VA3NDF — Nick Ficara

STM32 dev setup on VSCode

Mon, 20 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

Please note, this blog post was written to throw down the line rope for fellow students trying to set up VSCode for STM32 development. This applies to folks migrating from STM32CubeIDE to VSCode.

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PCB Business Card

Mon, 13 Jan 2025 00:00:00 GMT

4 buttons, 2 lights, 1 STM32F0, 1 USB-C Receptacle. All you really need :) I had a few requirements for this thing: So you plug it in, open a serial port, and then boom!

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How this blog is made

Mon, 19 Aug 2024 00:00:00 GMT

This blog has been through a lot. Including my other site, https://nicholasficara.dev, I've gone through 13 distinct rewrites. I'm currently on Astro. I've updated this post way too many times.

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Automatic NH35 Watch

Mon, 10 Jun 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Automatic NH35 Watch: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), June 2024.

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Laser Cut Acrylic Lamp

Thu, 02 May 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Laser Cut Acrylic Lamp: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), May 2024.

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Morse Code Paddle v2

Tue, 30 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

Morse Code Paddle v2: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), April 2024.

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My Homelab

Sat, 20 Apr 2024 00:00:00 GMT

A tour of my colocated homelab complete with running an AS and 40+ docker services.

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Anodized Aluminum Tags

Fri, 15 Dec 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Anodized Aluminum Tags: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), December 2023.

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Hey, is this thing on?

Mon, 25 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT

My first two years as an amateur radio operator in Canada

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University of Waterloo Orbital

Sun, 24 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT

UWOrbital club

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University of Waterloo Rocketry

Sat, 23 Sep 2023 00:00:00 GMT

UW Rocketry Club

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Morse Code Radio

Mon, 07 Aug 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Built a morse code (CW) radio

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Mechanical Pen

Sat, 10 Jun 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Mechanical Pen: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), June 2023.

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Leather Belt

Fri, 10 Mar 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Leather Belt: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), March 2023.

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Enterprise Laser Cut

Sun, 05 Feb 2023 00:00:00 GMT

Enterprise Laser Cut: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), February 2023.

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Weather Box

Tue, 20 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Weather Box: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), December 2022.

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Captive Hex Nut

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Captive Hex Nut: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), December 2022.

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Duck Shirt

Fri, 16 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Made a shirt with my grandma!

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Engraved Glass

Tue, 13 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Engraved Glass: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), December 2022.

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Acrylic Etch

Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Acrylic Etch: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), December 2022.

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Spinning Top

Wed, 30 Nov 2022 00:00:00 GMT

Spinning Top: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), November 2022.

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Morse Code Paddle

Sun, 12 Dec 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Morse Code Paddle: a build by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), December 2021.

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How I used Google Docs as a CMS for a Blog Style Website

Sat, 03 Jul 2021 00:00:00 GMT

I was assigned the task of building a newspaper/blog website for my school. The current website is built with Wix and is not responsive at all. It's also a genuine eyesore to look at.

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Are Hackathons Really Worth It? (yes)

Thu, 17 Jun 2021 00:00:00 GMT

I enjoy hackathons. They force us to complete a project and present it no matter what state it's in. This is the main reason I participate.

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Is Arch Linux a Good OS for School and Everyday Use?

Mon, 10 May 2021 00:00:00 GMT

Arch can be used for productivity and school work. I use it as my daily driver operating system. I find the package manager superior to all other operating systems I've tried, and for me, it's an…

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Fractals as a Live Wallpaper

Wed, 28 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT

I have always loved fractals. Something about the Mandelbrot set is so captivating to me. I've always wanted to write my own implementation of it and I've always wanted to use it as my wallpaper, so…

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My experience using Svelte

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT

A few weeks ago I started building a web app to anonymously connect students with trained peers. The project needed to be on a small budget (aka free).

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Why Build a Gameboy Emulator

Tue, 20 Apr 2021 00:00:00 GMT

I think everyone should build an emulator and some point or another. I was recently playing some Pokemon Red on the original Gameboy. Something about the game captivates me.

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Mandelbulb

Wed, 17 Feb 2021 00:00:00 GMT

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rfxFGRlpcBg Art project I made in highschool. Based on the Mandelbrot equations in 3D.

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Drawing Pictures in Desmos

Thu, 28 Jan 2021 00:00:00 GMT

I was messing around with various APIs and I stumbled across a feature in Desmos that allows you to place a colored pixel anywhere on the graph.

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Making YouTube Videos Completely Automatically

Wed, 09 Sep 2020 00:00:00 GMT

I came across this type of channel on YouTube called Reddit readers. They use a text to speech software or a human voice over to read Reddit posts.

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Minecraft Pic

Fri, 03 Jul 2020 00:00:00 GMT

I made a python script that takes your webcam's pixels, converts them to Minecraft blocks, then passes them to a datapack that places the blocks in your Minecraft's world!

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Scroll n Stroll

Sat, 02 May 2020 00:00:00 GMT

People are spending way too much time on their phones right now all cooped up in their houses. I decided to tackle this problem by building Scroll n Stroll.

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p5js as a Learning Tool

Thu, 19 Sep 2019 00:00:00 GMT

p5js is a graphics library for javascript that is a port of the Processing language. p5js is incredibly simple. It's about as close to English as you can get.

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My First Hackathon

Tue, 20 Mar 2018 00:00:00 GMT

My First Hackathon: a post by Nick Ficara (VA3NDF), March 2018.

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