ICW Nav Aid
Red on the right, until you turn around.
A card sized reminder of which side the channel markers belong on. Two lights, one button to flip them, and nothing to keep in your head.
Scroll to take it apart
Why it exists
It started with my dad.
He was keeping track of channel marker orientation with navigation aids that were easy to mix up. On the Intracoastal Waterway, the side a marker belongs on depends on which way you are headed.
So this is the simplest fix I could build. A toggle that takes almost no effort to read.
How it works
One press swaps the sides.
POWER latches the card on. The light on each side shows the color of the marks on that side. When your direction changes, press FLIP and the two colors trade places.
Left green, right red.
The cover
A white shell that glows.
The cover is 3D printed in white PLA or PETG. Above each LED the plate thins to a 0.6 mm skin, and a small tube around the LED keeps the light in a clean circle.
It snaps onto the board past four small ledges.
The battery
One coin cell, no app.
A single CR2032 powers the card from a surface mount holder under the cover. There is nothing to charge and nothing to pair.
To change the cell, press the board out of the cover from behind.
What is inside
Every part on one side.
A single layer board the exact size of a credit card, with all the parts on the front.
- Printed cover
- White PLA or PETG
- Coin cell
- CR2032
- Cell holder
- BAT-HLD-001
- Latching switch × 2
- BTSA-L-S-8
- Bicolor LED × 2
- APHBM2012SURKCGKC
- Resistor × 4
- 330 and 100 ohm, 0603
- Circuit board
- 85.6 × 54 × 1.6 mm
Packaging
Your logo on the packaging.
Want your company's logo on the packaging? Send me a message and tell me about your company.
The packaging is being updated. The 3D printed cover is not going away. If the card is manufactured, it will come in a plastic sleeve, and that design is still being worked on.
The design
See how it is made.
The schematic, board layout, 3D model and printable cover are all in the project library on Nurbly.
Licensed CC BY-NC-SA 4.0. Build and adapt it for non-commercial use with credit. Selling boards, kits or finished devices needs written permission.