πŸ₯§ Pi Day TikTok Experiments β€” Wiring Guides

ProTechTrader Make: Radio Kit | March 14, 2026

Experiment 1: LED Morse Code "3.14159" ⭐ EASY

Components

#ComponentValueIn Kit?Connection
1Raspberry Pi PicoRP2040βœ… Radio KitCenter of breadboard
2LEDGreen, 3mm or 5mmβœ… Radio KitLong leg (+) to resistor, short leg (-) to GND
3Resistor220Ξ© (Red-Red-Brown)βœ… Radio KitGP15 to LED anode
4Jumper Wire1 pieceβœ… Radio KitLED cathode to GND pin

Breadboard Diagram

USB CABLE (to laptop) β”‚ β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”΄β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β” β”‚ RASPBERRY PI β”‚ Pin 1 ── β”‚ GP0 VBUS β”‚ ── Pin 40 Pin 2 ── β”‚ GP1 VSYS β”‚ ── Pin 39 Pin 3 ── β”‚ GND GND β”‚ ── Pin 38 Pin 4 ── β”‚ GP2 3V3_EN β”‚ ── Pin 37 Pin 5 ── β”‚ GP3 3V3 β”‚ ── Pin 36 Pin 6 ── β”‚ GP4 ADC_REF β”‚ ── Pin 35 Pin 7 ── β”‚ GP5 GP28 β”‚ ── Pin 34 Pin 8 ── β”‚ GND GND β”‚ ── Pin 33 Pin 9 ── β”‚ GP6 GP27 β”‚ ── Pin 32 Pin 10 ── β”‚ GP7 GP26 β”‚ ── Pin 31 Pin 11 ── β”‚ GP8 RUN β”‚ ── Pin 30 Pin 12 ── β”‚ GP9 GP22 β”‚ ── Pin 29 Pin 13 ── β”‚ GND GND β”‚ ── Pin 28 Pin 14 ── β”‚ GP10 GP21 β”‚ ── Pin 27 Pin 15 ── β”‚ GP11 GP20 β”‚ ── Pin 26 Pin 16 ── β”‚ GP12 GP19 β”‚ ── Pin 25 Pin 17 ── β”‚ GP13 GP18 β”‚ ── Pin 24 Pin 18 ── β”‚ GND ◄────┐ GND β”‚ ── Pin 23 Pin 19 ── β”‚ GP14 β”‚ GP17 β”‚ ── Pin 22 β˜… GP15 β˜…Pin 20 ── β”‚ GP15 β”‚ GP16 β”‚ ── Pin 21 β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”Όβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜ β”‚ β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜ β”‚ GND WIRE (black) β”‚ Pin 20 (GP15) ──── [///220Ξ©///] ──── 🟒 LED (+) ──── LED (-) ──── GND (Pin 18) resistor long leg short leg wire back (anode) (cathode) to Pico SIGNAL FLOW: GP15 outputs HIGH (3.3V) β†’ current limited by 220Ξ© β†’ flows through LED β†’ to ground GP15 outputs LOW (0V) β†’ no current β†’ LED off

Wiring Steps

1. Place Pico straddling the breadboard center gap (USB port facing away)
2. RESISTOR: One leg β†’ same row as GP15 (Pin 20 left side). Other leg β†’ empty row below Pico.
3. LED: LONG leg (anode, +) β†’ same row as resistor's other end. SHORT leg (cathode, -) β†’ next row down.
4. GND WIRE: From LED cathode row β†’ any GND pin on Pico (Pin 3, 8, 13, 18, 23, 28, 33, or 38)
⚠️ LED has polarity! Long leg = positive. If LED doesn't light, flip it around.
⚠️ ALWAYS use the 220Ω resistor. Without it, you'll burn out the LED instantly.

