Sending the first UCMOD microcontroller module and the latest revision of the Isolated RS485 Building Block Board off for manufacture.
Welcome to JKTDEV.CO.UK — my personal engineering notebook, where I document projects, experiments, build logs, lessons learned, and the occasional technical rabbit hole along the way.
I’ve worked in and around software development for over 20 years, across everything from large-scale enterprise systems to embedded software, automation, hardware-adjacent projects, and practical prototyping. More recently, my focus has shifted further into electronics, PCB design, embedded systems, radio, test equipment, manufacturing, and small hardware building blocks.
At heart, I’m a tinkerer and builder. I enjoy projects that force me to learn something new — whether that means writing code, debugging hardware, designing a PCB, testing a tool, bringing up a board, or working out why something that looked simple on paper is misbehaving on the bench.
This site is where I capture that process — warts and all.
Some articles are polished write-ups. Others are closer to field notes from whatever I am working on at the time. That might include designing a circuit, ordering PCBs, testing a regulator under load, debugging an embedded board, experimenting with radio, trying out tools, or documenting the decisions behind a prototype.
A lot of the content now revolves around electronics, embedded systems, PCB design, practical prototyping and the process of turning ideas into working hardware. Software development, automation, AI, amateur radio and the occasional unrelated technical experiment still make appearances along the way.
Much of the engineering work documented here also feeds into Protoworks, my product design and prototyping business in Northern Ireland, including its Building Block Boards, UCMOD modules, tools and other products. I also run Ards Tech Fix, providing practical software troubleshooting and workflow automation for local businesses across the Ards Peninsula. JKTDEV remains my personal engineering notebook — a place for documenting the work, learning, mistakes and thinking behind those builds, as well as projects that have nothing to do with either business.
Recent articles are listed below.
Designing a Modular ATtiny Microcontroller Board
Starting the design of a compact ATtiny1614-based microcontroller module with a standardised 20-pin connector for use across a range of carrier boards.
Completing Rev A Testing of the Isolated RS485 Board
Completing communications testing of the Rev A Isolated RS485 Building Block Board and planning a revised eFuse-based input protection circuit for Rev B.
Testing the Isolated RS485 Building Block Board
Initial testing of the Rev A Isolated RS485 Building Block Board, including its isolated power supply, reverse-polarity protection, overvoltage protection and RS485 driver outputs.
Isolated RS485 Building Block Board
Designing an isolated RS485 building block board with isolated power, input protection, configurable termination and biasing, and separate logic-side and bus-side grounds.
Planning a New Weather Station Revision
Planning a new revision of the workshop weather station project, with ideas for ESP32-C3 integration, USB-to-serial, RS485, micro SD logging, exposed SPI and I2C buses, and a small online dashboard demo.
Adding a PC RS485 Monitor to the EC11 Test Setup
Adding a third RS485 node to an EC11 rotary encoder test setup so that the RS485 traffic can be monitored from a PC using a USB serial adapter.
Improving the EC11 Encoder and RS485 Test Setup
Improving the transmitter and receiver software for an EC11 rotary encoder test setup using RS485, a Digital IO Expander board, Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W boards, and an SH1106 OLED display.
Decoding an EC11 Rotary Encoder over RS485
Decoding an EC11 rotary encoder through a Digital IO Expander board, sending direction updates over RS485, and displaying the result on a Raspberry Pi Pico 2 W receiver with an OLED display.
Some Integration Testing
Integration testing the USB-C power input board, RS485 breakout boards, Digital IO Expander board, Raspberry Pi Pico 2W boards, and an EC11 rotary encoder over a 20 m Cat 6 RS485 link.