I've got a project in mind for doing some basic temperature monitoring and switching some (mains) lights for an aquarium and I'm trying to get my head around I2C. I've done nothing with electronics since leaving school over 20 years ago and I'm more than a bit rusty on the terminology. I want to int...

I was with you up until you started talking about LDDs. And I'm already in information overload with I2C, 1Wire, level shifters and whatnot..... I'll that to my list of thing to spend money on at a later date. My current (subject to change on advice/brainwaves) idea for hardware is something like th...

I'd love LED lighting, but looking at the prices put it out of reach for the time being unless I use those el-cheapo RGB strips from ebay/Amazon and I'm not sure I'd trust the health of my fish to them (my original idea was to use RGB strips to simulate a 'proper' swing from full dark to blue to yel...

Thanks I'm more proficient with mains level wiring than I am with things running at less than 240v, so I'm reasonable confident I can avoid electrocuting the fish/myself. I was planning on using some like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-5V-2-Channels-Relay-Module-For-Arduino-ARM-PIC-AVR-DSP-MCU-...

I've been lurking since discovering the RPI a few months before it was released but have held off on buying one as apart from running it as a media centre I couldn't come up with anything 'cool' to do with it and not being able to justify the expense (disabled wife, I'm her carer, money is tight etc...