Experiment 2: LCD Scrolling Pi Digits ⭐⭐ MEDIUM

Components

#ComponentValueIn Kit?Connection
1Raspberry Pi PicoRP2040βœ… Radio KitCenter of breadboard
21602 LCD + I2C Backpack16x2 charactersβœ… Radio Kit4 wires to Pico
3Jumper Wires4 pieces (F-to-M)βœ… Radio KitVCC, GND, SDA, SCL

Breadboard Diagram

USB CABLE β”‚ β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”΄β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β” Pin 1 ── β”‚ GP0 VBUS β”‚ ── Pin 40 ──── RED wire ───→ LCD VCC Pin 2 ── β”‚ GP1 VSYS β”‚ ── Pin 39 Pin 3 ── β”‚ GND GND β”‚ ── Pin 38 ──── BLACK wire ─→ LCD GND Pin 4 ── β”‚ GP2 3V3_EN β”‚ ── Pin 37 Pin 5 ── β”‚ GP3 3V3 β”‚ ── Pin 36 β˜…SDAβ˜… Pin 6 ── β”‚ GP4 ADC_REF β”‚ ── Pin 35 ──── BLUE wire ──→ LCD SDA β˜…SCLβ˜… Pin 7 ── β”‚ GP5 GP28 β”‚ ── Pin 34 ──── YELLOW wire β†’ LCD SCL Pin 8 ── β”‚ GND GND β”‚ ── Pin 33 β”‚ ... β”‚ Pin 20 ── β”‚ GP15 GP16 β”‚ ── Pin 21 β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜ β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β” β”‚ 1602 LCD DISPLAY β”‚ β”‚ β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β” β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ 3.14159265358979... ──→ ──→ ──→ (scrolling) β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ Happy Pi Day! πŸ₯§ (static) β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ Back side β€” I2C Backpack: β”‚ β”‚ β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β” β”‚ β”‚ β”‚GND β”‚VCC β”‚SDA β”‚SCL β”‚ ← 4 header pins β”‚ β”‚ β””β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”΄β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”΄β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”΄β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”˜ β”‚ β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”Όβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”Όβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”Όβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”Όβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β–Ό β–Ό β–Ό β–Ό BLACK RED BLUE YELLOW β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β–Ό β–Ό β–Ό β–Ό GND VBUS GP4 GP5 Pin38 Pin40 Pin6 Pin7

Wiring Steps

1. Place Pico on breadboard (same as Experiment 1)
2. RED wire: LCD VCC β†’ Pico VBUS (Pin 40) β€” This is 5V power for the LCD
3. BLACK wire: LCD GND β†’ Pico GND (Pin 38) β€” Ground connection
4. BLUE wire: LCD SDA β†’ Pico GP4 (Pin 6) β€” I2C Data line
5. YELLOW wire: LCD SCL β†’ Pico GP5 (Pin 7) β€” I2C Clock line
⚠️ LCD needs 5V (VBUS), not 3.3V! If you connect to 3V3 pin, the display will be very dim or won't work.
⚠️ If display shows boxes but no text, turn the blue potentiometer on the I2C backpack to adjust contrast.
⚠️ Pre-upload lcd_api.py and pico_i2c_lcd.py to Pico BEFORE the livestream!

Both Experiments Together

Use BOTH Picos from the kit simultaneously!

β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β” β”Œβ”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β” β”‚ PICO #1 (LED) β”‚ β”‚ PICO #2 (LCD) β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ GP15 β†’ 220Ξ© β†’ 🟒 β”‚ β”‚ VBUS β†’ LCD VCC β”‚ β”‚ GND β†’ LED(-) β”‚ β”‚ GND β†’ LCD GND β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ GP4 β†’ LCD SDA β”‚ β”‚ Running: β”‚ β”‚ GP5 β†’ LCD SCL β”‚ β”‚ pi_morse.py β”‚ β”‚ Running: β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ β”‚ pi_lcd.py β”‚ β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜ β””β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”¬β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”€β”˜ β”‚ USB β”‚ USB β–Ό β–Ό Laptop Laptop (or USB hub) πŸ’‘ TIP: Use a USB hub to power both Picos from one laptop!

Everything above comes from the Make: Radio Component Kit

Two Pi Picos β€’ 1602 LCD β€’ LEDs β€’ Resistors β€’ Breadboards β€’ Wires

protechtrader.com