"The MK1 was good but the MK2 had to be better"
So where the MK1 was born of the times we were in the MK2 was a fully re-design and new start and built from the ground up to run the show but in a different way.
Originally designed to look like a Christmas tree with the button on top instead of a star, the MK2 was made to draw your eye to the show start, covered in green tinsel, tree decorations and led lights.
The MK1 was good but the MK2 had to be better and more reliable, the MK1 had a lot of problems it was unreliable in the wet, it had to be covered up overnight and it only played 1 song.
So the build began with parts being ordered including a water proof switch and a couple of boxes, whilst waiting for the parts to turn up I made a start on the prototype of the PCB. This was also the point in time I decided that the show needed more songs to pick from, but that a story for another page.
With the back end coming together the decision was made to add a screen to the PCB to help with diagnostic and a temp \ humidity sensor
Fusion360 Designs
The switch has worked well and without fault since 2021 and in 2024 it was time to give it a overhaul, is it got some new tinsel and decorations.
Sadly there not a lot left from the MK2's design.
Around 2023 A new web page was added allowing people coming to see the lights to pick the song that they wanted to see rather than having a song randomly picked for them, but this never seemed to take off. But with the MK2 starting to show its age it time for the MK3 to rise and take over the show.
Its time to bite the bullet and start work on the The MK3 Show Controller