phoenix Edition, a modern day version of QBASIC.
It's a great BASIC editor and something that I could spend hours tinkinering with.
Have fun!
youtu.be/4kDrb5QcBU8
Screenshot from level one of Cleared Hot, with Maker Advent graphics and a live stream of me in the corner.
Today on #MakerAdvent I am "Cleared Hot" to take a day off, so join me as I fly an Apache AH-64A attack helicopter gunship. I bought Cleared Hot the other day on Steam for £12 and it is proving to be a fun distraction.
youtu.be/FBP8iJC-Y98
It’s a mark of a challenging year when I’ve been unable to watch #MakerAdvent and now I’ll have to binge watch 20 episodes at once!
A bench with a USB vacuum cleaner resting upon it.
Day 20 of #MakerAdvent, already? Wow. Today I am taking apart my USB powered vacuum cleaner to fix it, because now it really does suck!
youtu.be/Wh1kdpfzlug
Maker Advent title card shows soldering irons on a bench, two hands cradle a USB soldering iron like a child.
Today on #MakerAdvent I've got a plethora of soldering irons to show you!
As is tradition each #MakerAdvent, I talk at length about soldering irons.
From £7 USB soldering iron, to the mighty, and expensive £280 iFixit soldering iron hub. They're all on show for your amusement.
youtu.be/jRTLnmo1yUI
Santa / Father Christmas ironing his suit ready for the big day.
Bit of a delay with today's #MakerAdvent as I had time sensitive jobs to do this morning. So the episode will be out later this afternoon UK time.
A toy chainsaw, which uses the same circuit to make sound in this video.
Today on day 18 of #MakerAdvent I use @Adafruit wonderful #circuitpython to create an MP3 player hidden inside a Christmas present. The best part, it activates using a magnetic switch, to surprise the receiver.
youtu.be/ZoM-Ix2Q0lU
Me, playing The Empire Strikes Back on the Commodore 64 Ultimate via a video capture card. I am testing out my DIY joystick.
Today on #MakerAdvent I show the build for a Commodore 64 (and Commodore 64 Ultimate) joystick that I started in 2020! The videos went unreleased for five years, until now!
youtu.be/tJ4DkrCVu3s
The new Commodore 64 Ultimate Starlight edition on my bench. It has lots of RGB LEDs lit.
Today on #MakerAdvent I've got the new Commodore 64 Ultimate on the bench!
An FPGA powered Commodore 64 but it does so much more than play games that you copied on your stereo.
youtu.be/HsRK0W4a5Jo
Read the review on Tom's Hardware
www.tomshardware.com/video-games/...
An image of me, holding a Cytron Maker Uno to the camera, BASIC code is underneath me, to the right is the output of the code.
On #MakerAdvent today we learn how to write BASIC code on a humble Arduino Uno. To be specific, a Cytron Maker Uno becuase it has built-in LEDS that we can use to create a quick light sequence.
#BASIC was my first programming language, way back on the Commodore 16.
youtu.be/0XuV6-_UGYk
Maker Advent day 14 title card shows me, holding the circuit, an Android phone running ntfy.sh, and on the right, the code that powers the project.
Today on #MakerAdvent we build 'The Internet of Dings' using an ESP32 C3 Super Mini to power a MicroPython IoT doorbell that uses ntfy.sh to send notifications to phones. Now I won't miss a delivery!
youtu.be/e34e2iSflNg
@biglesp.bsky.social What was that little pack you had on #MakerAdvent a couple of days ago, the phone plugin ones?
A hand covering an ESP32 micrcontroller.
Today on #MakerAdvent I've got a 3-pack of ESP32 C3s to play with. Blink an LED and connect to the network with these ultra-cheap microcontrollers
youtu.be/_o8tDnLmPY8
A green cutting mat with tools placed upon it. The word "Tools!!!" is written across the screen using Microsoft Word Art. It looks awful, but I love it!
On #MakerAdvent today I have a bunch of my favorite tools from 2025 and I talk about them like they are my own children.
youtu.be/-RcKu4p9JxM
An SSD adapter on a green cutting mat. The adapter converts M.2 SSDs into 2.5 inch drives.
Today on #MakerAdvent I reuse an old M.2 SATA SSD in a £3 2.5 inch adapter to show that you don't need to spend big if you just need a little more storage!
youtu.be/uROQ4-k9F8s
An M.2 SATA SSD to 2.5 inch drive adapter on a green cutting mat
Today on #MakerAdvent I reuse an old M.2 SATA SSD in a £3 2.5 inch adapter to show that you don't need to spend big if you just need a little more storage!
youtu.be/uROQ4-k9F8s
Two Christmas ornaments depicting a forest lit with a single LED. One LED is warm white, the other is RGB and is currently green. There are books on a shelf, an orange lamp, and a picture of my old dog, Dexter, who I miss very much.
Day 10 of #MakerAdvent and today we build a mini rave cave for two polar bears... Checks notes... I fix a Christmas ornament with an RGB LED.
youtu.be/LtFWRFdQHiA
a box of pistachio gnomes that look like Gary the Gonk
M&S has finally launched the #MakerAdvent gift range.
Purple LED bats, used to illustrate how to test that battery powered LEDs work.
These are my three top tips to solve maker problems without dedicated tools.
That is such a click-bait headline, but honestly, these are three hacks to solve a problem when you haven't got the right tools to hand. Yes, those are bat LEDs from Poundland #MakerAdvent
youtu.be/qXZ_vmWP9KM
A plastic banana for scale, a PCB clamp and a USB C TP4056 power board on a blue mat
Day 8 of #MakerAdvent and today I test out a PCB clamp / jig that I got from Temu. This is the test of my hot air rework station before I tackled the big job on day 6.
youtu.be/50j6VnyGOJE
AI generated image of Gary the Gonk protecting his baubles from a plethora of 1980s action scenes.
Gary the Gonk has returned for 2025!
He has upped his security, nobody will touch his baubles!
youtu.be/P9lxGNdrvcE
#MakerAdvent
Close up of a wooden gonk called Gary
Tomorrow at 10am GMT on #MakerAdvent
GARY IS BACK!
www.youtube.com/@LesPounder/...
design with the text 'the wheels of the bus go up and down' with hand-drawn illustration of a bus timing diagram
Being cheeky today.
What do you think?
#makeradvent #artadvent
Maker Advent title card with Thonny running in the background, and a window with me showing a working board to the camera
Today on #MakerAdvent I fix my favourite Raspberry Pi Pico kit board with hot air, Temu buttons, and lots of swearing.
youtu.be/1JfyjBtej8E
A large box of unsorted screws, two hands holding a screw and a sorting tool. There is a banana for scale on a green cutting mat.
Today on #MakerAdvent
I bought a cheap metric screw sorter from Temu and now I can finally sort all of those loose screws that everyone says that I have.
youtu.be/Vr9_UkEIs54
